Category: Knitting

What have you been knitting?

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Wendy 5672

Autumn/Winter in the shop tends to mean we’re much busier, which is great, and after all sales are what we need and I’m grateful for every time the till drawer closes, especially with the amount of stock we carry.  I just have one tiny, ickle grumble, it’s not a big one but ……..

I HAVE NO TIME TO KNIT!!!!!!!!!!

It’s really rather tragic, projects that would take me no time seem to be taking forever, and to add insult to injury, my list of unfinished items is ever increasing, as is my ‘to-do list’.

At present I’m over halfway through making a lightweight poncho/top; I have a Christmas elf body and hat completed but features, etc. still to complete.  There’s at least one all-but-finished scarf for the shop but I made it in a discontinued shade, so I need to knit it again in a current shade before displaying it (it will also help as a test knit before writing up the pattern).  Then there’s the list of knitting I’m supposed to have started – yes I did say started, for Christmas presents.  I do have two scarfs underway, both of which are quite a long way off being finished.

On the plus side I did take back the neck on the poncho I’d been making in Celtic Chunky from Wendy after having made it as per the pattern instructions.  I picked up 20 less stitches than suggested and used a 6.5mm needle instead of the 7mm.

Dina looks beautiful in it and says it’s so warm it’s like wearing a blanket, and she’s always cold.  It has dropped a little around the neck despite my alterations, so was I to make it again I’d actually cast off less stitches at the neck too, which would hopefully rectify this.

The modified version

They’re Off!

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

 

After months of knitting and crochet it’s now time to send off our teeny, tiny creations to the Irish Premature Babies Charity.

Didn’t we do well?

Our Preemie Collection

In addition to all of the items pictured there are still some to collect and add at the shop but for now our totals are as follows –

Hats & Bonnets = 228

Cardigans = 180

Blankets & Sleep Sacks = 140

Booties & Socks = 13 pairs

There is also a little Paxton sitting on the side here knitted by Dina, awaiting sleeves which will be completed by the end of the day (yes I’ll be doing it).

I’m so very proud of how many items we’ve managed to collect and want to extend a huge message of thanks to all of you that gave your time, your creativity and your yarn to make the delicate, little creations.  It’s great to see how much the collection has inspired so many of you and I know there have been a good few ‘retired’ knitters that have been persuaded to pick up their needles once again and knit for this charity.

I’d also like to say a big Thank You to the East Cork Journal for promoting our collection in their newspaper, the article really helped to highlight the charity.

I understand the charity are sending all of the donations to one warehouse, where they plan to sort through them and divide them up into hampers.  These will then be sent to the hospitals around the country.  The charity intend on having the parcels to the hospitals for World Premature Baby Day on November 17th.

A big thanks once again to all of you that helped with this collection and if you couldn’t do something this time, maybe we could persuade you to pick up you hook or needles for our next collection?  (more info to come very soon)

Happy Knitting!

Bergere De France

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Bergere De France Duvetine

It seems we’re getting orders in all the time at the moment and I’m struggling slightly to keep up.  It’s like Christmas every day though opening sack after sack of gorgeous yarn and patterns.
One of the companies I’ve been looking at stocking for some time now is Bergere De France and this week I took delivery of our first order from them which included the lovely, squidgy yarn Duvetine.  Duvetine is  chunky yarn with a recommended tension of 12sts to 17 rows when knitted on 6.5mm needles.

Of the 8 shades available I ordered 6 with my particular favourite being the blue/turquoise.

I think I could possibly have fallen in love with the blue because I love this.

Duvetine Poncho

In addition to the Duvetine I also ordered a few individual packs of yarns to ‘try out’ before I decide whether to begin stocking them as with many European yarn companies Bergere De France’s yarns are not all standard, which means they will only really work with certain patterns.  Talking of patterns I did get a little carried away with ordering patterns, books and magazines from Bergere – purely in the name of research.  As many of you may have already seen on the Facebook page I indulged in a few knitting bags and notions purses.  I also ordered some of their quirky little buttons but it would seem there’s been a little mix-up with those so they’ll be a little bit delayed.

In addition to the new bits from Bergere there have also been new goodies from Knitpro, Clover and Rico and if that wasn’t enough 19 shades of Cushendale Lace yarn arrived in too.  The 1 ball 1 scarf yarn makes an ideal gift to give at Christmas and it’s homegrown too.

Cushendale Mohair

I’ve knitted a sample up in ‘Storm’ and it’s on display in the shop, I think the scarves/wrap would look great doubled up in 2 different shades, pop in and have a look if you have the time I guarantee you’ll love it too.

Happy Knitting!

 

 

More Has Arrived

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

A second batch of Autumn/Winter goodies has arrived in.

Nina

Some of you have probably already seen the post I put on the Facebook page about the new scarf yarn from Wendy – Nina.

The caffeine had started to take affect.

I’m a little smitten with it myself and have been seen on several occasions sporting one of the scarves.

There were new shades in some of our favourites, of course I only remembered to photograph one – this was after the photo at the top of this post.

Wendy Merino DK

A lovely new sock yarn or 4ply depending on what you prefer – Wendy Roam Fusion.  It’s available in 5 lovely shades, at least 3 of which have been subliminally singing my name since they arrived.

Celtic has also come in: 8 shades of tweedy, chunky yarn with great pattern support. It’s a blend of 30% wool and 70% acrylic.  Knits to a tension of 14sts x 24rows on 6.5mm, the ball is 50g/85m.

