New Items For Sale

Here are some pictures of some pretty new things up for sale on my Folksy shop. Take a look at them and some some more stitch markers and row counters at http://www.folksy.com/shops/charminglochie.

Knitting Podcast Review: Electric Sheep

Electric Sheep: The Knitting Podcast from Hoxton Handmade

As many of you are aware I am a total audio geek. I love music, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. I am not saying I have great taste but that's not the point :o)

So when I read on Ravelry that there is a new British knitting podcast called 'Electric Sheep' well I just had to have a listen. What Islander wouldn't when it's got a name like that??!

I will start off by copying her bio from her website 'www.hoxtonhandmade.com' for you:

Hoxton Handmade is a Knitter, Blogger, Electric Sheep Podcaster, & General Rambler who roams the urban jungle of London Town. When provoked, she has also been known to play the ukulele.

I seem to have come to this podcast late and it is already on episode 27 on iTunes so I decided to go back to the beginning and listen from episode 1. And it's been good fun too. I am now on episode 6 and I am thoroughly enjoying listening while getting the housework done or knitting. So I thought I would share my thoughts of this gem of a podcast with you all.

Firstly, it's great to have another British knitting podcast finally out there, and although I love all the Americans that podcast it is nice to hear a (seriously) English accent on a podcast. Her speech is clear and soothing and her use of the language is appropriate. The essay part at the beginning of the podcast is really good and it feels like you are listening to one of the knitting humour audio books out there as it tends to be pretty funny as well.

Hoxton Handmade also likes to explore the online aspects and community of knitting which for those of us living remotely is great. We don't all have access to iKnit London or Loop in London so it's great to hear that we're not the only ones not shopping at our Local Yarn Store.

And when she talks about things to see and do in London it's actually really good even when you are living at the other end of the country. Her enthusiasm for visits to places like the Victoria and Albert Museum is totally infectious but it's also great for me as I am hoping to visit London next year and now I know all the arty crafty things to do while there :o)

The sound quality of the podcast is excellent as is the jingle/intro music and the fact that new podcasts seem to be uploaded on a regular basis is a nice change from some which disappear for months on end!

All in all I totally recommend this podcast (so you have to listen!!) and you can subscribe through iTunes as well as on the website at http://www.hoxtonhandmade.com/. I will also link to the website under my podcast list on the right hand side of this page.

Happy Listening :o)

More Amigurumis

As well as knitting socks during October I also had two amigurumis on my list. The first was for my nephews birthday and was a lion to go with a book I was giving him. Apparantly it was well received and I was really pleased with how he turned out. He was made with cheap acrylic dk from my stash and was super quick to crochet up. The mane was a totally new technique for me and I was really pleased with how it turned out.










The second was a monkey for little1. He saw me crocheting the lion and took it upon himself to have a quick flick through the book and choose something for himself which was the monkey. Again, he was made up with cheap acrylic dk from the stash but took a little longer as he was a little bigger.













The book mentioned is Amigurumi World from Ana Paula Rimoli. She also has Amigurumi Two out now as well as having patterns available to purchase from her etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/anapaulaoli .



I absoloutly love her patterns and really hope Santa is bringing me Amigurumi Two for my Christmas. I may cry if he doesn't!!! I've put the amazon.com links on here as they have good reviews but both the books are available to purchase from http://www.amazon.co.uk/.

These cute creatures are the reason I persisted in learning crochet and they really are rewarding to make. Try it, you might like it :o)

Socktober Is Over

Although I didn't take part as I was running the competition I still knitted some socks just to show solidarity. That and the fact I had a ton of socks to knit up for gifts and actually still have at least 3 more pairs to complete before Christmas!! Anyway, Socktober is now officially over and the winner of the Stornoway Knit N Natter competition was Cheesybabe. There will be more on that after the prize presentation at this coming Wednesdays knitting group (including photos). So for now you will have to put with some pictures of my completed articles :o) These are all my basic plain vanilla socks. Which means it's a 2x2 rib for the cuff followed by straight stocking stitch leg and foot. I love having these socks in my handbag for portable knitting as they are so easy to do while in the car, waiting for appointments or at knitting group where I am talking (ummm, lots usually!) and so can't concentrate on a complicated pattern. I currently have two more pairs of socks on my needles.

