Janet

And following on from the last post, this year the joy has extended into 'my' Ravelry swap group with a yarn swap of mini skeins. I just love the random surprise of opening each one & knowing that it came from a friend. #adventcalendar #yarnswap #knitting #yarnadventcalendar #miniskeins

Most of the advent swap fluff spun up into mini skeins, from a couple of years ago.

The spun skeins knitted up into Dotted Rays (by Stephen West) shawl. This is one of my favourite shawls.

This year's advent swap fluff packaged up & waiting to be opened one a day.

#ShowMeYourKnits advent calendar week. Each year I take part in a swap of spinning fluff : 24 x 10g of spinning fibre randomly distributed from other participants. For many of us, it is the most joyful part of the season; way more fun than bought calendars or even presents. Details in alt text.

Multi panelled maxi skirt with panels alternating in black & white background prints in velvet fabric

Latest skirt sewn up

Fluffy sweater in 3 colours: grey at the top, cranberry red in the middle & light blue at the bottom in roughly equal bands

Floof week for #ShowMeYourKnits. Brushed mohair/silk & alpaca/silk held with handspun laceweight wool yarns. Knitted top down with intentionally rolling edges #handspinning #spinsky #knitting 🧶

Thanks!

Nice fabric! Most 2m in my stash end up as skirts or tops but that's just me.

Me in burgundy crushed velvet top & Victorian walking skirt with train. Top hat with gold bat accessories. Black Gladstone bag with bees design. Sunlit background with grass, roofs of Whitby in the distance & Abbey ruins on the hill in the far distance.

Whitby goth weekend last Saturday. A chance to dress up in me-made gladrags. Always a lot of fun & a great vibe. On the West cliff with Whitby Abbey in the background. #WGW #WGW2025 #Whitbygothweekend #goth

Tote bag with seashells on a white background & waves designs mixed with solid colours in green, royal blue& turquoise. Random shape pieces in 'crazy patchwork ' technique. Curly quilting design.

In same fabrics: glasses case with narrow strips of fabric. 5 pointed star shape pincushion, 3D shape. One pink background point of the 'star' for needles , the remaining 4 in white background (I ran out of the white!!)

Scraps week on #sewandtell. I made this crazy quilting bag with Tula Pink leftovers from a quilt. Including the selvage! Then a glasses case & pincushion with the teeny tiny scraps. #scrapbusting #quilting #sewsky 🪡 #tulapink #bagmaking

Not yet. I *should* be getting on with a jacket (brown Linton tweed with bright orange lining) but I'm on my 3rd toile (didn't like the first 2 patterns) so heaven knows if I'd finish in time.

Hot, hot, hot! I'm obsessed with Threadloop & currently thinking about a challenge project.

Semi circular shawl with art deco sunburst design in yellow cables. Background colour yellow at centre, through to light blue, orange, red, maroon & dark blue at outer edge.

Close up

#ShowMeYourKnits cables week. You might recognise this from my profile pic. Travelling cables, pattern is Soleil Nouveau by Sara Huntington-Burch. The gradient yarn is handspun so I was happy that this pattern suited the sunrise colours. #knitting #shawls #handspinning #knitsky #spinsky

Thanks!

Semi circular knitted shawl in progress. Copper & verdigris colours in short rows central section. White, light yellow & old gold surrounding it. Many copper colour little icord loops on the outside edge.

Progress on my Stephen West shawlography shawl. I'm calling it 'verdigris copper pipes ' as the icord section reminds me of steampunk copper pipes. I hand dyed a couple of the yarns for a verdigris effect. #steampunkknitting #knitting #shawls 🧶 #slowfashion

Thanks 😊

🥰

Blue knitted dress with scalloped lower edge. Trees & countryside in the background.

Dress turned into a felted bag, scalloped edge now at the top.

#ShowMeYourKnits knitting horror stories. Once upon a time there was an innocent knitted dress when an EVIL spindryer turned it into a felted bag. It lived happily ever after. The end. #knittingdisasters #felting #feltedknitting 🧶 #knitting

Thanks 😊. I have the yarn lined up for a cardigan so I've frogged it & swatching with a different stitch.

Smocked rib knitted swatch in red. Barbara Walker book of knitting stitches in the background

I've been swatching this smocking knitting stitch trialling it for a cardi. I love the dense fabric it makes but at 32-34 stitches per 4"/10 cm, it would just take way too long, even on bigger needles. Shame! 🧶 #swatches #knitting #barbarawalker #knittingstitches

Brother, Singer & Janome are all made in the same factory apparently. Not much to choose between them. Second hand machines can be much cheaper but check you are buying from an experienced sewist and get them to show you it in action before you part with your money. Good luck!

Like fingerless mitts but no thumbs. Ribbed black lower section. Multi coloured (black, pinks, purple) middle section with decorative crochet loops. Upper section in pinky mauve kidsilk.

Just finished these Gothic wrist warmers, in time for Halloween. Pattern is Elf Clobber. The middle crocheted section is handspun, paired with kidsilk on the upper section. 🧶 #knitting #crochet #goth #slowfashion #handspinning

Beanie hat in dark teal & white. Stripes with little dark squares in a grid pattern

Same design hat, grey background with self striping yarn in purple, blue & pink

Hats week for #ShowMeYourKnits. These two are an easy slip stitch design by Knits With Aimee called Wave & Box hat. Looks complicated but actually simple - just my kind of pattern! 🧶 #knitting #knittedhats #slipstitch #slowfashion

Two handspun skeins in pink, mulberry and light rust shades

The dyed unspun fibre in a braid

I dyed this BFL/mulberry silk fibre a while back. Default worsted spinning - plied 'as it comes'. #spinsky 🧶 #spinning #handspinning #heritagecrafts #handspun #handdyeing #handdyed

Found it now, thanks for the heads up. 👍

Thanks so much! Needlecord is great, isn't it?

Long skirt, minimal gathering with waistband

Close up of fabric; dark brown background, large 1970's style cartoon flowers in mustard yellow, cerise, teal blue, red, white, tan & burgundy

As soon as I saw this Dashwood Studio needlecord fabric, I had to buy some. The colours and flowers remind me of a 70's print. However at full price I could only justify getting one metre so had to be inventive with the design. #sewist #dressmaking #slowfashion #sewsky #sewing #garmentmaking

Simple long skirt, black background, large abstract seed pods in pink & purple tones

Same design skirt, white background with mostly pink & green colours

I sewed these skirts a few weeks ago; same fabric in different colour ways, a lovely soft velvet/velour. Simple elasticated waist pattern; Butterick 7013 #sewing #dressmaking #slowfashion #sewist #sewsky #garmentmaking

Maxi dress with round neckline, long sleeves, gathered skirt; navy background, small geometric pattern

Latest sewing project, a dress from navy vintage Viyella. Viyella is a fine wool/cotton blend but sadly discontinued some time ago. #sewist #dressmaking #sewsky #garmentmaking #slowfashion #sewing

2 skeins of multi coloured yarn, green tones with flecks of pink

Latest handspun skein. Fibre is Tourmaline by Adelaide Walker & contains rose, mint, bamboo & sari silk. It has a nice sheen & the sari 'silk' gives it some texture. 🧶 #spinsky #handspinning #handspun #fibreart #heritagecrafts #spinning

Should add that I drum carded it but as it's a medium staple, I guess it could have been combed.

The Manx fleece was the easiest and loveliest to prep & spin, an absolute delight. It's reasonably bouncy and matt rather than lustrous. I'd say medium on the soft/coarse scale so ideal for a cardi but I'm not so sure about next to the skin. Just a good, well behaved all rounder.