Pat's blanket

Pat, on right (we all know who is on the left), came on a surprise visit to Knit and Chat with her daughter Natasha, all the way from Aylesbury. Natasha told her to bring her knitting and her blanket - she thought she was going to an old people's home - really. Pat knitted this beautiful throw whilst she was laid up with a broken ankle - it is knitted in cotton dk and has 64 squares made from 256 triangles. Truly gorgeuos.

'Tis the season..

..of mellow fruitfulness...or however the saying goes. We havn't even had our summer holiday yet and the blackberries are coming.

I picked enough for a crumble from the brambles in the garden with a little help from Billie

and Edward, who is always around when food is mentioned.

We made a delicious blackberry and apple crumble for tea, with ground almonds in the topping and served with hot custard of course. They were plenty of 'oohs' 'aahs' and 'mmms' at the table - nothing quite beats the taste of cooked blackberries - good old comfort food. I might make another one tonight - blackberry again, seeing as there are only two plums on the little plum tree.

Stiffkey stores

Yes, it's the fabulous Stiffkey Stores (nr Wells, Norfolk) - a bit over run with blooms but what a sight. Enjoyed a fabulous cappuccino and a 'blondie' (like a brownie, but made with white chocolate and salted peanuts), truly yummy. Does anyone have a recipe please? http://stiffkeystores.com

Vintage rock chick

Gill came to learn to crochet a couple of weeks back and hey, she hasn't stopped.

Check out Gill's inspiring blog for a fab combination of music and creative rock chick flair. http://vintagerockchick-gill.blogspot.com

Brian

This is Brian, the South African picture framer, in his Walkern workshop. If you need any framing, Brian's the man - he does a great job and is excellent at choosing the right moulding and colours to suit the image. Pictured here with Karen's Chester Williams' watercolour. Very 'juji' as Brian would say....

Brian Barnard 07871 105 417

A woman of many talents

Donna came over to give the old Joanna (purchased in Yoxford on Southwold trip) a facelift.

Just perfect - vintage transfers of a 'Jolie' lamb and some roses.

Junior choice

We had our youngest workshop students last week. Tilly and Alice (aged 5) came with their mums Katie and Lucy to learn to knit. The girls and mums were all eager to learn and did amazingly well. Sue (Ford) popped in at just the right moment to lend a helping hand.

Alice and Tilly left satisfied with their bags of loveliness - two very sophisticated young ladies.

Books galore

Out now - New Rowan magazine 48. £11.50

Includes these wonderful fingerless Tamara gloves by Erika Knight with intarsia rose pattern.

Also by Erika Knight, Simple Knitting. This stylish book includes 20 desirable projects each designed to teach a new skill. From simple beanie hats to this lovely intarsia teacosy (knitted for us by Mary), a classic cardi, socks, gloves and cushions, this book is well written and illustrated with clear drawings and beautiful photographs. £16.99.

Just arrived - two new books from Rowan, each with 15 patterns, Silk Twist Classics and Winter Drift compliment two new Rowan yarns. £7.95 each.

Silk Twist is a lightweight aran which comes in 10 jewel bright colours.

Winter Drift has patterns for new Rowan yarn Drift, which knits to the same tension as Big Wool - basically Big Wool with a fleck.

Autumn is definitely in the air.

And there are patterns for men too.... Erh mm, how much do I love you?....

Also, from Debbie Bliss, two new booklets, Folk Chic and Land Girl. £5.50 each.

This is my favourite - I'm thinking about making this after I've finished a few of the projects currently spilling out of my knitting bag. From Folk Chic and knitted in Cashmerino dk.

Beautifully styled Land Girl has 8 designs in 4ply, dk and aran.

Food for thought for your autumn projects.

Birthday bunnies

New from Venice Shone - lovely Bunny birthday cards for little people. To see more of Venice's work check out http://lollyofhastings.blogspot.com

Simply lovely

This beautifully knitted jumper is from Debbie Bliss's book Simply Baby and was knitted in Baby Cashmerino by Dany's dad's cousin, Kathleen, for her grandson Isaac. Kathleen lives in Spain and came over a few weeks ago, purchasing the wool and a gorgeous knitting bag when she visited Jolie. She would love to join us for Knit and Chat but is too far away...however, Kathleen belongs to a Spanish patchworking group called 'Te y Telas' which means 'Tea and Fabrics' - sounds good to me.

Didn't we have a lovely time...

...the weekend we went to Southwold on our annual knitting on the beach trip. Caron brought loads of her famous home made sausage rolls, and we started tucking in on the journey.

And what a journey. We left Walkern at 9am and reached Southwold at 6pm. A mere 107 miles, however we followed the scenic route, meandering through the countryside. We stopped in Clare, then Long Melford, continuing to Peasenhall and Yoxford on a fantastic junk trail. Linda picked up a piano, Dany found a chair and a chandelier, Caron bought some pretty votives and Karen found a watercolour of a camel by Chester Williams(?).

Still en route, we had a giant cream tea (and chocolate and beetroot cake) in the garden of The Parish Lantern Tea Rooms, Walberswick.

Found Hellie and Donna on the way.

We stayed at The Swan Hotel, Southwold.

In the newly built chalet syle rooms, which overlook the secret garden. Very Hi di Hi!

And spent a wonderful soiree in the garden, around the piano, with Caron's votives coming into their own.

Sunday was a great day on the beach. Please note Linda tucking in to cheese balls. Sorry, how many did you say you could fit in your mouth once?

Trish remembered her knitting. That was the reason we came wasn't it?

Donna and Beryl managed a few rows too.

Dany and Hellie and a lorra lorra lolly.

The three Sues, Diane and Paula, all looking very glamorous, down at the Southwold Boating Lake Tea Room - with a superb cream tea and fresh strawberries.

Aah, back home again on Monday, after a spot of shopping in Woodbridge and supper in The George at Cavendish. One slight moment - Linda realised she didn't have the fuel key to the Jeep. A very kind gentleman came to the rescue with his Henderson garage door key which did the trick. Phew!

Knit and wine

Join us for a glass of wine (or two), Tuesday evening 27th July, 7.30 - 10.30pm. £15 pp.

Knitted bunting

Looks so pretty knitted in Rowan handknit cotton and Debbie Bliss cotton dk. We have two patterns - the little beachhuts based on Southwold and traditional pennants which look great backed with vintage fabric.

All change

We've had a little bit of rearrangement at Jolie. We sold the lovely armoire and were left with a bit of a gap and nowhere to store the wool. Problem solved - this pretty bed, which we thought would be too big for the shop, now sits perfectly in the middle under the chandelier - and it's full of baskets wool!

The jewellery is now displayed on it's own table with a gorgeous crinoline lady mirror and lace.

A happy accident

This is one of Linda's first ever crochet pieces. Made from tapestry wools, it was accidentally felted in the washing machine and discarded. Discovered yesterday, clearing out a drawer, I think it is charming and worth rescuing.

On the road to recovery, I found some nice woolly wool to edge it with - possibly with a picot. We had a couple of projects in A and E at Knit and Chat today - see Jen's impressive operation below.

Sweet Caroline and friends

Caroline celebrated her birthday at Knit and Chat - looking lovely in her new crocheted shrug.

What a coincidence - Debbie and Jennifer were wearing theirs too. This pattern, from Rowan's Summer Crochet is the hit of the summer, and looks great in every colour. Some people have even finished their second one.

Jennifer performed some life saving surgery on Dr Carolyn's crochet shrug, avoiding certain tragedy. The wrong arm fell off - it was in a right pickle. A little role reversal for Carolyn who is normally the one dealing with emergencies!