Two New Yarns For the Price of One...

(...blog post).

There's no real way to separate these two amazing yarns. All of the patterns seem to use them as one and the same and they're both so bloody scrumptious that it seems only fair to put them in one place or your heads might explode! :)

I'm talking about the GORGE Masham DK and Masham Misty DK. Again, both released on the birthday and both waiting for their time to shine due to the video in the last blog taking literally three days to upload (why!? It's not even high resolution, it's a bloody three year old webcam. Come on now internet/youtube. Get it together. Moooooooving on...). The only difference between these two yarns really is that one is washable, the Masham DK and one isn't, the Masham Misty. But it seems so sad to say 'isn't' as if that takes something away from the yarn - when actually it adds! It adds FELTABILITY! Which is amazing because it's been a long time since we've have feltable wool in the shop hasn't it? AND I CAN'T WAIT TO KNIT SLIPPERS! It also makes it suitable for soakers, longies and other shitty bum baby things.... ;)

Anyway. Colours. Of course.

 This is the Masham DK.

Cream - Bluebell - Berry - Bracken - Navy

Raspberry - Parsley - Black - Bilberry - Peat

 105m - 115y - 50g - 100% Pure British Wool - 30 degrees wash - £4.00

This is the Masham Misty DK. 

Stone - Cream - Rose Hip - Heather

Slate - Barley - Oatmeal - Hops

105m - 115y - 50g - 100% Pure British Wool - handwash only - £3.75

Now, the Masham DK (btw it's pronounced mass-ham) has much purer colours - they're kind of jewel toned if you know what I mean. Whereas the with the Misty each colour has been mixed with a natural/beige kind of a colour - right the way through, at the carding stage, no stripes, spots or flecks - so the final colours are much more chalky. Like sun bleached. Does that make sense?

These are investment yarns I reckon. If you're substituting for one of the Rowan British Breeds or even just a Rowan DK then the price is bloody brill - £4/£3.75 rather than £6 so in that case, no problems, just get to it. But if you're one of our customers, used to spending more like £2.00-£3.00 a ball then it's a step up and we get it. But listen, this is a British breed sheep (the Masham), living in Yorkshire (Masham), owned by British farmers who have to feed their families and livestock and keep a business going, they're then sheared, sorted, processed, dyed and spun in Yorkshire, shipped over to Skipton where King Cole live and then a short hop over the Pennines to us. That's the beauty of it. The yarn is truly gorgeous, obvs, I'll talk about that in a bit, but we all talk big about supporting our local economy and building Britain again but quibble over prices. Now, this yarn isn't going to be spot on for every project of course, there's always time for Pricewise or Bamboo Cotton, but it is a fabulous yarn at a fabulous price and at all points you're supporting independent, small businesses who are putting money right back into your economy. See, it ain't all just pointy sticks and dropped stitches - this is politics and activism at a level where we can all make a difference.

AND WE CAN MAKE AMAZING JUMPERS!

So, let me talk about it now. Masham DK. AHHHHHHHH. Masham DK. That's the washable one. I LOVE IT! I ACTUALLY LOVE IT! It's a 2 ply. Don't get me wrong, it's double knit weight (i.e. 8 ply) but it's made of two plies. What does this mean? Well, a slightly uneven texture. That's what it means. Every stitch, every row, every piece has a homespun wibblyness to it that makes it absolutely delectable. Can you see?

There are other issues here, like me being an idiot that can't read a pattern but can you see what I mean? There's character in every stitch. Before I owned the shop I used to volunteer as a befriender to a gorgeous lady called Rachel who had Alzheimer's. I went one day and her and her son had been skip diving (seriously, a tiny and slightly batty old lady actually skip diving. Excellent) and they'd found some yarn. I'm going to estimate it was late seventies from the ball band and it was EXACTLY this make up. A 2 ply DK pure wool and it was BEAUTIFUL! It's good and old fashioned.

