It seems to have been a fleeting summer this year. My short sleeved t shirts have barely been worn and already I am thinking about knitted sweaters to wear each day. I love this time of year with a cool start to each day and a slight chill in the evenings and I know my garden is enjoying the cooler temperatures.
So much new yarn has come into Filati in the last few weeks, it is like Christmas for knitters…. I have already put aside a bag of the new Rowan yarn called Tapestry for myself, and today when the Manos Del Uruguay yarn arrived with some gorgeous patterns, well, lets just say it was very tempting too. The patterns that arrived along with the yarn are very nice, lots of basic sweaters and jackets along with some really elegant throws too.
But back to the real world. I have just completed knitting three hats in Crystal Palace Iceland as the main yarn, and splash, squiggles or fizz as the trim on each of them. Over the weekend I will felt them using my Bosch frontloader, and then find three bowls to shape them and dry them on for a couple of days. I also have a lovely bolero to finish made in Crystal Palace Deco-ribbon and that pattern as well as the hats are available free on the Crystal Palace website. As felting is so popular I am also making a bag from a Vogue book with a new Ironstone Yarn which has just arrived in the shop.
Janice, Alice and I along with one of our customers called Alison have been busy making the estonian shawl by Fiber Trends. Alice made the first one, and then I started mine with Alison knitting in the shop together on Wednesday evenings. Janice then decided she rather liked the pattern too so made hers slightly longer as a gift for a friend. I still have to finish mine and have reached the first end of the nump pattern! Trying to knit all the things above for the shop as well as a vest for my Dad (he will be 80 in November) has left me little time for ‘numping’ but I will get the shawl done soon, I hope.
Three years ago I taught a young lady called Samia to knit and now at 13 she is knitting up a storm. She called me three Saturdays ago and asked if she could spend the day with me at Filati so that I could help her complete the bottom of the bag we had started together while she was on summer vacation. Samia had a great day with us and felt rather grown up going to lunch with Diane and Cathy. As well as getting the four double point knitting needles under control she also learned how to sew in the ends properly. Samia is the only person I have ever taught to knit and I have to admit that I am very proud of her progress. We don’t get together as often as we would like as she is very busy being in Grade 8, but her Mum told me that each night before she goes to bed she knits to relax after studying for so many hours. Sounds as though this hobby will stay with her for years to come.
I am going to see what Chester and Lester are doing as it seems a little too quiet downstairs and I left some knitting on a sofa.
So long for now,
Sally