Knitty Gritty

As the nights draw in and the weather gets colder I always turn back to knitting. I picked up my needles the other day to finish a leg warmer I started in 2008... yes 2008 four years ago. One single legwarmer has waited four years for a partner, well now it's friend is almost finished. I got the matching arm warmers out of the cupboard to discover moths have eaten four holes in them. I have used them alot but its still annoying, I suppose I should make them again seeing as I am on a roll. And then invest in moth balls.

I visited the knitting and stitching show at Ally Pally on the 11th and got inspired by all the lovely fabric and wool. I especially fell for the hand dyed wool. I regret not buying any while I was there so this week I have made it my mission to find some lovely hand dyed wool made in the U.K. I found Tangled Yarns via a post on Little Cotton Rabbits the other day and found exactly what I wanted. They have lots of unusal yarns and were really helpful when I asked for advice. I ordered Tuesday and it arrived on Thursday very speedy indeed, I highly recommend them.

Juno fibre arts is a Devon based yarn and fibre dyeing business. Asti selects, dyes and spins the yarn, what an amazing job. I chose Buffy in the Berries colourway. Its gorgeous, the colours are really rich and it's so soft. I have found a sock pattern I want to try it scares me a little bit because you have to use 4 needles or a circular needle which I have used once before but for a simple bag. I am up for the challenge though. Has anyone else made socks before? I am a little worried they will fall down easily, I don't want to go to the bother of making socks then looking like Nora Batty.

I also bought a skein of a yarn that has been dyed using natural dyes- lac and logwood. It's the colour of blackberries its soft and made of cashmere, baby camel, angora and merino. I am going to use it to crochet a cowl, less annoying than having to keep wrapping a scarf around me. I am going to make my own pattern maybe using a flower motif? Ohh and I also found Andes by Debbie Bliss on sale at my local shop reduced to £4.50 which I thought was quite cheap. I am sure I paid about £8 when I was making the Japanese Flower scarf of Attic 24 fame.

I took a course on digital printing at the show I'll tell you about that next time and some of my other purchases. I will leave you with a photo of the cute knitted village from the show, I love the allotment.

Any tips on socks I would be happy to hear,
Tootles,
Sarah