I'm making pattern number 4014 there and can you remember that I talked about it in this post? It's the project I was knitting on holiday. AHHHHHH. Such happy memories. 

 

I keep saying to Boyf, 'remember when we went on holiday' as if it was a million years ago and it does feel like it was. Such a good time. And the knitting was part of that. Apart from I went wrong so I had to rip a load out and never really got the knitting mojo back after that. Anyway, last night I decided, after finishing my beautiful scarf that I'll talk about later that I should get back on it and I looked for the front that I knew I'd started. Nowhere to be found. So I started a sock, that's on the same pattern leaflet last night. 

 

That's going to have some happy memories attached because something's happened that I can't tell you about just yet, but hopefully soon, maybe even this week and I was celebrating last night by having dinner cooked for me, eating choccers leftover from the party (CHOCOLATE LEFTOVER!), drinking wine from another engagement that I have to tell you about - ahhhhh blogs galore - and watching the cat play with her new £50 (FIFTY POUND) scratching post which we've covered from head to toe in catnip - needless to say she luuuuuuuuuuuurves it. Anyway, it's as beautiful to knit with now as it was on holiday and I found the front that I'd started yesterday so I can get on with that too. 

 

 Even though I'm not as far on with that as I thought...Because once that's done I have a  DATE with a massive pack of it in cream and this pattern:

And Verity's dye pots to make it BLOODY DIP DYED! Yes, I went there! I'M GOING THERE!

And maybe I'll have it done by Yarndale. That's so unlikely it hurts but we all need a dream in life don't we?

Anyway, I think that's the Masham DK done. Let's move on to the Misty. WHICH IS INCREDIBLE! Now, I have less to say here, I haven't knitted with it because you lot surely know by now how terrible I am at washing things (anybody remember my mohair dress? *sob*) so I'm not going to be making stuff like socks or jumpers that need washing. I'm going to make slippers. SLIPPERS ALL OVER THE BLOODY PLACE. Why so many capitals today, Eleanor? There's more to felting than SLIPPERS - you can make bags, bowls, cushions, hats, mittens, table mats, bath mats - the list is endless but I love felted SLIPPERS! And the pattern I have in mind uses chunky which is perfect because two DK's together make chunky so I can combine the colours. Like the hops with the slate or the cream with the heathers or the oatmeal with the barley or the or the or the. OR! Any of these held with another yarn liked Riot DK so that the Misty does the felting job and the Riot does the omg-colour-to-make-you-dribble-job. WHY IS THERE SO LITTLE TIME TO KNIT IN MY LIFE?! I have ideas people. Ideas coming out of my bum and no time. I know you understand.

Please don't be put off making garments in the Misty because of the handwash thing. Handwashing isn't really a chore once you get over the not having to actually touch it apart from specific stains thing. Letting it soak for a good hour or so in a bathtub with washing liquid is enough. My problem is, by the time I get home and it's half seven/eight, have my dinner because I eat lunch at a normal time and I'm starving then set to work soaking and washing, I'm falling asleep by the time they're ready to wring out and dry flat. And I don't get days off. If you have weekends/evenings then it's well worth doing. And the colours, like I say, might just speak to you in a way that the Masham DK doesn't. Make sense?

The patterns are here. And there are some stunners. But I might come back and talk about them another time but I've wittered on enough here and you have eyes and brains to look yourself. If you wanna talk about them you just need to ring or pop in though because I am willing and able to witter about them if you need me to.

That's it, I'm off.

Enjoy the Masham it's a goodun.

Love Eleanor. xxx

Bamboozle!

**It's taken three bloody days to upload the videos at the end. Sorry for the wait!**

Of course, with the party comes NEW YARNS! HOW EXCITING! It's the time when we launch our new winter shades - though, you know me, I just keep topping up throughout the winter anyway. But if I'm going to get anything in around this time then I tend to keep it ready for the party. Anyway, enough rambling. Here we have the marvellous King Cole Bamboozle.

Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't for everyone. It's very thick and thin which means that patterns need to be simple to get the best out of it. Having said that, I finished this beaut of a jumper a couple of days before the birthday (and then forgot to block it until the day before, cue wet jumper...) and it's got a lovely little lace pattern in it which shows up nicely I think.

There are ten colours in the range but it's gonna be one of them that's out of stock at the beginning because it's going to be MAD popular! (Anybody remember the Opium? Ugh, that was a hard couple of months...). Currently the Heathers and the Neopolitan are out, that's bottom left and top second left in the photo above which is a bugger because Oksana wanted the Heathers and I'm desperate for the Neopolitan... Ahhh well. They'll be here. Patience is a virtue.

Ahhhh. The meantime, lovely David had been here to help me take photos. I am, as always, a bloody great model.

All in all I think I prefer my first one... Anyway, the pattern is King Cole 4041 and it is gorge once you get past the honking great mistake on the first row. If anybody wants to do this pattern please make sure you're relatively experienced (as in, you've done a lace project before) and you speak to me, or e-mail me, because it's dead easy once you know how but it doesn't work if you don't make that slight adjustment (Oksana, if you're reading this come back to me! I meant to tell you at the party but got overcome!).

So, the patterns are basically simple but interesting, modern shapes which is perfect for this funky yarn. They do do a weird thing though which is to tell you to knit the slubby bits on the purl row and purl them on the knit row to make them stand out. Can you see?

 

Maybe. Maybe not. But I don't like it. Oh onononononononononon. I think it looks like growths so I just knitted it (or purled) it all and I think that looks great and the slubby bits show up just fine. 

As always, it's your knitting so do exactly as pleases you. :)

 

All the patterns are here. 

The yarn was gorgeous to knit with, and I wasn't expecting that! I think the thick bit is the wool/acrylic blend bit and the thin bit is the bamboo. Sometimes the bamboo is a bit slubby  itself and then it looks and feels like silk. It has a real shine to it, a good lustre. AND! I got the front wrong but didn't realise till I'd knitted it all so I had to rip and reknit and you cannot tell. Which I thought was unusual because it's a single (meaning it's not plied a lot like the Riot) but that tends to mean a more delicate yarn - this one stood up to my farting about and I was pleased.

It comes in hanks!!!!!!! Which is very exciting and they look GORGE but you need to wind them before you start. I'm going to do a video about it in a mo and may or may not add it to this blog, depending on the time. I will wind it for you for £1 a hank though, so just let me know if you can't be bothered. ;).

Ahah! I've done the video...s about hanks.

That's part one.
 
And this is part two:

Oh I had fun doing those videos. If you can call three bloody days uploading the thing, then finally giving up, changing the format and loading them in 20 minutes fun. Hopefully that helps you, it's dead easy, quick and actually fun. But I recommend doing it in advance of the knitting when you have a spare five minutes so you don't get to the middle of a row and then have to stop and start again.

And that's it. I love it! Can you tell? I've been wearing the jumper for two and a half days and I couldn't wear it today because it needs a freshen up so I've left it to soak this morning and I'll be back in it on Sunday (when I'm going on a hot (one year anniversary!!!!!!!!!) date).

Right, I'm so glad to be posting this, it's literally been open on my browser for three days. Tomorrow I have more good stuff and that's also been written for three days but because of the videos I couldn't post it. And then I have another good thing to tell you about and then I still have to tell you about last Sunday. ARGH! BLOGS GALORE!

Love Eleanor.

What Birthdays Are Good For.

Reminding me how awesome my customers are.

 

Giving me an excuse to get some ridiculously good yarns in. 

 

Thanks Truly Hooked. 

Catching up with friends. 

 

Who I haven't seen in ages because this time of year is mad and summer makes me miserable.

Relaxing in good company. 

 

 Eating nuclear coloured cakes. 

 

And the most intensely rich dream tarts ever. 

