Xmas Tree Lights Knitted Capelet.....

I finally finished knitting up my Xmas Tree lights yarn into the base of this capelet! I handspun all the yarn for this myself (except for the top neck bit) - and even had a bash at spinning in some locks.

I ended up having to crochet the lights on, instead of knitting, as the yarn wasn't very flexible with all the wires in there. The batteries (3 x AA) are hidden inside in a sewn on felted pocket (using the same merino roving as the base yarn). Still nothing has caught fire yet!

Shame its summer here & doesn't get dark until 9pm - which is past my bedtime, so I haven't worn him out as yet.....

Xmas Tree Light Yarn update!

Yay - I soldered the lights back onto the battery pack and must have got my +s & -s round the right way as my yarn lights up! I plied some more of the same colour wool with glow in the dark thread to give me something easier to knit with.

So far nothing has caught on fire! Bonus.

I am imagining a hat knitted from the top down, so finishing with the lighted part as a trim - as it will be a bit more difficult to knit/crochet. Or maybe a cowl? The 3 x AA battery compartment I will cover with a felted pocket (using the same coloured wool) and maybe add some kind of brooch to it?

Plus I want to experiment with building a smaller battery pack, now that I remember how to solder & calculate the currents/voltages/resisances (vaguely)....

Corespinning my Xmas Tree Lights!

I haven't been pracitising my spinning for a while now as I've been up to my armpits in felted soaps as they are going down well as Xmas gifts.

And then the day after Halloween we put up our Xmas tree (for the kiddies of course) & it got me wondering if I could fit the lights through the orifice of my spinning wheel and then, if I spun them into a yarn - how would they knit up?

So I gave it a bash today - using the Xmas lights as the core thread and then spinning an overspun single around it as 'supercoils'. Now I must locate a soldering iron to connect the wires back to the circuit. Its just a small(ish) 3 x AAA battery pack, so portable. I think I can make the supply much smaller by wiring a couple of those flat circular batteries together instead? I did an engineering masters degree way back in a previous life, but it is all rather vague & mainly involved concrete.


I will post another picture of the yarn all lit up - my soldering skills permitting. If you don't hear from me again, you will know it didn't work out too well.

Hopefully - I can then knit my Xmas tree lights into a nice hat! Or will the elecromagnetic radiation fry my brain?

Just to let you know that I have reduced the price on a selection of my 'big' handmade art jewelry pieces.

They would make fabulous Christmas presents.....for yourself or someone special!

I have put them in a seperate category on my Homepage - on the LHS, called "Pre-Xmas Sale"

As these pieces sell - I will be reducing others to fill the space.....so please keep checking back.

love,
vicky

(aka Ginga Squid @ www.GingaSquid.com)