tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88513527668060280912024-03-20T15:43:03.138+00:00Purl About TownLaura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.comBlogger192125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-33174565496762651422017-03-12T18:38:00.003+00:002017-03-12T18:38:42.939+00:00Sabbatical Part 3: Arriving in Reykjavík and Hot Rivers. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On the flight to Iceland I was giddy with excitement. I seriously began seeing things as I looked out of the window from the plane. Steely blue ocean waves became whale tails splashing out of the water, moody clouds hid mysterious ships which disappeared when I looked again and as we came over the coast line of Iceland I was blown away by the otherworldliness of the land. Huge mountains topped with white, deep crags and lines scored through black rock, the baron nothingness of the lava fields and it's extreme remoteness.<br />
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The bus from Keflavík airport to Reykjavík took me through more of the desolate lava fields and it dawned on me that there were no trees on the landscape as far as the eye could see. This was such an alien concept to me and I'd never thought of a land without trees before. I imagined how bad the weather must get on the island and how there was almost no shelter from harsh winds, rain and snow. The words inhospitable came to mind, but then you hit the city and see the buildings clad in their corrugated iron armour, painted in bright colours, defying the weather and ready for anything.<br />
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On the first night we were booked into a lovely guest house called <a href="http://www.sunna.is/" target="_blank">Sunna Guesthouse</a>. When I arrived my roommate was not in and so I left her a note saying that I'd be back late and would try not to wake her. I dumped my huge bag and headed in to the town centre to have a look around. I saw the imposing Hallgrímskirkja church which is a very beautiful as well as being a useful land mark that you can see it from most parts of the city to orientate yourself. I walked down one of the main shopping streets and happened upon The Icelandic Handknitting association which is the only remaining knitting shop in Reykjavík. I later learned that similarly to London the rise in city rents is pricing out these important pillars of the community and the city's heritage. The shop was stuffed with hand knit sweaters of every size and colour. A small yarn section in the back of the shop was my first introduction to plutulopi, the signature unspun yarn of Iceland. The 'plates' of yarn were stacked up in a myriad of colours and a weighing scale sat by waiting to determine the cost of your yarn.<br />
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I happen to know someone who lives and works in Reykjavík and he and his boyfriend, both dressed in their handknit Lopi sweaters kindly met me for dinner and a drink. We ate excellent lobster soup and fish kebabs in a small cafe on the harbour. Then they took me for a little walk through the town where they showed me an elf rock. These are big boulders which folklore says that Elves live inside and therefore they should not be moved. Houses are built around them, even today to preserve the elvish dwellings. The magical realism of this kind of thing kept cropping up throughout my trip and I swear I saw things move in my peripheral vision which could not be explained. Elves and trolls where everywhere.<br />
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The next morning I woke up to be greeted by my room mate. Thankfully she was also a member of the tour and so we instantly had common ground to explore, mostly knitting! After breakfast we congregated in the hallway of the guesthouse waiting for our tour bus and guide to arrive. As more and more of the group arrived we became animated; excited at the adventure to come. Among us there were two Americans, two Canadians, one Australian (hailing from New York) and six British, one of whom was the husband of one of the American ladies. And what a superb man he was to come on a knitting holiday with his wife and spend the week as the only man.<br />
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Our tour guide Hélène Magnússon eventually arrived as the sun was just getting up around 9.30am. She quickly informed us that the itinerary had changed and we would be exploring the hot pools today rather than the glacier. This meant that suit cases and backpacks were quickly flung open to find towels and swimming costumes shoved at the bottom before we got onto the bus. Finally we were off on our adventure.<br />
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As we had an hour's drive ahead of us people got out their knitting projects and we started to ask what each other were working on. I had chosen my knitting project for the trip based on ease, so that I wasn't too distracted and was still able to take everything in. Therefore I went for my tried and tested vanilla sock pattern. I knit them in <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Thewoolkitchen" target="_blank">The Wool Kitchen</a> Sock yarn in the colourway Ground Control. The name seemed apt as I'd heard so much about the surface of Iceland being that of another planet/ moon/ something from a sci-fi movie and as we drove along looking out of the window with this yarn in my hands I knew I had made a good choice.<br />
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In Iceland there is one big ring road around the outer rim of the island which connects everything. From what I understand there is very little in the middle except mountains and ice. We were driving along the ring road when suddenly we slowed down and came off directly onto a lava field with no proper 'road' but a sort of path of crushed lava rock serving as a road. I now understood why the bus was so elevated by huge bouncy wheels, were were pretty much on a giant quad bike bouncing across moon rocks. The Knitting got put away at this point as someone was about to loose an eye.<br />
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When we reached our hike departure point we were handed a packed lunch and some crampons just in case we needed them, Crampons are little spiked bits of metal that you lash to your boots to help to get a grip on ice and snow. The air was crisp and I was glad of all my layers. But I suddenly realised that I'd totally forgotten a scarf! This was fine as I had enough layers to keep me warm, but I was disappointed at missing the opportunity to show off another hand knit.<br />
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It's hard to describe how I felt hiking through such an impressive landscape. It constantly reminded me of Scotland but without the heather, scrub land and trees. I was so trigger happy with the camera but looking back the photos don't do a scrap of justice to how everything looked to the naked eye. Throught the trip I could almost feel my heart swelling. I was filled up with joy, wonder and happiness at being in such a wonderful place and being so lucky to be there. <br />
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As we began to walk down the side of a steep hill we saw our first puffs of smoke rising out of the ground as if a dragon were resting there. Our fist sighting of bubbling mud and water was amazing. Everyone stopped to take a thousand pictures and I constantly said over and over in my head "look first, take it in and THEN take a photo. Don't look at this through a lens". The mantra was a good one but I still took a thousand pictures. The ground was pink and blue and purple and green and yellow, like an oil slick where the heat under the ground was ready to break the surface. Hélène warned us not to step on ground like this incase it were to give way to a pocket of steam or hot mud. The liquid mud was hot enough to melt the flesh off your hand if you were to touch it. Hélène became impatient to move on, she knew that this was small fry compared to what we would see later on.<br />
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There is to much to describe what we saw on the rest of our walk but waterfalls, steam rolling off the river, tiny puff of smoke popping out from under stones, huge bowls of mud on a rolling boil were everywhere. As we walked along a winding, steaming hot river Hélène stopped to test the water every now and again. Then she stopped and announced that this would be the place to take a dip and have lunch. We all looked at each other and then the surroundings. There was no changing place, no grassy knoll to hid behind. Hélène looked at us like were were crazy for just standing there and quickly whipped off her clothes, popped on her costume and hopped into the steaming river. We all took one look at each other, shrugged and got on with it. The British reserve was well and truly shattered!<br />
