The bells aren't jingling...

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had a great one;)
I'm currently in Edinburgh and finding decent food on Christmas day proved to be a challenge. We were lucky to find a good pub that was open nearby though. I'm looking forward to my first boxing day sale tomorrow! Can't wait for the new year to come and for all this craziness to pass and start afresh. Sorry I don't have any pictures, will need to find out how to post pictures using an iPhone!

Finally Flo

Flo
Pattern source: Flo by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: RYS Cashsoft 4ply, Rowan KSH
Needle: 3.5mm, 2.25mm
Comment: If you remember, I started this back in summer during Ravelympics. Most of the knitting got done back then, however the finishing took so much longer than the knitting. Back when I purchased the pattern, it was only available in kit form, but now you can get it in the book. It was the first and only kit I've ever purchased, everything came beautifully wrapped and looked so special, and the pattern was perfectly written. I'm not sure why I was so attracted to this pattern, but I'm guessing it's because of the styling in the photograph. I'm such a sucker for such thing. It was like, I must have THAT cardigan, in the same colour, and maybe then I can look like the model. I'm deluded, of course, but I can't help but think that all I need is a blue corsage, ruffly shirt and blue polkadot pants.
I think it's safe to say that this is a labour of love. I've done 4ply cardigan before, but all those stockinette, not to mention the ruffles, I don't think I'll be tackling more of this sort of project anytime soon.


Not-quite-a-princess mitts
Pattern: Princess mitts by Jennifer Hagan from The Knitter's Book of Yarn
Yarn: RYC Cashsoft DK
Needle: 4.00mm
Comment: This is a last minute Christmas knit, done in two evenings. It's for a friend's mom who I really like. The pattern was a bit confusing for me, like how the stitch count suddenly miss out 1 stitch, and how the pattern tells you to do k2,p2 rib for the thumbs but the left thumb has k2,p1 after the increase. I guess I'm just a perfectionist when it comes to this kind of thing, it bugs me so much when a pattern is not clearly written. But all in all it's a pretty pattern, and I think the end result looks really sweet. Oh, and I changed the direction of the cables, instead of criss-crossing like in the pattern I made them mirroring each other instead.

Spinning has been going slow, since I'm trying to spin really fine.

My plan is to try out 3-ply since I heard it's supposed to make the yarn rounder. Plying shall be interesting. I'm missing the instant gratification of spinning heavier yarn, and I'm considering getting another spindle. See, monogamy in fibre craft might just not be my thing.

Anyway, Christmas holiday will be crazy, I'll have 2 cousins coming to stay with me. A 5000 words dissertation to write. And some design concepts to come up with.
Well if I don't get to blog again before next year, which might well be the case, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and keep sane!

Spinning and procrastinating

What? Another post within less than a week? That's what happens when I'm procrastinating from doing uni work, I guess.

You guys probably have predicted that I've been bitten by the spinning bug, hard. Here's my third skein of handpun, again BFL from limegreenjelly in colourway "Something About You".

My main concern about building up all these one-skein-handspun is finding a project for them. Sure, they look pretty enough just so, but it'll be nice to be able knit with them as well. So the first thing that come through my mine is, of course, a beret!

One Day Beret
Pattern: One day beret by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: My own handspun, from last post
Needle: 5.00mm
Comment: This pattern is simply perfect for those one skein of precious yarns lying around in your stash. It's top down so super easy to modify. Instead of doing the decrease gradually as in the pattern, I did one row of (k1, k2tog) instead. I had about 20 cm of leftovers.
I've been trying new things with my spinning as well.

Here's some low-twist singles, it is quite tricky for me to maintain the tension, so I had some thick and thin spots. I split the roving in 2 instead of 4 as usual to get longer colour sections. Wow look at me doing the spin talk!
Anyway the roving is again from limegreenjelly but this time it's merino. It was my first time spinning with merino, and oh the joy. It's soooo soft and squishy and just makes me one happy bunny. The colourway is Dancing In The Moonlight. Have you noticed that I only buy from this seller? There are a few UK based etsy seller, but somehow her colourways spoke to me the most. Guess it's my love for deep, rich colour. I still have another 3 braids of her roving in my possession, the next one up is called Bohemian Rhapsody!
I'm wishing Santa will bring me a spinning wheel this year....or I'll just have to get one for myself, we'll see...

