So long, June...

An interesting month. It started off really well, as I cut out a new gown, knit frantically on a new shawl and did a ton of spinning. Then I had an emergency root canal. I lost about a week in a codeine-clouded haze, in the worst pain I've ever been in. I couldn't even knit. Things picked up again after the dentist went to work, and I'm now mostly better.

So, things that happened textile-wise this month. I missed World-Wide Knit In Public Day because I was in the emergency room dealing with the tooth. Made up for it be getting to the grand opening of Loop's new shop a week later, though! The shop is amazing. It fills 4 floors. Two are full of yarn, one is the stock room, and the fourth is the future classroom. S and I got there early enough that we were among the first 100 people through the door, which meant that we received goodie bags!

A canvas shopper, some patterns, a discount card, some 2.5mm DPNs, point protectors and YARN!

And there was cake and Pimms going around too. The chocolate-walnut brownies were amazing. I didn't buy anything because there were so many people that it took over an hour to get to the till. I figure I'll go back at some point soon and pick up a few lovely things. It's really nice that a small business is doing so well right now that they need a bigger shop. Long may their success continue!

I also had a moment of knitting insanity. This is my new shawl. I started it last Sunday. I cast off on Friday and blocked it yesterday. A 6-day shawl. A new personal best!

The pattern is Ishbel, the yarn is the Noro Silk Garden Sock I bought with my birthday money. I knit it on 5mm needles. I only knit the first 4 rows of chart D and then went straight to chart E because I didn't have enough yarn for four more rows. I'm delighted with how it turned out.

I've done a load of spinning too, but that will have to wait until it's had a bath and dried before I blog about it.

A wee bit more shopping

Just realised I'd never posted my haul from the Knitting and Stiching Show! Or in fact blogged about it at all - oops!

I was unexpectedly able to attend this year, which meant that my shopping budget was rather limited. I think I did a good job of being restrained. Only three needlework things and the obligatory chocolate for my spouse. (It's his reward for cooing over yarn and FOs and not complaining about the shopping!)

Two kits were the main focus this year. First, a knitting kit that I've been lusting over ever since I laid eyes on it a few years ago - Sanquhar gloves. I've chosen mulberry as my colour and a pale grey for the neutral contrast. If you can't see from the photo, these are stranded laceweight gloves knitted on 1.5mm needles. I may be mad, but they will be gorgeous once they are made up!

Second, a beautiful kit to make a goldwork holiday ornament. I've wanted to learn goldwork for a long time, but the materials cost has always put me off - especially since I might end up not liking the technique. A small kit for something pretty is perfect. The designer does a range of goldwork kits, but this ornament series are designed as teaching tools. Thus, they've got small areas of most of the usual techniques used with precious metals. And the kits come in silver, too!

The weekend wasn't all shopping, though. A very dear Ravelry friend, SD, had come over from Iceland to visit the show and she came over to have dinner with us. It was lovely to get to meet her in person after years of online correspondence, and we had a fab evening of spinning and gossiping and delicious food. SD was after a spinning lesson, so I gathered my paltry skills and taught what I knew. It seems to have taken, as she's been spinning up a storm since returning home!

Generous soul that she is, SD also brought me some beautiful gifts. Bags of Icelandic fleece and yarn (hello, felted slipper-socks!), some mystery roving in stunning shades of sea glass green, and a treasure of a gift. This is handdyed spinning fiber done by another Posh Knitter, who has his own online fiber shop. SD gave me her double batch of one of his club offerings because it's my favourite colours. Needless to say, I was a bit blown away!

IKnit Day 2009!

I didn't think I'd be able to go this year, but cancellation of one thing and the start of another meant that my Saturday was free for yarny goodness. So I went! I got up bright and early on Saturday morning, armed with cake, a packed lunch and plenty of carrier bags, and headed down to the Royal Horticultural Halls. I got there early enough that I was the second person through the door, but we all had a really good time standing about in the queue chatting and looking at one another's projects. I love queuing with knitters. :D

The place was not nearly as packed as last year, probably because it was split over two days instead of just the one. There were also fewer vendors. On the other hand, the hall had figured out that knitters really would come to an all-day event, so opened the cafe and restaurant for us (unlike last year) and made sure that the cashpoint in the building had been refilled (since it ran out in the first 45 minutes last year!).

