Nollaig Chridheil!

I can't believe how busy this month has been! 

Since my last post I have more than doubled my fundraising total and smashed through not just one but TWO personal targets!!! 

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to thank everyone for their generosity in the meantime but I just wanted to write a quick update before I head home for the holidays to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone who has donated thus far! 

First off I managed to complete the Juniper Dream Rustic Shawl in time for Jamie to take home with him to Canada and thanks to a wee blizzard at the beginning of the month I was lucky enough to have a couple of christmassy photos taken with it before the snow turned to sludge: 

Cheers again to Jamie for his patience and for being my first custom-order, I hope that the scarf and shawl last a long time and bring a lot of warmth and pleasure. 

The next major event in my calendar was my long awaited (at least by me) Christmas Craft Stall. It took me about 3 months to prepare with help from a few fantastic friends and I am thoroughly ecstatic with the result! 

Some items sold faster than others, the felted soaps in particular were a very popular christmas gift and they all flew off the table within the first hour! Sadly the earrings weren't as sought after which is a shame because I really enjoy making them... maybe next time, eh! 

Jewellery tree adorned with hand made
 earrings and stitch markers

The Highland Heather Collection in its entirety

Variety of hand spun yarns

Chocolate truffles and lots of yummy muffins and cupcakes

Coffee in hand and ready to start

My posse and I in front of the steadily depleting stock

Now that is a sight I love to see - and all to a fantastic cause! 

From a fundraising perspective I made a brilliant profit - £190 altogether -  almost double what I had hoped for! 

From a business POV there are a few things I could work on for the next stall in the new year: the location in Afie's was good but not as busy as other areas on campus (the best of which was already fully booked till the end of the semester) so I would organise the location and timing much further in advance in future. 

Advertising is something which is always going to be difficult, particularly as a student in a city such as Aberdeen. I feel guilty prying my fellow students away from their loans and bursaries as I understand completely how pushed for cash we are, particularly this close to the holidays. It would be lovely if I could get a stall on a local craft fayre away from the university sometime next year but there are costs attributed to running a stall like that which I'm not sure I'll be able to cover but it's worth considering. 

In other news I am very happy and relieved to say that I have FINALLY finished the Foxy Hat for my housemate! She was deliriously happy when I gave it to her and I am so sorry that it took so long! 

This evening I have also completed another custom order for my downstairs neighbour - a chunkier, thinner and faster version of the Under the Sea scarf for his mum's Xmas present and I have also managed to start the first few rows of a newborn baby hat for my housemate's cousin! As I'm heading home tomorrow I'm afraid that I will have to be posting it up when it's finished but it gives me something to do while I'm back in Nottingham over the festive season...

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël 

Nollaig Chridheil

Mele Kalilimaka 

Current Total: £820!

Stalling for Time...

(Title of Blog post kindly donated by Milos)

Another day in the paradise of Aberdeen: the weather is grey and miserable and I'm full of cold but despite everything I have high spirits... 

There has been a flurry of activity on my MyDonate page since my last post and I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has donated their hard earned cash to the cause! I can assure you that it is going to a fantastic charity and will help children all around the world - if you don't believe me then have a look for yourself!

I counted up the bucket from the fundraising pub crawl last week and in total I made a fantastic £96.15! That's more than I would have ever imagined for relatively little hard work and I am now aiming to reach the £500 mark by Christmas... fingers crossed! 

I may even make my target if my next venture goes well. 

Just to prove that I'm not shirking from hard work during my fundraising campaign I am very happy to be finally advertising my first ever craft stall! It will take place at Alfie's Cafe in Butchart Centre (UoA) from 12:30 till 4pm next Tuesday - 11th December - with all profits going towards my collecting for Childreach International! 

And lastly, in a mad rush to finish the second of Jamie's custom Christmas orders before he heads back to Montréal for the holidays... I am about half way through a loose-knit shawl in a beautiful hand-spun purple silk and merino blend from Ashford, hoping to finish it in the next couple of days which gives me chance to make a few more wee items for the stall as well. 

Getting excited already! 

Current Total: £345

I'm a Spinner, Not a Spinster.

