Do girls just wanna have fun? You bet!
I was visited by Stéphanie this weekend and what fun we had. We managed to visit a pub, the theatre, several shops, the V&A, not once but twice and still found time to meet up with a few Rowanettes at our local hang out, where else?
To further top this off, the lovely Kristine was also in town from Sweden and Amelia was also back from NY. It was bliss to spend a few hours together, to catch our breaths and to pick over the remnants of the Liberty sale, which is now over :-( We still managed to find a few bargains.... I'm going to leave Stéphanie to confess her purchases. I did managed to buy a few things for myself. I also snaffled a few interesting things for my Secret Knitting Pal...whoever she or he is.....
We were very well behaved until the Art Bar Café emptied after the lunch rush.
Footnote for the girls:
(1) Thanks to Jacinta for the lovely photos. I forgot to charge my camera and after the first few pictures, it gave up.
(2) Stephanie was very good on Saturday, so I let her see part of my stash that night. No, I didn't weigh her when she left on Sunday.
Meet Lauren. Some months ago, heartwarming was sent to welcome this little angel to the Geek's family. I'm not sure if it has taken the Geek this long to get the photos because the sweater didn't fit or if the little tyke wasn't cooperating.
I'll let you be the judge.
She's so darn cute that she would like nice even in a potato sack. Obviously, she takes after her mom.
Why does she look like she's about to punch out the photographer?
When Lauren was borned, I asked the Geek, what colour would he like for his new baby's jumper? There was a sort of uming and ahing when I suggested red, pink, blue and then purple. In the end, I picked the lilac and purple myself, since the geek was obviously being male about the whole.
Heartwarming seems like the perfect choice, as she will no doubt soon grow into a heck of a heart breaker.
Thanks to Geek for sharing these picture of the beautiful Lauren and thanks to Lauren for making my efforts look good.
Afghans for Afghans
It's been great fun joining MDK Kay on this knit-along. When Amelia and I visted her last June, Kay thought how nice it would be, if we were able to collect enough Noro squares to make a Noro afghan.
Naturally, I discussed this with Rowanette Jill, who thought that it too was a superb idea. So Rowanette Jill and I are pooling our resources. We're taking all the odds and ends that we have left from previous projects and we're going to make them into squares.
That blue square was the Kureyon left over from my Noro Rabbit and the pink square is Silk Garden left over from a hat that I did last year.
Jill is a big Noro fan and most of the stuff in the bag was contributed by her. Waste not, want, these little scraps are going to come together to make one fine afghan for some lucky Afghan.
Liberation
I've listed some Linen Drape - Bleached and some Jaeger Trinity - Indigo.
Bomber
Here's my progress on the denim people knit-along...
Notice the blue-tinged needles? My hands are also this lovely shade of navy. The lighter blues don't run as much but this dark one. Nashville is particularly bad and I say that as it's been cool and cloudy and wet (typical British summer), so I don't have sweaty palms.
The sweater is deceptively simple to knit, but doing a 3x2 rib is not as easy as you'll think. I've ripped back a few times already, whenever I happen to notice a misplaced purl or knit stitch. I have to look (hard) and feel for errors if I'm not sitting under a good lamp.
I thought that a dark blue zippered cardigan might do better than an ecru one, given that I am not the world's neatest person. Dribbling coffee lids from Starbucks has ruined more than one light colour top. So, it'll be a nice, hide all the dirt kind of blue. Ohmigosh... I've become my mother! Isn't that the first sign of mental aging? choosing practicality over cosmetic considerations... I'm going to have to lie down for a while...
and just a little update on a few more people joining in...
Pretty in Purple Melanie is doing Haven
Carlene - working on bomber for her sister. I need a sister like that.
Just a quickie, partially because I don't have an awful lot to say tonight, partially because I want my Puzzle Shawl to stay on the front of my site for just a few days more.
I'm sorry that I didn't have more of the Purple ASC because so many of you had wanted it. I'll try to get more before the sales are over at the end of this month, so watch this space, OK?
Tonight's offerings:
Albany is a lovely mercerised ribbon yarn from Jaeger. It knits to a tension of 20x25 over 10cm x 10cm and has 105 m/50 gm. It's a superb merlot shade and I can't under stand why Jaeger would discontinue it. I have 2 packs if the same dyelot. They are £20 each.
and of course, more All Seasons Cotton. This time in a shade called Deep Marine. It's sort of a greeny blue, not at all navy-ish. A colour that is perfect for men, women and children. They are £15 each and both are in the same dyelot.
So just let me know if you're interested.
