Noro it is!

Sue has decided to take the Noro Silk Garden as her prize and pass it on to someone who has not yet reached the SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) stage. Good call, Sue.

And it is none other than our Johanna whom I know from the Glasgow Stitch and Bitch group. Haven't seen you at the group in a while, although I did have a quick chat with you while you were volunteering at the Knit and Natter stand at the SECC.
Just in time to knit up a wee narrow scarf or something for Dave's Christmas Johanna? Or a wee something for yourself?
And no, to answer an email, I did not knit that Aran jumper the Noro is on. It was shop bought. I try to be exhaustive in my details, but one wee thing always seems to get through the net!
Oh, and Annie Lennox seems to be wearing a roll brim beanie in the pic Anna showed me. I think we're in business!

Next project for Knit and Chat

Loopy (and Luscious) Knitty Fall 2002 URL below
I'll be doing mine in the turquoise KSH I got as my members' renewal gift from Rowan

Knitty's close up of Loopy in Rowan KidSilk haze They used Berroco as a contrast yarn.

Next Knit and Chat project

Had fun at the Stitch and Bitch at the Tramway today. Some fabby projects, some of which are secrets, so I'll say no more.
I don't have any knitting to show for my visit because of my allergy for doing swatches. Just got started on the Loopy Scribble Lace scarf and hoped for the best, thinking how wrong can you go on a stocking stitch scarf? Way too broad is the answer. I didn't use circulars as suggested I used my new Swing Pins from the Craft Fair last week. The lady was trying to tell me about fancy things to do with them, over the din of the fair. I'll be using them as dpns which have a removable bobble on the end, thank you very much.
J is allowing me to cast on something new (trust me, this is in fun, I'd like to see him make me do something I didn't want to) because I have finished knitting three projects. Not the three we had agreed on, granted, but three projects- Flora, Fern and my shawl. Fern still needs to be made up. Bought some ribbon today.
So, for knitting and chatting, I give you Loopy from Knitty .
I have seen quite a few scarves like this is the shops this season. I don't follow fashion, but if I like something and it is fashionable, that's a bonus.

What prize would you like Sue?

Kathleen and a large anchor.
Tobermory, Isle of Mull, July 2005.

I can't believe a couple of the Liberty Rowanettes were talking about my competition! How cool is that? Anyway, when you're ready Sue, mail me at kathleenhinchliffe1971@hotmail.com to choose your prize. Now, choose carefully, cos like the rest of us, you seem to have a bit of a stash thing going on there?!?
May I link to your blog Sue?

After a fairly sociable week I don't have a tremendous amount of knitting to report, but I have been plugging away. I've done a few more repeats on my Alpaca scarf (4ply never seems to grow very quickly) and on my second cable sock. Fern cardigan is blocking. I'm just thinking over what kind of closure would be best on this. I want to get it finished soon while wrapover cardigans are still in fashion.

Didn't make it to Mono for the Stitch and Bitch this Tuesday as I was wakened by the rhythmic drip drip drip of lovely black water (don't you love lathe and plaster in old buildings) trickling onto the bedroom carpet. I was in denial but J said he heard it too so we investigated and found that our resident ceiling bulge had become a bit of a mound. I pierced it with a kebab skewer and a steady flow of the same black water came down into the bucket. Nothing too mega, but you don't really want any water trickling into your bedroom in an ideal world. After a day getting in touch with the factors (building managers) we discovered that the skylight of the roof void was smashed and that's where the water was penetrating. Anyway, I didn't go to S and B in case I came home to find the ceiling where the floor should be. (The joys of living on a top floor flat, this HAS happened to me before in another room.) The ceiling was still in the right place thankfully and the bucket only had a few more millimetres in it. We will of course have to get this fixed, but at least we are not talking a huge job at present. The factors are onto the skylight repair. This is just a teeny weeny wee moan about my ceiling to explain why I wasn't out stitchin' and bitchin' on Tuesday, I know how lucky I am compared to countless others.

Was out on Monday on a farewell night out to say goodbye to Madeleine who has worked with us for seven years. Herself and her husband and child are moving to Gijon in Spain where Isaac is originally from. Was a great night out and I wish them all the best.
Also out on Wednesday for dinner although one guest couldn't come as he has suspected mumps! AAargh! 