I can't believe it's been a over a fortnight since I last posted in my blog. I've been so busy these last few weeks with uni work and personal dramas that I haven't had the time to think of anything but New Wave French cinema and Gaelic bilingualism in Highland schools... 

So where to start? 

I guess the first big news is that my labels and business cards have finally arrived! I feel like a real grown up now! As I am fundraising for charity they are the cheapest that Vistaprint have to offer - free design and three weeks to ship - but I'm hoping that they shall help advertise the cause over the next few months... 

Purple? With Butterflies? GIMME!!! 

I couldn't resist when I saw the wee spinning wheel! 

The only problem with the labels is my hatred for sewing but I figure that they give a more professional edge to anything that I sell and again, publicity is key! 

I went to my Childreach Inaugural meeting last Tuesday where I was introduced to the rest of my team for Machu Picchu and we received our fundraising buckets and t-shirts etc. They all seem really friendly and it made everything seem really real again, only seven months to go so I have a lot of fundraising to do in the meantime! 

I've managed to complete several of my projects over the last wee while, despite various deadlines, and I now have half a dozen pairs of earrings to put on the stall after a trip to the bead shop in town. I had a brain wave this morning and if anyone has an earring stand that I can borrow for my craft stall please get in contact with me as it'd come in really useful for presenting them!

Thankfully I have finally finished the Under the Sea scarf for Jamie and I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with it. In total - from blending the wool to sewing on the label - I worked out that it took me roughly twelve hours to complete, I just hope that Jamie's mum likes it and appreciates the hard work that I put into it. 

It's very difficult to show the true blend colours on a photo
but here is the best of many attempts! 

I want to thank my friend Milos for helping me to take a few photos of the scarf at the beach on Friday evening. We were lucky enough to get a couple of nice photos with the beautiful pink sunset as a background before the light started to disappear just after three o'clock in the afternoon, what is wrong with you, Aberdeen?!? Milos, I owe you a pint as thanks, I really appreciate it! 

The beautiful sunset over Aberdeen Beach on Friday evening.

I was actually surprised at how warm the scarf was 

Cutest puppy in Scotland came to give me a hand

You're sooo vain... 

Later that evening the Celtic Society hosted our second event of the semester, our first of many Celtic Themed Nights, this one focussing on our beloved Scotland. I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you on behalf of the Society to Marsaili for her brilliant speech and to everyone who came along, also thanks again to Nat for organising the fantastic music. Our fridge is still full of the haggis that we liberated at the end of the night, it will probably take us till Burns Night to finish it all! 

And on to a brief summary of my latest fundraising venture! I am very glad to say that my first charity collecting pub crawl was a success, we haven't counted the money yet as we're a little unsure of the regulations but Leonie and I worked well as a team and will be sharing our gains between us. 

There were just four of us on the crawl, Leonie and myself going to Machu Picchu and a couple of girls climbing to Everest base camp, we were all pretty nervous when we met up outside Paramount so we decided to go around in pairs taking half of the bar each. I was a little bit sceptical about shaking my bucket around and thoroughly expected to be told where to stick it but I was genuinely impressed by the generosity of the people of Aberdeen. The first donation I received was a five pound note from a gentleman who didn't even ask what I was collecting for! 

Ceitidh Seal: Licence to Chug...

A few donations and donators stick out in my memory, the first being an unsober oil rig worker who shoved a £20 note into my bucket when he couldn't find any change... 

The next nearly broke my heart: just as we were passing the corner of Union Street and Belmont a homeless man shouted after us to wait. We were all a little confused and explained that we don't have any cash on us other than the charity buckets, he then took out a handful of change from his pocket and thrust his hand towards us. Naturally we said that we couldn't accept it as it's all that he had but his response was 'No, love, they need it more than I do'. Leonie and I nearly wept. 

It was a really fun way to fundraise and you meet a lot of people in the process - I will definitely consider organising another crawl in the future to help boost my MyDonate page! My boyfriend has already promised to help me organise a wee pub crawl around Edinburgh when I'm up for Hogmanay. 

And lastly I'd like to wish Carleigh good luck with her presentation on knitting and spinning for which I was interviewed yesterday prevening. I hope that my ramblings came in useful and that you enjoyed playing with my spinning wheel! 

And so onto another long week of uni and knitting... 


