Well the shawl kinda got turned into balls of wool again. The pattern I had in mind worked well with chunky fluffy yarn, but the finer wool I was using just felt a bit wasted on a plain knit centre and a pretty standard border. So I’ve re-balled the shawl yarn and it’s in a stash of moorit, black and white wool to go into a new circular jacket/waistcoat I’m keen to try.

The new snuggleabuble jacket I’m hoping for will feature a really basic colour shading method I’ve used on a hat and my little scarf posted here. I have the three colours and I use centre pull balls so I can knit two strands together from the same ball, or from another colour ball. So I tend to do a few rows in white/white, then white/moorit, then moorit/moorit, for example. It makes for alternate “tweedy” looking bands and solid colour bands in the finished piece and saves me trying to mix accurate shade batches with my tiny hand carders. Drum carders are great for this though!

The jacket thing is worked from a centre with armholes worked in and should work really nicely with bands of colour working out the way.

The house is like a crafter’s den just now. Darren is painting models, there’s a distinct smell of paint or glue depending what stage he’s at, and I’m painting and varnishing polymer clay.

Spring is also kicking off in earnest here, the garden has flushed with green and fat fluffy bumble bees are boinking into the window and looking round for flowers. Darren’s on holiday for the next two weeks, so I decided to get some work done in the garden to get a new lawn laid and plant seeds for my containers. By summer I should have a lovely garden to sit and paint in or just relax after work.

One of my “success first time” experiments with wire. I’ve been trying some herringbone weave around beads this week and wanted to see if I could make a bracelet using a single base wire rather than making separate wrapped sections and joining them. I wanted a wrist-hugging solid bracelet rather than one that moved or twisted.

I’m a bit disappointed that the citrine chips were too pale to contrast with the silver, but that’s something I can change later. The way it’s constructed, I can swap those beads out – at least in theory. I’m annoyed I didn’t buy some cloudy yellow resin beads to match the darker ones now, but polymer clay can make a nice faux amber so that might do the trick nicely.

Just added this bracelet to my Etsy shop.  You can find the full listing and some more photographs here.

The bracelet is based around a gold plated chain which has been decorated with wire wrapped gemstone chips in a variety of rich autumn colours inspired by the golds, reds and greens outside my window.  Some glass pearls were added in as well, because I still have a cascade of tiny white flowers on my white Bacopa, and they look stunning against the autumn foliage outside.

I’ve been taking new photographs this week, so my Etsy shop is looking even better.

I’ve also listed another wire wrapped shell pendant. It’s a popular design and would make a great stocking filler for Christmas. You can buy this pendant here.

…Sitting for over an hour trying to find the end of a yarn bobbin that my dog chowed down on.

It was one of Candy’s last mischievous tricks before she died last year, so I’m trying to figure out what to do with a stack of diddy lengths of brown shetland singles, while I patiently pull back the strands.  A normal person would have taken scissors to it, but I’m such a miser I want to get useable yarn off this bobbin.  Well, at least cut short lengths and use them somewhere.  I can’t throw out any of Candy’s “things” even if they were mine once, which doesn’t help.  Lily has tried helping too, by grabbing the bobbin and looking at me with that “ooh new toy!” expression.   Bless.

I’m also now collecting new fibre for spinning, courtesy of my fuzzy golden retriever, Hamish.  Having just moved down to London he’s adjusting to the warmer climate…all over the furniture, the floor and my work clothes.  Bless!  I now have a bag of Lily hair from ickle dog, and a bag of Hamish hair from big dog.  And Lily needs a hair cut too.  You know you’re a spinning nut when you want to wait till the dog’s hair is spinnable before she gets a trim…