 

Giving away free things to FANTASTIC loyal customers like Sarah Richardson, Steph Slack, Elaine Pattison, Laura-Jo Webster, Pat Stephenson and Kate Beautmont (who gets a special shoutout for washing up, cleaning the toilet floor, wiping up baby sick (and bringing the means to do that) and taking me home - she can come back). 

Moving the whole shop around ready for a fresh winter feel. 

 

Which guarantees that I'll sleep well for the next three nights by wringing me out physically, intellectually and emotionally. Do you know how hard it is to move this tiny shop around? Elizabeth now does, as does June for the third year running. They are both absolute troopers who deserve a MASSIVE thank you and all of our appreciation. 

Feeling like a movie star when customers make me pose with my huge bouquets before leaving them to booze in peace. In the shop. On their own. That's how much I trust them. When June's around to keep them in line.... ;)

 

Getting two of the most beautiful bouquets I've ever seen. 

 

And a ridiculous amount of calories leftover. 

 

I forgot to put Davina's HUGE box of Celebrations in the photo... 

 

Making the shop smell like a brewery. 

 

 

And, and I haven't got a photo for this, a big old glob of money that we can use to make the shop better by spending it on yarn, or fixtures or a new laptop or savings or a whole load of things!!!

Thank you to everybody that came on Saturday. I really was worried that nobody would come for some reason but throughout the day there were at least four of you and more like 15 for most of it. So full I spent most of the day chatting and smoking outside and only coming in when somebody needed to use the till... Each and every one of you is loved and appreciated here. If Knit Nottingham is more than just a yarn shop, and I think it is, then it's you lot that make it. And thanks to everybody who wanted to come but couldn't and to those who came last week and to those who come throughout the year. AHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love Eleanor. xxx

Truly Hooked Wishes Knit Nottingham a Happy Birthday!

It's only a couple of days until we're FOOOOOOOUR! Four years old. At this point we're walking, talking, still snotting, occasionally throwing a wobbler in the supermarket and thinking about school. Excellent. Luckily, the shop isn't an actual human which means that we are allowed to celebrate with booze. :) AND LOVELY WOOL! I'm doing the same thing as we did with the Love Your Local Yarn Shop Day and I've got some gorgeous yarn dyed up by Vezza that has a message and you have the chance to win it!

A ticket to win it costs £2.00. You can buy as many as you like and opt for as many colours as you like. You'll be entered into the competition and the winners will be announced on the Facebook group at the end of Saturday and then on the blog here on the Monday or Tuesday afterwards (whenever I'm back in the shop basically). But this time there's a little extra element because one of the colourways hasn't been collected from last time, despite my best efforts to contact her, so each time you enter the draw you'll also be entered into a separate draw for this beautiful lot:

 

 Which is the Berries colour from the Love Your Local Yarn Shop Day Yarn. Gorge yeah!?

So, here are your options:

I don't know why the 'Jam' ended up so small. My favourite is September. I know it's a weird name but to be it looks like the beginning of Autumn and also a little bit like school books and folders. I think it's gorge! Do you love them!? Who am I kidding? Of course you do.

So, click here for the link and buy buy buy. :)

But that's not your only chance to get some Truly Hooked yarn. Oh no! On the day we'll have lots of grads available and hopefully, subject to what Vezza's up to, some other bits too! LOOK:

 

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHHEHEEHHEEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! These are gonna be roughly £15.00 for 100g (but some might be a bit less and also luxury fibres might be a bit more - all to be decided when we know what's going on...). So you can see how much of a bloody bargain the BIRTHDAY PARTY BLANKS are! YEAH!!!

I'm off to prepare for tomorrow's lesson/tidy because somehow, it's got to 5.20 and I've no idea where the day's gone...

Love Eleanor. xxxx

Good Old Fashioned Granny Squares.

To cut a long story short - click here for the pattern (automatic download) and here for the Rav link.  

In my head there were no basic patterns for granny squares written in UK terms on t'internet. It made me mad. And I decided to get even. So I've written a pdf that I'm giving away free of charge to spread joy to the world! I've not included explanations of the stitches - for that you'll have to come on a lesson or google it. What it is, is the anatomy of a granny square and simply that.

