New shoes!

Purchased a size too big so that I can show off my hand-knitted socks in them!

Of course now, after a cold summer, the sun is finally here and it's too warm to wear knitted socks! Ho hum, I'll just have to be patient.

Other sock news is that I finally finished the Patricia socks I started WAAY back in April. I needed something mindless for two very long train journeys in a single day, and this fitted the bill perfectly. Granted, I had to spend a bit of time counting up the stitches in the first one and trying to work out exactly what size I'd made it, but once I got that sorted out I flew through it.

The Ally Pally show is taking up a lot of my spare time at the moment - we are now putting together the posters and getting the final bits sorted out. Thankfully I have excellent help from expert designer Rowan (Cosmo's mum) so it seems like the posters are going to be fantastic. I believe she has an MA in Silk Purses out of Sows' Ears.

You will get to see the posters eventually - if you are coming to the Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally, best to pop along to the champagne bar and see them in their full glory. If not, I'll be showing them here some time in the next few weeks...

"268 ravelers are on line"

So where the heck are the thousands who were in front of me and were the reason for me having to wait so long? Tsk!

Plus I must add that 268 is one of the highest number I've seen for a while. The other day I went on Ravelry before the USA got out of bed, and it was about 45...

Thanks Nicola!

Apparently I'm a Schmoozer! (yeah, what's new?!). See my award, top right!

One of my regular commenters, the lovely, talented, and frequently overworked Notwithstanding Nicola has nominated me for a Schmooze award, as I am one of her most regular commenters. Plus I say nice things about her socks, not things like 'Check out this great poker site win $$$$$' etc.

'The award is designed to promote blog-friendships by rewarding those who are good Schmoozers, schmoozing being 'the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection". Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogsphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship'.

And so now it is my turn to bestow this honour. I have thought long and hard about it, and although there are many deserving bloggers out there, I have decided that the award will go to *roll of drums* Anna, of Anna's Yarn Mansion.

Not only is Anna a prolific blogger and a very talented knitter, she ALWAYS finds time to respond to any comment I leave on her site. She has just finished a gorgeous Lizard Ridge Afghan for which she won first prize at her local state fair, and besides which, she seems to LOVE buttons on her blog. I figured she's in need of another one. Well done Anna!

Socks and the city

I'm sure I'm not the first one to use that line, but I just couldn't help myself. The city in question is New York, I'm just back from a business trip there; a full-on trip including four hours' work on Sunday, 8am till 8pm Mon, 8am till 11pm Tues, 9am till 10pm on Wed and a full day's return travel Thursday. But don't worry, I found a few hours on Sunday afternoon to relax and pop into Purl Soho!

I was most surprised to discover that the aforementioned LYS was nothing more than a pocket-handkerchief-sized boutique that could handle no more than about five customers at one time. The selection of yarns was awesome, but they were all packed into unlabelled shelves; in order to find out make, material and price one had to extract each skein separately - quite a tall order considering how tightly and neatly they were stacked.

Despite the beauty and range of the yarns, I can't say I found it a relaxing retail experience. It is probably more of a place to go when you know what you want, rather than to browse. When I got there the place was packed (ie about five customers and a couple of sales staff). After a few people left it became easier to move around, but I didn't really feel like lingering. I hasten to add that there was no pressure or hostility from the sales staff, they couldn't have been nicer. It was just too small for a lass like me.

All the same, I managed to score a few skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas alpaca/silk mix in two divine colourways - a rich claret and a deep, dark mossy green. Also bought a great little book 'When bad things happen to good knitters' which I believe is written by one of the store owners. (Sorry, don't have it to hand - will post when I get the details).

The trip enabled me to finish the lacey socks and give them a peek out of the hotel window, down onto Broadway.

Which brings me to my love of New York.

Have you ever met someone to whom you are mysteriously attracted, but can't work out why? Perhaps they are twenty years older/younger than you, or they have a crumpled, lived-in face, they are not conventionally good-looking. But you suddenly find yourself very attracted to this person and just can't pin down the reason. You know that if one of your friends asked you to describe your latest infatuation, you wouldn't be able to make them understand why you liked this person. You just do. And you don't just like them, you fantasise about them and have naughty dreams about them and then wake up feeling a bit embarrassed.

That's how it is with New York for me. It's noisy and busy, it smells, people are rude, it's dirty, nothing works properly, etc etc. And yet every time I go there, I feel a real buzz that I can't describe. This time I decided to try and take lots of pictures to convey to friends who haven't been there the things that make it special for me. I realised there was no point. It's impossible because what makes it special for me can't be described in words or pictures. It just is.

Knitty woman!

Ooh, I tell you, when I finished this on Sunday I felt fantastic. I couldn't have been fuller of pride. I was tickled pink.

Yes I know, enough already. But here it is for all you doubters - the finished handbag! All the trauma was worth it - now I realise why I ripped about six different versions back. THIS was the image I'd had in my head right from the start and I was really proud that I'd had the tenacity and determination to get there in the end!

Technical details are a bit sketchy, although I may try and draft out a pattern in due course as I've got a few notes tucked away. The handles are just long lengths of stocking stitch that curled themselves into the right shape during their spell in the washing machine. The tab was made from the original swatch that I felted for a second time, and the garish button is for the photoshoot only. I have a nice tasteful black button as a replacement once we've done the pics for Ally Pally. It took just over two balls of Sheepshop's Wensleydale Longwool - I could have easily done it with two if I'd made a smaller swatch. The yarn is good and hairy, and felted beautifully - very difficult to see the detail here, but it looks great in the flesh!

Hurrah!

Mad hatter

Got to go to a party which has a 'hat' theme and haven't got a single hat in your wardrobe? Only found out this morning thanks to forgetful other half?

Get yourself down to Peacock's (cheap clothes shop whose doors I had never darkened before today); pick up a half price cowboy-style hat (£2.50) and knock up a few little crochet flowers using stash leftovers. A bit of ribbon laced through to loop under your chin, and that's the ticket! I was a bit disappointed that I didn't win the prize for best hat, but I'll concede I was fairly beaten by a 45 year old man wearing a homemade Bo-peep bonnet...

Socks away

Just to prove that my life hasn't been ALL handbags recently! (although it feels a bit like it). Here's the first finished Knit Nurse original sock; the second is approaching the heel, won't be long before the pair is complete!