Classy is my name

Happy Forest Shrug
Pattern: Dream In Colour shrug
Needle: 5.00mm
Yarn: Dream in colour Classy "Happy Forest"
Comment: First, I fell in love with the shrug. So when I was at Socktopus grand opening I spent quite a while trying to pick a colour. Then I wound the yarn up, and the magic began. The yarn felt soooo good sliding through my fingers. Nothing fancy, just pure soft, squishy merino. Knitting with it was also a joy and the shrug grew quickly. I cast on for it when I was on my way to Socktopus for a knit night the day before I left London, knitted it on the plane all the way home, then cast off the day after. So really the whole thing only took me 3 days to knit.
Not too shabby, right?

I bought 2 skeins of it and there were quite a bit of leftovers, so I made this.

Classy Meret
Pattern: Meret, available as Ravelry download
Needle: 5.00mm
Comment: I cast on for this last Wednesday night and did 5 rows of ribbing, took it with me the next day to uni and knitted through presentations for the whole day and basically got the whole body done. Went home and knitted the decrease and a beret was born! It was such a quick and easy pattern. Not to mention pretty. I only did 3 lace repeats for the body for fear of running out of yarn, but looking at my leftover I could've squish in an extra repeat, but I like it anyway.
Oh, those checkered bags you can see in the background is all yarn.

I'd love to wax some more poetics about this yarn, about how I want to sleep and roll nekkid on it. But I shall refrain myself and go back to doing my uni assignments. It's really hard to concentrate when you're surrounded by fibres and all you want to do is play with it. But I still need that degree, so I have to put away the knitting (Cardigan for Arwen!) on my lap and do work. Ugh.

Spinner yet?

As I said in my previous post, I went home for 2 weeks and just came back last week. I told my tutors that I was going to my sister's wedding, but in truth it was my cousin's engagement party. The wedding is this Sunday, and I could've gone to the wedding instead but I thought that I'd be too busy by now, turns out there's really no difference, ugh. But it's always nice to be home, especially if it's only for a short period so I get to skip town before everything drives me crazy. The party was great fun though, and I enjoyed meeting families and relatives. Here's me and my cousin (the bride-to-be).

The party was done with a modern oriental theme, it was really quite cool, I'm glad I didn't miss out.

Meanwhile, ever since I came back last week, other than being swamped with uni work, I've been spinning too!

Let me present to you.....my first hank of handspun ever!! I'm so thrilled with this it reminded me of when I finished my first knit. The fibre is some handpainted BFL I got at Ally Pally. As you can see it's still quite slubby, but I still think it looks pretty cool. As soon as I finished this, I ordered some more roving from this etsy shop. And I have this in 2 and a half days!

It's gorgeous if I may say so myself. The colourway is called Angel of Harlem, and I've got another one called Something About You that I can't wait to start spinning up!
And don't think that because I've been busy spinning there's no knitting done.

Bayerische Socks
Pattern: Bayerische socks by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Sheperd Socks Solid colourway "Firefly"
Needle: Addi Turbo 2.5mm
Comment: This one certainly has been a long time coming. According to my ravelry record I started it back in June. The pattern wasn't hard, but it does has LOTS of stitches, and knitting every stitches through the back loop also means it goes slower. And I couldn't for the life of me memorise the 16-rows pattern repeat (that's the fancy one at the side). It was a lot of fun though, and I think that the yarn works really well for this too. I love how "crunchy" Shepherd Sock is. And since it's incredibly stretchy it fits perfectly too.

Well, there's been more knitting done but I have some blocking and more pictures to take! Keep in tune!

Never too late for socks

I seem to always fall into a crack unconsciously, how could it be almost a month since I last posted?
Life has been hectic due to uni assignments, but I still manage to find time to knit, though not as much as usual. There's not much progress to be shown, really. The Cardigan for Arwen is going well, one sleeve is done and I'm working on the body in one piece with about 10" of progress. I've also managed to finally finish a pair of socks

Socktoberfest Mystery Sock
Pattern: TTL Mystery Sock by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Posh Yarn Lucia
Needle: 2.5mm
I only managed to finish it 10 days after Socktoberfest is over, but at least the socks are pretty :)

In other news, I went to the brand new, shiny and lovely Socktopus London shop yesterday and bought a high-whorl spindle. Remember that spinning class I took last year? Well it's all slowly coming back to me, I haven't been able to stop spinning since last night.