Current Total: £153.55 + Bucket of Uncounted Change

At What Point Does Art Become Mess?

How is it the weekend already? Life is going past so quickly these days and I have so much to do, both for uni and for Childreach... I sometimes wish that Bernard's Watch really existed.

I've finally started knitting the Under the Sea scarf after finding a pattern to adapt on Ravelry. As the name suggests, I want the scarf to look like it's just washed up on the shore which is the complete opposite of perfect and store-bought - surprisingly difficult as I shall now try and explain. 

When I started experimenting with the freshly-spun yarn last week I tried knitting plain garter stitch on big needles (20mm) but although it was quick to knit I couldn't get the effect I wanted and it looked lazy and boring. For several days I was stuck, then thanks to a brainwave from my friend, Ele, I started looking for wave-shaped patterns to try out, both online and in my library of knitting books. 

Unfortunately many of the patterns that I found were too tight-knit and wouldn't have suited hand-spun yarn but eventually I stumbled across the perfect design incorporating everything that I had pictured in my mind's eye. For copyright reasons I had to extrapolate and adapt the pattern a little but I loved the idea of using drop stitches to create a running wave through the scarf and it's a novel way of highlighting the slubbiness of the yarn itself and the blend of colours used. 

Not long after starting the project, however, I had a bit of a crisis of confidence which resulted in yet more knitter's block... What if people think it's just messy and that I'm utterly useless at both spinning and knitting? What if Jamie's mum doesn't understand or appreciate the design? 

At what point does art become mess and vice versa? 

I don't tend to panic about this sort of thing with my other, more conventional, projects - those that follow a strict pattern and are made using the perfect size needle gauge for the yarn. A dropped stitch usually invokes a panicked five minutes with a crochet needle and a skipped heart beat yet in this case I am expected to drop multiple stitches every half a dozen or so rows then ladder the scarf on purpose. It goes against everything I have ever made before and it's a difficult mindset to get into. 

But I love it! 
I love the randomness of the rows
I love the curliness of the over-spun yarn between the loose ribbing
I love the way the silk, corriedale and merino create different textures throughout the piece 
I love its uniqueness and knowing that there is no scarf in the world exactly like this one
Though most of all I love that it has been created by me, myself and I - from scratch. 

When I realised that I am beginning to think of this scarf as my own offspring the panic subsided and I remembered why I became a spinner in the first place. The first thing I ever spun myself was on a drop spindle a few summers back... it was terrible, utterly terrible; at the beginning I had no idea how I was meant to draft the wool and spin at the same time and by the time it clicked in I had nearly finished. One half of the yarn was chunky and the other half was practically lace-weight, I dip dyed it badly and ended up with a garter stitched purple and pink mess with one end twice the width of the other. When I took it to show my Grandma her friends looked at me with pity and smiled and nodded slowly when I said that I'd made it all by myself. Nevertheless I adore that scarf and it's my symbol of defiance and determination. 

'Never let them tell you that something is too difficult or impossible' - Douglas Bader 

The photo doesn't do the colours or length any justice
but here is a sneak preview of my first custom-ordered scarf:
 Under the Sea

And so I am going to keep on knitting with a clear conscience and although I very much hope that the recipient loves the scarf as much as I do, I have to learn to trust in myself and not worry so much about other people's opinions and criticisms. 

In the meantime I'm still working on my potential stall so I am knitting another Highland Heather Hat and I'm going to see if I can get any matching gloves made to go with them as a set but I still haven't got any 6.5mm dpns so that will have to wait a few more days. It's reading week at uni so I'm completely bogged down with French essays and reading for Gaelic but I'm hoping to have a few nights of knitting and jewellery making etc... 

Second attempt at the Highland Heather Hat
- I'm aiming to have five for sale by next month...

And finally: I had a very productive evening this Wednesday and made my first batch of Felted Soaps. I found a tutorial by the brilliantly talented Neauveau Fibre Arts on youtube whilst procrastinating earlier this week and decided to give it a go myself. It's such an awesome and brilliantly simple idea that I can't believe it's only just beginning to take off! Essentially you wrap wool round a bar of soap and wet and agitate it until it felts: in short it's a bar of soap with an attached wash cloth! 

