"Juliet" Summer Tweed from Debbie Bliss

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

 

Need I say more?!  

Beautiful yarn, beautiful patterns.  This is a truly gorgeous yarn from Debbie Bliss - a real winner.

See all the patterns here.

And all the yarn colours here.

I really don't have enough superlatives to describe this yarn - it is simply, perfectly gorgeous.

The only problem is, which one to knit first?

Sundays are for Walking

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

As is well known on this blog, Sundays are for walking; however, we've had a few difficult weeks of it - one week when it was so wet I physically couldn't have been wetter, didn't dare get the camera out, gave up avoiding puddles small lakes and just waded through them and - for the first time in a very long time - very nearly lost my sense of humour whilst out on the moors walking.

Then there was the glorious day when we discovered that Matt we had left the camera on so the batteries were dead (it was his fault, I'm just trying to be nice cos he reads this) and then this weekend just gone the mist was so thick we couldn't see a mine head until we were upon it but we walked anyway but there are no photos (working on the theory that thick mist isn't the most riveting thing to be photographing).

So ... herewith we have photos of a walk we did about a month ago when a) the weather was pretty good, b) the camera was working and c) there was no rugby to rush back for (yes, I've had that scenario as well).

And, in case you're wondering what all this walking is about - well, firstly it's to get/keep fit (obviously), secondly because it's hard to resist when we have such glorious scenery on our doorstop and thirdly (and probably the most apt) is because we have a memorial walk which we are attempting to do this very weekend from Lizard to Land's End along the coast path.  That's 44 miles in total (although I've just seen one site which says it's 46!) so, no, we're not attempting it in one day (although some brave, young, fit students from Truro College are) so we're walking attempting to walk from Lizard to Marazion on day one and Marazion to Land's End on day two.

So - as part of the training, we did a glorious walk along the northern coast path back in February.  We walked from home to Nine Maidens (or Boskednan Stone Circle):

and then over the top and down to the north coast path at the Rosemergy Climbing Centre:

then along the coast path to Portheras Cove:

from where we headed inland and up to a Quoit we'd never visited before - Chun Quoit:

and thence on the short distance to the Iron Age Hillfort, Chun Castle:

(with Greenbarrow Mine {and home} in the far distance).

From there we followed the lane and path to Men An Tol:

(which we pass on nearly all our walks but rarely stop and photograph, despite it being one of the most popular and photographed ancient sites in West Penwith!)

And then over the moors to Greenbarrow Mine, home and tea and toast!

Before our epic adventure this weekend, look out for new yarn which has arrived here so will be online very shortly ...................

And, in case you're wondering, yes I am anxious about walking 44/46 miles along the coast path this weekend and, yes, it's going to be a challenge (which is, kind of, the point!).

New Yarns (and patterns) from Rico!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

So ... just in time for the lovely, spring weather we're currently enjoying (doesn't it make such a difference when there's a big, glowing orb of warmth and light in the sky - and it's amazing how quickly the ground starts to dry out and how everyone is instantly more cheery!) more summer yarns have arrived in stock - this time from Rico.

You may remember that I knitted a little summer top in Summer Print last year:

which I wore A LOT thanks to the glorious summer we had.  Well ... Rico have now brought out new colours (both plain and multi) and new patterns so, clearly, this interesting tape yarn was as successful for them as it was for us!  Here are the new plain colours (scroll down through the multi colours to find the plain ones):

and here are the new multi's, which you can see are a slightly different style to last year's:

and here is a quick selection of a couple of patterns (all of the patterns can be seen down the left hand side of the yarn page):

 

 

As well as Summer Print we had new CROCHET patterns in Rico's Cotton Soft (50% cotton, 50% acrylic blend) and we know how desperately everyone is searching for good crochet patterns so take a look at these:

and two new MANLY colours in Superba Bamboo sock yarn:

Personally, I like it when men wear jazzy bright socks but I know that many won't so here - just for them - two grey/blue plain "normal" colours!

I don't know about the rest of the country but here the days are glorious but there's still definitely a nip in the air in the evenings so warm, knitwear is still most definitely required!

St Piran's Day

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Last Wednesday (March 5th) dawned dry and bright (for a change), which made it the perfect day for the annual St Piran's Day parade down Causewayhead.

St Piran is the patron saint of tin miners and has gradually evolved into the Patron Saint of Cornwall with the St Piran's Flag (white cross on black background) now used as the symbol of Cornwall.

The children paraded and danced and the bands played - well done one and all - it was great to see the streets so crowded with proud parents and onlookers:

 

You have to really admire these small children playing instruments such as the flute and oboe whilst parading down the street!

I wonder how many other small towns across the UK are so proud of their patron saint?!

Tomorrow - new yarns (and patterns)..........................

New Yarns from Adriafil and Final Blanket Update

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

So ... the second batch of new yarns for spring/summer arrived this week and, as ever, large boxes from Italy always give us a bit of a thrill!  We have two brand new yarns and 3 new colours in the phenomenally popular Knitcol so I'll give you a taste of them first:

Knitcol is a DK superwash pure wool and just sells and sells - if you haven't knitted with it yet then it's another you need to add to the list of "wools I must knit with soon".....

