Tuesday - mushrooms

Yesterday I went to the BIG SHOPS  which is always very exciting.  I did very well at spending not much money on several bits of crap I do not need in the slightest.  The thing I had intended to buy...metal cup measures...I sadly did not get round to finding, because I was too busy looking at crap.  But thats OK, its a good excuse to go back again soon. 

I bought 3 napkins in the sales at the posh dept store for 95p each.  Except when I got home I realised they hadn't charged me the last reduction, so they were 1.95.  Crap.  So I need to make sure they are worth it.  I have been wanting napkins for ages...and also placemats.  I used to clean for a couple who had the sweetest little placemats which looked very old and probably handwoven, with little cutesy designs printed on them like roosters and kitcheny stuff like that.  Every time I ironed them (it was that sort of house) I used to think 'I need me some of these' cos they are kind of half placemat, half napkin.  And washable.  And all the crappy placemats you can buy here do not seem to stand up to repeated washings.  But I've never managed to find anything like it.  So I thought I would knit some placemats, and bought the wool for that too.

But then there's the whole dilemma of what colour etc.   I don't want brash colours, but neither do I want completely neutral because, well, whats the point of that.  I was just going to splurge on some noro and felt knitted rectangles so that they would be reasonably washable, but I wasn't sure that would really go with our brown table from the junk shop.  Really, the only thing which would look right on the brown junk shop table, is either white crochet cotton stuff (and I like that, but I feel its too early in my life to entirely give myself over to white filet crochet), or 70's brown and orange stuff.  Like those old seats on buses.  And those old childrens craft books with patterns for psychedelic mushroom embroidery and corduroy beanbags etc.  Clearly, this is the way to go.

So I have beige napkins, orange and yellow thread, and brown and yellow wool.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Its not great nor nuffin but took as long as it takes to watch eastenders which suits me, cos I'd rather be knitting that sewing really.  Not sure what to do on the other 2 napkins.

I like mushrooms a lot so was looking for mushroom inspiration for placemats, found this cute embroidery pattern for a mushroom and gnome (which I might embroider on something else), but in the meantime am trying to turn it into a knitting pattern.  Just the mushroom bit.  I hope it works.

Just to make it extra er, fun, I've decided to knit the placemats in tubular/double knitting, like elizabeth zimmerman's pothandler....whilst simultaneously attempting to do stranded colourwork, something I am awful at.  I cast on this afternoon and it was going surprisingly well until I dropped some a dropped a st as the woll is v slippu, I managed to pick it up but now they are somehow all out of sync. Sigh.  Anyway I am determined to try it after seeing this awesome pothandler with a squirrel on it, although I cannot figure out how to do reversible double knitting, so mine will just be the same on both sides (I hope ) which is probably much more work, but I cannot figure out how she did that. Please tell me if you know.