Hello!

Hello all! I've been off work all week, so you'd think that would have given me plenty of time to catch up on my blog; but apparently not. I have been busy though - the Menai Tank Top is back in the naughty corner. Sigh. This time I think it's "User Error". My stitch count wasn't right when I went to separate it at the underarms for the front and back. I have absolutely no idea how this happened. All the increases and cables are fine, and (most importantly) it fits. So now I've having work out the decreases for the armholes myself. Sadly this requires "thinking". I've done about half of the back, and a little bit of the front so far.

So after this, I did what any right-minded knitter would do in such circumstances - I cast something else on! :) The something else is a Damson Shawl by Ysolda. I'm doing it with a different edging, the pattern for which is on Ravelry - here is link (thank you Minniemoll!). I think I'm on about row 4 of the edging, so it's not looking like much, but here's a photo:

The yarn is Opal Surprise.
Something else I've done this week is go to the Dentist. This is a huge thing for me, as I turn into a gibbering idiot as soon as I walk in the door because I'm so scared! I had to get some fillings, but Mr BB came with me and I was very brave! Obviously such an heroic endeavour deserved some reward, so I treated myself to this:

Isn't it gorgeous?! It's from Violet Green, and it's called Eos 2ply. It's 50% Merino and 50% Silk, 100gms and 700 metres. I ordered it on Wednesday at lunchtime, and our lovely Post Lady brought me it on Thursday morning! It may become this.
I was also determined to do some sewing this week. I found some material my Granny had given me years ago, and got out a book I bought recently. It's called Sew What! Skirts. I'd read about it on some other blogs, and it's 16 different skirts that you can make without a pattern. Here's how it turned out:



I am astonishingly proud of it! I lined it (the one in the book wasn't lined) and it fits perfectly; my Dad thought it was the best thing ever! The buttons have been in my button box for years. I bought them when I was about 19 in a department store in Belfast called Anderson and McAuley's. It sadly closed down in the late 1990's, and it had a great haberdashery department on the first floor, my Granny and I were big fans.

The book is lovely, there are lots of different styles of skirts, and I will definitely be making more. The instructions are very easy to follow, but I would say you would need to have some sewing experience though.

And finally for readers in Northern Ireland, on Friday I was in The Spinning Wheel in Belfast (beside the City Hall). I was getting lining material and a zip for the skirt; anyway, they're now selling yarn! There was a display of Debbie Bliss, and some other stuff too. The assistant told me they should be expanding their stock. I didn't buy anything, which I now regret, as I should support local yarn enterprise! It was up the stairs, and turn left.

Happy knitting,

Lynne