A few days in London

We are in London for a mini break, house-sitting for our friends in Islington, which involves looking after a lovely house and Thomas the ancient cat, meanwhile Kevin and Lorraine are looking after BeBop in France.
Today we did the tourist bit and got on a bus.......... stopped at St Paul's and the Millenium Bridge

then on to the V and A for coffee and some inspiration

 back on a bus to Piccadilly for some window shopping and tea at the RA

a great day out. Tomorrow Culli is back to the RA to see the Richard Roger's exhibition and I am off to Ally Pally for the Knitting and Stitching show.

KnitKits Sock Blockers

New stock! Our own KnitKits sock blockers are available now. This pair of perspex sock blockers come in three sizes (EU shoe sizes 36-38, 39-41 and 42+), they have a handy ribbon tie for hanging and storage and are just £9.99 a pair. ORDER HERE

Sock knitting gift pack. The perfect present for sock knitting fans. The kit contains two balls of Mini Mochi sock yarn, a basic sock pattern and a pair of perspex sock blockers. This is all packaged in a fabric drawstring bag embroidered with the word 'Socks', use the bag to carry around your sock knitting projects or to store socks in the drawer. ORDER HERE

Happy Birthday Kangaroo!

Kangaroo was 29 years old yesterday. To celebrate we are offering 15% discount on all orders until midnight on Saturday 22nd May, see full details of the offer on the home page at kangaroo

I have a busy week as we are getting everything ready for our knitting week at Chateau St Julien, the sun is shining and it finally looks like it might be here to stay (for a few days at least!) The menus are all planned, bags of yarn and fabric packed and ready to go and Culli has cleaned the cars ready for the station pick-ups.

Kangaloonies knitting group member Jo

When did you start knitting? I've been knitting for ever and I've never stopped
What has been your favourite project? Definitely my 'coat of many colours' which I did before I came to Kangaroo. It was knitted in Log Cabin patchwork. I like it because I am really into the construction of the garments and the technical side of knitting.
Favourite yarn? Anything expensive - especially silk! I also like the Fleece Artist and Hand Maiden yarns - they are such beautiful colours and each skein is slightly different, which makes it interesting to knit with.
What have you just completed? I've just finished a shawl in Crystal Palace Mini Mochi (Strawberry and Lime). In fact, I ended up doing it twice as I didn't like the first pattern - I changed it to the Forest Canopy Shawl which I got from Ravelry. It has beads and has turned out really nicely. I did find the Mini Mochi a bit stick to work with though.
What is your current project? I'm knitting a Silken Smoke Ring using Rowan Pure Silk DK. It's a pattern I downloaded from the internet by Angela Ho and Flora Young - a sort of cowl.
Favourite needles? KnitPro for straights and Addi Turbos and Addi Lace needles for circulars.
Why do you knit? My kids think I'm obsessed, but if I didn't knit I think I'd go ever so slightly mad! I'm very determined despite my limited vision (I'm registered as partially sighted) and will tackle anything, however complicated. The only thing that limits me a bit are the very dark yarns, but otherwise the world is my oyster!

Mini Mochi

We have a very exciting delivery arriving this week with more shades of this gorgeous sock yarn. There are four new rainbow shades, Beach Scene (see above), Blueberry Pancakes, Lake Trail and Fireworks, plus six solid shades for the more conservative choice. Don't forget the FREE patterns that are available to download for all the Crystal Palace yarns. Mini Mochi will also knit to most standard 4 ply patterns and is too lovely to just use for socks!