Tag Archives: France

Back at home

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Hi there, my week in Iceland just flew by and now I’m back at home with hubby and children:)

And speaking of time that flies by, the I Knit Fandango show is in just over a month! I had better get the turbo started! It is always a difficult task to assess the amount of stock to bring to a show and when that show is abroad the task takes on a new dimension as luggage restrictions apply! So I’ve done a fair bit of dyeing yarn and yesterday I did some roving as I want to carry something for spinners as well. I also placed a last minute order with my supplier of undyed yarns because I want to do some kits for the show. I’m planning on 2 shawl kits – 1 knit and 1 crochet, 1 baby kit (knit), and 1 sock kit (knit). And so I purchased the yarn for those and hope I can dive into dyeing those as of the coming weekend. I also purchased some sparkling sock blanks that I look forward to dyeing as that will be the first time I have those with Stellina for added glam’.

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous here in Normandy, France and so I did my dyeing outside in the garden. That is definitely something I’m going to do more of. Not only is it enjoyable for me but I also have more table space AND no one to complain about the “smell” – FYI I have NEVER felt any “smell” of my wet/cooking wool and yarns, but I’m told that is because I’m biased:)

Some pictures for you

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My set up on the garden table

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One side of my dryer rack filled with just dyed roving

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and the other side of the dryer rack also filled with just dyed roving

While in Iceland I finished my second pair of 2 in 1 socks and I also decided that I would do more of those and even try to make my own pattern in order to make some with a bit of lace instead of just plain stockinet. But before launching into that I decided a change was needed so I cast on for a new pair of socks (yes I did say “change” but not “major change”), this time I’m doing them TAAT using the magic loop method. I’m using a yarn that I hand dyed myself and this yarn has long colour changes which explains why one sock is blue and the other reddish on the following picture. I chose the Zigzagular pattern that I found on Ravelry and have heard of online and seen lots of pictures of finished socks. I decided this would be a good fit for a return to magic looping. Here’s what I’ve knit so far

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My progress so far on the ZigZagular socks knit TAAT with my own hand dyed yarn

Upon my return from Iceland I also had a pleasant surprise, my order from Crazy Monkey Creations had finally arrived! For some reason my package went to Israel and spent quite some time there so I had been waiting for over a month for this to arrive. I’m super happy it finally made it and I really look forward to presenting the items to you at the I Knit Fandango show in May. I ordered some blockers for mittens and socks in different sizes and with different motifs and I also ordered some of their electronic knitting counters that can be worn around a finger like a ring. I must try those and I’ll let you know what I think later on. Pics are here:

www.knittinginfrance.com

Mitten blockers from Crazy Monkey Creations. These are hand made and gorgeous

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Sock blockers from Crazy Monkey Creations, handmade gorgeousness

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And another type of sock blockers from Crazy Monkey Creations. These are all handmade

That’s about all for today. Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and looking at my pictures. I wish you all a wonderful and creative new week. Until next time, Take Care 🙂

Spring is in the air

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Hi there, as I’m working and looking out the window, I feel like just getting up and going for a walk on the beach! It may not be hot outside but it is sunny and the sky is blue. I just love the promise of spring and summer. I’m not much of a hot weather fan, 25°C is perfect for me, but I do enjoy this transitional period in the year and I think it lifts the spirits which is always a good thing:)

It does not change what I knit and I think I knit just as much in summer as I do in winter and at the moment I’m working on my 4 socks! As I’m working on 4 at a time they come along very slowly which is kind of irritating but that is just my fault! I should know to just knit 1 – 2 project simultaneously:)

My 2 in 1 socks are coming along and today I just thought of a new way of knitting them that just might get me knitting faster and more importantly be less annoying to me. I admit that even though I enjoy testing this new sock knitting method, I find that having to move the yarn before and after each stitch slows my down too much and just adds hand fatigue too.

So this morning I thought to myself: what if I hold the yarn for Y1 in my left hand as I always do when purling (continental style) and then throw Y2 for knitting the inside sock? And guess what? Of course that is a way better way of knitting this way! I wish I had thought of this sooner! But hey, better late than never as they say so I’m on a roll now and hopefully I’ll be able to brag and show off my new socks next week:) Here are some pictures I took of my progress and me knitting this morning. I wanted to show you how I knit and hold the yarns but knitting and taking a picture at the same time just is not that easy so I’m not happy with the results but here they are anyway

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But less frustrating, here are some pictures of the socks so far

Here you can see the inner sock which is knit in a darker shade of green and also has some subtle striping

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Here you see the inner sock that is hidden during knitting and the outer sock is all bundled up

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And here you can clearly see the gusset and heel shaping

Well, that’s all for me today. I hope you are doing great and that the weather in your part of the world is being nice to you. I’d love to hear from you about what you are working on currently and if you feel like sharing a picture or a link to your blog for us to visit, please feel free 🙂

Until next time, take care and enjoy your creativity

An upcoming fibre crafts show in London this May

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IKL Fandango poster A2 copy

 

I love fibre craft shows. I love doing them, I love meeting new people, I love the direct contact with my customers, I love getting compliments on my work, I like showing off my yarns and other hand made things. And I also love meeting other shop owners, dyers, designers and so forth that are also vendors at these events.

