Margaret Miller

6:00am Turned the heel and began work on the gusset 9:00am Sorting, sorting, sorting .... 10.30am Took a break to do some spinning and take the photos 4:30pm Can you see the difference?

These are some pictures of our garden over the last couple of weeks - feeling a bit sentimental cause it is the last spring we will have here.

I made my first posting to SSofS earlier today, although it was a bit of a 'cheat' in that these socks were started before I knew about the KnitALong. It was quite pleasant knitting them up, although they are a size 12. The diameter of the multi-coloured yarn was smaller than the green which made the socks pull in a bit tight across the toes, but not uncomfortably so. I tried doubling it, but that then became too thick. One of the woes of using up handspun stash I suppose.

Characters unite! Plot outline done and well into planning the characters. I am in awe of the way these characters demand to be given the role they want. It is important to listen, after all, it's their story. So, inaccordance with the NaNo rules I can plan all I like before Nov 1st - but I must not "write" the narrative. Fine. From this side of the challenge, the planning is a huge element of the writing, but we'll see as November passes. Bit hard to have a picture for this entry - I'm not about to paint the characters or scenes (not today anyway). This may be tantalising (or not). It is the deserted village of Palia Potamia taken by the photographer Nikos Papagiannakis and may provide some scenic inspiration in the next few days.

I've just posted my latest spinning photos on Mandie's fibre gallery, but as that is only open to her customers I'll repeat it here. Green Agate was one of Mandie's commercially blended fibres. This one is a merino cross. I liked the subtle colours and I hope to make some socks with it. (Unless of course it gets hyjacked for something else :) Below is the predrafting and the first bobbin of singles. The rovings were so fine that making nests was not possible - I just let them fall into the bowl and picked up the ends as they surfaced, to spin. Plied yarn - 14 wpi I'm really enjoying seeing all the different spinning styles - they're all so beautiful. Thanks Mandie (again) for starting this gallery, and thanks to everyone for contributing. Margaret And the last image exclusive to this post is my attempt at "artsy": Our bauhinia was beautiful this year and as it is the last time I'll see it, I felt compelled to take photos. PS: I think I will use the...