It's not much for about 3 hours worth of spinning, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
Too bad I'll have to leave it for about 2 weeks since I'll be going home again today.
Yep, I'm going home again! The home that's 7279 miles away that I just came back from not too long ago! I'll only be away for 10 days to attend my cousin's wedding. I'm having mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I'm always happy to go home to see my family and the glorious food back home. But the guilt of leaving uni work behind while all my other classmates would be working away is almost killing me, agh.

Well, I'm trying to be positive since I'm lucky enough to get this unexpected holiday!

Slump

Please tell me you've all been there. When every projects just seem so...NOT RIGHT. I know a lot of people like to modify patterns, but for me, when I'm following a pattern, I'd want to follow it blindly. But sometimes when things are just not working out I'd have to suck it in and ACTUALLY USE MY BRAIN.
Remember the February Lady Sweater that I started?

This has since been frogged. The pattern itself is simply gorgeous, but I've had my doubt from the beginning about how it will suit my body shape. The yarn is looking gorgeous in garter stitch that made me almost want to close my eyes and just knit away. And the old days I would've done just that, and stuck the FO somewhere unseen. Maybe I'm growing up as a knitter, just maybe.
Then there's this

This is 15.5" of the back of Cardigan for Arwen. I've since frogged it back down to 5", did some waist decrease and bust increase and frogged it all. Now, I think the cardigan looks gorgeous in the magazine (why else would I want to knit it?), and look great on the other knitters' projects I've seen in Ravelry. But a square back just seems wrong for me. The cardigan is meant to be loose fitting, but loose fitting garments make me feel frumpy and chances are I won't be wearing it much. And the drop sleeves? I can't even think of how many years it has been since I last worn drop sleeves. So it's frogged and I'm back to square one.
And remember this? You haven't seen it for a long time, have you?

Yep, it's my Ivy League vest that I started...uh...some time ago. So when I went home for summer holiday I brought tons of WIPs and new projects with me because of course I thought I could finish 3 pair of socks, a vest, a cardigan, two tops and a shawl in 3 months. My luggage on my back was mainly filled with the same WIPs. Anyway, the vest is still a WIP, however I left the IK issue that the pattern is in back at home. Which is not the problem since I was being "clever" and took high resolution pictures of the pattern before I left. Problem is, I forgot the last page, where the instructions for the neck shaping, steeking (eek!) and neck and arm bands are.
But no worries! I'll be going home AGAIN next month for my cousin's wedding and with some luck we might have a finished vest by 2008.

At least I DO have some things to show

I'm enjoying this Mystery Sock KAL very much, and how often have you seen me take so many progress pictures?

And here's the stunner, if I may say so

Ene's Scarf
Pattern Source: Ene's Scarf by Nancy Bush (Scarf Style)
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace, 1.1 skeins
Needles: 4.00mm
I finally got around to blocking it last week and took some decent pictures earlier today (my housemate saw me taking pictures outside and she positively thought I was mad). The pattern was really simple but highly effective, although it did took me quite a while to cast on 375 stitches. And the yarn...mmmm.....it was delicious to work with. So soft and light. I have almost a whole skein of leftovers, it really goes a long way. One thing I've always admired from this pattern is how the lace patterns cleverly meet in the middle and create those arrows. Gorgeous. Now I think I want a thicker shawl, or a wrap that I can actually wear without being concerned of spoiling it. This one is so delicate that I feel slightly unworthy.

pointy!

Ally Pally 2008 Yarn P0rn!

Socktoberfest!

Fancy Cotton Socks
Pattern Source: stitch pattern from Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Online Linie Summersocke

Charade
Pattern source: Sandra Park
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM

Fiori di Zucca
Pattern source: 4th installment of Socktopus sock club
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy "Pistachio"

I can't believe it's that time of the year again. The weather gets colder and I get to pull out my knitted cardigan which was great. I also find myself having no desire at all to even look at all those cotton/bamboo/hemp/etc.. yarns that I bought in preparation for summer holiday and never actually got around knitting. In turn I get to dig out all those warm and comforting animal fibres I love so much. Sadly, it's also time to get back to real life, which is kinda hard to do after spending almost half a year lazing around. I went back to class last week and made a HUGE decision. Guess what's going to be my dissertation topic? Knitting!! I've always been afraid of incorporating knitting into my "academic" life since I worry that it might take the joy out of it. But I seriously can't think of anything that'll keep me interested and motivated for a whole 6 months. So now the great thing is I get to knit and call it "academic research".

