TGCC (The Grand Christmas Challenge) update 1

I've finally finished the pieces of the biggest project of my TGCC.  I looked through my stash, decided which yarn I had the most of, and picked this to knit Jenna's cardigan.  It was a sock weight yarn from Fyberspates which I had got over a year and a half ago in a sale.  It was in the sale as it was unlabelled, and Jeni (the owner/creater/seller of Fyberspates) couldn't remember what it was or meterage etc.  It's got some alpaca content, and that's about all we know!  I've had some problems with it, it's been staining my hands blue!  I'm not sure if it's excess blue dye or just poorly fixed.  I know from having done dying myself, the blue dye is trickier to fix and takes lots of rinsing. 

So in soaking it today for blocking, the water turned a horrible colour.  I'll need to knit on button bands as finishing, so I've had to soak some of the yarn to balance it out so that they match the main body of the knitting.  It'll also be a good opportunity to see if it still stains my hands.  If it does, I will probably try heat fixing the finished garment in a vinegar solution.

And whilst that dries, I have swatched and made a start on the next biggest project - Morgan's cardigan.  Looking through the yarns at hand, the next biggest quantity was some "double knit" SW merino which I had dyed.  However, this yarn, as lovely and soft as it is, it's horribly thin for a DK.  I generally don't bother swatching (yeah, I know, I'm a lazy knitter!), but I wanted to see what it was like knitted up on 4mm needles as called for by the pattern I had picked.  It looked okay.... I suppose, but looked much better and even on the 3.5mm needles.  So I had to do some lateral thinking and maths about the sizing, but I've cast on and done the first couple of centimeters.

 On the 4mm needles, and a close up:

 And on the 3.5mm needles, a denser, firmer fabric, with much neater and more even stitches - see up close:

 

 The two swatches side by side, pinned out, but not stretched/blocked.  They are both the same number of stitches across, which goes to show the difference that a half millimeter makes!

And finally, a parting shot of the start made today.  It's a different skein of the batch, and has fewer pale areas and the colours are much richer.  Clearly this was the skein on the top of the pile in the dying pot.  I'll use the middle one next, and only use the bottom one (from which I did my swatches) if I have to.  I really like how the darker skeins look, and it's a shame that the bottom one is so different and pale in comparison.

The grand Christmas challenge 2011

During my recent move, a certain fact became very clear to me.  It's not like I didn't know it already, but there's a certain something about seeing it for fact, in person, a tangiable, undeniable fact.  I have silly amounts of yarn and fibre.  I mean there's having stash, pretty to pet and indulge in... but then there's having an addiction - where it just bulges out of every storage space in your tiny little flat.  When did this happen?  And how much have I spent!?

A second fact has also become very clear since the move.  That is the fact that I've had a pay cut and at the same time, an increase in expenses - more rent, more bills, bus fare.  Suddenly, I'm living a very close existance!  I mean, there's nothing to really complain about, but I've gotten used to a certain level of disposal income, which I don't really have any more, and I forget this, and end up broke, or at least very near to it by mid-month.

Now, I'm not telling you these things as a moaning outlet or a boast or anything of those sorts.  I'm setting a scene.  So, what happens when these things combine?  I fun crafting challenge! 

I hereby pledge that everyone on my Christmas gift list will be getting handmade items using fibre and yarn I already own.

The rules -
1) No fibre or yarn is to be brought - I'm on a strict yarn and fibre diet until the new year, at least.  I have to make up some more room first!  The only exceptions are the two clubs that I belong to - my Wildcraft fibre and spindle subscription which runs every other month, and my Piperfic's luxuary fibre club.
2) I can buy patterns, buttons and the like.  Only essential "notions".
3)  Any craft will be permitted - knitting, crochet, felting.  I'm going to try and knit with as much of my handspun as possible.
4) Everyone on my list has to get at least one item, the adults will most likely only be getting small things - hats, scarves, mitts, shawls.
5) If I decide to get someone a Christmas present, a part of it must involve an item fitting the above criteria, i.e. any last minute "Oh, I was going to give so-and-so a pressie" must get something made from my stash.

And as for my list of Christmas recipients.  Well, this is where it's potentially tricky.  If I'm going to be strict and stick to the rules, then I have to keep the list relatively small.  But here's my initial thoughts:
1) Both parents, although not sure what I'll do for my dad.
2) Grandparents (UK ones only, it's not practical to get the SA ones things)
3) Brother - although haven't given it much thought as to what.
4) Aunt and cousin
5) Sarah and Martin
6) The Clark girls
7) The Clark baby
8) Conner
(6, 7, 8 are all little kids, so they are to get a cardigan or sweater each, make this rule 6!)
9) Emma
10) Lorri
11) Sam and Kev
12) Mary
13) Fiona
14) Mrs Spoon

And I think that's enough to get started with... right?  I'm sure I may yet think of a couple others!

