I am writing early today because I have a few minutes to spare and the devil makes work for idle hands!

I have put some Bergere de France Cocoon in my store. It is nothing like Rowan Cocoon – it is more like Rowan Cork but not as dense.   The colours are very nice – quite unusual.

I posted an old link to the blog of baby shoe knitting customer – her up-to-date blog is here. Do take a look – there is a lovely story that won a prize in a competition.

I am expecting a delivery of Ilga Leja’s new Fall patterns and also some beautiful wooden shawl pins.

Now I am going to take 2 rabbits and 1 pheasant out of my oven and de-bone them ready for Slip’s dinner.  Back tomorrow

A dull damp day here today.  I went shopping and cleaned my oven!

I received some Kidsilk Haze today and some Felted Tweed and yet more Lima in Peru!!   From having none, I have gone to having several packs.

I thought some of you might like to read the blog of my customer who knits the lovely baby shoes. She writes very well!

Nothing else to impart really. Perhaps tomorrow will be more exciting! Back then.

I am writing this early today as we may go out after lunch!

We went to Anton’s last night and it was a great disappointment.  The menu was very strange – I had a job to find anything I liked. John had Toad in the Hole to start with – this is yorkshire pudding with sausages and gravy.  The yorkshire pudding should be crispy and his was not – it was soggy and so he complained and we got it taken off the bill.  I had a slice of game terrine which was not very nice. Then John had a steak with chips which were soggy!  I had mushroom linguini which was tasteless.. We had a bottle of red Burgundy which was not warm enough. It was very cold in the restaurant an also it is very dimly lit so that it is difficult to see what you are eating.  We did not have desserts or coffee. The bill was $170 and that was without the drinks we had at the bar before eating.   THere were some odd things on the menu – pigs cheeks, pigs ears and pig trotters were one dish – whoever would fancy them?   There were glazed pigeon breast and a rabbit casserole!!

I am cooking roast pork today with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, Brussels sprouts, carrot and red onion and sage stuffing followed by treacle tart.

The one good thing that did happen last night was that John said he will come to Jamaica in February. He said that he ha been selfish and was sorry.  I shall book it tomorrow.

Nothing new on the yarn front to tell you. Now I must away to my oven!  Back tomorrow

I have no time to write much tonight.  We are going out to dinner at Anton’s Restaurant and Champagne Barn.  Strangely enough I never seem to get to the Champagne Barn part – John steers me well clear.

Great excitement this morning!  Rusty had caught and killed a rat during the night and was proudly guarding it in the back porch.  I have never known her catch one before – an annual mouse is usually her limit.  Our next door neighbor has several old sheds and John thinks the rats are in there, having taking refuge when the corn fields were cut.  Rusty got a bonus – a pheasant dinner!

Now I must go and wash my hair and decide what to wear – I would far rather being going to the pub in jeans and a shirt!!  Back tomorrow.

Noro Taiyo

Sorry I did not write yesterday. I have had the most terrible problems with my broadband connection. Yesterday afternoon it suddenly started running very slowly – it took ages for a page to open and it was  impossible to upload anything. I telephoned BT ( in India!) and they made me run all sorts of tests on the line. Eventually they concluded that there was a fault on the line and said it would be looked into within the  next 48 hours.   It was still the same this morning and then suddenly it was back to its normal speedy self!  An engineer telephoned to say they had done some maintenance on the line and they will call again tomorrow to make sure it is still OK!

Todays photo is Noro Taiyo which is new for the UK for Spring – I think it is already available in the US.  It comes in 100g balls with 200 meters per ball and knits on 4.5 – 5mm needles. There are patterns for Taiyo in the new World of Nature pattern book and it can be used in place of Silk Garden, Blossom or Kureyon.

The new Jenny Watson Noro Catwalk 2 came today – I really like Jenny’s designs. My Rugger sweater is progressing but I am sure the sleeves are going to be FAR too wide. My tension is correct but they are vast – all I can think to do is to take some of the surplus up in the seams when I sew the sleeves up.  They do look quite wide in the photo but I have very slender arms and they are going to look ridiculous!

Now I am going to cook a lemon sole with  herb butter for John and shrimp linguini for me.  Back tomorrow.

Noro Furin

There are two new yarns from Noro for Spring, This is Furin.It is 52% cotton, 17% silk, 9% Rayon and 5% Nylon and knits on US #8 needles. There are six shade and there will be a pattern book to support this yarn. I will post photos of the other new one tomorrow. As far as discontinuations go, Kureyon Sock 92 and 180 are withdrawn along with Silk Garden Lite 2015 and 2034. There are new shades of  both of these and also 2 new shades of Silk Garden Sock.

