I think I am a bit behind this year again!  Still got two scarves , a doll’s blanket and a throw to go not to mention a few sewing projects.  I am a great believer in the saying ‘ that if it wasn’t for the last minute nothing would get done.’

I have been knitting fingureless gloves from the RYC Accessories Book.  It is a good way of trying out some yarns.  Sublime Merino DK has great stitch definition and is lovely knit.  Rowan Tapestry is very pretty and has made a really snuggly pair of gloves.  Will try Rowan’s Felted Tweed next.

A few Saturdays ago when I was working in the shop, the Webmaster let the kids watch Dr. Who and the Daleks and they LOVED it. They each picked out their favourite daleks and spent the rest of the weekend doing impressions. Claudie announced that she wanted a Dalek teddy so I scoured the internet but perhaps unsurprisingly you can’t get them. Luckily I stumbled across this pattern which I think is brilliant so now I’m knitting a red and silver one. If I have time I’ll knit Jake a blue one but you know how this christmas knitting gets. Good intentions turn into stress around mid-December. It happens to me every year. Still, now I only have 1 sock, 2 scarves, 6 bookmarks and 2 daleks to knit for actual christmas presents, that’s around 1.5 projects a week. It sounds do-able at this stage. Oh, but I bought some fabric at the Quilt show to make a christmas tree skirt and saw a great pattern for some hohoho bunting which I thought I’d have a bash at too. I’m sure it will be fine…

We have been embracing National Knitting Week here at the shop! We organised goody bags for our Knit’n'Natter club here in Malvern. Thanks to the generosity of Sirdar, Viridian and Designer Yarns we gave away bags worth £40 for a £10 donation to Breast Cancer Research. We had about 20 people there last night which was great, about half of those were new faces so the word is spreading about our club. We still have a few bags which we are offering to people who call into the shop so that we can reach our target of a £300 donation.

Here we all are. The photo is dreadful and thanks to my rubbish camera (I should have known I can’t rely on it after it let me down at a pivotal moment on Monday) it is the only one I have despite taking at least 6! Still, hopefully you can get the gist that we were having a good time!

We are busy getting ready for the Autumn Quilt Show at the Three Counties in Malvern where we have a stand. We are taking some new kits there which will then be in the shop and also on the website before Christmas. Very exciting!

I am still having a finishing off phase at the moment which has been quite successful. I finished my Colinette Cadenza jumper which I’d started in April and have started on a Rowan Denim jacket for Jake which now I only have the sleeves to do. My shop knitting is a Noro Aurora wrap over cardigan and I have only the sleeves of that too and the mile long ties. However, christmas is creeping up on me and I’m mindful of the fact that I have 3 socks (1 got finished last night), 2 scarves and a pair of gloves to knit and 3 bookmarks to crochet. I should have time. Also, a lot of my friends and relatives are pregnant which means a lot of knitting but no babies are due until February which is good for my stress levels.

Have now returned from a super holiday in S. Africa.  Saw so many things, whales at Hermanus, beautiful flowers on the Cape and lots of wild things on safari up near Kruger.  Weather was very mixed but it really is a beautiful country.

Needless to say I took some knitting with me and actually knitted the bits for a cardigan for Jess,  now I have to sew it up and knit the collar and frill.  It is in the new tealy colour in Sirdar Tiny Tots and I am really pleased with it even though there are a lot of stitches on the needle for the frill.

My sister has been trying to knit a Debbie Bliss entrelac baby shawl and has been having huge problems with it.  It has been the subject of lots of phone calls.  Anyway after the last useless effort I suggested she phoned Designer Yarns who knew there was a problem straight away with the pattern and are sending her more instructions .  In the shop we have used helplines before and always found them very clear and knowledgable.  We are always very willing to help sort out problems in the shop if we can but it is good to know there is more expert help if we need it!

It’s good to be home and believe it or not back at work.  Once the garden is under control and the bulbs planted there will be more time for knitting and sewing!

We have been trying to think of an event for National Knitting Week. In the past we have done knitting squares for a blanket which we raffled in aid of Breast Cancer research and had a knitting day with donations for the same charity. Anyway, this year we decided to combine an event with our usual Knitting Club night. So on Tuesday 16th October from 6-8pm at The Mount Pleasant Hotel in Great Malvern we will be having our knitting club but with Goody Bags in return for a £10 donation! We reckon the contents will be worth about £40 because our suppliers have been so generous. We will have about 30 bags which will be enough for our regular club members and for the new members we are hoping to attract. I’m sure it will be a great night with more knitting and drinking than usual in celebration of National Knitting Week!

Pat and I are off to Ally Pally at the weekend. We can just about fit a visit to the show on Sunday after shopping our socks off on Saturday! We always have a great time as we rarely have the time to spend like that normally but the shop will be in safe hands with Mary. I’m sure she will relish it after being on hols for a couple of weeks!

