Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2013

Well it's Monday morning after the fantastic weekend at Edinburgh Yarn Festival down in Leith.  Myself and Cairngorm Bags had a fantastic time and it was so lovely to meet so many amazing people.  We headed down the A9 to Edinburgh after school had finished and made good time arriving about half five.

I headed straight out to Vittoria's on Leith Walk for a marvellous dinner with the three organisers, Sigi, Kerry from Knitting For All, Louise from Woolfish, Emily of Tin Can Knits, and two other lovely ladies who I can't remember the names of.  Please forgive me girls but I was a tad overwhelmed and startstuck by this point!!

Headed back to the hotel nice and early to get a good nights sleep but of course that didn't happen as I was full of nerves and was up at 6.30am and ready to go at 7.15am.  The organisation and volunteers were fantastic when we got to the drill hall and we were soon in full flow setting up:

Seeing as we were ready to go at about half past eight and I was starving, I headed off to hunt down some food and take a look at what else was going on.  It was a great chance to get some photos of the other stalls so here they are :):

Those at the front of the Drill Hall setting up.

Knitting For All Stand, who I will hopefully be working with shortly!

The fabulous banner.

Ysolda Teagues Stand

Ysolda Teague and Friend

Alpaca Loft stall.  This stuff was gorgeous and I really wanted a pair of slippers but Mum pointed out Stanley would 'kill' them :(

Susan Crawford's stand.  This was full of so much beautiful knitting!!

The Skein Queen stand.  I didn't manage to acquire any this time but it was gorgeous stuff.

The queue inside at 10am.  Apparently it stretched right the way round the corner outside which was fantastic for us stallholders to hear.

The crowds and some knitted bunting.

Visitors relaxing in the cafe.

The lovely Louise of Caithness Craft Collective Podcast looking thoughtful.  We all met up for a podcaster meet up organised by Louise who was a pleasure to meet in 'person'.  Felt like i'd known her all my life!!

I have to admit we did start to flag about 3pm through lack of coffee and sugar so I hunted down a chocolate brownie and the world was good again.  At 5pm it was time to pack up and after having such a lovely day and meeting so many wonderful folk we didn't really want to leave!!

But this was a great experience and has taught me many things:

• always take chocolate
• and coffee
• lots of it!!
• wear lots of wool layers (we were warned how cold it would be but I didn't pay attention and was freezing!!)
• craftspersons are the most lovely, warm, funny, friendly and pleasant people in the world!!
• & finally it cemented in my mind that I am definitely going to work in this  industry from now on as it's where my heart and passion fully exists.

I can't wait till next years events and both myself and Cairngorm Bags want to say a massive thank you to the organisers for their tireless hard work and their great planning.  Not only leading up to the day but on the day they were constantly checking the stallholders were okay and had everything they needed and we couldn't have got very far without the help of the wonderful volunteers and their trolleys also :o)

See you all there next year?  I'll be the one hunting down the chocolate brownie again :o)

Episode 23: A Short One!!

Sections include:
Knitting
All projects can be viewed through my Ravelry page and all podcasts and external websites are linked on the right hand side of the blog.

Hope you enjoy guys!!

Episode 22

Sections This Week:
Knitting
Food & Fitness

KNITTING:
On The Needles:
Daphne & Delilah by Rebecca Danger
Summer Solstice by Heidi Kirrimaier

Finished Projects:
Afterthought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman
Broken Seed Stitch Socks by Handepande

Goodies:
Voodoo You Love Me by Susan Claudino
Valentine Candy Pillows by Jennifer Stafford
Project Bag from Cairngormbags
Simply Knitting Issue 102 Review

Planned:
Twisted Limone Socks
Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2013 Stallholders:

• Ripplescrafts
• Skein Queen
• Old Maiden Aunt
• Textile Garden
• Yarn Pony
• Border Tart
• Skybluepink Designs
• Be Inspired FIbres
• Natural Born Dyers
• Tincan Knits
• Wee County Yarns
• Ysolda
• Lioness Arts
• Jonathon Avery
• Knitting For All
• Travelling Yarn
• Shilasdair

Audio Visual:

Keep an eye on Ravelry group for links to Tuesday Night VKN's.

Check the links on the right of the blog for all the podcasts I mention.

FOOD & FITNESS

Myfitnesspal

Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter D'Adamo

Episode 21: Hello 2013!!

Happy New Year 2013

Here's wishing all my followers of the blog and podcast a very Happy 2013!!  Here's to a great year of great things to come!!

Zombie Vixen Mittens are done!!

