Off to Fibre Flurry

Today has been full of Fibre Flurry preparations. Nearly all the yarn is packed. Workshop notes and supplies are packed. Patterns are printed and packed. Display equipment is nearly all packed. I need to make up some Easy Lace Club kits and Sock Variety Club kits and label a few more samples.

I'll leave you with some gorgeous pics. Here's the new Fairytale Sock:

And the new Twinkletoes Sock:

When i was labelling it this morning I came very close to just putting it all in my stash. There are one or two colourways I may put aside befoer we leave for Birmingham. they are so gorgeous with silvery sparkles.

The shop is now almost empty. It'll be re-stocked on Sunday or Monday with what's left from Fibre Flurry.

Have a lovely weekend x

New Pattern - Elegance

The Elegance Scarf pattern is ready and you can buy it here. It'll be on Patternfish soon too. here are some more pics I took earlier:

As an introductory offer I'm doing a £1 off on this pattern if purchased before 15 November on Ravelry. You don't have to be a Ravelry member to purchase. Use discount code: Elegance. click here for pattern. The scarf takes one skein of sock yarn. I used Silky Camel 4ply. There are two versions, one with straight edges and one wiht a lacy edging as seen in photos. The first version is very easy and the other one is fairly easy too. Perfect for lace beginners or as a quick knit for more experienced knitters.

I've been going through my patterns and printing some copies for Fibre Flurry. And in the middle of updating a pattern on Ravelry I noticed that my Strawberry Patch Stole  had never been listed there. It is now and you can find it here. It's also been listed on Patternfish but not activated yet. 

I knitted the original for my sister but I'll be getting a new sample knitted up so I can get some better outside pics.

Feeling a lot better but tons of work to do before Fibre Flurry. Yarn drying, yarn to label and everything to pack. Also have to finish 2 patterns before we go. Busy, busy, busy!! I should be panicking but strangely I'm not. Got a shawl to block before going to bed. It's nearly 11.30pm and I can barely keep my eyes open.

Nite x

Good and Bad!

The bad news is that I'm feeling worse again. I was feeling pretty rotten for most of last week.  My pain levels were soaring, I was feeling like I was coming down with a cold, a bit fluey at times and my stomach was unsettled on several days.Friday was a little bit better and I tried to get some work done. Saturday was better and I spent the morning driving to and from dance lessons with the girls and getting my Easy Lace Club parcels in the post. Finally! Huge apology to all the members for them being so late. I'm hoping most of the UK ones have arrived today. If you've not signed up but wanted to, there are some spaces left. I'm keeping them open on the website until Wednesday and then I'm taking the last few spaces to sell at Fibre Flurry. Anyone who signs up at Fibre Flurry will get month 1 as a kit to take home. I'm hoping to take some November Sock Variety Club 'kits' with me too for anyone who signs up on Saturday. That's if I can get the yarn dyed and dryed on time.

Back to Saturday. In the afternoon I felt well enough to dye some yarn. I try not do do any more than 3 kg in one day and only dye yarn once or twice a week. I did 5 kg on Saturday as I missed a couple of dyeing days last week. 5 kg is far too much for me to do in one day and I was suffering Saturday night. Sunday I woke up feeling really rubbish. I got up in time for the start of the Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix. Which was delayed and then it finally started behind the safety car. Was stopped after 3 or 4 laps. And after ages, started again behind the safety car. I watched all this boring bit. Afraid to go and have a shower in case something exciting should happen. In the end I had to have shower and get dressed and I came back downstairs to find that Mark Webber has crashed out. He is my favorite to win this year. I would like Jenson Button to win really but Mark Webber has had such a great season and I think he deserves it.

