Sirdar Duet Lacy Crochet Scarf

Continuing on with making these lacy crochet scarves I have been summoning up the muster to have yet another go with trying to make something using some Sirdar Duet in Mahogany brown.   I've tried a few different patterns now and it just looks limp and lifeless and I've had to undo everything and try again.  It doesn't look like it but it is actually a worsted weight yarn.

56% Cotton, 44% Nylon

It is really horrible stuff to work with, especially the shiny slippery part of the yarn and it needs to be used in a design that is more structured and sturdy.  I didn't use all of the yarn that I had and I just binned the left overs as they really are not worth worrying about.  I actually have this yarn in three more colours, blue, white and black and the plan is to make more shawls the same as I did years ago, which is actually a pattern specifically for this yarn. 

I had my doubts about this scarf but I persevered and its come out OK despite the fact that it is technically all in one colour.

Aqua and White Lacy Crochet Scarf

I am sticking with this gorgeous scarf pattern but going back to the Vintage aqua blue Luxury Mohair by Chevy that I used to make a broomstick lace scarf and pairing it with some off white Vintage Lister Lee Tahiti.  The overall fibre content shifts slightly to be 79% Mohair, 13% Wool, 8% Nylon.

78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon

81% Mohair (including 9% Kid Mohair), 14% Wool, 5% Nylon

This Lister Lee Tahiti is very nice and I would say that it is the softest Mohair yarn that I have ever worked with so far.  I do have some very well world-wide known Rowan Kidsilk Haze, which is a laceweight Mohair yarn, but I cannot compare it to that as I have never gotten around to using the Rowan yet.  I do have a good amount of vintage Lister Lee Tamarisk, which is kind of a finer version of the Tahiti, so that will interesting when I get around to working that up in the future, and I had to pinch a bit of it for the off-white fringing as I ran out of the Tahiti so had to combine the two for the fringing.  I digress.

So, straight in with the finished product photos.

Summer Berries Lacy Crochet Scarf

I love this crochet scarf pattern so much that I am going to stick with it for a while and make a few of these in different colours.  So, I've picked up the left overs of the Colinette Mohair Summer Berries from the broomstick lace scarf I made and paired it with some vintage Lister Lee Tahiti in a lilac colour, which looks like it will work with the Summer Berries.

78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon

81% Mohair (including 9% Kid Mohair), 14% Wool, 5% Nylon

I've not used the vintage Tahiti before, I have some of this in other colours, and it is very soft, much softer than the Colinette Mohair, probably the Kid Mohair element has something to do with it.  The overall fibre content shifts slightly to be 79% Mohair, 13% Wool, 8% Nylon. With the differences in colour of the Colinette Mohair skeins, due to it being "hand-dyed", I used up some of the darker left overs for the middle section and then switched to the lightest skein for outer edge sections.  This does show up on the scarf and gives and interesting effect.

Once again, no work-in-progress photos, so straight to the finished product.

Summer Berries Broomstick Lace Scarf

I have a couple of skeins/part used hand-wound balls of Colinette Mohair in shade Summer Berries.  I wound them into cakes, when it then became obvious that there was a lot of difference between the skeins.  This is normal and expected with Colinette yarns and there are even instructions on the band that states this fact and to alternate between two or more skeins when working with them.  One is very very light, one is dark and then the part skein is even darker than the second one!    

The pattern that I am working has a standard length of 118 rows, which is what I worked.  I worked only with the two darkest skeins and alternated between them every two pattern repeats. The yarn is 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos but I did hold it up against the light for an interesting stained glass effect.

Aqua Mohair Broomstick Lace Scarf

My next scarf is again some vintage Mohair but this time only one of the 5 balls have a label so I have no idea if they are all the same dyelot but they are Luxury Mohair by Chevy.

I am sticking with making broomstick lace scarves for now.  The yarn is 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.  The pattern that I am working has a standard length of 118 rows and this is what I worked.

Once again I didn't take any work-in-progress photos and this colour is just beautiful.

