Knitting machine

My Mum left yesterday which was quite sad although it's good to get back to normal too. Not done much since she left as I'm a bit exhausted from all the sightseeing we did. So had a quiet day with lots of knitting yesterday. I finished the Sockamania/Sock Variety Club March pattern and carried on working on a secret lace project which I really wish I could show you but I can't.

This morning a new friend came over to help me sort out my knitting machine. I was a bit nervous as it's a bit old and I wasn't sure it was in proper working order. And although it needs some new bits, like a sponge bar (is that what it's called?) it did work okay. I did some practicing with some sock yarn. Learnt how to cast on and how to cast off and do a stocking stitch square. It's fun and amazing how quick it is. The cast off is a bit fiddly but I think I got the hang of it. Will be doing a bit more practicing this weekend.

We also talked about the new knitting group we're starting up in Liskeard next week. If any locals read this, it's on Thursday at Stuart House, Liskeard from 10am to 2pm. Everyone's welcome. If you can't knit but fancy learning or could do with a refresher we're happy to help. Or if you're an experienced knitter you're welcome too. We've had quite a bit of interest so it should be a good first session. Come along and see if you like it.

I promised pics of the No Wool Sock Club yarn for Feb and here it is:
the pattern used for both the Sock Variety Club and the No Wool Sock club was 'Be My Valentine' which features purl hearts hidden in a twisted rib and were knitted toe up. The pattern will be available on Ravelry and in my shop on 1 March.
The colour is not quite right I don't think. Light conditions here in the winter can be really tricky and on some days I just can't seem to get the colour quite right. but the colour was a semi solid green. If you want to sign up for the No Wool Club in time for March then now's the time to do it. The March parcels will be sent out by the end of first week of March.


There will be a small shop update with some sock yarns and lace yarns tonight or sometime over the weekend.

Award Season

Yes it's award season again. Oscard are not far off, or have they been already? I've lost track. Yes the Oscars have been, they were on Sunday night. I started writing this blog post on Sunday actually and finishing it on Tuesday. Monday was too busy. Been so busy I've not had time to watch the news this weekend. I'll tell you why later. but first, I was nominated for an Award by Cloudberry Knit. It's a 'Creative Blogger Award' and I'm so hounoured to have been nominated. Thank you Beate. I won't do a sobbing Oscar speech. Got to try to think of who to nominate now. While I try to decide, here are the rules:

Copy the award to your site

link to the person from whom you recieved the award

and Nominate 8 other bloggers.

Link to those on your blog

Leave a message on the blog you nominated.

Deciding on which blogs to nominate has not been easy. Some blogs I knew instantly I wanted to nominate but others I had to search a bit longer for so here are my nominees in no particular order:

Gilraen for stunning socks. She knows just how to knit with hand dyed yarn.

Pixie for gorgeous knits and hand spun yarn. And she's my fabolous test knitter and a real gem.

Probably Jane whose hand spun yarns are a real inspiration and sock designs are fantastic.

All fingers and thumbs for gorgeous knits and she's from Cornwall.

Purl in the pool for stunning knits and being a lovely blogger.

Aknita for being such a generous knitter and queen of Forest Canopies and for gifting me one of her famous Forest Canopy Shawl.

Silja Devine who is a fellow Norwegian and has some gorgeous spinning photos on her blog.

Knitknack PaddyWack.... for gorgeous knitting and organising the fun Ktog in Bovey Tracey for hte last 2 years.

It's not been easy deciding and I've trawled through lots of blogs on Sunday night and this morning trying to decide which ones to nominate.

Yesterday my Mum and I went to Bovey Tracey and Spin A Yarn. My Mum wanted to get some Noro Kochoran to make a little vest from the Designer Mini Knits book. I just got a ball of Debbie Bliss cotton for some swatching for a new project and 2 tiny balls of Kidsilk Spray. Just oculdn't resist the gorgeous blue colour. I may get some pics later. Then we drove down to DArtington Cider Press Centre which has lots of gorgeous little shops and coffee shops. We met my friend, Marianne, for lunch. It was a nice day out but all the driving made me rather exhausted.

My Mum has gone out with my in-laws today and I'm having a quiet day apart from dyeing the yarn for the Sock Variety Club for March. If you want to sign up you've got till tomorrow. Parcels will be going out on Thursday. I always do a couple of spares just in case.

Long time - no blogging

Not quite sure what's happened to February. It's gone so quickly. Last week was spent finishing a new design for Yarn Forward magazine. It's a design I love so much I've dyed enough yarn to knit it for myself. Not got time to start it quite yet though. A couple of other secret projects to get off the needles first.

On Sunday my Mum arrived from Norway and she's here until middle of next week. The girls are on holiday this week too so it's rather busy around here. I'm trying not to do too much and pace myself as my neck/back is not been too good but that's easier said than done.

This weekend I need to start dyeing the Sock Variety Club yarn for March so I thought it was time to show off February's yarn, not sure if I've shared pictures already or not.

The yarn for February was Merino Tencel sock yarn which looked gorgeous dyed up in this luscious red colourway. The tencel gives the yarn a gorgeous shine.
I'm planning to dye the March Sock Variety Club yarn this weekend and I'll be using a different yarn which will be from a British Sheep Breed so if you fancy joining hurry up.
I'd planned to share the No Wool Sock Club February yarn too but I can't find any photos now. I'm sure I took some. I'll search my laptop and try to find some for next time I blog. The colour was a really gorgeous semi-solid green.

