Knitting in the sun!

Yes, we've had a week or two with sunshine nearly every day. Very unusual for Cornwall. On Friday I met up with a friend at Newton Ferrers just outside Plymouth. It's a beautiful little village down by the water. We found a bench by the marina perfect for knitting and a picnic. It was warm and we had a very nice 2 hours of chatting and knitting. Here's the bench we sat on. On Sunday Simon, Em and I took Em's bike and Vanessa's bike as mine has a flat tyre and Simon's has a broken chain, and drove to Davidstow Airfield on Bodmin Moor. It's an old WW 2 airfield which is commonly used for teaching teenagers to drive and children to ride their bikes. We found a track just off the airfield and went for a short walk. Simon and I took it in turns to ride Vanessa's bike. Then we spent some time on the airfield for Emily to practice riding her bike. Here's Simon and Em and our dog, Sam.

I've done quite a lot of knitting. I've got a pair of socks on the go for the Yarn 4 Socks August Sock Club. The first sock is nearly finished. No pics yet. I'm hoping to finish this sock tonight. I'm about to cast on for another pair of socks for Let's Knit magazine. My Supreme Lace Shawl is coming along nicely, a few more repeats have been added since this picture but it looks just about the same. I'm looking forward to finish it and see how it blocks out. My self-imposed deadline is end of this week.

I've cast on for another triangular shawl in Glorious Sock June colourway. I love the vibrant blue colourway. I'll try and get a progress pic of this tomorrow. I'm also working on a secret triangular shawlette in Silken Straw to go with my secret scarf in Silken Straw. This combo will be submitted somewhere but I can't decide where. And I've got a very simple short row garter stitch scarf on the go and that's secret at the moment.

I've finished another lace swatch which is blocking on the floor and looking really nice. It'll probably be submitted to an English mag, unless I change my mind by tomorrow. I've got another swatch for a garment ready to be e-mailed off to an editor tomorrow too. And today I swatched for a new lace design. I've got a possible pattern for the centre panel for a lace stole, it's very interesting but I'm keeping it a secret for now.

So lots of knitting going on but not a lot to show for it.

I've been updating the website this evening and there will be more to come tomorrow. Go and have a look. Weight Watchers tomorrow. So far I've lost 10 pounds .... since March... Not very good really but I did loose 2 pounds last week. I've not had a very good week. On Saturday Em and I treated ourselves to lunch at a coffee shop and mine consisted of choc fudge cake and smoothie then we had fish and chips with friends in the evening, so that's probably ruined my week. On Wednesday I have my induction at the gym. I've not been for a few years, think it might be as long as 5 years so I'm not really looking forward to it but I used to love going to the gym.

Dyeing yarn again

Since the Ravelry Day in Coventry I've had a bit of a break from yarn dyeing but this weekend i realised it's time for the Sock Variety Club again. It's kind of taken me by surprise this month. In July there won't be a new sock patterns so I've got to choose one of my existing patterns to use. The yarn arrived on Friday and this morning I dyed some trial skeins. I've got a couple of ideas for the colourway for July but I've still not decided and I need to decide today as the yarn will be dyed tomorrow. If you wish to sign up you need to be quick. It's nearly full.
No new knitting pics today. I've done a few more reps on the Supreme Lace Shawl. But not enough to make it worth taking a new pic. I've been doing more swatching. I did a swatch for a new garment design in a Rowan silk yarn. I'm a little bit concerned about how well it wears. So I've washed the swatch and dryed it and I'm bashing it about a bit to decide whether i want to use it or not. Then I've got to decide which mag to e-mail it to. I've also worked ona lace swatch and I'm not sure yet whether it'll be a design I can share or a secret design. I'm working on the border of the swatch now and when it's finished and blocked I'll make a decision about what to do with it.

I've not knitted any socks for a while. But tonight I need to get a pair on the needles. I've been working on swatches and ideas for the Yarn 4 Socks club and hope to get it on the needles properly by tomorrow. I'm not sure yet how much I can share of this yet.

So what did I dye today? I did some trial skeins for the Sock Variety Club and the Yarn 4 Socks Club and then I dyed some of my new lace yarn which is gorgeous. I'm thinking about using it for the Lace Variety Club in July so I did some trial skeins for club colourways. And then I added some Exotic Cobweb lace as well which will be in the shop in a few days. I'll be doing more dyeing tomorrow. The Sock Variety Club yarn and some Silky Merino I think. At least the weather is goo so I can get it dry quickly.