My first felted soaps using a variety of popular brands
- will be on sale at my Xmas stall next month

There are some genuinely good reasons for using and buying/making felted soap: 
When you leave a normal bar of soap in the shower or on the side of the bathtub it develops a horrible scud on the outer layer which is usually rubbed off when you next use it and gets washed down the drain. It also bugs me how you rarely get to the end of the bar, I usually bin mine when it gets to the cracked and dried out stage because it then breaks up into tiny pieces and and gets all yucky (scientific term). All of this is incredibly wasteful, particularly if you're a student and would rather spend your money at the pub than in superdrug or tescos on yet MORE soap! 

Not only does the wool cover prevent this scuddy layer from forming, it's also a minor exfoliator and wash cloth - they also lather up really quickly and feels lovely and soft. You also don't have to worry about those last little yucky bits as they are all contained within the woollen pouch - no more waste! If you are really into your recycling you can re-use the felt on another bar of soap or do a quick google search for ideas on how to turn it into another useful and pretty household item. 

I have ten ready made to put on my Christmas stall and they'd make a novel and cheap stocking filler for friends and family!

Current Total: £142

Round and Round in the Circle Game...

I think it's safe to say that it's been a busy and productive weekend! 

A couple of posts ago I mentioned dabbling with the 'dreaded circular needles'... I would hereby like to retract that statement - I have since fallen in love with knitting in the round and have even bought two more pairs of beautiful (and slightly pricey) Knit-Pro Symphonie Interchangeables for further projects. If I wasn't a poor student I would have the complete set of symphonie needles, hooks and any other accessories that I can get my hands on but sadly I can't justify it... one day maybe...

So as I say, busy weekend. I started knitting my first hat in the round early last week and finally finished it on Friday night, I have named it 'Raspberry Swirl' and I am reserving it for my Christmas stall next month along with everything else I've done these last few days. 

I realised on Saturday that I was actually running low on commercial wool for knitting with (something that I never thought would happen) and so I went for a wander with my friend Ty down to the wonderful local wool shop in Aberdeen, Wool for Ewe on Rosemount. I was a bit worried about him getting bored but other than telling me to stop asking his advice about needle sizes he was actually pretty enthusiastic, particularly when he noticed the buttons - anything shiny eh, Ty? 

Despite falling desperately in love with every beautiful yarn I came across and having buttons that I just HAD to have thrust upon me I managed to remain slightly under-budget so we then headed down to Bead Crazy to spend the change on more sparkly things! 

I came home with lots of goodies to play with and immediately set about knitting a hat with the beautiful multicoloured chunky yarn I bought. I decided to wing it and didn't follow any pattern (a little headstrong for my second circular piece) but I am proud of the result I achieved. Because of the many colours I decided early on that there was no point in knitting anything too complicated as cables and lace would be too fancy and would possibly become an eyesore so I kept to a slightly slouchy beanie shape using just rib and stocking stitch: 

I'm blaming the bags under my eyes on
 my inability to put this yarn down...

The colours are slightly different to this in real life
 but I like the almost self-striping effect.

I've named the hat 'Highland Heather' because of the beautiful mix of greens, blues, browns and purples and my only resentment is that I didn't spin the yarn myself. This blend is now on my spinning to-do list! 

In addition to all of this I have at last made some progress on my other projects - Kez's fox hat now has two slightly squinty ears and I have finally purchased some eyes even though I have yet to attach them. Also, I have hopefully decided on a pattern for Jamie's Under the Sea Scarf after getting knitters block earlier this week... At my friend Ele's suggestion I have found a lovely loose wave-shaped pattern on Ravelry and will be adjusting and extrapolating it to suit my project. Fingers crossed it will work! 

This evening, once I had finished sewing the buttons to my latest knitted creation, I got the sewing-box out and started making a few sets of stitch markers with the beads that I bought yesterday. For anyone who doesn't knit, stitch markers are used to highlight areas where the pattern changes or to show the beginning of the round when using circular needles. They come in very handy, particularly with larger projects and I've been meaning to get the pliers out for weeks now. I have to admit that I'm not very impressed with my current crimp tubes as the silver plating falls off as soon as you touch them but I will buy some more for future sets. 

