Ravellenic Games (previously known as the "Knitting Olympics")

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

So, it's time for that biennial event that accompanies the Olympics - the Ravellenic Games (previously known as the Knitting Olympics until the IOC got all uppity before London and wouldn't let mere knitters use the "O" word - I kid you not - look it up on good ol' Google/Ravelry for the hoo ha that went with it).

As previously said, my long, ongoing project is a blanket for Tom to take to Uni so I started in about October, ratcheted up the pace over Christmas and have been going strong ever since:

I've just realised that it's virtually impossible to tell the scale from that picture but I guess it's about 1/5th done.  It's for a single bed but wide enough that it'll go over the sides by about 6" or so.

To date I have 259 squares done with some big ones thrown in for good measure:

so I reckon 170 more squares over the course of the Olympics will be a really good amount.

There is one small problem though - I went away this weekend - couldn't take it with me (I have a huge plastic tub of the various small balls) so only started last night.  8 square knitted.  I need to be hitting 10 per day and so far my average is 2.66 square per day.

More Effort Required!

In better news, knitting was spotted at the Olympics themselves:

This is  Antti Koskinen, a coach from Finland, spotted at the gate of the snowboard slopestyle finals (no, I've no idea what that means either) on Saturday.  The Finnish team are knitting a giant scarf to give to the team at the next summer games.  Apparently, the competitor was seen holding his ball of yarn at one point.

See - knitting and Olympics as one - how cool is that?!

Adriafil Alchimia

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Reviewing the blog I realised that there's been a lot of chat about walking but not much about knitting, so I'll do my best to rectify that now and in the coming days.   There has been knitting, of course, but photography has been "challenging" with all the horrendous weather we've been having - when the sun comes out grabbing my knitting and rushing out to photograph it hasn't been top of the agenda! 

My biggest, and ongoing, project of the moment is a University Blanket for Tom.  Having knitted a jacket:

double bedspread:

and blanket for Guy:

from the stash:

I'm now left with lots and lots of little balls so a domino square blanket seemed an excellent solution.  It is but, boy, does it take time and grow slowly!  It, therefore, has become my Ravellenic project for the Winter Olympics with the aim to knit X number of squares over the 17 day period.  The value of X has yet to be identified - 100? 150? 170? - I don't know but I do know that a decision needs to be made soon and a pre-Olympic photograph needs to be taken soon too .... watch this space.

Tracey has also been knitting and, along with a number of commissions for customers (yes, we do offer that service so long as the wool is bought from the shop, obviously) she knitted this gorgeous jumper in Adriafil's Alchimia:

Our version is in white and I'm not pulling it down at the front or looking quite so sultry as the Italian model:

Nevertheless, it's a really lovely jumper and very warm (which we all need at the moment).  Adriafil patterns can be a little "Italian" and a little "fluid" for English knitters so Tracey kindly "translated" it into a more "English" way of writing whilst she was knitting so you get our version along with the original when you buy the pattern!

Just to remind you - here are all the gorgeous Alchimia colours:

This sweater would make a perfect Winter Olympic project!

As I write the rain is LASHING down and the wind is HOWLING - we had a 3 hour power cut last night, trees are down, the roads are flooded, the Prom is Penzance is closed - seriously, how long can this go on for?  Despite everything that we are going through our thoughts are with the poor people of Somerset who have been flooded for over a month now - can you imagine? - it doesn't bear thinking about.....

Birthday Weekend For Me!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

A couple of weekends ago it was my birthday and, as it fell on a Saturday, Tracie kindly agreed to work the afternoon so I could have the day off.  Having a birthday just 2.5 weeks after Christmas has never been ideal - as a child I was always about to go back to school or (even worse) it was the first day of term and as I've got older it's the time when everyone has stopped drinking, started their diets and are skint.  My birthday also always seems to fall midweek - FB's is in mid April so is frequently over the Easter weekend so it's always associated with a long weekend off and, very often, the first barbecue of the year.  I'm usually working so it's never been a time I look forward to with any great anticipation.  However, this year was different so, as ever with days off, we went walking. 

As luck would have it, the day was sunny and bright although it was a tad wet underfoot:

The winter colours were glorious, though:

Some crazy types were climbing - can you spot them?:

By the time we headed back the moon was up:

All in all it was a pretty perfect day!

New Yarns (and Patterns) for 2014!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Slightly to our amazement we had a couple of deliveries over the festive period - one from Italy {we always get excited when Adriafil boxes arrive} and one from Yorkshire {OK - not quite the same frisson of excitement but it contained new colours in Opium so we were very excited after we'd opened it!}.

So - to Italy - and Adriafil's new Stella Jacq - their Aran version of the phenomenally successful (because it's so lovely) DK yarn, Knitcol.  Like Knitcol, a wonderful range of colours:

so now we can have fantastic, brightly coloured jumpers in Aran weight too!

