I'm actually quite pleased...

And well I should be!

Here's what I started with last night. From top left is (in case you couldn't figure it out) the tussah silk I spent 3 or 4 evenings spinning very fine to go with the camel down (top right) I (finally) finished it off! I'd started spinning the camel down over 4 years ago. I remember being very happy with my work on such a non-beginner fiber, but decided that it was taking foreverrrrrr to get any noticable progress, so I put the bobbin to the side and worked on other things (for a very long time. Now I'm more used to spinning fine, and know that I'm not going to fill one of my Joy bobbins in a sitting unless I'm really working for bulky yarn. But I don't like knitting with bulky yarn very much. A DK weight is what I work with the most - Ok, must stop rambling.... On the bottom left is spindle spun blend that is wool, mohair, and angora. Then on the bottom right is the fawn alpaca. Amazing how similar in color it is to the camel down isn't it?

I used the basket and a long straight knitting needle as a lazy kate for the spindle spun and the alpaca. I've been trying to figure out a good workable kate from Things Around the House for so long now. Can't believe that it took me 7 months to look at it and have the light bulb go off in my poor little brain. I mean, I've had it since my first date with my BBE (Best Boyfriend Ever.) Can you believe it? He brought me a basket filled with chocolate, coffee, teas and fruit when he came to pick me up. I've never had anyone go put together a basket before! And all this time I've been looking at the basket, thinking.. I should be using that for Something, it's just been sitting on top of the TV in the living room waiting for it's purpose in life to be revealed. Hmmm, that kind of strikes a chord with me somehow.

Right - so I'll try to stick to the topic. I was able to ply up 3 honking full bobbins of my very first 4 ply last night. I was very surprised that I actually ran out of the camel down first. I still have almost a half a bobbin of the tussah and the alpaca which was spun more finely than I had realised and I ended up with.... drumrole please: Three skeins which together total about 350 grams and 705 yards at 10 wpi (10 wpi for a 4 ply!!).

Not quite enough to do too much with. Maybe a small shawl. Maybe a bolero? I'm not convinced that boleros "work" on me, but I did try one on a couple of weeks ago, and it was good. I also saw this pattern a while ago, and have been thinking about the construction involved, which is actually very inneresting indeed. I love the decreases on the back. This particular yarn wouldn't even come close to matching gauge on that pattern, but I do have some stuff that would work, and do up a test run pattern. Decisions. But my first instinct is to buy more camel down and make more...

And just to finish off with one more shot of loveliness...I am so pleased - look! Shiney! Subtle colours and variations... Look, almost even plying....

And in other news. It was much nicer today than it has been in literally weeks. Yesterday it was like this at lunchtime!! I really needed to go for a walk yesterday. I've been feeling a bit plump lately. And it really didn't help that I was showing my blog to a friend yesterday - and I said that I thought one of my pictures made me look fat. And you know what she said? She said, "you're right - you do look fat in that picture". OMG She also very quickly said that of course I'm not fat - it's just the picture. But I know that I've put on a few pounds, and also know that not getting any exercise is not helping matters any. So back to my lunchtime walks I go, unless it really is raining very badly.



Thank goodness that today was like this, although we do have more rain forecasted for the foreseeable future. Sigh...