More Knitting - and Crochet

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Today has been one of those manic days trying to catch up on all the paperwork for the one week we've been away - where does it all come from?!

Just before we left Tracey rattled off a very pretty bolero in Debbie Bliss's Bella, which is an amazing cotton, silk and cashmere blend so it looks like cotton but slightly silky and softer. It's a standard DK but there's also a book of patterns to go with it. Tracey knitted this:














but in red and without the flower!

Today I was having a bad hair/no make-up day so FB photographed me in it and then chopped off my head (at my request):













It is lovely and, some 7 hours later, I'm still wearing it!

I also thought you'd like a quick crochet bedspread update and an indication of the size of this project:


















Here's the detail:














and here's the full thing with Deidre walking across it to give you an idea of scale:


















I'm still loving it and managing a colour a night - I reckon I'm about a quarter of the way there - and one thing's for sure - it's going to make a dent in the stash!

Short Break Part 2

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Sorrento is, by all accounts, "lush"!!

Back in Wales, I managed to knit a pair of socks (for my brother - don't tell him) - this is the quickest pair of socks I've ever knitted - 6 days from start to finish - so I'm very happy. In addition, he'll actually get his birthday present on time (unlike his wife whose socks were 3 months late). Here they are (slightly too big for my feet but you get the idea):

















They are King Cole, Zig Zag (Blue Danube) which, instead of zigging and zagging, striped (slightly unexpectedly) - but I like them nonetheless!

We also managed to eat rather a lot (strict diet at the moment to recover) and found some fantastic shops, including a wonderful bakery (the source of much of our downfall). They did an amazing bread which I liked so much I took a photo - it's 50% wholemeal and 50% white and, for the record, both ends tasted equally delicious:














On our final day we treated ourselves to a lovely lunch. Long time readers will know that our favourite pub down here is The Gurnard's Head at Zennor, which is a convenient 4.5 mile walk from here over the moors:













Bizarrely, we had bumped into the owner of The Gurnard's in Crickhowell and he urged us to go to their sister pub for lunch - which we were planning to do anyway - and did:



















The Felin Fach Griffin is just outside Brecon and is a joy. We had a superb lunch and are already planning our return (they do some amazing dinner, bed and breakfast deals) - well worth a visit:














(me looking rather self conscious in a rather lovely sweater knitted in old Jaeger Aqua cotton to a Bergere de France pattern).

Short Break

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Ten days ago G&T left us for 3 weeks Inter-railing around Europe - to date they have covered Plymouth - Roscoff - Paris - Marseilles - Nice - Venice - Bari - Corfu (4 days) and they are currently camping in Sorrento. We've had a series of hilarious (and occasionally informative) texts including:

"on boat - first beer going down" (we were rather impressed that they'd waited until they were on the boat for the first beer);

"in Nice - holy f*****g s***t it's hot" !!

"sitting by canal in Venice eating pizza and it's 30 degrees" (very jealous of that one), and a cracker from T:

"I need advice from Mum - I've washed my clothes and they weren't quite dry and they now smell like dead animals" (v pleased to hear he'd been washing his clothes, he not v pleased to hear he had to re-wash them).

So - in the absence of teenagers and to ward off the danger of rattling around at home and missing them, FB and I took ourselves off for a wee break away too - not as far or as glamorous as the boys but we headed up to the Black Mountains in Wales. It's an area we know well but haven't been to for 13 years and it was as beautiful as ever - in fact, we parked the car up on the Friday and didn't move it for the whole week. We stayed in a lovely little cottage in Crickhowell and walked (a lot), ate (too much), drank (one of us more than the other), knitted (only one of us) and slept a lot. The walking was (and is) fantastic here. We broke ourselves in with a gentle canal side walk:














then tackled Sugar Loaf:














































































which was a good 9.5 miles. Then another gentle canal side walk, during which we found this amazing tree (think of the stories it could tell):


















and then, on Wednesday, we tackled a mega huge 22 mile circuit in dubious weather and (on the top 60mph gusting winds). We started by climbing Table Mountain (which is a bit of a scramble at the top):




























then carried on along the ridge:




























It was fantastic but hard work with the wind pushing us this way and that throughout but we did it! - and treated ourselves to a Chinese takeaway when we got back (and the restaurant didn't object to our muddy walking boots either!).

Tomorrow - knitting update and more!

