Thursday, April 03, 2008

Get Knitted workshop

Last Saturday I went over to Bristol for a crochet workshop at Get Knitted. It would have meant catching a train at 5.30am, and we all know I don't do early mornings, so I spent Friday night at Bristol Youth Hostel, a converted warehouse in the centre of the city. Which was rather plush - comfy dorms and even an organic wine bar with some very tasty homemade cake! And the obligatory Other Person in the Dorm whom you never actually see awake. Plus two slightly bizarre girls who had a loud conversation whilst in the loo together...

I met Penny in the morning and we caught the bus from the train station to Get Knitted (it's only about 10 minutes from the station on the bus, and the bus stop is very close to the shop). The workshop was taught by Sarah Hazell in a room upstairs, with plenty of tea, coffee (fair trade!!) and nibbily things to hand.

We were provided with packs containing two balls of Rowan Purelife organic cotton (VERY nice, if a little splitty) and taught how to do some crochet stitches. We made little cases to keep our crochet hooks in and also learnt how to make flowers:

Mine is a bit wonky. My case is nearly finished, but I forgot to take a photo of it.
And afterwards we had 10% off shopping in the store!

I went to stay with Penny and her husband (who made us a very tasty veggie lasagne) and cats on Saturday night, and, after we'd been to church on Sunday morning, we carried on with the crochet. Accompanied by tea (in a groovy Penguin Pride & Prejudice mug) and chocolate biscuits.

Before heading into Exeter to have some lunch looking towards the Cathedral. Note the Spring-like weather, compared with last weekend!

I hadn't bought any yarn for me for a while so decided to have a bit of a splurge at Get Knitted. Well, we did have 10% off...

This is a skein of Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn, in Velvet Bilberry. I'm intending to make a pair of gloves with this, as I want to have gloves and a scarf that match my Coronet hat. I need to look more coordinated for work, rather than the walking scarecrow I am at the moment...

So I also bought two skeins of Lamb's Pride worsted in Amethyst to make an Irish Hiking Scarf.

Then I found some Lana Grossa sock yarn in the sale bin, and couldn't resist this Meilenweit Cotton Fiesta. I've deliberately not bought any commercial socks for a couple of years now, so am now nearly worn through the ones I wear most of the time. Which means I'll soon be able to wear hand knitted socks all the time! But I've only got one pair of cotton ones so far, and could do with some more for the summer.

And I was going to buy the yarn for Juliaca, as I love that pattern. But then there was a finished Narvik on display in the shop, which I fell in love with and which would also be perfect to wear at work. And I couldn't afford to get the yarn for both, so Narvik it was. Narvik needs seven balls of Rowan Cocoon, which is lovely and soft.


I think that's all for now. I'm off on holiday tomorrow so probably won't be posting again for about a fortnight.

8 comments:

Heather said...

Hope you have a lovely holiday. Narvik looks great, hope it is fun to knit, and well done with the crochet - I look forward to pictures of your crochet hook case. I think the flower looks lovely, it isn't wonky, it has character :-)

BabyLongLegs said...

Looks like you had loads of fun! And what a haul :)
I love Narvik!! Its beautiful, and will really suit you :)

Hope you have a great holiday :)

Love
Sarah xXx

Steph said...

Looks like you had a great time. Love that cotton sock yarn!

Linda said...

That looks great, nice yarny buys too! have a super holiday :)

Mary Anne said...

It looks like you had quite a lovely time. Your crochet flower is adorable. I do love the shrug you have chosen to knit - Narvik - and the colours too.

Happy holiday!

Lindsey said...

Oooh, exciting weekend! All that lovely yarn to gawk at, lucky you.

acrylik said...

Looks like you had a great weekend, and what a yarn haul! Beautiful purchases there.

Have a fantastic holiday!

KnitYoga said...

Looks like you have a fabulous weekend. Great yarn purchases and Narvik looks a lovely design. What a great choice! Hope you have wonderful holiday!