Frills and Frothiness.

Emily brought a wonderfully frothy scarf to the library group and showed us how it was made;knitting with a net like ribbon. Apparently, this yarn had been the big hit at Ally Pally last Autumn.
I decided to make one as part of a birthday present for Akira's classmate, Manuela. This was knit with CanCan by Rico designs which has 60m per 200g ball. This particular scarf is colour 010. It is just under £10.00 a ball but some of my group members have made two scarves from one ball. I preferred a wider and longer scarf. There are other brands around; somebody had managed to buy a much cheaper version at Lidl.A quick knit but I wouldn't recommend it for an absolute beginner.
I guess it's the closest a nine year old girl will get to a owning feather boa.

Unravel 2011

I enjoyed Unravel so much last year, I was a little worried I'd be disappointed this time. That I'd feel that I'd seen it all before but it was a fantastic day and well worth being at Waterloo before 8.00am! I was impressed that the organisers had not just rehashed last year's exhibits but had commissioned new items and organised new displays.


One of the main attractions of this festival is that there is so much to do and see. I begrudge paying for some knitting events as it involves paying a considerable sum just to buy yarn. The free talks are a major attraction for me.

This year I went to two; "Combing and Spinning the Hills" by John Arbon and "Knitting from 1800 to Today" by Joyce Meader. Joyce is hilarious and could be the world's first knitting stand up comedian. I loved the tale of a lady bathing in a knitted swimsuit and a young boy's observation that her lungs had fallen out!

Jen and I went to a workshop on how to make Dorset and bead buttons. Mary Brown, the teacher, was clear and patient so we spend a relaxing 90 minutes learning a new skill. The workshops at Unravel are realistically priced and prove that you don't need a knitting celebrity, just somebody passionate about passing on their skills and knowledge.


My stash has grown beyond amusing, past embarrassing, to the point where I start to feel sick with guilt when I think of how long it will take to knit up. Consequently, I had a strict budget and guidelines of what I needed to buy. Buttons for specific projects I got from Textile Garden and yarns for dyeing came from Fibre Harvest. I looked for purple laceweight for a 60th birthday later in the year, I didn't get anything on the day but will probably buy from Fyberspates. As I'm on a yarn diet,I allow myself to buy patterns so I bought one for a cut lace cardie from Debonnaire. My only splurge was a hank of both green and rose yarn (which at £2.99 each doesn't count) and a hank of Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky to knit the Tamesis Cowl.

Visit from Amy of "Nest."

Amy came to the last Hendon library knitting group meeting with a sample of yarns and projects. She talked about her interest in knitting and how that had evolved into opening a shop. Although she had brought leaflets about Nest and their knitting groups, she wasn't pushy and happy to talk about anything related to knitting. The afternoon was a big success and we managed to recruit a few new members.

The group was asked to feature in one of the knitting magazines. As there was heavy snow on the ground only a few of us made it, so the photo looks a bit sparse,however, Lauren did a good job of collating our interests and histories. As a thank you we received a sack of yarn and patterns. I took two balls of a lurid fluffy pink yarn with gold thread for a schoolfriend of Akira's who is learning to knit. She was thrilled. I also took two balls of Foxy as Alan Dart's Christmas Gnome is one of the few novelty patterns I like and I need Foxy for the beard.



I went to Nest the next day to meet friends. I never seem to leave the shopempty handed. I bought Drops Delight to knit Pogoda by Stephen West and Drops Alpaca to knit the Chrysanthamum mitts in Knitty.

Tiger Bargain

Akira and I wandered up to North Finchley yesterday and popped into Tiger. This shop often has yarn, usually acrylic but occasionally wool, so it is worth checking regularly as stock changes weekly. At the moment they have Bumbo Mohair which is 51% mohair and 49% acrylic. Each 25g ball is 100m and a £1.00 a bargain. It doesn't feel squeaky like some synthetic yarns. the colours are warm not garish and I'm curious to see how it knits up.

Tiger have the traditional French knitting bobbins for a couple of pounds and the larger ones for three pounds. They also have bags of beads for £1, wood and plastic.

Cactus heart

After psyching ourselves up to battle the hoards at Wembley Ikea, we discovered the halogen bulbs we required had been discontinued ....a year ago! Dispirited we sought refuge in the cafe and consoled ourselves with Swedish apple cake and cinnamon buns. When we had regained our sense of humour, we ventured out and made Ikea an adventure; sat on every sofa, tested every bed, spun on each office chair, munched on biscuit samples, sniffed flavoured teas and coffees, planned kitchens , marvelled at wardrobe storage options and giggled at the hazard tape across the display toilets. Our expedition was halted by a call from Koji demanding we came home 'cos he was starving!

On the way to the checkout, we passed through the plant department. Akira has a fascination with cacti and was very keen to buy a three foot monster. After some gentle persuasion, he was thrilled to buy some lucky bamboo and a heart cactus.He read the care instructions and proudly put them on the fireplace in his room. It says a lot about this family's ability to nurture houseplants when he came to show me a chart he had drawn to record which plant died first!

On a crafting note, Ikea has some attractive embroidered cushion covers with a vintage feel. Of course, they are not the same standard as those you could make yourself but good value.

Knitty 34 Winter 2011

I've just caught the latest Knitty edition. My favourite is Cartouche, a shawl by Janelle Martin. It is so different to the many shawl patterns around at the moment. I love the intricate geometric shapes and the way the cable outline really pops out. Her instructions are very detailed and include useful photographs of techniques. This might just be my Japan project this year which is very apt as Janelle lists Japanese stitch patterns as her current obsession.

The name of the designer also made me smile; the only Janelle I've ever met was a friend of my housemate in Spain. She was a larger than life New Yorker whose enthusiasm for life was contagious. We'd all bounce around in the wake of her energy and good humoured irreverence.I remember her delight when in Gibraltar she discovered Sobranie cocktail cigarettes; bright pastel shades with a gold filter which she declared "fucking orgasmic!"

At some point I will knit Fleece by Kieran Foley. Of course, I just happen to have enough Zauerball in my stash.Palisander is worth a look as I like scarves which are patterned on both sides but is not on my immediate list. Whereas, I have already printed out Joanie but will have to do something about the floppy neck. The Sweetheart socks will be good for using odd hanks of light worsted which, hopefully,will mean they are a quick knit. The Chrysanthemums are gorgeous but will I really commit the necessary time to mitts I will leave on the bus? Shetlander, for me, life is just too short!