Local Yarn

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for Alpaca Farms on the IOW and came across Godshill Park Farm. 

Although she did not have any Alpaca yarn for sale until December she did have Pure Castlemilk moorit (sheep) wool (dark brown) and a blend of Alpaca, llama and Castlemilk moorit (caramel).  I bought some 4ply in the mixed yarn and some Double Knit in the Castlemilk moorit.  Neither of them would I describe as soft, but as an outer jumper or jacket would knit up well.

Kathy Kelly Cable Caplet by Renate Haeckler

I have nearly finished Beatrice in the mixed yarn and I have started Kathy Kelly Cable Caplet in the DK.

Beatrice by Goddess Knits

New Outlet

At Easter I was contacted by a shop in London, NICOLINA lifestyle boutique, saying that they were interested in featuring some of my shawls and scarves. At first I thought it was a hoax but after some emailing back and forth it seems it is for real.

I had to have high-resoultion photos taken of 3 shawls and 3 scarves and they could only be made from silk, merino, or cashmere. These are the 6 items which I used.

I sent the photos off and now I have a page. Have a look, I would love to know what you think.

Scarves and Shawl

Workshops

I have been asked to run some workshops/classes in a new wool shop (the only shop only for knitting on the Island).  Strictly Knitting :-) Hopefully we are starting off with a "Beginners Class" for Adults, and "Introduction to Knitting" for children and we will see where it goes from there.  The idea is the adults will be either morning or evenings once a week for 2 hours for three weeks. The children's classes are going to be Monday to Friday for a week in August for 2 hours in the morning.

They are going to stock an amazing range of yarn, it is going to be bliss surround by all the yarn. The shop opens this Saturday and I am going over for a couple of hours so I will have to take some photos and put them on here.

As for knitting I am trying to get Tibetan Clouds finished as I have decided my Mystic Star Shawl is just not going to be warm enough to wear to Kayte's wedding, even though it is in June. The weather here has been so cold. I have the middle finished so it is just the two sides.

May Bank Holiday

My 1st buyer has left a fantastic comment:

"A truly beautiful item, so soft and luxurious. Well wrapped with a sweet 
accompanying note. Special delivery, first class service. Thank you!"


 So that is a relief. :-)

It seems that it is going to be another wet weekend, I feel sorry for the holiday makers. They will be spending their time going from one cafe to another and looking in shops. No going down to the beach, well if they want a brisk walk to blow the cobwebs away perfect, but no swimming or sunbathing. After fantastic weather in March the weather forecasters are saying the temperature is the same as Christmas week. Oh well the plants are looking green and healthy.

I found a bag of Drops Eskimo wool which I had forgotten I had. It is classed as bulky so perfect for knitting up quick shawls. I have managed to get 2 shawls out of it. The 1st was Lightening. and the 2nd is  my attempt at designing a shawl. It is nearly finished so once they are blocked I will post pictures.

Sold a shawl!

I have finally sold something to somebody I don't know.... I have sold a shawl on Folksy!

Ok friends and family have bought things but this time somebody has clicked the buy button.  She left a lovely message when she bought the shawl.

" I love this shawl and intend to wear it to the opera with my beautiful black retro dress!"

I do hope that she likes it when it arrives.


Hope everybody has a great weekend. It looks like there are going to be heavy showers all weekend. Perfect excuse to stay inside and knit.

The Stitch and Craft Show

I forgot to post about our visit to "The Stitch and Craft Show" in London.

Mum and I caught a coach to The Stitch and Craft Show. It is held in Olympia in London. It was the first time I had been to this show. There was so many people, but thankfully I have bought 2 VIP tickets which allowed mum and I in an area where we could get somewhere to sit down. It was worth it.  It was very crowded but mum found a cross-stitch kit which she liked, it is of a three-mast sailing ship which is for my nephew's birthday. She also bought a lamp you click to you chair to spot light where you are working.

I bought yarn. :-)

Black Sheep Barn had a half price sale and I bought 8 skeins of Yuzen which I plan to knit into entrelac shawl.  I could have bought a lot more as they had a fantastic selection.


 


There was a competition Knitted Model Village and an author signing a book she had written on knitting dogs.  The dogs were adorable.

There are some really clever people.

Things that are finished

Echo Flower 

Oh gosh doesn't time go quickly! It is nearly a month since I have updated this blog. :-(

The weather has been amazing so I have been helping mum sort out the garden. We have moved her Agapanthus to a new been and bought 3 roses which she needs to plant. We have also started a herb container, I now need to split the mint and put it in new pots and give my brother some.

Ok what have I been up to with my knitting.

Well, firstly some photos to post.

 First is a shawl I have knitted for sale. It is made of Tencel and Rayon. Did you know Tencel is wood pulp? It is hard to believe, but I like it as a yarn. It has a silky feel. This is 4ply yarn so quite thick but I am not sure how warm it would be.

I had enough yarn left over to make a shawlette, very simple to knit and perfect to do while watching the TV.

You can just about see the beads

There are beads along the edge, which you can just about see in this photo.

This is Joshua's finished Entrelac Scarf. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Joshua's Entrelac Sca

The next thing I would like to try is a Entrelac shawl. I have seen several ideas on Ravelry, but that will have to wait as I have to start my circular shawl to wear to Kayte's wedding.

I wanted it to be made out of 100% Tencel and after a long hard search I have found some. Just Our Yarn.  It is described as "Indigo, navy, loden and kilt green" 

Hopefully it will work out fine as I am doing Mystic Star so it gives the idea of a knit sky and I will use some rainbow clear beads.


I gave Julia her shawl at the weekend and she was very pleased with it, which I am glad.



Hope everybody has had a good Easter holiday.