Red Mohair Broomstick Lace Scarf

I've decided that I need to use up some of the smaller amounts of vintage yarns to make smaller and quicker to make items that still fit within the lace theme of the shop but that might be more marketable and at a lower price point.  I have 10 balls of Charisma 83% Mohair Rich but 7 balls have one dye lot and the other three have 2 different dye lot's between them.  

Using the 3 rogue balls with odd dye lots I decided to make a broomstick lace scarf, putting the two balls with the same dyelot on the ends and the other ball in the middle.  The yarn is 83% Mohair, 9% Wool, 8% Nylon.  The pattern that I am working has a standard length of 118 rows but I worked 134 rows to use up as much of the yarn as possible and to make sure that the same number of rows were worked for each of the balls of yarn with the same dye lot so that if there is any slight difference in colour those sections would be equal.

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos.  I must get back into the habit of doing that!

Spinning some Faux Cashmere

If I can spin 100% Silk yarns then spinning another braid of Faux Cashmere should be a breeze.  I've tackled a braid before, back in 2022 for the TDF, where I spun that as a 2ply yarn and just pre-drafted and spun from the end and plied. Faux Cashmere is actually 100% Nylon

This time I decided to try something different with my new found confidence in different spinning techniques that I have been trying out in more recent times.

I'm working on spinning my way through some of my older braids of fibre and this one I got from Yummy Yarns UK back in August 2018, 6 years ago!  The colour of this is called Pebble.

What I noticed when I undone the braid is that the dye didn't go all the way through the thickness of the braid in most places.  A lot of it was just on the surface which means that there is way more white fibres than anticipated.  I decided that I would probably be best to pull off small chunks and spin over the fold to try and keep the splodges of colour together in one long single and then to chain ply to keep the colours together even more.  For this to work effectively and give me a decent amount of meterage to knit with I will have to spin as fine as I can.

As you can see from the spinning on the bobbin, this method is working pretty well, producing lengths of different colours/shades.  I like the way this is spinning up, it's really pretty.

I think this has spun up much better than the braid I spun back in 2022.  It has a different feel to it.  The first skein feels "heavy, dense" whilst this one feels light, airy and soft and that has to be to do with spinning it over-the-fold which traps more air between the fibres.  Maybe I should spin over-the-fold more often.  Choosing to chain ply has helped keep the colours together but I think this could have been improved on further had I been more selective and flexible in the lengths of my chain loops to keep like for like colours even more together. This yarn is still gorgeous and is 97g/244m and comes in at a light fingering weight.

Advent Calendar 2022 Day 14

Wow, this one is proper proper pure brilliant white.  This one has given me a hard time trying to photograph it and its a fibre that will most likely go into my "ingredients cupboard".  It is called Faux, Faux, Faux and is 50% Faux Cashmere (made from nylon), 50% Bio-nylon so you could technically say that this is 100% nylon.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2022 Stage 17 - Saint-Gaudens to Peyragudes

Stage 17 of the Tour de France and it is a 129.7km long mountain race that starts in Saint-Gaudens and ends in Peyragudes.

The Map

Sights and points of interest along the route

The race starts in Saint-Gaudens, where in 1989 two priceless Aubusson tapestries were stolen and not seen until 7 years later when they went on sale at Sotherby's in New York. One was "The Triumph of Faith", which is a copy of a painting by Reubens and the other was the Martyrdom of Saint-Gaudens which recounts the legend of the saint beheaded by the Visigoths. A long FBI investigation took place, the good faith of the seller was established and the tapestries recovered and returned their rightful owners, no doubt money was involved to solve the issue, but the original thieves have never been caught.  There is also the Saint-Pierre Collegiate Church, an Arboretum, the Monument of the Three Marshalls and a museum dedicated to Valentines Porcelain.