So to the first of our new summer yarns: Carioca:

This is a linen/cotton/polyester mix with a very smooth, soft feel which knits up beautifully:

I really love it and can feel a summer top coming on:

Our second new yarn is Energia:

which, again, is a cotton blend but .... WITH SPARKLES!  Ooh, who can resist a bit of sparkle in their knitting, I know I can't.  Again, knits up beautifully:

and has several patterns.  Tracey has her eye on this one:

and I think this is rather sweet:

Let's just hope that this summer is as hot as last so we have plenty of opportunities to wear our lovely new tops!

And so to the final Ravellenic Games Blanket Update ...... well, I finally managed 97 squares over the course of the games, which equated to 5.7 squares per day.  As you know, I hadn't really set myself a target as I'd never previously timed how long it took to knit a square so I'm pretty pleased.  100 would have been a nice round figure but, hey, the blanket is 97 squares bigger than it was at the beginning!  Photos to follow .......

Finally, I visited my brother a few weeks ago and we did a quick photo shoot (as the light was fading) of my two Scatness Tams.  You may recall that I knitted one for my sister-in-law which was too small (she has masses of hair) so that became mine and I then knitted another one for her (on bigger needles).  She refused to model it so my lovely niece was roped in. 

Just so you know, Grace is 13 .... she is not standing on a box ..... she is in flat shoes ..... I am in 3" heels .... I am not bending my legs (if anything I'm standing as tall as I can) ..... Grace is a very, very good swimmer (and the rowing team are desperate for her too ...!):

Africa and Elephants

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

"Africa and Elephants" - a slightly odd subject for a knitting blog, I know - but I also know that knitters are caring, thoughtful and intelligent people so I'm going to digress from knitting and walking and life in Cornwall for this one blog entry.  Please stay with me ... what I'm going to talk about is way, way more important than knitting (and I love my knitting, remember!).

Matt and I are fortunate enough to count Mark Deeble and Vicky Stone as good friends - they make wildlife films in Africa and they're very good at it!  Matt was born and brought up in Tanzania in East Africa and we were lucky enough to travel there together for three months when we were first married and we've taken our boys to Kenya and Tanzania twice where we've met up with Mark and Vicky; the first time we stayed in their camp over Christmas when they were filming The Queen of Trees - eating Christmas dinner (barbecued goat) under African stars with hippos grunting not too far away is a truly unforgettable experience.

Mark and Vicky are currently in Kenya filming elephants - or perhaps that should be - trying to film elephants.  Elephant and rhino poaching is such a huge problem now that, if it continues at the current rate, there will be no elephants left in East Africa in 10-15 years.

For the mega-wealthy Chinese their drink of choice currently is wine with rhino horn ground up into it.  Why?  Because they have some warped idea that rhino horn will cure them of all manner of ills.

Mark has just started writing a very powerful blog about what they are currently seeing out in Africa.  It's not easy reading but - if you care about Africa, its wildlife and, especially, elephants I would ask you to read it, follow it, share it and get everyone to start talking about what's happening to these magnificent animals.

The Passing Of A Giant

Why We Won't Miss Elephants When They Are Gone

Thank you.

My next blog will be about knitting, promise!

New Yarns From King Cole (Moods and Moods Duet) plus Blanket Update

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

There isn't ever a time when new yarns aren't arriving or on the horizon but the two times of year when new stuff starts piling in is, of course, spring and autumn.

The first new yarn(s) for 2014 are Moods and Moods Duet from King Cole - plus new colours in Bamboo Cotton.  Before I move onto the Moods I have to say that if you haven't knitted with Bamboo Cotton yet then you need to!!  It's one of our best-selling yarns and one of King Cole's best too (if not the best).  I know it's a summer yarn (in theory) but, trust me, you'll be wearing it winter too!  Who can resist this lovely pattern in it:

or this:

(although that second one would swamp me but I'm seriously tempted by the first).  Reminder to self - Tom is going to University this September, not next.

Anyhoo, new colours in Bamboo Cotton are these:

And so to Moods and Moods Duet - two similar yarns but with totally different effects.  Moods Duet:

which knits like this:

and this:

and Moods:

which, as you can see, has flecks in it and knits like this:

and this:

I think this is going to be a really popular yarn (judging from initial reactions here in the shop) - it's a nice make-up of 30% wool, 70% acrylic, knits well and has a good yardage, which makes it very economical.  It's also a standard DK weight so will knit to your favourite DK patterns as well as its own.  What's not to love?!

On the blanket front, I rattled along over the weekend and added 19 more squares, bringing the total to 55 (average 5.5 per day).  Then knitted 10 more on Monday - grand total of 65 squares (average 5.9 per day) - yay!  Since then haven't knitted another one! - went to the cinema last night (again) so no knitting completed.  Average per day now = 5.4.  Hey ho, look on the bright side - there are 65 more squares on it than there were at the start of the Olympics - that's about 4 more rows.  And there are still a few more days to go!