It's arrived!

I caved and finally ordered some of the Kauni yarn everyone has been going on about. It is such fantastic colours I couldn't resist, and it arrived on Saturday! I had been hoping that the weather would perk up a bit so I could take pictures outside, but it hasn't so I'm afraid we have inside pictures today:


Surprisingly (!?) I ordered the brightest colour they had (EQ), and while I was at it a couple of balls of Trekking found its way into my shopping basket too. It was the first time I have ordered from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions and the process all went very smoothly and quickly, and she even included a little piece of cake! (just visible on the right of the picture above). I have been very restrained and haven't casted on yet, I am still plotting what exactly I am going to do. The yarn is very nice and I love the long stretches of colour. My only niggle is that it isn't the softest yarn in the world. I think it will be ok, it is not that harsh, but I would love to find something in colours like this but perhaps in merino. If you have come across anything I would love to know about it!

Stranded hat

The hat is trotting along, I have started the decreases for the crown (and changed my mind, undid about 20 rows and redid them), here you see version 2 (version 1 didn't live long enough to have its photo taken):

My hands are definitely getting more used to knitting together, although I am still haven't some difficulties with pulling the yarn in the left hand too tight, anyone have any suggestions?

Comments

The Japanese short rows aren't too much of a pain once you get going. Also, while the pins are handy while you are starting out because they make it completely clear exactly which thread you need to pick up, I think you can dispense with them once you have got the idea. Once you have got rid of the pins it it probably less fiddly even than the wrapping method. I am going to do some more experimenting so watch this space!

KnitPicks in the UK

Get Knitted is now stocking KnitPicks needles ! I have some which P brought back from his last visit to the States and I am very keen on the long sharp points and shiny surface. When I bought mine the 2.25mm and 2.75mm sizes weren't available so I think I will indulge in circulars in my missing sizes. They mentioned that they would hopefully be stocking some of the KnitPicks yarn too.

Louisa Harding and Debbie Bliss

I was intending to post this on Monday, which was my day set aside for doing a bit of organising round the house and catching up. Monday started fairly well, I got up early and put the sheets in the washing machine and got the vacuum out. As I was vacuuming near the utility room I noticed that the washing machine wasn't moving round, and thought it must be near the end of its cycle which meant it had washed pretty fast. A while later when the cycle had actually finished I went to move the sheets into the dryer and thought they felt very wet. I put them back in the washing machine for a quick spin to try and sort them out, and noticed as I set it going that it was making all the usual washing machine noises but that the drum wasn't actually spinning. It turns out that the washing machine has decided that spinning is over-rated and that it isn't going to bother anymore, which unfortunately makes it rather useless. I had to rinse out the sheets in the bath because they were still rather soapy - it certainly makes me appreciate the machinery when it is working!

Monday ended up being spent in research on and shopping for a new washing machine, which we found and ordered and will be arriving sometime on Thursday. This one has a bigger drum than the previous one though it takes up the same space in the utility room and is more energy efficient which will be good. It even has a little display which tells you how long the washing has til it finishes!

Just to add insult to injury I managed to crack one of the heads of the vacuum while swapping heads, although I don't think it will make much difference to the functioning of the vacuum (it is a pretty useless vacuum at the best of times). I don't think I am cut out for house work!

Back to knitting related things.

I have been to a couple of great events organised by Kareen at the InterKnit Cafe in Farnham. Unfortunately I completely failed to take any photos, but I have photographed the things I bought :-)

First, on 27th June was a talk by Louisa Harding, and second on 13th July was a talk by Debbie Bliss. They were both very interesting and I enjoyed myself enormously. They talked a bit about how they had come into knitting designing, and about how they approached their designing and their inspirations for their upcoming autumn pattern books. They also both brought with them loads of garments which will appear in their new pattern books, and Debbie also brought garments from her current pattern books. We were able to have a good close look at all the knitting and also try lots on - which I did gamely despite all the samples being made to fit a 34 inch chest and me being quite a long way from 34 inches anywhere!

I am hoping that Kareen will organise some more of these events, I had a great time and it makes such a difference to actually see the garments. However fantastic the photography in a pattern book, knitting is such a 3D tactile activity that nothing can beat seeing the garment there and being able to feel the drape and see all the stitch detail. It was also very interesting to see lots of people in all different shapes and sizes try on the garments, sometimes a garment looked completely different on people of different proportions even though they wear the same dress size. I have come away with lots of ideas and quite a few unintelligeable scribbles in my notebook!

I did buy a few little bits and pieces while I was in the shop :-) First at the Louisa Harding day:

The ball at the front is actually chocolate brown Rialto DK (100% merino) and the toffee colour is Louisa Harding Fauve (100% nylon) which is a kind of suede-like thin ribbon. There is a lovely pattern for a cardigan in the Rialto book which I am going to have a go at (although having tried the model on I will alter it a bit), unfortunately I can't find a picture of it on the Debbie Bliss website at the moment.

At the Debbie Bliss day I also bought:

The purple is Rowan All Seasons Cotton (50% cotton, 50% acrylic I think), and enough of the Cashmerino DK to make a cardigan - it is the most fantastic kingfisher / peacock colour. I am looking forward to trying all of these new-to-me yarns.

Goodies!

Last week I treated myself to some little goodies, and they are so beautiful I have to show you. Apologies for the dark photos, it was rather gloomy here yesterday when I took them.



First up rainbow coloured Denise needles from Knitting Help . Fiona (sadly blogless) from the Ash knitting group brought her set to the January meeting and it was love at first sight! They are just beautiful, a really interesting marbled colour, and useful too. Now I will be able to easily see which size needles I have picked up, and also to see whether I have got matching points or have accidentally picked up one of each size. They also of course will fit with the set I already have giving me two circulars in each size, always handy. I have started knitting with them already and the tips and cables fit together well and are very comfy to knit with.




Secondly a little parcel from Blue Moon Fiber Arts . This is three skeins of their lightweight Socks that Rock. The colours, are from the top: Chapman Springs, Sunstone, and Fire on the Mountain. I'm afraid my photography doesn't do justice to how beautiful the yarn is. I am really looking forward to knitting this, although I haven't yet decided whether to go for a fairly plain sock or something with a bit of pattern. I think I will go for a bit of pattern with the Sunstone, because that is a semi solid and the colour doesn't vary very much, I am still undecided about the other two. Any ideas? recommendations?

Comments

Thanks Sandie for the needle recommendation. I have some of the Knit Picks needles, my sister brough them back from a business trip, but I haven't used them very much yet. So far I really like them though.

We usually have snow about twice a year here but it rarely ever settles and if it does it is usually only an inch or so and is gone in about a day or less. Something to do with being on the edge of London probably.

Thanks for the nice comment on the avatar! The photo was taken by my husband on our honeymoon in the Loire region of France. We were looking round a maze in the grounds of one of the chateux and he thought it greatly amusing that although he could easily see over the tops of all the hedges, due to my height (or lack thereof!) all he could see of me was the top of my hat.