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  

Spinning my way to Machu Picchu

So I guess I should probably start by introducing myself to the blogosphere: 

Hi I'm Sealy, a full time student at the University of Aberdeen where I spend my weekdays studying French and Scottish Gaelic. At night, however, my attention turns to spinning and knitting and other ways to procrastinate my life away in an attempt to prevent my brain exploding due to Gaelic grammar and the bane of my life: the French subjonctif. 

I've attempted to keep up with blogs in the past, the latest giving updates of my InterRail journey around Europe this last summer... it never really took off (though I blame that on the lack of useable public wifi in Bosnia). This time I intend to be a little more reliable and make it at least a week before I get bored and focus on something else. 

My intention is to record my fundraising activities for my next big adventure: Trekking Machu Picchu to raise money for the fantastic charity, Childreach International, in August 2013! 
Click here for further details on the charity itself and information about where the money will be going to. 

In order to get to Peru I have to raise quite a large sum of money - £2450 to be exact, this is already proving to be quite tricky and so I shall be doing A LOT of fundraising over the next academic year in order to reach my target! 

As such I am spinning and knitting my way to Peru using the social media giant, Facebook, and crafty websites such as Folksy (British version of Etsy) to get the word out, whilst simultaneously bugging all my friends across the country until they give in and donate a pound or few. 

Since I signed my name on the dotted line a couple of weeks ago I have been knitting and spinning almost constantly and I am proud to say that my first hand-spun wool was sold online a few days ago and I already have several custom orders to process in the coming weeks. Seeing as most of the information about my current items for sale can be found at the links above (click on Facebook and Folksy) I am dedicating this blog to individual handmade items and the process of making them and other fundraising events that I shall be participating in.

Anyway it's getting late and I have to go learn some Gaelic so I shall carry on rambling tomorrow... 

Current Total: £40