Not-so-old stash

Continuing with the stash tour, a couple of things that are relatively new - purchased a couple of months back from Gill.

This is another huge 2400yard skein of Cherry Tree Hill merino laceweight, colourway Java. This definately won't remain in this state for much longer - it's beautiful yarn and I have plans for it. Moving swiftly on to a couple of balls of Sockotta sock yarn - no prizes for guessing what these are destined to be! It's beautifully soft with a 45% cotton content, so shouldn't have too much itch factor!

Onto a project update. Remember this from a previous post - well, look how she's grown! I took her outside to see if natural light improved my photography - the colour is certainly truer, but that's about all! Still, she has a name and from here-on in will be known as Vivid, because I think it reflects the bright pink really well. I absolutely love the way this is turning out. The lace patterns are working together well; it's so light and airy and I can't wait to get this finished. I don't know how long she'll ultimately be; she's about 25" at the moment with more than half of the yarn left, so probably 60" total.

Old Stash

Thought I'd do a tour of stuff that's been lurking at the bottom of my stash for eons! So, clockwise from top right, Inca Natural from Jarol, Sirdar pure cotton Indigo Denim DK, Rowan 4ply cotton (sevseral balls in various colours) and Debbie Bliss DK cotton. All of these I picked up on a whim, lurking in sales and feeling lost and homeless. They're no longer homeless, but really should be made into something as they've been sitting around for far too long!

Next photo, some super chunky Emu in a glorious shade of purple that I traded at a stash swap at a Cambridge k2tog, a few balls of Rowan linen drape in a variety of shades (you can tell how long that's been in the stash basket!), some Bergere de France I bought on holiday in Brittany a couple of years ago - the multi coloured is a narrow tape that would make a nice summer top if I ever get around to it, and the other is a 4ply cotton in a coral colour - and some Sirdar DK chenille and cotton boutonne, also from the k2tog stash swap. I'm hoping the chenille will turn into a waistcoat and the boutonne would look great as a summer scarf.

And finally, from the top clockwise a couple of balls of Rowan chunky and aran, the latter was bought for a commission to make a slouch hat for Make it month last year, but the customer changed their mind about the colour. The hat eventually made it onto the website, and was also featured on the fashion pages of Marie Claire (my claim to knitting fame!) but in a shade of russet. At the bottom of the picture, some turquoise Jaeger Trinity, and last but not least some random multi coloured stuff I got from the NEC a couple of years ago. The blue is beautiful to look at - it's a mix of boucle with a very narrow nylon ribbon - but it's an absolute nightmare to knit! The yarn bunches up around the ribbon and you end up in a real mess of knots. I'll tackle it one day but it's not exactly high on my list of priorities!

And the book? Well, that's my personal knitter's bible - a part-works that was published around 25 years ago called "Get Knitting". The patterns are very dated now but the techniques never change too much. I refer to it time and time again and I'm so glad I never gave it away during my non-knitting years!

What's OTN?

Lace, that's what! I love knitting lace - always have done - although my skills at photography are somewhat less advanced than my knitting skills! These are the best images I could muster, but you get the idea. So I apologise for the slight "out of focus", but hopefully I'll improve!

I know many knitters are less enamoured of lace knitting than I am, but it's the delicateness (I doubt that's a word, somehow) of the texture that does it for me! One day, this piece will turn into a hip length cardigan with a hood ( if I have enough yarn). It's Cherry Tree Hill merino lace, a 100g skein with a massive 2400m, colourway Tropical Storm. It's a dream to knit with, but this project has a lot of growing to do yet - I'm working in one piece on circulars, and being laceweight on 2.25mm and 366sts (yes, 366sts) well, watch this space! It's also very much a "just keep knitting and see where it takes me" kind of thing. I have a vague idea of the the end result, but I'm taking one step at a time - next stop, armhole shaping.

And now some more lace! Still very delicate, 2ply laceweight from here on slightly bigger needles - 3mm - this time, and nowhere near as many stitches as this is destined to be a scarf when it grows up.

So, it's Friday afternoon, the houseworks all done and I sense a weekend full of knitting in the offing - bring it on!

Stash Enhancer

Yesterday we went to the Sandringham craft fair and I found this gorgeous mohair. It almost passed me by - on the stall were various odds and ends that I managed to resist; I even got as far as the wood carver on the next stall, where my other half made the fatal mistake of chatting to this wonderful man about his hat!

Unfortunately, I hadn't moved far enough away and the yarn stall beckoned. I couldn't resist one last peek, and then I saw it - a rail full of skeins that I'd somehow walked right past! You know how it is; I could hear this beautiful yarn calling me back - how could I resist? I was hooked, and came away with what you see above. Not sure what to knit yet; there's 25g of each shade and they tone really well, although the photo doesn't do it justice. I think it'll probably end up as a scarf or stole. Unfortunately, there isn't a web address on the leaflet I got from the spinner, but she's called Victoria Smedley and the company is called MoBair.

For now, I'm content just to look at it and stroke it!

Meet Amber

When there's nothing knitterly to post about, pick something cute, so meet Amber, our labrador cross. She's ever so slightly crazy, but when you reach the grand old age of 12, I think she's earned the right! She's been part of the family since puppyhood; she was born in a rescue home where we found her.

And this is Amber's stick stash! Almost every day, she brings a new one home from her walk - this is where the "ever so slightly crazy" part comes in! So come the next ice-age, we definately won't freeze! Well, I have lots of yarn and Amber has lots of sticks, so I think, fellow knitters, we can all sympathise with that!