It's all about the blankets

Despite the unseasonably mild weather we've been having the last few days what we've been mostly wanting to do since the new year is snuggle up under a nice warm blanket.  Mum's had caught the mitred square bug and has been busy knitting away using up all my old sock yarn.  She'd not even finished it before my sister and her cat had both started fighting over who was going to get to keep it.

Lola likes blankets.  She'd claim them all if she could! She even tries to help me decide which order to assemble the squares in.  Well help is a bit of a misnomer but she does like to be involved at all stages.

She'll even wrap herself up inside them if she can.  One day I'll have to make her one of her own.  Anyhow, back to the blankets.  The little man decided he needed a blanket of his own to snuggle up in and he'd got very definate ideas of how it should be made.  

• It needed to be crochet.
• It had to be in small squares.
• Each square had to have two rows of each colour.
• Then they had to be put together and have a few rows round the outside.

This one turned out to be a bit of a stashbuster as for a change I didn't need to buy anything to add to it.  Six balls of bonus DK from the stash a 4.5mm hook and hey presto - squares.  Each colour is used as the centre and surrounded by every other colour.  I opted to add a second band of the centre colour to each to make the squares a little bigger.  Thirty squares in all. I've crocheted them all together rather than stitching them and then gone around the outside a few times using the same colours until I'd more or less used up all the yarn. 

Ta da! One finished snuggle blanket.

A small shop update and an special offer.

This is the first of a few yarns I've added to the shop this evening and one of my favourite colours (well it is red after all!) - Burnt Red on a lovely merino superwash yarn. It could be yours if you stop by the shop and until the end of July, you'll get free postage on everything too.

Small shop update

Just a quick update on the shop, I made my first sales! Yay. Thanks to Annette who bought some of my sock yarn and Paige who dived into my basket last week before it even went online. I've been updating the shop again this morning and have added the rest the sock yarns and some the first of the double knitting. Here's a quick peak at some of the DK. It's a really versatile yarn this as being handwash, it felts nicely. I've used it several times for hand bags as it gives quite a firm fabric when you knit two strands together. Not only that, there's enough for a pair of socks in each skein. Ok, hard sell over but it is really rather nice ;)

New Shop

Yes, I have decided that now we're back into the swing of things, the time is right for me to reopen the shop again. I've decided to leave Etsy behind and am going to stick the the local market for a while so I bring you The Bear Necessities on Folksy. Based in the UK with UK prices (no currency conversion to get my head round and constantly change). Yay all round. I know we should be supporting the free market economy and all that (sorry I've been watching BBC news again) but hey, buy British I say. It's something that I try to do whenever I can and with so many great indie dyers over here, why not?!

So anyhow, today I dove into the fibre mountain and set the dye pots bubbling with some new offerings to be ready for the weekend but in the meantime, I'm filling the shop with all my current stock. Here's a sneaky peak of the sock yarn and 4ply available. I've already added some aran weight that's just ideal for felting or knitting anything else you fancy. I'll be making handbags for the shop again and am hoping to be able to offer some handbag kits in the very near future. It's all very exciting :)

woohoo stash!

or rather, lets take a look at what fell into my bag at Ally Pally.

