What a day - I'd asked for the day off and then got told last night I had to go in for a meeting. Eventually got to work this morning to find the meeting cancelled! Needless to say I was not in a good mood - I ended up leaving at noon.
I took myself over to Harrods sale and got a couple of things but was not too impressed and still had some of my budget left so I persuaded Nic to join me for a huge icecream sundae.
Feeling much better I headed for Liberty's, had a great meal and chat with everyone and bought exactly what I had gone for and nothing else!! I bought a few balls of Chamonix to complete a project and a pack of Jaeger DK in a gorgeous blue and that's it for yarn!!!
I was so pleased with myself that I managed to condense everything into 2 bags to come home. First shock was sitting on the train with Jan - when I went to show her my yarn I did not have it. It was obviously feeling lonely so stayed in the store where it was rescued by Amelia and I now have excuse to go back tomorrow to collect it!!
Second shock was when I went to get my keys out of my handbag and realised that I hadn't given Nic the package I had for her in my handbag!!
Finally got home only to remember I was supposed to buy bread and milk for breakfast.
I've given in with the mysterystolealong - this has been frogged for the 3rd and final time! The lace was boring, the variegated yarn was too busy for that type of pattern and the row counts were not conducive to easy commuter knitting, so my journey home was spent winding it up.
I've had some great offers re the moss stitch but I've declined them all as this will not beat me - it's just on hold until my hands recover from this last mega bout of data entry. I do enjoy working with the Harris yarn so may adapt the pattern into stocking stitch with a deep moss stitch border.
In their place I'm swatching with my lovely new yarns from Coldspring Mills and tinkering with the idea of using one of the Medrith Glover patterns that arrived yesterday. There's something about the way that woman writes patterns that makes me smile - it could be the explanation of how to use short rows for the bust area only to discover that your bosoms have descended 2" south of where you last remembered them being.
Tonight will be spent reading patterns, checking needle sizes and generally getting ready for Liberty's sale preview tomorrow night.
Matt has spent most of the day trying to get the iBook to link to our server as this will allow me access to a lot of my saved work, bookmarks etc. I think the answer to the Moveable type problem lies with my choice of browser. When I use Mozilla Firefox on the pc and Safari on the iBook I don't see the edit buttons. When I switch to Internet Explorer I get them!
I'm still not getting notification of comments on the blog either. Think I'll have to go and live in the Apple store in Regent Street for a few days!
On the knitting front I'm stalled! The moss stitch is probably heading towards the frog pond as my hands ache too much to do more than 4 rows at a time. My 10 cones from Coldspring Mills are sparking all sorts of ideas but no instant hits and besides the cones will be too heavy to carry around for commuter knitting. I think that will have to be the mysterystolealong. I finished the Nantasket Basket that I started at the Yarn House. This is a bit of a gamble as I chose the wrong weight of yarn (but its impossible not to buy Silkwood when I see it) and had to regauge all the measurements. Hopefully once it is felted it will be a sturdy basket of a size large enough to hold my current project.
Amelia asked if the shawl was for me - a very definate yes! (I'm not sure if she was hinting that it might be an ideal birthday present for someone with a birthday in July). The yarn from Lesley and the pattern from Norma both arrived on the day that Gran died so this is my comfort shawl.
When in doubt get out the purple cotton and knit a dishcloth
Matt took the iBook back to JL and I now have a new one! I'm trying to do this entry from it and need help! I can't remember how to get the text formatting up on the edit screen in movabletype which means I can't do the fancy links etc.
This is a quiet weekend for me, nothing major planned so I hope to get to grips with some of the technology and you may get regular photos soon!
Linda asked about the self-fringing shawl - its not easy to describe but really all you do is knit an extra strip of stitches on each side plus use of yarn overs and then when you finish you let the stitches drop down and unravel. You take each long loop and knot it as near to the shawl as possible.
| Self-fringing shawl |
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| Self-fringing shawl nearly finished |
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So the ibook still has a cd jammed in the drive and I can't install other software! I'm up and running with mail and am now testing the compatability for my blogging...wonder if it will work!
The self-fringing shawl is finished with the knitting now I get to the fun part of unravelling the fringe. If this works I may never ever attempt to use a crochet hook to put a fringe on again.
My new motto!
When going on holiday , even for a few days, make sure you write out lists. First I forgot my camera charger. Then I forgot Matt's. He forgot his spare battery and his mobile phone charger. I forgot my knitting pattern so clue 3 of the mysterystolealong is exactly the same as when I went!! And so it went on....
Still a great time was had by all and I recommend Sherwood Forest Centre Parc as a cool haven in the midst of all this heat!
We did manage some photos on old fashioned film so will have to wait until they are developed before sharing.