Christmas knitting has officially commenced!! Yes, I am feeling particularly pleased with myself (there is a smug air in the charminglochie household) as I have finished my first Christmas gift before the end of October :o) Granted it isn't a particularly large project but it's very pretty. I give you the Zombie Vixen Mittens (from the pattern by Susan Claudino).

I knitted these fingerless mittens in a fingering weight yarn from Abstract Cat on Etsy. The name of the colourway is 'Red Devil' and it's a gorgeous red black colour. I am really pleased with how they turned out and I did enjoy the cabling. The pattern was really well written and easy to follow and I've entered it into the StudentKnits podcast October knitalong on Ravelry.

 It's been a pretty quiet week here in the Highlands but boy has it been cold!! We've had our first dusting of snow this weekend and I was freezing in the shop today. Hopefully I'll get used to it as it's supposed to be the cold winter in 100 years this year. But I'm fairly certain they said that last year. And the year before that!!

A very exciting event did occur at work this week with the launch of the Kindle range in Waterstones. And that meant that I finally got to take my Kindle Fire HD home :o) I absolutly love it!! I am going to do a specific post reviewing it in the next few days but I've been watching podcasts such as Knitting in Circles, TheKnitGirllls and Knit1Hearttoo talking about their Rhinebeck visit on it and the colours of their lovely purchases came across so well I was drooling at the screen!! And it's pretty good for reading books too ;o)

Episode 16

Episode 16 of The Charminglochie Podcast for your viewing! (Please excuse the hair and skin!!)



Other sources I talked about or mentioned in this episode:
Knitrundig
Knitpurlgurl
Great British Yarns Online Shop
Fripperiesnbibelots
Fibernymph Dyeworks
Ripples Yarns
The Knitting Goddess
Knittngsmybag
Stacey Trock of Freshstitches
Desert Vista Dyeworks
The Knitter Magazine
Simply Knitting Magazine
Deramores

A Quick Video Update!

9th April 2012

Hi Everyone,
Here's a quick knitting update with explanation as to why I've suddenly decided to start video casting again.  It's rough around the edges as I knew it would be but it's kind of cool to be back talking to you all again :o)  I hope you enjoy!



Mentioned in this episode:
Purple People Eater
Kindle Cover
Mort Socks
Tie for Middle Brother in Law
FreshStitches Website
The Knitting Goddess Shop
Atomic Knitting Shop
Knit Run Dig Podcast

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day Everyone,
I know it's been a while but I have some pretty pictures to atone (well I think they're pretty anyway!).
The first is this gorgeous sweater that my loving mother made for me and sent up. It's to get me through the FREEZING weather we are having here!










I've also discovered the joy of chunky socks and how quick they knit up (can you tell i'm cold?). These are fantastically easy to knit up and very comfy and the Sirdar Crofter Chunky is a very funky knit with the yarn being lovely and soft and the patterns is just plain cool :o)








I've also finished a couple of cotton dishcloths which are quick and easy and are incrdibly useful in the kitchen. I had no idea what the deal was with dishcloths until I knitted them up.

















For Valentines day I decided to knit HWP his very own pair of socks as he's never received a pair from me. Unfortunately other things became priority so this morning he only received 1 sock. I used the excuse that I needed to check it fitted before I started the second one (clever eh?) and he seemed to like it so I will make a start on the other one this week.

And finally for me I am knitting the Ingenue sweater from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. I am knitting this in Sirdar Toddler Aran in a deep rich chocolate colour that my mum gave me for Christmas. I'm knitting this in a smaller size than I originally planned as my Amused sweater worked out so massive so knowing my luck this will be too small!!









But it's a really nice pattern worked in the round from the top down and I love the collar pattern. The yarn itself is also very nice to work with.

Stornoway Knit N Natter is still going strong with 8 of us showing up last week for a hilarious session at Eleven in Stornoway. We had a really good laugh as well as welcoming a new member.

I've recently had the latest editions of Knitting Magazine and Yarn Forward Magazine delivered through my door (once again my lovely mother and her gift of knitting magazine subscriptions for birthday and Christmas) and am looking forward to sitting down and having a good read in peace and quiet so I can review them at a later date.

In the meantime, have fun :o)

Mums Birthday Waistcoat

I finished my Mums cable waistcoat just in time to post it out to her on the Tuesday before her Thursday birthday. She received it on the Thursday and seemed very pleased with it:

I left it without buttons as I wanted her to choose them herself as there is a better selection in Inverness than in Stornoway!!