 

There are twenty five stages. From slip knot to sewing in ends. Each stage has a photo and an explanation. 

I decided to go ahead and do this for a number of reasons. Firstly not everybody can get to the shop! IMAGINE NOT BEING ABLE TO GET HERE! Poor things. And if they can't get to the shop then they can't go to a lesson. Boo hiss. Secondly, some people can't afford the lessons that we do. Can't argue with that - hopefully if I'm nice and helpful you'll spend what money you can on my yarn? Thirdly, Some people can already crochet a bit but haven't done a granny square in the way that they need to for the Crochet Number Two lessons. Now they can! And fourthly, I've now discovered that there are perfectly good UK termed granny square patterns online buuuuuuuut they all seem to do the weird thing where you start the round in the middle of a side rather than at the corner or the even weirder thing where they finish off every round and reintroduce the yarn (sorry if that's the way that you do it - follow my instructions and you'll never have to be weird again... in regards to your granny squares anyway, I can't help you in any other way). And finally, I feel like I haven't done anything friendly and nice like a free pattern or something on here for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages. So there you have it.

Here's the link from our website (it should automatically download when you click). 

And I've popped it up on Ravelry too so do link projects as you do them, much appreciated.

On a separate note, I've officially launched the birthday party. We're having a get together on the 6th of September, normal shop hours. Everybody is invited! Bring your knitting/crochet, a bottle if you want, some snacks if you can and come and relax. I'll be doing a little work and as much chatting as possible on the day so we can have a reet good catch up. SO looking forward to this winter. :) Facebook event here.

And finally. Another little goodie for you! This is what the weather looked like today:

 

And what it threatens to look like for the whole of the bank holiday weekend... So to cheer us all up, and make sure you've got a fantastic project to keep you going, how's about double points on the loyalty card on whatever you buy tomorrow? YEAH!? Good! See you then then. :)

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxxx

#cheating...

... on my knit club. And don't I feel terrible?! Haha! NOT A CHANCE! I feel great! But I may still be drunk.

So, there's a lady called Allison who came to some of my lessons recently (Learn to Crochet maybe?!?) and it turns out that she's not only great fun and a lovely lady but she's also one of them there dead annoying people who gets. things. done. And one of the things that she's gone and done recently is starting a knit club in Beeston (called Wool and Wine I think?!). The inaugural meeting was last Tuesday and I missed it because I'm a tit but I was determined to go this week because I'd heard from a few sources that it was jolly good fun. I got Boyf on board too.

It starts at 7 and it's at the White Lion which is a lovely little pub right in the centre of Beeston (if you can get yourself to the bus station then you can see it. Whether you can get to it through the maze that is Beeston town centre at the moment is an entirely different matter...).

I feel super bad because I've not been to my knit club in yonks - a mixture of holidays and being a generally miserable bugger who uses all my good will up on you lovely customers and then has none left over for knit clubbers. Bah humbug. SORRY STEPH!

Anyway, the ladies there were great. A right mixture of newbies and experts, knitters and crocheters, crafters and artists and one particularly lovely lady who had a 'thing' for Mr Tumble. *snort* It was so great catching up with a few customers who I've not seen in a while and meeting some potential new ones (always a bit awks going to a knitting club as a yso because there's a fine line between being excited and talking about your life and sell sell selling).

Lovely Pat was there in her AMAZING jumper and after having seen her and her husband Ken in the day time I'd persuaded them both to come.

