Monday, March 31, 2003
After recommending some yarn sources to an online friend I thought that it would be best to post them here so that everyone can make use of them. Mission Falls yarn - I didn't think that I would ever really be interested in colourwork but that was before I saw their patterns. I ordered the East and West pattern book and some wool for a seed stitch waistcoat a couple of weeks ago from Camilla Valley Farm. They're also the main stockist for Philosophers' Wool. Another good Mission Falls and Koigu stockist is Apple Laine Farm - they also have their own line of hand dyed yarns. Even better they currently have a sale on Mission Falls! Passionknit - I bought yarn for the Stained Glass Cardigan from Interweave Knits, think it was about three issues ago, from the delightful Deborah. Such a small world, it turned out that her brother lived in Penarth, a seaside town close to Cardiff. The three yarn stores above are all located in Canada so UK buyers don't have to worry about customs fees. Lopi - I've bought this from Wollywood in Germany. http://www.wollywood.de I think shipping to the UK is about six euros regardless of how large your order. Cherry Tree Hill Yarns I've bought Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn from Needletrax - if you join Mary's KnittingZone newsletter you get a 10 per cent discount off your order and discounted shipping. There's also Hand Paint Heaven which stocks all of the Cherry Tree Hill Yarns. I can't remember what their shipping costs were like but it's always worth choosing surface mail if you are patient. I cannot be held responsible for knitters maxing out their credit cards on these sources! :-) Sunday, March 30, 2003
Having set up our new garden bench yesterday we decided to do a little bit of tidying in the garden today. The last couple of years I've pretty much neglected the garden but this year I want it to look good again. Don't get me wrong it's not exactly a wasteland or anything like that, it's not even particularly overgrown, it just needs a bit of TLC. I love lilies and bought some bulbs yesterday in a local discount shop - I've got them there before and they've been great. One year I bought very expensive lilies from a mail order gardening catalogue and they were all eaten by Lily Beatles. It's not quite so painful with cheap ones. I planted them today and should hopefully see them flower in May. The cats didn't let the fact that we were working get in the way of their usual do-nothing routine. Here's Pushkin taking advantage of the step ladder after Andy had used it to prune some roses that were a bit too high.  Clyde decided to relax on the new bench his servants had bought for him.  Jake posed on a block of wood but wouldn't look directly at the camera. In the picture he's looking just above me at Andy.  Crafts - Finished the first CTH Super Sport sock yesterday and am now halfway up the foot of the second one. These socks will be siblings rather than identical. I've thought about doing some more work on the Big Wool raglan cardi but have been worrying about the raglan decreases. I've been knitting the body in one large piece having cast on 8 less stitches to compensate for not having any side seams. I'm now feeling a bit confused on how the raglan decreases will work. Saturday, March 29, 2003
 From the top - Online Maxima in colour number 23 - mostly red with pink, purple and orange shades, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Foxy Lady and last, but certainly not least, Cherry Tree Hill Long Lash in Grape. I decided to buy some red shades because although I really like red I don't seem to have much of it in my wardrobe or yarn stash. I keep buying purple and blue which I love but everyone needs a bit of variety in their lives! I was interviewed for an article on blogging for the local student newspaper this morning. I was asked the inevitable "why blog?" question which is always the hardest to answer because just over a year into blogging I'm still not sure. I like to think that I'm part of an ongoing global conversation, although I'm always pleasantly surprised when people listen to my part in it. We bought a new garden bench today - expect this to turn into a bit of a gardening blog over the summer - to replace our old one which is slowly disintegrating. Decided not to chuck the old one but instead turn it into a garden feature - we have a weird dry spot on one part of the garden where nothing - not even dry soil loving oriental poppies - will grow, so will put it there and arrange some pots around and on it. I'm trying to keep the garden simple this year as I usually tend to forget about it halfway during the summer. The worst part about buying the bench was that the last one left in the store was the display model which we thought would be easy to carry home since we only live around the corner from the store - it wasn't! That was a few hours ago and I'm still knackered! Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Remember when I came back from Paris with loads of yarn and found that even more yarn had arrived in the post? I said I would try and stop buying but I just can't seem to. I particularly like a good bargain as you know from my sale post and have just this second bought some more hand dyed sock yarn. This time it's a skein of Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters from Threadbear Fibre Arts. I have only read good things about this web based yarn store run by Rob Matyska and Matt Waldrop. Anyway, they have a special deal on MCWWQ and patterns at the moment so check it out if you have a chance. It's a sport weight wool so should knit up fast. My first Cherry Tree Hill sock is going well. I turned the heel today and have started the cuff. I was going to a heel flap but stuck with my usual short row heel instead. I still have a bit of a problem with eyelets appearing on the short rows but it's getting better. A new colleague on seeing me work on my sock at lunch asked if I was knitting - he didn't think it was crochet but was just confused by my circs. The fact that one is longer than the other can't have helped! Monday, March 24, 2003