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The hot steaming water was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. As your body became acclimatised to the heat of the water the chill of the air didn't bother you. In fact there were pockets of water that were too hot if you sat for too long and so you moved about to find your perfect spot. As it was lunch time Hélène suggested we eat our lunch in the water. This made the experience even more surreal!<br />
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Getting out of our perfect natural bath was the tricky part. The grass on the bank side was icy and everyone did strange hopping dances trying to get dry, take their swimming costumes off withough completely exposing themselves, keep their clothes off the damp freezing grass and get dressed as quickly as possible. Your reward for completing this task was a hot drink of coffee or tea from Kristina, our mountain guide and cook for the week. She was a constant ray of Icelandic sunshine on us for the whole tour.<br />
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The remaining hike ahead of us too us through more extraordinary sights. I couldn't believe how full of happiness it was possible to feel when with a group of strangers in a foreign land. We ended up at large wooden sheep pen when Hélène demonstrated, using us as the sheep, how the farmers would gather the wild sheep back up at the start of every winter and sort them into the different pens indicating which farm they came from. She pretended to grab us by the horns and wrestle us to our gates. It was a lot of fun and a great way to end the hike.<br />
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Back on the bus the sun we were all exhausted but invigorated by the experience. Then Hélène declared that our next stop would be some yarn shops! I was completely overwhelmed by the idea of buying yarn at this moment in time. The first yarn shop was came to was Hannyrðabúðin in Selfoss, which had all the colours of the landscape laid out in plutulopi. Most of the group were in a frenzy of buying sweater quantities of the stuff but I just couldn't wrap my head around what I wanted to get and so hung back. I asked Hélène if we would be visiting more yarn shops and she advised me that the best was yet to come, so I felt secure in my decision not to splurge at the first sight of yarn.<br />
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The second shop we visited was exactly what I was looking for. Þingborg is a beautifully presented yarn shop in an old school house as well as a co-op who harvest, spin and dye their own yarn. Almost everything in there was hand picked, hand spun, hand made, natural shade or simply stuff I'd never seen before. This was my kind of place and I wasn't going to let it pass me by without purchasing my sweaters worth of yarn. I pointed to some undyed black plutulopi behind the counter. The lady took a look at me and weighed out the amount she estimated for my size of sweater, to be knit one with the plutulopi held double. What a skill! Then I added in a skein of hand spun and hand dyed lopi in My Little Pony type multi-colours. It spoke to me, ok! In my head theses two were to become the lopi sweater of my dreams.<br />
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We finally headed towards the place we were to call home for the next few days. It was now dark and the the crunch lava roads we went down seemed to get smaller and smaller. At one point we came to a road comically blocked with sheep but we eventually stopped at a wooden building with a turf roof and an excited puppy bounding around outside. I knew I was going to like it here. <br />
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<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-16637466767755040322016-12-26T09:13:00.001+00:002016-12-26T09:13:26.508+00:00Sabbatical Part 2: The booking, packing and patternsAnd so, to the most selfish part of my sabbatical. A whole week dedicated to myself and something I really wanted to do. When I first started thinking about what this might be I had Shetland in mind as I have longed to go to the Shetland Wool Week festival for the last few years. However, the timing of my sabbatical didn't work out with the festival dates and Shetland in November seemed like a pretty wet and windy option. I decided that going on an organised knitting tour would be best for me, mostly so that I didn't have to think too hard about what to do each day, but also so that I could meet other likeminded people. I really am a social person and don't much like spending long periods of time on my own - especially in a foreign country. After a bit of searching the most perfect trip came up: <a href="http://icelandicknitter.com/en/travels/knitting-on-ice/" target="_blank">The Icelandic Knitter's Knitting on Ice</a>. I took the plunge and booked it.<br />
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Planning for the trip was stressful for me. I'd never been anywhere like Iceland before and couldn't quite get my head around what I was supposed to wear each day to keep the weather out. The advice that '<i>there is no bad weather, only bad clothing</i>' kept springing to mind. I didn't own any hiking clothing or equipment, but thankfully friends let me borrow key things like a super-warm coat and hiking boots, and then Sports Direct had everything else I needed to buy like a sleeping bag, waterproof trousers, base layers, hiking socks, etc., at a pretty reasonable price. Packing was then another nightmare with so many bulky warm items to fit into one bag. So I ended up borrowing a proper traveller's rucksack from my brother. Lugging that thing through London I felt like I was going on a real adventure.<br />
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For the trip I had knitted two jumpers and a hat. The first jumper was the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swirled-pentagon-pullover" target="_blank">Swirled Pentagon Pullover by Norah Gaughan</a>. I found this in a book I bought for my Mum years ago. She has knit lots of projects from it but I always thought they weren't for me. But this one looked like just the kind of warm and cosy knit I needed in Iceland, especially with its thick roll neck. My first attempt at knitting it was a true disaster. The thing came out HUGE and looked a really strange shape. With a bit of help from my knit gurus I settled on knitting the small size, going down a needle size for the main part of the jumper and down another needle size for the pentagons. Once I had sewn it up I realised that I much preferred it without the roll neck and that I would probably wear it more after the trip, so omitted it. I really like the pentagon neckline construction and the colour of the yarn has received many compliments. If I were to knit it again I would add a lot more waist shaping and try to adapt it to be made in the round for ease of knitting.<br />
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The second jumper was a total panic knit. When the Swirled Pentagon Pullover was going so terribly wrong I completely lost my nerve and bought the pattern for <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owls-9" target="_blank">Owls by Kate Davis</a> and some <a href="https://www.newlanarkshop.co.uk/wool-chunky-balls-of-wool.irc" target="_blank">New Lanark Chunky</a> yarn to knit it with. My theory here was that if the first jumper wasn't ready in time this thick-and-quick knit would be. And I was right, it only took a few weeks to finish and both the yarn and pattern are absolute superstars. It fits me like a dream, it is warm in that temperature regulating way that wool is and it still looks great after many, many wears. This is unlike the previously mentioned Swirled Pentagon Pullover that was knit in <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/mondial-bio-lana" target="_blank">Mondial Bio Lana</a> which, although is much softer than the New Lanark, has pilled terribly and the jumper is looking very worn after only a month or two of wear.<br />
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The hat I made was a very last minute knit but has been the item that I have been most complimented on whilst wearing. The pattern is<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cable-hat-9" target="_blank"> Cable Hat by Dora Stephensen</a> which is a free pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ThirdVaultYarns" target="_blank">Third Vault Yarns</a> Gytha Worsted in the colour way Bulbasaur. This was a gift from my friend Wendy at <a href="http://yarnsub.com/" target="_blank">Yarnsub</a> who saw the colour and thought of me. I seriously love the deep green shininess of it. To top it off I chose a <a href="http://www.rico-design.de/en/hand-knitting/rico-kits/fake-fur-pompons" target="_blank">Rico Faux Fur Pom Pom</a> in a coral colour to really stand out. I also thought that this colour would be nice and visible should I fall down a crevasse on a mountain or glacier. <br />
