Slow Going

Moonspinning Make Up Bag, originally uploaded by Bright Side.

Blogging has been rather sparse lately as I really don't have a lot to show you. I'm so completely engrossed in/panicking about my Christmas knitting that I'm not having a lot of time for anything else at the moment. My poor spinning wheel sits neglected in the corner, while I knit like a mad woman every evening. I have however bought a little bit more fibre- this time some interesting hand painted top by Moonspinning, that I bought at I Knit London the other week.

Autumn Bag

Hand felted and stitched Autumn Bag, originally uploaded by Bright Side.

Over half term I had an idea for a felt bag that I wanted to make using Spunky Eclectic BFL in "Fall" and some grey and brown Wensleydale. I carded the fibres on my drum carder to mix and prepare them for felting, and then hand felted two A3 sized pieces of fabric with each type of fibre. I'd designed my own pattern and I was really pleased with how well it all fitted together. It's all completely hand stitched, including all of the seams and appliqué. The bag has a felted button closure and a reverse appliqué oak leaf on the front. On the back is a needle felted leaf pocket. The bag is fully lined with the Spunky Eclectic BFL. To finish it off I've put blanket stitch in a co-ordinating orange/pink colour around all of the edges. I'm incredibly pleased with how it turned out, it's just like I saw it in my head.







There are more photographs on my Flickr stream.

Coming soon: some more felted projects, this time from felted charity shop jumpers- cashmere and merino/angora!

Estuary English

Spunky Eclectic: Estuary, originally uploaded by Bright Side.

This blog does have a ias towards Spunky Eclectic at the moment- what can I say? The colours are right for the sort of moods I've been in lately. This is my latest Spunky Eclectic fibre. And the best thing? It didn't cost me a penny! I was lucky enough to win a $20 gift voucher to Amy's store in the Ravelry Spindlers group quarterly challenge. Amy was incredibly generous and sent me two braids, which was a lovely surprise. It was really hard to decide what to go for but in the end I chose BFL (my current favourite fibre) in these lovely green and brown shades. With 8oz I have enough for a larger project. I was wondering about making it DK weight and striping it with some Cornish Organic DK I have in my stash to make a vest or cardigan. I bought a really cute sleeveless stranded yoked cardigan in M&S the other day and I'd really like to have a go at making one myself.

Quack

Spunky Eclectic October Fibre- Mallard, originally uploaded by Bright Side.

This month's Spunky Eclectic club offering had the uninspiring title "Election". I was expecting something blue and red but should have known better, as Amy is much cmore clever than that! What we have instead, inspired by the "Lame Duck President" idea, is a gorgeous 4oz of the sosftest superwash BFL dyed in male mallard duck colours. It's wonderful! It will make a gorgeous pair of socks at some point in the future. I'm thinking of spinning it fractal style to maximise the barberpoling and mixing of colours. It is incredibly soft though, much more than usual BFL. It has a really silky sheen too. If I didn't know better I would say that it had something like tussah silk in it, it's really that gorgeous.

Coming soon: a felted Autumn bag, more fibre, mobius strips and the Oxford Guild dye a bundle challenge.