Only two knitting days till Christmas

And there are twinkly Christmas lights at the end of the tunnel. One item of Christmas knitting is complete* and two more are over halfway there leaving only a single item which hasn't been cast on yet. I'm not actually doing a great deal, it's just that due to the Peacock Feathers shawl I only started on December 10th. Remind me not to do that again next year would ya?

I'd be more sure of finishing on time if I didn't have other Christmassy jobs assigned to me like cake decorating, bauble adorning and table setting**. Plus Mum had added the item "black and white mobile?" (for baby) to my list, apparently it's a developmental thing, and although she's insisting that I prioritise the knitting I really want to have a go at making one! I've already worked out materials and construction (black and white felt, clear nylon thread and a smallish embroidery hoop) and I don't think it would take long to make.

Anyway, back to the knitting. Back on the hottest day in August (we were slapping suncream onto our flip flopped feet as we waited at bus stops) I impulse bought 2 skeins of oatmeal coloured cashmere from Devon at i knit London with the rationalisation that I would use them to make a Christmas present for my sister.

Time passed and two days ago I cast on. Not being completely insane I had tried to think of a non-scarf project that I could knit but drew a blank. The fabric wouldn't be sturdy enough for a hat*** without knitting at a ridiculously fine gauge and the yarn (pale as cream and soft as butter) was not practical for socks or mittens. I had a quick hunt on Ravelry for patterns which wouldn't be too complex to knit (as I would be picking it up to knit in odd spare minutes) or use too much yarn (only two skeins) and came up with the Little Pyramids pattern, a simple 6 stitch by 6 row (and rows 4-6 are the same as 1-3, just in a different order) repeat.



The result is rather gorgeous in an understated way and it's all down to the amazing yarn. The finished object should be a shortish (36-40", maybe a little longer with blocking), very light scarf which can be tucked inside a jacket neck, either on its own or with a bulkier scarf on top.

* Two, if you count Elijah who had to have a bath today to get him ready for meeting the VIB (very important baby).
** Which are all fun things to do, just a little time consuming.
*** I hate baggy hats.

Yarn crawl

The trip to London was so much fun. Katie, Felix (sadly Lara couldn't come due to the outbreak of foot and mouth) and I travelled into town together on the Oxford tube - time profitably spent in knitting (them) and doing some reasonably complicated maths (at least it seemed pretty complex at that time of the morning) in order to work out how many stitches to pick up an where on the POTW (me).

We met up with Aliki at Notting Hill Gate and headed onwards to Putney (picking up Jaq en route) to visit Stash where I picked up some lovely Misti Alpaca lace-weight (potentially another MS3 this time full size) and some great Clover lockable stitch markers which immediately came in very handy for the POTW border. I was very tempted by some beautiful raspberry coloured Grace silk wool by Louisa Harding but managed to resist as I wasn't really sure what I'd knit with it. It is lovely stuff though so maybe another time..



I really like Stash - they have a lovely selection of yarns and the owners are so friendly and helpful.

Next we headed on to I Knit London which I hadn't visited before. It is just floor to ceiling great yarn in there and we got a lovely welcome. Felix chatted loads to the guy in the shop about the Knitted Walking Stick Cosy competition and got some good advice about getting the word out there. I was really interested in the British yarns and snaffled some really lovely Wensleydale (it's not just a cheese, y'know) longwool 4-ply in cream, blue and green for a sweater (I have an idea based on a Jaeger pattern in mind).



Aliki (and I think Felix too) got some gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and Katie got some plum coloured Rooster Almerino (I don't actually think she'll be making ear-muffs from it though).



We were retreating from the the shop in good order and I was checking out the yarns in the window whilst the others finalised their purchases when I spotted some undyed cashmere from Devon which had been knitted up into a swatch. We couldn't believe how light and soft it was and I fell down rather badly and bought two skeins. It is amazing stuff though and a have a very special project in mind for it.

After stopping for a late lunch at Wagamama we decided that we had bettr skip Loop and head straight on to Walthamstow if we were to get to the Handweavers' Studio before it shut. I pikced up a few merino tops in green/blue shades and was very happy when Aliki and Katie were both tempted over to the dark side too! They both got drop spindles and I'm going to get them started with the spinning at the knitting group on Wednesday, yay. I was very tempted by the Tussah silk solids and harmonies but I've got enough fibre stash to be going on with for the moment.



Jaq left us here and we headed back into central London to visit All the Fun of the Fair at Kingly Court. Felix went nuts at this point as she realised that the place was crammed full of knitted cakes, donuts and biscuits - it's like her dream shop.



Finally we went to John Lewis for a cup of tea and a sit down (and a good opportunity for a photo of Felix's new knitted goodies) before heading home.



We didn't really have time for a proper look round the lovely reorganised wool department but I did manage to get three balls of Rowan 4 ply soft in a beautiful dark plum colour for the knee socks in Rowan 40.



I knew I couldn't get through a whole day without buying yarn for socks (even if it's not strictly speaking sock yarn)!