Wednesday's #WIP, Graffiti Knitting & More Adventures in Haberdashery

So, here is my current #WIP: a jacket, for me. It's a Sarah Dallas moss stitch jacket from Rowan's Scottish Inspirations, using lovely Debbie Bliss Glen  wool I picked up in the Cafe Knit sale. It's beautiful wool; I'm just hoping it knits up like the pattern as I was too lazy to knit a tension square . . . am I the only one?! I am rather too near the sea in North Norfolk in this picture - I had to shift back a bit a few moments after I took this. I'm rather pleased with my cheapy jelly shoes, too!

Norwich  library has a fantastic selection of knitting and crochet books - and look what some knitters have done to the section!

This probably isn't technically yarn-bombing, actually, as it's to advertise a new Knit and Natter group they're starting up there - but it looks great.

No trip to Norwich is complete without a rummage in the haberdashery department of Jarrolds, and here is one of my mug huggers en route:

They have some gorgeous VV Rouleaux ribbon on sale which i'm rather regretting not having bought: lace plus velvet . . .  hm, maybe I can give them a ring. . . .  ;)  I did manage to buy some red "Live...Love...Laugh" ribbon and a Rico Aran pattern - they had lots of lovely things.

I wonder if I can take a break from the jacket - much as I love it - to have a go at the crochet necklace and collar I've Tweeted about . . .  they're beautiful and there are so few crochet things I actually *know* I will use....

Yes, I Can Make a Blog Post out of a Keep Cup and a Wool Shop

I am childishly pleased with my day so far. This picture shows my hugely exciting, er, travel cup. I popped to our lovely independent cafe, The Coffee House, on Moreton Hall, today. They have a table full of these great reusable cups for sale. Now, I suppose it has been flown in from Australia, but ... it is usable by baristas in coffee shops, so I am smugly saving that ugly takeaway packaging each time I use it. It can go in the dishwasher at home, too. What's more - every time someone uses one in The Coffee House, you get 10% off your drink! Phew! Can it get any more necessary to have one of these? Mind you, it got mildly embarrassing as the lovely cafe ladies said you can choose the colour of each component...so I swapped lids....bodies....lids...cap bits an alarming number of times. The creation above, then, is truly unique. I need to get out more. Actually - I see a window of opportunity for a knitted Keep Cup hugger . . .

Now - moving swiftly on - for a recent trip to Oxford's new(ish) haberdashery shop, Darn It & Stitch. I was just wondering where, down all the narrow streets off the High this was, when I saw this bicycle on St Aldate's. I see from their blog that the Darn-It-&-Stitchers have been yarnbombing Oxford in the last week or so, and this bike seat cover is available via them on Ravelry!

Anyway:

This is the outside of the shop. It is slightly misty somehow because it was boiling hot and I'm not sure my BlackBerry enjoyed such a lot of light. Inside, the shop is laid out like the bread and fruit are at a deli -

It's a great informal layout, and somehow the boxes encourage you to, er, pinch the wool. The ribbons and other 'notions' are all good, too, and I bought myself some completely unnecessary but lovely ribbon, which I'm sure I will need for something, soon:

They run classes, too, called Pinworks, from their upstairs room: find out more at www.darnitandstitch.com. The woman at the till was lovely, too, and the shop is, I bet, a great addition to Oxford's shops. I'll have to plan another trip...

Ah - coffee and wool. What more could you want on a drizzly Monday?

Been Caught Knitting - Out and About

Recently I've got a bit over-excited when I've seen hand-knitted or crocheted things in public - must be something to do with Knitting In Public week earlier this month! Saw these lovely crochet blankets in a sunny corner of the gorgeous gardens of some almshouses when exploring some Hidden Gardens last weekend. Seeing these really made me want to make a crochet blanket, something I haven't done since the birth of my first nephew, seven years ago. I wouldn't have gone for the bright colours here, but they look great against the geraniums. The view from this bench would be hundreds of roses in yellow, red and peach - fabulous. I saw a friend looking at the same garden, and she was wondering how soon we could put our names down for these houses! We're not 40 yet, even, but hey - never to early to start planning which almshouse to retire to!

Once again on the theme of Been Caught Knitting, here is a shot of one of my mug huggers, held by my patient girlfriend, on the Sheringham seafront! It was a bit blustery for June so we really needed a coffee. Out of shot here is a lovely new bag of yarn from Sheringham's wool shop, Creative Crafts, to make the aforementioned girlfriend a jumper. A good day out!

Now for the most glamorous location that one of my mug-huggers has made it to:

New York! Sadly I didn't go on this trip, but, hey, at least my knitting did!

Last pic for this post: here is the intrepid New York mug-hugger in Christopher Park, New York - an important location in the history of the gay rights movement. It was here that the notorious Stonewall Inn was located, and this was the destination of the first American gay rights march in 1969. Does this count at yarnbombing?!

My plan for my next post: to photograph some more knitting and crochet while out and about. I will ask people's permission - but I love spotting hand made things and hearing about how they're made. Fingers crossed that I find some willing specimens!