YATTA!

I am pleased to announce that I have just successfully taught myself mattress stitch, and Petunia the Purple Pachyderm has one done arm.

The better news is that (as of this posting) the second arm should be a match.

Photographic evidence to follow... stay tuned.

PSA: Delayed Eye Candy Friday

Eye Candy Friday will be delayed this week. I had hoped to tempt you all with being able to watch my first mini-sweater, from beginning to end. I have a NIP - neice-in-progress. She is scheduled to make her debut into the world at the end of July, and I have every intention of knitting her a sweater and a stuffed toy.

Alas, I am still in search of the perfect yarn. My sister-in-law has declared that NIP will be bathed in pink and nothing but, and I'm trying to honor her wishes as best I can - my aversion to pink is similar to most knitters aversion to acrylic. I have settled on knitting the Matinee Coat from Debbie Bliss's Simply Baby, and the Elephant Toy from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Initially, I was going to knit both projects in pink, but for my own sanity I have decided to knit the elephant in purple instead - a purple pachyderm if you will. As far as finding a decent pink goes, I'm at a loss. Most pinks I find are nearly fluorescent or of a pepto-bismol hue, neither of which is very appealing to me.

As such, I have a couple more shops to visit as I continue to search for the right pink... stay tuned.

Non-knitting Eye Candy Friday!

I feel bad for having very little knitting-related for Eye Candy Friday this week. Truth be told, I'm about to start knitting for my niece-that-almost-is, but have yet to get the yarn. Meanwhile, I'm knitting up a storm on my Hogwarts Scarves...

... and with all this stockinette knit in the round, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm knitting a sweater for Nagini. Obviously, since none of my sweaters are of the Slytherin house, I must not be.

In wanting to keep the tradition of Eye Candy Friday alive, I thought I would share another hobby of mine with you - photography (handy, huh?)

Eiffel Tower - looking down.


Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle


Hope you all are well, and happy knitting :)

Eye Candy Friday: North Wales Visit

Last weekend, Mr. Tall and I took advantage of the three day weekend (it was a bank holiday here in the U.K.) to visit Wales for the first time. We stayed along the north coast, as that was far more convenient for us and had a great time exploring.

Along our journey, I persuaded Mr. Tall to pull off a couple times to visit yarn shops and woollen mills (what a great guy!)

Here is a little eye candy for you!

The first stop was at Trefriw Woollen Mills, which is located in Snowdonia National Park.

Trefriw, Wales


Trefriw Woollen Mills

The mills offers a nice walk through exhibition on how wool is produced and woven into the many fabrics the mill produces.

Weaving in progress

Sadly, there is a very small amount of space within the shop devoted to hand knitting - a small selection of 100% wool, made on site. Perhaps it's a post for another day, but to me it's always sad to see a woollen mill where more space is dedicated to the same souvenirs found throughout the country than local fibre for other crafters and knitters. I understand, of course, why this is - consumerism and capitalism - but still, it is sad to spend the greater part of one day driving past fields and fields of sheep, but not see their wool factor into the tourist equation the way local jams and other crafts do. Ok, right, back to the post...

To show my support for locally-produced wool, I bought three skeins of aran weight:

Aran weight from Trefriw Woollen Mills


Close-up for colours!

The Woollen Mill also features a separate cottage for hand spinning. Unfortunately for us, it was closed :( A peak through the window showed a lot of beautiful fibres and knitting supplies. As the mill was displaying fliers for Woolfest, so hopefully I'll see them there!

Our last stop was at Abakhan Fabric. This shop features a lot of fabric and decorations for home, along with a good selection of knitting yarns and needlepoint. The selection was pretty good, ranging from some of the "upper" lines, down to cheap and squeaky acrylics. Prices were decent - worth grabbing things if you were wanting something, but nothing to drive out of your way for. The most impressive thing for me was the amount of yarn they had - most shops local to me have a very small selection, save Hobbycraft.


Abakhan Fabric

It was a great trip, and I look forward to another Welsh Wool Expedition (I'm thinking Pembrokeshire!)

World Wide Knit in Public Day

World Wide Knit in Public Day is coming up!! It is on Saturday, June 9th.

For knitters out there, please find a way to bravely KIP that day - coordinate with your SnB, find a cozy cafe, or join in one of the already established KIPs going on that day.

Will you be in Yorkshire, Great Britain that day? If so, plan on coming to a KIP in Hull. Details are still coming together, so watch this space!