Am back from a slight knitting hiatus due to a housefull of lovely friends from Melbourne. We had to toddler proof the house and soon realised how dangerous some things are. Anyway, we had a wonderful time and did lots of sightseeing and catching up. So, I only just got my Socktoberfest socks done but here they are in all their loveliness. Details are in this previous post. I just adore Yahaira’s Atomic River socks. They would be my favourite of the ones I’ve looked at and I hope she wins something for the design.

Am about halfway up this sleeve and it’s a good one to knit if you’re not bothered about changing yarn every row. If you’ve not got the patience then this one’s not for you. I was knitting the two sleeves and the back together/at the same time but I got a bit carried away last night watching a film. I found that I had been saving time as I had a particular yarn handy then just carried on for the next two pieces then changed to the next colour. Oh well, rules are there to be broken.

AND Joy got her Vintage Swap package safe and sound. I hope mine arrives this week, can’t wait! She’s a fabulous photographer, go and check out some of her work on her blog.

Whilst I will knit in the car, on a campsite and in hospital, I’m not really one for group knitting or knitting on the tube and I’ve never been to a workshop or had any formal instruction. I currently have the time and so signed up for a workshop day run by Debbie Abrahams through Rowan at John Lewis. Debbie is such a lovely girl and we certainly had a fun day. Nobody else was taking photos, so I felt really self-conscious about it, so sorry folks, I didn’t. I should really have taken one of the kit before it got hacked open because it looked so lovely. Apparently her Mum makes them up for her. The project was to knit up a mini Christmas stocking using the techniques of fairisle, intarsia, slipstitch beading, swiss darning and mattress stitch. She also covered wrapping stitches and weaving in ends. We covered a massive amount in one day and she seemed to be quite impressed with how much we all covered. I think we were all fairly proficient knitters to start with though but it was a fun day and here’s the result!

Her new book will be released in the UK in a week or so but you can buy it on Amazon.

Well, I was a having a good tidy up this afternoon, was vaguely looking for a couple of books too and decided to go right through a few shelves and sort stuff out……which then led to the recipe book……more later.

The first craft book I had was called ‘Things to Make and Do’ when I was a kid. It was fab and what with knitting and sewing with Mum and my Granny, I’ve never looked back. I have a large stash of books and allsorts back at Mum’s in Oz but I’ve never bothered to have them shipped over here, so I just keep collecting more! But we’re all guilty of that, right? So, here are some of my crafty reference collection. I did alot of tapestry or tapisserie (I was an overly keen French student) in my teens and adored Elizabeth Bradley’s Victorian needlepoint books and that’s how I got into Mary Norden’s work. I got her ‘Ethnic Needlepoint’ ISBN 1863735704 book as a gift and have since bought quite a few of hers. I just love the photography and styling in them. I also collected alot of the Australian Inspirations magazines but have never been much of an embroiderer, which is something I now regret. My Granny was an incredible needlewoman and I did dabble with it as a little girl but that was it.

My late great Aunt Nell was a big Reader’s Digest fan and one school holidays we went to visit and I was presented with the ‘Needlecraft’ ISBN 0-909486-78-6 book you see below. I must’ve been about 9 or 10 at the time and I can’t imagine how many hours I’ve pawed over that book over the years. I refer to it SO very often. In my opinion, it is the best piece of craft reference I’ve got. It covers embroidery, knitting, tapestry, crochet, applique, lacework, patchwork, macrame, quilting and rugmaking. So you can imagine my glee when I found the British version of this in my local charity shop! I sent it to my very bestest crafty friend and she was v. thrilled and hasn’t put it down since.

Here’s my Rowan mag collection. Now I always find something inspiring in these but I think some are missing in action or on loan to people that I’ve forgotten about! Oh dear. Now that’s a thought, all of my crochet books (3 or 4) are on loan to a friend……must get them back!

Mapman’s messy maps! Look at the state of these - I know there’s more….they’re most likely hiding/festering at the bottom of a rucksack in a cupboard. Need I say more?

