Damson Purl Beret bythe lovely people at Purl.

My Ravelry Post: here
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk - about 100g
Needles: 2.5mm for the band, and 2.75mm for everything else.
Pattern: Purl Beret - which can be found here. (Bonus - it’s FREE. :)
Conclusion: I ended up re-knitting this because - in trying to adjust for my large head - I ended up making something too big even for me, the first time around. So a frogged and started again, which really wasn’t a hardship given that a) this yarn is soft, and smooth and wonderful to knit with, and b) it’s such a quick pattern that it only took a couple of days to knit up.

I’m really pleased with it. :)

Lengthways Garter Stitch Scarf by Me

My Ravelry Post: here
Yarn: Mobair by Victoria Smedley baby alpaca and silk - about 200g
Needles: 4mm
Pattern: With something this simple it became all about the details. So: Long tail cast on, 380st. Garter back and forth till it was as wide as I wanted it, and I was running out of yarn, and then a sewn cast off, so that the cast on and cast off edges were identical. (As previously posted, the cast off took FOREVER but looks fabulous.)

Conclusion: After blocking this scarf ended up about 12″ longer than I was expecting. This is no bad thing, since I love to wrap my scarves around and around and around. HOWEVER it has forced me to start washing my swatches before I measure them, if I’m all chance of getting an accurate gauge, which was something I really did need to learn.

But yeah - I’m loving what finally feels like an indian summer after months of rain, and grey skies, but once it’s gets cooler this is going to be the staple scarf of the year I think.

(Oxford Kitchen Yarns - some of my first offerings. ;)

The problem with having a big secret project was that because I couldn’t talk about it, I didn’t talk about anything. I’m like that - I want to tell you *everything* and if I can’t I tend to sit on my hands and tell you nothing at all.

However now I get to tell you what’s going on, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking - so much so that I’ve been putting off writing this post.

So here goes:

I now run Oxford Kitchen Yarns. I dye yarns in our tiny galley kitchen here in Oxford (hense the name) using natural dyes - many of which are gathered in a sustainable way from near where I live. Others are bought from suppliers within the UK. I am working hard to make sure that none of my colours come from endangered species (even though that means I’ve had to turn my back on some good dye matter that is still freely - and legally - available).

I feel very strongly that this business should have a minimal impact on the environment, and anyway there are always other colours. That’s the beauty of it.

Currently I’m dyeing Bluefaced Leicester yarns, that are grown (i guess wool is grown?) and spun here in the UK. They behave very much like merino, and are lovely and soft.

At the moment I’m dyeing sock yarn, lace weight, DK and 4ply. I’m going to start posting the first batches of yarns to the shop in the next few days. I’ll let you know when stuff is up. :)

I’m knitting up one of my test dyelots as the Minimalist Cardigan from the lastest Interweave. Hopefully I’ll be finished in the next couple of weeks, though I’m actually really enjoying knitting it, despite my hating knitting moss-stitch. (I think it’s because it’s a sort of double moss stitch, which makes me want to knit just one more row…) Anyways I’ve knit the back, and both fronts, and I’m halfway through the first sleeve.

(Felix took some photos of my yarns at a Bluestockings meeting. You can see more images at her blog here.)

While I’m here I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone at Oxford Bluestockings for being so incredibly supportive all the way through this process. It’s been a real leap into the unknown for me, and they’ve cheered me on entire time. It makes me really happy that they’ve also become my first customers. :)

You can read about what Liz and Felix have to say about Oxford Kitchen Yarns here and here (Liz) and here (Felix). And yes they’re my friends, but they’re also rabid yarn shoppers - as I know from experience. ;)

So there you go.