I finally made it to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace this year and wow, what a revelation. It was a horrendously early start involving a couple of buses and a coach trip into London but boy was it worth it. Once inside and I got my first sight of the crochet hyperbolic reef, I even forgave the two ladies who sat behind me talking beading at the tops of their voices for the whole of the journey there (and actually all the way home again!). It's about fifteen years since I've been to Ally Pally - I went to my University May Ball there, and I'd forgotten quite how big it is. It's massive and for the show, filled wall to wall with every type of knitting, stitching, embroidery and textile craft need I could possibly have. I've never been to a "knitting show", let alone one on that scale and reckon I spent most of the first hour wandering round with my mouth hanging open. I'd originally planned to go along Nadia, one of my fellow Colchester knitters but a family funeral intervened and I found myself wandering around for the first hour by myself. Even though I've travelled quite extensively by myself in the past, I actually find attending these sort of events by myself quite daunting so I was really pleased when I bumped into Helen (another friend from Colchester) after an hour and we trundled around together for the rest of the day. I was pretty restained and am glad I went with a budget, it would be so easy to spend a fortune there although apart from a few special offers, there weren't many savings to be made for buying there and then. For me what was so great was being able to go round and have a squish of the yarn. Yes, I have to admit it, I spent most of the day stroking yarn like a real weirdo. Still with so many yarn brands on hand that I'd never seen in the flesh, it would have been rude not to. In the end I came home with mostly sock yarns and all brands I couldn't get locally so here goes, here's my photo haul. First the socks yarns, Lang Jawoll Cotton Jacquard, Noro and some Fabel. All of which I've been wanting to try. The Noro has a definate crunchy feel to it so I'm hoping it's going to wash up much softer - I have heard rumours of people using conditioner on it but I hope I won't have to go to those lengths. Baby alpaca laceweight from Knitncaboodle. I just have to have it, it's so soft! and finally some fibre from Piiku. I absolutely love the colour but don't think it's suitable for spinning. I can feel a needle felt endeavour coming on. Just wish I'd remembered to buy some needles for it.

Did I say I wouldn't buy any more?

I know I said I wouldn't be buying any more yarn but how can you go to somewhere like the Natural Dye Studio and come away empty handed? It was of course, an absolutely fantastic morning. The sun was shining, it was an easy run over and I found it without getting lost this time around. Mum and I ended up at the penal colony last year - yes out in the wilds of Suffolk turns out to be the perfect place to keep crims. It's incredibly isolated which is probably why the RAF made such good use of it during the war. There's still a couple of the bases up there as and my aunt commented when we drove past one of them, "wow, they could have filmed Colditz here". This time, I went armed with a map just in case but to be honest, I didn't need it in the end. I honestly don't know how went went wrong last time it's pretty much a straight run through once you get to Sutton Hoo. Don't let the comments about the military and the crims put you off though, it's a very beautiful part of the world. It looks like there'd be some really good walking around there and you're very close to the sea as well.

Anyhow Amanda welcomed us with tea and biscuits and a tour of the studio. She'd got one of her dye vats on the go and we all got to see her in action. I think everyone was impressed with the indigo and it's fascinating to see the way the colours change with the air and also the variation in colour produced by the different yarns. We poked through all her bottles and jars and asked lots of questions which Amanda very patiently answered. Actually, she obviously really enjoys what she does and seems only too happy to share her enthusiasm. If you get a chance to head out to Suffolk, it's definately worth calling in to visit.

We all spent far too much time fondling the yarn and of course, everyone came home with something. I bought some laceweight myself, it's Venus (Alpaca lace) in a very pretty pink and blue and some of my favourite NDS yarn, the BFL Dazzle 4ply sock. They actually produce several other sock yarns but I absolutely love the Dazzle.
I think this one's in the Peacock colourway. Even the Mighty Midget who joined us at the last minute for our trip seemed to enjoy himself. That's him with the wall of yarns pulling yet another silly face. He doesn't seem to be able to look at a camera without pulling one these days. Hopefully he won't be trying that with the school photographer next month or there's going to be trouble!

How much is too much?

Stash
Originally uploaded by Bearium

It got me thinking this birthday business, could I justify buying myself some new and pretty yarn with my freshly acquired pennies? Hmm, I think looking at this little lot, the answer is probably no! That stash along that I've been trying to avoid for so long just jumped up and bit me on the bum. Ouch.

Must knit faster!

No yarn+ saving=spinning wheel?

I want a wheel and I'm going to stamp my foot and sulk until I get one! Well, maybe not as I doubt it'll get me anywhere. Grr, it's no use, I'm just going to have to save up. Bah! So that's me on a yarn diet - it's a good job I've made the most of it in the last couple of weeks then. Actually, I've been pretty good, I've only bought one or two bits in the sales but it's so hard to resist when you see a bargain. Nevermind whether you need it or not - a bargain is a bargain!

