Finished

I finally finished the Cheri Amour, though not sure how happy I am with it. The pattern was easy, and worked up quickly. I chose it not only because I liked the styling, but because everyone on Ravelry looked good in it, no matter what their shape. I am not so sure about it on me, which is why I have only photographed the back. The front photos came out horrible, though I didn't think it looked that bad in the mirror. My problem area is the tummy, and this sweater is tight in that area. Not sure its a good style for me. What would Trinny and Susannah say?

The other problem is that I followed the pattern, and blocked it to the measurements, and it is definately not as long as on the girl in the photo. Is she extremely short? I should have noticed this as I was making it, but no way I am going back now.



I'll see if I can get someone else to take the photo later, maybe it will come out different.

I am pretty proud to say that I have finished most of my WIP's, and only have the Party lace scarf left. Hope to make some progress on that this week. In the meantime I have decided that I will make some jewelry with the goodies that I purchased in NYC.

We have a new arrival in the shop today, Casbah sock yarn from Handmaiden, as well as a new shipment of Sea Silk. This time we decided to be daring, and get the yarns dyed in Fleece Artist colors. We are getting a bit tired of the others, even though they are lovely. Its good to try something new after nearly 2 years. Wouldn't you say?

Been a while


I haven't done a post here in what feels like forever. Since Ravelry came on the scene, its so easy to post all of my knitting projects there. It is also so dark here at the moment, that I feel like its evening all of the time. Not feeling particularly energetic in that respect.

Anyway, we had a lovely holiday in the U.S.. First we went to New York, my old haunting ground. Its been such a long time since I spent more than an afternoon there. Our hotel was a block from Grand Central Station, so I was able to take the girls there every morning for yummy baked goods from Zaros, and the best coffee that side of the pond at Orens Daily Roast. All other coffee in the U.S. tastes like water to me since I have gotten used to drinking espresso! We did the whole Mid-town sightseeing thing, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (a must do that time of year). We hit all of our favorite restaurants, Carnagie Deli just to name one. Yummy!!!! Then it was on to Florida, and a cruise with my husbands family. You can see the photos below. I am not a boat person, so even though it was smooth as silk, I felt dizzy the whole time. It was alot of fun none the less. The weather was beautiful as you can see, now that what you call a beach! We then spent the next week at my parents, where the weather was a beautiful and sunny 85F every day. Can't beat that.

Now its back to London where it is pretty much dark all of the time, and my eyes are burning because it makes me feel tired. The only good thing is that it is not freezing like New York.

I did finish quite a few projects lately, here is a list:

Monkey Socks



Fingerless Dashing Gloves



Cherie Amour (body)



Chunky Scarf in Misti Alpaca



I've also been making jewelry since I took a class back in November. I made a bunch for teacher gifts, and didn't take any photos. This is one for my mom with some beads that I bought in NYC, the mecca of all things. You can find anything there, just like London (NOT!). The first bead shop that I walked into was double the size of all of the bead shops in London put together, and I had a list of 10 that I had planned to visit. Oh well, just have to make more trips back I guess.



We are busy at the shop as well, some new yarns due in at any moment. Keep checking the website!

Vacation Photos

I know its been a while. Just a few vacation photos until I have time for a longer post.

Our cruise ship.



How about this rainbow




One of the coolest balloon animals I have ever seen...



Its a killer whale!

Happy New Year!

Bad Luck or Bad Needles?

I have been enjoying my knitting with this lovely Knit Witches mohair. It took me a while to find a pattern that wouldn't drive me crazy. This one is from MagKnits, and takes a little concentration, but not too much.



The other day, I was reading an article about how great the new Knit Picks Options wooden tip are for knitting lace. I do love the metal ones, but this yarn has been just sliding right off, so I decided to give them a try. The tips are pointy, but not too much, great for lace. The only problem is that after one row, my tip came off of the metal holder. I figured this was a fluke, and asked Nathalie to borrow one from her set. So here I was, sitting in the coffee shop near Stash yesterday, enjoying my lace knitting, when here we go again...



I telephoned Knit Picks after the first needle, and they are sending me one. The lady on the other end of the phone seemed a bit confusted by what I was telling her, she wasn't the most helpful, but did finally figure out that I need a new one of 4.5 mm. I guess I will be calling them again about the other. I am now wondering about the rest of my set. Do I ask them to replace the entire thing? It could be quite a while before I get around to trying every size. The questions now is, was this just a bit of bad luck, or are these bad needles held together with childrens paste?