The best thing for me was meeting up with people I knew. Last year several of the Ravelry groups to which I belong had had a meet-up, but I was too shy to go and say hello. Not this year! This year I met, I chatted, I cooed over yarn and babies and admired lace and handspun. And another friend was working on one of the stalls. For her I brought cake, but she and her colleagues couldn't eat all of it. Off I went to distribute cake to all and sundry! Well, not quite everyone, but all the people from whom I bought something, as well as the lovely people from iKnit who were running the event. And of course the Posh Knitters.

I spent a lovely quarter hour with the lady running the Knitting and Crochet Guild stall, trying to reverse-engineer a crochet block. I'm determined to figure it out. Chatted with several people about the new location of the Handweaver's Studio, since I was hauling my purchases in the lovely canvas bag they'd given me when I bought Fifi. And I finally got my hands on a Ravelry 'My Name Is...' badge from a lady who'd brought a bowlful to give away.

Oh yes, there was shopping. ;) Of course there was shopping! I'd gone planning to get unusual and unique things, nothing I could get in a shop. And I really wanted a batt to spin, since I've only ever spun from combed top before. Here's what I brought home:

The big pile of fluff is a batt from Rockpool Candy. She does amazing batts, blended with several fibers and often with findings carded in. This one is merino, milk protein and banana fiber with velvet ribbon, black silk lace and red feathers! It's called 'Bordello' and is 50g of loveliness. I'm planning on spinning it up as a heavy-ish single, then plying it with some plain red merino to get more length from it. The red, purple and orange fluff in the bag is combed top, but it's special. It's superwash merino blended with nylon to spin into sock yarn! I'm finally going to be able to spin and knit socks I can wear.
The yarn is a skein of Infinity Lace from Fyberspates. It's actually the colour of cinnabar. The name is appropriate - it's 3000 yards to 100g! I've got plans for a very large lace shawl. This purchase did mean that I failed in one of my goals, since I didn't really want to bring home anymore laceweight. Ah well. It was worth it.
The rest of my purchases weren't planned, but rather were on my mental list of 'stuff I really want to get my hands on if ever I happen to see it for sale'. The book is the long-awaited reprint of Alice Starmore's 'Book of Fair Isle Knitting'. Pretty much everyone is hoping this means that the rest of her books will be coming back into print in the future. It's a hefty tome, containing everything that was in the original edition from 1988, but with added photos. The leaflet is a copy of a shawl pattern called 'Ishbel'. It's this year's must-knit shawl pattern, since it's so gorgeous, but had only been available online and I've closed my Paypal account. Fyberspates were happily selling paper copies, and I got one just before they ran out!
The mug is my new office mug. It just says "I'd rather be knitting". I've been looking for one for ages, and now I've got one! It'll make my colleagues laugh. They've all seen me squirrelled away in the staffroom knitting away over lunch.

And finally, I was walking up to the bus stop afterwards in the glorious sunshine and decided to play tourist. Westminster was looking gorgeous!

The next big thing

One of my Mission:Possible goals for the year was to knit a sweater. Any sweater. I have sufficient stash for four, possibly five, adult-sized sweaters, but I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to make next.
One option was a Cobblestone pullover for my husband. He likes it, I have suitable yarn. But it's miles and miles of stockinette, and the yoke is garter stitch in the round. That means lots and lots of purling. Ick. I should have just enough yarn, but I'm currently not feeling like improvising some sort of emergency colour pattern if I run out.
Another was the stranded Ivy League vest I bought all the yarn for last year. 6 colours of yarn makes this far too bulky to carry around, so that's out.
I decided to weed through my queue on Ravelry a while back, and happened to find a cardigan pattern called 'Celtic' from Rowan 40. I'd marked it as "to knit later", but then I noticed that it called for Felted Tweed. It just so happens that I bought two sweater's worth of Felted Tweed in the after-Christmas sales with a gift certificate from my best friend. One lot is going to become Camden (I have to knit this sweater, it's gorgeous and I live in Camden), but the rest? Well, now I can make my lovely cabled cardigan!