Here's what else I've been working on

Those are the cuffs of the Through The Loop Mystery Sock KAL that's going on in Ravelry. The yarn is Posh Yarn Lucia that I got from Santa Swap last year. It's knitting up beautifully even though I did managed to mess it up while winding it up. I've only got 75g of workable yarn, so hopefully it'll be enough or we shall have contrasting toes. The next clue is coming up tomorrow and I'm already itching to work on it.
I finished this cowl yesterday,

Tamarind Cowl
Pattern source: Knitting Kninja(link to pdf)
Yarn: Shilasdair Cashmere Handspun
It just occurred to me that it was my first time knitting with pure cashmere. The end result is divinely soft even though I didn't enjoy knitting with it quite as much due to the inconsistency of the yarn. I thought the simple pattern was perfect for showcasing the beautiful yarn. It went pretty quick too, I think I'll make another one with the leftover yarn as a Christmas gift for a friend.

Oh, and I jumped on the bandwagon and cast on for the February Lady Sweater earlier today. I most certainly do not have enough yarn, so it shall be short sleeved or even cropped. I'm not even sure the style suits me. But if you've been reading my blog for a while then you should know that I can't resist viral knits.

Australia - the good and the bad

1. Cleckheaton Nature 8ply, 5 Skein 2. Naturally Hand Knit Merino et Soie 8ply, 4 skein 3. Naturally Hand Knit Harmony 8ply, 2 hanks 4.5. Cleckheaton Country Prints 8ply, 2 skeins each 6. Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed, 2 skeins 7. Naturally Hand Knit Dawn 2ply, 3 skeins 8. Grignasco Bambi, 2 skeins

That's not quite all the yarn I got from Melbourne, there's another hank of Filatura di Crosa Centolavaggi that I forgot to take picture of. It's a cobweb yarn with about 1500 yards/100g in this gorgeous teal colour. I was thinking of using is for Mystery Shawl 4, but I can't even face winding it up, that's like the yardage of 10 skeins of dk weight yarn!
I did do some research on Melbourne yarn shops, but since most of them are in suburbs, I only managed to get to very few. My first stop was Woolbaa in Albert Park, it was a lovely shop, just like what I imagine an lys should be, walls covered with yarn, plenty of space, good lighting and friendly staff. My live would be complete if only I have a local yarn store like that.
Then I stopped by and Clegs which was very central. It was more of a fabric shop, but they have quite a good range as well. I was shocked to see how expensive Rowan yarns are in Australia! I also passed by a Spotlight in Box Hill and had to check it out. You have no idea how jealous I am that Australians and Americans have big craft stores like Spotlight, Jo-ann and Michaels. Why can't we have those in the UK???

Anyway, yarn no.6 have since became this

Yep, another Le' Slouch!

Pattern: Le' Slouch by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Jo Sharp SIlkroad Aran Tweed, 2 skeins
Needle: 5.00mm
Comments: Can you tell I just can't get enough of this pattern? I've lost track on how many of these I've knitted. Just before I was leaving for Australia I knitted one in double moss stitch instead of seed stitch. Too bad I forgot to take a good picture of it and left it at home. The yarn came from Woolbaa, and I cast on in the plane, on my way back to London.

OH, talking about planes. Well, you know, I've been warned. I've heard that Australian airports don't allow knitting needles, or rather there is no regulation that says it's allowed. But I couldn't imagine spending 3 days in Sydney without my knitting. So I took a bet. I managed to "smuggle" my knitting into Sydney, but on my way back they found my needles! The poor guy who was made by his superior to confiscate my needle was shocked to see I was going to pull out my needles out of my knitting. "But you're going to spoil your knitting", he said. Too bad I wasn't going to check in my bag for an extra $10, my needles cost less than that anyway. I guess I'm unlike many knitters in that I'm not scared of pulling my needles out of my knitting, since I know I can quite easily get the stitches back on. Not the case with some fibres though, another story for some other post.