Last year I did my first show abroad, in Brighton in the UK. That was the very first time I ever did a show outside of France and it was great. English knitters are more connaisseurs than the French ones I feel. English knitters are more used to indie craft artists and more willing to pay for and use unique supplies and that is what makes a show there even more fun than in France. Here are some pictures from the show in Brighton last summer

IMG_1922 IMG_1921 photo 3 (74)

I sold hand dyed yarns, handspun yarns, rolags for spinning as well as handmade stitch markers, needle stoppers and of course some commercial supplies as well. I had lots of people coming to my booth and I think the greatest success for me was my “stitch marker bar”. I thought that up as a candy bar/counter where you choose your own sweats and pay by weight? Only this time there was no candy only handmade stitch markers:) And the knitters and crocheters LOVED IT! So that is one thing I’m definitely going to do again. That was so much fun. I even had small plastic bags (like for candy) so people could put their markers there and so on. Lots of fun.

A show takes a long time to prepare for and lots of organisation. This show is for May 15th – 16th so it is time to get started seriously! I’ve been doing some dyeing as you know and haven’t gotten around to put them up on Etsy so now I’m wondering if I should or if I should just put them aside for the show. Not quite sure at the moment. Of course I still have time to do lots of dyeing before the show so…

This was also my very first time to the UK. I very much liked Brighton which is a much bigger town/city than I expected but I had lots of fun and my family as well. We turned this into a family vacation and so spent 2 weeks in the UK after the show and that was lots of fun.

photo 3 (76) brighton 1 brighton 2

This time the show is in London and it is being curated by Iknit  hence the name : I Knit Fandango. The theme is indie suppliers so I think this is going to be a fabulous show. Lots of gorgeous handmade supplies that you don’t find everywhere. This is going to be a great opportunity to meet other indie dyers and yarn producers and of course clients and future clients.

Here’s a copy of the info taken from the organisers web page:

IKF

a fantastic festival of fabulous fibre

15-16 May 2015 Royal Horticultural Halls, Lindley Hall, Westmister, London

I Knit Fandango is a huge market bursting with tons of gorgeous yarns and fabulous exhibitions

IKF

 

entry is £8 per day in advance

£10 on the door

a limited number of weekend tickets, costing £14 will be available from 23 February

buy tickets here>>

10am – 5pm

vendors include

Belinda Harris Reid Blacker Yarns Coopknits Debonnaire
Easy Knits I Knit or Dye Ingrid Wagner Rug & Art Creation
Java Purl Design Kettle Yarn Co Knit Run Dig Knitting 4 Fun
Knitting In France Knitwitches Max’s World
Midwinter Yarns Namolio Polo & Co PomPom Magazine
Porpoise Fur Purl Alpaca Designs Sparkleduck Spin City
Tall Yarns Textile Garden Tilly Flop Designs Toft Alpaca
Triskelion Yarn Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop Whimzy Willow Knits
Whistlebare Wollmeise Yarn garden

Now does that not make you want to come????

They are also organising a fun event:

knitting/crochet group map

I Knit London want to make a massive knitted blanket and we need your help!

Are you a member of a knitting/crochet group?

Yes?

Well, we would love you to make a six inch square and send it to us so we can sew it into our MAP of the knitting and crochet groups of the Great Briton and beyond.

The blanket will go on display at I Knit Fandango to showcase the amazing tradition that we love so much; knitting and crochet. The blanket will then go on to various festivals around the UK to inspire and encourage non knitters to join us.

The squares may be any design, colour or fibre. Please keep to six inch square, though, just so they fit together easily.

So if you would like to participate in the Knitting/Crochet group map of the UK you just have to get in contact with the I Knit Fandango organisers.

If you are going to be in London on these dates I hope you will have the chance to come and visit the show as I always enjoy meeting the knitters/crocheters that I interact with online- in real life 🙂 So if you do come, don’t be shy and say hi:)

Now, that’s all for now. I’m actually working this evening (yes it is late evening here in France at this time) and I must return to the job. So until next time, take care and enjoy your knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing and any other craft you enjoy doing.