And so it begins... or rather, so it has begun.  I've made a start - it's a lot of crafting to get through before Christmas.  And I'll keep the blogosphere updated on it.

My golden fleece

I'm ever so slowly working my way through the alpaca fleece that I was given best part of a year ago now.  It's such a beautiful joy working with something so "raw" and close to nature.  I get so used to spinning with mill prepared fibre, usually already dyed and ready for me just to take those final two steps of spinning and knitting, that it's humbling and awe inspiring to take the process back even further.  There's the crazy washing that turns tan/brown to white:

And then there's the deciding what to do with it.  I've spindle spun some undyed before I got the wheel.

But since I've had the wheel, I've done another one of my epic dying sessions with Sarah, and I used the alpaca, as it's beautiful creamy whiteness screams out to be dyed, to use up left over dye baths and exhausts.  I did this by shoving handfuls of the dried washed fibre into a plastic bag and then pouring the dye in.  This worked ok, but there was poor penetration to the centre of the handfuls, leaving undyed spots.  With this, I arranged it into a rainbow, carded and spun to quite a chunky n-ply.  I used this to start a small colourful blanket, based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl, but run out before I got it to a decent size.

And so the blanket went on hold, but I did get round to a special little alpaca project, by carding some undyed alpaca with some undyed silk, in a roughly 80/20 blend and spun it on a spindle that I had been given, courtesy of Karen at Wildcraft.  She had been experimenting with polymer clay whorls, and I had absolutely fallen in love with one of her prototypes, and she very kindly snuck it in with a fibre club installment.  The alpaca/silk seemed like the perfect way of christening this very special and much loved little spindle.  I love how soft and shiney this yarn is.  There's not a lot of it, about 115m of thick laceweight, so I have no idea what I'll do with it.  But I'm sure I'll have fun deciding!

(Clearly my handcarding still not as smooth as it could be, but it's improving!)

So I've just dyed up some more, using dye baths on the stove and larger handfuls.  My rainbow progression will be spoilt, but it'll still be wonderfully colourful. I wanted to do a goldeny colour, which always amazes me that I have to add plum to yellow to get, but it works out so well.  It's finally more or less dry, so I spent tonight picking it, ready to be carded, when I get round to it, likely to be at the weekend.

 My golden fleece

 The short second cuts that make for really bumpy spinning and some veg matter still coming out.

 Lovely little golden lock, pre-picking

A golden cloud of alpaca fluff

This single alpaca fleece has given me seemingly endless hours of crafting, and has helped me produce so many different projects.  Most of all it's been a fantastic learning tool - and I still have quite a bit of it left over!  Yippee!

Produce of the wheel - part 1 (of many!!)

So yesterday was all about getting the wheel, now for some of shots of what it's enabled me to do.  The first thing I spun was this - approx 200g of black Welsh Mountain tops.  It was one of the lucky dip fibres that came with my wheel, and was a lovely fibre to work with and perfect to learn with.  Spun as a simple two ply, which worked out as a soft, bouncy chunky-ish yarn.

 The first bobbin on the go

And the finished yarn.  Still debating what to do with it.  It's not next to skin soft, but it's a lovely yarn all the same.  I liked it so much that I've since brought and spun more, trying to get it as similar as possible in terms of thickness (and failing!).

From then I moved on to some dyed fibres - first off a 3 ply of EWB, then a 2-ply SW cheviot.

The red stuff was really lovely, such a pretty colourway but I don't think my rookie spinning and plying did it the justice it deserved.

And finally for today, a lovely, slightly unusual fibre - Devon longwool.  I brought a braid of this and then got one a short while later as part of a fibre club in a similar colourway, they screamed out to be plied together and looked stunning when completed.  Again, not to sure what to do with this.

Ever since I've had my wheel, it's been a lovely adventure of learning, leaving my flat cluttered with spinning paraphenalia, or if I'm being tidy, a neat little corner a little like this:

(Jacob top on the bobbins, and yes, I ended up getting more, because a spinner really can't have enough bobbins!)

