Sunday, October 14, 2007

A little stash enhancement

I headed off to the Knitting and Stitching show on Saturday morning with my good friend Kerry. We were both ridiculously excitable, and were not disappointed as you can see from my haul below.
My new found interest in sewing meant I had access to lots of new and exciting fabrics. At the top left we have some Corduroy with little orange and white flowers printed on, enough for a skirt for me and hopefully dungarees for Hattie for Christmas. The baby cord on the top left is for more trousers/dungarees for small peoples Christmas presents. I need to look for a pattern now! Most of the fabrics at the bottom (except the Christmas one) came from Euro Japan Links
They have some amazing fabrics!
Now onto the wool. I was very restrained, and only bought the things on my list, (apart from the Seacell/Silk from Kerrie). I didn't buy any Qiviut (I cannot describe how divine this was) or any Yak - although I really really wanted to. There was lots and lots of great stalls and it was so much better than the show I went to at the NEC last year.
At the top we have some Pura Lana Ecologica in charcoal and cream from Uppingham Yarns. Alison told me about this stuff, and was absolutely right, it is amazing soft and a bargain at £2.50 a ball. My mom wants a poncho for Christmas, so this is perfect yarn for that.
I bought some bamboo dpn's for my Hogwarts Sock Swap Kit from Knit n' Caboodle. Two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solid in Slate to make knee high socks for Kerry's Christmas present. I haven't decided on a pattern yet (ideas gratefully received!) 2 skeins of Shepherd Sock in Denim from Get Knitted. About the only colour left that I haven't already used suitable for Tony socks. Lastly, whilst dropping off a couple of squares for Oliver's Blanket with Kerrie at the Hipknits stand I couldn't resist the gorgeous silk and seacell laceweight she had.... such a gorgeous colour purple with subtle variations. I have no idea what to do with this, but maybe I will use it for the Secret of the Stole which started a couple of weeks ago. However I do need to finish MS3 first! This is how far I've got... yes I'm onto the wing at long last ;0)
In the spirit of Socktober I have also finished some socks. Fruit Salad socks from my Yarn Yarn Club yarn for September. I also remembered to take a photo of Tony's Anniversary socks.
Madder Rib from Vintage Knitted Socks in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport colourway Safari. The pooling around the ankle annoys him as it is not symmetrical - but tough as he hates short row heels too!
Finally, I got some presents this weekend. Kerry was making me a shawl for my birthday... she had made lots and lots and lots of circles in gorgeous bamboo. However, after making hundreds of circles she realised she should have crocheted them together as she went... as any joins she did really didn't seem to work. So instead, she bought me a great Kim Hargreaves kit to make this ADORABLE baby hooded cape. Isn't it the most fantastic thing ever? I need to make it, and I need a baby to make it for! Tony got scared when I told him this :0) He also said he needs to have words with Kerry for encouraging me!
So, does anyone have any great ideas on how to join hundreds of circles without them looking stupid? I have some sock yarn in a similar colour which might work.

7 comments:

Linda said...

What a fab time you had and all that lovely yarn! The fabric shop looks great, thank you for the link. I would just put a tiny stitch in between the circles, maybe!?

Bryony Ramsden said...

I agree - a tiny stitch. There is a picture in the early pages of the current edition of Selvedge that looks like that - a big scarf of little circles joined with a simple little slip stitch, and it looks really effective.

Ling said...

What a great haul. Wish I could have gone to Ally Pally. Thanks for the link for the fabrics - I'm off to have a look.

Emily said...

I , too, would go for a tiny sticth.

Hay, practially nearly almost there on the MS3 - loking fab! Hope to see it on Tuesday 6th November.....

natalie said...

Lots of lovely stuff there.
How interesting that your socks have striped, mine haven't done that at all. Just goes to show what a difference a couple of stitches (or another knitter) can make. It was one of the most consistent dye spacings over 60 skeins because of the short dye sections, so it really is down to different knitters making different socks with the same straightforward stocking stitch pattern.

KnitYoga said...

Fantastic stash enhancement! If the slip stitch doesn't work between the circles, how about using some mesh to crochet the circules into. I know that the freeform crocheters sometimes use this method. The gaps are then easier to fill in keeping the fabric nice and flat at the same time. The kit your friend bought for you is lovely.

KnitYoga said...

Meant to say thanks also for stopping by my blog and for your comment on the Arabesque!