The rest of the UK has been smothered in snow with chaotic results. Flights cancelled, schools closed, roads covered. I thought I'd be prepared as only a knitter can be. So I am now the posessor of the largest legwarmers known to humanity. As a child of the eighties, I know my legwarmers and this pair are so big that all of the Kids from Fame could fit into them and still have enough space to dance on the tables. Large these legwarmers are. They are also very warm indeed which would have come in handy if the snow had amounted to anything more than the light dusting that appeared yesterday and then melted into nothing by this morning. Maybe I could send them in an emergency package to London, or Belfast. That's if the post can get through the snow.
I have also been engaged in the more delicate task of spinning silk after Lesley, one of the Angus spinning enablers very kindly sent me a little package containing a silk hankie. Lesley does this beautifully and I was keen to try for myself. It takes a bit of practice and as the silk sticks to any dry skin and I have the hands of an Arbroath Fishwife, I spent most of the time trying to prize the silk from my fingers. In the end I gave in and put on a pair of cotton gloves, looking less like a top spinner and more like the person on the TV who replaces the snooker balls. Here is the finshed result. Small, strong and beautiful if a little uneven. The cup is there to give a sense of proportion. It is one of the few remaining pieces of my doll's house china and is the size of two of Magnus' paws placed together.
7 comments:
It's beautiful! And the legwarmers are just the thing I needed today. I sent my daughter off to school in two pairs of tights and a pair of socks under her jeans. She was walking like Frankenstein. I think I'll cast on for a pair for her tonight...
Can I recommend wearing a pair of socks with the legwarmers?
That silk yarn you made looks yummy.
Makes me feel like dancin"
Love the warmers, and they do look super cozy.
The silk looks beautiful Jeni and thank you for the complement (she says while blushing quietly in her little corner of the world)
I forgot to tell you about the silk sticking to your hands. You can use a moisturiser on your hands before working with silk and the best one I know is the one that Meg (from Angus Spinners) recommended to me a couple of years ago. It's called Udder Cream and I love it so much I now sell it :-) I'll let you try some next time I see you but I'm not going for the hard sell as you can use any cream on your hands before spinning silk, the good thing about the Udder Cream is that it is not greasy.
I used to wear my large leg warmers pulled all the way up under my skirt when I had to walk and catch the bus to work during our cold cold winters. It was nice to just slip them off when I got inside.
Your fishwife hands cracked me up. I have a frequent hand washing thing and can never keep them soft in the winter. My daughter gets grossed out when she touches them.
Your spun silk is so pretty and I am very inspired by the idea of the silk hankie ~ I've never come across this technique before.
By the way, you were right ~ the little pincushion flowered plant I posted on my blog is a scabious. Well done! =]
A silk spinner's trick for crunchy hands: put a dab of olive oil and a bit of sugar into your palms and rub them together and all over your hands and cuticles. Rinse with enough warm water to get the sugar off, pat gently dry and let your hands absorb whatever olive oil remains. It's brilliant for conditioning hands for spinning very fine stuff like silk or tencel!
lovely yarn Jeni!
IndiaJoy
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