Thirties Baby quilt
Cream prints (4.5″ sq) & thirties print offcuts (2 x 4.5″)
Unbordered - 28″ sq

I had the strips made up for this a few months ago and got distracted with other things. The thirties prints came as a job lot of offcuts from a quilt show I went to last year. I think the bag was £2 from memory and the creams are a variety of leftovers from my wedding quilt.

Holey Socks
Luxury Alpaca DK 100g - Strawberry Cream
3.5mm vintage dpns

The lacey pattern is fun to knit but I’m not 100% happy with the overall shape of these socks, especially the gusset and heel shaping. They do look quite short from the picture but it’s quite a stretchy knit and I am getting someone with smaller feet to try them this week before I finish sewing up the toes! (Just in case).

Lucky me! My friends from Oz brought us over some treats but I need to make them last until we get there in January.

I got a bit excited about this sock today and thought it would be ok but it doesn’t fit. Have been very late in starting my socks for Socktoberfest! Will swear some more then rip it out! More tomorrow……

This was a very quick and easy project, one which I would recommend. The twisted loops are easy once you get the hang of them and if I make this again, I’d make the loop slightly bigger than the 3″ just to give them a bit more definition. I used two strands of DK wool and was left with a few yards of the 50g ball of Jaegar cotton, so the given yardage is correct. I found all the buttons in my button box - the larger one is vintage. All in all it was a very thrifty affair costing the grand sum of £3.10!

The show was inspiring as usual and the Cast Off crew were there knitting away. I just loved this dress knitted on broomsticks, I guess from fabric strips. The broomstick knitting was being done by three people, one each to hold a stick and the other to move the yarn about! Quite amusing. I forget now but the shot of the two ladies is them using a giant knitting Nancy but it was made from a modified stool. I guess you could make quite a thick scarf with it.
I also saw an excellent demonstration on hand felting using roving. The lady was very informative and now I reckon I’ll have a bash at the kit Tanya sent me a while ago. It was student day today and I was glad I got there early to beat the crowds. I managed to rush about and make my planned purchases and then be able to mooch about and shop. The Habu stall was thronging with people by the time I got there. It still amazes me how woman can be SO aggressive and pushy when it comes to fabric and wool! I was forever being elbowed and bashed by overladen bags & trollies and more often than not it was the older generations who were doing it! I’d not seen trollies at events like this before, well they make sense but they’re a bit of a health & safety nightmare. Anyhoo, enough whinging. I picked up some 10 & 12mm circs at Web of Wool. They were most helpful and had a super range of sock wools. Every Regia and Opal ball you could imagine and loads of the german Fortissima. It was all a bit tempting. I lucked onto the Fall issue of Vogue knitting because I can’t seem to get it anywhere near me anymore. It always sells out before I get to the shops!

I managed to get the Colinette point 5 in Cezanne that I wanted for Charlotte and just hope I have enough. The yardage is different for each of the given wools Rowan use and I consulted with Alison over at Float n Purl and she only just had enough yarn, so we’ll have to see how we go! The alpaca (grey & pink) and Fortissimma are for socks and the Sirdar denim cotton might get to be a hand-dyed Clapotis.

We had a walking weekend in Yorkshire and Cumbria this weekend but managed to get an hour or so in whilst recovering from the day’s events. The weather was stunning and we were able to walk in t-shirts most of the time except when it got a bit windy. The shot of me knitting is one of a series DH took of ‘extreme campsite knitting’. I don’t think he’s embarrassed by me anymore.
The green Rowanspun is leftover from Elspeth and I found the Jaegar lurking at the bottom of my stash stool. It goes perfectly because it’s shiny and sleek. I bought that on sale at John Lewis years ago, so it’s long been discontinued!

Flora - Knitty
Rowanspun DK & Jaegar Pure Cotton
Aero 4.5mm vintage straights

I had a very successful day at Ally Pally. Am too tired to write about it all now but here’s some inspiration for you. I love Donna Wilson’s work and saw some of her softies for sale in Islington last week. These were included in the Crafts Council’s Knit 2 Together exhibition which has been travelling around the country. Janet Morton’s Domestic Interior is just fabulous and made me laugh. More tomorrow……….