Yarn 4 Socks club

Very exciting news. I'm going to be the August yarn dyer and designer for Yarn 4 Socks Club. I've known about this for quite a while obviously but the August club is now listed and you can purchase your spot. The base yarn arrived today and is a gorgeous blend I've not had in stock for a couple of months. So I'm really looking forward to using it again. The socks will be otn this weekend. I've not quite decided on the final pattern yet but I've got some great runner ups. I've also been thinking colours and will hopefully be playing with yarn this weekend to try to narrow down the colour choices for the yarn. All in all it should be a great month so if you want to make sure you don't miss out on the fun, join now.

Yesterday I taught a continental knitting workshop at Spin A Yarn. I had a great day. We chatted, laughed and knitted and had a lovely lunch provided by Joyce. The shop is so friendly and very busy. Joyce is hoping to move to a bigger shop up the road soon and we're all very excited about that. She's got so much gorgeous yarns and when she gets the bigger shop she can expand the yarn choice even more. The ladies yesterday were great and all got the hang of continental knitting very quickly and all agreed it wasn't as difficult as it looked and that it probably is faster than English knitting. If you disagree with me, don't shoot me. Just try it for your self and when you get some practice in, I'm sure you'll agree with me. Anyway, I was thinking as I was driving home how lucky I am to get to spend the day in a yarn shop with a lovely bunch of people. From a teaching point of view, this workshop was easier than some of the others I teach. I taught the long tail cast on first, which takes a bit of getting used to but once I'd demonstrated it to everyone individually, they all got the hang of it just fine. Then we moved onto the knit stitch which isn't too difficult. Once they all felt confident enough we tried Norwegian Purl. I usually teach this to each knitter one at a time as it's easier. It's a trickier move than knit but once you try it a few times it's not bad. After lunch they were all knitting away on their scarves. i'd designed a very simple scarf pattern combining knit and purl stitches so they'd all get lots of practice in. We had a few breaks during the afternoon. A few people had to stroke some yarn and a few people may have bought some yarn. And I may have been one of those......

Although yesterday was great, today i'm suffering. I'm in pain, I'm stiff and have got a headache and I'm tired. So apart from catching up on some washing and tidying up at home I'm taking it easy with lots of knitting. My Alchemy Silken Straw project is really coming along. I think I may finish it tonight if I stick with it. I'm still working on my new lace swatch and I think I'm happier with my current swatch, although I got a new lace yarn today which I may swatch with later.

I need to get the Yarn 4 Socks socks on the needles this weekend and I need to get some more reps done on my current lace shawl, that's been neglected a bit lately, in favour of the Silken Straw project, which I'm kind of in love with.

Got to go and check out my huge yarn delivery which just arrived. Lots of sock yarn and two new lace yarns. I may be a while........

Have a nice weekend and go and check out Yarn 4 Socks.

x

PS. I promise some pics of actual knitting next time I post.

Yes, it's raining.

Now, that's a sentence you don't hear me say very often. I hate rain. But this afternoon should have been Emily's sports day. It's her last year of primary school and so the last sports day I'll need to attend. I should be wanting to be there cheering her on. But I find Sports Days incredibly boring. You sit on the edge of the school field watching everyone else's kids run up and down. YOur child's race takes about 10 seconds out of the afternoon. And it always finishes late. The nice thing is if you've got friends there and it's sunny. sitting chatting to a friend and soaking up the sun makes the whole thing more bearable but still, I wasn't sad when it was cancelled.

I'm in the middle of doing a shop update. I've listed the remaining Super Merino, Amazing Cashmere Lace, Luscious Lace and if I have time there will be Silky Merino, one skein of Dreamy Lace and Exotic Cobweb Lace and some Almerino sock yarn and BFL sock yarn to come. I'm slowly catching up with the leftover yarn from Rav Day. It's taken me much longer than expected to get all hte yarns listed.

Simon is off sick again. he was off last Friday and recovered over the weekend. Then yesterday he rang me and I had to drive to Plymouth and pick him up from work just after lunch. considering I'd drive nearly an hour each way in the morning to take a friend to a dentist for an op I could have done without another long drive (30 mins each way) in the afternoon. I hten had my friend's daughters here after school which was fine. The girls all behaved themselves. And I had to go out to a friend's in the evening to plan our child protection training session which we are running at church on Saturday.