The first christmas that we had the shop I knitted a Colinette Point 5 jumper for James (the Webmaster). There are a massive shortage of patterns for men, especially cool ones so I adapted a Rowan Big Wool pattern and thought it was OK. Well, he said he was very pleased and wore it on Christmas Day but a couple of months later when I commented that he hadn’t worn it much he said “I haven’t got the strength to lift it”.  In fairness it had taken about 15 hanks (1.5kg!) of yarn and it was a pretty hefty jumper but the word ungrateful sprung to mind!

Anyway, he had the sense to wait a year or 2 before asking me if I would re-knit it! It only took a week and I made up a pattern with input from James. It was finished last night and he posed for me this morning.

It’s not really as red as it looks in the left hand pic. The other is a better picture of the colour but it’s not a great one of James. He is looking a bit uptight because the kids are up to something in the lounge. It took about 3 or 4 hanks less and fits much better than the last one did. I totally made up the pattern just based on tension measurements from the old jumper before it got unpicked and it will be in the free patterns section soon.

Anyway, the main point of this post is that even if you have some major knitting disaster it’s worth shoving it in the cupboard for a year or so and trying again because you can turn something rubbish into something great on the second time around.

This is our first garment from the new Rowan Autumn/Winter range. It’s a new yarn called Cocoon, merino wool and kid mohair mix. It’s beautiful to knit, very soft and is unplied which gives the finished knitting a soft, supple feel. We are HUGE fans of it in the shop and it has been popular with customers. The pattern is from the latest Rowan Magazine. We did do it longer than the pattern as it’s quite cropped in the picture. I did the smallest size and it just used an extra ball of the main shade for an extra couple of inches length. The sleeves are quite wide and could easily be made narrower although the 80’s batwing style seems to be back in for this season!

We have lots of new colours in Rowan Tapestry which has inspired me to knit a pair of gloves from knitty.com. I think maybe gloves and socks are the new scarves for this christmas!

There are two new yarns from Sirdar, Hug and Juniper which have been selling very well because the patterns are so great. These will be on the website as soon as Bob has done the pics. in the meantime, please call or e-mail if you are interested in either or if you have any questions about our stock.

The Cocoon jacket takes 5 balls of the main shade and 1 each of 2 contrast shades for the small and medium sizes. The next 2 sizes take 6 of the main and 2 each of the contrasts.

We have finally set some dates for knitting and crochet classes in the autumn. We are hoping to do a proper site update this week but in the meantime the dates are:

Knitting Virgins & intermediate Thursday 20th September 7pm-9pm

Crochet Virgins Thursday 4th October 7pm-9pm

Knitting Virgins & intermediate Thursday 18th October 7pm-9pm

All the classes take place at the shop and cost £15 per class. Please book in advance as numbers are very restricted due to space!

Also, for those of you who are local, our knitting club which used to be at Leaf in Great Malvern is now going to be at the Mount Pleasant Hotel bar on Belle Vue Terrace Great Malvern. The pro of moving is that it’s a bar so we can have drinks! The downside of this is that maybe less knitting will get done.

We’re going to be at the new Quilt Show in Malvern at the beginning of November so we’re making plans for that. We will be unveiling some new kits in time for christmas and will have some nice nick-nacks for pressies. Come and see us if you’re in the area. The Quilts UK show in May is brilliant and I’m sure that this one will be the same.

I have had a really exciting weekend!  My husband and I became the proud owners of a motorhome on Friday and have spent the weekend on a campsite getting used to it.  Had a few teething problems, blowing a fuse on Sat night and having very reduced lighting.  Then trying to get a replacement fuse in an area we didn’t know on Sunday!  All in all though it was a success and am looking forward to the next trip.  Hopefully we will be able to visit lots of places we have been meaning to but never got there.  Knitting wise it great as there is not a lot to do and none of the jobs that sit and look at you when you are home.

I am knitting a Colinette throw at the moment so made good progress with that.

When my daughter was over I showed her a Sirdar pattern for a cardi in Peru I thought she would like and I  actually got it right!  So now the wool is and I have my next project lined up. 

Back to school this week for lots of families so good luck for the new term to everyone and hopefully more knitting time for Mums!

I am still plodding on with my Kauni cardigan, I have now cut it and all seems to be okay, there will eventually be photos of this monumental moment once I have learnt how to download them, afraid I am a bit of a technophobic. Anyway I have nearly completed one sleeve but unfortunately have now strayed onto another project. We have just taken delivery of the new yarns from Rowan and I got so excited I just had to start something else, I couldn’t resist the Kidsilk Aura it is so soft and the patterns are great.

Next weekend I am visiting relations up on the North East coast so will have plenty of time for knitting, hopefully I will finish the cardigan. I am hoping there will be plenty of football to keep my husband occupied, he is a Newcastle United supporter, then I won’t feel too guilty with all of my knitting, and of course I will need to have time for shopping.