Yesterday there was high excitement here as my birthday gift from Matt arrived early - a G4 iBook. Today Igot home to find he's been trying to add things to it and it now doesn't eject the cd. Think I may be visiting the Apple store on Thursday!
About 6 weeks ago I decided that I needed more shawls. Several patterns were ordered, yarn commissioned and I'd planned my timetable.
The first shawl was to be for my partner in the edgy exchange and that one is completed.
The 2nd shawl was to be for me. I'd decided on a simple pattern that was self-fringing but was unsure of the yarn to use. Then , on the day that my Gran died, I received some wonderful yarn from Lesley Pinnelli in Australia. The yarn is Eki Riva 8ply natal - a mix of silk and alpaca and so soft and cuddly that I knew this was the one. I waited to start it until I'd finished Edgy.
The 3rd shawl came out of a discussion with Nickerjac and Silkwood and they dyed me some 4ply. I had no idea of which pattern to use and then came along the yahoo Mysterystolealong group. I'm ready to start the 3rd clue and will be taking this away with me for the weekend.
| Mysterystolealong |
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| Eki Riva |
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Matt and I are off to Centre Parcs to meet up with my Mum and my sister, Kate. I think I'm going for a rest and to revisit childhood haunts (I grew up less than 5 miles away); Matt wants us to take long cycle rides and take lots of nature photographs; Mum and Kate fancy the pamper sessions and the swim dome - I'll let you know how we get on.
I always think of knitters as generous, friendly souls - always willing to share tips, techniques, where to find bargains etc. I've found many of the UK's main suppliers very generous when I've begged support (by donations) for my "kids".
Then you hear of the Harris saga and you begin to wonder!
I correspond / mix with a number of people around the world involved in yarn production, from small, local producers to large corporations and thought I was a fairly cynical knitter - so why was I surprised to talk to one producer and learn that someone was buying stock from them, that the buyer planned to relabel and sell as their own. If it was big business I would accept this but for a single person operation I think this smacks of a rip-off to both the supplier and potential customers!
I've just had a very enjoyable day out with friends at the Yarn House. It was so good to find a LYS full of interesting yarn and people knitting, talking, eating cake and buying mountains of yarn (and that was just me!). Many of the regulars from Liberty's turned up, Wendy and Seth made a star appearance; Mary G had travelled down from Nottinghamshire and managed to stay for an hour before the long treck home but we also met new faces including Lixie
We ended up with quite a party atmosphere, the man from the cafe opposite made us all cappuchinos and lattes; the guy at the fish and chip shop kept up a personal service of delivering the chips and the woman from the music shop next door came outside and played for us!
Tess and Les from Silkwood had come along and Tess spent most of the day sitting outside spinning her angora (from her own rabbits - scroll down) and then plying it with silk noil. Les also tempted me with his Laburnam handled crochet hooks; I did buy some of Silkwood yarn and it was on the needles 10 minutes after winding it into a ball.
Tess and Sue
Silkwood Yarns
Special thanks to Jan for the lift to the shop and to Sheelagh for her hospitality.
There were at least 3 other bloggers there so there will be more pictures if you hunt around!
The Rowan International free gift arrived last friday. I still have the unmade kits from previous years lying around so what was it that made me cast on almost immediately? Kid Silk Haze one of my desert island yarns!!
I looked at the pattern, memorised the 4 rows, looked at the gauge, calculated how many rows and then set off merrily knitting. I completed the last of the rows this morning as I got off the bus, came into work and laid it out for measuring - only to find that my row gauge is way off. Normally I have to do less rows, this time I have to do another 30 rows to get the length indicated. I've double checked my needle gauge and it is correct - what on earth am I playing at!
Guess what colour I chose?
I can't believe I've finished this more than a month before the deadline! Just a few ends to sew in now.
The baby blanket is finished bare the sewing in and so is unbiased - looks like I'll need to have a sewing party soon!
The moss st is on hold - my hands hurt too much for small knitting so I've started something on 15mm pins with Silkwood yarn. I also started on the Rowan free gift but my hands are objecting even to 5mm needles.
Here's a sneak preview for the Edgy group
I'm back after my short trip to Belgium. Great weather for most of the time meant that I was able to sit on the beach and knit. Unfortunately I seemed to have left my brain at home so ripped out most of what I had done!
The only surviving work is the start of the Unbiased bag using Recycled Sari Silk - there are so many other bits of foreign matter that I thought a few grains of sand couldn't hurt.
I'm enjoying knitting with it now I've learnt not to pull too hard (otherwise it descends into a mass of loose threads). I seem to have 4 very different coloured skeins - the only positive thing is that it must match at least one item in my wardrobe!