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As you can see from my photos above I had THE BEST TIME. More on that in Part 3.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-77334854677165119262016-12-11T23:49:00.002+00:002016-12-11T23:49:26.259+00:00Sabbatical Part 1: The MagicI am so fortunate to work for a company that values its employees and this year after five years of service I was able to take a month long sabbatical. This was such a great opportunity that I wanted to do it right. The majority of the people I work with don't have kids and so all of them instantly suggested I go traveling for a month to South America! Japan! Thailand! But I knew that I wouldn't feel right leaving the Mr. and Flo for a full month and so I planned as best I could to make the most of it, incorporating spending time with my family and myself.<br />
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As there is so much to tell you about during the whole month of adventures I had, I thought I'd break it down into its different parts so that it doesn't become a monster to read. Here's a very magical part one.<br />
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I began my sabbatical during the UK October school half term and decided to do the trip that I had always wanted to do with Flo; Disneyland Paris. I had visited the park once before when the Mr. had taken me for my 18th Birthday. Yes, we have been together that long. And so this was also a slightly romantic walk down memory lane to return, but this time with our excited six year old in tow.<br />
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The best part was that we didn't tell Flo that we were going. So in the dead of night we woke her up and told her to get dressed as we were "going on an adventure". I was expecting her to kick up a fuss and demand to know where we were headed, but surprisingly she went along with it without any bother. When we arrived at the Eurotunnel she asked if we were going to France, as we'd driven there earlier this year. We confirmed that we were, she seemed happy with this as the destination and asked no further questions. It wasn't until we got past Paris and began to see the signs for the Park that the Mr. and I decided to let her know what was going on. I pointed out the sign and asked her to read it. I asked her if she'd like to go to Disneyland and she replied yes. When I told her that this was where we were indeed going and that we'd be staying there for a few days she screamed with joy! Check out my <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BL3EThXgeYm/?taken-by=purlprincess81" target="_blank">Instagram</a> for the video.<br />
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Knitting-wise I cast on a new project in the dark on the drive to the Eurotunnel. I was surprised by how well this actually worked out. I was working on a Secret Santa gift so I won't give away the pattern just yet. All you need to know was that it was worked in SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock on 2.5mm needles. I thought this would make good car knitting and I got a large chunk of the project done on the drive to and from Paris. Once in the park I only managed to knit a few rows before bed and a few times in the queues for the character met and greets (man, they were long). But I was glad of having something productive to do rather than just standing there.<br />
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Needless to say we had a magical few days in the park and were truly exhausted at the end. The health app on my phone informed me that we did on average 18,000 steps each day. We met princesses, did all the rides, got character autographs, screamed, laughed, cried on occasion with either the overwhelming magic or the overwhelming tiredness and I loved every minute of it. This was the perfect way to kick off the month; together with my family, doing something of pure childish pleasure and fun. The next instalment as you will see was a lot more personally indulgent!<br />
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<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-52835058761130370832016-09-11T11:58:00.002+01:002016-09-11T11:58:20.116+01:00Philomena's Elephant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Trips to the library used to be fraught when Flo was tiny. Books went flying off the shelves, screams and shouts would be had and I would sheepishly leave with her under my arm without taking out a single book. Now that Flo is much more able to go into a public place without causing mass destruction the library has become a much more fun and interesting place to be. We’re slowly getting to the point where I can actually look at some books myself! </div>
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A few weeks back I managed to get away from the kids section for 2 minutes and grabbed the book <a href="http://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk/pd.aspx?product=patterns/toys/-Edwards_Menagerie_Book_by_Kerry_Lord" target="_blank">Edward's Menagerie</a> off the display shelf. I have a friend's baby to make something for and the projects looked like a nice challenge as well as a lovely gifts to give. The book is full of the cutest soft toy crochet patterns which are pretty easy to follow if you have a basic grasp of crochet, which I just about do. There are about 40 different animals to choose from, but I went with the Elephant as I had some left over <a href="https://www.jarbon.com/yarns-wools/knit-by-numbers-merino-yarn/knit-by-numbers-merino-yarn?zenid=ivsludvh8fs9ggpnopno0of380#.V9U2BpMrJmA" target="_blank">John Arbon Knit By Numbers</a> in a lovely grey colour and who doesn't love an elephant?</div>
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My basic crochet meant that this project demanded my full concentration and so I had to basically do it with my head down, no talking or watching TV for the whole project. Thankfully as crochet is pretty quick it only took a few silent sessions to complete the pieces with a further session to sew up and embellish with a tail and eyes. </div>
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My friends baby was born and named Philomena shortly after I completed the little elephant. I can't say Philomena seemed pleased with the elephant as she could hardly focus on her own mother at the time of me giving it to her. But I'm sure in years to come it will be flung across her bedroom during a flight test, snuggled whilst watching films and be ridden on by Barbies. </div>
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There was one small snag with this project, which was that I was having such a good time making the elephant I forgot that it was a library book and was fined £2 for a late return. Perhaps I should stick to letting Flo choose the books. I'd be more likely to renew them on time!</div>
Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-3262348531064139762016-07-24T10:00:00.000+01:002016-07-24T10:00:00.146+01:00Emerald City<div style="text-align: center;">
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A finished object!!!<br />
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I won a competition last year with <a href="https://www.pompommag.com/" target="_blank">Pom Pom Mag</a> and was sent the most gorgeous yarn; <a href="http://www.kismetfiberworks.com/" target="_blank">Kismet Fiber Works</a> Refuge Fingering. I got to choose the colourway and couldn't resist the aptly named T-Rex.<br />
Green is really my thing, especially being a ginger.<br />
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I decided to make the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitofude-cardigan" target="_blank">Hitofude</a> cardigan by Hiroko Fukatsu and over the last few months it's been a pleasure to knit. The yarn is a mix of baby camel and silk which is so slinky-soft! Plus I could get lost in the deep emerald green for days. The repetitive lace pattern was easy to get on with and as it's knit all in one piece it was completely satisfying to watch grow, try on as I knit and have no sewing up to do!<br />
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I'm really happy with the finished article although the hot weather is prohibiting me from wearing it at the moment.<br />
I managed to get Flo to take some photos of me wearing it in the garden the other day. This photo shoot was a lot of fun and she directed me about like a tiny, shouty David Bailey. She even demanded that I use her dog balloon as a prop. I of course obeyed. Look what magic occurred. Turner Prize here we come.<br />
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<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-33881184720429711482016-07-22T21:31:00.001+01:002016-07-22T21:31:44.266+01:00A New York Min-knit<div style="text-align: center;">
