#WIP Wednesday - simple crochet blanket - & a knitted mug

 

This is a treat for myself - like I need one, after Christmas! - a Fair Isle mug, from Blacks. Not my usual shop of choice, but I spyed it from afar. In the sale, too! Hurrah! It's actually huge - I had to peer down into it to see my coffee - but I love it.

 

Today's WIP: a simple crochet baby blanket, for a friend whose baby is due on, er, 25th January! I am making this up, so pattern will follow. I had a yarn emergency at the weekend, as I left my other WIP (a Louisa Harding Himalayan hiking hat) at my parents' house and only realised when I got home - tragedy! Still, I popped out to a trusty charity shop and bought two crochet hooks (which I bleached throughly - should I admit to that?!) and then bought the yarn for the blanket and got going.

 

 

Finally - it's always good to see a knitting-themed display - and this one is in Holt Library, North Norfolk, to launch their Monday Knit & Natter (clearly a more sedate occurrence than our Stitch & Bitch!) I really want to read Rachael Herron's A Life in Stitches (left hand side of the display) as I've made one of her patterns for a friend and I read her blog, about her writing, knitting and life with her girlfriend. In the corner of this picture is a book I actually got for Christmas - Claire Montgomerie's Knitting Vintage. I'm sure I will write more about this last, once I get the blanket...and hat... done!

 

So, that's how my 2013 has begun. Hope yours has got off to a similarly good start.

 

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Busy, Busy: A Trip to Norwich's Newest Place to Buy Wool, Crafty Ewe

 

A trip to Norwich began with a peppermint tea in Biddy's tearoom, in the Norwich Lanes: http://www.biddystearoom.com/

 

This tea room is vintage heaven: tea sets, tea pots and cosy old furniture. Even though this was a busy, busy shopping day, the tea room was warm and quiet, and I had a great catch-up with a lovely friend there. I noticed that, had I been there on a Tuesday, I could have knitted, too! Mind you, my Inner Pedant was really tempted to add the other 't' in 'Stitch' with my lippy...but I managed to restrain myself!

 

Then, an exploratory trip to Norwich's new, independent wool shop, Crafty Ewe, which opened this summer:

 

 

Norwich is quite well served for wool already, with selections in Jarrolds and John Lewis, but despite this, Crafty Ewe really does seem to offer something different. The sales assistant told me they'd decided not to stock Debbie Bliss or Rowan, because these are well stocked elsewhere. Instead, they wanted to offer something 'a bit different.' I wondered what else there could be - but then I started rootling around the shop. For a start, they had a range of wools I'd never seen before, by Australian designer Jo Sharp: http://www.josharp.com/ These wools were lovely and luxurious - a bit like Rowan, in fact - and in gorgeous, autumnal shades. Some good patterns, too. However, I am trying to buy British wool - and when I mentioned this, the assistant showed me some *lovely* yarns by John Arbon Textiles, based in Devon: http://www.jarbon.com/ Yippee: these were *gorgeous*. Beautiful colours and a rich, true-wool texture. The shop had a very good range of tempting colours (though my photo didn't do them justice at all - so haven't included it!) and they can order in more shades. If I needed more (more!?) wool, this is exactly what I'd buy. John Arbon are responsible for the Excelana range of yarns as well as Knit By Numbers. Crafty Ewe told me that the Knit By Numbers yarns come in a skein bcause it's cheaper for the customer this way - it's cheaper not to have the yarn balled. Brilliant: making a ball from a skein takes me back to sitting with my Grandma (a great knitter) with my arms out, holding a skein of wool she had steamed loose after unpicking it from something else ... A pleasure.

 

 

Looking at this picture, there is definitely a 2012 LYS look - the white shelves, the flat patties of expensive yarn ... but, hey, it works! I really need a new project so that I can go back here and buy some lovely British wool. Now, I'm sure I've got time for a quick Ravelry pattern-search before Skyfall....

 

A Lovely Cromer Cafe, a Bit of Knitting, and a Great Use for a Jam Jar

 

Ah - the end of the summer over the North Norfolk coast. As the sun went down, my fab Lady Friend pulled two lovely, icy G & Ts from her bag - making use of the jam jars from our delicious Staverton ewe jam. This is made in Suffolk - hurrah! - and we buy it in the lovely Coffee House near us. I was quite impressed with her upcycling ;)  Needless to say, like all food outside, they tasted just delicious.

This was our view:

The weather then turned a little bit chilly, so we went to Norwich and Cromer, rather than trying to sit on the beach. I managed, as always, to buy some lovely Sirdar Click DK wool for a Bronwyn Lowenthal jumper I will start soon in Jarrolds - where this sweet sign demonstrates their knitting skills:

 

More to come on the new DK jumper soon - my mum is making one first! Spotted this great piece of graffiti near St Peter Mancroft church, near the market:

 

 

We also discovered a *fantastic* cafe in Cromer, called Huckleberries. Here is my mughugger paying a visit:

 

 

This is one of my better BlackBerry photos: we're outside, here, having just eaten a scrumptious piece of caramel shortcake (in fact, only my mum's is better). The coffee was really good (by which I mean a two shot cappucino and nice and strong) and the tea cosies, for tea-drinkers, were knitted! Love it.

