Lots of yarn & wips

It's been a busy couple of weeks with. Several new designs have been published in various magazines, I've done lots of knitting, there's been lots of yarn arrivals and we had a family weekend in Bath.

Let's start with last week's yarn arrivals. Several colours of Excelana arrived. These are for mittens. I've got a bit of a mitten thing going on. More about that later.

Last weekend we headed up to Bristol to pick Vanessa up and then went on to Bath for a family day out. Although Bath is great for shopping, we didn't really want to have a day full of shopping. So we gave the girls a choice of going to the Roman baths or on an open top bus tour. The open top bus tour won. So in the morning we went on the bus tour around the city centre and in the afternoon we went on the out of town tour. It gave me a lot of knitting time! The rest of the day was spent shopping and having a long lunch at Pizza Hut. 

Every year I do an advent calendar for the girls. My grandma embroidered an advent calendar for me and my sister when we were kids and my Mum put a present for each day and we got to open it every other day. As I had kids first, the advent calendar was given to me and I carried on the tradition with my girls. We weren't sure what to do this year because Vanessa will still be in Bristol till mid-December but I also thought she'd probably still like an advent calendar even though she is 18. So I made her a bag and filled it with little treats for the first 13 days of December. Once she's home they'll share the advent calendar like normal.

I had just bought this pretty owl fabric which I thought Vanessa would like as she likes owls. So I made a very simple tote bag, which took me 2 evenings. 

Both the outer fabric and the lining is from Social Fabric in Totnes. You can just see the little presents inside the bag in the photo below. Vanessa was very surprised and I think she liked the bag. On Monday she texted me to say a couple of girls on her course liked the bag too. Which made me feel happy. It's nothing like people appreciating things you've made.

 There's been a few yarn arrivals this week too. The complete haul is below: 

 First up is two skeins from Canadian indie dyer Tanis Fiber Arts. I've read Tanis' blog for years and always admired her yarns and beautiful colourways but ordering from the US/Canada usually means custom fees and high shipping costs. But i gave in to temptation finally.

The purple skein is Purple Label Cashmere Sock in Jewel. The blend is 70% merino/20% cashmere/10% nylon and is incredibly soft.  I'm desperate to cast on something in this yarn. I'm thinking a little, lacy shawelette which I can wear as a scarf. The colour and the softness is just so appealing. I'm trying to resist for a bit longer but I think I may be casting on something this weekend.

The other skein is Red Label Cashmere/Silk Single which is 75% merino/15% cashmere/10% silk in Lucky Penny. This is another pretty colourway and the yarn feels divine.

 In the summer when I designed Rivoli for Sweet Georgia in the stunning Ultraviolet colourway I decided I had to have a skein in this colour for myself. I chose the Spun Silk Lace which is a pure silk 50gr skein with 443m. This will become a pretty little lacy shawl with beads. This is another one I'm really desperate to cast on with but I've got an urgent wip I need to get cracking on this weekend so I will need to be strong and wait!

 I made my beaded handwarmers in a beautiful green Malabrigo sock and fancy a matching infinity scarf but there wouldn't be enough left in the skein so I ordered another one from Tangled Yarn and at the same time a skein of Dream in Colour Smooshy sock yarn fell into my basket. I love this pretty delicate pink and this yarn is really smooshy! Another pretty, little shawlette.

So lots of tempting beautiful yarn but i'm trying to finish off a few things before I cast on.

I did start something new yesterday though. I recently got some new Clover Amour crochet hooks and they feel so light and comfy I really wanted to start a crochet project to test them properly. A few months ago I got 2 skeins of Malabrigo Silk Merino dk from Social Fabric with the idea of making a crochet infinity scarf. I've decided to go with a simple filet stitch pattern. I want something that's relaxing to wrok on and flows easily and quickly. This is perfect. I'm loving it!

 Last weekend I started Em's fair isle flip top mittens in Artesano Alpaca 4ply. I was determined to get going with these mittens after starting them on Friday but I decided to take my Titus shawl to work on in Bath and I kind of got going with that and forgot about this mitt. I need to make some serious progress on these mittens this weekend. Em's really keen to use them.

 The Baa-Ram-Ewe Titus shawl I started last weekend is progressing really well. I'm getting close to the end of this now I tink. The rows are getting very long but I'm still enjoying it. Can't wait to see how it blocks.

 I also cast on for a pair of beaded lace mittens in the smaller size last week. I need to knit up a sample in the small size so I can finish the pattern and get it published. That's one of my goals for next week.

 And I started a new sewing project this week. I saw a gorgeous leather bag in Joules but it's way above my price limit so I thought perhaps i can make one. This is the fabric I'm using. I've cut out all the pieces, ironed on the interfacing and put a zipped pocket in the lining. I want a zipped pocket in the exterier fabric on the back of the bag too. So I'm hoping to do that and do the internal slip pockets today.

Phew, that was a lot. But we're all caught up now and I've got lots of projects to choose from this weekend. 

What will you be knitting, crocheting or sewing this weekend?