:: show and tell ::

Do you remember this beautiful hand spun cashmere which I bought in Skye at Easter?

Well, this delicious yarn has finally been knitted up to reveal these wonderful colour combinations...

These colours are typical of Skye, every time I look at them they remind me of all the wonderful holidays we have had there....

The different yarns work so well together....all hand dyed with natural dyes...

which can be bought here

I have been knitting away with tiny 3mm needles... (I prefer larger ones) and finally the waistcoat has emerged...

although I have found it impossible to photograph....

I have tried some shots lying on the sofa....

and hanging in the hall....

and hanging on the front door....

some close up shots of silk and cashmere flowers I made following a pattern given to me by my friend at Pebbledash

I am thinking of adding some more, perhaps three on the other side...

like a knitted corsage...

but I don't want to over-do it....

I can't quite capture the vibrant colours...

but its raining outside and so unfortunately I can't do any out of doors shots...

I think the sofa photos are perhaps the best.....

I just can't wait till the winter when I plan to wear it with big white cotton shirts, jeans and big leather boots....

This is a close up of the lovely button, which I bought in France from a vintage button shop, (Art Deco I think) .....its been waiting in my button jar to decorate a very special garment....

I also have plans for the left over yarns.... I have bought a pattern to make huge knitted beads

so I am going to make a wonderful chunky knitted bead necklace to wear with it .... I think that

these colours will look wonderful together... and every time I wear it I will think of my beloved Skye...

and as we are showing and telling...my clever husband has learnt to spin!

we inherited a spinning wheel years ago and our trip to Skye inspired him to learn to spin...

so he has turned a rather smelly fleece into this....

and now its ready to knit......so I am teaching him to knit it into a simple scarf...

to complete the cycle....

so...

perhaps my dream of having a little wool shop may come true one day.........

in the meantime I have my crochet needle out and I am making a Shilasdair stripped blanket for our holiday to Germany.....

although I do need some help , I wonder if anyone could tell me how and what stitch I should use to pick up along one edge to change the direction of the stripes? I would appreciate some advise...I have tried it out and there are either too many stitches or too little and it wont lie properly...

Have a lovely week, I only have four days to go.....