Delicious Yarns

This weekend should have seen the launch of 'Delicious Yarns' - my new experiment. I got some gorgeous Merino 4ply which finally arrived yesterday. It's as supersoft and gorgeous as I had hoped. I got stuck in yesterday adn started doing some dyeing and experimenting with different methods. I used different dyes from what I've used in the past. Some skeins came out lovely adn some not.

I also got some silk bourette 4ply which feels more like cotton string than silk but apparently it's much nicer and softer after it's been dyed so I dyed 5 skeins of that today. It's still wet on the line though.

Got another parcel of more merino today too but I resisted starting to dye that although it was very tempting. Did some ironing instead. I am supposed to be getting ready to go to Norway on Sunday after all.

Anyway, here is the results of yesterday's dyeing. I did think about putting them up for sale tonight so I could post them tomorrow. But I've got so much other stuff to do so I'm delaying the launch of 'Delicious Yarns' until after I get back from Norway.

Put Friday 8th June in your diary - that'll be the launch party which will be held here on the blog. To start with I'm selling the yarns through my blog as it's easier to put them up ehre than on the website.

The skeins are all individually dyed and I'm doing one off colours at the moment. I'm aiming to spend one morning a week dyeing so there won't be huge amounts for sale. The yarn itself is supersoft merino 4ply (fingering weight) perfect for super soft socks or shawls. A lot of the merino I've knitted with is thicker than standard 4ply but this is about the same thickness and tension as standard 4ply sock yarn, just much, much softer. It knits to a tension of about 8 st/12 rows on 2.75mm/US 2 needles in stocking stitch. There is 400m to a 100 gr skein.

Whether or not I'll be selling the silk bourette remains to be seen. I was hoping to take a skein to Norway with me to knit a shawl to see how it knits up.

Okay, enough, here are the pics (and grab your shades, the colours are bright)

I had to overdye 4 skeins - 2 came out lovely afterwards and the other two not so much.

I also over dyed the VLT shawl yesterday. This is the 'Victoria Shawl' from Victorian Lace Today. I was worried the green was too bright but I like it. Here it is blocking:

And modelled by Ness.

If my Mum does't like it (and I'm sure she will) then I'll keep it as I love it.

And lastly, a huge thank you to everyone who's sent me messages of support through e-mails, pms and messages on forums and comments on the blog and the cards I've received. I really appreciate all the support and I'm overwhelmed by how many of you care. Thank you!

So close & sad news

First the 'tragedy' of my Victorian Lace' Diamond shawl for my Mum which I finally dug out of the wip basket this week to finish for whe nshe was due to arrive on Friday. This is how far I'd got at 4.30am this morning when I ran out of yarn.

I knew I'd run out at some point but I was kind of hoping that I may be lucky....... As I laid it out on the floor and realised athat the 3 skeins I had used were all slightly different shades anyway I thought I may as well use another skein that I had which was a much lighter shade so I did.

I've only got one corner left to do now. Tomorrow I'll be overdyeing it and hopefully that'll sort out the difference in colours.

Next time I knti with hand dyed yarn that'll take more than one skein please remind me to alternate between the different skeins as this is the 2nd time I've had problems iwth colour variations. You'd think I'd learn after the first time but I'm a bit slow.

Now, the sad news. My parents won't be coming here this weekend. Instead we'll be flying to Norway on Sunday for 10 days. The very sad news is that my Grandad passed away early this morning. I had a phone call from my Dad last night telling me my Grandad was very weak and he didn't think he'd have long left but it still came as a shock this morning. I was very upset this morning but I'm feeling calmer now. In the end I'm relieved that my Grandad didn't have to suffer any longer. Fro the past few months he's had a series of infections (after his stroke in February) and has spent a lot of time in isolation which made him depressed. At least now he won't have to suffer anymore.

New patterns

Some of you have spotted it already - there are new patterns in the side bar available for purchase.

