Scratching the Knitting Itch

I can’t quite remember how I discovered Ariane’s blog, Falling Stitches. A wonderful internet stumble comes to mind.

Ariane’s is possibly the best young knitwear design blog since Ysolda. I’ve proclaimed my love for her already, but it needs to be said again. The two best parts – the Best of Ravelry posts and Ariane’s own designs.

Emilien is possibly my favourite to date – I am a real sucker for stripes. This would probably be wasted on the boy, so am very tempted to knit it for myself. And seeing as i’m going to be stocking Cascade 220 in the shop, the right yarn will even be to hand! Yay!

For some reason i’ve taken to watching a bit of C4 (NZ’s free music channel) over the past few days. It’s been rather handy for picking out new music – and this clip blew me away with it’s beauty. Simple, but striking choreography.

Think ballet may need to be added to the ‘this is the year of…’ list.

Holland Road Yarn Company has a virtual home! At last – and seeing as the sun has turned my brain to mush, it is very much a work in progress. Please be patient! There are many little things that need to be tweaked and added to make it beautiful.

In the meantime, i’ve been receiving all sorts of goodies in the mail. Some treats for the next yarn club installment, blocking pins (finally) that will go up in the shop in the next couple of days, and samples to play with and make decisions about.

There’s also been a bit of dyeing going on today. I’m finally getting the new colourways for Artisan Lace out into reality, and some of them are looking pretty stunning. One or two need a little more work, but i’m happy. It didn’t get off to the best start – as i’ve discovered previously, moving the dye set up from one place to another is fraught with difficulty. The set up is never the same from place to place and so I have to adjust the way I work each time, and it really throws things out. This morning there wasn’t much time to allow for transition, and even the boy noticed the frustration on my face when he came home for lunch. A coffee and a deep breath later, it all actually came together exceptionally well in the end. One thing i’ve learnt in my past lives – step back, adjust your mindset, and try again. Magic!

Hey! A second one! Sticking to the resolution!

Whenever I’m after a good giggle, Knit and Tonic pretty much does it. With quirky pseudonyms, great photos and wonderful stream-of-consciousness writing, i’m not sure Wendy even realises how gosh darn hilarious she is. And she knits. So it’s win-win.

And how gorgeous is this bub?

(pic thanks to Wendy at Knit and Tonic, click on it to get to her site xx)

Also, I quite like Wendy’s post on lys’. My hope is that Holland Road Yarn Co is a place where everyone feels welcome, somewhere anyone can ask a question or sit down and knit in peace and inspiration. Needle points firmly in knitting, not out.

You know what the main thing missing here is? What the frick am I knitting?

Totally and utterly useless at updated you on my needles, aren’t I?

Currently Hitchhiker has me hooked. All thanks to Genny of Granny G, it is splendid to have the perfect project for part of my wollmeise stash. And it’s gloriously addictive and non-thinky type knitting. There’s even a bit of a KAL going on…

Please forgive the very average iphone pic!

Hmm what other photos can I find…

Devon, again in Wollmeise, a pair now finished!

Clearly need to get taking more photos of projects. What are you knitting? In fact, what are you knitting and what are you planning to knit next? Daybreak is on the list, can’t quite decide what will be after that…