We are very excited as we’ve decided to give the shop a bit of a face-lift. It’s all happening tonight, hopefully. We’re moving the counter and making our stock area better, streamlining the yarn shelves so that we can get more stuff in and generally having a sort out. Pat has gone off to Wickes and Staples to get supplies and the men in our lives are standing by with their powertools. It may turn out to take a lot longer than we thought and we may be at it all night as we can’t open to a mess in the morning!

Pat’s top idea is to have a seating area in our window for knitting. It’s quite a narrow shop (although we do have it packed with loads of great stuff, more on the way) so there’s no seats but there’s a bit of empty space in the window and it’s a great place to knit because you can watch the goings on outside.

So if you are around our way soon, come and knit in our window for 5 minutes and see what you think!

I thought I’d impart my thoughts on the cost of yarn and the relevance of it to your project. I know it may seem a bit biased as I own a knitting shop but it is based on fact.
We had a customer last week who had knitted a jumper for her husband and was disappointed with it because the yarn didn’t have as much oomph or elasticity as she thought it should. She had picked a mixed fibre yarn which was mid-range price. This issue is a common problem with men’s jumpers because the cost of knitting a big jumper is quite high and so people choose something economical without worrying so much about how it will turn out.
Anyway, this poor lady’s husband was refusing to wear the jumper so she was going to give it away which I thought was such a shame after she took all the time to knit it and I thought it looked great. This got me thinking….
At the time of choosing, the price of the yarn is uppermost in the decision making for a lot of people. It’s not that cheap to knit these days and that is a major issue. But think about it. How much of your time are you going to spend knitting a jumper or other garment? If you counted up the hours and worked out in money how much that time is worth, guaranteed it is a lot more than the cost of the yarn. If you’re going to spend that much of your time on something isn’t it better to have something at the end which can potentially last forever?
The bottom line is that the bulk of the cost of knitting is time. Weigh this up next time you’re making a choice in your local knitting shop. If it’s anything like us they will have a lay-by to help you pick great yarn without forking out for it all at once!

Lots of customers have been in the shop to buy some wool to knit while they watch Wimbledon. I use this excuse too but I find that I have a lot of reverse knitting to do as it gets more exciting.
We have a Rowan jacket in the shop at the moment and I had a sneaky try on, and really fell for it. It’s in the book COAST and uses Cotton Jeans yarn, there are lots of cables so I think it will be a long term project. I like knitting cables there’s always the impetus to do a bit more.

We had a Knitting Parlour staff outing to Royal Ascot for Ladies Day on Thursday. We equipped ourselves with fascinators, loads of food, umbrellas and pretty frocks and obviously our knitting!

We had a picnic in the coach park when we arrived which sounds really naff but it was quite a nice grassy field and the coach was useful shelter when it started chucking it down. Then we had to queue for maybe 45 minutes to get into the ring. It was because you have to cross the racecourse and they put down a tiny board so you don’t ruin the grass but it does create a bottleneck and it was touch and go whether we’d get across before they have to close it for the Queen.

This is us when we arrived.

Pat and Mary waiting for the Queen.

Mary and me waiting for the Queen. That brown is my shawl completely covering up my pretty frock but it was chilly and most likely about to rain.

There were 6 races and we bet on all of them but only won twice out of about 20 bets between us! We were getting tips by text from Mary’s husband but ignored them (we knew best) until it turned out they were pretty good.

The Queen and the Duke. The Queen was in Oatmeal.

We did LOADS of knitting on the coach. Pat was knitting a summer top with some yarn she got in America and which I can’t remember the name of, Mary is making a Mission Falls scarf for the shop and I was knitting the baby surprise jacket with Colinette Jitterbug.

Our next trip to the races will be closer to home. We’ve decided to have the shop’s 2nd anniversary do at Worcester races sometime in July.

