Gizmo numero uno cost a mere £1.25 and is a teeny little plastic device for winding embroidery floss onto bobbins. I'm using it to transfer Anchor Perle onto bobbins. It is a wee bit ricketty (and has to be clipped onto one of those dinky little boxes used for storing skeins of floss) but costs even less than a half of cider. Remarkably it came from a cycle shop. But not just any old cycle shop. No, Ely Cycle Centre is the most unexpected store ever. To start with, the bikes are upstairs, which strikes me as crazy (especially as this is a steep, twisty, staircase). But as well as bikes you can find: model kits, DIY equipment, toys galore (I very nearly bought a stick-on party moustache but there were so many to choose from that I gave up!)and an enormous craft section. Strictly speaking, there isn't much for knitters. But with crochet yarn, buttons, beads, fabric (and more) you're bound to find something that you need (even if you didn't realise it when you set out).
Whilst in Ely
(NB this picture was taken on an earlier visit; yesterday was decidedly overcast) we also visited the Cathedral and Topping Books, where Graham bought me this gorgeous tome as an anniversary gift!
The other new gizmo is an Ashford Niddy Noddy from Scottish Fibres (exemplary service, as always!). It is supplied unfinished, so Graham kindly smoothed it with fine sandpaper and we both had fun waxing it with some ancient beeswax polish. Now (at last) I can create consistently-sized skeins and it is such fun to do. When I went into the interstices of the garage to hunt the polish I spotted 7 balls of Jaeger Como (an impulse buy that I regretted) destined for the next charity shop run. I looked more closely: 90% merino, 10% polyamide... Suddenly I saw it with new eyes: dyers eyes. Yes, it may knot easily and pucker as you knit. But I can convert the off-greige colour into rainbow loveliness and it should be good for corsage-making, if nothing else. No prizes for guessing what the niddy noddy has been skeining!
And now it is owl-stuffing time (not to be confused with this ) and I must crochet some mad eyes. All will be revealed. But not today.
2 comments:
The suspense is killing me!
Have fun with all your toys!
I love that book shop, the last time we went in we were asked if we'd like coffee, he produced two little cafetieres and we chose some books to look at as we drank the delicious brew. Needless to say we felt compelled to buy a book each but the memory of that time is forever with us! I do love Ely, that cycle shop is a bit special!
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