Gradient Spinning

Hi everyone, well, I'm back on line again with my super-duper brand new MacBook Air (RIP old MBA) and ready to deluge you with all the things I've been doing since then.  I was about 6 weeks without a computer, so it's really nice to be back.

A while ago we had a little holiday just north of Bordeaux staying in a chateau with lots of old friends, some of whom we hadn't seen for over 20 years.  Realising that I might just have a bit of spare time here and there, I took my Louet Victoria and some fleece to spin.  I'd been hoarding some really nice merino in various contrasting colours from Barber Black Sheep (it was actually from a "Build a Batt" box that I'd bought and hadn't gotten around to using) so I grabbed that and teamed it with some other fleece that matched quite well from a World of Wool Botany Lap Waste bag.  I like to have an "easy to spin" project when we're travelling so I don't need to take a lot of other equipment with me for preparing it.

I managed to spin every day we were there, but still didn't manage to finish this until about a week after we'd returned home.

This next shot shows how well the colours go together, I really love the deep pink.

Because I wanted to keep the colours true when I plied it, I had to n-ply it and it turned out a bit thicker than I normally spin - probably about double knitting thickness - and consequently I didn't get as much yardage as I would have liked.  However, I think this will go really nicely in a project I started in the winter.  I think it was probably about November/December I went through all my handspun stash and picked out all the skeins of double knitting to make a lap blanket.

Not a very good photo as it's being knit on a circular needle, but I started by knitting a large rectangle in seed stitch with some art yarn I made a while ago, which included lots of yummy colors and . . . feathers!

I love to put feathers into my handspun, but I'm always a bit concerned they might be scratchy.  That's why I thought of using this for a lap blanket because it won't be used next-to-skin.  I still have a nice selection to choose from, but I'm not sure I'll use them all.

Hopefully the new yarn will finish it off nicely :-

but I can't decide which end to start knitting with.  I think it might be best to start on the outside of the one on the left and then start the second one on the outside too.  Of course, that will probably change multiple times before I actually knit with it.

Computer Demise

Well, after various visits to Toulouse with my Macbook Air, it has been declared officially dead!  When they took the back off the computer, they said only a small amount of coffee had penetrated and it was only the mother board that had been affected.  However, when we received the estimate for repairing it, they quoted for replacing practically the whole thing!  The cost of repair was over 900 euros!  This may have been influenced by the fact that it's over five years old and, as such, not worth repairing.

After a lot of thinking, we finally decided to order a new one, which isn't costing much more than repairing the old one, especially as we get 100 euros knocked off the bill if we hand in the old computer, and our Apple account is credited with 50 euros to spend later.

The estimated delivery time was 10 to 15 days, mainly I think because I need an English keyboard rather than the French one.  So, after sitting waiting patiently (!) for the last 9 or 10 days, today I received a phone call from the shop . . . who said the machine I was going to be receiving had been replaced by a newer model with a faster processor.  Nice, I thought, especially as there would be no extra charge.  Then the guy said that Apple had cancelled my original order and placed another order for the new one which will be delivered in . . . yes, you've guessed - another 10 to 15 days.  Aaarrghhh!

This evening I've spent quite a lot of time trying to upload photos onto my blog using Hubby's old I-Pad.  I was getting nowhere so he was drafted in to help.  We managed to get some photos on here, but in a not very useful format.  If I don't manage to sort them out, I'll see you in 10 to 15 days when my new computer arrives!