A Grand Day Out

Charlotte is finished and blocked at last, here she is on the back of our settee. I promise to post some modelled pictures later; I have to wait for Mr Knitbert to wake up first. He arrived home at 7.30 am this morning, woke me up, trashed the kitchen (laundry everywhere), the bathroom (towels all over the floor)and the living room (open suitcase and clean clothes, bags, keys, little rucsacs), had two cups of coffee and a bath and is now sleeping off his jet lag upstairs. It's nice to have him back! The Glaziers (see an earlier post) are coming again on Monday morning to ruin his day off.

Yesterday I went to Get Knitted in Bristol with a group of friends from the Crafty Threads and Yarns Forum. I had a lovely time, and bought some much needed yarn stocks (yeah right). It is just so nice to spend time with other knitters and see what they are doing. I took the opportunity to get a second opinion on the Ribby Shell situation, and my fellow knitters were in agreement with me that the texture of the Jaeger Trinity at the correct tension was too loose and not elastic enough - which is, after all, a fairly key feature of the Ribby Shell design. I frogged it then and there, and the Trinity is back in the yarn cupboard for now. I have chosen two new yarns for the Ribby Shell; Rowan Calmer in this lovely coral colour (now OTN!)

I've never used Calmer before and OMG I love this stuff! It is very soft, a little bulkier than the Trinity, so the texture is just right at gauge, and it is lovely and stretchy and elastic. I think it is perfect for the pattern and if I like the result I will get some more in another colour to knit another one. I also got some Rowan Bamboo Tape in a nice purple colour to knit the Ribby Shell (I like this pattern, can you tell). It is very soft and there was a knitted swatch in the shop which made me think it would be lovely for this. It comes in some fabulous colours...

What else did I get? Well, I got some Noro Silk Garden and some Cash Iroha to knit Poppy from Yarnplay (the red looks a bit too red because of the flash - it is more of a dark russet colour in real life):


I got some Trekking XXL and some Lana Grossa Mega Boots:


I also got some Twilleys Freedom Spirit in Air, to knit a tank top, the Freedom Spirit pattern booklet, and a pair of addi lace circulars. Here's the whole haul all laid out nicely!



And why do I want to knit a tank top? Well, I saw this one worn by Eva Mendes in a movie called Hitch the other night. I will need to modify the Twilley's pattern a little (by dropping the neckline), or make my own pattern, but I think it is a great look, and would be fab in Air with a white linen shirt. What do you think?