 

That's the King Cole Riot DK in Neon and pattern number 3828 and if you make it you too could be as happy as Pat. :)

I knew that Ken, miserable bugger that he is, would get on like a house on fire with Chris, miserable bugger in training and they sat in the corner buying eachother pints of real ale and putting the world to rights. Ha. It left the rest of us to get on with the important stuff. A lot of knitting was done, but not by me. I managed to crochet together one strip of squares. And that's it. Happily, Pat forgot a needle so I set her to work on my tunic which is at the moment just a large swathe of stocking stitch in a colour I don't really like and she got about 3 inches done! I call that knitting vicariously. :)

So, once again, it's every Tuesday from 7-9 (but we stayed later) at the White Lion in Beeston and I had a whale of a time so I reckon you lot will too. And if you're closer to town, pop into the Broadway every Tuesday from 6-8 where you'll find more mad knitters crying because I've broken their hearts by cheating.

Three cheers for Allison!

And now just a few update-y bits because I've been away accounting for so bloody long.

I took the blanket to Chester Races on Saturday. It was grand and I got a lot done! All of the 'verticals' are done now and I'm working through the horizontals but it's BLOODY HUGE so it's taking its time.

That was before it all of  the verticals were done but it's one of the few places I was able to spread it out properly. I haven't got anywhere near measuring it but it's 22 squares long and 17 squares wide and each square is about 5/6 inches across so that's 9 foot by 7 conservatively and potentially 11 foot by 8.5. Plus border. Plus stretch. I keep joking that it means that me and Chris can sit on opposite sides of the sofa under the same blanket and never have to touch. Anyway, I'll be writing a much more in depth post when it's done. Taking you through the journey. And what a journey it's been! Haha.

I wore heels. I just wanted to get this noted for posterity because those beautiful (and *almost* comfy) red shoes are falling apart and I'll not be able to wear them for much longer. It was fine because the grass was 'good to soft' and my heels kept sinking in making it feel like I was wearing flip flops. Haha.

And finally a Versace update:

 

She's still the most beautiful cat that's ever been born. Obvs. She's SO much better now. She doesn't have to follow us when we leave the room anymore and I've seen her properly sleeping - like twitchy legs catching mice sleeping. :) The other morning she jumped onto the sofa near the kitchen and looked us straight in the eye whilst having a piss. Hahahah. Usually I would have grabbed the bugger and told her off then shown her the litter tray but it's a fine line with little Versace because she's still an abused cat even if she is one that pisses on the sofa whilst retaining eye contact. Blurgh. She's much less scared of the shower now, she'll even sit at the top of the steps to the bathroom whilst you're having one but she won't under any circumstances come into the room whilst it's on. She still hates Kanye but she luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurves Beyonce. Good cat. 

Also this:
 

 

No words necessary. Apart from why does Chris insist on having a phone with such a terrible camera?!??! It's almost as if he doesn't think his photos will end up on the blog of an award winning yarn shop... Have you voted??? ;)

Tomorrow I have a tutorial for you... hopefully... 

Love Eleanor. xxx

Dirty Rascal Big Reveal.

I am THRILLED with how this one turned out. I thought it might be too 'castle-y' iykwim but I think it's just perfect! It's only castle-y if you know it's castle-y - it's a completely wearable thing! And I don't really know what to call it - is it a scarf? Is it a shawl? Is it a shawlette? I guess it's kind of an elongated shawlette but surely that makes it a funny shaped scarf? WHO KNOWS?! I just know that it's bloody great and I can't wait for this weather to be over so that I can wear it! 

I explained a little where the idea from this came from in the blurb but basically the rampart type trim has been in my mind for a while, the rest came from discussing my holiday with Jem and went from mermaids, to beach huts to castles. 

I am thrilled with the photos! It was such a lovely day and Boyf got well into photographer mode. I love the fact that I've got like a million photos from Castle Rising Castle as it was such a great, inspiring place. I LOVE the history. Isabella was such a woman wasn't she?! Although, if she were around now I wouldn't want to know her probably. I loved the fact that Castle Rising Castle, that I'd never heard of, had a strong connection to Nottingham Castle. And then the Black Prince's main castle home was the one just around the corner from where Boyf grew up. Such strange connections. 

