Folksy

I'm not a great fan of "folk". When I first met Colin he used to go to what was loosely described as a "folk club" but was basically an open mike night where anyone who fancied having a go could get up and sing or play an instrument or both. As we'd only just started going out I felt I ought to make an effort to enjoy what he liked and I stuck it out for a while, gritting my teeth and smiling and clapping at the often awful efforts of some of the "entertainers".

But on a similar named but completely different concept, I came across a little website called Folksy. For those of you who know etsy, but are in the UK and find that most of the sellers are overseas, you may find this site useful. It looks a lot like etsy and is basically the same concept - independent craftspeople and designers selling their wares - but it is based in the UK. One seller that caught my eye this morning with their brightly coloured buttons and things is called PaperFish. Cute. There are also pages where they show you how to make things so you can have a go yourself.

Green Eyed Monsters

This is a sock yarn that I ordered from etsy with the money I made from selling the Drops Paris. The seller is called Green Eyed Monsters and is based in Manchester UK. Here is the original listing and you can see the colour is a bit different - pinky rather than red - but actually I really like it. It is slightly variegated so it will be interesting to see how it knits up. I think a nice lacy project is in order, probably socks!

Unfortunately I think I may have had my first bad experience with an ebay seller. I won an auction for some yarn on 15th Feb and still haven't received it and have heard nothing from them despite 2 emails. I'm not sure how much longer to leave it before contacting ebay. I've not had to do this before so I'm not sure of the procedure. They do have a history of being a bit slow dispatching - and I'm not in a great hurry for the yarn - but I'd just like them to contact me.

I have restarted the Amused jumper, and am back to where I was before I frogged it. I am using the stitch markers I made last week - the green ones - and have come across a slight snag with them. Because the thread is clear, I keep missing them and knitting them with the yarn! So I won't be using clear thread again. I have placed a small order online with the Bead Shop, including some silver beading thread so that should be better.

As for my design project, I haven't worked on it since before we went to Ireland. I am not really sure of the yarn and it is kind of putting me off carrying on. Maybe I will just complete one of the pair and see what I think.

My mum informed me that she has finished her scarf though. I wonder if she will now carry on knitting again.

Yummy socks!

Here are the socks I finished last night.

Pattern: 9 to 5 socks
Yarn: Wild Fire Fibres Manyana Merino/Tencel sock yarn
Needles: Addi lace 2.5mm using magic loop
Mods: none

Bags of fun

I always have a pair of socks OTN. At the moment I have 2 pairs. As I am now using a ball winder to make centre pull balls, they do not roll around like they used to, but I thought it would be nice to have the yarn, needles, row counter and pattern all in one place.

I had a mooch around on etsy.com and found this seller. Aren't they cute? What is amazing is that they only cost $10 each (about £5.50?). Scrolling down I noticed that it said shipping was free, but I couldn't believe she would send from the USA to the UK for nothing so I emailed her. Sure enough, she said it was free so I ordered more than one, seemed a waste of free shipping to just order one! (Becca - do not order any, I've got you covered!)

Yesterday I wasn't needed in work so I decided to tidy up my knitting stuff because it was basically scattered everywhere. I piled everything onto the spare bed and this is what it looked like.



And you can't see the 4 bags on the floor or the books and magazines! Anyway, I have now succeeded in getting all the yarn into 4 large tubs, all the straight needles in a bag, and all the circs in a binder of clear pockets. The patterns that aren't in books are also in a binder and I went through about 30 magazines and tore out anything I wanted to keep and binned the rest. (I kept all my Interweaves intact though!)

So now I can put my hand to anything I need, but curiously I never found the 2 stitch holders I know I have and which I had to replace at the weekend because I couldn't find them. I think they went down the black hole where things go in my house sometimes. Unfortunately I don't know where it leads so I can't get things back.

Now I can carry on with my Tweedy waistcoat and try to finish it before knitting group next Tuesday as I want to start an Ice Queen and need help with a provisional cast on.