A bit of stash enhancement

It all started with some Christmas money, buying a skein or two, and once I started, I couldn't stop (worse than opening a packet of Hobnobs!) The orders from North America haven't arrived yet - I'll save that for a later post - but would you like to see the yarn candy which has arrived from the UK so far?

Some Manos from Loop:These little beauties arrived around 24 hours after ordering, so I'd highly recommend their store and service.

Before that, this Manos silk arrived from the Woolly Workshop:

I started knitting My So-Called Scarf with the second one and had knitted up a good few inches, but it just wasn't working out with this thinner yarn despite casting on 44 sts instead of the recommended 30 and also I'd taught my friend's five-year-old son to knit with it while we were away last weekend (he was fantastic, BTW and I've to dye him up some of his own yarn) so I frogged and hence the order of the thicker Manos above.

Then, as if I didn't have enough yarn, I ordered this from Hipknits:

And then this:

These skeins are a merino/bamboo blend and I can't wait to start knitting with them.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because AT LAST I can return to the royal workshop to do some dyeing and get the shop restocked now that all the birthdays and weekends away are over.

See what happens when I can't dye - I order yarn! And knit - the Clapotis is very nearly finished. Whether I run out of yarn is a bit of an issue, so I might dye myself up an extra skein just in case. And when it is finished, I shall dig out my black polo neck, find my nearest French-style cafe, don my glasses for the intellectual look, wrap the finished Clapotis stylishly round my neck and pose with a big cup of coffee, just like Kate Gilbert did on the original pattern (that is Kate, right?)

Well, the final 40th birthday surprise for old Skein King was probably the best. He didn't want a surprise party or too much fuss, so I racked my brain, sent some emails off to some friends and family, they wrote a few words about him and I put together a This is Your Life style big red book. We had a lovely meal and a drop of wine on the Friday night with our friends on our weekend away, and afterwards read out all the tributes to SK. He was really moved that so many people had taken the trouble to put their thoughts down and it went down really well. He appreciates something like that far more than anything material (not to say he didn't get anything material too!)

Bless him!

Next week, I promise some SQ yarn!