Posh Yarn has arrived .....

Here they are, my very first poshyarns

Matelot



Nabob

I got some ...

I actually managed to get two skeins of poshyarns by 8.05pm. Went back to have another look and it's practically been wiped out. I can just imagine all these manic knitters frantically clicking the refresh waiting to get their yarn. Hope those of you who were also refreshing madly, got the yarns you went for. I missed my first one and I have to say I was hot on the mouse.

The swift that arrived swiftly .....

This swift is worth my weight in gold, I'm telling you. Last time I tried to wind laceweight yarn by hand I spent hours and ended up with an impenetrable birds nest which was unusable.

This time I bought myself a large skein of pure wool laceweight from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions



Then with the aid of my new swift and my trusty Ebay wool winder I proceeded to wind it off into 7 centre pull balls in about 20 minutes. All I had to do was wind the handle and hold the yarn clear of the arms of the swift - so much easier than doing it by hand. I really, really recommend buying this if you buy a lot of yarn in skein form.

Lace along anybody?

I've just very carefully read Sarah's post on lace knitting - many thanks for that Sarah I personally found it very useful and it's inspired me to get on with my second attempt which I am hoping will be successful this time.

My first attempt was last years lace shawl from Hip Knits which, for me, turned out to be a big disaster. My main problem is that I knit left handed which means lace patterns have to be reversed to work correctly. So I have to do SKPO where it calls for KTOG and vice versa. Any more complicated instructions need some serious consideration to make them work properly.

Anyway, I was looking at Astrid's Dutch Obsessions site, which I absolutely love, and she has some wonderful lace yarn on it, so I decided to bite the bullet and have another go.

Along with the yarn comes this lovely lace shawl pattern which, fingers crossed, I am going to have a go at.

If anybody else fancies having a go at this I have the pattern and will willingly share it with you.

The yarn I have is in shades of red and black which sounds tacky but looks quite sophisticated on the skein.

I'll keep you posted on how I'm getting on - wish me luck.

It's started

Well Clara in Maryland has the box and has posted the pictures of her chosen three on her blog. I find it strangely thrilling to see things I've made or donated on someone else's blog giving them so much pleasure.

I'm on the last bit of a white crocheted sun hat for me. I altered the pattern slightly to increase the brim size and I've crocheted the last round in pink for a bit of contrast. I'm currently making some flower brooches for it in the same pink. Once it's finished I'll post a picture of it here.

Also on the needles currently, a cardigan knitted in a dusty pink acrylic/wool mix which I originally bought to make a top from a pattern I'd bought from White Lies Designs. Beautiful top and they'd knitted it in cotton. Unfortunately the yarn I chose for substitution, whilst knitting up correctly to the right gauge, didn't have the right drapeability. Being a large person, I'd spent a fair bit on this yarn and was determined to make something for me rather than it disappearing into the depths of my stash.

I'm also making mittens !!! To be fair I'm starting on Christmas pressies because I work full time so making pressies needs lots of organising for me :o)

I'll be posting pictures of these as soon as they are finished. And starting lots of other projects which are sitting in zip lock bags behind the settee winking at me.