It could have been worse
This is the start of the second piece of the fabric for the throw for the small settee (also known as the dog’s settee). The pink stuff is there to make it all settle down at the start, I’ll take that out after I’ve washed it. With this piece the stripes are less prominent, there isn’t very much left of the yellow and green/gold and I want them to make it through to the fourth piece so they are very strictly rationed. I’m starting to have some concerns about the huge cone of yarn I got for the weft, I’m using it doubled and it is either just going to be enough or just not enough. I’m ignoring that until I can’t ignore it any more and then I’ll come up with some sort of solution.
The yarn for the second strip had an unpromising start, it was all in this bag along with 4oz of cashmere (top left) and the bag was in its usual place at the side of the wheel next to the big patio windows where there is plenty of light. That should be “where there was plenty of light”, there’s less now because one of the windows is boarded up, the blue twinkle in the bag is window glass. I shook all the yarn out and it looks to be fine, I didn’t run across any glass when I was warping and there’s no way that I was going to throw it out if there was a chance of using it. The cashmere fibre was double bagged so I can be sure that it is sliver free.
The window was deposited in the bag (and over a surprisingly large part of the floor) when a concrete pot of geraniums was swung into it just after 12.30 on Saturday morning. The dog rose to the occasion and put his full 8 kilos behind a volley of barking, he then had to do the Lassie routine of running back and forwards to the broken window until I woke up enough to realise that it was very drafty, there was an unusual cracking sound and there was a four foot hole in the window. In my defence I would say that I was half asleep, I hadn’t put the light on and the tv was still there so I hadn’t realised that we’d been burgled. I got my rear in gear in time to get to the front door to see the Mini being backed off the drive. 
It would have been good for him to have then spat out the burglar’s finger (I’d have settled for a finger although other body parts would have done just as well) but I’m glad that he didn’t get himself a good kicking and a big vet’s bill. He did his best for a sofa dog, he doesn’t have the right equipment for tackling burglars (height, weight, big teeth, fearsome expression) but he can certainly bark. Not only is he getting a handspun handwoven blanket, I cooked him a sausage and I let him play with the squeaky toy until he was half crazed with excitement. It could have been worse, the only thing that was taken was the car key, and then the car of course, but at least we didn’t need to spend the weekend organising new locks and getting all the bank cards replaced. No one was hurt, the window was boarded up before the rain came in and sweeping up glass is just so relaxing.
Needless to say I am playing with wool a lot at the moment, there will be more posts this week.
