I have another #FO! Enter: One crochet collar ...

Hurrah! I have finished this collar. The pattern is from a beautiful crafty blog by Emma in Wiltshire; I have a link to it below on an earlier crochet-themed post. This has worked out exactly as the pattern said, and it's really quick and easy. I found a lovely glass button in a charity shop; here it's at the back, but it would actually be nicer as the front, I think - you can see it, and the colour, better below (why does my BlackBerry not give good colour reproduction?!). A quick post, as I'm off out tonight, just to wear it! Woo hoo!

In Which I Venture to Les Tricoteuses & find yarnbombing in Sheringham...

A lovely sunny day in Holt last week - and a browse in a lovely wool shop:

I was really keen to check out this shop properly - I love the name (with its connotations of gallows knitting) and Chapel Yard, its location, has great little shops and galleries. The huge window shows the lovely yarns inside.

This is a pretty good generic picture, actually, of all the Places To Buy Yarn that I like - the gorgeous coloured patty-shaped balls of pure wool. This shop has an excellent range of luxurious wools - everywhere I looked there was more! It was great to meet Mary Pembleton, the owner; she turned down her German rock music to talk about the shop, our dislike of acrylic, "squeaky" wool,  and showed me her newest arrival - *British*, no less - Debbie Bliss Blue Faced Leicester Aran yarn, in gorgeous autumnal shades -

I want to go back and buy the mustardy colour to make some gloves I've found a pattern for in Bronwyn Lowenthal's Love to Knit  - Mary has knitted the swatch here in red and it feels dense and lovely and woolly! She has the Debbie Bliss accompanying pattern book, too. Bravo, Les Tricoteuses! www.lestricoteuses.co.uk

The knitting theme dominated our trip to Sheringham, too; luckily, my Lady Friend is a patient partner. First I had to snap this part of the sea front mural:

But then - huge excitement - we saw more Sheringham *yarnbombing*: fantastic knitted fish and starfish on the seafront -

Aren't these great? I wonder if it's those @NorfolkNinjaKnitters again ;)

On a rainy day, we went to Norwich. While the Lady Friend had  a tour of the Cathedral, I paid a visit to Jarrolds, a great independent with lots of lovely Sirdar wool and good haberdashery bits too. Had a crochet conversation with the sales assistant who was wearing a black crochet collar that she'd made herself. Then, a trip to the Cathedral refectory:

And a scrumptious cheese scone:

I love Emma Bridgewater's crockery - though the use of this Biblical quotation is rather surprising, as the second part of the verse from the Song of Songs reads, "For I am sick of love." I suppose that's why only the first part is on the plate!  I know there's no mention of a Wednesday #WIP - but that[s because my Sarah Hatton jacket is still .... still .... still on the go! 

How can this be my first #FO Friday post?

Ta da! One completed crochet necklace (pattern link given in previous post). Oh, and here it is just one more time, swinging jauntily on my wardrobe door handle:

I would love to say how easy this was ... and actually, the crochet part *was* pretty easy, but sewing on the button was a _pain_. In fact, if you follow me on Twitter, you will know that it took me a whole documentary on the Amish (which was brilliant) to sew on the button ... and unpick it....and sew it on again - and so forth. I wanted to get it so that I could wear it with the button at the front or back, so it had to be neat, and to sit properly . . . anyway, it now *finally* does. Phew. The jade collar is waiting 'til tomorrow to be finished - even though I want to wear it tomorrow night. Now to have another little sip of Three Choirs English white wine and watch the women's football semi-final.

Wednesday's #WIP : all about crochet!

As I reported on Monday, it's all about the crochet at the moment: this rather shady picture shows the necklace from a free pattern by Carol Meldrum on The Making Spot. The fun part - the actual crochet - is done, but I haven't sewn the button on yet. The pattern says it needs blocking - I normally never do this as I just can't really be bothered (shame on me!), but I did wonder if I should here, as the arches do poke up a bit... then I had a genius idea:

Here is the necklace, underneath Nigella Lawson! Pressing it like a pressed flower has done the trick nicely, so today I'll sew the button on.

And _here_ is the completed @Lululoves1000 collar (website given in Monday's post). I bought some *gorgeous* 4 ply cotton to make this in, as the DK wool (I use the term loosely) one in taupe here is actually too bulky for me. This cotton is new at Mill House Fabric - it's DMC Natura Just Cotton, and the colour here is Jade. It doesn't quite fit my made in Britain policy - but it is from France, so somewhere, er, nearby. The colours in this range are just *lovely*: I really want to make loads more. Mill House Fabric has a good range of haberdashery stuff, though they only sell crochet cottons and not wool now (they used to stock wool upstairs). They don't have a website but you can find them in shop directories for Suffolk.

So, today's challenges: sewing on buttons and crocheting more of the Jade collar. I don't care if it rains!