Or can I? Looking more closely at the pattern this morning, I discovered that the cuffs, collar and front bands of this cardigan are knit from Kid Classic, rather than Felted Tweed. I'm not a huge fan of this yarn (it was the green I used for the Dr Who Scarf), but it's only around the edges. But I will have to buy some in. And I'm trying to reduce the volume of my stash currently.

So, to justify purchasing two new balls of yarn, I'm committing to finishing:

• The shawl for hub's Granny
• The bedspread
• Mum's shawl
• The purple hat
• The fluffy scarf

Once these are all done, I shall shop for two balls of Kid Classic and cast on, guilt-free!

Blown away

On the evening I went to see S for the final dress fitting, she handed me an envelope, along with a very definitive statement that she was not to be argued with! Inside was a gift certificate to Loop, our favourite LYS and the source of all the yarn for the dress. Incredibly generous and totally unexpected! I had told her that making the dress was going to be my gift to her, but she says that she hadn't realized how many hours of labour it was going to take. We both got a bit weepy at that point, although the perry we'd been drinking might have had something to do with that too. :)

She'd timed it well, as that very Sunday I'd been planning a trip to Loop for a book launch. Cookie A, designer of my beloved Monkey socks, as well as the Poms and many other gorgeous designs, has just brought out a book of new sock designs. I couldn't miss meeting her and looking at the sample socks she'd brought, and with S's gift to me I didn't feel guilty shopping when I'm supposed to be saving money.

I got the book. It's called Sock Innovation, and has pages and pages of great patterns, beautiful photography and fabulous instructions on sock construction. Cookie A was charming and graciously signed my book, even checking the spelling of my name, and allowed me to pick her brains on sock ribbing. Plus the owner of Loop baked chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies. Yum!

Loop have recently started stocking KnitPro knitting needles as well. I was tempted by the interchangeable set, but then sense struck me and I remembered that I don't really like circular needles. I also remembered that I needed a few more sets of sock needles as well. So, the Harmony DPN set followed me home too. I haven't tried them out yet, but they are beautiful. And they come in sets of 6 needles in case one gets broken!

The final purchase of the day was sheer indulgence. I've often lusted over beautiful and pricey yarns, but ultimately bought more sensible and economic ones instead. Not that day. S wanted me to enjoy myself, so for once I bought the gorgeous, expensive, frivolous yarn that I've petted so many times in the past. Two perfect skeins of Handmaiden Lace Silk in the colourway 'Stardust'. Blue, silver, black, grey... More than any colourway I've ever seen, this yarn is me.



When it grows up, this yarn is going to become a Laminaria Shawl. I've pored over that pattern countless times and have never found a worthy yarn for something that pretty. Now I think this is going to be the perfect marriage of pattern and yarn. For the time being, though, I'm just going to pet my amazing yarn and be happy that it's finally mine.

Thank you, S. Your generosity has made this knitter very, very happy. And it was a privilege making your dress.

I step away for 5 minutes to live my life...

...and suddenly it's been a week since I updated my blog! Oops! Major happenings on the needlework scene, some of which need their own post. So, a rundown of the minor things.

I still have no camera. This is annoying, but since little brother (who graduated yesterday! Woohoo!) seems to want to buy me one for Christmas, I am going to struggle through without one for a little while longer. However, mum is staying over this weekend and I have high hopes of taking a big batch of photos that I can dole out over the next few weeks.