Extremities Exchange
My exchange thingy arrived today and what can I say? I squealed with delight, stroked it several times, inhaled deeply again and again, heard the neighbour pound on the door (embarrassingly to check if everything was OK) and sat down and had a Paddington kind of a meal.
Rowanette Judith has really made me the most delightful thingy. A most wonderful Kid Silk Haze shawl in Liquor. Now how did she know that, that's my favourite shade of Kid Silk Haze? The rest of my package then continued to tantalise each of my senses. Was she clairvoyant and did she realise that my neighbour would come over thinking that I had disturbed a burgular or something? The very best bit? Well, it was the marmalade. I mean, only my mother-in-law make marmalade. Marmalade is the spread of the gods. It was pure ambrosia. I waited for the breeze to pick up for this picture, if nothing else, I wanted an action shot. Thank you Judith for a lovely, lovely, lovely shawl. I adore it and the only way I can be encouraged to bring it to Liberty tomorrow, would be if I could find a way to chain it onto me!
The rest of the post is for Molly & Fred, on explaining the significance of the number 48. OK, for Tessa too.
In Chinese, the sound of certain words is auspicious. Would you believe that people pay a lot of extra money to to buy a house, vanity plate or telephone number just because it had a bunch of 8's in it?
8 is lucky because it sounds like wealth, so the more 8's the more wealth.
48 is lucky because the 4 sounds like forever and with the 8 , you get a phrase like forever wealthy... something very auspicious for a young couple. Chinese red envelopes are always given in even amounts. (Only in funerals do people give out white envelopes with odd number inside.)
4 on it's own is not lucky because it sounds like death
58 is not lucky either because the 5 sounds not like not. and who wants to be not wealthy?
May you all have a wonderfully happy day tomorrow and a lifetime of happiness together.
It's turning out to be a standard British summer, inspite of the initial warm, sunny days. We've been having overcast, cold days, leaving me diving into my drawers looking for something warm and woolly to wear.
I endured 21/30 rainy days in the second June that I spent in the UK and it was dismal. On the bright side, it's not too hot to knit.
So, I've finished the first of my Six Sox Knit-along projects. It was hard getting that second foot done. If it hadn't been for the knitalong, the first sock would had been an orphan. I wasn't particularly enamoured by the pattern. My cloverleaf eyelets were a wee bit lop-sided. The yarn was OK to knit with, definitely not Lang, Opal, Regia, or Lorna's Laces.
It's much better washed though and I'm sure my mom will love it. She has poor circulation so wool socks are essential for the cold New York winters and if I make her a few pairs, it would encourage her not to pilfer the ones that I make for my dad.
Denim People Knit-along
I've cast on and realised that I started the wrong size and am about to start again. (I'm knitting up a size as these designs seem to be more figure skimming.) Check out Anita over at The Champagne Bohemian. She's just cruising along on Picot. I see that Siow Chin over at Little Purl of the Orient has her yarn. So maybe, I'm not that far behind. Eva's gone to Japan, so she's not started yet. So Kay, rest assure, no problem if you haven't started. In fact, co-hostessing the Knit-along with Eva has a lot of advantages. Eva finishes a lot of stuff so we know at least one hostess will be done before Christmas.
To answer a few questions ...
To Elizabeth in Norway - the edging from the lace shawl is from a Fiber Trend pattern. The shawl pattern is called Estonian Garden. I would had liked to do this shawl only I think that it would work better in wool.
To Lauren - Actually, Aqua seems very appropriate for the Jaeger Mercerised cotton. It's got a fabulous shimmer to it, just like a flowing stream.
Denim People Knit-along
One of my worst traits is lack of patience. Someone once told me that, this would be be undoing, and well it often it. I'm just not one of those people that can stand continual dithering. Come to think of it, my philosophy in life is to toss a coin when I hit an impasse. Good decision or bad decision, I'm going to make one and simply move on. I wonder if General Custer had the same mentality?
So, I've decided to do bomber. No more dithering ... I cast on tonight. Have you ever been impatient with yourself? Not a pleasant state.
I've updated the list of the DPKA. Afterall, most of you are doing Bomber too, so it can't be a bad decision, right?
North America
Rowanette Carol - Bomber
Mason-Dixon Knitting Kay - Dolly
Karen - who needs a project for the denim that she'd scored off ebay
Lisa - Bomber, Colorado or Brooklyn
Melody - something in DP or maybe something from the Spring Knitters
Crafty Brainwave Lori - Combat
Karen - Denver - a present for her dad.