Veste Finished

The Veste Everest is finally finished! I think that it is a little too short, but all of my fashionable friends have told me otherwise. I am so pleased with the color, and it fits perfectly around the bust and waist. It was a pretty quick knit, and though there were no sleeves, there was quite a bit of finishing to do. In the interim, I have been working on some Monkey socks, and have finished one, and a bit of another. The best part is that I can now start working on Cherie Amour, which has been in my queue for a few weeks now.



On the shop front, we have a new yarn in, All Hemp 6 from Hemp for Knitting. I recently saw the pattern for Eiffel in Knitty and fell in love. This was about the time that Lana and Melissa contacted us to see if we would be interested in their yarns. At first this yarn is pretty rough, but when washed, has many of the same qualities of linen. I have learned some interesting things about hemp as well, it can be washed and dryed in the dryer, it does not stretch or shrink, and it has anti-microbial qualities. This makes it a good candidate for making dishcloths as well as garments. The colors are beautiful, and we have it in the shop right now!

Knit Witches

I know its been a whole week since the Knit Witches evening, but it took me this long to get the photos from Nathalie's camera. Here is a photo of the yummy yarns that are in the shop now.



We have four yarns available, a sock yarn, silk laceweight, cashmere laceweight, and mohair. The colors are beautiful semi-solids.

The evening was alot of fun, swatching, and catching up with some regulars who we haven't seen in a while. We were able to present Anne with the Lizard Ridge blanket that some of us knitted for her.



Big thanks to those of you who participated. Anne has left a card in the shop, so if you come in, take a look.

In case you didn't know, we have recieved a huge new shipment of Dream in Color Classy worsted and Smooshy sock this week, hope you can check it out!

Goodies

We had a visit from my parents this past week. They arrived from Florida about the time that it started to get cold here, unlucky for them. Lucky for me they brought some items that I had ordered. First came the Knitpicks wooden tips for the Options needles.



My thought is that these are going to be great for the airplane. Although British Airways has changed their policy in the past year to include knitting needles, I usually bring along bamboo circulars. This way I can bring them on without the tips, and put them on later. I haven't tried them yet, but they are very smooth, the tips look nice, and the join is nearly seamless. I have to start something new this week so that I can give them a try. The color is a bit strange, but what a great idea to do wooden tips for this set.

My next treat was 2 skeins of STR. I think I have a bit of a problem with this yarn. I keep ordering more, and I don't know why. Could it be the luscious colors? The soft feel? All of the above? All I know is that if someone starts STR Anonomous, I will have to become a member, I can't stop myself!!! Here are the two new additions:


Atomic #6


Spinel (extra yum!)

On the knitting front, I have gotten nothing done. I was nearly finished with the vest, and when my mom got here, and I started making silly mistakes. I have decided to put it aside for a short while, as per Jills good advice, and start something new. I have been wanting to make some Monkey socks with this yarn for a while, and started these last night



The color is nearly perfect in the photo, I love them.

Last but not least, who are these two ladies? What a lovely shop!



On another note, don't forget that Knit Witches yarns will be in the shop from next Saturday. Come in and check them out!

New and Exciting

Since Stash opened, we wanted to support UK yarn companies, especially small dyers. Sometimes this is difficult due to the fact that these guys dye in small quantities, and don't have the supply to sell wholesale. Nathalie came up with the greatest idea, the Yarn of the Month, which will kick off in November. Every month, we will showcase a small yarn company in the UK. We will start off the month with a yarn tasting, where the owner of the company is welcome to come and give an informal talk. There will be sample yarn to 'taste'. Afterwards, their yarns will stay in the shop for the month, giving customers a chance to see yarns that they may have only been able to order online in the past. Novembers Yarn of the Month will be Knit Witches. Come and check them out on 2 November. If you can't make it, you have the whole month to see their offerings!

Trauma!

Did a bit of laundry this morning, as usual. I put my handknit socks together, and washed them in the shortest cycle they have here in the UK (about an hour and a half), but it is gentle, and they were all together with 2 t-shirts. To my horror, when I took them out there was a hole in my Seduction sock!!! I have never had this happen to me. This yarn contains Tencel, which is supposed to be super strong. I immediately tried to mend it before it completely pulled out, but I don't think I did a very good job. It now has a little bit of a lump in it. Its strange also, because it is on the bottom of the foot, not a place where there is alot of friction.
I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the hole, it was all a bit too traumatic for me at the time, I think I rushed to do the repair.



