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The sewing machine came out this week! I saw the most gorgeous knitting bag on instagram. It was made by Truly Myrtle (I don’t usually like podcasts but she’s very interesting to listen to). Here’s the link to her bag . It’s a shape I haven’t tried before. The pattern for the tote is a free one from Very Shannon . - the Reversible Box Tote . I bought some gorgeous fabric from The Little Fabric Store . It’s a sweet, little shop and worth a visit, if you’re near. Helen is very lovely and helpful. I got some new Cloud9 fabric and linen to line the bag. I bought another Clover tape measure too. They are really nice quality. I’ve found with the cheaper retractable tape measures that the tape will stretch and warp with use. I’ve had one for over a year (with daily use) and it is still as straight as the day I bought it. So I bought another because well…you can never have enough tape measures! You can see the tape measure in the picture below. The fabric that I chose happened to be what I

I’ve just finished a lovely poncho for a friend. The yarn is Louisa Harding’s Esquel and the pattern is Ivy  from the Esquel book . It’s the one on the cover. The colour I used was 16 Tomato, which isn’t really a very accurate colour name as it’s much more like a rust / burnt orange colour. It turned out so beautifully and I loved the colour. I keep thinking I’d quite like one but not sure I’ve got it in me to make another at the moment. It’s a beautiful knit but essentially just two big rectangles plus sleeves, so I think another one would become monotonous. Plus, I have an ever growing mountain of projects to do - maybe I'll add it to the wish list. I was very impressed with the yarn. On the ball, I wasn’t enamoured by it. It was nice but not anything exciting. I’m not a fan of single ply yarns and it didn’t feel particularly soft. I’m very glad I’ve used it now because it’s a pleasure to knit with and blocks to a beautifully soft and draping fabric. It’s a mix of 60% merino, 20

Not my latest finished object but it’s taken me awhile to get around to blogging about it. I mentioned before that I was partaking in Ysolda ’s Follow Your Arrow knitalong this year. Project page here. I used Sparkleduck Solo which is a lovely yarn. A very vivid sea green colour and has lovely stitch definition. I managed to keep up with the KAL. I do like knitalongs, as each section is in a bitesize piece. I managed to complete the first 3 clues in an evening and the 4th and 5th in 2 evenings, so it didn’t take up too much of my knitting time. Each clue has an arrow theme. I did clues BABBB plus the extension chart and 4 repeats of Rows 3 & 4. I liked the choices I made with the clues, though I think after seeing all the other shawls, I prefer the smocking chevrons on clue 3 instead of the little arrows. The little arrows are still very cute, I just think the design would have more cohesion with the chevron. At the time, I’d just completed the Rendevouz Shawl , which has quite a