An impromptu reunion

A very banal sketch, but it marks a wonderful evening.  I’d arranged to meet my friend Kamna for dinner, and then invited Jen as I bumped into her the day before… and then Jen was running late, so I thought I’d drop Mark a quick text to see if he was around.  The result?  A lovely impromptu reunion (usually the four of us, five if you include Laura, only get together like this once a year around Christmas).  Good food, and even better company.  The restaurant was The Little Bay in Kilburn – highly recommended.

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31/08/2010

Pears in my garden.

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30/08/2010

Another shot of my lovely new yarn.

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Yummy new yarn!

Since I started working on my granny stripe blanket (to use up the yarn I’ve already got…) I’ve been hankering after making another one.  Yes, I know, I haven’t finished this one yet.

But yes, I’ve been completely preoccupied over the past few days with the idea of a new blanket.  With posh yarn (i.e. not cheap acrylic).  Proper yarn.

So… after pestering forumites online, and browsing various online yarn stores, I gave in and went to John Lewis to see what they had.

Don’t worry, I was accompanied by a Responsible Adult: Matt came with me to keep an eye on what I bought, and to say things like “that’s £6.79 per skein, put it back…”

It was a good idea going with Matt, it really was.  Not only did he help keep my spending within reason he also got to choose some of the colours.  Quite important as this blanket will be living at his flat once it’s finished.

Do you want to see the yarn?  I bet you do…

1st row (left to right):

• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 111 (navy)
• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 032 (gilt)
• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply – 450 (eau de nil)

2nd row (left to right):

• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply – 457 (quarry tile)
• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 042 (dahlia)
• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 028 (raspberry)

3rd row (left to right):

• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply – 426 (hyacinth)
• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply – 419 (avocado)
• Rowan Pure Wool 4Ply – 433 (honey)

4th row (left to right):

• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 023 (shamrock)
• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply- 456 (framboise)
• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 006 (pier)

5th row (left to right):

• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 002 (shale)
• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply – 436 (kiss)
• Rowan Pure Wool DK – 037 (port)

I can’t wait to start work on this blanket!  I must be good though and finish the current one first…

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29/08/2010

We found our very first geocache today!

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Granny Stripe Blanket – update

I’ve been hooking away very happily since Friday, and have managed to double the size of the blanket (and get past the pastel colours).  I’ve worked in the brighter colours, and am alternating them with the pastel pink and cream that I’ve still got left.  I’ve got two more colours to work in (burgundy and dark brown), and I’ll be introducing those soon, again alternating with the cream I think.

Sadly I’ve run out of the turquoise, which is a bit of a bugger as it’s one of my favourite colours, but c’est la vie!

To read the first post about this project, click here.

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28/08/2010

Some beautiful slub yarn, sent to me by Jess after she saw my latest attempt at felting.  It’s really lovely so I’m going to put my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with for it…

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Granny Stripe Blanket – the beginning

I started a new blanket this week, inspired by Lucy of Attic24 who made a wonderfully vibrant granny stripe blanket.

Mine isn’t going to be quite so colourful, which is a shame, but the purpose of mine is to use up all the random balls of yarn that I’ve accumulated over the past year or so.  It’s not much of a stash compared to serious knitters/crocheters, but it’s enough to drive me a bit batty as the yarn is taking up space that I need for other things (like new, prettier, yarn…).

So, I made a start.  The pale yellow and pale blue were given to me by a friend who was also having a de-stash.  The pale pink is left over from a granny square swap I took part in earlier this year, and the cream is left over from a previous blanket attempt a few years ago (it was a knitted one, in cream and brown, and going far too slowly so I lost interest).

Here’s how it looked this morning:

And a little close-up:

It’s a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, so I’m hoping to get some more of the blanket done over the next couple of days.  I’m not that fond of pastel colours, so my aim is to use up the paler colours quickly and then move onto the brighter colours I’ve got in my stash.

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27/08/2010

A quick shot of the blanket I started working on this week.

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26/08/2010

An adventurous snail on Johnsons Island.

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