So much inspiration!

I've been watching series 1 of Kirstie's Homemade Home on Channel 4OD. Oh my goodness, I have got so many ideas buzzing around my head! I'm not sure that my local wool shop stocks enough wool for all the blankets, cushions and bunting that I'm going to make!

In the meantime, I'm knitting a cushion cover in Rowan DK which is taking me forever ... Perhaps that bunting will be a while yet.

Crafty people are the nicest people.

My friend and I had a lovely time at Ally Pally! I think I might have to book now for next year ... and start saving now!!

The journey there was so smooth that I would swear that we were in The Truman Show! Every train and bus was merely waiting for our arrival before they set off. The show began when we arrived (naturellement)!

I went there in the hopes of getting some inspiration for knitting, as well as for sewing, and I wasn't at all disappointed. There were so many lovely wools and so many gorgeous fabrics! I bought a couple of sewing magazines and got goody bags, which my daughter was thrilled with! I also bought some more sock wool (still working on my first pair of socks!), some recycled sari silk spun into a yarn and a couple of lengths of cotton fabric to play around with. I chatted to lots of very nice people who knew lots more about sewing and knitting than me, but were very patient with me.

Highlights of the day:

• Spending time with my bezzie mate was lovely!! (I have to say this, in case she reads this!).
• Rag rugging workshop was cool. I want a bodger!
• Touching lots of yummy wool.
• Getting home and showing off my haul to my excited daughter and endlessly patient hubby.

Low points:

• Man who got me to touch possum pelt before I remembered that 'pelt' means 'it died.'
• French knitting (so-called) teacher who made us feel very awkward when we arrived a little late, having got the start time wrong.
• Rude people on the train home who thought that very small children should have their own seats on a crowded train, and 'Ra girls' who gave fake apologies but didn't give me their seat.

Knitting and Stitching Show

I have been patiently waiting for this week for months! Finally, this Friday, I'm off to Ally Pally to the Knitting and Stitching show! Squeeeeal!

I've saved my pennies, bought my Onya bag to carry my wool in, planned what I'm wearing. I just need to make my packup then I'm ready!!

Balls!

It was my turn to bring home the balls that we've been knitting, in my knitting class, and photograph them as part of a collaborative project. The photos will all be exhibited together at Dragon Hall in Norwich.

Woolly nice card!

My bezzie mate sent me this really cool card! It made a very average day so much nicer! Sometimes I feel that my new-found hobby is a bit trivial in the scheme of things, so it's really nice to know that my pal understands.

Daisy Daisy

This is my daisy, fresh out of the washing machine.

I used the chunky filz-it wool to make this,

so it's turned out quite big, but I'm hoping that it

will look nice sewn onto the front of a cushion.

My brain is filled with crochet.

These are the things that I know now, but didn't know last week:

1) I now know what a turning stitch is! Most of the books say to make a foundation chain, which is easy, then tell you to make a 'turning chain' expecting beginners to intuitively know what this means! It took hours for the penny to drop and to realise that this was just another chain stitch. Grr, wasted hours!

2) I love that crochet language sounds like lines from Macbeth:

'Double, Double treble.
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.'

3) There are two methods for crocheting. By inserting the hook under both threads on a stitch, or by inserting the hook under just one thread. Only one book mentioned that there were two methods, leaving me utterly confused.

4) Apparently you can get a row counter phone app for your phone now! See: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1-2-3-knit/id375019165?mt=8 . I don't have an iPhone though. Perhaps I could knit myself one??!

5) It's really hard to learn crochet by yourself. Sue, my knitting tutor at Dragon Hall, taught me more in half an hour than I'd managed to teach myself over the course of a day.

What I still don't know:
1 - 99) I am at that stage where I don't really know what I don't know, but suspect that my lack of knowledge is immense!!

100) I don't know why I seem to lose one more stitch on every row that I crochet. I can therefore make triangles, but not squares at the moment...