Look

what happens when you're stuck in bed, with laptop, on a Sunday when Posh Yarns goes live with the latest batch of hand-dyed yarn.

2 skeins of 45% cashmere, 55% silk, 2 ply lace weight in Tinkerbell

1 skein of pure cashmere, 2 ply lace weight in Tiger Lily

are winging their way to me from wet Welsh Wales.

I finished knitting this in Shaker Homespun, for irishnoodles


Shawl - - Yarn

in the wee small hours, using yarn salvaged from the circular needles mess. All I have to do now is learn how to use a crochet hook and add the fringe. Next project is something for me.

Aaaargh!!

This evening, I finished knitting a new project using circular needles, which I have never used before. It's virtually impossible to see how a pattern is progressing because all the knitting is scrunched into a sleeve shape until it's cast off the needles.

It was a miserable, mis-shapen, mess. I don't understand it. I followed the pattern faithfully, unpicked rows and rows when my knitting while chatting, like my driving, went onto autopilot and I forgot to perl. (NB No it wasn't your fault, Gill, the pattern didn't work after the first 5 inches.)

There's only one thing for it - I'm ripping it all out and starting again on an easier pattern on straight needles. But I need a pair of size 9s and the largest I have is an 8. I also need a crochet hook to attach the fringing.

Another fine lunch

After the dog walk yesterday, we had lunch at The Zeus Restaurant. It's years since I've eaten there and things have changed a lot. There's more dining room and the place is light and airy compared to the dark, pokey dive of 10 years ago. The one thing that hasn't changed is the excellent food.

The reason for choosing the Zeus was because it's in the same town as the 'Wool-n-Things' shop. MWNN is so pleased with his shawl, he's commissioned two more pieces

• a throw for his computer chair with a pocket for a back support cushion.
  
• a cotton yamulke, or a short beanie to cover his bald spot.

'Wool-n-Things' didn't have any yarn that he liked for the throw but they did have some neutral cotton for the hat.

Finally, today is 's birthday.



For bendy1 - just because. And for gillo - , it really does help.

TGIF

Here's picture of the finished shawl for MWNN. He specified no fringe so it's longer than the pattern's 60 inches by about a foot.

Huge thanks to my Live Journal buddies, petzipellepingo and kathyh for their help with sourcing more Homespun yarn. There's a shipment on its way from e-bay in the US that's working out slightly cheaper than my UK supplier and they have more colours.

Last night was my first night at the local knitting group KTOG where I took my problem of piecing my blankie together and started knitting a cape.

In other news, I enjoyed Torchwood on Wednesday night. Three episodes in and I'm still watching is a great improvement over last season.

Let your Google do the walking

or why I love the Interweb

I found a lovely easy pattern for a shawl in a wonderful yarn that I was sure I'd not be able to source in the UK. So I googled for knitting supplies and found a Knit Together Group in the nearby town of Baldock. They meet every couple of weeks in the Community centre. Their webpage has a link to the UK supplier of the yarn I need. What's more, they're in the same county and are already shipping 4 skeins of Homespun Barrington to me. No way would I have found it in any of the local shops (most of which no longer sell knitting yarn) or through the Yellow Pages.

Now to find the time to finish the throw I'm knitting and start the shawl.