Production line

Overdid things yesterday...well the last few days really. I've been trying to keep my hands moving as much as possible (and my head engaged in the immediate task) - the idea is if I can push myself to keep my fingers performing tasks I might slow up the deterioration in my hands and arms. The result? This finished roll of wool , knitted, fulled and needle felted over, in traditional Scottish "diced" pattern, ready to make up into a cylindrical bag for future craft projects; and (still on the double sided needles) the unfinished MKI "bunnit" or bonnet, knitted to an eighteenth century pattern and unfinished due to running out of wool (now on order). What's really knackered me today has been finishing and "fulling" the MKII "bunnit" - now drying and (hopefully) continuing to shrink.

Fulling or "waulking" the cloth shrinks it up and binds the fibres together to make a weather resistant felt like material. It involves stressing the yarn with heat and mechanical assault. Beating the hell out of hot, wet knitting is prima facie not something I should be doing really and so I was trying to do it all by washing machine (the modern approach!) unfortunately and much to my surprise I've found that the 20% wool cheapie yarn,which shouldn't work very well, of the Mark I fulls beautifully in the machine whereas the 80% wool, 20% mohair of the Mark II which should work like a charm just looks sulky no matter how hot or vigorous the machine program. Nope, wouldn't you know it, the proper, good stuff only responds to intense old fashioned manual processing. So here I am arms sore and hanging at my sides, typing this blip on my ipad screen with the second finger of my right hand (sticking out of the rigid claw of my hand) with the occasional help of the tip of my nose!

I do however have an inner glow of achievement at having actually finished something!