24 points completed, 40 to go!
Some answers, no links as my brain isn't working this morning!
Kauni yarn bought from www.wollsucht.de - Uta is a pleasure to do business with, note that there will be additional postage charges if sending outside of Germany. The site is in German but easy to navigate and she has some lovely yarn. An example of extra postage costs - it cost me £7 to have a package of 540gms wool and a rosewood circular needle. Uta speaks good english and is quick to respond to emails. I think I've now had 4 orders from her with no problems.
Nostepinde - here's a site with simple instructions on how to use it http://www.hatchtown.com/nostdir.html I think it might be better to start with a small skein and not the 500 gm one I started with!
Shetland Hap Shawl - see the wonderful book by Sharon Miller for fuller descriptions but it is a servicable warm shawl. Many of the UK's baby shawls are based on this design.
Some day
When I'm old and grey.....
Oh wait - I'm rapidly heading in that direction
perhaps I'd better get on and work on my Hap Shawl which has been languishing in the wip pile for months.
The historians among you may remember that I had the idea of knitting the shawl using Kauni Effectgarn, I wanted to see how the long colour changes would work out and so far I'm happy with it. The centre square has formed into evenly balanced stripes and the feather and fan section works well.
I was enjoying this and then I put it down which is fatal. I think part of the problem was that my wrists have been painful for a while and wrestling a heavy shawl was aggravating them. For future shawls I will go back and knit them in the traditional style and sew the corners together, these rows of over 600 stitches seem to take for ever.
I can't get a good photo of the colours in this shawl so here's another shot taken with no flash this time
I'm enjoying this yarn so more of it seems to have found it's way into the stash pile
did you note the other purchase - my Nostepinde has arrived from Woolly Workshop- after much deliberation about which wood I wanted I decided on buying Yew as that is the meaning of my name. Then I noticed that the website has one in Mulberry.... to make matters even worse I talked to the maker and he has one in Laburnum one of my all time favourite woods - how many nostepindes does one girl need?
In the interest of full disclosure here's a few of the patterns I bought from the KCGTL
This is my little book
what you can't see on the cover is the words imprinted on each side - they are Patience, Application, Industry and Perseverance. On the inside I found this quote -I'd love to know where this comes from
"With twining bones enweaved; of finest thredde
Now drawne ascaunt yet eftsoons showing faire
In curious wyse theire hosen they prepare"
The preface also states
" we are but skirmishers at the outposts, experimentalists in the family parlour, well aware there are others in the cabinet or the laboratory who dig deeper into the science; and rejoicing in the results of their labours, we do not the less hope our own humble efforts may not be considered valueless"
Those victorians had a neat turn of phrase.
I had a wonderful weekend!
On Friday Wye Sue picked me up from Bristol station and drove me to Get Knitted, some small purchases were made, all of them for exchange gifts so no photos for the present! We then had lunch at a delightful restaurant where I indulged my passion for Dutchpot Lamb with Rice+peas. Then it was time to head off to Cheltenham for a spot of shopping before meeting up with some of the KCG for an evening meal. No photos of any of this as in the passion for shopping I forgot the one thing I had to buy - batteries for the camera! A great drive through the Wye Valley to spend the night at Sue's sleeping in her stash room - I shared space with her 4ply stash (see her blog for details) and can assure you that none of it came home with me - I was so paralysed at the sight of all that choice!
Saturday morning saw us set off to Cheltenham again for the AGM. We had the opportunity to shop with KCGTL before the meeting and a few minor indulgences were bought. Then on to the serious business..... anyone who had not brought their own needles and yarn was provided with them to knit through the AGM and start the KCG's contribution to The Great British PicKnit
The committee skillfully lead us through the complexities of reports to the Charity Commission, Financial Statements and the matter of appointing new people to the committee. Thanks were given to Jane and Pattie who were standing down as Directors.
Sheila used the occasion to demonstrate how wonderful the art of scumbling is when done by an expert. I need to make time to visit the Reading group and learn more from this talented lady.
