Intermission

I know, I have been almost invisible these last six weeks. I would love to say that I have spent the whole time in the garden where the sun was too bright to play around with screens, but if you also live in Southern England you will know that's not true

Actually we have, despite the weather, had a lovely time welcoming old friends (and some of our regulars) to stay. So much so it felt as though we were running a pop up B&B

But I have managed to finish one or two projects 

There's a Bonney by Tin Can Knits in fabulous merino lace weight by the talented Caerthan Wrack of Treskelion Yarn

A very pretty cardigan for TLM, I can't show the full article as it will be the subject of a mystery KAL later in the year. It's knitted  in Spud and Chloe's Sweater the fabulous Aran weight yarn that I used for the Right as Rainbow cardi.  S&C Sweater is perfect for children, its wool and cotton mix makes it warm and cosy but totally non-tickly, and it machine washes like a dream too.  TLM is only just growing out of the rainbow cardi (I did add some sleeve inches after a while) and its been worn and washed countless times over the last two years

And a Pebble Beach in gorgeous Manos del Uruguay Serena a super soft baby alpaca and cotton mix, bought from Beaker Button.

My Pebble Beach was my FO for the Great London Yarn Crawl.  As last year I was one of the yarn guides, here is my lovely Team Cotton outside our second Stop The Village Haberdashery

I was specially excited this year to introduce my friend Julia (she's second on the left) to the knitting world.  Not that she couldn't knit but like me, study (we met as mature students at university in our early 40s) and work took over from gentler hobbies.  But recently she has decided it is time to take up her needles again.  I am always willing to introduce people to something that brings me such happy satisfaction and am very pleased to report that J bought two gorgeous skeins of yarn from Carmen of A Yarn Story in the Mini Market place (in Chelsea Old Town Hall, our stepping off place for The Crawl) and has already made one baby hat, teaching herself to knit magic loop into the bargain,  and is well underway on the second.  A friend having just given birth to twins.

Armed with my Yarn Crawl purchases, I now have big plans for my autumn knitting

I want to make a laneway with this beautiful  Shangri-La from i-Knit London

And with this Gorgeous Romney DK hand dyed by Rachael of Prick Your Finger, I'm planning to make Deco by Kate Davies.  The buttons came from the mini market place too, I couldn't decide which I liked best so bought both!

Having finished spinning the Porpoise-Fur fibre, begun on the Tour de Fleece, I'm planning to make Keith Moon, also by Kate Davies, striping it with more Porpoise Fur, Death to MRSA.

I have a sewing project in mind too.  Over the last six months JTH and I have been making some changes to our house.  Prompted in part by the departure to a home of his own of no 4 child.  This enables us to create two guest bedrooms (hence the pop up B&B last month).  Keen to make it modern and bright we painted one room all white with pale grey carpet and vivid turquoise curtains.  All very nice but the tiniest bit plain so I plan to make up this quilt as a wall hanging to go on the old chimney breast (the fire-place was removed long ago)

I am please to report that it will be made almost entirely from stash

Kitten no 2 surveys all the colours, bought from The Village Haberdashery on last year's Yarn Crawl

Quite a lot of plans, don't you think? But achievable as long as I keep at it and don't let my attention wander... Although I shall soon have to think about Christmas presents!

Do share your plans for Autumn knitting in the comments, or, have you introduced a friend to the lovely art of knitting lately?

xx

c

Diverted by all that colour

When it comes to yarn I have no will power and am totally led astray by colour.  I love it, I stand in the yarn shop(s) and literally swoon over all the woolly jewels.  Even colours that I never wear (like orange and turquoise) beckon to me with their siren calls ' come on buy me, you know you want to...'  It's my undoing

Last Friday I was running true to type when I discovered a lovely new yarn shop, Beaker Button it's in the Fairground Craft and Design Centre near Andover.  The shop is owned by Jen whose passion in life is Dorset buttons.  

I think Jen might sit in her shop and make buttons all day, that is when she is not serving customers.  I had such a happy visit to her shop, Jen is so friendly and knowledgeable about her wonderful stock.  She explained that there are already yarn shops in the area that sell value yarn and others that sell the high volume designer yarn like Rowan and Debbie Bliss so she concentrates on small independent producers.  She even stocks some of her Mum's home spun!  I came away with these two skeins of Manos Alegria.

how could I not?

It's a sock yarn but though you know I like knitting socks, you also know I like finding other things to make too.  The two skeins of sock yarn loveliness seemed perfect for some colour work.  The colours, one palest of pale blues and greens with a hint of tan and purple and the second strong green and purple with pops of yellow cried out to be put together.  So I duly...

wound

Admired...

(again)

And chose this pattern from Ravelry

the travelling companion shawl

Then I swatched...

some tension issues here, possibly

Much sadness.  As I am in no doubt you can see, instead of the pastel and the vivid contrasting with each other they just blended (even after some gentle blocking).  So back to the drawing board, with these requirements.  

• A shawl or wide scarf
• With the colours standing out, not confused by too much pattern 
• Something interesting (miles & miles of plain knitting just does not rock my boat right now) 

After having a big think, I decided to put the pastel yarn to one side for the moment, and the pattern.  The Travelling Companion is not right for two multi colour ways, perhaps I will buy a solid colour to go with the pastel and have another go later.  It's not that I don't simply adore both skeins, its just in my typical 'I don't need it I just want it' mode I bought a bag of gorgeousness without even a nod to the maxim 'less is more'.  Perhaps I need it written on the back of my bank card.

Meanwhile I have decided to knit the strong coloured skein as a wide rectangular shawl using a lace pattern from this sweater by Wendy Johnson.

from Wendy Knits Lace

The stitch pattern, though simple, is enough to keep my interest and I think the alternating panels of reverse stocking stitch and lace will give a slightly corrugated look which will work well with a rectangular shawl

simples

I have swatched

a little blocking to make it lie flat for photographing

and intend to begin with a provisional cast on and knit to the last metre of yarn.  That way if the length is more suitable to a moebius (shape though not construction) I can twist the ends and work a three needle bind off, or I can keep going till the scarf is long enough to wrap around twice and not fall off.

 'et voila!'

Speaking of which I am off on Thursday for another knitting adventure with two knitting friends - to Paris!  More about this later, meanwhile I am getting ready, passport

? yarn spending money

and  knitting which is a pair of sock (I know...) in the fabulous 'mind the gap' by Trailing Clouds

in my new Tom Bihn  bag

More about my Paris trip, and how much knitting as opposed to nattering gets done on the way (and back) later

xx

c