So I'm now working on my 'Amusing Recovery' sweater which is huge!!! Yes, I think I sized it wrong but I'm not that bothered actually. It's gonna make a fab winter round the house sweater and if future winters are going to be anything like the one we are currently experiencing then it's just what I need in my wardrobe.

I also still have the 'Spider Socks' on my needles but the pattern is too intricate to be used as a portable project so I'm going to have them as a house project after I've finished the sweater and cast on some vanilla socks for knitting group this week.

I'm currently listening to 'Wolf Hall' by Hillary Mantel on the iPod and it's fantastic!!! Despite being difficult to get in to I am now half way through and hooked on this version of the Henry VIII / Anne Boleyn story told from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell.

Christmas is coming....

.... and I'm off!! Well hopefully, if the ferry sails on Tuesday and the Ullapool - Aviemore road is passable! So I thought I would give you one last post of 2009. Unfortunately I can't post any pictures of finished projects as I am worried that people may actually read this blog and spot their Christmas presents so instead I will give you some yummy yarn that is in my stash:

All this wool came from the fabulous Kemps Wool Shop. This is an online store I use (although it does have a bricks and mortar shop) which has fantastic prices and excellent shipping times. Can't reccommend it enough. The first yarn on the left is 10 50g balls of Patons Washed Haze Aran in Gray that I will be using for a tank top for he who pays. The middle yarn is another 10 50g balls of Patons Washed Haze Aran but in Teal this time and I will be using that for a sweater for Eldest Child. And the third yarn is 5 50g balls of Patons Diploma Gold DK in a denim blue colour that I will be using for a sweater for little1. This entire order including postage came to under £23 which is excellent in my opinion. Seriously, check out this store.

And this is the year of the COLD SHEEP people. Nope, I haven't decided to shear sheep in December but 2010 is the year I knit only from stash!! I know, shock horror but it's happening. I have a lot of really quality yarns in my stash but I also have a fair amount of cheap acrylic that squeaks when it's knitted that I bought for knitting toys from. So I've decided that this year I will knit those toys and stamp down my stash to make room for some beautiful hand dyed yarns from independent sellers in 2011.

And finally, it's perfect weather for knitters.

Yes, it's cold here on the rock in the Atlantic and so I intend to hunker on down for the weekend with some tea, mince pies and knitting. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Finally!!!

Yes I am finally back. After at least 2 weeks of flu and stomach bugs in the Charminglochie household we appear to be clear. Touch wood. And paracetamol! But unfortunately I have no knitting to show you as I am still working on youngest brother in laws Christmas socks. That boy has huge feet by the way!!!

And the audiobook front hasn't been much better. I have been catching up on all the back episodes of 'Electric Sheep' (see earlier review) so I haven't been listening to any books. I decided to try and start 'Flashforward' by Robert Sawyer last night as I was enjoying the series so much but couldn't get in to it. So I am starting Terry Pratchett's 'Thief of Time' (Discworld Book 26) today as I have downloaded it. I am a huge Discworld fan and have all the hard copy books but have decided to start collecting the unabridged audio versions as well. Although it makes logical sense to start with book 1 I decided to go with Thief of Time as it's my favourite to date and I need something to get me through the Christmas knitting!!

I was going to do a review of the latest 'Yarn Forward' issue that arrived in the post yesterday but I wasn't very taken with it so I don't want to write anything negative so i'll leave it.

Well, that's me for now but will update with brother in laws socks as they progress in next few days!

My Favourite Space & A Completed Hedgehog!

After listening to the most recent KnitPicks podcast with Kelley Petkun about comfort while knitting, I took a look at my knitting space. I recently received a gorgeous brown leather tub chair which is the most comfortable chair in the world. It is so popular in our house that He Who Pays has maybe sat in it twice since last Friday. That may also say a lot about the pecking order!!

Anyway I have totally claimed this chair as MY chair and it sits between my lovely warm fire and my stereo and has the perfect space next to it for my knitting box (which my lovely boys gave me for my birthday) with my current work in progress in and my handbag with my iPod and phone.











Now I just need to knit a lovely fluffy cushion for it. Any ideas on patterns?

And the hedgehog is complete:

Another fantastic pattern from the lovely designer Alan Dart but quite fiddly to sew up. My dad loves hedgehogs so I think this will be a welcome 70th birthday present.

He also requested a pair of fingerless mittens so I am going to knit up a pair of Dashings for him from Knitty with some black watch Aran yarn to match the hat and scarf I made him last year.

My to do list keeps growing and growing!!

Amusing Recovery Makes Progress

It's been a while hasn't it? But at least I have something to show for it:


This is my 'Amused' sweater designed by Jordana Paige and featured in the Winter 2008 edition of the online knitting magazine, Knitty.com.

