The Colour Purple - Old Age Or Eccentricity?

Be eccentric now.  Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

                                                                                             Regina Brett

Last Thursday I was teaching a class at The City Quilter and one of the students raised the question of why woman over the age of 65 fall in love with the colour purple?  Well I have no answers, and neither did the women in the class, all I know is that my own Mum adores the colour purple, she can't get enough of it so when I saw this cowl on the Black Sheep and Ewe stand at Vogue Knitting Live in Manhattan back in January and spotted that they had it in purple I just knew I had to make it for her.

This 'Flower Cowl' pattern and yarn are available to purchase online at Black Sheep And Ewe.

Today, Sunday, 30 March is Mothering Sunday in England 

- we celebrate our Mother's Day on the 4th Sunday in Lent dating back to the 16th Century.  The rest of the world celebrate Mother's Day on several dates but the majority on the second Sunday in May as introduced by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia, USA in 1908 -

so it was a perfect gift to send off to Mum.  Fortunately Flicky was around last week to model the finished cowl for me.

 

a close up with the 'flowers' included in the yarn.

To be honest I'm disappointed with the finished shawl.  It doesn't look as good on Flicky as it did on the model at Vogue Knitting Live, maybe a different colour or outfit underneath would do it more justice and, now looking at the model I can see we haven't hung it quite the same way, it could look better with the twist off to one side.  Not one of my better projects :(

I guess what matters is whether or not Mum likes it.  I spoke with her tonight and she told me that it's her favourite colour - well who'd have known?!!!  

Something to do with her being over 65 maybe - we still haven't got to the bottom of that one ... thoughts anyone?

Update at 7.11 pm, 31 March 2014

Mum went out in her cowl tonight - she wore it over a three quarter length sleeve round neck purple top and a full length purple skirt.  People stopped her to say how glamourous she looked, friends have tried the cowl on too and now they're keen to get hold of the wool and the pattern now over the pond!  When she got home Mum skyped me so I could see how she looked, she'd read my blog post and knew I was disappointed with the cowl and wanted to tell me how much she loves it.

I asked her if she could take a selfie and send it to me and here it is

She's never taken a selfie before and quickly realised she couldn't stand far enough back from her iPad to get the whole outfit in - she even tried using a spatula to take the pic but to no avail.  After giving us both lots of giggles and scaring me with how much she's looking like my Grandma (her Mum) these days, she's gone to bed now and I've told her to check back here in the morning to see this update.

Enjoy Mum, you look fabulous and I love you so much, Happy Mother's Day xxx

A Knitter's Dream Basket

So in the run up to Christmas my daughter, Flicky totally shocked me by announcing that not only was she knitting a scarf but that she'd joined a knitting group and taught some of the other girls at uni to knit too.  If you read my Lion Brand Yarn Studio post back in August you'll remember that she wasn't interested in knitting!

Well, I'm thrilled; some of my craftiness is finally rubbing off!!!

So for Christmas, I decided to surprise her with all the knitting and crochet goodies she could need to develop and continue her new hobby.   I figured she'd need a basket to keep everything tidy and to match her uni room so I made her her very own Knitter's Dream Basket using the Divided Basket pattern by Noodlehead.

The fabrics are Bluebird Park by Kate and Birdie for Moda

The basket was really easy and fast to put together and Anna's (Noodlehead) instructions are excellent and very clear.

I made a matching yarn bag so Flicky can knit on the plane without the ball running away down the aisle - it's just a regular pouch with a grommet on one side to feed the wool through.

 

Then I made her a matching tea cosy - can't think of anything better than knitting with a cuppa.

Tea Cosy and lots of new wool

So the Christmas pressie was a huge success and we've been back to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio twice since stocking up on extra wool and more needles.  

Current 'Zodiac' Window Display

Flicky's turned her hand to cabling and made a cabled headband and even Tatty's got involved eating her way through two sets of Flicky's bamboo needles (I did warn her that bamboo was a mistake as I'd had a similar Tatty experience with my own bamboo crochet hook which I wrote about here!).  

It's hard to knit with a Tatty dog on your knee!

