Wonderwool Wales

Tomorrow we are off to Wonderwool Wales - just looking, not buying! If only..... said husband.

Anyway, for those of you that can't make it, remember you can buy lots of British yarn from the shop (sneaky self-promotion here). I have put a photo of a sheep for you to look at whilst I am away. This is Shelia and she lives at Washbrook Farm in Kingsbridge. Sandy, her owner, is the producer of Proud Yarns which we sell in the shop. They are really lovely yarns and I think that the standard at Wonderwool will have to be very high indeed if it is to match her yarn.

Have a good weekend.

A Lovely Hat (not Horrid Socks)

You may remember that I knitted a lovely scarf for Mother's day. Well, my soon to be 6 year old niece apparently loved the scarf. Everytime she sees it she says 'look at the beautiful colours, Nanny, just look' and holds and strokes it. Obviously taste and colour sense should be encouraged in the young and so I thought that it would be a good idea to make something with the yarn for Emily's birthday. The yarn, which is Handmaiden Silk in Vintage is quite fine and despite intensive trawling through books, internet and Ravelry, I couldn't find anything suitable.
Eventually, it does take time for ideas to come through these days, I hit upon the idea of knitting two strands together. As only half of the yarn was wound into a ball, I had to enlist the help of son, home from Uni (again), for the second time in one day! Goodness! Still, he was very patient and agreed at the end that the yarn is indeed, lovely. He did mention though, that he personally didn't want anything knitted in it. I feel I have heard this sentiment before
Anyway, I found a pattern for a beanie hat with flowers. The gauge was correct, well, I assumed it was, after spending a whole afternoon looking for a pattern, frankly I didn't much care. It didn't take very long and look:

I particularly liked the flowers as these were easy to make and I haven't done these before, being a very plain sort of person. It was such fun, I have immediately embarked on a matching bag.
Sorry, what's that? What about the two pairs of socks? What socks? Don't know what you're talking about.

A Small Step Forward (Again)

At last, I have finished a sock, almost to my satisfaction. Anyway, without further ado, here it is:

Here is a close up of the lovely yarn

I am really pleased with the yarn. It is from shop stock and is the exclusive Jacky by Easyknits. Jon dyed this particularly for Great British Yarns and I think it works really well. It is very hard wearing yarn and doesn't seemed to have suffered from constant knitting and frogging. In fact, I was impressed that it didn't split at all.
I am now so encouraged by my progress that I am going off to start another project. Not socks.

A Backward Leap

What is it about knitting socks? I have tried and tried to enjoy it, but cannot seem to get it right. For the second time, I have reached the shaping for the toe and then realised that either the pattern is dreadful (version 1) or that I have made it for a giant (version 2). So, back to square 1 (or 3). Hopefully a photo later this week of a completed and rather lovely sock!

A Backward Step

I said in the last post that I hoped to show you a picture of the half a sock I've been working on. Well, I was showing husband yesterday and he said he didn't like the pattern. I didn't like the pattern either but had been desperately hoping it was just me. Apparently it wasn't. So, my sock tally now stands at 1 completed sock, 3 to go. Still, the rate this is going the two pairs of socks will also take care of friend's 51st birthday as well.

Huge Progress on the Sock Front

Ha, thought this would get your attention, but sadly is it not wholly true. I have finished one sock for my friend's 50th birthday, which, by the way, is today. Here is the proof:

It's better in the flesh, so to speak as it looks as though there are snags going up the leg of the sock, which I think are just shadows. The pattern was a Charlene Schurch, I'm amazed at how these work if you just follow the instructions accurately. The yarn is UK Alpaca Moss Green Sock Yarn, snaffled from shop stock. It is really nice to knit with, but feels a little oiled - I am sure this will come out in the wash and get softer and softer as it is washed and worn.
I have started another sock in the Easyknits Jacky and hope to show you this later in the week. So, one down, two and a half to go.

10,000 Steps

We do try to walk 10,000 steps each day in order to lose some weight and generally get a bit fitter. Today, it was a fairly easy task as the weather was so lovely. In fact, we not only had a long walk with the dogs in the afternoon, but went out again after tea. Here is Rex looking impatient to get on with it.

We are very fortunate in that we have lovely walks on our doorstep and this evening we went to Berry Head Country Park and walked through the woods to the cliff top. On our way through the woods we spotted these wild cyclamen.

Lovely aren't they?