Anyway, was not feeling good at all. Cold and shivery. Went to church. Felt rubbish, cold and shivery through the whole service. Luckily I had a very comfy chair to sit in during the service. I snoozed in my comfy reclining chair  at home for 2 hours and then we headed to Plymouth to get Emily some trousers to wear with her scout uniform for her trip to London on Wednesday. I didn't want to go but we had to. At least I had the pleasure of dragging Simon around the shops with me.  He normally escapes to the book shop. We were looking for a pair of walking trousers or black school trousers. We eventually got a pair in the 6th shop we tried, and the annoying thing was it was one of the first shops we walked past but I didn't realise that the shop was much better than it looked from the outside. And we got a 10% scout discount. The shop was Mountain Warehouse at Drake Circus in Plymouth. Came home feeling not good. And woke up this morning feeling really rubbish and cold. Did very little before I went for my massage (it was cancelled twice last week) this morning. Expected to feel better when I got home but didn't. Freezing cold. Shivery. Turned the heating on. Tired. Went to bed - couldn't sleep. got up, tried to do some work. Watched telly and tried to knit.  Got too hot. Turned heaing off. Went back to bed. Still couldn't sleep. Went outside to take some photos of some new samples before it started going dark. Was too cold (although I was wearing plenty of clothes. Heating back on. Now I'm too hot but everyone else says house temperature is fine. Feeling rubbish. Think I'm coming down with a cold as i've been sneezing all day.

Got 3 patterns to finish writing up for magazines. Got several patterns to re-format and print for Fibre Flurry. Got yarn to label and a shop update to do - shop update may not happen this week. Got to get everything ready for Fibre Flurry. Need to go to Plymouth again tomorrow to get dance stuff for girls. Want to go to bed. Oh, and need to tidy up the house - looks like a yarn bomb has hit it.

You're probably all bored stupid by now, so let's look at the tiny bit of knitting I've done today.
I've been swatching one particular stitch pattern for months now. I've tried it in sweater ideas but it never seemed quite right. On Sunday when my first batch of the new Fairytale Sock (BFL/cashmere/silk) was dry I was desperate to knit something with it. I wanted to do a triangular shawl from the lower edge. I did one earlier in the year using another stitch pattern which I didn't quite get right and never had time to re-do. So I've decided to havea go using this stitch pattern. Here's the swatch I did early this morning.

I decided to add beads for the edging (ignore the centre bit, I was experimenting).

I did lilac beads on one half: 

Pale blue silver beads: 

In the end I went for the pale blue silvery beads. These pics were taken quite early this morning so the light was not great. The yarn colour is blue/purple.

Here's my actual shawl after row 2:

A pile of Twinkletoes Sock and Fairytale Sock for labelling (photos have been taken in bad light nad not edited):

 some organges and purples:

 Beautiful blues:

 Some sparkly purple Twinkletoes:

 Oranges:

And a sneak preview of a pattern coming later this week (if I'm feeling well enough).

isn't it pretty?

I started this post this afternoon some time then gave up. It's now 8pm and I'm definitely not feeling well at all. Off to bed and praying i wake up feeling great tomorrow morning.

Nite x

Blocking and Elegance

I finally decided on a name for the new scarf in the previous post. I had an idea for a  name early this morning and I was sitting here knitting and thinking I should write it down. But ofcourse I didn't. By lunchtime when I was finishing the pattern and desperately needed a name, I couldn't remember it and decided on 'Elegance' as I find the stitch pattern incredibly elegant. I just love the lines of this stitch pattern. I've kept looking at the photos all day. In the last post I posted some edited photos which had been 'improved' in Paintshop Pro. This morning I tried priting them on my brand new, fabolous, all-singing, all-dancing printer and I wasn't happy. So I tried the un-edited photos and they printed much better. below are the unedited photos (just slightly cropped) and in the last post are the edited photos. What do you think?

 I listed the pattern on Ravelry this afternoon and it's already been favorited by 130 people which is a record for me I think. I've never had so many people favorite my pattern in such a short period of time.

Last Friday I went to a yarn tasting at Hulu Crafts in Devon.  I think I mentioned it in a previous post. While there I picked up a new blocking kit. My old wires are so bent that getting straight lines is becoming impossible. I got the de luxe kit which has more wires. it also comes with some shorter bendy wires (for necklines etc), a yard stick and some t-pins. it all comes in a useful storage tube. Loooking at the blocking page in the Hule shop I see they have some other interesting blocking tools. I may have to take a closer look next time I visit.

