I went to the shops and I bought...

Alpaca

Bamboo

Cotton and Cashmere

Denim

I had some fun with the Yarnsmith bulk buying summer sale. I could have had far more fun if it hadn't been so hot and I wasn't going travelling very soon. I was very tempted by some beautiful Noro but it was very much a winter yarn and all I could think of was heat. And besides, it didn't begin with "E".

The alpaca silk is for my mum - it's her birthday tomorrow. A friend of mine is designing a beautiful shrug in alpaca silk which I think she would like to make. It was due for publication this month but a delay won't matter too much as my mum has some other things on the go. The cotton rope is for me. I was thinking of making a Picovoli but now I'm erring towards a Clapotis. I just bought a dress for a wedding which is blue and green and they might look nice together. I bought the bamboo because I don't think 4 balls of cotton rope is enough for a Picovoli as the yardage isn't great. The bamboo is a completely different gauge and I'm not even sure the colours go together so that might turn into something else. Perhaps for my neice (couldn't you guess?). The 4 balls of cotton cashmere and 5 balls of denim cotton were bought by my mother to make things for my nephew. The cotton cashmere might end up being a gift for my sister but my mum is pretty much converted to constantly knitting and also building up a stash. I can't imagine where she gets such ideas from!

Tomorrow I'm going to a wedding (it's my third this year) in Devon. We're taking the train and I'm seriously wondering, can I knock out a shawl on the way there? I'm feeling a bit ambivalent towards the dress I bought. I have a pretty dress at home which no longer fits, and a dress I don't like which does fit, so I thought I'd buy myself a red halterneck dress. I ended up with a blue/green boatneck dress with flappy bits. I look a bit like an extra from A Midsummer Night's Dream. I also bought shoes which I didn't like much at the time but now I really like. I'll show you some pictures when I get back and you can tell me what you think.