The Wool Palace

Camped by a billabong

Finally managed to get around to taking photos of my Ally Pally purchases.  The light is going much faster these days and I got caught out about 3 days in a row.

I had a great time at the show.  It's always fun to catch up with knitting friends and find out what everyone is up to.  I did take my camera, but was too busy shopping and chatting to take any photos.

So, on to the purchases.

A book on Orenburg shawls, the new issue of Yarn Forward and an Elizabeth Zimmerman that I've wanted for a while.

Sock yarn from Web of Wool.

Cashsoft DK for some bedsocks for Christmas presents.

Colinette - this has already been made into a scarf for Josie. 

Dream in Colour sock yarn from Socktopus, who weren't listed in the show guide, so very nearly got missed.  I may also have paid a quick trip to their website a few nights ago when I realised I'd missed the Shelridge Farms Ultra.

Goodies from Habu to make a Kusha Kusha scarf.  In the interests of full disclosure, I should also say that I ordered a sweater kit as well, which will be coming from New York soon I hope.

Lovely, lovely laceweight silk from the totally new to me KnitWitches.  Even my non knitting sister and her friend were drooling over this.

And that is about it.  How do you think I did?

Footloose and fancy free

I'm leaving Toby and the children to their own devices for a few days and heading off for some quality time on my own.  I'm planning on meeting up with knitting friends, revisiting Clapham friends and spending time with my sister.

Have a good weekend.  See you all next week.

Feats of trivia

It's almost time for Ally Pally, which means planning and plotting for new projects.

Before I do that, it would be prudent to look at the old ones and what I have planned for them.  Apologies for the iffy picture quality - I was rushing to get them done before the light went.

Toby's socks are motoring along.  I would really like to have them done before I leave for London on Thursday night.  I'm at the heel flap on the second one so I am quietly confident, but I do have a meeting tomorrow evening and a big lunch event on Thursday, so it's not guaranteed.  The Trekking colour way is 110, by the way.

I'm not going to talk about the other socks hanging around, as we covered that pretty well in the last post.  Let's move straight on to the rest of the knitting basket.

We'll begin with the worst.  You only have to look at the state of that cord to know this has been shoved in a bag for a long, long time.  Almost a year - I started it quite soon after getting back from Ally Pally 2006.  I have a crazy idea that if I buy some Addi Lace needles then I will pick it up again.  In reality what I will probably do is buy some Addi Lace needles, frog this and start something else.  Look at all those stitch markers just sitting there - for a year!

Let's carry on with lace shall we?  Shetland Triangle, in Handmaiden Seasilk.  Lovely.  But I need another skein to make it the size I want and I haven't been able to find any at Get Knitted or Stash, so I put it to one side.  Now I'm at that tricky stage where I've lost my rhythm with it and would have to spend a while working out where in the pattern I'm up to.  Nothing drastic or unmanageable, but enough to stop me picking it up of an evening.  The plan?  Carry on looking for the Seasilk I suppose, although of course I've lost the name of it by now; I think it was Mineral, or maybe Forest?

Garments next.  Salina, who was doing so well, has rather stalled.  I need to go back and check if I've finished the armhole shaping or not.  I may take her on the train to London with me.

Or I may take

my old friend, the Rib & Cable Jacket, or is the Cabled Blanket Jacket?  This has been around so long I've forgotten its name.  It's been waiting patiently all through the summer for me to show an interest in it again.   A measure of the length of time it's been around is that I have actually taken it out a couple of times, purely to check no moths have got to it.  Imagine how annoying that would be . 

The yarn was a birthday present to myself.  Will I finish it in time for this birthday?  Only time will tell, especially with all the temptations I will be facing on Friday...

I'll be there for you

It seems appropriate that I am considering socks at the beginning of October.  Or maybe it's not - is there a Socktoberfest this year?  I am shamefully behind in blogosphere happenings.

Anyway.  I have seriously fallen off the sock wagon, so I thought I should do a little round up of what is on the go.

Things didn't start well. 

I had completely forgotten about this one.  I only found it because I was looking for another sock in my knitting basket.  I started these for Sam, so long ago that his feet are a full size bigger now.  Did I tell you that Sam's feet are now bigger than mine? And only two sizes smaller than his father?  And that he's still only 10?  And that I've had to buy no fewer than three new pairs of shoes for him this week?  Trainers, football boots and walking boots, all in one week - my bank account is feeling rather fragile now.

Back to the socks.  I suppose I can unpick the toe and make it longer.  Or I could just stuff it back in the knitting basket for a bit.

This was sitting on top one of the speakers in the living room.  This yarn started off as a Pomotamus but I wasn't feeling the love, so it got frogged.  This pattern is Broad Spiral Ribbing from More Sensational Knitted Socks.  Like the pattern, but I'm still not sure about the yarn.  I remember stuffing them on top of the speaker so I could start these ones

which are the ubiquitous Monkeys.  Done in Cherry Tree Hill, Old Rose colourway.  I started these on 2.25mm needles but realised they would be too tight so ripped back and started again on 2.5mm.  I knew I had these somewhere but had to search the whole house for them.  Eventually they turned up on top of the chest of drawers in my bedroom.  I abandoned them because I was getting tired of having to refer to the instructions to remember where I was up to.

I was craving some simple knitting, so I started these.

Plain old stocking stitch socks, destined for Toby.  Once I started these, I realised that really, I'm happiest knitting plain socks.  I like to just be able to pick them up, knit away without having to look at instructions and let the yarn do its thing.  Even though these are 72 stitches, knit on 2.25mm needles, I know I'm going to finish these before either of the other two - which is entirely about me, rather than the patterns, I hasten to add.

And once I've finished them, I plan to cast on for some more lovely plain socks with some of this

and I can't wait.