Knit Nation - Part 2 The one where I learn to spin.....

On Saturday afternoon I attended 'Introduction to Top Whorl Spindling' with Carol and Pete Leonard. In October I took a spinning class and failed miserably, I didn't give up but I got very frustrated, watching 'Respect the Spindle' and trying some fibre bumps from HilltopCloud resulted in a breakthrough and I was able to 'park and draft' (which means I could spin the spindle and draft the fibre but not at the same time).

This class consolidated everything I knew and I can now spin! (small round of applause) Here is what I produced in the class:

Two little skeins of slightly thick and thin but most definitely YARN.

The class was great, the teachers were friendly and knowledgable, I also learnt how to ply and was inspired by the lovely finished items knitted from spindle spun yarn which were on display

Inspired, I visited the market place and bought a braid of fibre from Old Maiden Aunt, I started spinning in on Saturday night and even managed a bit on the train journey home on Sunday, this is my progress:

The fibre is black shetland and tussah silk and it's really lovely, I think I'll probably knit it up in to arm warmers and maybe stripe it with something else.

To practice plying I finished spinning the little samples that Megan from The Thylacine very kindly sent me:

Not perfect but it's ok, I did get in a tangle towards the end and had to abandon a little bit, I couldn't save it from it's knotty fate.

I'm really pleased that I've conquered a new skill and you can expect lots more spinning from me in the future!

Knit Nation - Part 1

Last weekend was Knit Nation in London, this was the second year this event was hosted and this year was every bit as good as last year. The shopping was great, the classes were fantastic but what really makes the whole thing is without a doubt - the people. The people who organise, the people who attend, everyone is so friendly, at various points in the weekend I just sat down next to people I had never met before and chatted.

I met new friends, caught up with old ones and put names to faces/ravatars/twitter personalities. One of the highlights (apart from the classes I took, which I'll blog about separately) was the charity Bingo on Saturday, although it did require concentration and I couldn't chat during the games and there were maybe a few too many games, there were lots of giggles and a great atmosphere. The Bingo caller was very funny and charismatic, especially impressive when we found out he was only 15 - if he doesn't end up on the stage or television, I'll eat my (knitted) hat.

The Marketplace was a delight, so many lovely vendors and their beautiful wares, here are my very favourite purchases:

A lovely card from TillyFlop
A bag from NicsKnots - a vintage William Morris print and a bag design that hangs from your wrist while you knit to keep your yarn ball off the floor
Some Chiaogoo needles from Loop - I'll do a proper review when I've used them but I'm excited by their pointy tips!
Lego Head Stitchmarkers from The Bothered Owl (who are no more but their new companies The Undercover Owl and The Quizzical Owl will be up and running soon)
Some very cute duck stitchmarkers from StephCuddles

Some lovely Sokkusu sock yarn
Gorgeous Milly Sock Yarn from Juno Fibre Arts
2 skeins of Wollmeise - the grey for man socks (cabled so I will be glad of the extra yardage) and the blue/green for a Lintilla



My favourite new discovery of the weekend was NiMu yarn - I love the colours and the unusual dye techniques, the top one is Eclipse which is a dark grey with tiny flashes of colour which will knit up in to little flecks.

When I got home on Sunday night I was exhausted - too exhausted to knit on the train but I did spin for a while. It's Tuesday and I'm starting to feel normal again, who knew that chatting and knitting was such a energy sapping activity?

Are we nearly there yet??

I'm getting ready for Knit Nation, it's only a week and a bit away now and I'm a bit excited!

I went last year and it was brilliant, I couldn't say a negative thing about it (except I wish it lasted a week!), it was well organised, friendly and fun. The class I did was informative and interesting and the marketplace was small but perfectly formed. I am anticipating this year will be just as good, if not better because I'll be there everyday this time!

I'm being hyper-organised and collecting together all the things I need for my classes



I'm doing Introduction to Top Whorl Spindling on Saturday afternoon, Photographing Your Fibre and Lace Edgings on Sunday. There's a spindle from HandSpinner for the spinning class (I have sort of taught myself to spin already, I was a bit impatient to learn! But I'm sure I'll still learn a lot!), spare batteries for my camera in the photography class, and some left over Baby Ull and 3.5mm tips for the lace class.

I have got at least one set of 3.5mm tips already but the only ones I could find were attached to my Shipwreck Shawl.

I know that they are interchangeable and this means that you can unscrew them, put the nifty little caps on the end and use the needle elsewhere

I also KNOW that if I remove the needle tips from this shawl, the already slim chance that it will EVER get finished will evaporate.

So I ordered another set from P2tog.

There is method in my madness.... (or more likely madness in my method)

There are a few more bits and pieces I need but I'm nearly ready, if you're going to Knit Nation and you see me (I will probably wear a badge of some sort with CoopKnit on it) say Hello, I would love to put faces to names or just meet new people!