I won't have long to wait as I'm teaching a 'Professional Finishing Techniques' workshop there on 2 November. Click here to see details and to book. Most knitters hate sewing up. Since learning mattress stitch I quite enjoy it. Proper finishing is so important and this workshop will teach you how to press your items, seam them using matress stitch, work short row shoulders and join your shoulders using 3 needle bind off, proper shaping which makes sewing up easier and how to set in a sleeve cap.

One of my plans this week was to do some swatching for new designs. Because I've been feeling so unwell - had a bit of a cold, in agony with my shoulder and neck pain, extremely tired and very down - I've not felt very inspired. But yesterday afternoon I was desperate to start swatching for a pattern I started planning a few weeks ago. I did orginally swatch in a laceweight yarn but it wasn't right and I decided the pattern needed a bouncier yarn. I was thinking about trying the new Twinkletoes Sock or Fairytale Sock but they've not been dyed yet (will be tomorrow) so I grabbed a skein of Merino Plus TWIST. I've been desperate to knit with this yarn all week but been in too much pain to even think about knitting socks. It's gorgeous to knit with and very well suited for the stitch pattern so much so that it turned from a swatch to the start of a shawlette. Here's what i did yesterday? (testing out my new blocking wires).

 I also tried my blocking wires out on a Trinity Shawlette. This is the Bambino Sock version. I blocked a blue version too. One of them will be sent off to MSF p/hop HQ tomorrow as they needed another sample.

 Trinity is my most popular pattern on Ravelry and would be perfect in one of my new sock yarns.

 My blocking wires will get used again tonight to block a shawlette I designed almost a year ago I think. I had planned to use it for a book proposal I changed my mind about and I think I may add it to my Easy Lace Collection. Pics next week.

Last Sunday I attended Ktog in Ashburton. Organised for the fourth year by Terri and her team of Devon TeaShop Knitters (at least I think that's what they're called), it was a great afternoon. Joyce from Spin A Yarn (seen in front of the window with customers browsing before the show had even opened) were there.

 And so were Vicky from Hulu Crafts (on the left) and Claire Crompton (and her Mum) on the right.

 Clare is the author of the Knitters Bible series of books and have another book due out soon, this one is a stitch dictionary. I had a quick peek through it and it looks good. Claire is also promoting a new initiative called 'Give a fleece a chance' which aims to promote British sheep and in particular wool producers from the south west of England. Read more here.

Here's my stall. I only took 4 baskets of yarn and some patterns.

I'm hoping to post the Easy Lace Club parcels tomorrow. I started packing them up earlier but had to stop due to pain. I'm going to try to do a little bit more now before I go to bed and hopefully I'll get the rest done between ballet runs tomorrow (both girls do ballet and I drive back and forth 4 times between 9.30 am and 1pm) and still manage to get to the post office by noon.

I'm planning a weekend with yarn dyeing, swatching and printing patterns for Fibre Flurry.

A new lace scarf and Fibre Flurry.

I have written and re-written this post a couple of times now. I'm feeling exhausted. Not been sleeping well for weeks. I'm in a lot of pain. My right shoulder especially is getting so bad now I'm actually struggling to knit. I probably ought to have a couple of days break from knitting. I did have a massage booked yesterday but my therapist was in pain herself so had to postpone. We re-booked it for today but she wasn't any better and I'm a lot worse. We've not got it booked in for Monday, so I'm really hoping it'll go ahead then cause I desperately need it.

The last few months have been manic. Too many deadlines. I had 3 last week. One design Pixie knitted and that one was sent in on time. The other two I sent off on Monday and then I had a design for this week, which Pixie had also knitted which I posted on Tuesday. Now I've got a few weeks break before the next deadline and Pixie is knitting that one too. I've got tons of other knitting on the go that I want to finish but my main job between now and Christmas is to work on a book proposal. I've been talking about doing a book for 2 or 3 years now and it's time to seriously get to work on it. I need a decent book proposal before I can get a book deal. I've got some ideas and need to get swatching.

