OK, would you like the free pattern for this fairisle cowl that I designed? You would? Well there's a link to the pattern near the bottom of this post. Enjoy! It's a fairly generous one size, that would fit an adult or teen. The version in the pictures was made using all 16 shades of Stylecraft Batik, but of course you could use fewer colours, or indeed a different DK/light-worsted yarn entirely. The cowl is worked in the round, so although you'll have a fair few ends to weave in, Continue Reading
Story Of My Life
So shall we get back to discussing knitting and crochet? That said, I do have lots more 'musical' (I use that word very loosely) tales to tell you about The Purlz, if you'd like to hear them? Anyway, in other yarn-related news... A while ago, the Knitting And Crochet Guild (KCG) ran a competition with lovely Yarn Stories yarn to design knitted/crocheted squares inspired by the KCG historical collection. These squares were for a blanket. This was my entry: a crazy messy knitted hybrid of Continue Reading
Subverting The Medium Of Colourwork
Friday, my fine friend, you have been a long time coming this week. And by the way, ANYONE WHO RECEIVED AN EMAIL NOTIFYING YOU OF A BAG PATTERN POST THAT DOESN'T YET EXIST, PLEASE SEE THE END OF THIS POST! Anyway, the Knitting And Crochet Guild / Yarn Stories competition is closing. Did you enter? Best o' luck if you did. I can't wait to see everyone's entries when they're shown online. For anyone who hasn't seen it, the Knitting and Crochet Guild promotes both crafts within the UK and also Continue Reading
Thank You, People :-)
A quickie, because I'm busy knitting. But I wanted to post a wee bit of enthusiasm because there's a chance that maybe, just maybe, the Yorkshire Skirt will be done by Tuesday's deadline (if I employ a team of minions to weave in the ends and block it on the back seat of the car on my way north). Look! But mostly I've come on here to say thank you for all the kind words and suggestions for my sore, knit-weary hand, and also for the encouragement. You're kinder than I deserve, and I appreciate Continue Reading
This Is Crazy, No? NO?
I know you’ve all been there: the three more pairs of gift socks still to be knitted and it’s 10pm on Christmas Eve. Or the exquisite, fit-through-a-wedding-ring bridal shawl that the bride really needs like, erm, tomorrow, for her wedding, and you’re only half way through the working the lace. OK, I made up these exact scenarios, but to a knitter/crocheter, they’re normal and completely understandable, right? But I think I might have over-stretched myself this time. The knitting in question Continue Reading
The Blog Post Of Many Things
That stranded skirt I'm designing? It's progressing, y'know:- No further progress has been made on the crocheted house, but the yarn for the windows has arrived, so I need to begin swatching some glasswork. Is it obvious that this post will be a tad desultory? Well the past few days have been a bit like that. I have some exciting secrets to reveal soon, but not quite yet. Rest assured, I'll be telling you as soon as I can... But look! I've discovered a quirky new stitch! Nothing Continue Reading
Designing Stranded Motifs… Is Actually Rather Easy
The only difficult things in knitting are the techniques you haven't tried yet. When I was a beginner, I looked at all that beautiful knitted colourwork out there - fairisle, especially - and I thought, 'Well obviously, I could never do that'. And so I couldn't, right up to the moment when I picked up my needles and tried. Because let's face it, less competent people than us have produced truly beautiful work. And once I'd mastered stranded work (of which fairisle is an example), I got Continue Reading
Fern cushion for bench finished
I know, I've mentioned this a few times, but it is - at last - done! Completely done! I've sewn the two sides together around a custom-cut foam cushion, then sewn some white cord all the way around the join to make it neater. So... we have the green side (a couple of greenish shades of Rowan Fine Tweed roughly alternating):- And we have the red/brown side, also comprising a few shades of Rowan Fine Tweed thrown together. This side is supposed to coordinate with the curtains, but I Continue Reading
46 000 tiny stitches finished! Yay!
46 000 tiny little stranded stitches on 3mm needles finished! Wheeeeeeee! Ten balls of 4-ply yarn (Rowan Fine Nordic Tweed, ordered from Deramores). This is the second side of the cushion I'm making for our Victorian box settle:- I love the bracken design - it'll make me think of the wilds as we set off on our walks. Not that there's any bracken round here. So I knitted the triumphant last row. And I sewed my steek stitches to reinforce them before cutting:- Before I blocked Continue Reading
Knitted blog header
Ahhhhh, I'm back in my comfort zone. :-) Stranded knitting in variegated yarn. :-) You know how many looooooong days it took me to knit those dolls? Well in a mere 24 hours I've knitted half of the header for this blog. That's 4158 stitches - sounds like a lot, but progress is fast. I'm working on circular needles, so no pesky purling, and stranded / fair isle knitting is, I promise you, not difficult. I'll probably do some 'how to' photos at a later date, to show you how easy it is to design Continue Reading