We've got Ocean Waves Shawl which takes 2 skeins of Posh Yarns 'Emily' or 730 yards 4ply/fingering weight yarn. This is a very easy shawl to knit and perfect if you're new to lace.

I've also added 'Kaleidoscope' which takes two 50 gr balls of Jaeger Matchmaker 4ply merino (or 400 yards (depending on size) 4ply/fingering weight yarn). The display socks are knitted to fit a ladies UK size 8 and I used up nearly 2 complete balls of the yarn. So if you're kniting bigger socks please allow more.

And one of my old sock patterns have been added with a new pic which shows up the cable pattern much better - 'Braided Cables' Socks. I've knitted them in Socks that rock but any 4ply/fingering weight sock yarn will work.

I've not done much today. I'm totally exhausted after a busy weekend. I've pretty much documented what I was up to on Saturday. then another busy day on Sunday. We went to church then stayed on for a fellowship lunch which our church has once a month. That finished about 2pm and after 4 hours on plastic chairs I was in agony with my back. then we went on to Plymouth to take part in the 'Make Poverty History' regional rally. That was a lot of waiting around before the main campaign action started and by the time it was finally done I was in even more pain so Simon suggested we stopped at McDonalds on the way home to save me from having to cook. I fell in to bed about 9pm last night totally exhausted.

I've picked up my mum's Victorian Lace Shawl again today. I'vebeen trying to decide what to do about the border (don't think I've got enough yarn) and decided to carry on and frog a bit from the short side if I have to. Got quite a few repeats of the border done today. I've got 3/4 of a long side and a short side left to do. My mum arrives on Friday and I'd like to get it done by then. Fingers crossed.

Lots of pics

Well, that title just about describes today's entry - lots of pics about all sorts of stuff.

First I had a lovely surprise first thing this morning - 7.30am. My Secret Summer Santa present from the Crafty Yarns Forum arrived. My Santa was Dreamcatcher, although it took me a while to work her clue out. But once I found her blog the other clues were all there.

She put together the most gorgeous present. This is what it looked like unopened:

And this is what I got:

Lace weight yarn from www.handpaintedyarns.com and 2 balls Alpaca 4ply from Garnstudio/Drops Design - perfect colours.

Mountain Peaks Shawl pattern - I love this shawl.

Box of chocs and a beaded book thong made by Dreamcatcher:

A small bag perfect for sock knitting - love this and used it to take mycurrent sock wip to the swimming pool this morning:

The shawl blocking underneath all the goodies is my new 'Ocean Waves Shawl' - this is the same pattern as I used for Emily's Ocean shawl a few months ago but I used a different shawl construction. This one was knitted from the top down, starting with just a few stitces. I love knitting shawls in this way - it's just magic to watch it grow.

And here is 'Ocean Waves' all finished. My model wasn't in a good mood today and was cold during the modelling session so only got a couple of photos. I'm thinking of buying myself a dress form/mannequin - makes photos a lot easier.

Also finished my 2nd 'Kaleidoscope' sock today and here's the pair. Pattern will be available for purchase from tomorrow. Either by e-mail down load or printed on A5 card (leaflet style) by post. More details tomorrow.

then there is my 'Cable Braids' socks which I finished a day or two ago - only first sock done. It's knitted in STR Lemongrass. Gorgeous yarn to knit with - I'm hooked. The 'Cable Braids' is an old pattern but with a rubbish photo so knitted it up again mainly to get a better photo and discovered a mistake in the pattern too. This pattern will go back on sale tomorrow or Monday.

And finally, I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we bought a tent. Well, tonight Simon and his Dad decided to put it up in the garden as it's the first dry (well almost dry) weekend we've hd since we bought it. It went up - took quite a long time - and then straight down again as it was about 6.30 pm by the time it was up. And here it is:

That's Vanessa helping them and peaking out from underneath the tent. They didn't put the bedroom tents in or ground sheet or anything. Its huge btw. And looks great.