 

So, er, not so much knitting in this post.I have finished my Sarah Hatton jacket... but just as I'd officially finished it, I realised it is so bulky that I have to sew the cuffs in their turned-back position and buy a button or pin to keep it closed. I tried to show it off at Stitch n Bitch, but it was rather unwieldy and, I fear, it looked as though I'd wrapped myself in the dog's blanket ... but cuffs, and a pin, will sort this out, I'm sure! Wish me luck ;)

 

 

 

She cooks, she crochets....

So often, patterns for crochet accessories are frumpy and/or downright unnecessary - but two patterns I've come across thie weekend have been so beautiful and timely that I've just had to make them.  I've set my chunky Sarah Dallas jacket to one side in favour of crochet collars and necklaces. Above is my crochet collar in progress. This pattern is from www.lululoves.co.uk - a beautiful blog, with gorgeous pictures of Emma's crochet makes, as well as other aspects of her life in Wiltshire. This collar is just lovely to make: it curves really nicely, and seems pretty easy, too - and quick! My only disappointment is my own wool: because I was so keen to start it, I rather ignored Emma's yarn advice on the blog...so although the colour of this is lovely (I wanted a tea-stained, vintage-y colour), the cheapy DK is making the whole thing rather bulky. Still, now I know it works up so nicely, I can buy some proper 4-ply cotton.

My second crochet effort at the moment is a necklace, designed by Carol Meldrum at www.beatknit.com. You can find this pattern at www.themakingspot.com. This is made with a teency hook - 2mm - so I am practising it with a rather girly pink to see if it works. The cotton is Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton 4 ply. It's got quite a nice texture but splits *really* easily so I'm having to undo stitches every so often as I haven't managed to hook every strand through each time. I've added, here, 12 more chains to the original number . . .  will report more on my amendments when it's done!

What else have I done recently? Oh: read Alison Bechdel's fabulous graphic memoir about her mother and her own childhood, Are You My Mother? I've written a review of this, so more to come.

 And, finally:

I bought Peyton & Byrne's British Baking a few weeks ago, and made the blueberry and hazelnut crumble recipe from it yesterday, as British blueberries are on sale at the moment. This was just delicious - like eating warm blueberry jam . . .

Anyway: it's Stitch n Bitch tonight, so better sort out my knitting bag. 

Wednesday's #WIP : mice!

Today's Wednesday Work In Progress (or WIP): mice for my sister's children. She and I used to love the Jill Barklem Brambly Hedge books when we were little, and I'm pleased that her children love them too. Her eldest has been asking for a toy mouse, so a little trawl of Ravelry ensued. This is a brilliant pattern, free to download, from Janet McMahon's blog, called Fair Isle Mice. You can find the blog here: www.yellowpinkandsparkly.blogspot.co.uk .  I made the Fair Isle a bit simpler, knitting just two rows in alternate main colour and contrast colour stitches. I was a bit worried, half way through, that they looked rather sluggy, but I think the coloured tails and eyes have changed that!

I also learnt how to do i-cord! How have I not known how to do this before? She suggests making the tails by twisting a long length of the main colour, but I wanted coloured tails. It's also quite hard to do the twisty thing hard enough without another pair of hands, and I wanted to get on with them. So I had a quick look in Debbie Stoller's Stitch'n Bitch book, and the i-cord instructions are in there on page 87. If you end up doing this pattern but want a contrasting tail (doesn't everyone?!), then use 3.75mm double-pointed needles and use 4 stitches. I did about 30 rows and, on the penultimate row, tapered the tail a bit by knitting two together twice, then the remaining two stitches together.

I managed to listen to a fair few episodes of the excellent Caithness Craft Collective's knitting podcasts while making these: Louise Hunt has a really engaging way of talking about her crafting as well as her whisky-drinking  - while describing the scenery of her part of Scotland beautifully too. Her knitting book reviews sound really good, too. Find her here: http://caithnesscraftcollective.podbean.com/

 I got the recommendation for these programmes from Sadie's blog: http://ravelledsleeve.wordpress.com/ - there are other suggestions on there, too, but I haven't got round to those yet.

Anyway: one more mouse to go!

Vintage Knitting Books - Advice from Agnes M. Miall

This book was published in the 1940s and I saw it in a second hand bookshop. I just don't need it - but the opening page was so amusing about knitting that I had to buy it:

I love the idea of "the woman who sits long hours by herself" who whiles away the time knitting... and the girl who knits on the train "from the suburbs into town" - not so far removed from my life!  The last two paragraphs remind me of Stitch n Bitch: "Tongues may wag", even if we are all knitting and crocheting in a pub rather than around the fire in Mrs Brown's sitting room! How little times have changed - though I suppose there's not much need for a "square kettle holder" these days, even if it would double up as an iron holder.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2012 Day 2: Photography Challenge! 3KCBWDAY2

Now, clearly my creative brain needs exercise. I loved the Lego picture @eskimimi, but have gone for a symbolic shot here - my aim is to show what knitting and crochet respresent to me at the moment! The mug shows the social, fun aspect, as it was a birthday present from a friend at Stitch 'n' Bitch, and the sparkly crochet hook  - in fact being used as a spoon - was a present too, from a lovely Prym set of many coloured glittery hooks. This reminds me of all the present-giving that these past-times have led to. Taking this picture, I remembered that TS Eliot line, "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons" and am wondering if you can measure out your life in crochet hooks or knitting needles! There is something so nice about being at home, drinking a nice coffee and making something - so perhaps measuring your life in crochet hooks or knitting needles would be a more pleasant standard than coffee spoons.