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
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