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A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to visit New York for my annual company training session. It's a busy few days of formal training with a few evenings of dinners and drinks together with the fun and intelligent people I have the pleasure of working with. On the last day I was lucky enough to have some time before my flight home to head to Brooklyn and track down the <a href="https://www.brooklyngeneral.com/" target="_blank">Brooklyn General Store</a>. And, oh, how glad I was to have made it there.<br />
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The store was massive by UK standards with one side of the shop dedicated to yarn and the other to sewing. It was a peaceful space and despite the time pressure of a flight to think of I felt at ease browsing the packed shelves. However, as the time pressure was in the back of my mind I didn't follow my usual tactic of considering my purchases carefully, checking Ravelry, looking for patterns to match the yarn or pondering over which skein I want more than another. This time I simply picked up a basket and starting piling up the yarns I really liked the look of. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't clearing the shelves directly into my basket; I was gauging which skein was talking to me, which ones I was really excited about and trying to find things that perhaps I'd never seen or heard of before.<br />
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I only had time for one pass down the yarn side of the shop and so once I got to the end I tipped out the basket onto the counter and took a quick stock check. To give you further context Brexit had just happened the night before which had saddened me to my very core. This yarn was very much being used to a plug a large hole in my national pride at that moment. It was my equivalent of eating a huge bar of chocolate after a break up. I emptied out my remaining dollars from my purse and bought the lot. In all honesty I don't feel a bit guilty about it. Seven types of yarn and a project bag acquired I headed back to the UK filled with yarny joy.<br />
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<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-58862408982159091612016-06-19T22:30:00.000+01:002016-06-19T22:30:28.360+01:00Northern Yarn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the last few years the provenance of yarn has become so much more important to the knitting community. Where our yarn has been sourced, processed and dyed is as much a part of some people's yarn shopping as it is for their food shopping. I'm so proud to say that my friend Kate has just launched <a href="http://www.northernyarn.co.uk/" target="_blank">Northern Yarn</a> which promotes no air miles, no plastic, just good honest wool from the Lancashire region.<br />
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I met Kate in 2010 when she moved into my Brother's old flat which was across the road from where I lived at the time in South Woodford. She was pregnant and I knew the move had been stressful so I went over to say hello and welcome her to the area. I also let her know that we had a local mum's knitting group and advised her to join in order to meet people. Before long we had Kate knitting away. She became a yarn lover and good friend to us all.<br />
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Fast forward to a few years later when Kate and her family decided to move back to their homeland of Lancashire. We were of course sad to see her go, but it marked a new chapter in Kate's life and this chapter had sheep roaming outside her window instead of the A406 road works buzzing in the background. These sheep that she saw daily inspired her to find local yarns to knit with. Surely there would be tons of local yarn with all this fluff walking about? But she found it hard to get her hards on what she was looking for and so started out on a mission to create a place where people could buy local wool and support farmers from Lancashire.<br />
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My favourites from her collection have to be the <a href="http://www.northernyarn.co.uk/#!blank/rwrlr/ca1afcd7-350e-d11f-f90a-bf6a25ea238a" target="_blank">Teeswater wool </a>which comes in mouthwatering colours. Kate knows the shepherds Freda & Darrell which shows just how local this wool is to her! Also the <a href="http://www.northernyarn.co.uk/#!blank/rwrlr/397029be-5d57-487b-af54-62bdd49817a0" target="_blank">Lancashire Farm Wool</a> in it's undyed creaminess is just gorgeous.<br />
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Take a look and if you're in the Lancashire area it's worth while tracking Kate down at the <a href="http://www.northernyarn.co.uk/#!events/urz4b" target="_blank">various markets</a> she sets up stall at.</div>
Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-56579686436694917552016-06-12T10:08:00.000+01:002016-06-12T10:08:20.072+01:00Knit-Monogamy is Overrated<div style="text-align: center;">
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Up until this year I was pretty much a monogamous knitter. I would only have one project on the go at a time and thought that it was the best way to get projects finished and do them right. I noticed that so many of my fellow knitters did not share my monogamy yet seemed to be churning out more projects than I could manage. I always put this down to them having more time or being faster knitters than me, but earlier this year I decided to give polygamous knitting a go and it was a revelation. Having multiple projects on the go at a time meant that when I got bored or stuck on one thing I'd simply move onto another until I had the interest or strength to go back to the first project.<br />
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At the time of my experiment I had cast on the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rockhopper" target="_blank">Rock Hopper Shawl</a> from Penguin by Anna Maltz, the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hap-blanket" target="_blank">Hap Blanket </a>by Ysolda Teague for a wedding present to a friend, a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sock-yarn-square" target="_blank">blanket of squares</a> from sock yarn remnants I’d been hoarding for about ten years, and I joined a one skein scarf KAL to complete my adultery. It was liberating to skip between projects and keep the momentum going on each of them. Every day i would be able to choose which to take on my commute and then later at home I could flit between projects on the couch.<br />
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Although I began all of these at the start of the year I still haven't finished all of them. The scarf KAL and Hap Blanket were finished in good time. I need to take some better photos of the blanket but you can see that I tried to match the border to the colours on the wedding invite.<br />
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Both the Rock Hopper shawl and the blanket squares are still ongoing projects. I messed up the Rock Hopper and am frankly a little scared of trying to fix it or fudge it, hence why there is no photo of its half-finished state. The blanket is going to be ongoing for the next 20 years I'm estimating. Unless it turns into a baby blanket. <br />
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The best thing that being a polygamous knitter has taught me is that it's ok to have UFOs in your knitting pile. It's chilled me out a bit and taken the deadline stress out of finishing one thing before you can cast on the next. I don't think I'll ever go back now. I'm off to cast on something new!<br />
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PS: If you're on Instagram you can find me at purlprincess81.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-67683442643157150392016-06-03T20:24:00.002+01:002016-06-03T20:24:54.047+01:00East London Yarn Triangle<div style="text-align: center;">
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Have you heard about the East London Yarn Triangle yet? </div>
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Knit in Public day is coming up on Saturday 18th June and to celebrate it <a href="http://fabrications1.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fabrications</a>, <a href="http://www.wildandwoollyshop.co.uk/" target="_blank">Wild and Woolly</a> and <a href="http://knitwithattitude.com/shop/" target="_blank">Knit With Attitude</a> have teamed up to bring you an East London yarn crawl, which just happens to be triangular. </div>
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The idea is this; you assemble a group, preferably giving it a name like the Knitting Ninjas or Woolly Wanderers. Then show up together at any of the shops, grab a map which details walking and bus routes as well as some key Hackney knitting spots. Then knit as you travel between shops taking knitting in public selfies of you and your team on the way. Upload at least 3 snaps to Instagram with the hashtag #eastlondonyarntriangle and you get 10% off everything in any of the shops! What a perfect way of both spending and celebrating Knit in Public day.</div>