I've been busy knitting myself - a really simple and quick Spice Berry shawl from Black Sheep & Ewe, had it finished in a day and I've received lots of compliments from CQ staffers and customers alike which is very welcome and makes you feel great.

Heading off to Vogue Knitting Live in Manhattan next weekend and guess who's coming with me???  Yep, Flicky - someone pinch me - maybe one day she'll even make a quilt!!!


Click the images below to read more about other Divided Baskets I've made.




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Where To Shop For Yarn In Manhattan - Lion Brand Yarn Studio

Don't know about you but much of my life is spent waiting: for the subway; for appointments; to meet people; and for my plane to board, take off, fly and land, so I like to fill these moments crocheting granny squares that are so portable and versatile.  I've just finished my latest project so I needed more wool to start something new to occupy me on yet another flight that I'm taking next week.

I usually stock up on wool at Manhattan's Vogue Knitting Live or at Smiley's Yarns Manhattan Sale but with neither on the horizon I'd have to visit a real live wool shop.  My first thought "Purl Soho", my second "small bank loan"; checking out their website proved me right - a pattern caught my eye and the kits for it were a whopping $195-$780.  I put my thinking cap on - there had to be a way to make this blanket, or something similar a whole lot cheaper than that, for a start it didn't actually need to be made of Koigu Premium Merino!

I'd heard of another wool shop in Manhattan - Lion Brand Yarn Studio - but never visited.  Checking out their website I spotted just the right wool for the job and headed over with Flicky last Sunday afternoon.  Here're some photos of the Manhattan gem that I've discovered (apologies up front as they're poor quality from my phone).

We're here - 34 West 15th between 5th/6th.  You can't see it in this photo but that's a crochet and knitted 'under the sea' window display, just fabulous.  Check out those yarn bombed door handles too!  

  The store entrance - lots of themed projects on display here 'made in America'.

A Wool Wall

There're lots of interactive activities all around the store - you can trial yarns and try your hand at knitting and crochet.

At the back of the store, there's lots of notions and accessories - wool bags, gadgets, books, etc.  I succeeded in resisting a wool winder - I've wound by hand my whole life, did I really need it?

 Needles and Hooks!

 The staff were super friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble and they even offered to take this piccie of Flicky and me.

Great displays using benches, steps, boxes, and baskets - it all looks amazing while still being customer friendly.

 Found it - that's what I'm here for!

 A 'Martha Stewart' area.

 Another scrummy Wool Wall.

 Baskets of goodies.

 Beautiful silks.

 I love how they've used these old drawers to display the wool.

There're a large centre table and chairs for you to sit to plan your projects and knit/crochet a while.  I was amazed at how comfortable I felt in the store and even more telling - Flicky loved it - pulling out a chair she sat at the table to wait while I wandered happily around.  When I finally came back she told me something weird had happened, then she picked up a nearby knitting sampler and proceeded to knit some more of it ... I taught her to knit on a rainy afternoon when she was 12 but she didn't take to it and it's never been mentioned since, turns out it's like riding a bike, you never forget how!!!

The staff chatted with us and told us that on Tuesday evenings, 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm there's a Crochet Doctor in the store offering free help and advice for your projects and there's the same on Wednesday evenings for Knitters.  In fact, there's lots of free events - Thursday nights there's a knit/crochet meet up and the last Thursday of the month is Film night 'Flicks with Sticks' - how great does that sound?!

There's a full schedule of classes too that you can read about here.

Here're the goodies that I brought home with me.  That yarn bag with a thread feed hole will be very useful when I'm on the plane - did I ever tell you about the time I was flying out of Paris and my ball of wool rolled down the plane during take off?  My husband was horrified and kept tugging at the strand of wool still in my hand to try to bring it back but, of course, the more he tugged the further the ball rolled - I giggled through the whole event but he was not amused!  Hopefully, this bag will ensure we never have an episode like that again ;)

The best thing about the day, apart from discovering a wonderful new store and staff that I feel so at home to drop in on again, was the slight glimmer of hope that maybe one day my daughter will allow her deeply suppressed crafty side to surface and we can make things together!!!

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.