And oh yes, I'm FINALLY back in LONDON!! YAY!

Where have I been?

Would you like to take a guess on where I have been for the past two weeks?




Yep, I was in Australia!
I had great food,

and saw lots of amazing animals (zoos and aquariums are my top priorities on a trip, after yarn shops, of course).

I got to visit Melbourne and Sydney. Melbourne to send my little cousin off to high school, and Sydney to see friends and cousins. Melbourne didn't struck me as a great tourist town, but I think it's a great place to stay at. I mean, how could you be a knitter and not like a city with street names such as those? they have great yarn shops. I'm looking forward to go there again and stay longer next time. I only managed to visit a few yarn shops, but I've came back with a "reasonable" amount of stash enhancement. You can expect an Australian yarn porn for my next post!

Flo-ing along

That's all I've got after 12 days of knitting. A back, a sleeve and a front. The front and sleeve went pretty quick, but I reached a slump when working on the back.
So I guess logically speaking there's no way I could get it done in time for the Olympics' Closing Ceremonies, but I'll be knitting along anyway. My goal is no longer the gold medal, but simply to have a cardigan done and hoping it'll turn out beautifully.

I'm a bit disappointed at my productivity this holiday. This is my last 'real' summer holiday since I'll be graduating next year and have to face the 'real world' that I'm not sure I'm ready for. I thought I could get so much done during this holiday, with lots of knitting, sewing and designing projects planned. But, in reality, the sewing machine is still unseen and I haven't done any preparation for my third year dissertation.
Oh well, at least I did get two wisdom teeth extracted and hopefully a cardigan ready for autumn when this summer holiday ends.

Home report

Time really flies when you're on holiday, doesn't it? I've only been home for a bit more than month but a lot has happened.
The big thing was I turned TWENTY ONE!! I can't believe that I'm legally an adult now and the next time I go to the States I can actually go wine tasting (I only got to babysit for my cousin only 2 months ago, hah!). Of course I still feel like a 17 years old inside...
I never got to have a birthday party as a child since my birthday is either on school holiday or first day of school. So this year we had a "small" family gathering with 50 selected guests from the big family. Mostly people were just busy eating and there were no singing or blowing candles, but it was great to see some of my cousins and my hyperactive nephews.

A good friend of mine was visiting and wanted to go to Bali, so...

I've been to Bali a lot of times, but never with an actual tourist, and it made all the difference and I got to see the island from a different perspective.
Oh, and I went diving for the first time! It was scary as hell and the water wasn't very clear but I'm already itching to dive again.

To me, going home means taking care of myself. That includes hair cut, manicure and pedicure, facial, blood test, and.....going to the dentist. This year one of my wisdom teeth had to be extracted. The extraction itself didn't really hurt (except for when the needle was going into my gum, and then the drill was buzzing in my ears and the dental surgeon had to use a screwdriver), but the swelling is really uncomfortable and makes me look fat. I guess just one thing you have to get through to be an adult. I envy those of you who don't have to go through this, really.

I realise this is a knitting blog, so let's talk about some knitting! I've been between projects ever since I came home. Ene's scarf got a little progress and I believe it's now halfway done. I managed to finish one side of Bayerische socks and almost one side of Fiori di Zucca socks(Socktopus sock club's 4th installment). Ivy League vest only got about 2" of progress. I cast on for a stripey sock and I'm up to the first leg.
BUT, all of those WIPs will have to wait for 17 days because of...

I'll be competing in Sweater Sprint for...


So for the next 16 days all I'll be knitting is FLO. Yep, you heard me right. I actually picked a cardigan with RUFFLES in 4 ply yarn. Guess I wasn't thinking straight when I picked the project. I've cast on and knit for a few hours now but all I've got is 2.5" of sleeves. I'll be swimming in stockinette sea. Please cheer me on so I don't drown!

Back on the game

Mosaic
Pattern source: Sockopus Sock Club Third installment, designed by Diane Mulholland
Needle: 2.5mm
Comments: I adore these socks! They're the first sock club kit I managed to finish in time for the next one. The pattern is easy, yet entertaining. And those colours are just gorgeous together, don't you think?