In other knitting news I had a bit of a hiccup with my Louisa Harding Coquette shrug so the pattern won’t be on the website anytime soon until I knit it again in something else. The Surfer cardigan which is in this week’s shop window was quite a success. I have to come up with a red white and blue theme for the next window for Malvern in Bloom. I’m thinking of making a union jack out of balls of yarn but that may prove to be too ambitious.

Have just returned from two weeks in Cornwall,with the family. Had a really good time and the weather although mixed didn’t stop us doing anything. It was really great spending time with Jess our grandaughter who at 19 months changes all the time. She was great fun , loved the sea and didn’t seem to feel the cold. I have to say there wasn’t a lot of time for Knitting but I finished my Fleece Artist Tumbling Block socks and started knitting a Sirdar Luxury Cotton jumper for Jess. It is a really nice simple pattern (2182) and has sizes from birth to 10 years so will be a good investment.
Jess also loves the Log Cabin Blanket I knitted, inspired by the Mason Dixon book and I think I will knit her one of her own in shades of pink. I used the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and I think she likes it because it is so nice and soft.

I’m working in the shop today because Pat usually does Saturdays but she’s gone to a spa day. It is so hot so fairly quiet although I have sold 2 Debbie Bliss Rialto books. Everyone is after the cardigan with the beautiful cable detail on the back.
I am having a finishing off day. I’ve just finished the Surfer cardigan. I’ll post a pic next week because it needs blocking. My next job is a shrug cardi type thing which I’m making with Louisa Harding Coquette. It’s almost done and then the pattern will be available on the website. It has knitted up a bit slanty which is odd but I checked with the Louisa people and they haven’t had any reported issues so I’m sure once it’s blocked it’ll be fine. I have faith.
We went to some friends for dinner last night which was great. I drove though because I had to get up for work which is never easy at the best of times! So tonight I am going to hog the TV to watch the Joseph final with a nice glass of red. Bliss.

It was half term last week so we went off to Surrey to stay with our friends who live conveniently close to London. The main reason for going was that we had a voucher for the Rainforest Cafe to use up before October and we wanted to avoid the horrendous summer holidays in London.
We started off at the Science Museum because they have a special interactive Bob the Builder show on aimed at 3 to 5 year olds. Perfect for us as we have one each of those. They loved it, we got to have a rest and watch while they played with Bob, Wendy and Spud.
Then we were off to the Rainforest Cafe where we had a great lunch and indulged in a Margarita which was either almost alcohol free or else my tolerence level is too high…
Hamleys was the next stop and our very restrained children only spent a tenner each! I spent more than that on an Etch-a-Sketch which has already broken.
Anyway, knitting wise not much has happened except that we went to Borders on Oxford Street and I bought Knit 1 magazine by the people at Vogue Knitting and it’s brilliant. Full of great patterns and articles so I am going to subscribe.
I am hoping to finish my Rowan 4ply cotton summer crochet top from the current Rowan magazine tonight. It’s suddenly summer and although I started it in February so I’d be well ahead of myself, it still isn’t finished.

It’s definitely knitting weather at the moment. I have almost finished a Sirdar Surfer cardi for the shop and a pair of socks. I am still slaving away (well, a couple of rows a day) on the Seasilk scarfy wrap too.
We’re off to Surrey tomorrow for a couple of days to stay with some friends. It’s a good base to get to London so we’re taking the kids for the day on Friday. It’s probably a big mistake as I think it is going to rain plus it’s half term so everywhere will be heaving, still on the bright side we are going to Hamley’s to see Noo-noo from Teletubbies! It’s the Teletubbies 10th anniversary. I may get to go to Liberty’s too as it’s only down the road.
Anyway, I have planned to make my friend Lou a dishcloth as a pressie so I need to start that today.
I bought some roving to spin from Etsy. It’s a brilliant US website where people can sell their handmade crafts and stuff. I am attempting to make a 4ply sockweight yarn which is quite challenging and will take ages, but I am loving it. It’s a shame I can’t fit my spinning wheel in the car for the weekend away!