  The colours of the sock haven't come out very well in these pictures. What shows up as a royal blue shade is actually a deep violet. The green is also more bright and not like the dingy shade in the pic. These are working up fast on 3mm needles. However I only have 3mm Addi Turbos in a 80cm and 40cm size and that combination is not the best to work with! :-) I've been meaning to put in another order to KGC Trading but keep forgetting. More yarn arrived today! I gave in and bought copycat yarn to that used for Bonne Marie's boot socks. It was very cheap - $10 for 500g although postage to the UK was $11. Not sure yet if I'll use it for socks or to make a cardi or something. Sunday, March 23, 2003
I greatly overestimated myself this weekend - I thought that I could complete far more things than I was actually able to. The raglan cardi turned out to be a bitch to finish with loads of ends to be sewn in. I completed it on Friday evening and blocked it with cold water over the weekend. Yesterday I cast on the new Big Wool cardi, this time knitted with a strand of mohair to reduce pilling. I'm knitting the back and two fronts in one big piece in order to reduce sewing time. I'm currently about a third of the way up the cardigan. Today I finished the Opal socks, that I started on the train to and from London earlier this month, and started my Cherry Tree Hill sport weight sock in the shade Dusk. It's mostly green with purples. I would have preferred it to be the other way around shade wise but sometimes it's difficult to tell when you look at a shade on the internet as opposed to handling the skein in the store. Despite that it's still a nice colour and the yarn feels wonderful and silky. With the weather warming up I won't have much opportunity to wear the socks that I've made but I should have a nice little stock pile by October when it gets cold. As you can see, I didn't get any sewing done this weekend. It's strange but since I started knitting sewing has taken a backseat despite the fact that knitting is a slower craft. It can't all be be down to the fact that you can knit while TV can it?! Sales - I've really had to reign myself in. Interweave is having a sale on slightly damaged books and magazines. The Knitting Garden has reduced the prices on many yarns including Cherry Tree Hill Superwash sock yarn and Long Lash eyelash yarn and The Batik Butik has reduced everything on it's site by 25% for the next few days. Friday, March 21, 2003
Looks like I choose the right days to take off, however despite being away from work I listened almost non-stop to news stations yesterday. Bonne Marie has written a wonderful and thoughtful entry in her blog about the current international situation. Managed to avoid a lot of news so far this morning but I'll probably have the tv on while I finish the raglan cardi. Got a lot done on on it yesterday so it'll be finished soon. Then onto to sewing some cotton peasant tops - one in some Liberty fabric, one in indian design silky fabric and one in a cotton print. Thursday, March 20, 2003
I've got today and tomorrow off and planned to do many crafty projects but so far have just been surfing the net reading other people's blogs. Wendy has posted a blog etiquette page on her site and I can't say I blame her. Read it and I think you'll agree. While I was surfing Sabre came into the room and curled up to sleep on the bed.  Until the dreaded Clyde came in and chased him out of the room! Those cats can be so mean to each other. Now Pushkin has settled on the bed but I really should get up and get going now, so no pix of him for the moment. Wednesday, March 19, 2003
If anyone has been wondering about possible substitutes for Cottonease for use in Bonne Marie's Sitcom Chic pattern I've been posting them in the comments section of the 11th March post. My first copy of Family Circle Easy Knitting arrived today. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked most of the designs. I don't have kids, nor do I ever have any intention of having them, but the childrens designs will be useful for friends children. I'm still waiting for the Spring issues of Interweave Knits, Knitters magazine and Beadwork magazine to arrive. Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Did some more sewing on the raglan cardi. I'm at the stage where I worry that the pieces aren't fitting together properly. I expect everything will work out fine in the end. Some great sites that you may have already heard about - Knitting Fool - sweater pattern generators and stitches galore. I've only had a quick glance but this looks like an amazingly useful site. Tradewind Knitwear Designs Tips and Tricks - found this when I was looking for info on steeks - really want to knit a cardi in the round and then steek the front and part of the sides. Some great mattress stitch tips amongst others. Monday, March 17, 2003