I've also been working on these

It's Charade in some Koigu KPPPM that I've had in my stash for about 2 years. The pattern is perfect for knitting on the go as it's so simple. I simply took the stitch pattern and knit it toe-up with short row toes and heels, easy peasy. I cast them on because I was in need of some easy knitting for when I went to Brighton with Socktopus knitters on a day out. It was great fun and I got to meet other knitters and drink Pimms and knit by the seaside. Totally worth dragging myself out of bed at 7 am.

And because I've been so bored this week, I figured some more attention demanding projects would be appropriate, hence...
Eunny Jang's Bayerische Socks
Ene's Scarf
These two projects have been on my queue for ages, so I finally bit the bullet and cast on 96 stitches for the sock and 375 for the shawl, which took quite a while. So far they've been immensely enjoyable and they remind me how much I enjoy reading charts. Seriously.

Anyway I have to move on Tuesday, so this weekend will be spent packing and knitting. Since we've lost our internet connection I shouldn't have much problem focusing on packing, though my knitting might be distracting enough.
Oh, I'm blogging from a friend's place, by the way. She lives closer to John Lewis and I wouldn't want to miss first day of the sale! I even woke up before 7 this morning, early morning blogging is truly a rare feat here at Chez Yuvee.

SFO - Soooo finished obejcts

It's been exactly a month since I last blogged. A LOT has happened since then. My trip to America itself would take more than a post, since a lot certainly happened on the trip. However, I think it's better for me to share about my trip to Switzerland first. So instead of doing any of those I chose the lazy way and talk about knitting instead! After all, this is a knitting blog.
Here are some small projects that come and go so quickly that they didn't make it to the blog.

Left-right:
1. Scarf for Elvi - My friend requested this scarf for her birthday present, we found a picture of a scarf she likes online and I took inspiration from it. The yarn was Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK
2. Stripey beret for me- The yarn is leftover from the scarf.
3. Ridged beret - Filatura di Crosa Zara, a gift for Naia.
4. Blue Thorpe(link to pdf) - Another gift for my friend Naia together with the beret.
5. Dashing - Gedifra English Tweed, knitted this for my Swiss trip.
6. Cable Footies from One Skein - Patons Classic Wool Merino, Christmas gift for my friend Valentine, never got a chance to take FO picture of it.

Most of these are gifts, but guess what? It's not even all of them! I'll do the rest over the time, I mean, 3 months or a year delay don't make much difference, right?

For something that's not that outdated,


Otto my LOVE
Pattern source: And so to bed by Lucinda Guy
Yarn: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino
Needle: 4mm
Comments: He's probably my favourite FO ever. I knitted the base, then picked up the stitches for the body, sandwiching the tail in between. The tail, wings and ears are all knitted in one piece instead of 2 pieces like in the pattern. I'm glad I did it in the round since it saves me lots of troubles sewing up. The filling is from a cheap pillow that I cut up. And check out his Noro striped scarf! I'm really proud of him and have been showing him off to everybody. I might be hooked on toys knitting. Uh Oh.





Alpine Pumpkin Shrug
Pattern source: Alpine shrug from Rowan 42 by Sarah Hatton
Yarn: Rowan Big Wool in Ginger Snap
Needle: 10mm
Comments: This pattern didn't appeal to me at first, because Rowan magazines tend to be a little obscure in showing their garments, sometime it takes me a while to see which item is actually knitted. But one of the yarn shops I visited in Switzerland had it on display and my friend fell in love with it. Then when I was online shopping *ehem* I noticed that Stash Fine Yarns has it on sale. I bought 7 skeins but only ended up using 5 skeins. The design is really pretty and the construction is so simple, yet clever. It's a bit small for me though, but it might be due to the fact that I was too lazy to block it before I seamed it. In the second picture a friend is modeling it for me and I think it looks much better on her.

My friend Isabel (the model above) accompanied me to the World Wide Knit In Public Day Knit Crawl by Stitch & Bitch London yesterday. I was meaning to join them from the beginning, but was too tired and only managed to join the last 2 hours of it.
I taught her and another friend to knit a few months ago, and she finished a ribbed scarf and promptly bought yarn to make 3 pairs of socks! It's been a lot of fun knitting together with a friend and showing her the fabulous world of knitting. I'm pretty sure she's hooked. *grin*