Stitch and Bitch 26/5/09

Hi All ,

Hope you have had a wonderful Bank Holiday Weekend. The weather has been great so have spent quite a lot of time with the horse in the sunshine, watching dressage and at a friends for a BBQ. I am looking forward to a night in tonight with some knitting. Party Animal Me!!!!

I have almost finished a garment for my friend Ruth. Just on the last sleeve now. Hopefully I should get it done tonight and hopefully get the collar on. The pattern has a fancy finish which runs around the garment so will probably get that done tomorrow night.

I have enjoyed the project but it is mostly done in moss stitch which can get a bit boring but does look very effective.

I have recently put a knit to order section on the Website and have received my first order for a baby jacket today.

I really love this little pattern, I have been raving on about it on Ravelry. How cute is any baby going to look in this.

It is made of Noro Kureyon Sock and is done on 2.75 and 3.00mm needles. Shouldn't take too long. Lets hope I get lots of additional orders for this item.

I am also working on some new designs of my own. I am hoping to use the Stitch and Bitch Group as Guinea Pigs. I am putting together some kits and hopefully once trialled I will make them available on the website.

Please remember to post any of your comments on this blog for me. See you tomorrow if you can make it.

PS - I have a new member who is looking for a lift from L11 which is the Croxteth Park/Norris Green area. The closest main roads are Lower House Lane, Utting Ave East/Storrington Ave. Let me know tomorrow if you can assist and I can put you both in touch.

Stitch and Bitch

Update.........

It was great to see two newbies at the Prescot Stitch and Bitch tonight. Kotaatok and DQknits - both people I have met through Ravelry.


Kataatok (Aussie Anne) brought in some yarn that she had dyed herself - very impressive. She also brought in some lovely coconut biscuits that she had made. Apparently the recipe is very simples but as I have discussed my culinary skills are not my best attribute ......... nuff said.


Louise gave us all a great rendition of "Its Not Fair" by Lilly Allen with all the real words.......


Sue brought in her finished baby blanket hat and booties. See Pic - very cute.

Tallulah my dog was very impressed with the blanket. I think she thought its was for her. Would have been a laugh to put the booties and the hat on her though - maybe next time.


Some of the regulars couldn't make the session tonight due to child minding, OFFSTED (I think this is how you spell it - that's why I am not a teacher) and transport difficulties.


Jo is sending over the pic of Margaret's finished garment and I will put the pictures up as soon as possible. I must add I am very proud of the progress the group are making. Just can't wait to see Louise's baby blanket!!!!

Rowan Autumn/Winter Launch Day

Hi,

As promised I am here to feedback on the Rowan Autumn/Winter Launch Day that I attended yesterday. It was great. The new yarns are beautiful.

There are 3 main stories running through the seasons collection in Magazine No. 46 - these are; Folklore, Shadowland and Heritage.

Folklore is a very patterned collection, Shadowland has fantastic chunky yarns and cabling effects and Heritage is classically English. I don't have the images of the yarns or patterns yet but as soon as I can obtain them I will add them to the blog. You will not be disappointed.

There is also a New Purelife Winter Collection using British Sheep Breeds Chunky & DK and Organic Wool DK. This has some great pieces and I can see one of the long cardigan coats selling like wildfire. Again further information to follow.

The Classic Winter Solace Book features patterns in Alpaca Cotton by Martin Storey. I love the blanket pattern - it is done in squares and would make a fantastic project to do as a group or for a gift or just to display your craft over a chair or couch. Did I say I loved this pattern. The yarn is also to die for - Soft Soft Soft!

There is a new product called Lima which was launched yesterday - the buzz surrounding it was very positive. The yarn looks as though it is plaited - it is fantastic. Again further details to follow.

I have also decided to become a stockist of the New Gerdifra Autumn Winter Yarns. They are fabulous - very European with patterns to match. I thought that this would make a good contrast to the classic Rowan products.