Gratulerer med dagen Norge

Don't know what the title means, well then you're not Norwegian. It's Norway's national day today when we celebrate independence. It's a huge thing in Norway. Everyone gets a day off work and there are parades with marching bands and school children. I have quite fond memories of those parades as I played in a marching band from about the age of 11 to 18 and ever year on May 17th we'd start marching around the towns and villages at 6 am and not finished till early/mid afternoon. It was an exhausting day but leading the parades full of school children with everyone waving their flags and shouting 'hurrah' was fantastic.

Norwegians are very patriotic which I think is lovely and a thing that's really missing in England I think. A bit different down here in Cornwall as the Cornish are fairly patriotic (as far as they're concerned Cornwall is a separate country from England).

I'm not very good though. Since I've lived in the UK I've not been celebrating May 17. I really should do. I did tell Emily about it on the way to school this morning and Vanessa at tea time. They've never been to Norway for 17 May so never seen what it's really like. Every year I feel like I really should throw a Norwegian themed party to celebrate but it never happens. Or at least put a Norwegian flag up outside our house - my neighbours would think I'd gone mad. LOL. Maybe next year I will.

I got tagged recently andf forgot all about it. I've not been very good about replying to comments left on my blog lately. I do read every single one and I love people leaving comments. Anyway Marit (another Norwegian) tagged me.

Here' show it works:

1: Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2: People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3: At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4: Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

I've done this once before a few months ago. And my brain isn't working any more so Imay have to give this a miss tonight and think about it another day. Remind me if Iforget.

One last thing to mention before I head back to the sofa for some knitting, I've got some really exciting plans. I don't want to say too much now but they involve lots of yarn. It's something
that I've wanted to do for months and I've finally decided to stop thinking about it and just go for it. I'm hoping I can reveal all next week. But keep checking back.

Off to finihs my STR sock now - pics tomorrow maybe. STR is gorgeous to knit with. I think I may be hoooked.

Spoilt for choice

Okay don't faint:

No, don't worry I've not gone mad. This is not all new stash. I cleared out some skeins from my wip basket in the lounge today to take them upstairs for storage as my wip basket is already overflowing with wips and there' s no room for spare skeins.

But look at all that gorgoeus yarn. Ithought it'd look great as a table decoration but I doubt Mr YA will agree. I tried leaving a stack of yarn 'cakes' on the bookshelf once as I thought they looked lovely and it didn't go down too well.

So now I've got these two legs there instead. I wonder how long it'll be before I'm asked to remove them. My excuse is that htey're there becaue they're two of the pairs I'm working on a tthe moment. And I needed to get some photos of them taken.

Noticed I said 'two of the pairs'. I've got 4 single socks right now needing companions. The Kaleidoscope companion is half way though the heel flap. And I've started the Rainforest companion but still need to do a companion for my May Day sock and Speedway socks.

And I've got to fish out my Mum's shawl soon and finish the border. This is the one I gave up on before Easter when I failed to finish it for my Mum's holiday. Well, she's coming over at the end of next week so it'd be nice to get it done before she comes. I'm thinkig I'm going to frog the border (I got half way then realised I didn't have enough yarn to finish) then reknit it from another skein of almost identical yarn.

And I've finally got Socks That Rock. I've been wanting to try this yarn for ages and here are two beautiful skeins of their light weight sock yarn. It's gorgeous . Ilove the colours. Want to cast on straigh away but will be good and finish the two sock currently otn.

And look what else the girls at 'Blue Moon' sent me. You'd think they knew me already.

Socks and more socks

I get the feeling I'm drowning in socks at the moment. I never thought I'd wear woolly socks in the summer but it's so cold here today I've got woolly socks on my feet and so has Em (who is home sick - although exactly how sick she is I'm not sure).

My new version of the fair isle sock is complete and here is a comparison between version 1 and 2. I much prefer version 2.

I'm thinking of doing the 2nd one with the colours the other way around as that way 50 gr of each colour will be just about enough for most people. If I do both the same way I'll need 60 gr of the purple which means breaking into a 2nd ball for nothing.

