Spinning Wheels are for other people …

Apparently.  It is beginning to seem like I will never, ever get my hands on a spinning wheel.  Well, bugger that.  Yes, it’s true, there was no christmas spinning wheel.  No little gem.  But I should say that I was very lucky girl, and got a bunch of lovely bitz and thingies.  Its just that I am pinning for a spinning wheel. I want a spinning wheel, I neeeeeed a spinning wheel.  Well, no, I don’t need it.  But I would like one, real bad, so as I sit here, buying tunes off itunes, I feel its time to tell the fibre world that I have decided to shelve my idea of wanting a Majacraft Little Gem II.  Yep, I feel a pang even now as I write. I was so bummed yesterday that I went trawling the net, looking for second hand portable wheels and I have found one. Not my precious, gorgeous looking little gem II.  Its a factory second Ashford Joy.  The folks I am buying it from have been kind enough to let me pay it off, so I’ll get them a deposit in the next couple of days and then off I go. I have to tell you that as bummed as I am about the Little Gem, it just means that from here, I can see the Majacraft Rose on the horizon.  So the Joy will get me going, and I am bloody greatful for it. Now, chrissy itself. My little daughter was an absolute trooper, and I can’t tell you how cool it was to see her little bum waving in the air as she burrowed around the base of my parents in law huge christmas tree.  She’s only 3, but boy howdy, coming christmas morning, she knew where everyone’s presents were.  That’s my girl, she gave them out and got so much pleasure form other people’s pressies as well as her own.  Love my girl, she rocks. Now, what I have decided to do from here is to take you guys through my design process as I design something.  This has all come about because I was trawling Ravelry (love, love, love my Ravelry)and I decided to come up with my own spot of Ravelry magic.  being a textile designer by trade, I thought it might be cool to walk through the the process of this new “thingy” here and in Ravelry itself.  I’ll even tell y’awl what music I am listening to as I write and knit and design.  Anything I can think off, so together we’ll go on this journey.The project will be “The Golden Empress Peony” sweater/jacket.  It will be made for my baby, so the sizing will be a kids 3/4.  I asked Cai what colour she wanted the sweater to be and she said “yellow, it’s my favourite”.  My sunny princess loves this colour, so yellow it is.  I am going to make it a golden yellow colour.  She said she wanted roses and rosey tea (thanks Wiggles – could have been worse tho, it could have been the yellow and green dinosaur).  S I have been looking at some brush painting from china and I think I am going to use Chinese peonies because they look so spectatular, and they can pass for roses, they just look a bit more interesting from a design p.o.v.  And  I have lined up my sister to turn my design pattern in a chart that I can knit from.  I can’t by my fibre until after the 12th of january, the place where I go is on holidays until then.  That’s cool.  I can plan now.  So what I’ll do is get the motif structure right, i’ll put it here, and get the colours planned and sorted and again, I’ll put it here as well.  So over the next few weeks, you’ll see it slowly come together.  Very cool, so watch this space.  Design drawing coming first!  listening to: A-ha – Analogue Ashford Joy = pending