Lilys House

mini socks

A few weeks ago I finished a pair of socks for Maddie, her first pair of hand knit. Her little feet look so cute in them

The yarn is my Buffy Sock, a superwash bfl. The dye technique was an experiment/accident but one that turned out to be very popular.  Love it when that happens!  Isn’t it always the case? (usually I can’t remember how I did it)

I was really pleased with the way it knit up and have repeated the technique, hopefully I will keep this ‘speckle’ yarn permanently in stock.

They should knit up similarly, give or take, depending on how heavy handed I’ve been with the speckles! 

I’d love to know what you think :)

superstitions

 

Sneak peek at the new repeatable colour ways in the Buffy BFL sock.  These are all named after  British superstitions (although I’m sure most of these are world wide), so we have corn dolly, Friday 13th, second sight and wraith to name but a few! 

I’ll be adding colours to this range slowly and steadily, and they will be a permanent fixture.  I really love dyeing the variegated colours but I’m aware that  there is a need for solids – all the  better for showing off certain stitch patterns that would otherwise get lost.

The variegated colours will keep coming but as usual they will be small batches and when they're gone they're gone.  The way I dye these means it’s nigh on impossible to repeat colours (unless by accident, which has happened!).

Another new yarn is the most gorgeous ‘Pearl’.  A single ply DK weight yarn in a luxurious alpaca, merino and silk blend.

Pearl is already in the shop and I have another few kilos to dye up. I am in the middle of making Multnomah with it for my Grandmothers Christmas shawl and it is heavenly to work with. Soft with a warm fuzzy halo and beautiful sheen.

I’ve also got limited quantities of ‘Belle’, a 2ply light fingering weight, UK alpaca/BFL blend (super squishy) and some high twist merino sock yarn to put up in the store.

I have been really busy with wholesale lately (thanks Loop!) and when I finally took stock of what I had, was shocked to find that I was down to one sock base (Buffy) and not much else! One big yarn order later and that problem is on it’s way to being sorted out :)

Look out for the new colours over the next couple of days.  Hope you like them!

city jaunt

Well, here I am, surfacing again from a great big pile 'o yarn!

Thought it was about time I put up some pics of the New york trip. Nick celebrated his 50th (shhh....) this year so I wanted to do something that we would both remember for years to come.  Way back, I booked this trip and had to keep quiet about it for most of the year - not an easy task for an excitable person like me ;)

Anyway, we went, we saw, we loved, we came back stony broke.  It was our first time in the States.  New York was so familiar from tv and films, it was weird and we both felt quite at home, which was unexpected. Of course the fact that there was no language barrier helped. What a noisy city though!

We managed to pick the few days when there was freakishly warm weather.  Having just had a couple of frosts at home, i presumed the weather was going to be the same over there. Wrong.  It was mid 70's,  very sticky and the cardies and scarves were quickly ditched in favour of the one lighter top packed 'just in case'.

At the end of the last day the weather broke and it rained hard, so we were lucky in that respect.

first glimpse....

the circus that is Times Square

drinks with friends living in Brooklyn

 

and lots and lots of walking!  I had to buy a pair or trainers as my super comfy boots didn't quite cut it.

I managed to eat super low fat ( well, with the odd slip up..) and had no bouts of pain.  I was gagging for cheesecake and the Magnolia bakery but those will have to wait until next time. There definitely WILL be a next time!

I'm hoping to blog more regularly again (yes, I know, you've heard that before).  Things are settling down a bit and I feel much more in control.  The shock of not earning what I did is waning and the woolly side of things is thriving.  I just need to manage my time a bit better and stop putting blogging to the bottom of the to do list.

On that note, I have some new solid and semisolid colourways appearing soon and the most gorgeous (I'm not just saying that, it really is!)  double knit yarn drying, pre hitting the Etsy shop.  I'll get some pics ready and do a launch post soon.

See you then x