Anyway, hopefully you can see that this is an interesting project - I spent a lot of time working out something that a lot of people could wear and that would be simple to crochet for newbies but just interesting enough for us more experienced crocheters. I'm dead pleased that part of it's called 'murder holes'. For obvious reasons. I think I'd wear this with the widest part at the back of the neck, to keep chills out at the back and to keep bulk from the front. But it could be worn the opposite way - with the widest part at the front or as a sort of shawl over the shoulders.

I chose the Moods DK mostly because I like the stone-y texture, secondly because it's a new addition to our range and lots of people haven't got around to working with it and finally because it's rustic looking so lots of people overlook it for refined projects (it's very much an everyday cardigan/man's accessory yarn at the moment, but it deserves so much more!!!). I figure the more I get people to work with it the more it'll sell and the more excited everybody will become. Give it a chance!

I LOVE THE COLOURWAYS I CHOSE! Just sayin'.

And a last photo for good measure: 

See! It's refined. On a side note, I had to jump to get it up there, loved the photos I got and then couldn't get it down. Chris had to climb onto the walls. We are terrible middle class culture nerds. Haha. 

So, what else did people get? 

Obviously, they got the wool and the pattern: 

AND A FLAG! You lucky beasts!

The real highlight were the stitch markers, made locally just for us by the glorious Steph of Nettynot.

I didn't really giver her any guidance I just said the theme was 'dirty rascal' and the colours were grey, green and red. She knocked up a storm didn't she?

I suggest you use these in the ramparts part of the pattern by placing them on the 9th, 8th or 7th stitch after you've worked them at the beginning of each row. Then you'll know where to work to on the next row. You'll understand when you get there.

She also whipped up this beautiful bracelet for one lucky Knit Nottingham Boxer including her signature buttons:

I'm beyond thrilled with it! I would have totes kept it myself if I could. Hopefully the recipient (and I have no idea who it is - I did it randomly by swirling my finger over the list and now I've got no idea who it was) will love it as much as we do.

Once again, that's Nettynot and we'll definitely be working with her again. Love. :)

And then the extras. I didn't lose any this time!

I went for little flags - very British, very Royal. Some Castle Rising Castle rubbers - I wanted to support them and you should have seen her eyes widen when I bought 25 of them! Haha. I think I left them with about six left. And British toffees of course. :)

Once again, I'm a tit who forgot the sneak peek of the new yarn. So that'll be in the post to you on Monday (unless you want to come in and collect - just let me know before hand). I think you'll love it - I bloody do!

(And also, hopefully that explains some of the weird gifts with the Sailing Pi boxes. Haha. Sorry!)

And that's it. I'm absolutely thrilled with both boxes. Me and Elizabeth were working out what the boxes were worth if all of the bits were bought separately and we never quite got to the end of it because we've always got too much to talk about but we were both pleasantly surprised that I could be making a profit and you could be getting exclusive little luxuries in your life sent straight to you and we could be supporting amazing artisans like Nettynot and Doodlestop and everybody works out a winner! I think I've hit on a mega idea here (mostly thanks to Vezza and Truly Hooked - but I hope I've made it my own enough to not be stepping on toes!). 

I did think I knew the theme for next time but I've just seen a photo that has inspired me like you wouldn't believe. I can visualise the crochet pattern already. I just have to work out how to translate that into knitting. Ahhhh such wonderful, creative days. :)

Love Eleanor. xxxx

P.s. Here's a link to a survey monkey thing to find out what you all thought about the boxes. I'd be thrilled if you had a box and would fill it out so I know what to do better next time. Thanks in advance. :)

Sailing Pi Big Reveal

Ahhhh. I'm so sad it's over! I've loved this process from start to finish (apart from a few niggles that I'll tell you about in a mo). First - let's get onto the good stuff.

This is the pattern written exclusively for the Knit Nottingham Three Ships Came Sailing Pi Box. The first one we've ever done and the pattern that inspired and kick started all this box nonsense. The original version was a massive hit in the shop and I hope it will be a massive hit with everybody that bought the box.