Saint-Gaudens

The first village is Labarthe-Rivière followed by Labroquère and Valcabrère, in the latter there is the Basilica of Saint-Just-de-Valcabrère and then quickly arrive at Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, which was once a Roman city with a very impressive St Mary's Cathedral.  At Aventignan is the Cave of Gargas, one of the most famous decorated caves of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe.  Just over 31km along the route is La Barth-de-Neste with its 11th century Château and then the fortified village of Sarrancolin, famous for its marble used at Petit Trinon in Versailles, the Paris Opera House and The Empire State Building.  St Ebons church is located here.  The cyclists then come to Arreau before arriving at Aspin Pass which is a climb of 12km long and an average gradient of 6.7% and has featured in the Tour de France 74 times and will take them in the vicinity of Lake Payolle.

Lake Payolle

The cyclists then travel the Hourquette d'Ancizan, a mountain pass, before reaching Guchen an historic village with beautiful old buildings and a population of just 380.  An even smaller village of Bourisp and then onto the ski resort of Saint-Lary-Soulan before Val-Louron-Azet Pass at 110km on today's route.  Génos and Loundenvielle, two small villages before and even smaller Loudervielle (I bet those two are easily confused) with just a population of 54 before the race ends in Peyragudes, a ski resort.  Peyragudes featured in the opening scenes of Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, starring Pierce Brosnan.  There is the 11th century church of Saint-Aventin and 12 century Saint Anne's Church amongst all the winter sports activities.

Peyragudes

Who Won the Stage and Who Won What Jersey

The Stage winner is Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

The Yellow Jersey won by Jonas Vingegaard for Jumbo-Visma

The Green Jersey won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

The Polka Dot Jersey won by Simon Geschke for Cofidis/FRA.

The White Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

Combatif Award won by Brandon McNulty for UAE Team Emirates..

Leading team: Ineos-Grenadiers

The Challenge: It is back in to the mountains today as the cyclists climb from Saint-Gaudens to the ski resort of Peyragudes... not that there will be snow here at the moment!  Saint-Gaudens sits along the Garonne River. 

Take a white fibre and jazz it up with a bit of colour, this could come from effect fibres, other wools or you could chuck it in a dye pot!

Suggested Fibre:  We took our natural tweed and added some sari silk to take us "off-piste" with this challenge.

What I did

I didn't buy the second special TDF2022 fibre "off-piste" as I have two braids that are very similar to it but not quite the right colours to look like water.  Instead, I chose a fibre that was blue and sparkly and has a water related name "Shimmering Cascade".  It is 87.5% Corriedale, 12.5% Nylon.

Another simple and straight forward spin, simply split the fibre into to equal halves, pre-draft and spin a nice even single and then ply.  The finished yarn is fingering weight and is 100g/239m which in terms of the TdF length calculations is 717m - 2 singles plus the plied length = 3 x finished yarn length.  Those "white fibres" in the yarn are actually sparkly fibres and its lovely and soft.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2022 Stage 10 - Morzine les Portes due Soleil to Megève (France)

Stage 10 of the Tour de France and it is a 148.1km long hill race that starts in Morzine les Ports due Soleil (France) and ends in Megève (France)

The Map

Sights and points of interest along the route

Today's start town is a ski resort but back in 1181 the area was part of a grange that belonged to the Cistercian Monks of Aulps Abbey, 7km away from Morzine.  A grange was basically land owned by the monks and farmed by lay-brothers who reared livestock and cultivated the land which provided food, clothing, utensils and building materials to the abbey.  From 18th to 20th centuries slate quarries provided money before winter tourism took over from about 1930.

Morzine

Locally there is Morzine Village with its interesting old buildings and Les Dérèches Park a large green space what offers horse ridge, adventure trails and much more.  As they start today's race one of the first things to see is the remains of Aulps Abbey, one of the most important monasteries in medieval Savoy and the buildings were all but destroyed in 1823 and until 1998 it was still a farm but is now a place of historical recreation telling the story of life as a monk as it would have been back then.

Aulps Abbey remains

The cyclists pass La Baume, Lake Jotty and Jotty Dam and Devils Bridge Gorge near La Vernaz and then onto Publier, a former spa town on the shores of Lake Geneva and Thonon-les-Bains and 14th century Château de Ripaille and 2km away there Château d'Allinges-Vieux and Château D'Allinges-Neuf, which were built in the 10th century before being dismantled in the 18th century.