I've been very busy finishing almost done projects. It's been difficult as I'm so easily distracted. My beautiful yarn from Peggy Wescott arrived over the weekend and it's so wonderful that I've just been admiring it rather than knitting with it! So the Regia socks that I wasn't keen on are finished and I've finally finished the knitting on the Wendy Wild Spice raglan cardi. I started making it up tonight but it'll be a while until it's ready. I'll do a little work on it tomorrow but not for long because C.S.I - the real one not the Miami crap - is on. My 1950's ball winder from eBay arrived today! It's a bit smaller than I'd thought it would be although it managed to wind a 100g skein of Colinette Fandango without too much trouble. I might a larger one in the future if I see it but for the moment this one is fine. Still waiting for the swift to arrive. It was apparently shipped a week Saturday but shouldn't take this long to arrive from Sweden? Pics of Peggy's yarn coming tomorrow! It's so beautiful it should be in a gallery rather than stuffed into my craft room. That room really is a mess. I thought of posting a picture of it but I'd be too embarrassed! I have to stack things into piles just to make room to sit down. It would help if I didn't subscribe to numerous magazines and buy yarn and beads etc. but I just want to make everything! Tuesday, March 11, 2003
I really want to knit Bonne Marie's Sitcom Chic pattern but a. I can't get Cottonease in the UK and b. I should really work on/finish some of my other projects! Monday, March 10, 2003
 Probably the only time when cats and knitting do mix! This is a vintage ball winder that I bought on eBay. Having said that I don't actually know how old it is but I bought it quite cheaply - £4.99. If you're interested in getting one type "Felix ball winder" into the search box on eBay. Oh and it's not the 1950's ball winder that I wrote about in my last post. While perfectly usable, I'll only be using it for decoration in my craft room. This kind of winding is too much like hard work! The 1950's one is exactly the same as ball winders you can get today in that you turn a handle and the ball winds for perfect beautiful centre pull balls. The non-knitters reading this probably think I'm pretty sad! :-) Knitting for Peace - Fuzzy Galore has this free knitted peace pattern. It's a cabley type thing she said showing off her impressive technical vocabulary...! Sunday, March 09, 2003
 I finished these yesterday and have worn them already! They would have been completed sooner but I knit far too much ribbing, I'll do about an inch and a half in future. I've also nearly finished sock one of my Regia Jacquard bed socks. The second sock is just at the cuff. Haven't done any work on the Opal 207 sock yet as I really want to finish the Regia socks. And yet I want to start another project. I'm concerned that I won't have made the Rowan Big Wool black cardi before it gets too warm to wear it. This started off as an off the shoulder jumper until I realised that I'd have to reknit the yarn with a strand of mohair in order to stop it fluffing up or pilling. I'm going to knit the body of the cardi in one piece which will be a new experience for me. Not looking forward to the button holes though. My eBay auctions went well and I've bought a birch umbrella swift from Sweden and a 1950's ball winder from Cornwall. I've also bought some fabulous looking hand dyed glittery nylon yarn. I think it's a fingering weight but I'll know more when it arrives from Peggy WestCott's Motomo. Be sure to check out her site as she has some fabulous looking yarn which has been highly recommended on the Knitter's Review forums. And when it arrives I'll be able to wind the skeins into decent balls for a change! A small luxury but worth it! Tuesday, March 04, 2003
I was incredibly tired when I came home from London 30 mins ago but a look at the brand new Knitty has revitalised me! What great job Amy has done in created and editing this online magazine. It's incredible, fabulous designs contributed by wonderful people. And all for free! The only downside is how to choose what to knit first! This post will be shortish as I have to be up early for work but I managed to fit in trips to John Lewis - more Noro Kureyon for felting etc, Noro Cash Iroha a beautiful purply violet for a scarf, Noro Iro and a couple of balls of Debbie Bliss Merino aran that I'm hoping might make gauge for a Bucket'O'Chic hat - and Liberty - bought a meter and a half of their signature peacock feather print cotton in a turquoise colourway. Also went to Muji where I found a "large pen case" in frosted plastic that I hope will be useful for storing dpns and a very nice fabric tape measure. I seem to be collecting tape measures, I like to always have one in the bag with my project. Sunday, March 02, 2003
Well I'm going to London tomorrow for a couple of days. I'm taking a course to be a senior user on one of the computer programmes we use at work. This means that I'll be the person they call when it crashes or something important disappears. Nothing new there! If you have a reputation as "being good with computers" you always get called to sort out someone's email or find out why they can't print or where the task bars gone. I have a two hour train ride ahead of me tomorrow and I plan on taking a new sock project to see through it. Had thought about taking the new Big Wool cardi but it'll be too big to carry. At least sock yarn is small and light. I finished off the first Opal Royal sock this afternoon and have about two inches of ribbing to do on the second. I will never do that much ribbing again, it just takes me too long. I won't have a great deal of shopping time in London but I will get to check out the craft mags in the big Borders and possibly visit the bead shop in Covent Garden. I will put a page of address on where to go for yarn, beads, fabric etc. in London in the near future. Just have to get around to it. I am, as usual, behind in emailing - if you have emailed me and I haven't replied I'm sorry, time has slipped away from me again. But I will reply when I get back. Off to do some packing! |