Set 1 - Suitable for small to medium-sized needles up to 6.5mm

Set 2 - Better with thinner needles due to their light weight
- up to 4 or 5mm

Set 3 - Designed for big needles and chunky wool
- shown on 10mm needles

I have also come across half a dozen pairs of unfinished earrings that I started making before going on my year abroad, once I find some decent crimps I'll finish them all and could maybe make some more - in colours other than purple! - to put on the Christmas stall... 

It's amazing what you find when you go rummaging through your sewing box...

I'd also like to thank everyone who has donated over the last few days, I still have a long way to go to reach the fundraising target of £2450 but the support I have received so far has been overwhelming and I really appreciate it! 


Current Total: £142

Samhain, Spinning and Strip the Willow

Happy Hallowe'en everyone, I hope you all had a good night. Mine was downright fantastic from the word go! It helps that my antibodies were temporarily winning the battle against the plague so for one day at least I didn't speak like the horrible aunts from the Simpsons... sadly today the tables have turned but it was good while it lasted. 

So last night was eventful to say the least. I managed to crowbar in a little bit of fundraising before heading out on the town thanks to a suggestion by a friend who completed the Great Wall of China trek for Childreach last year; thanks for the tip, Sean! 

The activity was simple but ingenious and so while my housemates were still eating their dinner and watching the mentalist I threw on my costume (Fraulein Maria in the dirndl I bought in a second hand shop in Austria this summer), fished the bowl of sweeties out the cupboard and printed off a copy of my registration letter before heading out to beg spare change from the neighbours - a kind of charity trick or treat if you will... 

I'm not going to lie, I hate knocking on doors asking for money and I spent many hours during my youth collecting for the RAFA Wings Appeal so I know already that I stutter and mumble and shake whenever someone actually answers. Nevertheless I gave it my best shot and thanks to a little dutch courage (donated by flat C) I managed to make it around three blocks of the student accommodation where I currently reside. 

The response was decidedly mixed, on the whole those who answered were very friendly and generous and I forgive anyone who didn't have any change on them (my own purse back home being completely empty too). One flat who were quite obviously preparing for a night of heavy drinking opened the door after a couple of knocks and I found myself face to face with a young man painted head to toe in red and a neanderthal, both of whom were very enthusiastic about the sweeties and donated a decent handful of change each. On a similar thread I may have insulted a young female neighbour who tentatively inched the door open wearing a face mask and I asked her (jokingly) if she was already dressed for the evening. 

Overall I would describe it as a fruitful endeavour and I made a total of £22.65 which is a lot more than I had anticipated and I am very grateful to all those who donated!

Following my charity collecting we headed into town for the Monster Ball Ceilidh, organised by our good friend Adam, dressed as a hat-less witch, an Austrian nanny and jail-bait... The ceilidh was absolutely fantastic and I have the bruises to prove it (not as bad as Imoan's but hers are just insane) and it was so good to be back hanging out with the people I love and being flung around the room in every direction but the right one... 

A massive congratulations and thanks is in order for Adam for organising the event and I hope he enjoyed it as much as we did!

Current Total: £82

Looking for Sympathy? It's In't Dictionary, Duck!

I'm afraid to say that this weekend wasn't quite as productive as I'd have hoped, due mainly to the hangover caused by the Celtic Society's epic Hallowe'en pub crawl on Friday night... Nevertheless I have made some progress with my current projects and at last I have a couple of photos to show you all!

First off I still need to finish the fox hat, thankfully for me Kez hasn't started nagging just yet - though in fairness nagging may be the only way to remind me to do it. In my defence I'm ill with the plague (no joke, I even phoned my mum for sympathy and to complete my verbal last will and testament: the dog gets everything) and I am also still undecided about the eyes. 

In the meantime I have been spinning away through my mountain of 'Under the Sea' blend for Jamie, as mentioned in the previous entry. I have about nine more rolags to get through and once that's done I have to sit and wait patiently for my new 15mm needles to arrive. I had hoped to head into town on Sunday in order to buy some in person but as I'd missed a day through self-inflicted alcohol-induced pain I realised all too late that the shops I wanted to visit are closed on the sabbath and so I had to make do with eBay and online stores. 