Ladies and Gentlemen...

...we have a winner!

The illustrious winner is Sue at Knittiotherapy!

Sue was closest to the correct answer with her guess of 597 yesterday.
Well done, Sue.

The actual number of stitches cast off along the top edge was 583.

The next closest was Anna, my pal from work, with 628. I'll see if I can rustle her up a wee consolation prize, a wee Annie Lennox hat maybe?

I decided not to pick the prize selection until I saw who won. I wanted to give the winner a choice they could work with.

When I found out it was Sue, I headed over to Knittiotherapy to find that she is a fairly new blogger, like myself. I did glean enough information to put together the following suggestions for her to choose from.

I see Sue is a Rowanette. This means that she already has a good idea about the range and which Rowan yarns she likes so I decided not to offer any Rowan, just other quality yarns, particularly as she is just back from a Rowan stash enhancing trip!

Instead I am offering a choice of one of the following-
*two balls of Noro Silk Garden as shown in the pic below or
*three balls of Jo Sharp Aran cotton.

Or (as Sue is mastering sock knitting for the first time and may well catch the bug)
*two balls of 4ply Socka Color or
*two balls of Regia Jacquard 6ply as shown in the pic below.

I continued reading and found that Sue loves cross stitch, so as another alternative I am pleased to offer
*Lanarte Purple Bouquet or
*Paddling, All our Yesterdays. See pic.

So, Sue, when you have decided which one you would like, mail me at kathleenhinchliffe1971@hotmail.com with your details and I'll get your goody sent out to you.

Many thanks go to (in no particular order) to Anna, Karen, Ida, Yvette, Thomas, Carol, Jane, Tom, Paul, Sonja, Madeline, Lilith, Jill, Elaine, Mags, Emma, Mhairi, J and Roddy for joining in. I have really enjoyed the competition.

And congratulations Sue! 

Noro Silk Garden shade 73 x 2 

Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran Cotton shade 205, "sage" 

Regia 6ply Jacquard Color 05295 "Paris" x 2 

Fuzzy (but good for colour) Fortissima Colori Socka Color, shade 9070 x2 

DMC "Paddling" All Our Yesterdays Cross Stitch on 16 count Aida. 

Lanarte "Purple Bouquet" small cross stitch on evenweave. 

The die is cast

Ok, all data is being analysed, scrutinised, verified, and categorized.
Results are under adjudication.

An "action shot" to help you finalise your guess. 

Competition ends tomorrow, 5pm!

Competition is under Thursday 20th

October!

Competition is under Thursday 20th October

Long live the October week

What a marvelously woolly week I have had!

For a start I finished my shawl -thank you for the lovely compliments.

I have also finished the knitting of Fern (Rowan 36) and have the blocking and sewing ahead of me.

And you'll remember my adventures last weekend in Edinburgh and Glasgow. (By the way -today is the grand opening of K1 yarns knitting boutique, -all the best Katharine!)

Well, I've got plenty more adventures to add, and yarn to add to the stash. Put it this way, I will not be needing to buy yarn for a very long time. Then again, why did I ever buy yarn because I needed to?

Thursday started well, with a package from Get Knitted. This was doubly good because it meant the postman could actually be bothered coming up to the flat, which was a minor miracle in itself, and also because although the package was tiny, it contained something absolutely beautiful! It was my back order of Art Yarns Royal Silk. I ordered it several months ago but my shade was not available at the time. I decided to hold out for the shade I was after, and I am absolutely delighted with it. Perhaps a nice Clapotis? (Thanks J for teaching me that type of link.)

Then off to to the Hobbycrafts and Creative Stitches fair at the SECC. I missed my sister-in-law who is a card crafter, amongst other things, but I did get some nice yarn. Jaeger Extra Fine Merino, Sirdar Salsa and Sirdar Indigo. Pictures below. I may make the striped hooded denim baby jacket from the Woman's Weekly Special from the Indigo.

Back again on Friday where I met with Heather , Jill and India and bought a couple of items I had seen the day before but had wanted to check out on the internet and in my pattern books- some Rowan Cotton Chenille and Jaeger Aqua Cotton. Pictures below.