Ok I admit it, I have a yarn habit and the thought of not being able to feed my habit is a little daunting but I really want that spinning wheel. Not that I can actually use one yet you have to understand but I really really want one. So I'd better share the last of my newly acquired stash purchases before I go into withdrawal.

Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. This is my first DB purchase and tbh, I think it's usually far too pricey but this is amazingly soft and strokeable and incredibly cheap at £2.50 a skein. I was restrained and only picked up 3 which should be enough for a small shawl, maybe even another Forest Canopy.4 balls of Patons Misty for a North Roe Shawl. Yes it is black and no I'm not completely crazy, my cousin is a bit of a goth (actually that's a huge understatement, she's a mega goth!) and needs a new shawl.The last of the stash is another ball of Opal sock yarn. Crap colour but mega bargain and I can over-dye it to something more useable.This last thing is not really stash but a pattern to help me use some stash - my Fibertrends clog pattern. I've been preparing skeins for the dye pot this afternoon so I should be able to have a go at my first pair this weekend. Yay. Even bigger yay, the child's size pattern goes up to a 9" foot so I'm hoping I might even be able to squeeze a pair out for even my mega big feet. Oh and today I made myself something to make my life easier, a niddy noddy. Why oh why didn't I get one earlier, it's so quick to wind up yarn with! No more backache from prepping my yarn to dye, fabulous.

I have finally forgiven my postman, he has started bringing me nice mail at last.
Wednesday was a very good sock day, not only did my addi turbos arrive at last, my LYS was selling off their Sirdar Town & country sock yarn for £1.25 a ball! I was good - I only bought 3 balls but now there's no excuse not to start my Bayerische now. I have spare needles at last and some nice new green yarn to do it in. All I have to do is fight my way through a sea of amigurumi, all two of them so far. I must have one completed before tomorrow though. It looks like my gran has taken a shine to my little bear friend so I think I might be making her one before the weekend is over as well.

Then today, my postman has brought me a parcel of fab shetland yarn in some great blue shades ready for starting my christmas mittens. 500g of it - that's a lot of mittens! I am rolling in yarn. Yay :)

Has it been a week already?

Whatever happened to the "I'm going to blog every day" resolution? Looks like that well and truly went out of the window.
Anyhow, enough of the self recriminations, I have stuff to share!
So lets start with my sockapalooza socks and get them out of the way first. I finished the first sock at last and am a few inches into the second sock too. For some reason, I haven't had as much knitting time this last week as I'd hoped to have them finished by now. Definately glad that I decided on a toe up sock though as I've used every scrap of yarn from the ball and they're not particularly long.
One of the main culprits for the lack of progress on everything else (my chevron jacket is also temporarily on hold) has to be my mystery stole. It was thrown into the corner in disgust on Monday and only just been dragged back out again. I sailed through the first clue with almost no hitches and luckily I had the foresight to actually put in a lifeline before starting the second clue. I never usually see the point in them as you can almost always see where your mistake is. Well, that was before I started working with laceweight -I don't think I have sworn quite so much at a piece of knitting in my life! I have reknitted the same few lines at least twice and there's still a mistake in it. Bah! So with the new clue being posted tomorrow I have finally accepted that the lifeline was put there for a reason and I'm going to frog back to it and begin the second clue afresh. Luckily it's only about 8 rows but it certainly feels like a lot more.