Alison Dupernex was our first speaker and there are no photos of the work she showed us as I was too busy trying to sketch and note down her wonderful ideas - I hope to see one of her wonderful Kimono style coats in my wip queue soon. She talked so enthusiastically about attending yarn shows in Italy that I think many of us went home to check out flights and hotels!
Jane Sowerby of Victorian Lace Today fame, was our second speaker, it was our chance to see some of the wonderful shawl and lace yarns that she has found on her travels. I was inspired by her linking the upsurge of knitting today with that of the developmentsin the victorian era - I just hope that the modern trends sparks as much interest as the times she studied. I also enjoyed her suggestion that one could own one good dress and ring the changes with a different fichu everyday - that's just the excuse I need to knit more lace.
I was fascinated by her discussion of the early Victorian patterns and when she mentioned one of the earliest sources it rang a bell in my mind. During the interval I was able to check in my bag for the little knitting book I carry around with me ( sentimental reasons - it was my gran's) and it was by the same Mrs Hope that Jane had mentioned. A few words with Jane and I discovered it was a book she hadn't found in her research and I'm under strict instructions to keep it safe , wrapped in acid free tissue. I'm going to miss it's company on my daily travels, some of the homilies in the book were just what I needed at the end of a trying day!
The AGM competition this year was inspired by the date of the meeting - 07/07/07 and there were some very creative entries. Voting was done by the placing of coins next to each item and there were two clear winners. Here's Mary's wonderful wire work
and here's Sue's dance of the seven veils
I think this sums up the spirit of the women and men I met that day - we may be getting older and greyer but our spirits are free and creating.
I'm giving myself a few days holiday to spend on woolly persuits.
Today started well when I caught up with my neighbour who had a package for me. I was hoping that it might have been my SP10 package or perhaps this yew nostepinne that I couldn't resist ordering. But it wasn't!
I've heard from my SP10 pal Nadezjda that my final package to her has arrived so I'm happy. She's currently working a lot of hours so I hope she gets some rest and time to knit soon!
The actual package was a real surprise as it contained my Rowan Exchange gift from the wonderful Arianwen . This is what I found when I opened the package
just the right size to stay under my arm! Inside it was chocolates (what do you mean they are not in the photo?) and these stunning socks
here's a close up of the wonderful beading
I now feel really guilty that my gift is still a WIP!
I managed to get my hair cut and pack my bag for my travels - I'm off in the morning to visit Wye Sue, attend the KCG AGM and may possibly squeeze in a visit here . The case is packed, minimal clothes, maximum shopping opportunities!
On the knitting front Tailored Scallops is finally sewn together and had it's first outing this evening to the knitting group at Waterstones
We had a visitor - Kate was determined to enjoy the last night of her European holiday, lets hope it's not too long before we can persuade her to visit again!
we'll be back at Waterstones next week and this time I plan to tackle the cocktail list!
Ravelry is keeping me entertained! I started to try to catalogue my books but got frustrated as a lot of them are not yet on their database. So I then started browsing patterns and before I knew it the queue had over a dozen patterns listed. I then started on the stash and began to frighten myself with how much yarn there might be in this place! To calm myself down I went back to knitting... or should I say frogging!
A few weeks ago I started knitting Ilga Leja's Queen of the Waves shawl . I was enjoying the process, the yarn (an unlabelled gift from a friend in Australia) was great to work with but the shells in my pattern didn't look the same as those in the pattern photo. Last week I saw that Ilga has posted errata on her site and have decided that it's time for this one to visit the frog pond!
The second item to visit the pond was a summer top knitted in Summer Tweed. Knitted in the round to my own pattern, I'd obviously had a mental aberation and had increased insted of decreased at the waist which caused the sides to pouch out - definitely not the look I was aiming for and not noticed until I started to seperate for the sleeves!
The third item that might be heading that way is the shawl I'd started knitting for the Rowanette Exchange - I say might as it will depend on how well I can either buy 2 more skeins of yarn from the same dyelot or wash the coffee I spilt out of the 2 balls I was due to work with!
That accounts for most of the knitting I've attempted in the past two weeks so yesterday, in a fit of pique, I cast on for a new project Green Gable using one of my favourite yarns Jaeger EFM DK in Cupid.