As I wrote in my last post the new Yarn Forward magazine is out and I had a pattern published, Regatta. I also had an article on yarn shopping in Oslo, Norway in this issue. I had a great time on our holiday spending a day yarn shopping. Writing the piece was a different story and I'm relieved it was well edited. I'm quite pleased with the finished result.

Tomorrow we're off to Paignton Zoo which should be a good day as long as it doesn't rain. And on Saturday we're going shopping in Exeter in the afternoon then meeting some friends for a meal and seeing Holiday on Ice in the evening. I've never been to an ice show before and there is usually an ice show that comes to Exeter every year but we've never made it so I'm quite excited about going this time.

I'll leave you with some more pictures of the Regatta Stole from Yarn Forward.
Happy knitting!

New Designs

Lots of exciting stuff happening right now. The new Yarn Forward magazine is out this week. I think sub copies are being sent out today and newsagent copies will be available from next week. I've got a design in this issue too. The designers in this issue have been asked to add our designs to Ravelry so I assume it's okay to show you a photo. But just to be on the safe side I'll show you the pic the editor sent me and then save my own photos till later in the week. This picture was on the back of the previous issue anyway. The stole is called Regatta and is knitted in my own Luscious Lace. I've still got a little bit of Luscious Lace in the shop but I can't get any more of it at the moment but a good alternative is my new Supreme Lace. You'll need 2 skeins of that and 3 skeins of Luscious Lace. There is some Supreme Lace in the shop and I'll be dyeing more this week.

I've also listed a new free pattern on Ravelry. It's the stole version of the Maja shawl which was published in Knitty in December. At the time it was published a lot of people asked for a stole version and my friend in the US, Barb, offered to knit one for me as I just didn't have time. The original shawl was worked in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend but Barb knitted her version in Berocco Ultra Alpaca Yarn. Gorgeous isn't it? thank you Barb for kniting it for me. I'd intended to list it when I got back from Norway in January but completely forgot about it. But it's finally here and can be downloaded for free on Ravelry. If you're not a Ravelry member I'd recommend joining. It's great fun.

Other great news is that yesterday I met with a local lady to tak about starting up a knitting group in Liskeard, Cornwall. For any locals reading this we'll be starting on Thursday 5th March at Stuart House in Liskeard from 10am to 2pm. Everyone is welcome. experienced knitters and complete beginners. We'll bring yarn and needles and will be happy to teach anyone who wants to learn how to knit. Hella will also bring her knitting machine for anyone who wants to have a go. We'll be meeting weekly and we're hoping it'll really take off. If you live in South East Cornwall come along. E-mail me on yarnaddictAThotmailDOTcoDOTuk for more info.

The No Wool parcels were sent out yesterday. I won't show a pic of the yarn yet but I love the colourway I chose in the end. I had to finalists for hte colourway and it was a difficult choice in the end. If you want to sign up for March pop over to Etsy now. Next time I post I'll reveal the Sock Variety Club February yarn. Can't remember if I've shown the Lace Variety Club Jan yarn but I'll do that next time too.

Back to finishing off my latest Yarn Forward design.

New Yarn

I can finally introduce the first few skeins of my new Organic Cotton Sock Yarn which is a blend of 55% organic cotton and 45% tencel. It has 400m to 100gr and is gorgeous and soft. I'm nearly finished with a pair of socks in this yarn and it's lovely to knit with. Perfect for summer socks (yes I'm dreaming of summer already) and for those who are allergic to wool or prefer vegan yarns. This yarn is also the yarn used for the No Wool Sock Club. It's too late to sign up for February but you can sign up for March now.

Here's a taster:

I've listed lots of other yarns today too.
We had more snow yesterday and Emily's school was closed again. Vanessa's school was closed for a training day anyway. This means I've had kids home 3 days in total this week and it's only a week till half term. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I do like having the week days to myself. It's late and I'm tired so off to bed. Nite x

snow and yarn

Yes we had some snow too yesterday. This week has seen Britain crippled by snow, which is quite funny to a Norwegian. We had about an inch here yesterday and the schools were closed, we had no rubbish collection and we couldn't get our car out of the drive. Simon took the day off too. He probalby could have gone in late but rang his boss and took the day as annual leave. He's already had Monday off as flexi leave. We only had snow yesterday and it was gone by the end of the day but the girls were thrilled to have a day off school. They were out playing in the snow at 8am.

My plans were ruined yesterday. I'd planned to meet up with Tina and go to the knitting group at Spin A Yarn. I've never met Tina before although we live really close and I think we were both looking forward to the day. I was also meeting my friend, Marianne, at Spin A Yarn and all the other lovely ladies there. I love going up there once a month as it's a gorgeous yarn shop. So I was very disappointed when I had to spend the day at home. even the snow didn't cheer me up.

Luckily everyone's back at work and school today but the next Spin A Yarn knitting group isn't until March.

I've managed to list a few yarns yesterday. I had a big clear out of my studio on Sunday. I spent two hours and four bin bags sorting stuff out and there is still mor eto do. I found I had a lot of yarn that's not been listed so I'm aiming to work my way through that in the next week or so. I've checked the dollar exchange rate again today and decided to reduce my prices. Sock yarn will now be $16 and lace yarns $18. So alhtough the sale is officially over, a lot of the yarn prices will stay the same. And the sale yarns will stay at their sale prices until I get time to go through the whole shop and change it. Here's a taster of some of the new yarns listed:Today we're back to miserable rain by the way. And it's cold and windy. REally miserable. Luckily I managed to pick up the brand new copy of The Knitter magazine earlier. That might cheer me up a bit.