Today I cast on for 'Rainforest' in the Yarn Yard May club yarn. Pics tomorrow hopefully. I've nearly finished the cuff already and as i'm not doing anythingtonight I may finish it today. I'm working on a slightly smaller size as the original was large.

Talking about Yarn Yard. Natalie is having a yarn party tonight at 6pm when she puts her new merino sock yarn up for sale. I can't wait to see it but I'm hoping it'll all be sold before I log on as I'm on a major stahsalong. In fact, I'm destashing and selling a lot of stash on Crafty Yarns right now. If there is any left later I'll list some on here too.

And to go with the cold weather down here it's raining and has been for days now. I'm fed up with it and want the lovely weather we had last week. Much nicer.

And I leave you with a pic of my new socks. Name not yet decided, although I'm almost certain.

Disappointment & new socks

These socks were actually done in February and submitted to Knitty for consideration for their June issue and I've just hear they've not been accepted. I'm a bit disappointed but will keep trying.

Thye're called 'Rainforest' and are knited in Lornas Laces. The pattern will now be for sale. £3 for an e-mail down load or £4 for a paper copy via post (incl. postage - UK & Europe only).

I'm doing really well with my fair isle socks too and I'm hoping to have the pattern ready some time over the weekend.

Have you checked out hte progress on Sockamania? It's going really well over there. Some members ahve finished their socks already. I'm well impressed.

A sock a day

Yes, I did it. I knitted a whole sock in a day on Friday and then yesterday I knitted the 2nd sock. What's the catch I here you ask - well, they're kids socks. I cast on 48 st and knitted about 50 rounds on the cuff/leg and about 25 rounds on the foot between gusset decreases and toe so they're not tiny socks but not huge either.

I used The Yarn Yard Blackcurrant Swoop. This yarn isn't as 'swoopy' as YY's normal swoop yarn. It's more self striping.

The socks are knitted for an orphanage in Bulgaria. A lady from our church is going out there soon and a couple of months ago appealed for knitted stuff to take out and I've forgotten all about it so decided to knit up some socks. I've got lots of bits of sock yarn left over. Quite often there is enough left from a skein afterk nitting a pair of adult sock to knit a pair of child or toddler socks. So there'll be lots of socks winding their way to Bulgaria soon.

I also finished my 'Ocean Waves' shawl this morning. This is developed from the 'Ocean' shawl I knitted for Emily a while ago. It's the same crest of the wave pattern but I've used a different shawl construction. It's looking good but needs blocking before I can photograph it.

I want to wait for my blocking wires before I block it. I've got some on order from the US.

We bought a tent today. It's huge and has 3 bedrooms. Saying 'we' is wrong. Simon and the girls put aside some of their birthday money to pay for the tent as they want to camp at our church 'Family Bible Week' in August. I don't like caming and I'm not camping for a week 10 mins drive from home. The tent is very posh and enormous. WE may use it for other trips too but I'm really not a camping person so I'll give it a go and see how I like it. Worried about how my neck will cope with sleeping in a tent and I'm not camping in rain.

Back to normal

well, nearly. Still suffering from the sideeffects of too many antibiotics but hte infection is clearing up nicely. My face has returned to it's normal size. And I'm feeling okay again and eating again. And I'm back to knitting. Didn't knit at all for 3 days which shows how ill I was.

Since I've been feeling better I've been busy with a new sock design. It's a fair isle one adapted from a Norwegian pattern book with traditional patterns from 'Selbu'. And the yarn has been in my stash for ages. The yarn btw is Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4ply.

I like the pattern on the cuff but not sure about the pattern on the foot. I do love the pinstripe sole though. An idea I got form More SKS.

Off to the beach tomorrow. Simon has a day off and wants to go kayakking. Girls are at school so I'll sit on the beach and knit. WEather is gorgeous at the moment so should be a nice day.