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When I was Knit With Attitude the other day they packaged up my purchases in one of their printed tote bags. When I got it home I realised I now had the full set of tote bags for the East London Yarn triangle - weird huh! Perhaps it's a sign that I need to assemble a team and get yarn crawling. Who's with me?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PS: Velma says "Hi".</td></tr>
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Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-10172319422238345812016-05-30T08:29:00.001+01:002016-05-30T08:29:25.355+01:00Knitting Magazine's - July 2016 Men's issue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLTi5BBn4MDZhnAr2Btp5XltgpPWtPlA879uiMJ_tMhjiAG8CzF4ucYKM2YeSTVIuHhgJsBL7BYe_DGPnJg5BjKq4M4OjEYh5DYlnsCrpNamsoy2VwYkAJKVJgfaCrNEdf4kalbeGnbQ/s1600/2016-01-16+at+15-16-09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLTi5BBn4MDZhnAr2Btp5XltgpPWtPlA879uiMJ_tMhjiAG8CzF4ucYKM2YeSTVIuHhgJsBL7BYe_DGPnJg5BjKq4M4OjEYh5DYlnsCrpNamsoy2VwYkAJKVJgfaCrNEdf4kalbeGnbQ/s320/2016-01-16+at+15-16-09.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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I've been writing as Purl About Town since 2008 and have seen the magazine change over time. This year we got a new Editor Christine Boggis and it's been great to see how she's put her own stamp on the magazine. The month it's the Men's issue which I think its a particularly good one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOhLVI1VjPcqHi95m5DQR8-DxSkDbQVclwkmQT3nPcwQAPi3d91Pc84XPG8oCCzbSdwWAjFdpOn6e1XhCfpE0ihBfg_bRPPvQkG6nzuIXuSHE2haIsMkxtPcbKSHvTy9ij6WoH2IEe0s/s1600/IMG_0422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOhLVI1VjPcqHi95m5DQR8-DxSkDbQVclwkmQT3nPcwQAPi3d91Pc84XPG8oCCzbSdwWAjFdpOn6e1XhCfpE0ihBfg_bRPPvQkG6nzuIXuSHE2haIsMkxtPcbKSHvTy9ij6WoH2IEe0s/s320/IMG_0422.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's refreshing to see a man on the cover for a change. I wonder if it makes it stand out on the shelves more? </div>
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Inside there are some great articles on male designers including <a href="http://www.easyknits.co.uk/" target="_blank">Easyknits</a> and <a href="http://westknits.com/" target="_blank">Steven West</a>, both of whom I'm a big fan of.</div>
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My favourite feature this month is that several of the male knitting patterns are show on both men and women. </div>
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I think this works really well as we all like to climb into a boyfriend, dad, or male friend's big cosy jumper from time to time. I'm sure there are lots of jumpers that have migrated from one part of the wardrobe to another over time. I think the designs they have chosen work equally well on both sexes and I just thought the idea was really fresh for the magazine.<br />
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Why not check out this month's Knitting Magazine and let me know what you think?<br />
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<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-8881171176469773912016-05-28T21:18:00.000+01:002016-05-28T21:18:12.736+01:00Red or Blue - who will win?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today I took a trip to <a href="http://knitwithattitude.com/shop/" target="_blank">Knit with Attitude</a> in Stoke Newington with the sole purpose of buying some terribly unseasonal aran weight yarn for a new project I am keen to cast on. I'd done my research on suitable yarn options available in the store, I'd figured out my yardage and how many balls I'd need for my project. At this point I was a smug so-and-so.<br />
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The shop was lovely as ever; bight and airy with a lovely selection of yarn, books and tools. I grabbed the yarn I really wanted, but all of my planning didn't prepare me for the fact that they did not have the quantity I needed to complete my project. So, less smug, I went to my second choice and was informed that only two of the available colours had the number of balls I required in stock. Thankfully both colours would work fabulously. And so began the deliberating between the red and the blue.<br />
<i>"Blue really suits you" </i>I said<br />
<i>"But red is super festive and you'll be wearing this in winter" </i>was my reply.<br />
<i>"You have blue knits, remember that blue period you had? Go for Red it's different"</i> but this was batted down with <i>"You know you will definitely wear the blue, don't knit something in a colour you won't wear." </i><br />
But I was feeling bold and I decided that red was definitely the way to go.<br />
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Continuing in my smug vein I wanted to be sure that this yarn was going to work out with my gauge, so I bought one ball sat down in the shop and proceeded to start a gauge swatch. I was suddenly aware of the people working in the shop rummaging through yarn, pulling packs off of the stock room shelves and generally looking for something. As I measured my swatch and decided that yes, this yarn was just right for my project, they informed me that there was a mistake in their system there in fact was not enough of the red. Only the blue had enough balls for my project. So that sneaky blue won! Now I have sixteen balls of blue for my project and one random ball of red. So I guess that will be a baby hat then?Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-69183390154056064982016-05-21T11:36:00.001+01:002016-05-21T11:36:45.728+01:00Colouring in<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was my birthday last week and I was given this colouring book from Mason Dixon Knitting by a family member. It's filled with knitting and yarn based line drawings ready for you to give them some creative flair. My favourite images are those with individual stitches to colour. You could do anything from a variegated yarn to a Fair Isle pattern!<br />
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I love the idea of meditative colouring. It has a property similar to knitting where your mind is allowed to wander as you work. It's been scientifically proven now that it's good for you and your brain to spend this sort of quiet time, with your hands busy allowing your head to process things. My problem is giving myself that time. I always convince myself that there's something else more important to be doing and so meditative moments get pushed back, overlooked and replaced by other things. I'm hoping that I can take this colouring book and actually spend some time with it.<br />
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If you're interested in checking out some colouring books which combine your yarn love with pencils and paper then there's also Franklin Habit's I Dream of Yarn, which looks really cute! </div>
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Now, I'm off to to sneak some of Flo's colouring pencils away from her!</div>
<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-11871323539167008602016-05-11T16:49:00.001+01:002016-05-11T16:49:21.733+01:00Broken needles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I knit on the London underground to and from work every day during the week. I like to take something easy and portable so that it can quickly be stuffed in and out of my bag while I battle with the other commuters. I've taken to working on a blanket project which I've named The Leftovers as I'm using up sock yarn remnants to create squares. These will eventually be sewn together, probably in about 10 years time, as I'm going to need a lot of them to make a substantial enough blanket.<br />
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Last week I took this particular square out of my project bag on the Central line and discovered that one of my needles had snapped. I'm not sure how they got broken. Did I sit on them? Did I shove something in my bag with too much force? Whatever it was I could not knit for the rest of my commute and therefore was not a happy traveller.<br />
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It was a Lantern Moon set of rosewood sox sticks that I bought back in maybe 2007-2008? So I guess it was their time, even though in my mind I expected them to last forever.<br />
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Fair-well faithful needles. May your journey to the needle graveyard in the sky be smooth and without snags.<br />
<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-14236925230470479672016-05-05T11:30:00.000+01:002016-05-05T11:30:05.870+01:00Purple Juvel<div style="text-align: center;">
