Whats New

I am having problems trying to update our website. Their servers must be down, so I will tell you about some new stuff in the shop that arrived this week.
We have Araucania sock yarn, which is a hand dyed sock yarn at a very good price.
Jade Sapphire cashmere has also arrived. I saw it in the U.S. this past summer and fell in love. It is so soft and lovely. Truly a beautiful cashmere yarn. The owners of the company actually go to Mongolia to see the yarn being made, and to make sure it is of the best quality. The one we have is called 4 ply, but knits as a DK. I am making the Veste Everest with it, and am in love! (Scroll halfway down, I'll get a better photo next week).
Anyway, off to Brighton with the kiddies for the weekend. See ya!

Down on the Farm

We took a road trip to a great spot today, you would never know that you are about 25 minutes from Putney.



Looks like somewhere in Kansas to me, but if you follow the A3 out of London a piece, you will end up at Garsons Farm. Aside from the fact that it was a beautiful day, believe it or not, they had a huge array of fruit and veggies that you can pick yourself. We started out with apples, and then moved on to my favorite, mostly because of their beauty, a sea of green



cabbages. (They look better if you enlarge the photo, just click on it.) The light was hitting the leaves just right, and they were all looking up at me, I had to pick one! Luckily I found a piece of salt beef in the farm shop and proceeded to make cornedbeef and cabbage, one of my faves.

There was also picking today for carrots, pumpkins, squash, courgette (zucchini), string beans, runner beans, onions, peas, corn, and flowers. You could definately fill up your fridge! Don't forget the beautiful farm shop, I could have spent all day if the kids weren't driving me nuts by then. The Guinea pigs are going to have a feast with all of the cabbage. Back to cooking!

Yippeeeeeee!!!!

I know I must sound like a total geek, but after waiting 2.5 months, and checking the waiting list all of the time, I am FINALLY on Ravelry! When Nathalie first told me about it months ago, yes, she has been on there forever, I didn't really think it sounded interesting. When we were in France, she gave me a little tour to show me what you can do, and it is very cool. My favorite part is that you can see what other people are making. This is very helpful when you are trying to decide what yarn to use on a project, or what needle to use. I am forever looking around the internet for information like this, but unless there is a knitalong for a project, it is usually difficult to find. Anyway, I am on now, so it shouldn't be too hard to find me if you are out there. I have set up a Stash London group for anyone who wants to join. It will be a vitual home away from home for those of you who can't make it into the shop, and want to feel a part of it.
On the needles, I have been working on the Dream in Color shrug. I only have the outside ribbing to do. Hope to get it done tonight.





This has been such a great project, I love the instant gratification. Next on the list will be Cherie Amour from Knitty. I have already started swatching!

Loads and Loads

This week has been extremely busy. I can't believe how much new stuff has arrived in the shop all at the same time. I don't have any photos right now, but within days we have had Dream in Color (as you know), Malabrigo laceweight (new, yummy colors), and (drumroll please) Koigu. Yes, you heard it right, Koigu. As usual OMG, the colors are unbelievable. I love them, even the colors that we have had before look like new colors, nothing is ever the same. Each dye lot of Koigu is definately a work of art in itself.
On the knitting front, I am working on the Dream in Color shrug. Check it out at their website. Photos to come later this week.
Sorry for the short post. Hope to post more in a few days!

Dream in Color has landed

After a week of chasing down UPS, and several missed deliveries, it is finally here. Dream in Color. This yarn has been made popular by the Yarn Harlot, which you may have read about on her blog. It has been a long time coming as they had a bit of a delay with their fiber supply. I think that I placed the order sometime back in June, but it has taken until now for it to hit our shores. As per Murphys law, the delivery didn't come until around 4:00, a while after the knitting group die-hards finally gave up and went home. Sorry guys, it will be there waiting for you tomorrow morning!

We have taken two weights, one of which is the Smooshy sock yarn.

Here is what the box looked like when I opened it, full of lovely colors. The interesting thing about this yarn is that it is guaranteed not to pool. I am not sure how they do this, but it is a process called "veil dying". All I have to say is that the colors are very different from anything else that we have in the shop. It is not handpainted, nor semisolid, though it is closer to the latter. Each skein is mostly one color, with a bit of one or two others, but each is very close in hue to each other.

Here is the box of Classic worsted. If you click on it and see the large size, you will see what I mean about the colors.

The Classic worsted is an aran weight, as they call it in the UK. We will be using some of those to make up kits for the Tulip (girls) and Rocketry (boys) cardigans. I was going to post a photo, but Flickr seems to be down at the moment. You can see them at the Dream in Color website.

I have my work cut out for me tomorrow morning, getting all of this stuff on the shelf in time for the morning rush! That is, if I can't stop fondling the Smooshy!