Where has time gone?

Hello, I can't believe it's mid November already.  I’ve been so busy recently that I haven’t even looked at my photos on my camera. I sat down and sorted through my photos the other day and there were so many lovely memories, of the summer, of our holiday to Italy, and of Yarndale.

We went on holiday to Italy and visited Venice and Verona as well as Monza to watch the Formula One race.

 

Mum and I went to Yarndale and bought a mountain of yarn each.

We also met the people I met up with last year for another Yarndale picnic.

Rob managed to run his first half marathon – the Oxford Half Marathon and I was there to cheer him on.

Also, I got some hamsters. Two adorable girl hamsters called Juno and Hera.

Stash Enhancements

One of my friends mentioned that he wanted me to knit him a scarf a while ago.  Because I've finished a few things recently I thought it was time to start thinking about the scarf.  I wanted to buy some really nice wool so went to browse LoveKnitting.  I decided to go with Malabrigo Worsted in a lovely dark blue but because I had to spend over £25 to avoid postage costs I also bought some sock wool.

It's not that much yarn!  I had been wanting some purple sock wool for a while now - I quite like making socks.

So this is the wool for my friend's scarf.

The colourway is Buscando Azul.  I wanted a simple ribbed pattern to show off the lovely colour of the yarn so chose the New York scarf which is a free pattern on Ravelry.  This is my progress so far:

And here is the lovely sock wool - I got a few different colours - for delivery cost purposes of course...

Ooh and also a ball of Rico Essentials aran to make another Bankhead hat.

Last week I also cast on a project that I've wanted to make since it was released last year - Mr Bakery Bear by Kay F. Jones . I had bought some Robin Paintbox in the leopardskin colourway. I'm waiting for my Mum to visit to show me how to make the cabled jumper but I've already knit the bear and his shorts

It's such a lovely pattern to knit.  This bear is called Rufus.  I think I'll be making more of this bear in the future.

I said that I enjoy knitting socks - I did manage to finish the socks I was knitting in the last post. They are so good!

And then cast on another pair of socks using West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4ply in the Bullfinch colourway.  These have grown so quickly - while I've been sat watching films and Sherlock on Netflix.

I used the same pattern as my previous socks - the Vanilla Latte Socks by Virginia Rose-Jeanes and they are nice and simple.

Happy New Year and Project Update

Hello again!  Happy New Year.  Hope your 2015 is going well so far.

I'm having a very quiet day today and just sitting in my flat knitting and watching knitting podcasts.

I've managed to get lots of projects finished since my last post including this lovely jumper which I finished only this morning.  Ravelry project page here.

The pattern is Snug by Kim Hargreaves and the yarn is Sirdar Escape Chunky in colour 0197

I crocheted a tiny little monkey as a present a while ago using 2 different crochet patterns.  Ravelry project page here.

I also made a Honey Cowl using the yarn from Wild Wood Wool I bought at Yarndale.  Ravelry project page here.

The last WIP I mentioned (a long time ago) was my Age of Brass and Steam shawl which I was speeding through so finished soon after.  Ravelry project page here.

I received a request to make a knitted clanger from the old childrens TV show using the original pattern from 1972.  Ravelry project page here.

I got around to making the colourful armwarmers I had been planning to make for ages.  Ravelry project page here.

I knitted myself a toy robot using the Louie the Lovebot pattern by Rebecca Danger.  Ravelry project page here.

I am currently working on a few knitted WIPs.  The first is something I started a while ago but stopped halfway through.  My first pair of socks!  Ravelry project page here.

Yup I have second sock syndrome but I cast on the second sock on Friday

I started another Trillian shawl project which will be my handbag project as it was last time.  This time I'm using the Laalbear yarn I bought at Yarndale in the colourway Gandalf. Ravelry project page here.

My final WIP was cast on on Thursday night as part of a live knit-a-long on Instagram.  Dan from the Bakery Bears podcast decided to start a knit-a-long for the Bankhead hat pattern because he loves it and I couldn't resist joining in. Ravelry project page here.

Here's to a productive 2015 - already off to a good start!

Yarndale!

Yesterday I went to Yarndale.  It's a 2 day yarn festival, organised by Lucy from Attic24 that takes place in Skipton.  As well as a great place to buy yarn, it's also a good chance to meet other crafters.

Yarndale is so colourful - as soon as you walk in you see crocheted bunting

Lots of colourful yarn - this is the Laalbear stall.

Apparently Ursula is retiring soon so we all took this chance to buy some of her beautiful colourful yarn.  This colour is called Gandalf  - I couldn't resist

I also bought this lovely green DK yarn from Wild Wood Wool

Apparently there was a theme of hand-dyed Blue Faced Leicester in the wool I bought! Here are all of the things I bought - the pinkish yarn is for my Mum

I also saw the Angora bunnies, sheep and alpacas

Before going, I saw on Instagram that a group of people were planning to meet for a picnic lunch so I decided to pack up my lunch and meet them there.  We had agreed to wear granny square badges to allow us to recognise fellow Instagrammers and it was great fun.  This is my granny square badge

I also made a name badge

I have lots of lovely new Instagram friends!  If you want to see the photos from the picnic then just search Instagram for the hashtag #yarndalemeet2014

Ole said she wanted to come with me and she really enjoyed meeting the other crafters and seeing all the yarn (yarn photos taken at Laalbear's stall again, animal photos taken from the stall of the creators of  Edward's Menagerie).  I had my fellow Instagrammers helping me take some of these photos!

The end of the day finally came around and it was time to hop on the red bus back to the station

Yarndale was a great day out - I'm still bouncing around from the excitement of it all.  Hopefully I'll go next year and meet up with everybody again.