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This Easter the Mr, Flo and I went for a long weekend to Mersea Island in Essex. I needed a satisfying project to work on during the car journey and in the cosy evenings in the little cottage we had booked. I have had 6 balls of Noro Cash Iroha in my stash since 2007 when I snapped it up at a John Lewis haberdashery sale. Please keep in mind that his was a pre child purchase. The colour wasn't really me, the weight was all wrong for a garment and I never found the perfect project for it, so it lay in my stash un touched for nearly 10 years. Suddenly with this trip on the horizon I saw my chance to make it work.<br />
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Flo had been asking for me to knit her something for some time. I had managed a quick Father Christmas hat and chunky snood for her in recent months, but she was looking for something of jumper or cardigan grade. I did a bit of Ravelry hunting and found the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/juvel" target="_blank">Juvel</a> free pattern by Yarn-Madness. The pattern is primarily for hand spun yarns, but as the Cash Iroha is a single with quite a bit of texture so I thought it would be a good substitute.<br />
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I had seriously considered this patten before casting on and I had surmised that it was the perfect spring throw-on cardi for a child that says she's never cold, but feels freezing to the touch. The purple seemed like an easy win for Flo who professes to loving girly colours, despite being a bit of a tom-boy. So I cast on and made quick progress with the Aran weight yarn. The next day I revealed the in progress pattern and yarn to Flo who promptly told me she didn't like it and wanted a pink cardigan instead. Stupidly this actually managed to wind me up as I really thought she would have been pleased about the project. But who was I kidding? She's 6! She doesn't realise how cutting her comments were to me. So after a quick lesson with Flo on how to be grateful I continued knitting.<br />
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Lots of knitting was done on the trip and the cardigan didn't take long to finish. It only took 3 balls in the end so the remaining yarn is back to lingering in my stash. As soon as it was done Flo was more than pleased to wear it and has since repeatedly asked to wear it, which just goes to show that kids will say anything to get a rise out of you. I think you can tell from the photo evidence that the Juvel is indeed a hit and will hopefully keep her warm this Spring, if she bothers to keep it on.<br />
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Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-91097341554058038252016-04-30T23:14:00.000+01:002016-04-30T23:14:18.584+01:00Yarn Shop Day 2016 - Wild and Woolly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today was Yarn Shop Day, which is a chance to celebrate and support your local bricks and mortar yarn shops. I really believe that this is a truly worthy cause. Who wants to buy all of their yarn online without a chance to squish, sniff and gaze at it lovingly before deciding to take it home?<br />
So, I made my way to <a href="http://www.wildandwoollyshop.co.uk/" target="_blank">Wild and Woolly</a> in Lower Clapton to join in with their Purly Queens Pop up, which was basically a whole host of fabulous designers and dyers show casing their wares. In attendance was <a href="http://www.annamaltz.com/" target="_blank">Anna Maltz</a>, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/jane-lithgow" target="_blank">Jane Lithgow</a> and <a href="http://eastlondonknit.co.uk/" target="_blank">East London Knits</a> Renee Callahan who all had samples of their designs to try on, which my Mum took full advantage of, as well as patterns to buy, kits, project pages and more. <a href="https://travelknitter.com/" target="_blank">TravelKnitter </a>and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Thewoolkitchen" target="_blank">The Wool Kitchen</a> were also both there with their gorgeous yarns for sale.<br />
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The shop was packed when we arrived, which isn't hard as it is a small space but it was lovely to see that so many people had turned out to browse, buy and simply sit and knit. As usual the knitting community welcomed everyone in and there was a lovely atmosphere in the shop, in fact people even began spilling out onto the pavement it was so busy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mum trying on the Seceles sample</td></tr>
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After a while there was a quieter spell and Mum and I were able to sit down with a cuppa and a home made biscuit to review our possible purchases. In the end I came away with a skein of The Wool Kitchen 4ply in the Ground Control colourway. This was from the David Bowie collection that Hannah had dyed up before Bowie had sadly passed away. Perhaps she had the inside knowledge on that one ;-) I also bought the pattern for Jane Lithgow's <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/broadlands-mitts" target="_blank">Broadlands Mitts</a> which I just loved when I tried them on. Mum bought <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/the-klee-collection" target="_blank">East London Knit's Klee Collection</a>, the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sceles" target="_blank">Seceles</a> pattern and the yarn to knit it. Score all round.<br />
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It was a really fun afternoon filled with chatter and lots of squishing, sniffing and gazing at beautiful yarn and patterns. I hope you had the chance to join in and visit your local yarn shop and if not, make sure you keep making those purchases in person rather than always online. Lets keep our yarn shops in business!Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-88068629663259496612016-04-29T21:56:00.000+01:002016-04-29T21:56:00.021+01:00Where have I been?I've been right here! <div>
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I've still been doing my article in Knitting Magazine but found it increasingly harder to keep up with the blog while doing a full time office job, wrangling a now six-year old child and of course enjoying knitting. Excuses, excuses, right? </div>
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I guess that the knitting blogger landscape also became incredible competitive and overwhelming. At times it has felt like I couldn't keep up, so why bother? But I realised that I shouldn't really need to compete with anyone. I love to write and I love to knit. Writing is such a wonderful gift that I shouldn't limit it. I also feel that I should exercise it to keep my writing in good shape. So here I am, where I've always been, but ready to blog again. Let's go.</div>
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Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-79166480463739240232014-07-30T19:00:00.000+01:002014-07-30T19:00:00.295+01:00Enter Cat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Sadly a continuing fact of life is that it's hard to get a 4 year old to stand still for a photo. *sigh...*<br />
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She still looks lovely in it though.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-84524298418451654212014-07-14T10:00:00.000+01:002014-07-14T10:00:01.320+01:00Plaristo of Rye<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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.</div>
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<a href="http://www.plaristo.com/" target="_blank">Plaristo of Rye</a> 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.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Sheep and his weaving</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fluff and stuff</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cool table top made of yarn, buttons and lights with glass on top.<br />Would love to steal this idea.</td></tr>
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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.<br />
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As I was choosing, this happened:<br />
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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! </div>
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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.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-45490755970957991892014-07-12T20:22:00.000+01:002014-07-12T20:22:24.876+01:00I Can't Doooooo It...Flo asked me to teach her how to knit the other day. This was the outcome.<br />
