Yippee....

.... I'm off to Spain for the weekend :-)
It seems to have come round really quickly. I decided to make Liz a shawl and I was going to do the Diamond Fantasy Shawl longer but time was against me....



Here is her true colour.

Made with Crystal Palace Merino, she took just over one ball...












And a close up.

To start with I didn't enjoy knitting this but once I got into the pattern it was better.


I hope I got the colour right and she likes it..





And to change the subject completely - I will be buying cider to take to Harrogate and Ally Pally next week on Wednesday so get your orders in, details here .

Rain - I think the nearest show with the garden in to you is Harrogate next week - do you fancy popping over to the 'other side' go here to get a free ticket and enjoy the fun !!

Seahorse Claire - yes there is a pattern for a seahorse in the Claire Garland book :-)

And now I better go and pack....

Creative Stitches

It is impossible to describe the Knit and Natter stand on Saturday, but thanks to William and Sophie for all their help and to Christopher for the chocolate rabbit ;-)

The show started on Thursday, we had our first lady asking for help straight away. The day continued with constant requests for help and advice - domino knitted was popular in the afternoon.

On the Friday I stupidly had my patchwork jumper on the back of the stand, I dont know how many times I explained how to make it, but by then end of the day I had nearly lost my voice.

Saturday and you really had to be there, all I will say is dont throw Boa yarn into a bag unless you want to keep at least three people amused for three hours...

Sunday continued busy all day, we had to throw them off the stand when the show shut.
We looked after children and grannies while others shopped.

I was delayed slightly on the way back home on Sunday night, and yes I did do some finger knitting while stationery on the M5..




And this is what I bought.

Dream Toys by Claire Garland - patterns for pirate and horse are wicked ;-)
I had been thinking about getting Knitted Babes for a while but this book has lots more patterns...

Some beads and painted buttons.
And some pins to keep stitch markers on.










And this is the yarn I got, four balls of Marble and four of Limbo.

I really want to make this I already have some green Marble and I thought the brights could mix with some plain DK.


And now I must finish my Diamond Fantasy shawl so I can give it to it's intended while we weekend in Spain :-)


Saturday Sky is having a break for a few weeks due to my inability to remember last week and me being out of the country this coming weekend...

Knitted Garden, Part Two

I said there was more.....






Knitted shed and runner beans climbing up canes















The other side of the shed,

Hanging basket...

Another squirrel on the roof....












Spiders web with spider....

Shallots hanging up to dry.....












Close up of the path...

and of some of the veg....















Some of the names the orgainiser knew......

















And this was on the backdrop.....

Think it might have been flying the other way and not crash landing into the garden !!









And after a busy four day show you can end up looking like this !!!
Tut Mut and Yvonne....

Knitted Garden part one

Sorry but there are a lot of photos (there would have been more but blogger said 'No!')

Exeter saw the first staging of the Knitted Garden. I can't begin to say what was in it but if you click on the photos they should be larger.
I'll post about the show later, more exciting garden shots first :-)


Knitted shed, back brick wall, bird table, runner beans on canes...

Knitted path, recycled lawn area...

Deck chair....

Planted up veg plot....

Complete with Mr Mole !!!







Better view of the radio and grass..



Children were spending ages running round, confused about knitted cakes !!
















Back wall with Wisteria,

William the cactus.












Shed view, with watering can,

Crazy paving path...










Pond shot, frogs, goldfish, fishing gnome...

Bullrushes, crocheted rocks...


My squirrel going up the bird table... but will the mouse get there first ?









The flower border....







The top of the pond, smaller pond was made by a young lad using finger knitting..

The mice were getting everywhere.....








Mr Mole liked being in the veg plot, complete with worms !

The soil was an interesting design of machine knitting.







And the robin had the best view of the public, resting on a fork handle !

Packets of seeds,

Sack of potatoes with mice...

Prize winning pumkin...