I've done a bit of shopping. The reenactment group took a trip to Walthamstowe Market to look for garb fabric. I came away with 2 lots of fabric, both courtesy of my mother, and both for the same outfit! A while ago I swapped some yarn from my stash for some lovely rose-coloured cotton fabric. Only trouble was, there wasn't enough to make a full gown from. So I've now acquired some paler pink cotton and some white linen that is all going to be turned into a bodice-and-skirt number. I'm hoping to cut that out this weekend.

I also came home with 2 more giant balls of wool/acrylic to make sweater for the hub, courtesy of Grandmother. It's his favourite colour and I don't make him nearly as much stuff as I should.

There was one other thing that happened that day, shopping-wise, but it gets its own post!

Weaving Friend has now received her turquoise mitts and seems to love them. I'm glad she's happy. I'm gladder that they are out of my flat! (I've been in a bit of a purge mode recently.) Also gave Mum her garters, as well as giving her my Noro Triangle Shawl. She loves the colours, and while I really like it they are definitely more her than me. I've been promised a replacement skein of Noro Sock to make another in my colours.

While on a brief mission to John Lewis, I found 2 skeins of Kidsilk Haze in the remnants bin on half price. Needless to say, they now live with me. I'm rather pleased with them because I've just swapped for 2 more skeins of the same colourway - I'll have enough to make a sweater! Plus Mum found some gorgeous yarn that I am to turn into a pair of socks at some point in the future. I'm thinking Broadripples, personally.

Other needlework news - I finished my Wise Monkeys. They fit, are comfy, and have already been worn so are in the laundry hamper. I've decided that I don't really like the red tunic I started making for Hub last year, so I've ripped out a bunch and am going to finish it and donate it to the Shire guest basket. I finished another stripe of my bedspread last night, which is very pleasing. Halloween Monkeys are now the designated handbag sock, while the Poms are going to be my at home in the evening project. I really just want them finished and off the knitting table! Once those three projects are done, I'm seriously considering resurrecting the Coatigan. Mostly because it takes up a ton of space, and I'd really like to be able to wear it someday.

Treasures

This morning the post came, and two lots of things that I had ordered arrived with it! The first parcel only came from Reading. I ordered it on Thursday from Scandinavian Knitting Design, an online company that stocks, umm, Scandinavian yarns and patterns. A friend found them, ordered a bunch of stuff and recommended them to me, so I went to have a look at their website. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they stock Kauni yarn! This stuff is very, very cool. It has unusually long colour repeats and was made famous when the Yarn Harlot knit a rainbow cardigan from it. I've been thinking about knitting a variation of the cardigan for a while now (in better colours, of course), but was loath to try and buy it from a Danish website. Finding it available in the UK was a real treat. So I've now got one skein of the black/purple/grey colourway that I'm going to turn into a shawl for a good friend. This was another one of those cases of trying out one skein of a new yarn before committing to a sweater's-worth. And it was also my last earned skein from the Stashalong!

Of course, I couldn't just get a single ball of yarn. I went to their sale section and was thrilled to find some lovely shawl pins. Since I seem to be going nuts for shawls right now, it made sense to get something to replace the DPN I'd been using instead.

The other parcel came from the US and was some yarn that I'd ordered a while back when I unexpectedly came into a bit of money. I'd been looking for some Halloween yarn online and found this seller on Etsy. She had a collection of monster-themed sock yarn that looked really fun - so I bought it! It arrived today and is just great. Frankentwined is purple and green and is probably my favourite of the lot. I'll be making some socks out of it, once I can find a worthy pattern. Monster Stash is probably going to become a pair of Rock 'n' Weave Socks. I love this pattern and have been looking for something to make it in for a while. Bestitched may wait, since I don't know what it will suit. And Socks o'Lantern is going to be turned into a Halloween shawl for my mum, using the same pattern that my Noro Triangle did.

What fun! Must finish up some other stuff first, though. There may be a few new-ish projects that haven't yet been blogged about...