I also met a new contact called Suzie Johnson. Who you ask - well for all the fans of Kirsty Allsops new TV programme on C4 Kirsty Allsops Homemade Home she was the lady who was featured and used for producing the knitted titles, draft excluders, knitted house etc.

If any of you are interested in getting hold of any of her kits e-mail me christinefeery@knitsinthecity.co.uk and I will source them for you.

That's all for now. Hope you are all as exited as I am about the new ranges but don't wish your summer away - there are still loads of great summer weight projects to be tackled in the next 4 months.

Angels and Demons

Went to see the film last night with my friend Candice.

Thought the book was absolutely fantastic - very fast paced and the film didn't disappoint. The only thing is I remembered everything about the book so I knew how it ended!!

Anyway off to Rowan tomorrow - will update you all on the new products and designs when I return.

Have found a tea cosy for some of my SnB members to make. I think they have all been watching Kirsty Allsop on that House programme and are getting into housey stuff. This cosy is quite cute though.

Rowan Autumn/Winter Fashion Show

How exciting. I am going over to Yorkshire on Saturday to preview the new yarns and patterns from Rowan for this Autumn and Winter.

It seems weird that just as the weather starts getting better I will be looking at chunky yarns.

Obviously I have lots of Summer stock that should be flying off the shelves as we speak.........

Anyway, just thought I would let you know the news and I will update you on Monday about the new products.

Wanted to post a pic of Margaret's finished garment on the site today but waiting for Jo to send over the pic. Don't worry Margaret I will make sure you get your 15 mins of fame.

Have a good week knitting.

Bogus Customers

Hi,

I have received a couple of orders from Customers who don't really exist - of course they haven't paid for their orders so they have been deleted from my Database.

If any of these Bogus Customers are reading the blog - please stop messing about on this website you are wasting my valuable time!

To all of my fellow bloggers, beware of the phantoms!!

Chris.

Getting Fit

Just a quick update - the Man/Pig/Super Flu is now on its way out so I have decided to put a concerted effort into getting fitter.

Had my last portion of chips last night and managed to break a tooth eating the crunchy ones. Good start eh?

So tomorrow morning its straight to the Dentist, then off to the vet (no not for me) the dog needs her nails cutting, down to the farm to ride the horse, next stop the gym to do 30mins on the cross trainer and 30 mins on the bike (I am starting slowly) then home to do some work.

I am looking at better ways to market the web site. If anybody has any sooper dooper ideas let me know on how we can get the word of Knits in the City out to the masses please pass them on.

Also please advise if any of you are members of www.ravelry.com.

Why arent there enough hours in a day?

As the title says, why aren't there enough hours in the day to do everything you set out to do or is it just that I get side tracked??

The plan today was to add some new products to the web site - 50% completion.

Ride the horse - 100% completion.

Walk the Dog - well it sort of walked itself whilst I socialised with the girls down the farm.

Go to Tesco - 0% completion.

Do some knitting - I have three projects on the go now and none of them are making much progress.......

Do the washing - couldn't do this one as I hadn't been to Tesco for Fabric Conditioner - good excuse eh?!

Just realised why I loose time. I spend too much time blogging and reading other blogs.... Off to do a few rows.

If anybody has any advice on marketing websites please advise.

On the Fringe

Well I have done it I have made a drastic change - I have had a fringe cut into my hair. Now I know its not that drastic, I haven't died my hair blue or anything but because I have such a small forehead I didn't know how it would look..... I am quietly pleased with it - I think it is quite sexy!!!!

I have been very busy looking at horses with Candice which involves travelling up an down the country and the knitting project I am working on does not lend itself to knitting in the car so I have started another slipover. See Pic.

The pattern is very simple but very effective - made from Rowan Summer Tweed which I love. I will post a picture of me wearing the garment when it is finished.

Hope you are all making great progress with your projects. Got to get onto completing my accounts now - end of month and all that.

Speak soon.