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<br />Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-43133201826163387972014-06-29T10:00:00.000+01:002014-06-29T10:00:00.116+01:00Picking a project for the other Birthday Girl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is Shan and she's my special 'birthday twin' as we were born on the same day in the beds next to each other 30 years ago! I wanted to knit her something to mark the occasion, as for me that's the ultimate expression of love; making something specifically for someone and hoping they'll like it, use it/ wear it and cherish it forever. So I set about thinking what I wanted to make for her:</div>
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<li>She's a classy lady so I wanted something unfussy, but with a simple interest. </li>
<li>She wears a lot of black, perhaps because she's a doctor and has seen enough white for a lifetime? So it needed to complement that without being a really 'out-there' colour that she'd never wear. </li>
<li>She has recently bought a house, which is probably the most exciting house I have ever been in. It's like a little cavern that keeps throwing up random rooms, extra kitchens, tiny stairways to studies and narrow hallways leading who knows where. The only thing is that it's practically falling down and therefore freezing in the winter. So whatever I made for her I knew it needed to be warm. </li>
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The pattern I finally settled on was <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-age-of-brass-and-steam-kerchief" target="_blank">The Age of Brass and Steam</a>, which is a rather steam-punk name for a pretty simple, classic pattern. The barley colour of the yarn really reminds me of Shan as she loves neutral tones in her home decorating. The yarn is 100% wool so it will be super warm in the winter - it's actually a bit of a shame that I gave it to her during summer! Although she can't wear it just yet for fear of over heating, she seems to really like it, so if she's happy, I'm happy.</div>
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We did lots of celebrating this year but wanted to do something extra special to mark the big birthday so went away for a long weekend, husbands and Flo in tow to Camber Sands in East Sussex. We stayed in an amazing little holiday home called <a href="http://www.lets-unwind.com/" target="_blank">The Salty Dog</a> which I HIGHLY recommend. It was lovely to spend some quality time together and get away from it all for a few days, but by far the best part was Camber Sands beach and dunes. Seriously, you can't get better than this.</div>
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Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-90872505951646674872014-06-01T10:43:00.001+01:002014-06-02T00:03:39.638+01:00Birthday Goodies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year I reached the grand old age of 30 and subsequently got lots of amazing gifts. Here are just some of my favourites:<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roberts-Revival-Digital-Radio-Battery/dp/B003IJ3ZCA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1401609759&sr=8-5&keywords=roberts+digital+radio" target="_blank">Roberts retro look DAB radio</a>. The kitchen and garden have been alive with dancing and singing since it's arrival.<br />
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<a href="http://ladydinahs.com/" target="_blank">Lady Dinah's cat cafe </a>9 lives card. This entitles me to 9 free entries to London's first cat cafe. They have their own cats, you need to bring your own! I'm dying to go but sadly they're all booked up until October, so I'm hanging on the hope that I'll get a cancellation before then.<br />
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<a href="http://www.fyberspates.co.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/Fyberspates/_512083/1/Scrumptious%25204ply" target="_blank">Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply</a>. Merino + Silk = Yum. I am not sure what to knit with this yet but when I do it will be squash-tastic.<br />
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<a href="http://ticktacktoedesign.com/products/cushions-2/" target="_blank">TickTackToe yarn print cushion</a>. This is pride of place on the sofa.<br />
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Bespoke necklace from my Birthday twin Shan. We share the same birthday and were born in the beds next to each other a few hours apart 30 years ago. The necklace has an 'L' and 'S' on it and feels very special. The photo doesn't do it justice.<br />
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Peace, Love, Knit Tee Shirt. Wearing it loud and proud.<br />
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The Mr. got me this AMAZING bespoke yarn bowl made by my favourite ceramics designer <a href="http://www.annettebuganskydesign.com/" target="_blank">Annette Bugansky</a> and Maya from <a href="http://knitwithattitude.com/shop/" target="_blank">Knit with Attitude</a>. It's only one of a couple in existence so is a pretty special gift. The bowl is made up of two halves and is made to look like a big ball of yarn. You open it up and pop your yarn inside, thread the yarn through the hole in the top half and knit away without your yarn rolling off. I must confess with Flo running around I'm unlikely to chance putting this delicate ceramic on the floor at present, but there will be a time that I use it perhaps for a one skein project when she's at University? For now it is admired on a shelf, away from little sticky hands.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkdnTsEqfuamOQDs4jNFSxf3X48YvLEGChotq2tJo7H-imS_NaUAMmhnQLtGqqkuwVODR_S11rY9wFa_abgrCo94-JqL4iYwFYEEru8BnpjSWWtD8R4pOZfzca2h4TU9h5akCY8oZDdE/s1600/Katie+tea+cosy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkdnTsEqfuamOQDs4jNFSxf3X48YvLEGChotq2tJo7H-imS_NaUAMmhnQLtGqqkuwVODR_S11rY9wFa_abgrCo94-JqL4iYwFYEEru8BnpjSWWtD8R4pOZfzca2h4TU9h5akCY8oZDdE/s1600/Katie+tea+cosy.JPG" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
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A friend, Katie, made me this lovely tea cosy, which has been in use a few times already. I need to drink my tea scolding hot, so this helps keep my brew at optimum burn temperature.<br />
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And finally my knit Guru, <a href="http://www.muddysheep.com/" target="_blank">Wendy</a>, knit me this cute back pack with cats inside and out. She uses her famous <a href="http://www.muddysheep.com/home/contoured-cats-and-diamonds" target="_blank">Peterson technique</a> to do the intarsia. This technique ensures that the edges of the image are smooth and contoured instead of blocky. Cool huh? Tutorials are yet to come on her site but I'll let you know when they're up.<br />
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All in all it was a great birthday - what a lucky girl I am!Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-70327753694844877202014-05-11T21:51:00.001+01:002014-05-11T21:51:31.365+01:00Maytime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been over a year since I last made something for Flo. Other people's kids, yes, but my own? Shamefully, no. So with the winter well and truly over I wanted something just for her and something that said 'Spring' and this was it. The pattern is called <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maytime" target="_blank">Maytime</a> by Kim Hargreaves. I'd had it in my queue for ages and the lemon yarn had been staring at me from my stash for some time too. So the need for a spring knit, the long-saved pattern and zesty yarn converged together at the right time for this knit. </div>
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What kept the pattern in my queue for so long was the mix of crochet and knitting in this garment. I don't do a lot of crochet. I always think of it being too structured and thick for clothing, which is the bulk of what I like to make. But I think the granny square hem and picot edging on this is just the right balance when blending the two skills. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNkYzJynI_GD8joHO_DLIcBjuuGPhpaYoLIK_upCvhjj_nNfUmq-nB6cWm_ia8GpmC-Y2rvMq7F4wv1xqHGlgDJXlwmOjN7hA9SYAPMlxxSmnsIsUzYxQvK1VkoH_vNhZALtB3VfJDv0/s1600/DSC_0686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNkYzJynI_GD8joHO_DLIcBjuuGPhpaYoLIK_upCvhjj_nNfUmq-nB6cWm_ia8GpmC-Y2rvMq7F4wv1xqHGlgDJXlwmOjN7hA9SYAPMlxxSmnsIsUzYxQvK1VkoH_vNhZALtB3VfJDv0/s1600/DSC_0686.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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My mission was to finish it in time for May, almost purely for the name of it. I finished it last weekend and Flo wore it out after a quick blocking. Of course after that one day of wear Flo had managed somehow to get what looked like soot all down the front of it. I have no idea when or where she was climbing up chimneys. And something red on the sleeve. Was it a sweet? Lolly? Blood? I have no idea what this kid gets up to when I'm not looking. So at the end of the day it needed another wash, which isn't ideal as this yarn has both angora and cashmere in it. Really, what was I thinking? </div>