My oh my oh my

iKnit Day is going to take a couple of posts to relate, especially since I forgot my camera and need to wait for my friend to email me some of her pictures! I had an absolute blast and am so glad I went. Today I'm going to relate the delights of my shopping.

Like last year at the Knitting and Stitching Show, I went yesterday with a list of things that I wanted to get. Unlike last year, I only bought things on my list. I'm really, really satisfied with my purchases as a result. Here's the entire haul:


So, bit by bit. The one things that I was absolutely commited to getting was some dark blue Wool-Ease to make my hub some socks. He's been feeling a bit left out, I think. This may be cheap not-good yarn in the US, but over here it's nigh-on impossible to find solid-coloured washable wool blends that don't feel like plastic. Discovering that there is a UK supplier of it who doesn't even mark the prices up that much was a treat.

I also went looking for scarf yarn, because clearly the 25-odd in my cupboard are not enough! I wanted something to make a very complicated number from Knitting New Scarves, since I've had that book for months and not yet knit anything from it. I also wanted to make a double-knit argyle scarf from Son of Stitch 'n' Bitch. (Double-knitting is where you knit both sides of a mirror-image fabric at one. That is, one side will be green with a black pattern and the other side will be black with a green pattern. Very groovy.) Three skeins of organic Devonshire merino will do the trick nicely! Husband was tickled to realize that the mill that made these is about 5 miles from his family's home.

I explored the lucky dip at the Knitting and Crocheting Guild stall and came away with a skein of pink and purple chunky yarn that will someday become a hat and mittens, in all likelihood. I like having the odd skein of chunky yarn around for instant gratification projects!

Two packets of the world's yummiest commercial fudge, one for me and one for husband. Unlike most European fudge, this is the crumbly kind rather than the chewy kind. I was thrilled. Chocolate for me and hot ginger for him. Mmmmmmmmm!

Then I decided to make a commitment. I am going to take up spinning. No more umming and ahhing over it. This is 100g of undyed merino. It's going to be my practice roving to get used to my spindle. And this is about 400g of what I think must be a silk/merino blend. (I forgot to ask. I was pretty excited yesterday.) It is just delicious, and smells so good!

Things I didn't buy include 2400yards of Cherry Tree Hill laceweight for £25. I was sorely tempted, but it wasn't a solid or semi-solid and I would never actually use it for a shawl. I didn't buy any alpaca sock yarn because I'd wear through it in a week. In fact, I bought neither sock yarn nor laceweight. Decided that right now I don't need anymore (especially since there are 4 skeins of sock yarn in the post to me right now!), and I'd rather have things that I want to use immediately instead of sticking them in the stash to hibernate. I did kinda regret not going back to the lucky dip and trying for some Rowan, but it's ok.

Of course, the friend with whom I spent the day offered me a ticket to come with her to the Knitting and Stitching Show next month. She has mobility difficulties and gets a free ticket for an assistant. Since her husband has no interest in fiberarts, it makes a lot more sense for me to go with. Judging from the sheer number of vendors last year, I will certainly be able to make up for yesterday's restraint!

What a weekend!

I have finished my flag, putting me one project closer to ending the year with no WIPs, and one project closer to completing my Mission:Possible goals. I think I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon having a leisurely swatching and working on socks session. I'm trying to relax prior to the frantic knitting that will commence on Friday for the Ravelympics!

I did in fact go to the shop yesterday for the needles I need for the vest. Got the needles I needed. Took my knitting friend who has a newborn with me, because she really needed a baby-free couple of hours! And she decided to treat me, since I've been helping with Baby L and generally providing adult company and conversation. So I now have a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock and a new book!

Then in the later part of the afternoon, a bunch of friends came round for tea and biscuits and I acquired more yarn. Newly Knitting Friend had been to the John Lewis seasonal clearance sale a few weeks back, and when I told her over the phone that I couldn't afford to go to a yarn clearance sale, she decided to get me 6 balls of Rowan 4-ply cotton in a lovely pale orange colour, since I'm "the only person she know who likes orange". Enough lightweight cotton for a tank top!

