I'm a real knitter now.

Yes, I've finally made it into the ranks of the "real" knitters - look what I got:



This cat appears to have adopted me. It sits outside the back door; it creeps into the house; it got itself into the outhouse and gave me a right turn when I went in there to get something out of the freezer. I cracked and gave it some milk. I don't suppose I'll ever get rid of it now. It'll have its paw in pictures of knitting next.

And speaking of knitting...(That is why you came, isn't it?) I've finally finished the Kerry Blue shawl. No pictures yet because it looks a bit of a sight at the moment. It will be blocked and photographed shortly.

I've finished the Sari top, made with the yarn from Italy. I'm not so sure I like it very much at the moment - I think the back really is too low and it's incredibly heavy. No pictures of that either. Are there going to be any pictures at all today? Well, yes, there are. Just bear with me.

I went into my LYS the other day, to find that it's gone nuclear. The small wool room at the end (the one where the knitting police apprehended me) has been transformed into a knitting room and all the yarn has gone upstairs and grown by about five times. Nicky wouldn't let me go up there until she could come too. So she could hear my swoons of joy, she claimed. In fact, I just asked her to pass the scissors. Why? So I can snip my credit card in half.

Before I did the snipping I purchased some Louisa Harding yarns to make a scarf/wrap thingie for my sister-in-law.



This is (clockwise from top left) Sari Ribbon; Glisten; Fauve; Kimono Ribbon. Lovely.

Destined to become a scarf/wrap thingie. I saw a pattern (if you could call it that) in a Luisa Harding magazine. I don't really think I need to pay £7.50 so that Louisa can tell me to cast on 40 and work a stripey feather and fan pattern, leaving the Sari Ribbon to make a fringe whenever it crops up. I have winged it. This is what it looks like at the moment, seen from close quarters:



I'm not posting a picture of the finished item because I don't want to run the risk, however slim, that my not-a-Barbie sister-in-law might be looking at this. I also obtained a splendid mother of pearl button from the antique/junk shop in Shipston. The chap in the shop gave it to me - free gratis and for nothing. I've promised to take the finished item into the shop to show him.

Best thing that happened today, though? Nicky had some old Anna Burda magazines for sale at £1 each. I got some beauties:



Isn't that just yummy? We all know that Herbert Niebling had patterns published in Anna Burda. I don't know if this is one of his. To be perfectly honest, I don't really care. All I know is that it is making my fingers twitch. I really, really, really want to get this on the needles, sharpish.

Here's another one:



Lastly, we have a Peacock Feather tablecloth:



Finally, and just to cheer everyone up, I was listening to "I'm sorry, I haven't a clue" on Radio 4 the other day. There's a bit where the contestants have to make up new definitions of ordinary words. One said, "Rambling: jewellery for sheep." I nearly fell off my chair, I was laughing so much.