a day in the shop

On Saturday I spent the day working in the John Arbon Textiles shop. It's the place you can go to all year round to get your fix of cozy wool socks that are made right here in Devon, from British fibre too! Spending an entire day in there staring at socks and yarn certainly got me thinking of a few new knitting projects...and made me want to buy about 25 pairs of socks. Seriously, these are the most comfortable, warm and awesome socks I've ever come across - and I really like socks! I had some fun snapping pictures throughout the day, so here's a look...

Love that green paint colour!

a selection of knee socks. I LOVE the ones in the top left - they're called alpaca country socks and they are so soft and warm (and knee high!)

Here is the yarn I'm working up those granny squares in. The palette is just perfect if you ask me!!

I knit those socks in alpaca sock yarn - I love how fluffy they are! The pattern is Hermione's Everyday Socks.

It was a beautiful day on Saturday and I loved hanging out in the shop...now off to do some knitting!

foraging

On Sunday I had a fantastic afternoon foraging for wild blackberries right here in Lynton. There was nothing difficult about it (except reaching through nettles and spider webs) - blackberries cover almost every wall and line every road around this time of year. In the space of a couple hours I had more than enough of these tiny, sweet and delicious berries to make the crumble I had in mind, success!

There were so berries, and I was having such a great time that I wanted to continue picking all afternoon! In the end I chose to leave some for the other foragers and not be to piggish. Having only tasted blackberries from the supermarket before, I was happily surprised to find that these little berries are the perfect balance of sweet and tart and taste so much better than anything from the store. They are also a lot cuter - obviously very important!

 

As I was picking, countless great baking ideas came to me. I decided in the end that the crumble I planned from the start was the right thing to make, just because I wanted to keep things simple and let the taste of the blackberries be the main event. That's not to say that I won't bake up all those other goodies next weekend when I do it all over again, yippeeee!

 Washing the berries was interesting. As much as I like to get my hands dirty (I do) and enjoy a day spent exploring the forest, fields or any wilderness around me...I don't like bugs very much. I especially don't like touching the squirmy, slimy ones...that were crawling all over my little bag of berries. I bravely (and as gently as possible) removed all the little creatures and carefully washed my berries in preparation for the crumble!

I was so pleased with it in the end that I ate far, far too much. By the time it was finished baking the sun was down and my hope of getting a great photo was gone with it. Here is the best I could muster
 

There is still a little bit left that is calling to me from the kitchen right now........

In knitting news, I've been ever so focused on my latest design project. Last post I mentioned that I cast on one sleeve. Since then, I've knit up the second sleeve and worked through a good chunk of the body as well - record time!

I love knitting on something so simple, and I've had such a clear idea of what I want this sweater to be - everything is working up easily so far. I'm sure in saying that I've just put some massive curse on myself...here's hoping not!

I will leave you with a few pictures I grabbed on my blackberry walk. The hydrangeas are all blooming now, and some of the colours that are coming up just blow my mind! Hope you like them...

time for crafting

This past week I've been feeling quite ill - I don't get sick very often, but when I do it usually a big deal. Being home from the mill all week, I've had lots of time to rest, dream and create. My mind is overflowing with new project ideas, and I've managed to cast a few on. More impressively, I've drawn out future design ideas (because even I am not going to cast on 4 new sweaters at the same time - that must be some kind of knitting suicide).

Here's a peek at what I've enjoyed working on...

My Netherton Cardi has been on my mind since I picked up this lovely yarn at Loop in May. The yarn is the Uncommon Thread BFL Light DK and it is such a lovely thing to knit...it glows! The pattern is from Pom Pom magazine and I've wanted to knit it from the moment I saw this sweater knit up in real life. I've almost made my way through the body, just a few more rows of ribbing. Of course, I'm worrying that I'll run out of yarn - I only had 3 skeins to start out with. I've been knitting faster in the hope that I have enough, I know that is insane.

Because life is not worth living without granny squares, I've also started on a new blanket.

I picked up a lovely Japanese crochet motif book at Junku in Paris. After spending at least a week working up different motifs (it's very hard when you love them all) I settled on this one. I wanted something quite simple and old fashioned. The yarn I'm using is John Arbon Textiles Excelana. I think the colours are just perfect - they're all carefully chosen to look like they are from another time. Unlike many other vintage yarns, however, Excelana is 100% wool. Hooray for that! I'm working up most squares solid, but throwing in the odd mixed one when I run out of yarn...or when I feel like it. I'm finally working my ends in as I go and joining the squares together as I make them - why didn't I do this with my last blanket?!

I've saved my most exciting (I think) project to the end. Last night I cast on the first sleeve of this sweater and it's already past the elbow! I'm making up the design as I go along, and it will be a predictable Emily shape. My yarn choice has surprised more than a few people around here, but I love it!

It's another yarn form John Arbon Textiles - a marl made from Knit by Numbers colours. I don't have any pictures of it knit up just yet, but the fabric is exactly what I wanted and I can't stop knitting! 

The timing of my knitting frenzy could not be better. As the days get shorter and the wind picks up I'm wanting to be bundled up in endless wooly layers. As a Canadian I should surely have a stronger tolerance to the cold, but I don't. The locals are still roaming around in shorts and I'm wearing a hat and 2 sweaters. My plan - just keep knitting! I've been able to put a recently finished project to good use as well...

I have been in need of a good cozy cardigan for a long time, and it seems like this Noro chap is going to do the job. My only issue with it is that the fronts curl back if they're not held together (that's why they are pinned in the photo) Once I find the right buttons, it won't be much of an issue, but I would like to be able to wear the cardigan unbuttoned if I choose. I'm hoping that another blocking will do the job.

I'm off to get some more knitting done!