I have really lovely friends.

Bah

Betrayed by the frailties of my own body, I didn't manage to get the green tunic finished over the weekend. I had done so much sewing that I was having muscle spasms in my right forearm every time I made a stitch! So on Sunday I worked on my Odessa hat, which was great. I might even get it finished this month, who knows?

I also worked on my veil. I'd cut it a little wider than I needed, which ended up being a good thing. Turns out that it has some stains on the edges, so I was able to just cut them off. Now it's just a case of pinning, ironing and hemming. I hope to get that done this week, once the last little bits of hemming on the tunic are done.

And I went shopping. For a good reason! I had bargained with a friend who does tablet-weaving for a belt in exchange for some elbow-length fingerless gloves. Foolishly, I figured that she wouldn't have time to make it for ages, but no. When we met up at the Shire picnic on Saturday, she had finished it! It's absolutely gorgeous, and will look splendid with my teal gown. I'd brought along the skein of Alpaca Silk I bought back in March to see if the texture was ok for her gloves (she's allergic to wool, poor thing), and not only did she love the yarn, but she loved the colour! So I went and got a second skein to make her the gloves. And since I was in the yarn shop on the 1st of June, when I'd declared 100g of yarn to be permissable, I indulged in a skein of Jitterbug in the colourway Copper Beach. It's destined to become a pair of socks for the husband once Summer of Socks starts! I also got a set of DPNs in a size I didn't have for the gloves and some removable stitch markers.

A frustrating lunch hour, though, as I'd forgotten my black sewing thread and couldn't sew. So instead I worked on another pair of booties. The first one is nearly done, so I will have a gift to take when I go to visit Baby and his mum! Yes, one of my friends has had her baby. Amusingly, he arrived on her birthday.

Those who can't knit go shopping

Or something like that, anyway! Instead of indulging in a morning of needlework, as I normally do on my Thursday mornings off, I decided to clean my flat. It needed doing, and there was a chance that I was going to bring a friend home with me later. So I tidied, washed dishes, and did not a single stitch of knitting. But there was a plan! Said friend had never been to my favourite shop and wanted some 2mm DPNs. I knew they had some in, and since she'd expressed a desire to meet for lunch, I suggested a shopping trip instead. So we met and went up to Kentish Town. 'Twas great. She ended up with a bunch of stuff, and I bought white sewing cotton, cream-coloured bias tape and some wooden buttons. And then we sat in a cafe and poured over the charts for one version of Eleanor of Toledo's Stockings, a very popular piece of historical reproduction knitting. She'd been confused by the written pattern, which seemed to omit some decreases needed to make the patterns match up around the leg. And I, obsessive that I am, just had to rechart the lozenge pattern on the cuff so that it was symmetrical. And we discussed the relative virtues of an assortment of double decreases. I'm fondest of the one showcased in Grumperina's Jaywalker Socks (remember those?), slip 2 together knitwise, knit 1, pass both slipped stitches over and off the needle. In fact, I'm so fond of it that I decided to replace the double decrease in the Swallowtail Shawl with it. It is just more nicely centred, in my opinion.

Anyway. The thread and the bias tape are for the chemise that I worked on on Saturday. I still can't believe that I ran out of white sewing thread. The buttons are for a project that hasn't even been cast on yet! Remember about a year ago when I finished knitting that blanket that had been in the works forever? Well, I still have more of the blue yarn left. So I decided that for her birthday this year, my best friend would be getting a matching pillow. I'm planning to just work a big sack of seed stitch on circular needles and graft one end closed when I finish. No seaming! Just miles of seed stitch. So now I've got some big wooden buttons to hold a flap closed once it's done. (I'm a fan of removable cushion covers. It prevents spillages.) Given that her birthday is less than a month away, I maybe should start working on it...