It's a top down sweater knitted in the round so that means no seaming!! Yay, I hate seaming. I am knitting it in a Wendy Aran with Wool yarn in a purple/lilac colour. But you may notice the mistake. Yes, my cables are upside down. I messed up. But I decided that seeing as they are all still pointing the same way I was just gonna go with it and call it a pattern. If the sweater had been for anyone else I would have probably ripped it back but it's only for me :o)

Other items on the needle are eldest childs sock for Christmas from the Harry Potter Opal yarn. I am at the foot part of the second sock so they should be finished by the end of the week. And I also have the Hedgehog 'Hibernating Harry' designed by Alan Dart that I have knitted for my Dad's 70th birthday present. All knitted up but still have the seaming to do and I keep putting it off. I will hopefully have that finished by the end of the week as well.

Will this be a week when stuff actually comes off my needles?? Watch this space!

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)

Green & Purple Socks Finished

And here's the evidence:


Now, I know these are different shades of green. This is due to the fiasco involving little1 and the lovely free mint green merino from Yarn Forward. We don't talk about it so you will have to read the old blogpost for that. It just has far too many bad memories.


Anyway, I quite like the bright green and purple and the yarn used was Patons Fairytale Dreamtime 4ply for both the green and the purple. This is 100% wool and can be washed on a 30 degree delicate wash although i've found that this particular yarn doesn't wash well and felts really easily. But it is just so flaming soft and wasy to work with that I have to use it again and again.

Next on to my hot pink spider socks. I will have enough socks for winter this year!!!

Lucha Libra is Completed

And being modelled rather gorgeously by He Who Pays :o) This is a birthday present for my brother in law who works on the rig supply ships in the North Sea so thought it might come in handy in winter. I'll let you know whether he likes it or not.

The green and purple socks are nearly finished, hopefully I'll get the chance to crack on with them at Knit N Natter tonight. And I'm hoping to cast on a pair of Spider Socks in hot pink in the next couple of days.

Now all I have to do is decide whether to go to a talk Alice Starmore is giving in An Lanntair on Friday about her new book Road Movies. Hmmmm, think it would be good?

Hello Again!

It's been a busy time since the puppy came to live with us and I haven't had much time for blogging or knitting. But i've made some progress on the sock and the mexican wrestling balaclava so thought I would upload the pictures.

The balaclava has to be finished by next Wednesday but i've no idea if I will have it finished or if it will fit but here's hoping! The sock is fab. I love the colours and don't care that one will be mint green and the other bright green, it's still cool.

I have a feeling that the family member (He who pays) modelling the progress so far was actually quite taken with it :o)

I'm also still listening to 'The Secret Language of Knitting' audiobook. It's not long but i've been really busy which is why it's taking me a while. Highly enjoyable but i'll do a full review at a later date.

I shall make a big commitment to have finished Lucha Libre by the next time I post and have nice pictures of it :o)

New Additions to the Family

Here's some pictures of our newest addition to the family:



This is Jasper our new dalmatian puppy. He's 8 weeks old and gorgeous. Little1 was a little bit put out for the first night but seems to have taken to him now. He's being trained in the garden at the moment but frankly having just toilet trained little1 this is a bit of a doddle!

And more additions to the yarn family:




This lovely Regia sock yarn was my present from my family from their holiday in Cornwall. Can't wait to start knitting it up. I'm thinking lots and lots of socks :o)

And this is the free yarn with Let's Knit Magazine this month. I actually really love the colours.

Any suggestions on what to make?



Better go and spend more time with my gorgeous puppy. Oh, and the rest of them!

I'm Officially Monogamous....

.... remember we're talking about knitting here!! Obviously I am in all other areas too but that goes without saying :o) See, I try to have a portable project that I can knit in the car and at knitting group which usually tends to be a sock and then a larger or more complicated project for at home. But if I have more than one project on the needle I seem to just get overwhelmed and do nothing!!

But I have to have 2 projects or else I would just mess up stuff like Lucha Libre at knitting group which wouldn't be good. So here's a picture of the purple & green sock I am working on:

This sock is to match the loan purple & green sock I made previously. It wasn't a case of second sock syndrome remember? It was a case of little1 got in the knitting and made me cry but we're not going to talk about it again as the pain is still too great. Now I couldn't get exactly the same colour so this green is much more grass green than mint green like the previous yarn but I am not bothered as they are for me.

Which leads me to believe that as well as being monogamous I am also a process rather than product knitter. Ah, the labels for my personality just keep on coming eh??