The garden got a lot of press - Local news presenters were taught to knit in it, my hands were filmed knitted for ITV.

There was a feature in the Daily Express.
It may be featured in other national papers as well.

Mr Mole was in the show program three times and in the local Exeter newspaper.

The Garden will be at the Fashion for Embroidery show in Harrogate in a few weeks time. It will also be staged differently at each show, and we will be Knitting and Nattering nearby so we can explain and hear the comments.....

Off again...

... until Sunday.
So Saturday sky will be late this week :-(

Most of the peppers have been roasted, the aubergines were very tasty, the marrows are still sitting there and will have to wait a while longer...

I think I've mastered the art of knitting socks on two circulars, but the photo was blurred so you will have to wait to see it...

If anyone is going to Creative Stitches in Exeter do come and say hello, I'll be on the knit and Natter stand with Yvonne... there is talk about trying some human knitting (probably best not to ask!!)but we do have some different things to knit with - are there any other ways of recycling OU audio tapes ?

Have a good week while I'm gone, have you see what Ruth has done now ? Her best yet, I think !!

Produce and Purchases

I picked a lot of veg yesterday.
From the left: some very strange tomato type things, think they were called salsa (going to give a gardening friend the rest of them, I didn't like the taste!)
The peppers I picked in one day..(more on the trees..)
And the tomatoes - mixture of varieties, cherry red, plum yellow, and red stripes...



Then all the peppers from several pickings.
The small ones are going to be dried, and so are some of the long ones.
One of the aubergines (egg plants) was eaten last night with a sellection of peppers.

A had a problem with my labelling of plants so cant remember what varieties they are...


And then there was this courgette plant that wanted to live by a pond. She produced lots of babies, unfortuately so did the plants that were planted inthe veg plot.

And I reaaly dont know what to do with them... I feel a roasting coming on and then they can be frozen down as the base to something else....




And Ross charity shops were good today,
This lot cost £4.




And this was £3.50 and weighs 1.3kg.... feels like pure wool as well.
So how many jumpers can I get out of it ?

NEC and other stories...

Thursday morning and I got to the station in good time for my train (left home at 7.15am ...) only to be told there were no trains and I should go to the next station up the line and see if I could get one from there. Now I know British Rail have some interesting ideas such as the leaves on the line, but if there are no trains at X how can there be trains at the next station when the train has to go through X to get there....
Anyhow I decided to drive towards Worcester where Sue and her Mum were getting on the train. I stupidly forgot that Worcester is a mass of roadworks and I eventually got to the M5 some time after 9.45. By this stage I was not a happy girl I should have been at the NEC by then. So I turned up late (at about 10.50) and stressy not in a fit state of mind to teach anyone anything. Noonie took me round to Kerrie at Hip Knits to stroke some cashmere, which calmed me down :-)

It was good to catch up with Fred, Mary and Noonie.

It took three and a half hours to get there on Thursday but on Friday driving in a direct route, one and a quarter hours, less time than the train - so I wont be trying public transport again !!

We had a few issues with the stand, lack of tables and a 'defined space' so we had a reinvention and on the Friday all was looking better. I spent a lot of time trying to get people speed knitting, you wouldn't have thought this would have been difficult, we were giving away packs of wool as prizes but.....



This is Aneeta wearing a knitted wire flower by Mary.

Notice someone pulling faces in the background...


It was good to meet Diane from UKHK and we had a surprise visit from Yvonne.


This is the improved look stand.

The speed knitting area kept on being hijacked, they were looking very relaxed, but didn't want to join in the knitting when we asked them!!

The show didn't have very many visitors so I had the opportunity to talk to stallholders, Kerrie & Laura from Hipknits, their new mag sounds brill, full of new patterns.
Sue and Hannah from Get Knitted, I've never been able to say more than hello to them before, the new shop sounds great, and I will be there on the first day of opening !!
The lady from Knit Tin was also there and I made her friend very happy by buying a set of Britany needles, she just went into break even for the day.....


