After the glorious sunshine we had at the weekend, the past couple of days have once again been cloudy, windy and sporadically wet. However, the roses are looking amazing in spite of the wind and rain and one of them is defying its name (Tottering By Gently) and attempting to grow taller than the fence it is next to! We also had a little day trip to Llandudno yesterday to help celebrate my lovely wife’s birthday – and there was, indeed, a little hint of blue sky at times in the distance. Why not have a listen to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song, The Blue Distance while you have a read? It’s a beautiful song and very relaxing.
I spent this morning and a good chunk of the afternoon in a deep dive analysis of sales, costs and profits from the yarn shows I’ve attended so far this year. It’s quite eye-opening once you add in the mileage, the printing costs of patterns and the cost of knitting kits as well as the usual costs of show fees and accommodation. Wonderwool Wales has been my best show business-wise so far which I was expecting. It’s a huge show and we were busy all weekend. More of a surprise was that Saturday’s event in Bangor, the North Wales Wool & Fibre Festival came second! It was such a lovely day and, although we had a very early start leaving home at 6.30am, the sun was up, the A55 was actually quiet and the hour-long journey was a pleasant way to start the day. We met some new folk, all lovely and interesting people, and the whole event was very well organised by Jenny and Sophia.
This was our space in the window of what used to be Bright House in the Deiniol Shopping Centre. I didn’t get pics of many of the other stands, but these are the ones I did get. On the left is Mossy & Fern who was our stand neighbour and on the right is Saorimor:
Both weavers, but very different!
I also made a purchase! It was my first purchase at a yarn show in quite a while, but I was so intrigued by this little gadget on Tecstiliau‘s stand and then, when I saw how it worked, I was hooked!
It’s for bracelet plying when spinning. Instead of wrapping the singles around your hand and wrist (and risking losing the blood supply in the process as well as finding it very difficult to remove) you wind it around this and then remove the peg from the top when you’re ready to ply the two ends. Genius!
If you’ve seen me at a show recently, you might have noticed me walking a little less freely than usual. I’ve been experiencing plantar fasciitis (again – I had it years ago too) and it’s been quite annoying and painful. But I am hopeful that improvements will soon start to be felt. I’ve just taken delivery of these massage balls:
The spiky one is very hard plastic and the smooth one is like heavy rubber. Currently I am typing away whilst rolling the spiky ball under my foot and it feels heavenly! My foot already feels better than it has in months. Fingers crossed it will make a long-term difference. I’ll let you know!
Last week I showed you some swatches I’d been experimenting with for a knitters-new-to-brioche pattern. Well, I’ve been busy and both the knit flat and in the round samples for the pattern are completed (although I still need to weave in ends and block them), and the pattern has been written up! There are two size options and either can be made with or without the garter stitch border. The pattern (and kits) will be making an appearance in the coming months. 🥳
The colours of these cowls haven’t come out very well – the left one is two shades of blue and the right one is two shades of green with the light colour being more muted than the pic suggests! If I get better pics with morning light tomorrow I’ll update them.
Also moving its way up the ‘to do’ list and edging nearer to the needles is my update of Bargello Aurora Wrap. This gorgeous horizontally knit wrap hasn’t had quite the amount of love I feel it deserves.
I wondered whether the large number of stitches (and very long rows) might be putting some folk off, and so considered ways to extend the flexibility of the pattern. So, there will also be a cowl version and a vertically knit version of the scarf coming soon and I’m looking forward to winding this yarn up tomorrow. It’s the same yarn I knit the original sample of Bargello Aurora in, dyed by Rachel from Cat and Sparrow and it’s so gorgeous, being a single spun, superwash Blue-faced Leicester yarn. This photo has come out showing the colours exactly as they are!
There may even be progress on one of the new samples to show you next week – who knows!
Take care and enjoy the sunshine when you can, K x