It was stitch and bitch week again this week and I had another great evening with the Colchester girls. We're not a huge group but we've got a regular seven or so of us every two weeks. It's still a bit of a novelty for me as I've never actually had someone outside the family who shares the same hobby before. We've decided to remind the other knitters in Colchester (there must be more of them surely?) that we're out there and so I took some posters into town with me yesterday. I had some quite positive comments from the LYS's so hopefully we'll get a bit of interest. I took a poster into the library too but the woman there wasn't so keen on me putting up a poster although she did say we should make sure we're in their online listing - subject to approval of course. We knit, where's the harm in that? Anyhow I put copies of the poster into most of the knitting and crochet books on their shelf so I'm quite glad I didn't ask first about that! I know, I'm such a rebel. lol

While I was going into the LYS's I took a look into their sale baskets. Yes, I know I'm cheap but you never know what you're going to find. Lookie here, I came away with this pile of Rowan Plaid. It's not in my normal colour range and I'd never have bought it in a million years at it's full price but it should felt nicely and at 50p a ball I couldn't resist it. I might try a variation on the booga bag or maybe make a satchel type bag. Too many choices and too many other projects first so that's definately added to the stash pile.
Oh and I saved the best for last - I won something! Emeralcutie had a competition and was giving away a skein of Yarnsnob sock yarn. I never win anything but now I am going to have some lovely Yarnsnob goodyness to squish, mine's the purple/pink one at the top. How cool is that? Thanks very much Laura and Elaine. Now I just have to decide on which pattern to use it for, socks or a shared favourite - Forest Canopy perhaps? If you want your very only bit of Yarn snobbery, you can drop by her Etsy store and take a peek. Don't say I didn't warn you first though, there's some lovely goodies on there, resistance may very well be futile!

Natural Dye Studio

See my lovely haul of goodies? Well, tell a lie, they're not all mine but it's all so nice I thought I'd share. The both the pink multi and the blue/cream are BFL sock yarn and are actually mum's. I finally converted her! She's going to knit her first pair of socks in years, well two pairs actually, one for her and one for dad. Walking socks of course, she still can't see the point in knitting socks for any other reason. Still, it's a start. The last three skeins are all mine and are cobweb mohair, destined to be some sort of stole.So anyway, how did I come by these lovely skeins? Well, I joined the Ipswich SnB group for a visit to the Natural Dye Studio. We met Amanda the owner and she treated us to a tour of her workshop, complete with dyeing demonstration. It was fantastic! I'll just warn you now, there's a lot of pictures coming up. I actually left my camera at home (doh!) so, thanks to Lois and the Ipswich girls for letting me take a copy of your pictures.

The Dye Studio

Dyeing with Weld

Various yarns dyed with Weld and awaiting overdyeing

Overdyeing with Indigo - trying to make green

Awaiting washing

The drying rack

Winding skeins

Inside the studio shop

and finally, a closer look at some of the fabulous yarns available.

Stash

Yes I did say stash, new yarn to play with. Yay!
I found a lovely little shop in the Shambles in Alnwick and among the other lovely yarns she had in these .... see those little green labels, yes that's Colinette Jitterbug! How pleased was I? I had to have a bit of a squeeze, it'd have been rude not to.

So, some close ups to make you jealous:

Florentina, a yummy pink and purple mix. Ideal for my sock pal.

and Mardi Gras, a screaming carnival of colours which just, um, slipped into the basket as well and is for me.
Last but not least, is an alternate for sockapalooza. Opal Neon no.1932 - similar shades to the Florentina but with blue and less purple.

Squishy Parcel

A lovely new parcel and my first experience of getting yarn from the states. I have to say I'm pretty (make that VERY) pleased. So here for your ogling pleasure is Jojoland Melody in blue/rose/wine all 10 balls of it. Yes I did say 10.

To add to that, my first laceweight yarn. It's so unbelievably fine, I can understand why people say it looks like it could break. It's sky blue and sand coloured and should knit up to something lovely - possibly the Spring Things Shawl which has sprouted another KAL. Well, have to see. I might have a look for a free pattern first as I saw on Dee's blog a link to a huge number of free triangle shawl patterns. Definately an excuse to do some browsing.
I ended up ordering far more yarn than I probably need (sound familiar anyone?) and I keep telling myself it's because I can sell some of it on ebay. Is that likely to happen? Hmm, I don't know.

Anyhow, I do have to keep going back and giving it a rub. It definately needs a project. Need to complete another UFO first.