Europe
Kerrie's Place Kerrie - Thelma
La Tricoteuse Bretonne Stéphanie - Bomber
Get Knitted Sue - Bomber
Champagne Bohemia Anita - Picot, Thelma or Saffy
Rowanette Sissel- Voyage
Rowanette Marie-France- Polo
Anna's Journal Anna - Bomber or Lush or whatever else inspires her
Londoner Elly - might join in with Dolly
Michelle - An American in London who needs a little push to finish her Picot
Busy Needles Anne - Paris
All Tangled Up Polly - Bomber
Asia Pacific
Eva's Journal Eva - Bomber
HK Knitter Marjorie - Delta or Raspy
Little Purl of the Orient Siow Chin - Delta
Linda - Louise (although would much rather be knitting Picot or Thelma)
Yarn Liberation
Since most of the yarn that I've listed is almost bound for a new home, I've decided to list a few more. These aren't going to be posted until the end of the week, earliest. So if you're interested, let me know.
2 packs of All Seasons Cotton in Gay. All new, fresh and in the same dyelot for £15 each. In case you monitor is telling you otherwise, it's a light purple
The Jaeger Aqua is only £12.50 each. I misread the price on the last packs that I listed and dug around until I've found the receipts. This one is a light greeny blue Both packs are in the same dyelot.
Whoever named the shades in the Jaeger Aqua needs a stern talking to, because with the exception of the Marine, none of these colours look anything like the name that they carry.
What happens to yarns that don't find a new home? They get to stay in my stash :-)
First, the shawl is done and after several rainy evenings, I was able to take it outside for a little photo session.
It's a nasty little beast to block. Really long and I must had spent about 2 hours, pinning and reshaping. The final measurements were 24 inches wide and 72 inches long. I could had made it about 12 inches wide and about 10 feet long :-).
I did a wet block, essentially, washing and soaking the finished shawl for about 30 minutes. The water turned a vivid purple, leaving me concerned about fading, but she came out vibrant. It took about a day to dry and when it was, the fabric was crisp and light, the perfect little summer accessory.
Denim People Knit-along
If you could let me know what you've decided, when you've decided as well, so that I can update the listing with what each of you are planning to do. Who knows,.... it might just sway me towards another design not on my short list :-).
More Liberation
If you're interested ... I've 2 packs in All Seasons Cotton. All new, fresh and in the same dyelot for £15 each
These are only £12.50 each. I misread the price on the last packs that I listed and dug around until I've found the receipts. This one is a rich salmony pink called cranberry. Both packs are in the same dyelot.
Let me know if you're interested. I'll add to the listings pages tomorrow.
Here's a little preview of the edging. The shawl is done (finally)! I'm going to do a wet block when I come home from work tomorrow and take some proper photos. It does feel good to cast off that last stitch and know that there's only a (very) few ends to weave in. (Btw, there's a very slight scallop on the edging, which you can't really see... at least not until I've blocked it)
Now, off to spend some time with Phil.
Meet Phil
Miss me? I was away for a quick jaunt over to Paris for work, to attend a conference. It was very informative and a good networking opporunity, even though it was all the way out by Porte de Bercy.
I thought that yarn shopping would not be on the cards, but miraculously, I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Printemps. (No, I didn't miss my train back. )
Meet Phil Ruban... isn't he just a cool dude?
It's the first time that I have come in contact with the yarn and to be fair, I was intrigue to meet him, because a certain rabbit is a big fan. Imagine my horror to learn that it is going to be discontinued. Fortunately, I was able to make off with about 26 balls in porcelaine and celedon. I haven't the foggiest as to what I will do with it, but it's lovely and knits roughly to the same tension as Berroco's Zen. So I'm a happy bunny, eventhough they didn't have any left in the dark reds. (It doesn't take much to make me happy.)
I made it to Gare du Nord with 5 minutes to spare before they closed the check-in for my train. Mental note, do not ever take a taxi to anywhere in France around the end of June/beg of July. It's the start of the annual summer holidays in Paris and traffic was appalling...made worst by the tour buses doubled park to unload luggage.
Extremities Exchange Panic
I'm not panicking, eventhough the Rowan Extremeties Exchange is supposed to come to a close and the thingies are supposed to have gone in the mail. I would like to think that as one of the 'Exchange Moms', I should be towards the end of the pack in sending and receiving. However, I am conscientiously working on my shawl. It's about 5 feet long now, so another 12 inches to go. (Yes, it would be 6 feet long if I really, really stretched it, but it would only be about 6 inches wide.. so you see, I've tried this, already.. no way around it, Polly has to get her fingers in gear).
Yarn Liberations
Here's the latest offerings that I have. Yes, I have more, but yarn is bulky, so I only post a packet every other day. At the rate, there'll be Liberty yarns on offer until August!
I've listed some Linen Drape
and some Jaeger Aqua
.
These are nice, summery yarns, in colours that will take you into the autumn.
