A pocketful of rye

I think the Color Affection shawl of the last post not only turned out to be just what I needed at that moment, it also seemed to have sparked off the knitting bug within me again.  As result of all the enjoyment I got from Colour Affection, I wanted to knit more.

I had just started a lovely pattern from Louisa Harding's Beresford Beach when we went on our Cornish jaunt.  An appropriate pattern choice for a holiday trip with a name like that.  The pattern itself is called Rye and as you can see, this is a knit for my Little Miss.

It was a nice quick knit as it's in aran weight yarn and I was fairly whizzing through it when a little disaster befell my precious knitting equipment.  See if you can guess what happened as I tell the tale...

I was merrily stitching away on the sofa in our cozy little holiday chalet when I was called away for some reason or the other.  I plopped everything down on the sofa to attend to whatever it was, intending to come back and pick up where I left off later.  Next moment, my Little Angel comes jumping into the room, skipping around with girlish enthusiasm.  (Can you see where this is going?)  She then took a gigantic leap off the floor and onto the seat in question.  There was a small but definitely audible crack and I knew exactly what had happened... Yep, under the poor distraught child I discovered a  broken knitting needle laying pitifully on the cushion.  Disaster!

I hastened to reassure my madam that the fault was mine for leaving my stuff all over the sofa.  With a side note that maybe a quick glance in the direction she was about to chuck herself might have served us both well in this case and certainly would be a useful guideline for future life.

Now what to do?  Here I was, miles from home and my familiar yarny haunts.  Knitting to be done, time to do it in and yet no way of doing it.  I was using Knit Pro circular needles so I needed not just any old needle, but a replacement tip.  That required not only a knitting shop, but one that would be likely to stock such a thing.  A search of the internet showed me knitting places in Cornwall but the I couldn't find out for sure if they would have what I wanted.  I couldn't drag my poor family all around the South West of Britain on my quest for a replacement so there was only one thing to be done.... appeal to to great and the good of Ravelry!

And of course, they didn't fail me.  I had suggestions and sympathy within a matter of hours and the next morning, my knight in shinning armour was there to rescue me.  I got a message from a lady that told me not only was there a knitting shop in the closest town to me, St Ives, but that that shop very much did stock Knit Pro tips and that she was the proud owner of the said shop.  I was saved!

We found a moment to pop into this fine shop that same day and Kay, the wonderful and kind owner of The House of Bartlett actually replaced my poor broken needle absolutely free.  I was a little uncertain that I should accept this but she tells me that the Knit Pro needles are guaranteed for a year and she'd be able to send my broken one back and not be out of pocket one little bit.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing of her to do though?  Thank you again, wonderful Kay.

It didn't take me long after this incident to finish off this pretty little dress, and Little Miss obliging donned the garment and consented to a garden photo shoot once we arrived home.  She's likes it and is very happy about the fact I let her choose which colours the stripes should be.  (Purple is her favourite at the moment.)

As for me?  I extremely pleased with how it turned out but it's taught me a very important lesson too.

When you put your knitting down, make sure it's out of harms way.  Every, single, time.


S x