So today I'm shattered and have done very little apart from edit some yarn photos, the shop update and lots of knitting. I'm still swatching. I'm working on a lace swatch. I saw a lace pattern in a book yesterday which I tried out nad loved it. Combined it without something else and swatched it in sock yarn and it looked fab. Changed to laceweight yarn and not so good. Changed ot smaller needles and a little better but not sure. If Iget to a point where I'm happy with this one it'll be submitted to a mag. Not decided which one yet though.

I've had a skein of Alchemy Silken Straw in my stash for a few months now. It's an expensive yarn and come in tiny 40gr/200 yds skeins. It looks and feels like straw but it's 100% silk. I was so intrigued by this yarn I had to have it. It's been sitting on my desk lately and I've been keen to dosomething with it. A couple of days ago I wound it into a ball and last night I started swatching. Tried some lace patterns that didn't look right. But I've found the perfect stitch pattern now and I'm knitting away. It feels like straw when you first touch it but it softens as you knit with it. I frogged and re-knitted a few times last night and it got softer and softer. It'll be interesting to see what the finished item will be like. i'm tempted to get some more in another colour when I go up to Spin A Yarn tomorrow, where I'll be teaching a continental knitting workshop.

The shop update is done for today. Go and have a look. More BFL and Almerino sock yarn to come later in the week.

New Shawl

I've got a new shawl on the needles. Before the weekend I intended to do a 'blocked on the needles' pic but it's grown too big for my circ already and I can't be bothered to change to bigger circs so it's going to have to be a un-blocked progress pic instead. I like this shawl. It's easy to knit and the pattern is easy to memorise. I'm knitting it in Supreme Lace and this is the first time I've knitted with Supreme Lace. This shawl will be perfect for new lace knitters who would like to try a lace yarn but with an easy pattern or a quick, straightforward knit for more experienced knitters.Michelle from my Lace Variety Club sent me some pics the other week of her recently finished Two of a kind shawl. It's knitted in the March club colourway, or at least I think it was March. Think I'm right in saying March was Exotic Cobweb Lace. Doesn't it look gorgeous? I love it. I originally did Two of a kind in the slightly heavier Cashmere Lace but I think it looks more gorgeous in a finer lace yarn. Thank you for letting me share your pics Michelle.I've done a lot of swatching for new designs lately and most of them have been e-mailed to magazine editors over the weekend and I'm waiting to hear back. One editor I've tried e-mailing a few times now but I keep getting an e-mail delivery failure notification. According to a friend of mine who designs for the same mag, that's quite common, so I guess I'd better just keep trying.

I'm really keen to get a lace shrug on the needles. I've decided I could really do with a lace shrug and have got a few ideas. I'd like to do it in one of my lace yarns. I've ordered a couple of new lace yarns and I think I may use one of the new ones, when they arrive. I keep looking in stitch directories and drawing circles on my square pad to try to find the right patterns but I've not made up my mind yet.

I've still got lots of yarns to list on the website and I'll start working my way through them. I've taken lots of pics that need editing and hopefully there will be a big update tomorrow or Wednesday.

New Yarn Forward design

Coyright - St Range Photography

I've had another design published by Yarn Forward. It's a lace shawl called 'Sophia'. It's worked from the back neck down with a knitted on border. I did it originally in Kidsilk Haze and thank you to a couple of Ravellers who helped me out with a couple of extra balls. I had two balls given to me in a Secret Santa swap last year and started working the shawl then realised I needed more. The white Kidsilk Haze version has beads. Pixie did the yellow version which is my own Silky Merino and no beads.I was also featured for Yarn Forward's Inside Studio this month. I was a bit worried about sharing pics of my rather untidy studio especially as it was the build up to Raverly Day and there was yarn everywhere. And there's that awful picture of me sat at my desk......

This has been a rather tough week. Having just started to recover from last weekend, I came down with a sickness and diarrhoea bug yesterday and spent all day in bed. I crawled downstairs at about 2pm for some painkillers and to check the post and discovered the new issue of Yarn Forward which cheered me up. I then went back to bed until about 8pm when I felt well enough to get up. The problem with back pain is that lying in bed all day does my back no good at all. I was in total agony by the end of the day. I'm feeling a lot better today but still a little delicate. But Simon has been ill today but nowhere near as bad as I was. Vanessa is coming down with a bad cold, so looks like we'll have a quiet weekend.

On hte knitting front, I've concentrated on swatching today. I did cast on for a new shawl earlier in the week and I'll get a pic of that soon. It's in Supreme Lace and is a traingular shawl. The swatching today has been for new magazine designs which will be e-mailed to various editors over the weekend. I didnt take on any new design work in the run up to Ravelry Day so I need to get some commissions in over the next couple of weeks.