Odds and Ends

The interview yesterday went swimmingly. I am now sleeping like a log since it's finished. And because it went so well, I decided that I deserved a little shopping expedition. Of course that meant going to the needlework shop! I was very good and didn't buy any yarn (although a social event is going to take us perilously close to Loop tomorrow afternoon. I may succumb.). Instead, I bought Rowan Magazine, Issue 40. I've never been entirely sure about Rowan knitting magazines. Their yarn is great (this is the company that makes Kidsilk Haze, referred to by many knitters as 'Cracksilk'), but their patterns have always seems a little too runway model for my liking. Or so I thought. I was organizing my Ravelry queue the other day and discovered that my blog-hopping adventures had put no less than three Rowan patterns in my queue - and they were all from issue 40! So when I went up to buy garb-making thread and noticed that they were still selling this back issue, I took note. And then bought it yesterday.

Upon getting it home, I read through it cover-to-cover, as one does. Closer inspection has led me to the conclusion that while many of the patterns are not something I'd necessarily wear, almost all of them are things that will inspire my own designs. And the things that I had queued are great. A very good investment!

(As an aside, I'd always been put off by the cover price of the magazine. It's £10.50, which seems huge for a magazine. Until you realise that there are nearly 50 patterns in each issue. Most knitting books retail for between £10 and £20, and rarely have more than 20 patterns. In fact, they frequently only have 12-15.)

My library will be expanding even more in the next week. I received a very belated birthday gift certificate, part of which has been spent on knitting books. Hurrah for Amazon! There will soon be a copy of Knitting Without Tears and Son of Stitch n' Bitch cuddling up on my already overstuffed bookshelf. Book reviews will follow, of course!

There has also been knitting. I'd lost my mojo prior to the interview, mostly due to stress and exhaustion from not sleeping. But I've got it back with a vengeance! Last night while watching In Search of Medieval Britain I finished up the first mitt of the pair. And this morning I cast on the second to avoid Second Mitt Syndrome. I also put in half an hour's work on sewing the husband's tunic, so I'm feeling very virtuous.

The plan for the weekend is to completely make the second mitt and to make a good start on using the remnants on the mini-Who scarf. Other than that, I have no fixed plans. Apart from sleeping, of course!

A rather successful expedition, if I do say so myself!

First - my original plans for the year's shopping pretty much went out the window. I did not buy the supplies for the tree skirt.

Here's what I did buy:

• 12 balls of Rowan Pure Wool 4-ply in 6 colours to knit the Ivy League Sweater from the Winter 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. I am changing the colours from the original for two reasons. First, I look like hell in green. Sallow and jaundiced is really not a good look. And second, because I'm a knitter and I can do things like that if I want to!

• 3 balls of RYC Natural Silk Aran. I'm planning to turn these into a Branching Out Scarf, something I've been meaning to knit for a while and have just never had the right yarn for. I'm rather smug about this yarn, since it was the last three balls of the dye-lot and were on sale for half-price! Woohoo!


• 2 balls of Regia 4-ply sock yarn. I have been dying to try this stuff for ages, and I was thrilled to discover that Liberty seems to stock the ENTIRE range! I have never seen sock yarn in so many colours! I'm thinking that these will become a pair of Baudelaire Socks.


• 1 skein of Alpaca Silk from Blue Sky Alpacas. This was the real treat of the day, the yarn that jumped into my hands and said "Please! Take me home! I'm wonderful!" I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I may just keep it to snuggle and sniff, because it is obscenely soft and strokeable, and it has that delicious silk scent of which I'm so fond.


• 1 skein of Manos del Uruguay 100% Wool. Now, I know I said I didn't buy any yarn for the tree skirt, yet this is tree skirt yarn. Here's my logic. This yarn is very expensive, and the tree skirt needs a lot of it. Almost £250 worth. And that's a lot of money to put into something that's going to get crawled over by kids and scratched and pee-ed on by pets someday. So, I'm doing what all the books say and am investing in one ball as a sort of first date. If we hit it off and I can't get enough of this yarn, well, then, kids and pets be damned. I will make an expensive tree skirt. If it's a flop, then I've only wasted £8.50 and a few hours making a hat I can just give away. It's going to become a Foliage hat someday.