(Look at me trying to be a model! Ha! There are about 50 photos of me just being a moron. Three came out acceptably...).

It's a shawl!!! Obviously! But it's one of those shawls somewhere between full sized and shawlette that works perfectly over your shoulders or around your neck as an interesting scarf. I was wearing it both ways over my holiday and can't wait to wear it again now it's not a secret anymore.

The shaping is like a standard shawl+ in that it starts from the top and gets bigger and you finish by casting off on the long side. But you can see there are two spines which makes for a more flattering shape (nobody needs a bit pointy arrow down to their bum really, do they?).

 

The yarn used is the King Cole Bamboo Cotton DK in Navy (or Claret) and King Cole Bamboo Cotton 4ply in Cream. It provides a nice textural contrast without being one of those weird too thick in parts to be summery and too thin in parts to be wintery. They match, making a contrast that works in your everyday life. And, being Bamboo it draaaaaaaaaaaaapes like you wouldn't believe.


The stitches are very simple - stocking stitch and garter stitch. Until you get to the very end where you have five rows of something more interesting. All of the excitement before then is based on the Fibonacci striping sequence which will be enough to keep you on your toes without getting in the way of real life (like watching Big Brother...). It did cause a little ripping for me though so I'd feel less like a tit if you let me know when you go wrong - fanx.

And that's the pattern - you like? Alright alright, one more shot:

The pattern was the big thing for me with these boxes. It informed the yarn that came with them and the gifts. AND WHAT GIFTS! Only, this is one of the things that went wrong. The highlight was deffo the seaside tat willies. Five of you got them and hopefully you loved them. :) Anyway, that's a lie, it wasn't the highlight - this was:

Stitch markers by the marvelous Becky from Doodlestop. Here's a better look:

They're little life rings and pies!!! With jazzy striped beads. Ahhh. It was so lovely (and eeeeeeeasy) working with her. Will deffo be doing it again once I've got my head around the next theme. :) One more time, that's Doodlestop.

And then the gifts. Obviously Hunstanston rock. That was a given. At the time of buying the rock I didn't know exactly how many I needed so I made a not-so-conservative guess and bought 30. Me and Chris had one each when we got home and then I used three in the seaside themed window. Which left exactly 25! Very pleasing. And I still have rock to eat. I hope you enjoy it. :)

And the last gift. This was the problem really. I bloody lost them. They were silly really, just little bits of funny seaside-tat-type-crabs but they made me smile and fitted into the last of my budget so I bought them. And now they're gone. If I find them again I'm going to have 30 seaside-tat-type-crabs to do something with. Luckily, I also overestimated with the gifts from the Dirty Rascal box so you've got some random bits from there. I'll talk a bit about that tomorrow when I launch that - otherwise you'll know too early. But that's why some of them don't make sense and why you're all missing your crabs. Haha. So organised!

And finally, you've got a bit of a ramble from me about Fibonacci and why I love him. Hopefully it makes sense! I had them all printed out organised on Wednesday evening and then Boyf read them and noticed a spelling mistake (I'm sure there are many more) so we completely reprinted them and then we realised that the numbers on the back had come out in black rather than blue and grey. So we spent thirty bloody minutes putting the right coloured squares around because we just couldn't justify reprinting.

So, I did try and take one of those photos where everything's all together but I am terrible. Here's what I got:

Whoever got this box - you're the only one with shredded paper - I bought some but not enough so I couldn't put it in every one. I'll do something with it, or donate it to Versace who took a real liking to it. :)

And really finally - I totes forgot to put the sneak peak of the new yarn in there! I AM A TIT! I will send them out or you can collect them from Monday (need to spend some time balling them up). GAH! Next time I will be organised!!! And it's lovely yarn - you're going to love it!!

And that's it folks - what do you think???? I hope you love the pattern as much as I do and the little gifts. It's been a lot of fun to put them together, but also a lot of stress. Haha.

Love Eleanor. xxx