I've been working on finishing my Silky Camel easy lace scarf. It's the first pattern for the Easy Lace Club, which will be sent out today or tomorrow. I've not actually finished the scarf, I've got about a quarter left but I've blocked it and photographed it. I can't think of a name for it though and i really need to decide today. here are some pics:

I love the texture of this lace pattern and I love the lightness of the fabric. It's much lighter than I thought a sock yarn scarf would be. And it's so soft and luxurious. Now, I just need to decide on a name. Pattern will be use for month 1 of the Easy Lace Club and will be available for sale individually next week sometime. I dyed several skeins extra for the Easy Lace Club I have some kits available for Fibre Flurry, so you can still sign up.  Sign ups will close next week although I will have some memberships available at Fibre Flurry. The next round will start in January and sign ups for that one will start in Nov/Dec.

Talking of Fibre Flurry, I'll be having a stall with patterns and yarn, including all my brand new yarns like Twinkletoes and Fairytale. I'll also be teaching an Easy Lace workshop. This is a 3 hour workshop and will teach you all the basics you need for successful lace knitting. We'll work on a lace swatch for a scarf and one for a triangular shawl to learn yarn overs, different directional decreases, chart reading, and blocking. You should be cofident enough to tackle easy to intermediate patterns after this workshop. I'll also give all participants a money off voucher to spend in my shop afterwards.

The workshop is in the morning which means that Simon will be manning the stall in the morning on his own. He's a bit worried about technical questions, but I'll be around in the afternoon. Erika Knight will be there too, but unfortunately her talk is at the same time as the morning workshops which is a bit of shame as I would have been interested in hearing her talk. Lots of fab indie dyers and small companies will be there and the venue sounds great.

I think I need a nap before I do some more pattern work.

The winners and a yarn update

I've carefully looked at all the suggestions for the new yarns this morning. I must admit I'm struggling to decide. A couple of them I instantly liked.  so here are the winners:

BFL/cashmere/nylon will be called Fairytale Sock suggested by Silja Devine.
the sparkly sock yarn will be called Twinkletoes suggested by Jheral Tinzy.

Silja and Jheral Tinzy, I'm dyeing these two yarns next week, and as soon as they're dry, I'll let you both choose your prize. If you've got a preferred colour please leave a comment.  Jheral Tinzy, please leave your contact details in a comment (I won't publish that comment, it's just so I can get in touch).

Unfortunately I don't like any of the suggestions for the high twist merino/nylon which makes me feel really cruel but then i suddenly had a thought. I've decided on Twist. Partly because the yarn has a high twist and I wanted that in the name somehow. I think this will quickly become my favorite sock yarn and my favorite Norwegian chocolates are 'Twist'. It's kind of a Christmas/party favorite. Weird connection but as soon as I thought Twist I decided I liked it. In fact, the official name will be Merino Plus TWIST. I may have some Super Merino TWIST in the future as this high twist sock yarn also comes in a 100% merino version.

The above was written on Friday morning but Friday got too busy to finish it. Now it's Saturday afternoon and time to finish this blog post. I'm in the middle of a shop update too. Here are some of the BRAND NEW Merino Plus TWIST sock yarn in lots of bright, luscious colours. Here are some of my favorites:

There are some new colours in Angora Lace too with more to come next week:

I had lots more planned for this post but time is running out. I'm about to send out a newsletter. I've also got to get ready for Ktog in Ashburton tomorrow. Ktog is held in the church hall in Ashburton and I will have a small stall and teaching a 'Continental Knitting' taster class. I'll be taking some of my new yarns and need to get ready. Some of the yarns in the shop will be taken offline tomorrow and will be re-listed on Monday if not sold at Ktog.

This morning we had a big photo session at a local photographers studio. My sister in law and her family are visiting from Scotland and Simon's parents were there too. WE had photos taken of all 10 of us, the 4 of us alone, the girls on their own, Simon's parents and their 4 grand children, Simon's parents and Simon and his sister. The reason for all this is that it was Simon's parents golden wedding anniversary yesterday. The photo session and a big family photograph of all 10 of us is our present to them. Tonight we're off to Lanhydrock Hotel for a party to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.