Floundering under a sea of wips..

Not as Mr S thought a bit of S&M with whips, but works in progress..........

As I sat knitting yesterday afternoon watching both GB Curling teams lose to Sweden I realised that despite a not too rigidly self-imposed rule that something must come off the needles before casting on again, once more I have far too many wips!

There are three sweaters, one sock that needs a second, five shawls, one I think will be frogged despite it being a Winter Ravelympics challenge, because I have decided that I really don't like lace in a sport-weight yarn!!  Then there are the two strings of bunting, one for Fibre East and the other for our caravan pitch during the Tour de France - that's the all the knitting I think!

When it comes to spinning, there are the bobbins of spun singles waiting to be plied - eight in total! In my defence two are waiting for a second suitable single (possibly silk) to be plied with. 

Now when I say bobbins what I really mean, in some cases, is the insides of toilet rolls, practical but not pretty!

Just some of the 'bobbins'!

Here again Mr S is coming to the rescue!  The 'bobbin' on the right is the first of many bobbins in softwood that Mr S is making for me - very simple, no bushes just a a wooden tube with ends, very practical - I just need more!

In fact he is, as I write, in the process of making me a bobbin winder which will free up the proper bobbins, but he is waiting on the bearings which were 'out of stock' and are now on back order!  More on the winder at a later date!!!

But for today I reveal his latest creation...............

The KleverKate with four Schacht Bobbins

............. the KleverKate!  This is the second KleverKate he has made, the first, based on a picture she found on the web was made for a friend.  It was far more complicated and included a tensioning device, which the recipient found to be unnecessary and an extra that just cluttered up the base.  By removing that bit, there is plenty of room for the fourth bobbin and threading the singles through the eyes creates enough tension for plying!  This one is in Sweet Chestnut and Heated Ash!

Good news - five of my wips found new homes on Saturday and they were the five Blending Boards made for the members of the SpinDyeWeavers...

Rough Cut Boards ready for sanding!

Boards on Parade!

Ready for the cloth to be stapled

 

Packed in the box and ready to go!

I was really pleased that I managed to find the perfect box for the boards, at a Model Railway Exhibition of all places!  These are made for Laurie Griffin who sells his brass etched loco kits in them and he was kind enough to sell, at cost, five boxes!  As each board was identical I offered an etching service,and the girls happily played with my pyrography pen to create their own individual designs - cats, frogs, sheep and hares now adorn the boards!

 

 

 

Picture from Fibrefrog on Rav.

Would you believe that when I was sorting through my stash in search of an elusive ball of yarn I discovered that I have a warp ready to go on the loom!