Rock with You is my favourite Michael Jackson tune. It's such a lush, laid-back and effortless song.
Whenever I listen to it I can feel any tension leaving my body and my shoulders start to sway to the rhythm.
He might have been as mad as a box of frogs, but his musical legacy will live on forever.
I was really looking forward to hearing Meg Swansen's talk at the UK Ravelry Day. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Zimmerman, the knitting guru who came up with the legandary Baby Surprise Jacket (I think I've made three).
But I was disappointed. Most of her talk was taken up with reading extracts from her mother's diaries. I would have preferred her to talk more about what she likes to knit, what inspires her and how to adapt EZ's designs to suit yourself. She did touch on these, but if I want to read EZ's diaries, I'll order more of her books and read them in my own time.
I know that the object of her talk was to get us to buy more books, but seeing finished examples of the patterns that so many of us love to knit would be far more likely to have me reaching for my purse.
Meg did have me drooling over her descriptions of the built-in cupboards where she stores her woollens. If my numbers come up on the lottery, then I want custom-made cedar cupboards to keep moths at bay. Oh - and a suitcase filled with Koigu yarn.
All was not lost. I spent the session winding the skein of EasyKnits yarn into a ball. I put the hank on the back of the seat in front of me. I had the skein wound in minutes.
I wish I had taken some pictures of the hall while Meg was speaking. There was something truly comforting about being in a room where most people were either knitting and/or were wearing one of their creations.
Have you seen the new Knitty? I haven't had a chance to look through the whole thing, but one things' for sure.
I NEED one of those knitted crabs!
How about this for a bargain? Enough pure merino wool to make Matthew a winter jacket for £10.
I couldn't wait to start knitting with this sock yarn from Easy Knits:
Jon, the man behind Easy Knits, spins and dyes his own yarn. I love the colourway of this yarn - it's ideal for mums who are sick of dressing their little boys in navy, green or sludge.
I was so keen to start swatching that I bought a pair of Knitpicks needles - like I need another pair of size 3mms!
I don't know why I bothered saying to my friends on the train up to Coventry that I wasn't going to spend any money...
Two bulging carrier bags and an empty purse later - and I was still wandering around the stalls to make sure I hadn't missed anything.
First off, these two lovely skeins from Green Eyed Monsters:
The lady behind GEM has only been dying yarn for a year. I was only going to buy the blue and white skein but I couldn't resist a pair of 'Cool Britannia' socks.
I had to have these three skeins of laceweight yarn from The Knitting Goddess:
Click here to see these colours in their full splendour.
Colinette Jitterbug is my favourite sock yarn. It's machine washable, relatively cheap at nine quid a skein and the colours are so vivid. I made a pair of ribbed socks in this colourway a couple of years ago, but I'd like a pair of Jitterbugs too.
More goodies later!
Had a fantastic time at the UK Ravelry day. Most of the stalls were outside and everyone got well and truly rained on, but did this stop me shopping? Did it heck!
I've got two bags filled with goodies and I can't wait to show them all off!
I'm having a day off from mummydom tomorrow because I'm going to the UK Ravelry day in Coventry.
Not only am I looking forward to being in a room with lots of fellow knitters, buying gorgeous yarn and knitting accessories that I don't really need but I'll also be able to catch up with the Foyles knitters. I've missed them so much!
Now where did I leave my spare shopping bag?
While walking around the back streets of Victoria on my lunch break, I saw a sign that made my heart beat slightly faster:
The back of the Trinity Hospice charity shop on Wilton Road is pretty much devoted to yarny things:
There are bargains galore. A 50g ball of pure merino, machine washable wool costs £1.30.
It's soft enough for children's clothes. I made a tank top for my nephew using the red and blue yarns. Total cost = under £3.
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I loved the 'notions' corner. Jars of buttons and bamboo knitting needles for just £2.50 a pair? I can't wait to go back!
Why do I like knitting bags so much? They don't take long to complete, the string versions take up less than a skein and they always get used.
This is my second Everlasting Bagstopper:
The pattern is so easy to memorise. It consists of knitting a square base, picking up the stitches for the lace body then doing what you like for the handles.
I made mine by picking up five stitches from the cast-off body, then knitting the completed I-cord into the body on the other side.
I used one ball of Phildar Onde, which gradually changes colour from grass green to white. The handles were made using white Rowan Cotton Glace.
My only criticism is that Phildar Onde is very stretchy, so that bag reaches my knees when I walk. But I'll line the bag with fabric to elimate that problem.