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In summary, I'm more than pleased with how this little spring time cardi came out, but not hopeful for its ongoing survival.</div>
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PS: Flo has her fingers in her ears in the top photo because the Mr. was doing loud DIY at the time. Classic bank holiday sounds.</div>
Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-69499842040026347872014-05-04T20:40:00.000+01:002014-05-04T20:40:20.860+01:00Papillon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-2pCaVCZXHvRqM7CdcB8XO2-ogH8WpPicKfRmwZ5v1aS3nvNubsFYcbfBhfu-2scpzbVoHAz4n7m-WZT44xTkdzEytLg2eoSWMfNtJYAke2hM3jvShvnUtylw7p_VAmv0QacnSQzuzQ/s1600/IMG_9818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-2pCaVCZXHvRqM7CdcB8XO2-ogH8WpPicKfRmwZ5v1aS3nvNubsFYcbfBhfu-2scpzbVoHAz4n7m-WZT44xTkdzEytLg2eoSWMfNtJYAke2hM3jvShvnUtylw7p_VAmv0QacnSQzuzQ/s1600/IMG_9818.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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I haven't knitted myself a proper jumper in a long time. Trawling Ravelry I found the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/papillon-7" target="_blank">Papillon</a> pattern and fell in love. Truth be told I don't usually wear jumpers with such a high neckline as it can make my boobs look like a shelf, but there was something about this design that just made me not care. Also this was a paid for pattern, which cost me about £3.95. I'd never usually pay for patterns and usually just search for the free ones, but this was just too nice to click away from.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5x-s96NeM8nAzacY33HUYC-cA9_rmMJRSoe2Z-BkE6fZIKUBDxapgEdJ49_8wIuEB2xQV9I2Ycf9SA8YW1RGg9GSo6KfIlcMehE-3oYaUI0bmLC-rNNNiDBxGNymtZM9dvroFCCLhiI/s1600/IMG_9808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5x-s96NeM8nAzacY33HUYC-cA9_rmMJRSoe2Z-BkE6fZIKUBDxapgEdJ49_8wIuEB2xQV9I2Ycf9SA8YW1RGg9GSo6KfIlcMehE-3oYaUI0bmLC-rNNNiDBxGNymtZM9dvroFCCLhiI/s1600/IMG_9808.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was a top down construction which was satisfying and useful to try on as I went. As with some other knitted tops I've made lately I have had to make the waist shaping more pronounced to fit me properly and I think this helped with the 'boob shelf' issue. The central pattern wasn't too hard to master and although I may have slipped up a few times it wasn't too difficult to fix as I went.<br />
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Of course I have finished it at the wrong time of year, just as the weather begins to turn. But I did manage to wear it to the beach over Easter weekend and my lovely photographer friend James took these pictures for me. Poses are courtesy of moi, I wouldn't blame such things on him. The weather was perfect newly knitted jumper weather; sunny, chill in the air, a bit blowy and threatening showers.<br />
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This will now be packed away till more suitable weather in Autumn when I will be excited to wear it, but probably not to the beach again.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-9275792989590359142014-04-21T21:15:00.003+01:002014-04-21T21:15:51.072+01:00Easter Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all had nice relaxing weekends. Here's an overview of ours.</div>
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The little bunnies above were made in a few hours for my Nephews. A friend recently shared <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/frankies-knitted-stuff" target="_blank">Frankie's Knitted Stuff</a> with our knitting group and I immediately queued tons of the projects. They're all out of the box thinking, cute and ingenious things, so have a look. </div>
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The <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-bunnies-4" target="_blank">Baby Bunnies</a> took small amounts of DK yarn in the stash and I found them really fun to make.</div>
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The mini pom poms were made by a <a href="http://www.molliemakes.com/uncategorized/how-to-make-tiny-pom-poms/" target="_blank">technique using a fork</a>. Useful!</div>
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I made Hot Cross Buns for the first time and they were AWESOME. As with all bread type products they take a long time to make but are worth the effort. I've even frozen a batch so the Easter fun and go on and on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1qosAKw0Coz90fD6Efab0o6kp85KvHZwLTef9NpDGdOAXaQUw6OXvlp9pKmgtsq_136P2pIZvW08L7P96F3JiOO4n3npI1DnwayvqyzndDgTuDkes-Q_AjGr5nvEbFC8gOrC9tkGvT8/s1600/Easter+egg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1qosAKw0Coz90fD6Efab0o6kp85KvHZwLTef9NpDGdOAXaQUw6OXvlp9pKmgtsq_136P2pIZvW08L7P96F3JiOO4n3npI1DnwayvqyzndDgTuDkes-Q_AjGr5nvEbFC8gOrC9tkGvT8/s1600/Easter+egg.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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I won a competition at work and got this luxury Easter egg from SAID in Soho. They're an Italian Chocolatier and every time I go into the shop I want to buy something but simply can't justify how much everything costs! So this was the ultimate treat. Hidden inside was a carefully wrapped little bottle of Grappa and every time I open the box the beautiful smell of bitter chocolate fills the room. I shall be eating this slowly over a long period of time. That is unless the Mr. finds it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3V-EPN3ZCvzAFquRxxO51XeTJvvTtqFRYbB2dC0Gr2b_8hSES76j2pQM73Rmf8ZEBPJhf8Ct_ULF3qx6cP_eQAm_jrliz0Nf9vYgGzbh6z-Re28-nBZa8xAs1vXxWZjIMJ8NANwKHC8/s1600/Easter+Flo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3V-EPN3ZCvzAFquRxxO51XeTJvvTtqFRYbB2dC0Gr2b_8hSES76j2pQM73Rmf8ZEBPJhf8Ct_ULF3qx6cP_eQAm_jrliz0Nf9vYgGzbh6z-Re28-nBZa8xAs1vXxWZjIMJ8NANwKHC8/s1600/Easter+Flo.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally, here's Flo stuffing as much easter egg into her face as possible. Egg-cellent.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851352766806028091.post-64231847204188875552014-04-06T10:11:00.001+01:002014-04-06T10:11:14.620+01:00Goodbye to Kiefer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbPheTlXuJ6265XSA_ChaMMlzDWOyOPPgF5GgHVXseJNDyBDGVJzaV4onoomwS1Pzb5BZWumd5uuVhSmK2WfNYWRVywSaZF-1UMkfCBpOZtLyrcBYh8ApS4J_c5G1sktmqi6AYc3tvMM/s1600/1966824_10153836050690652_927783607_n-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbPheTlXuJ6265XSA_ChaMMlzDWOyOPPgF5GgHVXseJNDyBDGVJzaV4onoomwS1Pzb5BZWumd5uuVhSmK2WfNYWRVywSaZF-1UMkfCBpOZtLyrcBYh8ApS4J_c5G1sktmqi6AYc3tvMM/s1600/1966824_10153836050690652_927783607_n-2.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_249351324"></span><span id="goog_249351325"></span>It's been very hard to know what to write in this post. It's been in my drafts for some time now, with one or two things written and then deleted. But this week I managed to write my article for Knitting Magazine all about Kiefer and how he suddenly died last month and so I feel I can final write it here too.<br />
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We got <a href="http://purlabout.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/kiefer.html" target="_blank">Kiefer</a> from a rescue home last year and he really was such a lovely little man. He quickly became part of our family, our daily routine and gave a constant heartbeat to our home. In total he only lived with us for five months, but I know that he had a better life with us than if he wasn't re-homed, which does help with the sadness of it all. He was completely surrounded by three peoples' love each day, which is more than even some people can say.<br />
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One morning Kiefer just didn't look right. He was acting strangely; walking round in circles, falling off of things, not eating and would just look at me and cry a sad meow. The vet suspected many things could have been the cause but that the most probable was a virus called FIP which effects kittens exactly at Kiefer's age, is deadly and has no cure. It was obviously a heart wrenching decision to have him put down, but to watch a beautiful young kitten go through a long drawn out death didn't seem to be an option.<br />
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And so our home is much more empty now. We miss him terribly and as I'm sure anyone that has lost a cat will know, they are such a fixture of the house you still think you can see them out the corner of your eye, sleeping on the sofa, tiptoeing under the bed and sitting looking out the window. And when you look they're not there.<br />
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We will re-home again in the future, but just need a little time.<br />
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Goodbye my little man.Laura Parkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756603059489799014noreply@blogger.com1