Enter Cat

No, you can't assume from the title of this blog post that I have re-homed another cat, although that is on my wish list of things to do this year. It is actually my interpretation of the pattern name for this cute cute cute cardi I have made for Flo: Entrechat. It is french and I thought it translated to Enter Cat but it is in fact a ballet term where the legs cross each other mid-air in a flutter - apparently.

The yarn is the skein of Handwork Cotton I got a Plaristow of Rye on holiday and was lovely to work with. Soft and not too shiny as cotton can sometimes be. I wanted to find a one skein pattern and ideally something for Flo to wear. When I asked her what she wanted me to make she asked for a toy dog, which I instantly rejected in favour of something she won't just hide in the bottom of the toy chest.

The pattern was lots of fun and knit all in one piece, there's lots to keep you interested but nothing to confuse you which was just what I wanted. I was initially worried that one skein would not be enough but I finished with a tiny bit of yarn left over, so it was just the right amount.  My favourite bit of it is the little flounce the back where you increase after the textured section. It creates an explosion level of cuteness in me.

The biggest dilemma came with the button choice. I have so many buttons at home but always nothing to go with what I've made and I end up buying more. But I do love buttons so much I don't think I'll ever stop buying them just because. I went with a simple wooden heart button from Liberty, which helps to balance the pinkness of it all.

Sadly a continuing fact of life is that it's hard to get a 4 year old to stand still for a photo. *sigh...*

She still looks lovely in it though.

Plaristo of Rye

During our trip to Camber a few weeks ago we popped into nearby town Rye to enjoy Ye Olde feel of it all. Every local we spoke to engaged us in a lengthy friendly chat about the history of the place whether we had time to stop or not. And so we quickly learned that because of its close proximity to the Channel it was a prime spot for the French to invade, resulting in Rye being burned to the ground on several occasions. Educational and exciting! But it wasn't just the lovely locals, cobbled streets, castle and cannons I was looking for. As usual I was hoping to find some yarn and as usual I found it.

Plaristo of Rye isn't really a simple yarn shop, it's more of a fibre gallery with fluff in many forms. Weaving, spinning, knitting, crochet and some other non fibre-related arts are all catered for. The colour in the shop was enveloping. Everything was a bit special, a bit jazzy, a bit out there. I loved it. Of course I was mainly interested in the yarn and while Flo inspected the resident felted sheep with bestie Shan and the lovely shop owner, I had a look around.

Mr Sheep and his weaving

Fluff and stuff

A cool table top made of yarn, buttons and lights with glass on top.
Would love to steal this idea.

The lovely thing about the shop was that apart from some of the well known brands there was quite a lot of unlabelled skeins which I spent most of my time there squashing, sniffing and rubbing on my cheek - these are my three main methods of testing the quality of yarn don't-cha-know. The owners took time to tell me that these skeins are all delivered to the shop undyed and they dye them locally, which I thought was delightful and therefore had to buy some.

As I was choosing, this happened:

Flo picked up this skein of cotton and said she wanted me to buy it for her. Now, let's be clear. I'm not usually in the habit of letting her have things that she picks up off of any shelf and requests. It could lead to a very dark place. But this request totally melted me. Seeing her little face, while holding up this quite florescent yarn, asking me to buy it was a proud knitting-mummy moment! 

Flo's florescent request was quickly bought, along with the above multicoloured 4ply Baby Lamb Alpaca. It's going to knit up like a clown threw up on it, but I'm sure that will make it fun to make something with.

I Can't Doooooo It...

Flo asked me to teach her how to knit the other day. This was the outcome.