Sunday, 29 May 2011

Crochet Throw - Never ending squares



There is something very restful about crocheting, I find..... I love the rhythm that crochet creates, and the fact that, like knitting, it allows glorious indulgence in colour.
I started this throw in April and it just grew and grew, each row adding to its size.  I have used acrylic yarn, which I must say I would not have even considered had it not been for Lucy of Attic 24 and her use of Stylecraft yarns - see here  and here- so lovely!
In my granny square throw I have used both Hayfield Bonus and Stylecraft DK, picking up the odd ball here and there to extend it and gradually increase the size; and I to say that they worked really well, being both easy to work with and soft.




Looking at the colours - which are all greens and browns - I was perhaps thinking about the new shoots of spring leaves appearing all around, and the long, hot, sultry summer days to come....

Monday, 2 May 2011

Baby alpaca

I finally completed spinning and plying the black baby alpaca a couple of weekends ago.  The plying took nearly three hours in an epic session on Sunday afternoon -  it felt like I had been spinning and plying this for months.   However, since the resulting yarn is so soft and fine, I feel it has been well worth all the effort!



2 ply, just under 4oz, approx 416 yds WPI 20-22



Now I'm taking a break from alpaca while I spin up some muted red merino that I have in my stash.   At the back of my mind I still have ideas for the orange & black and the lime green & black mixes (based on the chocolate theme.....mmmm!!) it is now a question of just deciding if I spin singles or a plied yarn.....Decisions, decisions....