More projects on the go. ..

As if I didn't have enough unfinished projects on the go, I'm itching to start some new ones with the yarn and material that I recently picked up in London.  On the left are two skeins of good old Cascade 220.  Most of my hexipuffs have been knitted with this yarn and I want add some more neutrals into the mix. Then I was completely seduced by the huge red hank of Tvinni wool.  I also found a skein of Crazy Zauberball that picks up the red but also has several shades of blues and browns in it. I was thinking about a huge cozy winter shawl. A really, really big one. And then lo and behold, a woman in my knitting group came into the cafe wearing the perfect one - Ann Weaver's Chittagong.  I only hope I have enough yarn for it, but it does seem like a pattern where the size can be adjusted.  

Once in Ray Stitch, I couldn't resist picking up three of these little sets of fabric 2.5" squares called Comma, by Moda Fabrics. There are 42 in each pack, with six different graphic patterns in a bunch of coordinating colours, all of which look great with the gray, black and white squares that are included. I particularly love the punch of the orange and yellow.  They are just adorable and I'm going have fun trying to assemble them into a pleasing quilt pattern (hmmmm, need to look through my Kaffe Fassett quilt books).  I also bought half a metre of the yellow polka dot fabric because it was flannel and soft and happy looking and I just needed to own it. I think it's asking to become a cushion cover.   Or I may incorporate it somehow into the quilt.

Speaking of a punch of orange with gray, I also picked up two books. At Persephone, I bought their 100th publication, The Persephone Book of Short Stories - it contains stories by so many of my favourite writers - Penelope Fitzgerald, Katherine Mansfield, Kay Boyle, Diana Athill, to name a few, that  I can see this living permanently on the bedside table.  And then just around the corner from Persephone on Great Ormond Street, I discovered a gift store called Volte Face. They had a display in the front window of Melville House books (which is always the sign of great taste and discernment) which drew me in.  I actually had all of the Melville books they stocked, but found another gem instead.  All I needed to see was the title - 70% Acrylic 30% Wool by Viola Di Grado translated by Michael Reynolds, and the distinctive look of the publisher, Europa Books (another great indie press) and I was sold. It promises to be an original and fascinating read.