I didn’t run after him, stop him, and meet him… but he walked past me on his cell phone on Argyll Street (he was headed towards Oxford Street) in Central London. WOW. It was actually him… no mistaking that face and those teeth!

Onto other things… went Yarn Shopping in London today. Bought a few gifts and went to Knit Night at IKnit London.

We went to Carnaby Street (which had the Shakespeare’s Head pub & restaurant) and then to Kingly Court (pictured below) to All the Fun of the Fair. They have some nice hand-spun, hand-dyed yarns that I’d never heard of before. But they also have a lot of random stuff – knick-knacks, buttons, vintage patterns, knitted paper chain, knitted tool with belt, knitted food. The whole store was decked out in cupcakes and cookies and hot cross buns… all of the knitted variety. They are all fair trade and knitted for the shop for sale.

We went to Liberty’s (opposite direction from Andy on Argyll Street), who basically have a monopoly on Rowan Calmer. I was looking for a bright red for Chelle (she bought me some “going away yarn” that became my hot water bottle cosy) but none of the reds were bright enough. They were too orangey. And Cass – the browns were all… just blehey. The lighter one was kinda greeny and the darker one was too dark. Hmmm I’m not impressed with Rowan Calmer selection, athough the Rowan Handknit Cotton had a really nice brown. Unfortunately what I did buy, cannot be shown off here… as the recipients are definitely readers and could probably guess what was for them.

I adore Artesano Alpacas – Aran line… yuuuummmm…. *drools all over it* (can’t find a link). I wanted the blue one and the dark purple (I already have the light purple for my blanket)… and I found a new yarn line called “Sublime“…. omg is IS just that! Softsoftsoft. I fell in love with the Angora Merino, is it any wonder why it’s soft? Again, I was drawn to the purple! I still need a few hanks for my blanket’s yardage requirements.

While I’m on the topic of yarn, did you know that Rowan’s Tapestry is 30% soybean?! Crazy! (70% wool). I also discovered Cherry Tree Hill, not my kind of yarn (read: socks), but it came in some really vivid colours. It hit that bright red I was looking for, as well as this really gorgeous fushia and a turquoise as well.

Coming home we always have to go through King’s Cross:

Q: Do you subscribe to any magazines (knitting or otherwise)? Or do you prefer to purchase magazines at the newstand? Do you subscribe online to any knitting magazines/newsletters? What does a knitting magazine need to have to catch your fancy and get you to fork out that well-earned cash?

I don’t subscribe to any magazines at the moment. I sometimes purchase magazines, rarely knitting ones. The patterns just don’t draw me in. Although occasionally I really like Simply Knitting’s free gifts! hehe. The thing that bugs me about knitting magazines (and most craft magazines) is that I can’t flip through them (like I can with books at the bookstore). So I’m more inclined to purchase a book despite it costing more than a magazine, just because I can flip through beforehand and see if I really like it. I like to know that it’s worth my money. Right now I’m lusting over the Cables & Aran Stitch by from Harmony. I love stitch dictionaries! That’s why I bought “How to Knit” by Debbie Bliss.

You thought this was a knitblog didn’t you? Well to be honest, it never began as one… back in 2001… on a different blog/server/name. But when I started getting back into knitting properly… I think it was mid-2005, and then strongly in late-2006, the blog sort of converted. It was very organic.

So I know it’s been a looooong time since I’ve posted anything about knitting, so here is something: I’m working on a gift. {everyone groans and rolls their eyes} But I don’t think the recipient reads the blog, or if she does, she won’t know this is for her. So here is it:

Partway done… does it look like a Penguin? Before I put the wings on, it looked like a Snowman.

It’s from Jean Greenhowe’s Knitted Animals.

If you look at the arms in this photo of the pattern – the Penguin is supposed to have different wings. Now look up at the duck wings on the cover of the Pattern Book, Yep… I used duck arms on Penguin.

Ruth tagged me in this meme to help me get my Blogging Mojo back. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten around to it sooner Ruth, but it just started gnawing… “what if you don’t pick the right posts? You have posts going back to 2001… you better pick properly!” Can you tell I reeeally didn’t have any Blogging Mojo? To be fair on myself, some of those posts waay back when that I imported from DeadJournal were a little pathetic… no pictures, no capital letters, and often just quiz results. Here’s throwing caution to the wind! If you don’t like my choices, you do the meme… tag, you’re it if you want it!

MEME RULES:

Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written. But there is a catch:

• Link 1 must be about family.
• Link 2 must be about friends.
• Link 3 must be about yourself.
• Link 4 must be about something you love.
• Link 5 can be anything you choose.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better. Readers – don’t forget to read the archive posts and leave comments. (You can if you want to. No pressure.)

My Links Are… drumroll please….

1. Family – being accepted into my BF’s family for Christmas (2006)
2. Friends – wishing my best girlfriend a happy birthday and reflecting on our friendships now that school is over.
3. Myself – announcement of the job I got for Pacific Rim Magazine 2007. (Also – the scholarship I received from the Editors’ Association of Canada for my position on PRM).
4. I Love… CW. This was a lovely weekend (read: a bit mushy) from the summer.
5. Surprise = Henry! The bestest story ever. Henry + Knitting. Just Photos.

I just finished writing a letter to the girls I babysit (back in Vancouver). I left my email with them, and have sent cards for their birthdays, but I really wanted to write them a proper letter. My babysitter when I was little, Lisa, started to do this with my sister and I when she moved to San Diego to live with her husband. We still sometimes talk through email. I always looked forward to her letters, she always wrote at least 2 or 3 pages back, sometimes more!

So I wrote one to Emily and Gabrielle both, and hopefully they will reply separately, or if they reply together, I will have separate answers for each girl and can start writing individual letters back. It’s great that I can just ask a ton of questions and I’ll get them writing back!

Did I ever post this “goodbye collage” that they created for me? (Edit: Yes, because the pictures were already cropped and resized). (Edit #2: There was no original post. For some reason I cropped and resized this and never posted it. I swear, I’ve re-read all my November 2007 posts.)