Pop spots photoshoot !

 

Last Saturday I went for another London knitting tour with my wonderful Wendy. Our first stop was the best yarn store in London- loop. Not too far for Angel underground stop, we arrived when the store opened at 11:00 am and stayed there way over couple of hours. This was my first time in Loop new premises and I appreciated the bigger space, range of yarn- all lace and 4 ply are on ground floor , chunkier is up a level. who is thinking about recession?? nobody in loop I can assure you.. Those yarn fumes, I swear ..
We also stopped at Liberty (for the buttons, fabrics and oh to die for silk scarves..) and John Lewis haberdashery department to examine the new yarns for Kim Hargreaves new book- Spirit.
Another stop was at good old dear Patricia Roberts, I wore her snow flake cardigan and she absolutely adored it !

That is Loop sample of pop spots you can see hanging there in the background - a lovely version knitted in Isager with three different colours- just love the lilac with the brown and grey..

 

 

 

Well my Pop Spots shawl is finished, that edging took forever but is well worth the effort. I made sure it was thoroughly dry after blocking because those alpaca fibers shrink dramatically.

It is just the perfect shawl for spring. Yellow to bring those warm rays of sunshine we all missed in the winter. Its woolly enough for the early morning and late evenings. I love the subtle combination of the yellow and beige- elegant and cheerful.

Yes all those logs are for next winter..:)

Super, super pleased !!

 

 

 

My Parisian pop spots

The family took advantage of the kids half term and the six of us squeezed in the motorhome for a week of some continental influence in France (Paris mainly) and Belgium (Ghent and Brugge). We all agreed this was a great holiday but absolutely freezing to the bones, snowing and all.. In Paris I dragged everyone to an old favourite knitting spot.

It was still unchanged. You go through the door and long loose loops of yarn are hanged on both walls for you to admire. There is no self service and first after deciding on yarn , color and amount you must queue to be seen by the store 'Madame' in her glass boot high above. English is minimal of course and I have a feeling they all know much more English than they are caring to show..Then you wait whilst your yarn is being wind into balls by some young assistants at the back of the store. I ventured to the back as all yarns were still in cones and this made it easier for me to decide on color pairing. There is a very good collection of buttons but the buttons Madame was no where to be seen and that means going back and queueing for the first scary Madame in the glass boot so decided to give the buttons amiss. I don't know how this store fares in these days of Internet , artisan yarns and ravelry but it is all a bit dated to me and not forth coming..

By the way not too far there is a lovely kitchenware store with some beautiful copper pots and pans. Everything you can think of for the aspiring cook.

Anyway back to knitting- I too succumbed to the pop spots mania :) It is really a lovely shawl designed by Juju from Loop store in London. I already knitted one of her shawls.  Please do have a look in ravelry at other knitter's choices..Now I have a lot of sock yarn to choose from but decided not to knit this shawl to stand out on its own with bold dramatic colors but to be able to blend in with the type of clothes I wear. So my colors are mellow but still bright enough for spring.

(The model is from loop website knitted in Isager tvinni yarn grey and lilac-stunning !)

So in La droguerie shop in Paris I bought two  colors from their alpaca range .I'd say light fingering or 3 ply weight. I wanted to pair yellow and Beige for quite a while . It will look great on grey or navy blue..

The spots are in garter so they do slightly pop out when being squeezed in by the unravelling between them and knitting all the back floating strands at once. I think I'll knit further than the smaller version , the spots effect  look better on a wide fabric ..

Knitting this is very addictive , I'm totally immersed in this one. Do you now have the urge to pop spot ?? :-))

Old rose wrap

Few years ago I visited the knitting and stitching show in Alexandra palace, London and noticed an intricate wrap wore by lady  in the 'Loop' stall. I've complimented her and when the lady herself published the pattern I was delighted.

I mainly knit but this is  crocheted .The beauty of it is that you can join the squares as you go and the joining itself contributes to the pattern. Its all looks complicated and intricate but after completing few squares the pattern is memorised and it is very relaxing enjoyable crocheting. The old rose wrap calls for a variegated Malabrigo sock and a solid color. I think its important not to create too much color pooling so the way this yarn is dyed is just perfect for the pattern. I've chose a mix of purple and green - 'rayon vert' for the main section and then a sophisticated blue - 'cote d'azure' for the edgings and 3D roses. I've changed the pattern a bit to look more like the original version I saw but I did not add the loopy edgings; instead went for a lacy picot trim.

The pattern is so versatile , because of the buttons and button holes locations. I've tried to show some of the ways it can be wrapped- a shrug, a poncho, a scarf, a cardigan..

Very pleased with my summer project !
Keeeeeep knitting :)