So this is what I bought, a quilt book with instructions to make all sorts of 3D things.

Two knitting books from Sublime, classical patterns.

And a cone of thin yarn to make some old fashioned undies with ;-)

From Get knitted two hanks of Fleece Artist sock yarn.

And a hank of Hand Maiden Lace Silk, I kept on going back and stroking it trying to decided which one wanted to come home with me....



And from Hipknits a hank of lace weight cashmere, also very strokable .

And some hand dyed silk laceweight green.



One stand did not want their stand photographed and were quite rude about it.Even though they did have some interesting yarn and thread I refused to look any further... from good publicity to bad in minutes.
Also one lady had her money taken out of her purse and her purse put back into her bag. Hopefully by the end of the day she had her positive knitting karma returned - she was our fastest knitter of yesterday. Linny has now got a blog !! go and see her shawl, amazing !!!



And look what was waiting for me when I got home on Thursday - looks like I will be toasty warm this winter, that is if/when he tells me when he's installing it !!!

Saturday Sky

Guess what I will be doing while waiting for the rain/drizzle ?

Yes, staying in recovering from my NEC experience....and fondling some yarn....and maybe, finishing some OU coursework....

Excitement

First I read in Simply Knitting that Woollywormhead is 'trendy' (page 86).....

Then I go to Weston's and see they do a scrumpy called Rosie.....
(didn't get some but will before Ally Pally)

I feel totally exhausted but have to get my act together to be at the train station before 8am, hopefully meeting Sue (and her Mum) on the train before getting to the NEC ...

Off to eat, sleep, pack bag, and knit but not necessarily in that order - if anyone sees me tomorrow please say hello, I'll be wearing this

Show Time

It's that time of year when I can do a lot of knitting enabling and talking balls (of yarn, of course!!)

If the plan works I should be at the following shows, mostly on the Knit & Relax stand, sometimes with Fred finding new uses for evil yarn... sometimes with Yvonne discussing old patterns and lace ... but mostly talking and knitting....

NEC 14 Thurs & 15 Fri Sept

Exeter 21 - 24 Sept (Thursday to Sunday)Knitted Garden

Harrogate 6 - 8 October (Friday to Sunday) Fashion for embroidery with Knitted Garden

Ally Pally 12 - 15 October (Thursday to Sunday) I will be spending a lot of Saturday in courses with Ruth

If anyone sees me come and say hello, and if anyone would like some Herefordshire cider let me know and I can deliver ;-)

And before someone says something I know there are more shows in November but that was too many to list in one go ;-)

And please can we have a comparison of shawls (the ones I know of are Fred & Nic for Pacific Northwest, everyone else Yvonne asked for Swallowtail)

I'm off to take some more pictures with Sue's camera heee heee..... be afraid be, very afraid......

Sheeps

At the Ludlow Food Festival there were also Sheep!!!

An egg cup





Cuddly sheep in a shop window.

And I managed to get a complete stranger to take it's picture as well as it was 'well wicked' (or words to that effect!!)








And on the shelf below, a money box (was going to say piggy bank but that would be sooo wrong !!)

And salt and pepper sheep.















And look what the plonker got me...

Will the sheep, complete with football boots,
Thanks Sue (sorry he is not good at having his photo taken )

And it is a type of cauliflower he is standing in front of.

Saturday Sky

Thanks for all the birthday wishes it was a good one... good food, beer and woolly things - The future is going to be socky !!

Excitement continued today, the Sues were here:



We did have a really good plan of both posting similar Saturday Sky pictures, but I ended up with an extra camera in my car (she could have left her wool !!)
So you will have to imagine what this picture would look like from a different (higher)position...



We spent about an hour in the Knitting Parlour, each coming out with several balls of Rowan Tapestry. Then lunch at Waitrose (and a lady wanted to take my shoes...Crocs can be bought from Ledbury...)