One is the hot pink spider socks which are too complicated for my brain to work on while out and about and the other is a vanilla sock in the lovely Opal Harry Potter yarn that I bought from a fab shop called 'The Wool Shop' in Alnick in Northumberland while I was away. I absoloutly loved that shop as there was so much choice and the lady in there was lovely. The yarn is in the Harry and Ron colourway and they are going to be slouching socks for eldest child.

Hopefully I'll manage a few more blog posts this month and will definately post some pictures of our prizewinner and her prizes this week :o)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Pumpkin Trick or Treat Bag :o)

Audiobook Review: The Secret Language of Knitters by Mary Beth Temple

The Secret Language of Knitters: The Hilarious Guide to the Language of Knitters

Author: Mary Beth Temple

Narrator: Read by the Author

Publisher: Knitting Out Loud Publishing

Unabridged – 2hrs 28mins Genre: Knitting Humour

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Secret Language of Knitters by Mary Beth Temple from Knitting Out Loud Publishing is another excellent example of the new genre of knitting audio books. This genre doesn’t make much sense to non-knitters and frankly I’m not certain I would recommend any to a non-knitter. But to someone with insider knowledge of this craft, this book will make you laugh out and loud and you will ‘get it’!

This particular title is what I would class as Knitting Humour within the Knitting Genre. Using a classic dictionary format it takes you through the common acronyms, phrases etc from the universal language of knitters giving the word, word class and then description. Referencing words within itself (which doesn’t work so well in audio) the book humorously explains those common words and slang phrases so often heard in Yarn Stores and Knitting Groups around the world that would leave a non-knitter wondering why knitters talk about SEX (Stash Expansion eXpedition) so much!

As a knitter there was a lot in the book that resonated with me, especially the section on how stress knitting can soothe and help you get through those tough times. And who knew that Tink came from Knit spelt backwards?!? However, this is not a technical manual and those looking for such shouldn’t expect any instructions on knitting techniques from this book.

I personally loved the way the author narrated this book. The good thing about an author narrating their own audio book is the way the inflections and flow of the narration are so natural as the author already knows how they expected a certain sentence to sound given they wrote it. I found this narration soothing for the most part with the right injection of humorous inflection at appropriate times however, it did sound like they were trying too hard at times. The quality of the recording was superb as always from Knitting Out Loud Publishing and I would definitely recommend this book to any knitters looking for something funny to listen to while they are working on that complicated project.

Socktober is Here!!

Woohoo!!! I am that pleased about it. I am going to work soley (get it??!) on socks this month. I already have two pairs on the needles I want to finish (pink & purple and spider) plus I have an idea of a pair I want to make He Who Pays for Christmas. I know I still have brother in law from the city's wrist warmer to finish but that won't take long and I am going to leave my 'Amused' sweater on the needles until next month.

I will hopefully have a lot of knitting time as I am going to be travelling quite a bit for a couple of days in October and I won't be doing the driving so that is perfect sock knitting time.

I have also finished a Wine Bottle Sweater I was knitting as a test piece to help one of the Stornoway Knit N Natter group and I am really pleased with it:
Now, this sweater doesn't cover the whole bottle as I stopped short as it was only a test piece. However, this is an incredibly easy and quick knit from the most recent edition of Knitsimple magazine and I can see me making a few of these as gifts for the red wine drinkers I know.

In other news, I still have to write the audiobook review for the fantastic 'The Secret Language of Knitters' audiobook from Knitting Out Loud publishing but I will get round to that soon. I wasn't well for a while so haven't had a chance. In the meantime I have started listening to their other recent addition 'Mason-Dixon Knitting' from the printed book on my mobile phone so that will take me longer to get through as I will probably only be listening in the car or maybe when walking but still shaping up to be a good listen.

I also have every intention of doing two specific blog posts about knitting podcasts and magazines I like but can't promise that before the end of October.

Happy knitting everyone :o)