Also in the box were new patterns for Knitcol.  Many European knitters don't follow patterns but learn at their mothers' (and grandmothers') knees and make up their garments as they go, so it's testament to the popularity of Knitcol in the UK that Adriafil has produced a whole range of new patterns for this wool.  Here is a small sample but scroll down the Knitcol page to see all the patterns down the left hand side.  I've got my eye on this sweater:

but I also like this one:

and, indeed, this gilet:

So, the second box to arrive contained new colours in the wonderful "Opium" from King Cole.  This thick and thin yarn was so successful last summer that King Cole have introduced 8 new colours and new patterns to go with them:

I have my eye on this sweater, which I think will be really useful for putting over a strappy top when summer evenings start to cool:

and this little top for summer days:

I have just signed up for Team GB in the 2014 Ravellenic Games on Ravelry - any suggestions as to what I should knit?!  I've just looked up the dates - 6th - 23rd Feb so only 17 days (much shorter than the 2012 Olympics - yikes!).

January Sale!!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Yes, it's that time of year again when we take stock (literally) of discontinued yarns, packs of yarn which just aren't selling (for whatever reason) {and why some aren't selling remains a continuing mystery} and final packs of one colour {very often a really lovely colour} and we discount them and put them up for sale so we can make room for new lovely spring and summer yarns!

For those of you in the Penzance area, most of these packs are now proudly displayed in our window and for those of you not lucky enough to live in deepest, darkest Cornwall these packs are now on the site in our "SALE PACKS" area.

Most are in packs of 10 but some are more and just a few are less so, for example, the last 8 balls of Adriafil's wonderful pure wool Baba are now packed up and reduced by 25%:

 (you see what I mean, why is that gorgeous colour the last one left?) - or, indeed, this last pack of Monello (11 balls in the pack, 25% off):

There is also 25% off last few packs of Debbie Bliss Fez (85% merino, 15% camel) and 25% off the very last few packs of Debbie's Bella ( 85% cotton, 10% silk, 5% cashmere) 3 colours with 3 different quantities - what's not to love?!

And the last 10 balls of this gorgeous Duo Plus from Adriafil:

Check our the sale pages - once they're gone, they're gone!!

Christmas is For Walking!!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Well ... tomorrow has arrived (and nearly gone) and still no sign of phone or internet, although there are lots of men in BT jackets and hard hats up and down ladders and poles in the vicinity of our house so we're keeping everything crossed.   It's really quite amusing when you phone up (from work) to try and find out what's going on to be told that there's a "hole" in your line - well, yes, I guess that is what happens when a lightening bolt thwacks through your line and into your house.  We count ourselves lucky; our neighbour's entire electricity fuse box blew off her wall - she came home late on Friday and couldn't understand why we all had power and she didn't!

In between the eating, drinking, lashing rain and howling winds, we managed some wonderful walking over the festive period.  Here, in no particular order, are a few views of the glorious area where I'm lucky enough to live:

 

Guy and I at Mulfra Quoit (burial mound):

Avoiding bogs on Boxing Day!:

 At Zennor Quoit (another burial mound):

Going home:

Farewell 2013 and Welcome 2014 - With A Bang!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

This is the time of year when every blogger reflects on the past 12 months and looks forward to the next 12 and I am no exception.

Without getting too gloomy, 2013 was a difficult year for us with 3 funerals in as many weeks in March, one of which was under such shocking and tragic circumstances that - in all honesty - none us have really recovered even now.  On the upside we achieved a long held ambition and went cycling through Cambodia, which was simply out of this world, and the boys went on to travel through Asia together which was a great success.  But, on balance we were all looking forward to putting 2013 behind us and welcoming 2014 with open arms - and what a welcome we got!

Early on Friday morning as the wind howled and the rain lashed, we heard the first ominous rumble of thunder.  Having lost numerous computer modems to lightening, FB shot downstairs and unplugged our phone lines, the computers and everything else he could think of.  Thank goodness he did!  At 8.15am there was an almighty Bang and Crash as our house was hit by lightening!

What had, in fact, happened was the electricity pole in the field above our house was hit and the force then shot down the electricity telephone lines and our line is screwed into the chimney at the top of the house and that is where the lightening hit!  Unfortunately for poor Guy, this is right next to his bed - which got him out of bed with a major start, as a blue flash thwacked through his room - apparently lightening makes a "thwacking" noise as it shoots past your head!

This is what lightening does to a telegraph pole:

And this is how far bits of the telegraph pole fly when it's hit by lightening:

That piece of wood, people, is some 100m from the pole - thank goodness there were no cows in the field.

Amazingly, the power was restored within 9 hours (well done Western Power Distribution!) but we're still waiting for phones and, consequently, internet.  Luckily all shop work is done here in the shop but poor Guy desperately needs to get some University work done so he's been here in the shop with me today (which is really quite nice but I'm not sure he feels the same!).

There was a lot of knitting done in 2013 and there's been quite a lot in 2014 too - it's amazing how much time you have when you haven't got a phone or access to all the nonsense on the internet!  All being well, "normality" will return tomorrow.

Happy 2014!