|When I’m not attempting to improve my golf game, this is where I hang out and knit most days- enough said.
Filed under: travel knitting, travels, yarn | Leave a comment »
Not Just Novelty Yarns
Posted on August 16, 2010 by ehdknits
My friend Renee who is the chicest person I know(sorry Annabel) goes straight for the dramatic in the store we visited. She has me knitting this:
Online linea Solo ruffle yarn . This is seriously easy, fast and fun. She loves orange.
She also asked me to knit her a long scarf with fringe in Ironstone’s Starlight- a hand dyed blend of mohair with some thin rayon ruffled strands. You may notice in big letters the Spun in England- I’m presuming that Ironstone plyed this up themselves. Where’d they get the base yarn from?
I have been calling this genre of yarns novelty- but they go beyond the typical novelty we see in England – a scratchy crude acrylic eyelash, ribbon or ladder. I was in the local yarn shop for the south shore recently – Ribbonesque . The store was a riot of yarn concoctions, more often than not hand dyed and a mixture of natural and synthetic fibres.. Think loads of tilli thomas, Prism, Blue Heron , Great Adirondack etc concoctions stuffed everywhere.So-called standard yarns were present but not prevalent. Also interesting, sock yarn was downplayed (which I also noticed in New York).
These non-traditional yarns spur my imagination , but if you can see the price tag,more often than not, they are some what pricey. $30 (~£20) a skein for 140 yds of the Ironstone. To do the kind of scarf she wants , I need 3 skeins- not so sure this will play in the UK…..
Filed under: hand dyed yarn, novelty yarns, patterns knitting, travel knitting, travels, yarn | Tagged: novelty yarns, ruffle yarn | Leave a comment »
Vermont Farm Markets and Yarn
Posted on August 11, 2010 by ehdknits
Londonderry Farm Market- The first stalls:
I bought this lovely skein from Isobel, the Romney sheep which are apparently lovely and docile sheep as compared to BFLs which are very “nasty” according to the owner. The yarn is spun in Maine by a mill which will process small amounts of fleece for individual owners ( probably Harmony Mills- a rehabbed Victorian facility)
Other farmy offerings:
While some people think of Vermont as too “granola” (can’t decide what I think of this as an adjective), I love it: it feels like the best parts of Somerset and the Lake District to me.
Filed under: knitting fairs, travel knitting, travels, yarn | Tagged: vermont knitting | Leave a comment »
WOOLFEST 2009
Posted on June 29, 2009 by ehdknits
What a wonderful show- best sheep ever and stunning area. here’s my stall looking crammed to the rafters as usual- somehow missed snapping the Herdy sheep which were Scott’s favorites. This is definitely worth the trip from London for the fibre obsessed- I wanted to buy everything….. and just about did.
It has been a very frantic last six weeks- another trip to the States for Alex’s graduation and celebrations and my 35th high school reunion (.. gasp..) , a move out of our house in Suffolk ( which entails trying to fit another large lot of furniture into our already crammed London house). And showing at the Wimbledon village fair which was fantastic. As a result of the move, I have been forced to move a good deal of my stock into temporary storage until I get this house sorted out and have thus delayed plans for a summer open house and sale. However, I managed to keep quite abit of yarn here and I can get to anything easily. Also, have managed to sort out credit card facilities, so if you do need anything, just call and I can send it out. Please feel free to drop by as well!
Filed under: elegant sheep, knitting fairs, sales/shows knitting, sheep cute, travel knitting, travels, yarn | Tagged: knitting lake district, travels, woolfest 2009 | Leave a comment »
KNITTING AND GOLF
Posted on August 30, 2008 by ehdknits
My friend Ellen knit these wonderful club covers from my pattern- she wants to add pompoms to denote wood number- very cute. Ellen also knit this cashmere hat for me-
Filed under: cashmere yarn, La Bottega del filato yarn, patterns knitting, travels | Tagged: cashmere yarn, golf knitting | 1 Comment »
A Cashmere Holiday
Posted on August 29, 2008 by ehdknits
I feel like a returning student writing the obligatory what I did on my summer vacation-but this was the ultimate knitting holiday- nothing but cashmere. La Bottega del filato cashmere will be launched next month- it provides the ultimate cashmere knitting experience and I did it everywhere- on the beach, on the train etc etc. This yarn will make its debut at IKNIT show in London on 6th Sept!