I have been thinking for a while that I need a new pair of socks, but can't decide which color to use. The green one is Koigu, and I am in love with it. The only problem is that I am knitting a green top, and not sure if it is enough already with the green. The bright one is STR, but not a very realistic color for socks. They are a bit bright. Should I choose one, or do I wind up another, which I promised myself I would not do. Thinking about Smooshy.



Yesterday was the annual pilgramage to Ally Pally. This year wasn't as exciting as the past couple of years. There weren't as many knitting stalls, I think it is too expensive for small companies. I did pick up a few goodies from small companies that are not available in shops. First was a stop at Shilasdair, they have the most beautiful colors, and the owner is originally from New Jersey, near my neck of the woods. Check out this handspun cashmere, I want to snuggle up with it!



I also fell in love with their Cashmere/Angora/Lambswool blend, but left the stand, thinking I could resist.

Next was a stop at Knit Witches. The owner is the nicest! Nathalie and I made instant friends, and could have stayed all day. I left with these two, to make a scarf.



Next was on to Fyberspates, and some Tencel/Wool roving. Not sure how keen I am at Tencel after this mornings problem, but we shall see.



Now I have to find time for a bit of spinning between the mound of knitting projects I have planned.

I couldn't stop thinking about the Shilasdair, so we just had to go back and buy some of this. Not sure what it will become, maybe a sweater.



It does smell a bit from moth balls, but hoping that will go away, it should with a bit of fresh air I would think.

NB: I unpicked my sock, put it on 2 dpns, and kitchenered it together. Looks almost as good as new!

Working Away

I've been getting alot of knitting done lately, which is great. Finally finished the Dream in Color shrug, and actually have a photo of the finished product.



There is not much to it in the front, but it is great for a little layer of warmth, and of course the color and lace pattern are both beautiful.

We are now stocking Jade Sapphire cashmere at Stash. They have quite a few different weights, but based on our customers, we decided to do what they call the 4-ply, which is not really a 4-ply at all, but more of a DK. I am now almost halfway through my Veste Everest in the color called LIZard.



I don't think the color looks quite right here, but its been cloudy, and maybe the light isn't right. When I am ready for another one, I'll try and make sure it shows the color better. It also looks narrow, but it will definately block out to the correct size as I have checked it about a million times! I am definately going to be knitting alot this week trying to not think of my little 8 year old daughter who is away for the week on a school trip. We never went away that young when I was little!

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!

Open for Business

I can't believe that two weeks have flown by so quickly. The shop is opening again tomorrow, looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. I admit that I haven't done a ton of knitting this summer. At first it was due to the extreme heat of Westport, but I can't say it was the same in France. Actually, the weather was horrible! Did someone fast forward us to November and not tell us? I thought this was supposed to be global warming! I never thought it was possible for August to be this cold. Despite it all, our trip was a huge success. I loved doing the drive, and being on the other side of the road in the wrong car wasn't a problem at all. Nathalies and my kids had a ball together, which made life pretty easy for us. What started out as evenings watching Lucy Neatby videos quickly turned into my latest obsession...Itunes! Yes, we caught the bug and downloaded our favorite shows, and watched TV. We started with Greys Anatomy, then moved on to Dexter, it was great. Nathalie was good and worked on her Log cabin blanket, but I was lazy and did alot of nothing! Oh well, we are all entitled to a knitting holiday sometimes too.

Upon my return, the shop burglar alarm started going off. I spent most of my week meeting the engineer there to figure out what is wrong. I even had to make a trip over at 1:00am the other night, that was alot of fun. I do believe he has figured it out now, which he had better have!!! I am not much fun in the middle of the night.

This week we should see a long awaited shipment. It shipped last Monday, and the UPS man left a slip through the door on Thursday. Since we are closed, I am hoping that he will redeliver on Tuesday. Can anyone guess what it is?

They're all here now

Its what we've been waiting for...what everyone has been asking about daily, and they both arrived on the same time day, nearly at the same time! Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits!!!
I actually picked up a copy of Vogue in CT a couple of weeks ago, it is really a great issue. The first interesting thing is that it is the 25th anniversary issue, so they have published alot of patterns that were popular before, such as the circle shrug that I knit a while back. Another item of interest is that alot of the patterns are knitted in silver, as in "silver anniversary". I love the cover most of all, actually the multiple covers. There are several covers, each showcasing a different yarn company. Pick your own favorite! I found a photo of the top cover here



I know its a little blurry, but I didn't have time to take a photo of my own copy. Anyway, I love the scarf, though not sure how it would look on me.