Here are a few photos of the current project, Operation Montreal:

The raw materials: Turquoise Corriedale, Royal Blue Merino,
Grey Merino and a dash of Mulberry Silk. 

Although the colours don't show up brilliantly in the photos I was
quite pleased with the blend once I'd carded it into loose rolags... 

Make that a mountain of rolags! Forty-four to be precise... 

I decided to use a semi-woollen draw when spinning and opted against
plying to ensure that I have enough yarn to knit a scarf.
 In theory it also prevents the effect of the blend being lost.

The first skein of the Under the Sea blend still on the niddy-noddy...

In addition to spinning for Jamie I have just started another knitting project on the dreaded circular needles... It turns out that I am a very conservative (little C - no Tories here thank you very much) knitter and tend to stick with what I know. When I had this shocking moment of realisation the other day I decided to man up and start experimenting more - hence the messing with intarsia last week. Hell, if I can jump from a plane at 10,000 feet then I'm sure I can knit in the round!  

Current Total: £60

Foxy Hats and Carding Blues

I've had a busy few days it must be said. I tried my hand at my first animal hat, the pattern for which was inspired by an article in a knitting magazine that I bought at the corner shop the other day on a tipsy whim (the original pattern can be found in Rachel Henderson's new book - Animal Hats). 

I tend to avoid colour work like the plague as I find intarsia messy and I can never get the tension quite right for fair isle - or forget to weave the second colour into the work regularly and end up with huge loops across the back of the piece. However, I love the current fashion for animal hats and their inherent quirkiness, not that they suit me, and have made an exception as an experiment... 

The almost finished product (still need to tidy up the ends, sew on the ears and find some foxy eyes) has taken somewhere in the region of 4 or 5 hours to make thus far, quite a bit longer than I had anticipated and sadly as I don't have the rights to the pattern I am legally unable to sell the hat. This doesn't upset me, however, as my housemate Kez bagsied it within a few rows and has promised to donate money to the charity to compensate me for the time spent knitting it for her (oh how I love legal loopholes!). 

Now I have had some practice time I hope I'll be able to develop my own patterns over the coming weeks and can then sell as many animal hats as I please! Watch this space or poke me until I get my bum into gear and do it... 

In other news, I posted a message on my Facebook wall the other day saying that I won't be taking any custom orders for a while... I'm ashamed to say that this a teeny weeny white lie but for a good cause, I promise! My lovely new Québecois friend and Celtic Soc committee member, Jamie, has put in a nice, big order for Xmas goodies to send home to his family and I am trying to make a start on it before concentrating on stocking up a Christmas handmade-crafts stall at university in December. 

Jamie has currently requested a scarf and shawl in hand-spun wool for his mum and auntie and came round to the flat last night to pick colours and admire Seònaid, my beautiful Ashford Traditional wheel. I have since made a start on the colour blending and as his mum is a fan of blues I have been hand-carding a beautiful turquoise corriedale with grey and royal blue merino and (because he is such a wonderful person) I also threw in a smattering of beautifully soft and shimmery mulberry silk top at no extra cost. 

I'm not going to lie, I am actually in love with this blend (I realise that may seem somewhat vain) but as an avid fan of the colour purple I have rarely bothered playing around with other mixes and shades. This project has already taken me a little out of my comfort zone, something which I am very grateful for, and I can't wait to start spinning it!  

In other news I would like to thank my good friends, Ele and Véronique for offering to donate some of their hand-knitted items to the cause, for sale at the Xmas stall - you have no idea how much I appreciate the help and it's already helped lower my stress levels! If anyone else would like to get involved in a similar way then please get in contact, I'd love to have you on board! 

I also had my first proper chat this afternoon with my Childreach Int. Team Leader, Emma, who gave me advice and tips about fundraising. I can't deny that I have been totally impressed and pleased with the support and encouragement that we receive from the charity and the excitement is quickly building up about the trek! 

Anyways, it's the AU Celtic Society pub crawl tonight and I promised to make a pompom for our treasurer's costume... that and I have loads of homework to hand in (aka staring out the window at the snow and the boats clinging desperately to the Aberdeen shoreline) so I best get going - yay for the weekend! 

Current total: £40