New favourite shops.

I finally found somewhere that sells this:



The Paton's Shadow Tweed I needed to finish my cardigan.
Blacksheepwools is a great website for bargain wools and I think I may have mentioned it before. Well I knew it wasn't too far from where we lived and today I finally got the chance to visit the real life store. I was going to order the ball I needed online but John suggested we drive out there as he needed to go up that way anyway. He thought it would save on postage costs for just the one ball of yarn. All I can say is that he must be ever so slightly deluded! So we went off to find the place and it was even closer than I thought, barely 20 minutes drive away. Oh and it is a lovely shop. Rows and rows of beautiful yarns as soon as I stepped through the door. And further into the shop a huge selection of needlework supplies, embroidery cottons, cross stitch kits and charts and such wonderful things. But so tempting too! I really had to orce myself to scan the rows as quickly as I could and seek out the yarn I had gone for. I finally found it at the far end of the rows of yarn and so I grabbed a ball and headed towards the pay desk. But I knew I would have to take a closer look at some of the yarns on the way out so thought maybe I should pay after I had admired, just to avoid any confusion you understand..........
Well I just happened to spot some gorgeoulsly soft Mirasol Sulka at only £1.99 per hank. I made a couple of hats from this yarn early on in the year and I remembered how lovely and soft and warm they were. So I picked up a hank.....and a second..........and a third.


And as I wandered around I spotted this amazingly coloured Araucania Limari, £4.45 I think per hank. I only picked up the one hak just to admire the colours and imagine what a beautiful little hat it would make, but then I forgot to put it back down.........how forgetful of me.


I knitted the little pumpkin hat for Heather from Paton's colour 4 me pure wool and I really liked the feel of it and the richness of the colours. So when I saw a shelf of the same wool in some fantastic pinks I just had to take a closer look. And at only £1.30 a ball then I just had to pick up a couple of balls with the thought of making something for our little girl. Well when I say a couple of balls I meant of each colour obviously, and 4 of each is only just over a couple isn't it?


And with that being more than enough wool to add to my stash I headed for the cash desk once more. But I happened to get waylaid at the very last minute by some stunning Rico sock yarn. And we all know how useful and multi purpose sock yarn is don't we? Self striping so the design doesn't need thinking about, light and soft so can be used to knit anything really, and 4 ply so great for baby trousers, socks and hats.


All in all a great days shopping and a new favourite place to visit. I have a feeling John is going to become very used to those country lanes..........

Hello.........

Well as you all know I have been otherwise occupied just lately with my beautiful little girl and so not much chance for crafting. Not to say I haven't thought about it though ;-)
So first a few bargains:

Sale here (fab bargains - check them out, fast delivery too!)and I couldn't resist this lot.......and all for under £25. You know I can't say no to Mirasol, especially if it's on offer! And the bamboo I thought might make a nice top for me when I return to a more normal size. I have plenty of time to get to that size though as I don't think I'll be knitting much for the near future. Although sleepless nights and slings are a way round that......... As for the sock wool......well it's sock wool and it was on sale, what more can I say, especially as i was very restrained and bought only two balls!

And then there was dearest husbands visit to the car boot sale last Saturday. The phone rang and it was himself to tell me that there was a woman there who had lots of wool for sale. After getting him to read the various labels to me and find out prices I decided that the Paton's Shadow Tweed sounded reasonable, especially for £5 for the full 600g. Do I have the maddest husband around then? Oh the Robins Rhythm are 50g balls of pure wool and only 25p a ball at the local charity shop. I really wanted to buy the lot but for one thing had decided to definitely buy no more yarn until I get time to use it, and for another thing, I have no idea what to make with it! There was lots more assorted wools there too so had to drag myself away.

And onto makes. Well there hasn't been many since my last post. A little more work on the latch hook rug before Heather arrived and nothing since. Well until last night. All the hats I made Heather were a little big (remember I usually have much bigger babies....) and she really needs a sunhat so with her happily wrapped and sleeping against me I managed to crochet this little hat:

I used this 4 ply cotton (near the bottom) and a pattern from this book and it took a couple of hours and is very lightweight and an almost perfect fit. And of course one last picture because I can't resist, Heather Rose modelling her new hat: