Outside my window... the sky is grey and it's drizzling down with rain. I'm glad the temperature is relatively mild, I have propped the windows open because I love the smell of fresh, clean air.
I am thinking... about a brand new colourwork project I plan to cast on later on in the week. My first real attempt at fair isle knitting in the round, quite exciting!
I am thankful for... my wonderful friends. My stress levels have been quite high over the past few weeks and I would have had a meltdown without their yarny/foodie/TV-watching support!
I discovered... that Vanish Oxy works to remove stubborn tar stains on my white workspace. Isn't it great to find multi-tasking products? This magical clothes whitening powder made me a very happy woman this morning.
Wonderwool 2010 was a FABULOUS success for myself and fellow stallholder GypsyDancer. Although a little tiring, the weekend was great fun and I got to meet lots of people. I should really say, re-meet; you see, I recognised a large number of names on Ravelry badges, people that I have met online and had nice little friendships with. It was nice to finally meet them in person and put a face to the Ravatar.
Once again, my camera was charged, my memory card was cleared, and I didn't have the chance to take many photos. Typical. I did manage, however, to take this shot of Tora setting up the stand.
She was an absolute angel the whole time we were setting up. I was constantly re-arranging things around the stall, complaining that there wasn't enough room, worrying that it didn't look as pretty as I wanted... She took me aside and told me to just STOP, and let it be! I finally decided on a layout a mere one hour before the show opened up to the public. I know now that I will need to be a lot more organised when doing other shows; getting the cards/banner printed in advance, having a little more height to the display etc. To be honest, I didn't realise how high the stall walls were, I think that was what threw me and I was unhappy with the 'white-ness' that surrounded me. At the end though, the stall must have been alright, I sold out on lots of colourways and that made me really happy! Thank you CT fans!
The blog is officially out of hibernation, I've been super busy over the past few weeks trying to dye as much yarn as possible for the shop and for my upcoming show at Wonderwool Wales in April.
I'm happy to present my new yarn base, a gorgeously soft 4 ply cashmere blend that I have named Glock. Why? It's not a love of the famous Austrian GLOCK weapons manufacturer, it is in fact an amalgam of the words gloves and socks (this will not however stop me from citing gun-related puns!). The yarn is also ideal for babywear but I thought if I added another word I would end up with something silly like Glocky, or Bloves...
It's been a while since my last blog post due to a number of 'emergency giftings' so I've been knitting, crocheting and dyeing like a maniac! I did find the time to design some patterns and this crochet beret is making it's debut!
I find that lots of crochet berets are quite two dimensional, and unless you use super bulky yarns, or complicated puff stitch patterns, you don't get much warmth! This Winter Crochet Beret pattern employs a simple ridge stitch that creates air-pockets that trap warmth and has a lovely ribbing across the hat. The instructions are quite straightforward that a beginner can easily create this hat in a weekend... and the addition of elastic at the brim will make sizing much easier if you have a smaller sized head!