I also received a second set of 2.5mm DPNs as a birthday present from my shopping buddy, which have already been put to use in the great Monkey blitz, and bought some buttons that will be used for finishing the alpaca neckwarmer I started. Yay!

The shopping trip itself was lots of fun. The sweater yarn was a little more expensive than I'd hoped, since the yarn I'd originally wanted to make it out of had been discontinued. Drat. This led me to decide that it really wasn't worth trekking all the way to Putney, since I knew that the stuff I wanted at Loop was going to take the last of my money. So, we did our rounds at the Oxford Street shops. John Lewis' remnants bin was full of treasures, though I was restrained and only got the Silk Aran. Oh, I also got bias tape for garb-making. That'll be a fun adventure. Liberty was lovely, well worth exploring, and the ladies working in the haberdashery were friendliness personified. It was great. All the Fun of the Fair was ok, but the selection was really limited. Not just in terms of yarn, but in terms of buttons and things. Still, I got the buttons I needed, and my friend got some sock yarn.

Then we decided lunch was in order, so we indulged in noodles. I had Chinese Barbeque Chicken on my noodles, and it was to die for. Yum! After lunch we went to see a mutual friend (one of the ladies with a Bump), since her birthday is the day before mine and she also knits. There was much yarny goodness for her, and I think she was pleased. She was certainly pleased enough to join us on the Islington leg of the expedition! I think the best part of the whole day was experiencing yarn shopping with other people who get it. There was not a single moment of "wait, the ball of string costs HOW much money?" or "yes, it's string, bored now". Instead, there was much fondling and joy had by all. Bump lady also had a "mauled by pretty yarn" moment which resulted in me teaching her how to crochet. I also taught the other friend how to knit. Well, retaught - he last picked up needles 19 years ago!

In fact, the little spur-of-the-moment knitting circle was fun, too. We indulged in Starbucks and played with our stuff, and I offloaded some acrylic onto the knitting friend so he could practice before I teach him how to knit socks. Theory was proven correct - his fingers still remembered how to do it and I expect he'll be done with the scarf in a few days.

The birthday yarn has been carefully packed away, not to be touched until I've done at least half of my Mission:Possible projects. These may be the 6 smaller projects, but they will get done first. I have that much self control, at least. And I did just get rid of an entire ball of acrylic!

The Great Birthday Shop

It is my birthday in two days, and I have been given some shopping money by my lovely mum and grandmother. Since I have taken the day off work, this is going to mean a shopping trip! I've arranged to meet up with a friend so I have some company, and the plan is as follows.

9:30am Meet at my place for a cuppa and to discuss the plan for the day.

First port of call: John Lewis Oxford Street. The haberdashery is great, and I know they stock the yarn for a sweater I particularly want to make. Plus the remainders bin usually has some decent yarn and fabric in it.
Then: Liberty on Great Marlborough Street. I've not been to this one yet, but I'm told that they have lovely things.
Then: All the Fun of the Fair on Kingly Court. Again, never been here, but apparently they have amazing buttons and other findings. Plus yarn, of course.

1:00pm-ish Lunch at McDonalds. This is a tradition with us, so of course we must indulge.

Then we hop on the Underground and head down to Putney.
To visit: Stash. This seems, from their website, to be a more boutique-y yarn shop. They stock a lot of stuff from North America that I've not yet been able to try out, so hopefully we will find some lovely and exotic things.

Then back on a long Underground trip to my old favourite: Loop, in Islington. A restock on some needles, a quick fondle of some silk.... Mmmmmm.

I'm hoping to acquire four things. 1. Sweater yarn for a Fair-Isle number. 2. Sock yarn. 3. Laceweight in some simple colours for shawl-making. 4. Useful tools like needles etc. Hopefully I'll be able to resist odd balls of things that will just end up being turned into more scarves.