The Wheel

My crazy fibre crafting really took on a mind of it's own, when earlier this year, I splashed out on a shiney new spinning wheel.  This is an idea I've had for a while, probably since about this time last year, but I always thought it would be an expensive waste, as I didn't have access to lessons.  So, I successfully managed to put it to the back of my wish list, thinking they were too expensive to fool around with.  Over on Ravelry, I'm a member of the Wildcraft group.  I get my spindles from there and a lot of my spinning fibre, and it was always making me a little envious seeing all these wheels and the things people did with them.  During one of these moments, I posted a comment about my wheel envy, and I got a lot of good natured replies, which set me off on a slippery slope.  I realised two things, one - there are wheels out there that aren't as expensive (even new) as I thought and two - perhaps I didn't need access to lessons.  I discussed these on the forum, and got a lot of encouragement, and dare I say, enablement.  It was pointed out the me that I had taken to spindle spinning really well, and it had given me a good grasp of the fundamentals of spinning.  And youtube was there for the rest.  And then in January, I came into a little extra money when I assisted one of the surgeons at work on a couple of cases, giving me nearly half the money that I'd need for the wheel I had set my heart on... and the rest, as they say, is history. (And I can't believe it's taken me up to now to blog about it!  Mainly because between it and my knitting, soon all my spare time was absorbed!!)

 The box has arrived!

 First tantalising glances - including some lucky dip fibre - I got a £15 fibre voucher with my purchase and asked them to pick a variety of good newbie fibres.

 The Wheel with it lovely turned spokes

 All the pieces laid out ready to be waxed

 Unable to resist that first treadle, even though the wheel wasn't ready yet.

And the finished article with my first attempts at spinning.

I tried to give her a name, but it never really stuck, she's just "The Wheel".

And I really haven't looked back since.  I've spun literally kilometers of finished yarns on it, and have never once regretted my decision.  I have read a couple of books, discussed it with the various forums and watched lots of youtube.  I really haven't needed lessons after all!

Positive affirmations and all that

Today was wonderfully positive - my supervisor at work randomly told me that he had been getting lots of positive feedback from the patients and the other partners in the practice about me.  Yay!  It's so lovely to get some feedback and to feel a little better about how I've been getting on, especially after yesterday's post of mixed emotions.

I have also stretched my legs, metaphorically and literally and did a home visit today.  It's an utterly fascinating and stripped back way of doing medicine, and an interesting challenge.  I thought going from the hospital to the GP was a change in gear from having everything so easy available and at my finger tips.  But it's not a patch on going into someone's home, who almost by definition is worse off than the patient who can get to the surgery, with just a bag of "essentials".  I feel very protected and safe, as my visits are very carefully prescreeened by my supervisor, but it still presents a whole set of challenges.  And that was part of my feedback today, he said he wouldn't have sent me out if he didn't have confidence in my abilities.  What a lovely compliment.

As you may have guessed, I'm at a little of a loose end tonight, sitting typing a blog entry on a Friday night.  But it just seems like there was nothing better to do.  I had a chaotic full house last weekend, and the contrast to this is startling.  And I've finished my latest projects and trying to decide what to do next.  And it's only 10pm, and there's still a whole weekend ahead of me.  I so have to think of things to do tomorrow.

GP land

In the last few weeks since I've posted (yeah, yeah, I know!) life has been a chaotic upchurn of things.  I've moved both my home and my job, said goodbye to so much old, and hello to all this new stuff.  It's scary to think just how fast the last year has gone by and just how far I've come.  I feel, in many ways, like a completely new person.  I've changed in many ways.  They say that Med School really doesn't make a doctor, it just gets you on the path.  And it's so true.  I'm now what would have been up to a few years ago, an SHO (senior house officer), which sounds so much more advanced than F2 (what the position is now called) and I have to pinch myself to believe that I'm an SHO!

I feel so much more experienced, yet at times, I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the mountian sized amount of things that I just don't know.  And no where is that more apparent than working as a GP.  There are the simple things like chest infections, that I've seen so many times before and I feel so comfortable with, even the nastier, hairier versions of.  And then there are the things that I've just never seen before, and perhaps have a dusty memory somewhere of, like all the rashes that I get presented with!  I really know so little about dermatology, and chances are, I never will have to.  But it's so frustrating to go from something where I feel so comfortable to something where I have to ask my supervisor about.  The variety of general practise is wonderful, and a challenge that I really thrive on, but some days my confidence really takes a knock!  It's nice to have that safety net of someone to fall back on, but I really do feel lost by it all at times.

My new home is well and truely a home now, with my bags and boxes unpacked, and my junk scattered about.  I love this little space.  It's by far the most grown up place I've ever lived, with it's slick kitchen and nice bathroom.  I feel amazed by the twists and turns of life that have lead me to this place.  I still can't quite believe it at times.  I can't wait to do so much in this space, even though I'm only going to be here for a year.  Just silly little things, like buy extravegant new sheets, with rediculously unnecessarily high thread counts, and getting a new dinner service so that I can retire my well loved and worn set that I've had for about 7 years.  And this time, there'll be no cheap as I can find student budget plates.  I want to really look round and enjoy picking out the right ones.  Silly and dreadfully materialistic, I know, but it's these simple things that bring pleasure to my life - to be able to afford these luxuaries after all those years as a broke student!  And I can't wait to entertain and have people round in this precious little space I call home.