Autumn Leaves Shawl

I have been working on my Noro Silk Garden Lite shawl.

The pattern is based on a design by Valentina Devine in the Knit Noro Accessories book.   However that design uses 3 balls of my favourite yarn Noro Kureyon and is knitted on larger needles. 

When I got as far as I have in the first photo I decided that I wanted to make the design more L-shaped and so I have unravelled the top central shape.

This is one of the strangest modules that I have ever knitted – it has an even number of stitches and the rib effect is asymmetrical.

At first I thought the modules were too complicated and I would spend all  my time trying to remember which row I was on – but actually I have picked it up quite easily and by the time I was knitting my third module I did not need to refer to the pattern at all.

Shades of Autumn

When I was at Alexandra Palace last week – I fell in love with some more Noro yarn. 

This time it is not Kureyon – it is Silk Garden Lite.  It was the lovely autumn shades that attracted me to it.  It is a mixture of silk, mohair and wool and so is softer than Kureyon.  As it is Silk Garden Lite rather than Silk Garden – it is also thinner.  This shade is no 2129.

I have been thinking of using it for a little shawl – I think I have seen them called shawlettes – I haven’t got very far yet – I cast on and did a couple of rows and then took it out!

When I was last in Oxford I bought some Rowan yarn to make a present for my mother.

It is Rowan Brushed Fleece – which is a mix of merino wool, alpaca and a small amount of polyamide.  This shade is 254.  It is very soft and will make a cosy cardigan.  I was worried that 10 balls would not be enough but I think it will actually be a few balls too many.  I may even have enough for a scarf as well.

I have almost finished the cardigan – but I haven’t found the right buttons yet. 

Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace

On Saturday I went to London to the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. It is about 10 years since I have been.  It is lovely to see everything but I am not very good in crowds.  I decided to go early and queue to get in.  This meant that at least to start with, everywhere is not completely crowded.  I saw lots of lovely things but I am most fascinated by what I don’t do myself – so I love looking at the crochet, the embroidery and the quilts.  The yarn is lovely too but it is very easy to get carried away and spend too much.

Sophie Digard’s work was being exhibited.  I managed to take a few photos of it.

I also visited the Colinette stall to introduce myself.  I have been knitting for Colinette for 2 years now but I have not met any of the staff in person.

The Colinette stall is always very memorable – if you love hand-dyed yarn.  I looked at a lot of yarn but in the end only bought a small amount of Noro from The Laughing Hens Stall.

The Mystery of the Missing Tea Cosy

You can tell from the title that I am a fan of detective fiction.   I was reminded of the fact that one of my tea cosies disappeared, when I looked at a leaflet advertising the Guild of Master Craftsman’s (GMC) latest publications.  GMC are publishing a new compilation of tea cosy patterns called The Big Book of Tea Cozies. The book has one of my tea cosies included in the montage on the front. 

The photo below shows another version of the tea cosy which I knitted for a friend of mine.

I have always liked this pattern.  It was designed especially for GMC’s first tea cosy book (Tea Cozies).  Many of the other designs were competition entries based on Yorkshire – such as my “white roses” design.  However this tea cosy was inspired by my maternal grandmother who taught me to knit.  She enjoyed knitting but she also loved dancing and her favourite colour was turquoise.  GMC called the design “glitter ball” – but it was originally based on a ball gown.

My grandmother also inspired my embroidery and the photo below shows an embroidery which featured her photograph.

To go back to the tea cosy and the title of this post – although some of my tea cosies were returned to me – I don’t have the original “glitter ball” because it “went missing” during the photo shoot.  All I can say is - someone else must have liked it!