Yarn for Tempest

I've been knitting - even finished another Flutter scarf and anotherBoogie-Woogie slipover vest in fact I don't think I've shown you the first one yet. But more of those next time. For the moment I am completely fixated on Tempest. I absolutely love this little cardi. It looks perfect for this cooler summer we're having and it's such a fun looking knit using only two hanks (yes two!) of sock wool which is easily obtainable in so many different colours. How can I go wrong?

Well, the trouble is that there is just too much choice. I can't make my mind up. No, that's not quite right; the problem is that I don't have the right colours in my stash - not the right colours in the same yarn. I keep ordering more but it is very hard to colour match on the computer screen.

I've whittled down the four large boxes of sock yarn to a short list. I'm trying to choose from these gorgeous yarns



You can see them in more detail here. There's quite a lot of Bonnie from the Yarn Yard here.


And this little lot that arrived today. The big hank is a massive 250gm skein of Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 colour Sea Storm from Red Bird Knits in Canada. I ordered it last Thursday and it's here today!! Three working days!! How impressive is that? I also ordered a little stash of Jitterbug from Colinette on the same day. Colinette to here is only just over an hour by car but there's no sign of that yet.

Oh yes, the other two yarns are both Cherry Tree Hill from Woolly Workshop - Colours Green Mountain Madness and Life's a Beach. Also very impressive next day service and Gill has very kindly suggested some solid colours that will look good with those and also helped me choose Dreamy and Tulip from the new Indie Dyer Yarn range.


And these came today too.
Three skeins of PoshYarn - Lei colours Harmony and Floozy and Laura colour Serenity- sitting on my new Denise needle organiser.

If I can't find two that I want to use from these, together with the ones that should arrive tomorrow then I will have to wait until I can be somewhere where I can choose irl.

ECF - Yarn

Skein Queen
55%Silk/45%Cashmere
Colour Lemon Lips

Isn't it lovely?

New Stash

All from PoshYarn.

Sophia - cashmere 6ply, 2 skeins Sophia cashmere 4ply (sock), 2 skeins Eva 4ply- 45% cashmere/55% silk and 2 skeins Eva 2ply lace.

They're lovely aren't they.

But sometimes I have *such* trouble deciding on the colours and it's always hard knowing how they will be when knitted. I can only think that it's for this reason that I now belong to three sock yarn clubs - Fyberspates, Yarn Yard and Violet Green . Besides sending a special club colour each month Fyberspates and Violet Green send a different type of sock yarn too.

These are the yarns for May fromViolet Green(50/50 Suri Alpaca/Bluefaced Leicester) and Fyberspates (90% Alpaca/10% nylon).

The Fyberspates is a lovely pastel shade but unfortunately hasn't photographed well. Hopefully the finished sock photo will be better. It is really soft to knit with and feels lovely on my toes!

I really would like to join the Rockin Sock Club at Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I've seen so many lovely yarns from bloggers who belong to this and of course it's made more appealing by being closed to new members at the moment. I've tried to order some of their yarn but I just can't choose - the choice is absolutely enormous - and it's not cheap what with postage from the US as well.

Who's going to WonderWool Wales on 19th May?

I'm very much looking forward to it and - as if I needed any incentive - according to Emily, Dee of PoshYarn is offering 10% off to buyers wearing something made form her yarn - I haven't seen that confirmed on PoshYarn site but I shall certainly find some socks suitable for the occasion. In fact it will be the first time I shall have worn hand-knitted socks....I'm ashamed to say that despite knitting them non-stop I have yet to wear them....



Edited to add
PS Emily says the rumour is just a rumour. Nevermind, I shall still wear my socks on the 19th.

First Colinette AbFab Finished

Rachel's throw is finished!! And just in time because her birthday is next Tuesday.





You can tell I'm pleased - three pictures instead of one! What do you think? It's nice isn't it?

It has turned out really well and I've got enough bits and pieces of yarn to make one if not two cushion covers to go with it although I might not be able to do that before Tuesday. I think the overall colour of the throw is most accurately reflected in the front fringe of the last photo.

It measures 72" x 40" including the fringe and took 800 gm of different Colinette yarns.


New Stash Acquisition

Although this came a little while ago now I can't not show you the lovely yarn my Secret Springtime Santa sent me.
It's PoshYarns Eva, a 45% Cashmere/55% Silk chunky weight mix that I think I shall use to make a Cherry Garcia cabled neck tube. I'm so looking forward to knitting this - thank you jam_mam

Another one from PoshYarn

This is Eva again but a dk yarn colour - "electric". This will be a shawl.

It's so difficult to resist buying something from PoshYarn at the regular "one-off" Sunday evening sale. All the yarn is dyed just for that evening's sale and can't be bought before and when it's gone, it's gone so it's first come, first served. You get the feeling that if you don't buy it then there will never be another chance. Actually, it's quite stressful but I think you've got it right Dee.

And the last one - Handmaiden Seasilk colour Sangria and another shawl.....

Doesn't this one just shout "Summer"!

Seraphim - and it's heavenly

At last one I'm pleased with. It is so light and yet amazingly warm and I love the fact that it's big: 104" across the top and 50"from the point to the centre top.
I used 4 balls of kid silk haze in shade trance and 5mm Brittany single point needles.

And this is the result of my trip to Ally Pally


Quite restrained wasn't I? There is Seasilk in shade vintage, pure silk for a shawl from Yarn Forward, the magazine from Hipknits and Cherry Tree Hill Suri Lace in shade Indian Summer. Oh, and I had my book (Lavish Lace) signed by co-author Cheryl Potter.

The seasilk is already on the needles to make the small triangular Forest Canopy Shawl and the Suri Alpaca.. I'll show you another photo..
Isn't it absolutely divine?

That will be a shawl too. I love the colour and can't wait to get started on it but it's finer than any of the lace I've knitted so far so I'll wait until I've got more time to devote to it.

Actually I'm having a lot of trouble knitting and blogging at the moment because I keep having dizzy spells and close work seems to make it worse. It started with a nasty "turn" when I was driving the car last Wednesday but it only lasted seconds luckily because I really felt I was going to pass out. I've not done any driving since then because I'm still not back to normal although I went to get it checked out this morning and the doctor said there was nothing the matter with me (or at least nothing he could find), and that the first dizzy spell was not surprising after I described the events leading up to it and that the lingering strange feelings I was having were caused by anxiety. So there we are. I can carry on hoovering and packing ready to go to France on Wednesday....