You can see, I have an awful lot of knitting up to do!

Don't forget to enter the competition on Oct 20th!

xK

Exquisite - Art Yarns Regal Silk shade 106. 

Excellent - Rowan Chunky Cotton Chenille, shade 390, colour SPOOK. 

Very good - Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK, shade 976, colour ASH; Jaeger Aqua Cotton DK, shade 312, colour GRAPE. 

Good- Sirdar Salsa DK, Merino blend shade 720, colour LICHEN;
Sirdar Indigo Denim Pure Cotton shade 70, colour LIGHT DENIM.

I have thought long and hard about whether to post today or not.
I have decided that it will not help anyone if I don't post so I'm going ahead.
With this blog I have made a conscious decision to be very honest, but very selective about what I put, so I will say no more at this stage than Julie and her family are in my prayers. Lots of love to all affected.

Competition! Honeymoon Wrap

Well, folks, here it is, the great unveiling of the honeymoon shawl!
For our honeymoon last year J and I spent a few days in each Venice, Florence and Rome and had the most wonderful time. While looking for a particular church near the Ponte Vecchio in Florence we chanced upon Beatrice Galli's great yarn shop. (Sidebar) Amongst other things I bought three balls of Filatura di Crosa Pixel yarn shade 8, thinking I would make a scarf at some stage.
On return from the holiday I put the yarn in the stash (as you do) and thought nothing more of it until this spring I decided to make a shawl starting from three stitches and working up. So I cast on on 3.5mm needles as stated and started making a triangle, working a yarn over round a central stitch on right side rows. Only it didn't turn out as a triangle, it turned out as a diamond and by the time I had 99 stitches it was about ten inches wide, on a good day. India helped me see sense that it would take me about ninety nine years to get it to shawl width at that rate, not to mention about ninety nine balls. So, to plan B, I made some wee straps and turned it into a kerchief. Now, I had never really seen myself as a shawl person, far less a kerchief person, but I didn't want to waste my work and I got LOADS of use out of it on my holidays to keep the sun off my head while walking up hills, my hair out my eyes in the sea breeze and the midges off me 24/7.

Which left me without a shawl. I decided to go up to needle size 6mm and increase one stitch at the beginning of each row. This time it did form a triangle and it made ideal knitting on Stitch and Bitch days because it was plain garter because the yarn was fancy enough, in my view. Of course, having used up a ball for my head thingy left me short of yarn and I had to send to Florence for reinforcements. Every time we had a knitting meet up I would pull this thing out the bag and do another few rows. The only time I touched it was at meetups so it didn't seem to be growing very fast.
Well, it did grow, fast or not, and at one meeting recently I mentioned I was nearly done and was thinking of fringing it and what did everyone think. Well the silence spoke volumes so I thought it through and decided on making a row of eyelets along the top to match the side increases and then make a ruffle all round.

And the results as you see are this completed shawl! I am pleased with it and can see myself wearing it over strappy things at parties or over jeans or black stuff to brighten them up. Trust me, every time you see me in the near future I will be wearing this wrap, shawl person or not!

***So, as you know I made up the pattern as I went along (urbanDK) and started with 3 stitches. But the question is (and remember I increased to make a ruffle) how many stitches did I eventually cast off along the top edge? ***

A prize of either sock yarn or scarf yarn (your preference) to the person who has come closest by 5pm on Thursday 27th October. Oh yes, and if you are not a knitter, eg family, you can have a scarf or socks handknitted for you. NO EXCUSE FAMILY, GET GUESSING!

Have a butcher's at my pix below to get an idea....
xK

Top of Eas Fors waterfall on Isle of Mull, July 2005. Note the lovely midge repellent kerchief!  

Shawl over holly bush. You can see the shape and edging here. You can also see the ends which had not yet been sewn in! 

Eyelet and ruffle edge 

New Romantic style 

Normal view from back 

Over a jacket. A male friend took this and didn't think to ask me to straighten it up a bit! 

Close up of fabric of shawl. The holly bush is supporting it, but also pulling it a bit in sections.