Sorbet Stripes Finished

I finished my Sorbet Striped top on Monday evening whilst watching the Jubilee Concert, so here it is.....

I love it and it actually fits! Of course it's not the weather to wear it now, although I have been (with a long sleeved T-shirt underneath).  It's not my usual colours, but its very cheerful and summery to wear.

It took almost all of my three balls of Louisa Harding Willow Tweed - I had inches left.  Before I started the sleeves I weighed what I had left and divided it in two, just to make sure I had enough for both sleeves!!

Lavenham Celebrates the Jubilee (Part 1)

Lavenham is pulling all the stops out when it comes to celebrating the Queen's Jubilee and its lovely.  It sounds corny, but there really is a community spirit here.  The entire village has gone bunting-tastic!  Here are a few pictures, starting with Cafe Knit and our handknitted bunting of course....!

Then opposite us there is Lavenham Contemporary Gallery, and the fantastic (but slightly anarchistic when you look close up!) Union Flag painted by artist Paul Evans....

I love this view looking from the High Street into the Market Square, not a telegraph pole in sight....

The Guildhall always looks amazing but it looks even more impressive with these banners.

Lavenham have been running its own Crown Jewels Competition, with all proceeds going to Lavenham Pre-school, and today was judgement day.  I helped set up the entries today in the Guildhall (and they will be on display until Tuesday 5th June, so please come and admire them yourself!).  Here is Lavenham Preschool's entry, complete with pictures of all the children.  Dominic is at the bottom of the sword!

Next up is the adult entry; these crowns are amazing and the second from the left is knitted, complete with cushion!

The business category had one outstanding (and tasty!) entry.  The Great House Restaurant crown is amazing, made of nut brittle and profiteroles (I tasted a bit of spare nut brittle and it was lovely!)

And the remaining Business entries were fab too.

Come down to Lavenham Guildhall and take a look if you can!

I will try and remember to take pictures of the rest of the weekends celebrations, but now it's time for some knitting!





Crystal Palace Mini Mochi

Mmm, lots of lovely Crystal Palace Mini Mochi has just arrived.  This lightweight yarn is perfect for making shawls, socks and baby items and you can find many free patterns for it here: http://www.straw.com/cpy/free_pattern_yarnssort.html#Mmochi

I think I am going to use it to make the Baktus scarf, which is another free pattern to be found on http://www.ravelry.com/

Jubilee Window

Lavenham are running a competition for the best dressed shop window; we are running a bit late (the windows were meant to be ready by Monday) but better late than never.

Our jubilee window is still work in progress, but it's getting there! Take a look....

Above you can see the crown (knitted with Ashford Tekapo DK and beautifully felted by a lovely regular, Ann Baxter, and decorated by me).  And the Union Jack recreated with Artesano Alpaca DK and Aran by Kate.

 

Here you can just about see the two rows of knitted bunting (Debbie Bliss Eco Aran) which was knitted by some lovely Cafe Knit regulars...

And here is a slightly better picture of the bunting.  Cool Brittania or what?!  I think our window may be too subtle to stand a chance in the competition, but I like it!

 

 

Jubilee Bunting

Here is tonight's task at Knit and Natter: sew together the Jubilee bunting that lots of my lovely customers have knitted for my shop window display.  I do hate sewing up, but it must be done!  Shop windows in Lavenham were meant to be dressed, ready for the Jubilee celebrations, by Monday 14th May. Whoops!  Amongst all the other celebrations going on in the village, there is a competition for the best dressed residential and shop window.  I think our knitted bunting must put us in with a chance of winning!

Sorbet Stripes

Here's a preview of my latest project.  I am making a slash neck sleeveless sweater (without a pattern, so I hope it fits when I've finished!)

I wandered around the shop last Sunday gathering yarns of different textures and colours and ended up with Debbie Bliss Eco Baby in bubblegum pink, white and buttercup yellow, Debbie Bliss Angel in Fushia and Teal and Louisa Harding Willow Tweed in Catkin.

I have just completed my first stripe sequence - it reminds me of summer days and icecream for some reason.  Hopefully we will have a few Summer days once I have finished it, so I can wear it!

Birthday Celebrations at Cafe Knit

Lovely day at Cafe Knit today.  Lovely regulars Ann and Sandy came in this afternoon to celebrate Sandy's birthday, armed with a beautiful cake with a knitted theme - check out the photos below!

Joined by another regular, Valerie (who refused to be photographed!) and their husbands, Doug and Bob, an indulgent  session of coffee, tea and birthday cake was had by all.

 Check out the detail on the bags!!

Happy Birthday Sandy!!!