Reyvroz and Chablais Geopark are next along the route followed by Onnion, with its 19th century Saint-Maurice Church built on the site of a primitive church and has a 18th century bell.  Onto Saint-Jeoire and Beauregard Castle, which has endured much history and belonged to one family for more than 8 centuries before becoming a religious building.  Thyrez and Cluses are the next towns on the route, with the later being renowned for its watchmaking and screw-cutting.

The next major town is Sallanches, which was all but completely destroyed by fire in 1840.  63 people died and all that was left standing was the church and 5 out of 273 houses.  It was cleared and rebuilt, financed by King Charles-Albert of Savoy-Sardinia.

Sallanches

Passy is the next place on todays route, where Marie Curie died 29th June 1934 suffering the effects of too much exposure to radiation.  Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains is a spa and ski resort and then onto picturesque Combloux with its St Nicholas Church.

Combloux

The race ends in Megève, which is a well known ski resort near to Mont Blanc and featured in the 1963 film Charade when Audrey Hepburn's character, Regina Lampert, met Cary Grants character, Peter Joshua.  It also featured in the 1969 film Downhill Racer starring Robert Redford and Gene Hackman.

Who Won the Stage and Who Won What Jersey

The Stage winner is Magnus Cort Nielsen for EF Education - Easypost/USA

The Yellow Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

The Green Jersey won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

The Polka Dot Jersey won by Simon Geschke for Cofidis/FRA.

The White Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

Combatif Award won by Alberto Bettiol for EF Education - Easypost/USA

Leading team: Ineos-Grenadiers

The Challenge: It wouldn't be a Tour de Fleece without some cryptic or tenuous link; and this is what we present to you today!  The race leaves its rest spot of Morzine les Portes du Soleil and winds its way to Megève, known as a luxury ski resort. Megève is twinned with Oberstdorf in Germany within which you will find Richenbach.  Funnily enough there is another Richenbach in Switzerland where the detective Sherlock Holmes tussled with Moriarty before going over the Richenbach Falls.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle named this short story 'The final Problem'.  If you've followed this, you deserve a biscuit!

Today's challenge is to spin something that has been problematic and difficult for you - wrestle with your fibre nemesis on the precipice of the Falls!

Suggested Fibre:  No suggested fibre other than your nemesis

What I did

I have a fair amount of silk that I've been putting off spinning but most of it is actually smaller amounts of many, many colours and are part of my "ingredients box" for use in my own blends.  I do have a fibre advent calendar from a few years ago that is a "luxury" braid of fibre with colour co-ordinating silk.  Silk is very slippery to spin and also very fine and one day I will tackle it but its just too hot and humid right now.  

The other fibre I've been putting off is some faux cashmere that I've had a while and for the double whammy of it being my nemesis, one of the braids is pink so I will spin this.  Faux Cashmere is very soft and is actually 100% Nylon.

It is more of a delicate pink leaning towards lilac with just a couple of small areas of a more vivid pink so I the hope it that is spins up more of a soft pinky lilac.  I folded the length of the braid in half to find the mid-point and then pulled it apart at that point and then pre-drafted each half separately.  It is very fine and floaty, not as bad as silk but bad enough.  Please excuse the sexy crocs, they are very comfortable, especially for spinning.

The finished yarn is fingering weight (4ply in old UK money) and is 100g/229m and is super soft and a bit more pink than these photos make it out to be and in terms of the TdF length calculations is 687m - 2 singles plus the plied length = 3 x finished yarn length.

