A men's design

I've got my first ever men's design, Colosseum, published in Yarn Forward and i have no pics of it. I couldn't get it modelled before I sent it off and it would not have looked good on my size 8/10 ladies dress form. I might have persuaded Simon to model it but I didn't try as I considered it very unlikely. So you will have to buy the mag to see it. It's a small pic of it on the front page.

It's knitted in a green Silk Blend and it was hte knit that was keeping me incredibly hot on the drive to and from Woolfest. I was on hte yoke (Pixie did up to the yoke and I took over from there). I did struggle to get it done on time and it's lovely to see it in the magazine. The stitch pattern is the same as for my Colosseum socks. Simon is quite choosy when it comes to his knitwear and he's just given his seal of approval.

I mentioned I didn't buy much at Iknit. I bought this book on crochet finishing techniques. It's a subject I felt i could do with some more info on as I'm just about to start designing my first crochet garment.

I also bought some gorgeous button from http://www.textilegarden.com/. I absolutely love them.

I could have spent a lot more than I did. I just bought a selection of different buttons in my favorite colours. the pic is not very good and the colours look much better in real life. I'm hoping eithero these may look good on a new machine knit cardi I'm planning:

I  dyed some yarn for it last week after swatching and deciding to use Bambino Sock. I nearly went for purple again but decided I fancied a blue cardigan. I dyed 3 skeins and decided the colour looked good so I mixed up the same blend again (and i'd written down what I'd used) and dyed another 3 skeins and they came out very different. It may not look too different here but they are in real life.

I could knit stripes but that will take longer so I dyed some new yarn today and got 6 skeins which, while still wet, looks like they're a pretty good match. I've got to finish the sleeves for Simon's sweater and then I can start on my cardigan. I've swatched for 3 machine designs for myself. This blue cardigan will be a basic stocking stithc cardigan with rib edgings and maybe a tuck lace shawl collar. I've not quite decided yet. I've got some cashmere 4ply which is slightly thick for the machine but I'm happy with my swatch and I've probably got enough yarn to knit a waist coat and i'm planning a silk tuck stitch cardigan.

Although I didn't buy any yarn at Iknit, I did make up for it today. I popped down to Trago mills (which is a huge shop where they sell everything and it's supposed to be cheap - not my favorite shop as the staff are generally useless, they suspect everyone of shoplifting and it's badly laid out - but i needed some bed linen and ink cartridges which are cheaper there. I popped into the small yarn department just to see what was there. It tends to be cheap and cheerful  yarn mainly. But recently they've been stocking Regia at £2.65 per ball which sounds like a bargain. I bought these two balls

and this afternoon I cast on for a pair of toe up socks for myself - I'm knitting two at a time. I may make these longer and keep knitting till I run out of yarn.

I'm just doing plain stocking stitch. A bit of  an impulse.

I've been very monogamous when it comes to knitting lately and worked solely on my secret lace project which I'm thouroughly enjoying. but last night I fell off the wagon after an e-mail from an editor from a magazine I've been desperate to get published in - yes you guessed it, it's an American mag. They're keen for me to submit something so I got swatching on a couple of ideas i have. The first swatch will be quite bit.

This mornign while waiting for Trago Mills to open (Iwas one of those sad people who turned up 15 mins before the shop opened, because i'd taken the girls for an early dentist' appointment and went straight to the shop afterwards) I did a few rows on my Carment shawl. And then at lunch time I cast on for those Regia socks. Tonight I should go to a meeting but I've been awake since 2.30am and up since 4.30 am. I woke up with a severe head ache and neck pain. So I may stay home tonight and try to do some more on my secret lace. I'm feeling guilty because I've not touched it today.

I have dyed some yarn though and all the lace club yarn is now dyed (most of it was dyed last week and is dry but I had to do another 6 skeins). It'll be posted tomorrow or Saturday. I started listing some yarns earlier but I won't have time to finish it. Will finish it tomorrow. And today's yarn will be listed as soon as it's dry. I had planned to dye lots more today but I ran out of citric acid and then forgot to stop and get some vinegar this morning. have now ordered some more citric acid which should be here tomorrow or Friday. I've got Fantasy Sock, Exotic Cobweb Lace, Super Merino Sock and some more Supreme Lace to dye, hopefully it'll all be done next week.

Now I'm going to hide those new socks and do some work on my secret lace.