Filed under: cashmere yarn, KIP (knitting in public), patterns knitting, travels | Tagged: cashmere yarn, Knitting in public, La Bottega del filato yarn | 1 Comment »
This Sock saw Eric Clapton
Posted on August 3, 2008 by ehdknits
Last week was a great KIP one! This sock saw Eric Clapton last weekend ( well it really only saw John Mayer and Sheryl Crow as I was too busy acting age inappropriately during Eric’s performance!) A hat watched the German semi-finals in Berlin ( albeit in front a big screen at a restaurant). Did hand-warmers on the plane trip to and fro Berlin ( and amazingly with the same guy in the window seat both times… no one ever sits in the middle if they can help it when you knit!) warning- do not attempt grafting during park concerts!
Filed under: celebrities and knitting, KIP (knitting in public), travels | Tagged: eric clapton, KIP (knitting in public) | 2 Comments »
knitting and sex at Smith College in the 60’s
Posted on June 21, 2008 by ehdknits
My lovely Aunt Meg has been in town visiting gardens and us! Needless to say, a lot of knitting chat as Meg was a prolific knitter before the demands of being a dedicated lawyer got in the way. She is brillant and graduated from Smith in the 60’s where besides being a scholar and avid political activist, she also knit constantly. Kniting was actually seriously popular at Smith and one of her best kniting stories goes something like this( look away now if sexual content offends…)
Knitting was often taken to lectures and this particularly annoyed one Prof ( I mean Mr.) call him X.Well Mr. X one day called on a Ms. Y saying ” You realize Ms. Y that kniting is a form of m………n”
To which Ms. Y replied ” You do it your way,I’ll do it my way”
Meg said this is story was so popular that an alternate ending evolved
Ms.Y replies”When I knit, I knit, When I m-, I M-e”
I am not kidding, She swears it’s true- I think it’s hilarious….
In the vein of family knitting stories, there was the one about my mother’s first knit project ever- an argyle sock for her boyfriend and one about knitting scarfs for lepers( at which point my almost adult kids wanted to know what a leper was, OMG)… but this is another story.
Well to prove what goes around comes around, I taught my Aunt how to knit socks on circular needles- ironic as she was almost certainly instrumental in my early knitting progress.. Here’s her first heel turn- very exciting
Filed under: culture and knitting, KIP (knitting in public), travels | Tagged: college knitting, family knitting, Knitting in public | Leave a comment »
knitting in nuremberg
Posted on June 5, 2008 by ehdknits
Proving that I have raised my chldren properly, Alex sent me this pic of a yarn shop in Nuremberg. However,her instincts are not all right- She did not go in! So where’s the wollmeise- where are the Suzanne ebony needles? Off to Berlin in a few weeks to visit her and get the goods-
Filed under: travels, yarn | Tagged: knitting in germany | 1 Comment »
Brillant Women-18th century Bluestockings
Posted on May 8, 2008 by ehdknits
One of the many benefits of being a sustainer of the Junior League of London is the opportunity to take part in fun cultural and social events. This morning i went to the nattional portrait gallery for a special breakfast and tour of this gem of an exhibition. This small exhibit illustrates the emergence of a group of intellectual, independent women seeking freedom from the conventions of the day-embroidery sited as a particularly onerous activity of the time! Above is Mde. de Stael- an inspiring woman of the period kicked out of france by Napoleon for her criticism of his regime.
This doesn’t have much to do with knitting unless you are interested in the blue stocking element( vs. classic white silk worn generally by the gentry of the time, but that is a whole different story..). However, it does lead you to consider popular perceptions of hand crafts of various periods as well as our own. Aren’t we glad that our own hand crafted efforts are not viewed as shackling (sp?), don’t we all wish we had more time just to knit or needlepoint? Don’t you just hate the Shreddies ad with grannies knitting cereal pieces ( haven’t seen the staples ad with men’s sweaters yet..) Could go on ,but i won’t. In any case, see this if you’re in the area- the exhibit closes 15th June.
on a lighter note, one of my favorite pix of Abel during our photo session with Derek the other day.
don’t worry- this one won’t make it on a pattern!
Filed under: culture and knitting, patterns knitting, travels | Tagged: brillant bluestockings, exhibit bluestockings, feminist knitting, junior league of london | Leave a comment »
|
Ehdknits 