Advent Calendar Day 17

So this is a really small packet compared to the others and only weighs 60g, all of them besides the 24th are just over 100g.  Very disappointed on opening it as it isn't spinning fibre, its a ball of boucle yarn and I'm not a fan of boucle yarn.  It's their Hoop yarn in shade Blue Jay and actually it's 75% Mohair, 20% Wool, 5% Nylon and someone who prepared the info slips has been at the sherry again as they think its 100% Mohair along with whoever prepared the ball bands because that adds up to 105% on there and thirdly it weighs 60g, not the 50g stated on the ball band.  What a mess up, no wonder they've taken the opportunity to get rid of them.  I will most likely use it as suggested, as a ply with something else.  Todays festive saying is "run run rudolph" and now Bruce Springstein is in my head.

Yep, its another Design A2 - Salmon Mohair

I decided to use up the leftovers from a Custom shawl next, I bought a little extra whilst I could just in case of any miscalculations or emergencies such as bad or damaged yarn, seeing as this is vintage yarn and almost impossible to get hold of.  It was a miracle I was able to find any.

This is Charisma Fashion Mohair from Colours by Adrian of Edinburgh in shade Salmon and its 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.

Its a lovely, pretty yarn, but its Mohair and does shed but not as bad as some that I've used in the past.

Once again, the product photos were taken a number of months after I made the shawl as I had a lot going on and I'd put so much weight on that I couldn't fit into the wedding dress so I had to lose weight before I could do the photo shoot.

Another Design A2 - Colinette Fire

Carrying on with my Design A2 roll, I have picked a single skein of Colinette Mohair in shade Fire and this yarn has been discontinued some time.  Its 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.  Again, I used all of the skein.  I made this so fast that I didn't take any progress photos, nor did I take any when I washed and blocked it.

These product photos were taken several months after I made the item.

Robots in the Freezer - Design F213

Following on from the success of my last shawl I decided to make another one using another sock yarn, again Superwash Sock 80/20 from Spun Right Round, this time in shade "Robots in the Freezer" and its 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon.

I couldn't wait to wind this yarn to see how colourful it was and if there were any particularly large splodges of colour.  I was very happy to discover that this skein was one of the paler ones that I have seen in this colourway.  Choosing the beads was quite easy this time and I settled on Toho size 6 in shade 181 Rainbow Crystal Tanzanite, which are dark blue with a rainbow shine to the surface of the glass.

These knit up quite quickly, about 4 or 5 days, depending on how many hours you can spend knitting but I knit whilst the kids are in school so I do have limited hours as I don't knit once they are home.

Hopefully my photos are showing off the colour of the beads.

My eldest daughter is modelling for me again.

Available to purchase from my Etsy store until someone snaps it up as its another one-of-a-kind.

Living in a Bubble - Design F213

Every now and again I see people selling off yarn and I try my best to resist as I have so much already but on the rare occasion I give in, I can't help it, it calls to me.  So I've recently bought an amount of yarn that is designated as "sock yarn".  It is perfect for making socks as it contains an amount of nylon to make it more hard wearing but the beauty of it is is that you don't have to make socks with it, you can make other things with it.  I thought I would make some smallish shawls, the kind that you can wear as a scarf, a large neckerchief kind of thing.

I have made this design before way back in 2013.

The yarn is Superwash Sock 80/20 by Spun Right Round and is 80% Merino Wool, 20% Nylon.

Its a top down shawl, so the beaded edge is worked last.  I was thinking about using some dark blue beads but in the end I settled on some Toho size 6 beads in shade 507 Higher Metallic Iris Green, which aren't actually green but more of a rainbow bead with an overall green tone.  They are difficult to describe but as you can see from the photos, the multi-colours of the beads really work with the multi-colours in the yarn, which isn't as blue as it looks in some of the photos that were taken with my phone.

The photos below are more true to colour, these were taken with my actual camera, not with my phone, which tends to distort the colours somewhat.  I've decided that if I make any more of these, which I am bound to do, then I will add an extra bead to the centre point as it only calls for 4 in the pattern and I think it would look better if it had 5 so that it is closer in looks to those either side of it.

My eldest daughter agreed to model the shawl for me, she's just turned 15 and becoming a young woman and is the same height as me now.

As ever, you will find this in my Etsy store until someone buys it and then it will be gone as it is one-of-a-kind.