It is cold here today and I am about to light the fire!  John is mowing the lawn for the last time this year.  I wish it was April or May and the dark winter months would be over.

Now I am going to make cheese souffles for dinner followed by steamed treacle puddings to keep the cold out! Back tomorrow

The 2 new Spring Debbie Bliss Yarns

Debbie Bliss Jacket knitted in Amalfi

The Designer Yarns rep came this morning and showed me all the new Spring goodies.  The first photo shows Debbie’s two new Spring yarns.

One is called Eco Baby – it is a 4 ply yarn that is 100% organic cotton. There are 16 shades that are very pretty. There will be an Eco Baby pattern book and it knits to exactly the same tension as Baby Cashmerino and so you can make lighter versions of winter garments.

The other new yarn is called Amalfi and is DK weight. It is 70% cotton, 15% Viscose, 10% inen and 5% silk. There are 12 shades both pale and deep. There is also a pattern book for Amalfi and the jacket in the photo is knitted in it.  I have shade cards for everything and will scan them and put some pictures up.  Tomorrow I will tell you about the new Noro.

There are new shades in Eco Cotton ( now called Eco Aran), Baby Cashmerino, Rialto 4 ply,Cotton DK and Prima. Pure Cotton Aran is discontinued.

I am going to post the name of the winner of the October drawing in the forum later today and also a new prize for November on my site so get posting!

Now I must get on as I am somewhat behind having spent the morning drooling over new yarns!  Back tomorrow!

Today has been the day of the misbehaving mice!

First of all my brand new Apple Magic Mouse ceased to perform any magic – it was dead!  I changed the batteries but no life. So I checked that it was paired with my iMac – no, it was not. Then the keyboard also stopped working and so I had no means of turning the iMac off . The only thing was to power it off without shutting down correctly. I did this and, hey presto, Magic Mouse sprang to life and so did the keyboard.

John came in and found his wireless mouse was not working and accused me to dropping it!  I had not dropped it but I had tried to use it with my iMac and I suspect that it has messed up the wireless settings!!  We fiddled with it and have decided that it needs new batteries. I do not have any of the right size and so John will have to use the trackpad until tomorrow.

Ian from Designer Yarns is coming at 10.00 am tomorrow and I will take photos of all the new Debbie Bliss, Noro and so on to show you. I wonder what there will be?   I would not be surprized if there is a lace weight yarn.  We shall see.

Now I am going to have my bath and my Margarita. Back tomorrow!

Sorry I did not write yesterday – things were a bit hectic.  John went shooting and he did take Slip – there was only one DOG dog there and so no problem.
He got back at 5.45 and said that Steve and Lynne were expecting us at 6.45 and so it was a rush getting ready but we just made it.
We had smoked mackerel pate and toast to start with, followed with fillet steak, chips and salad and a giant prawn each. Dessert was pears in wine – it was all very nice.
All was gong swimmingly until Lynne dropped a bombshell, She said that they had booked a vacation for February next and they are going to………Jamaica. It was all I could do to be civil about it – I could have cried! Steve made it worse by saying that Lynne had not been away this year – I said that I had not been away for two years and was ready for a fight with John! However, I realised that it was not the right time or place so chatted gaily on about Jamaica. I did not sleep well as I was worrying about all this and feeling that things are very unfair. So I feel tired and low today. Why can’t I have a husband who wants to go away with me even if it is not his ideal break? Ugh! I feel it is head in gas oven time!
It has rained non stop today which hasn’t lightened my mood. I am cooking spaghetti with a tomato and smokey bacon sauce for lunch with anchovies and garlic bread and an apple and blackberry tart for pudding.

Now I am going to make some custard and brood over my fate! Back tomorrow!

No disasters today so far!  John is shooting tomorrow but Slip may have to stay here as she is very much in season and John thinks the male dogs will be after her!!  I am going to have my hair cut at 8.30am and do some shopping. We are going to dinner tomorrow night at Steve and Lyn’s house.

I have started to unpack the Bergere de France yarn and will put some in my shop tomorrow. I should have a bit more time with John being out – no endless cups of coffee to make.  I think the new Kim Hargreaves book should come soon and that wretched Lima in Peru.

I am going to have a bath now and a rest.  Back tomorrow!