And then off to a Knitting and Crochet Guild meeting for a few hours talking more knitting (not that we stopped much all of the day)
I can't remember why but they called us mad and said that it was good that there were eccentrics in the world... think it could have been when we were explaining about Saturday Sky.
It's scary when someone knows who you are without you being introduced !


The boy is getting a lot better, got to go back to the vets in three weeks for more blood tests but he is far happier and nearly his old self (phew)

I'm off again tomorrow for further adventures, Ludlow Food Festival.... and maybe sheep photo opportunities ;-)

Solved

Found the pins, and shawl is now blocked !



Made pear and ginger pulp (cooking term) from the last of the pears.

Then decided to cut the top off the tree whilst nextdoor were out. Unfortunately they came back just when I cut the longest branch off and it landed in their garden.. so he helped me cut it up and threw it back for me...




And for my birthday treat I've got to take my boy to the vets again tomorrow for another injection.
He is getting over a liver infection, so far he's had two injections and appears to be breathing a lot better and his temperature is nearly normal. Currently he is a sleep on my feet purring loudly.


Cakes didn't happen, maybe in the morning, maybe some other day....

And tomorrow is my special beer, chips and cake day. I'm hoping that it will be better than birthdays past, Dad being rushed into hospital, and getting stuck in traffic on the way to friends' wedding, are two of the most memorable recent ones. A few years ago I did Cheltenham second hand shops with a friend, now that was a good way to spend the day :-)

Problems

Since my clearing up I seem to have misplaced all my boxes of pins. Not usually a problem but I want to block my Swallowtail shawl. I cant even remember what room I last used them in. There should be about four boxes somewhere....

I've also got to make cake for tomorrow, and not just one cake, one of my friends has to have gluten free, so that will be two cakes...

The friend that I did the pink scarf for thought it was wonderful :-)
I've now got a Clapotis to knit for her if I can find the wool on Saturday when I go here with Sue .

Right off to find the pins so I can take photos, make cake, and I need to rescue the pear tree from some very loud starlings who are eating the rest of the fruit....

Wrapping it up...

To be seen at a Knitting and Stitching show near you soon...

Colinette will be at Ally Pally and they have taken a cancellation for NEC, so this might be there....



I know it looks boring, but it as soooo soft and soooo long - another scarf/wrap that is longer than me !!
Made in Tao silk and Parisienne kid mohair.

Please dont adjust your brightness controls... A friend asked if I could finish a scarf someone had started for her.. I said yes and this is what I finished.
I had to pick up the stitches from the start to make the stripes balance.
I hate to say I enjoyed knitting this, nice and simple knit...



This is the diamond fantasy wrap ... I've got another three and a half patterns to do, unless I decided to stop sooner. I'm not really enjoying it....




And this is the Swallowtail shawl from Interweave.
The charts do work... Someone really confused me... The repeats move along the row, the only marker needed is the central one.. I hope I might manage to finish it in the next few days.




And after doing clearing up I realised that I did not like any of my wips apart from this one so all the others have gone to frog pond.

So I only have three wips at the moment.
And I'm hoping to finish the shawls in the next few weeks, the 'sock' jumper/cardi might take a while longer...

So what do I start next ? I fancy something with cables...

And other knitting news, I've booked my place on Skipnorth.

And some exciting news, when I was trying to decided whether to go to Get Knitted open day I read that they might be getting a shop in Bristol....

Saturday Sky

horrid day outside..

Ventured out earlier to take this - see I still have lots of pears left !
Note how heavy the branches are...
There were three other branches as tall as the tallest.... looking forward to a bonfire when the rain and the wind stop ;-)





And part of my lunch from yesterday.

All grown by me :-)

There's melon, cucumber, tomatoes and cold baked marrow (got to try to use it up somehow, !!!)

Off to try and finish some knitting and wonder how today's squash can be eaten...