Ravelry Day 2009

UK Ravelry Day 2009 was a big success despite the pretty awful weather. I did kind of panic when I arrived at 7.30 and saw the state of my stall. There was a problem with back drops to the stalls being provided and I was in a row of 3 stalls and I think the Mulberry Dyer who was next to me, supplied the back drop to our 3 stalls. However, it didn't go to the end of my stall and the side was completely open which meant half my table was wet and had rain coming in, so was completely useless. The Mulberry Dyer was then allowed to move inside so I moved along to her stall which was much better than mine. i've learnt a few things for future outside shows, like bringing my own back drops and ground covering, as everything I put underneath the table got wet and muddy.

Despite the move we managed to set up on time and had customers browsing and buying even before we'd finished setting up. I was then lucky enough to get inside to teach my two socks at a time workshop. Two hours of warmth and dry. I left Jacky manning the stall and she did a brilliant job.

The stall was very busy all day and sales were very good. I had no idea what to expect really as it was my first show. The laceweight yarn was very popular, especially the ones I had patterns for. I had Midnight Stole, Strawberry Patch, Dazzle Shawl and some scarves on display along with a selection of socks. We had some lace virgins too and were able to encourage them to have a go at lace with sock yarn and the Trellis Scarf or my new Slinky scarf for those who wanted to try laceweight for the first time.

The biggest surprise was that my British yarns didn't sell very well, after all this event was to promote British yarns. But my exotic and imported yarns sold much better. I nearly sold out of Silky Merino, Supreme Lace, Exotic Lace and Exotic Cobweb Lace and Amazing Cashmere and Luscious Lace sold well too, along with the brand new Pure Silk Lace.

After I had moved stalls, the Toft Alpaca Stall was next to me and they were pretty busy all day too selling gorgeous alpaca kits and they had 2 alpacas on display next to their stall too. And aren't they cute?I didn't manage to get a picture of my own stall before we started, as we had a crowd browsing before we even finsihed setting up and I had to run off for my first workshop. But here's a photo of crowds browsing my stall and the Toft Alpaca stall next to me.
And some other stalls.
I didn't even have time to look around all the other stalls or the inside exhibitions and displays. Neither did I manage to get to the talks by Meg Swansen and Debbie Bliss or the fashion show but I heard it was all a big success. And surprisingly I didn't buy any yarn at all. All I managed to buy was a Ravelry Day souvenir cotton shopper.

I finished the day teaching a continental knitting workshop with the help of Katie, which went very well. in an hour everyone managed to try both the continental knit stitch and Norwegian purl.By the time I came back outside Simon and Jacky had finished packing up the stall. I decided to have a quick look aroudn the other stalls but most people had packed up by then.

All in all, it was a great day with lots of buzz and happy knitters and the mood was high despite the rain. I met a lot of old and new online friends and I'm not even going to try to name any of them as i'm bound to miss some out.

A huge thank you to Katie for helping in the Continental knitting workshop and Jacky for manning the stall all day, she did a fab job. And thank you to everyone who bought from us on the day and attended my workshop.

I've listed some Alpaca Lace and Organic Merino sock yarn which is reduced in price along with the leftover Exotic Lace, Supreme Lace and Glorious Sock Yarn. There will be more leftover yarn in the shop later in the week.

If anyone managed to get a nice pic of my stall please can I have a copy.

Ravelry Day 2009

On Friday we're off to Coventry and the Ravelry Day 2009 on Saturday. I've been doing a lot of dyeing lately, labelling yarn, packing yarn, printing patterns and other stuff to get ready for the day. I've also tried to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather we've had for the last week. For now I'll tempt you with some gorgeous pictures of yarn that's coming to Coventry with me. If you're not coming to the event, then any yarn left over will be listed in the shop next week. For the time being the shop is very empty.

The other day I practiced setting up the stall on my dining room table which is a lot smaller than the stall. And I didn't have all the yarn either but I just wanted to get some idea of what works and what doesn't.There are two suitcases like this with yarn in it and a big box. I've had to leave some behind as it was just too much.

Here's a taster of what'll be for sale at the show:

Luscious Lace:
Pure silk Lace
BFL Sock yarn
Organic merino 4ly/sock yarn - this yarn is so soft and scrummy and it's spun locally in Devon.
Alpaca Lace which is from British alpaca and spun in Devon too.Squishy BFL sock yarn
Sweet Dreams & hope to see you in Coventry!