Adriafil

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

We've had a small delivery in from Adriafil today so there will be 3 lovely new yarns on the site soon and, in the meantime, updated stocks of the gorgeous 4ply pure alpaca Sierra Andina:











the Giada in Duck Egg (which I knitted the shawl pattern in) is back in stock (pattern is free when you buy the yarn - less than £20 for this shawl!):



















Knit Col is back in stock (with more new lovely colours to come):














and we have updated stocks of white and cream in our gorgeous pure Egyptian cotton, Memphis:










There's still time to knit yourself a pretty little summer top!

Hot off the Needles

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

These are a very, very, very late birthday present for my sister-in-law (her birthday was in May):













They are Rico Superba Bamboo (50% merino, 25% bamboo, 25% polyamide) - shade 4 - and when I started knitting them we had 10 balls in stock but, having had them lounging around the shop whilst on the needles I notice we're now down to 1 ball! Grab it now, if you've fallen in love with the colour and check out the other colours anyway - they're all lovely.

I've now cast on my brothers and his birthday is in 21 days so I need to get a wiggle on .........

Finished Things - More!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Last night we went to watch and support G in a cycle race. During the hanging around (which there always is on these kind of events), I knitted. He partook of his passion, I partook of mine. I didn't finish anything but that doesn't mean there aren't finished things to show you:

Tie front bolero in Angel by Debbie Bliss:



















This pattern came from Debbie's incredibly popular spring/summer magazine. We (and I think everyone else) has now sold out of this magazine but I'm pleased to say the Angel patterns from it are being reproduced in a book for this autumn/winter. We will be stocking the book as soon as it's available so you will be able to get hold of this pattern!




















Tracey knitted this for me in Brushstrokes DK. It's a simple pattern and easy to wear and incredibly warm - absolutely ideal for cold winter days. Need I say more?!

A Superchunky waistcoat in Life:



















Although this pattern is designed for children, the biggest size is - as you can see - big enough for a small adult! It was quick to knit (being Superchunky) but the edging seemed to go on and on for ever! It's really warm and the garter stitch waistband is super-flattering!

A tunic from King Cole in Mirage:



















This is Tracey's tunic and this style doesn't suit me at all so I'm not really sure why I'm wearing it (and I think my face says that as well!) - however Tracey loves it and it looks great on her so don't be put off by me! It's straightforward to knit and is incredibly warm.

James' Brett's Monsoon to a Rustic pattern:



















This - on the other hand - is right up my alleyway - this is a Rustic Aran pattern (JB043):



















knitted in Monsoon (S4):












Doesn't it look great?:



















and finished off with one Cornish Pewter Heart button:















Finally, we have a Riot sweater:



















tres chic - although I wish I had slightly browner shoulders!

Believe it or not, we have 2 more garments to show you but they're currently adorning our mannequins in the shop so you'll have to hold on and wait for them.

Tomorrow night we are going camping (again) so prepare for howling gales, lashing rain, plague and pestilence ..............

More lovelies

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Continuing on the "things finished but not blogged" theme - I designed and knitted a very simple shawl in Adriafil's Giada yarn:
















This you may, or may not, remember is a standard DK yarn but with the addition of little sequins (as you can just see in this pic). It was crying out to be a simple shawl for summer evenings or weddings so I designed one with just a very simply yarn over feature along each edge:






































You can, of course, make it bigger and longer but the addition of another ball or two. The pattern is now available on the site - here - and is free with the purchase of 3 balls of Giada (for that is all it takes). At just under £20.00 I think that's a pretty good summer shawl!

In addition I have been knitting socks! I used to think that life was too short to knit socks but I'm now hooked and always have a pair "on the go" for journeys, camping, sitting in the sun etc, etc. They all go for presents and here is one pair I made for FB (modelled by T):



















They are knitted in Rico's Superba Bamboo - that's sock yarn with a bit of bamboo for softness - yummy!

I then knitted G a pair for his birthday (he loves hand knitted socks, good lad). These are in Rico Poems (again modelled by T):



















Finally, Tracey knitted up a top in Adriafil's Memphis. This is a gorgeous Egyptian cotton yarn and has been flying out as the weather gets warmer. The pattern is by Stylecraft and, as it's done in a yarn we don't actually stock, I can't show it on the site but we do have it in stock so please give us a ring if you'd like it. However, it shows how beautifully the Memphis knits up and the fantastic stitch definition you get with pure cotton:



















Tomorrow - more finished garments - haven't we been busy?!