the north wind doth blow

Its certainly a lot chillier here lately - definitely time to get out the winter woollies and base layers. Just the time of year to sit beside the fire and do a wee bit of knitting, so I'm on to my second ball of yarn bought at the Glen Gallery - a beautiful pink / grey Araucania Ranco Multi.

I'm knitting yet another pair of fingerless mitts for myself, using a pattern by Catherine Ryan - Fingerless Piano and Mini Mitts which can be found on her Hither and Yarn blog. I've made much use of this pattern ...one Christmas everyone got a pair, each having a different description such as gaming gloves, computing mitts etc. I like using 4ply wool for the project as the mitts are light enough to use going shopping or even inside. I'm hoping to use whats left of the skein to make a scarflette - so I'm on the lookout for a nice pattern.

100% wool

When I'm knitting my buns I would usually use 100% acrylic double knit - mainly because of cost and also because of the wide variety of colours available. I particularly like Stylecraft dk, as I think it has a nice sheen to it. I also love the multicoloured dks available such as the JC Brett ones. However on my recent visit to the Glen gallery I splashed out a bit and bought some lovely yarns. I started on the first ball, a purple Rowan pure wool aran. I knitted a pair of leg warmers to wear with boots and also squeezed a pair of fingerless mitts out of the ball as well. I found the fingerless mitts pattern on Ravelry .... Superquick Fingerless Mitts by Aemmeleia The leg warmers were knitted as a simple tube on dpns with size 6.5mm needles. The rib was k3, p3 and I casted off very loosely.

Thanks Chris for being photographer for the day!
I really should be getting on with my City and Guild stuff, oh well maybe next week.
Happy Knitting, Ali

relaxation

 

A lot as been said about the therapeutic benefits of knitting. I'm a definite upholder of this idea...... the rhythmic nature of the process of knitting is most calming. I find as I focus on each stitch all my worries tend to gradually disappear and are forgotten. Today I spent the afternoon in the lovely October sunshine working away at some of the beautiful yarn I bought recently in the Glen Gallery a great two hours therapy and I ended up with a pair of leg warmers besides.

bye, Ali

glen gallery

I heard about this place in Cullybackey in a forum on Ravelry. So had to whiz up the motorway today to have a look. They are having work done to the shop, so it was a wee bit chaotic. Despite this I could see it was a real Aladdin's Cave. Lovely yarns which I thought were only available online or on the mainland....Rowan, Louisa Harding to name a few. They also have an embroidery, felting and patchwork section. There are also workshops for knitting, crochet, hand quilting, and jewellery making. I'm so excited I'm sure I'll be back again and again. The full address is The Glen Gallery, 48 Fenagh Road, Cullybackey just outside Ballymena....well worth a visit.

back to school

Haven't had time to blog recently with this and that. School is well and truly started and our house has returned to the school routine - packed lunches, PE kit, homework and for me the school run. I've also gone back to "big" school - that is City and Guilds - embroidery class this year. The class includes felters so the first thing we all made was a piece of felt. This is the first time I've made felt and it would seem it is not an exact science, as its hard to predict what the outcome will be. Here's a photo of how mine turned out. Someone in the class said it looked like the painting "Waterlilies" by Monet, so I was happy with that comment. It still needs a wee bit more rolling, but its a very nice craft and I'm sure Ill make some more pieces. Bye, Ali.