Lets not forget Interweave knits. Unfortunately I couldn't find a photo, and am not at the shop. This is Eunny Jangs first issue as editor, so it should be one for the archives.

Don't forget that Stash will be closed for two weeks after this Saturday. Note, we ARE open on Saturday. The only weekend that we will be closed will be the Bank Holiday weekend. So see you back on the 1st September.

On to knitting... I finally have a project on the needles after the heat of Westport, and getting back into the swing at the shop. There have been so many orders to place, and other business items to take care of. I started the Icarus shawl in Camelspin, Amethyst from Handmaiden. After some swatching, I decided on 3.25 needles, which seems like what most people out there are using. I am only on the first repeat, but here it is



I like that most of this shawl is quite easy. It shows off the beauty of the yarn, and I don't have to concentrate too much. The complicated part, when I have to hide from my children will come later. Should be good for holiday knitting next week in France!

Back from the Heat

Sorry I don't have any photos from my trip to beautiful and sunny Westport, CT. I was really lazy this time, and didn't take many photos at all. As usual, we spent most of our time on the beach, which was good since it was so hot! My spot was pretty much on a chair at the edge of the water, feet submerged. Of course I did my share of shopping, and who wouldn't with the dollar at 2 to the pound! The first week I was able to get half a day to myself in NYC. I was able to make a trip to Seaport Yarns, where I had a nice long talk with the owner, and brought back a few finds, some of which might make it into the shop one day. I also got to go to Purl, which is such a beautiful place. I love the way that they squeeze all of the yarn in a small space, it is just bursting with color. I was able to meet up with an old friend for a while. Jackie and I used to work together, and lost touch since I moved to London. She actually found me through my blog by accident. I didn't even know that she was a knitter when we worked together, though we used to do needlepoints at our lunch hour. We even discussed her making a trip to visit London.

The second week was pretty much the beach. It was great... sun, sand, heat, but sadly no knitting. It was just too hot. Now I am back, and there is so much going on at Stash. While I was away lots of new stuff arrived. We now have KnowKnits pouches, Great Adirondack yarn, Rialto Aran, Noro Silk Garden Lite, and Knit Simple magazine. We also have some new chunky yarns that just came in, Malabrigo chunky, and Misti Alpaca Chunky, which is the softest yarn ever! We are expecting a few more new items that should be with us by the time we get back from our holiday closing, which by the way is from Tuesday 21 August until Friday 31 August.

In search of Summer

We are off to CT tomorrow, I hope to find some summer there as there is no sign of if here. I am in the shop now, its 10:30 am, and it looks like nighttime. I was thinking of putting the outside lights on that are reserved for evening hours. I usually am not that bothered by the weather, I am not much of an outdoor girl. When we lived in the U.S. I spent most of my time inside with the air conditioning. This is getting ridiculous though, it has rained nearly every day since some time in May. We have had the odd nice day, or half a day, but otherwise it has been cold and rainy. I am waiting to wear my summer clothes, but I guess they will only see the light of day for the next two weeks.

In knitting news, I am past the underarm on Coachella. Here are a couple of photos, I like the neckline. Its hard to know how it will fit me since "she" is a bit smaller than me. I am hoping to work on it during the flight, but it is all stockinette stitch, which gets boring rather quickly. My alternate project are STR socks, the latest from the sock club. We have recieved 3 intallments so far, and I have yet to knit one of them. Better get going.

We are awaiting some new items in the shop. One of which I can share with you since I last tracked it leaving Kennedy Airport yesterday. It should be on UK soil by sometime today. They are a completely new addition to our "Stash"...Great Adirondack. We are expecting two yarns, one is Silky sock, and the other is a laceweight (fancy that!). Here is a photo of a skein that I have been coveting for a while now.



I bought it when I was in the U.S. last year, and have loved it ever since. We've been thinking about getting them for a while, and now its finally going to be here.

We also recieved a new shipment of Serendipity needles. I know I have posted photos before, but this is a really clear one. Look at how cute they are! There is even a new smaller size, which I have been bugging them about forever!



Not sure how much posting I will be doing in Westport, depends on whether we can get the wireless to work at my in-laws house. If not, see you in two weeks!

New Arrival

When I got to the shop today, I was surprised to find this waiting for me. I didn't think it was due until next month. I have only skimmed inside, but there are alot of great articles and patterns for all different types of felting. There is an especially interesting one on how to felt onto a silk scarf. Diane has done it before. May have to try that one. I'm excited to read further. Interesting bag on the cover as well!