Wendy Celtic Chunky

I’m hoping to knit this up if I can find the time?

Hopefully, they’ll be a lovely delivery of Merino DK and Alpaca Silk Aran today or tomorrow.  I’ll take pics and post them up for you all to see.

Happy Knitting!

Autumn/Winter Goodies Are Starting To Arrive

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Sirdar Faroe

We took delivery of some of the new yarns we’ve been expecting in last week including Folksong and Faroe from Sirdar.

Folksong Chunky is a multicoloured yarn made up of 51% Wool and 49% Acrylic
There are 75metres/82 yards in every 50g ball.  It’s a standard chunky and knits to a tension of 14stitches to 19 rows on 6.5mm needles.
There are 8 fantastic shades all of which are very wearable, my favourite is the orange blend.
All 8 shades of Sirdar Folksong
There are 8 lovely designs to knit with the yarn including accesories however, you could use the yarn as an alternative in most chunky patterns. Our favourite design is this great basic jumper, which really highlights the beauty of the yarn.

Faroe from Sirdar is a new super chunky made from 60% Acrylic, 25% Cotton and 15% Wool and for each 50g there are 43metres/47yards.  Faroe knits to a tension of 9stitches to 12 rows on 10mm and will work as a substitute yarn for many super chunky patterns.

There are 6 gently blended colours and 8 patterns that have been designed especially for using Faroe.  All of the designs are quite simple and would make very quick knits.  Our favorite is this lovely waistcoat with the cable detail around the neckline.
Sirdar Faroe

In addition the the 2 new yarns from Sirdar we also received 4 new shades in Click Chunky – Brown, green, silver grey and dark grey, all have a tweedie fleck.

Sirdar Click Chunky

4 new shades of Bonus Aran

Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran

and 2 in Bonus Tweed

Grey Sirdar Aran Tweed
There were also 4 new shades in Snuggly Baby Double knit and we took 2 of the new shades in Baby Crofter as I wasn’t too keen on the others.  There was also 3 new shades in Bonus DK and more stock came in in all of our favourite shades including the missing purple Snuggly DK that you all love.
 
As always there were lots of new patterns and books to come in from Sirdar too, we’re particularly fond of the 2 new books The Big Book of Little knits – Knit Christmas and Knit Pretty.
Knit Christmas
Knit Pretty

More about these books to come in a separate post.  I’m sure like me you’ll be eager to get knitting with the new yarns, the only dilemma is which one to start with?

Happy Knitting!

 

We’re Stash Dash Ready, Are You?

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Hubby and I went over to the shop today to get everything ready for the Stash Dash, 5 hours later and this is what the shop looked like.

As you can see from the pictures everything else is covered up except for all the lovely sale yarn.

I’ve tried to be brutal and clear out a good few ranges and shades, some of them have been my favourites and the temptation to hang on to yarns I love was quite strong, but we need to make room for all the lovely wool that’s started to come in.

As you might expect this is our post summer (as in sun for those of you that have forgotten what it looks like) Stash Dash, so there are quite a few summery yarns included however, there’s also chunky, aran and super chunky.  For those lace weight knitters amongst you there’s some of the finer stuff and lets not forget to mention the 4ply.

Be sure to come prepared, pull out your patterns and books, search Ravelry and make your lists.  Don’t forget we’re now counting down to the ‘C’ word so if you haven’t started gift knitting yet get planning now.  I’ve already pulled out a few balls myself today to make the teachers Christmas Decorations and I was also considering stripey, fuzzy legwarmers for all the little people I know, so I could be rifling through a bit more yet.

If you haven’t booked your slot. or you can’t commit to a set time you can always wander down.  We’ll be taking 1 walk in per 20 minute slot so you can take your chances, otherwise send us a text or email and we’ll squeeze you in somewhere.

If possible bring a shopping bag or 2 to squeeze your purchases in to and as before I’ll be shaking the Chernobyl Children’s Trust collection box at you all to try and raise a little extra for the charity.

Hope to see as many of you as possible on Tuesday.

Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

 

It’s Back – The Big Knit That Is

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Yes, it’s that time of year again and as loathed as I am to encourage you to become distracted from knitting for the Irish Premature Baby Charity, the hats are quick and fun to make.  Best of all Innocent give 25c to Age Action for every behatted bottle sold.  The campaign also runs in the UK and the funds raised go to Age UK there.  To be fair the ones pictured above probably aren’t the quickest to make, as lovely as they are.  It’s the basic little ones I’m on about:-

Basic Innocent Smoothie Hat Pattern

4mm needles and double knit yarn

Cast on 28 stitches

Work 2 rows of 1×1 rib (knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch)

Work 12 rows of stocking stitch

To decrease

K2tog to end (14sts)

P2tog to end (7sts)

Cut yarn leaving approx 20 cm tail.

Using a blunt ended needle pass the yarn through the remaining stitches and sew the hat up.

Hopefully, your little hat will measure approximately 5 – 7 cms along the bottom and be at least 5cms high.

Add a little pompom to the top

Basic Little Hat

If you fancy it you can of course make some fancy ones and even try for Innocents ‘Hat of the Week’, which means a picture of your hat gets put on the website.

At the moment there isn’t a pattern available on the innocentdrinks.ie website but there are pattern ideas everywhere.

Age UK has these from last year – http://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/raise-money/get-knitting-for-the-big-knit/big-knit-knitting-patterns/

A Ravelry search produces all these lovely little versions, knitted and crochet – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#sort=best&query=innocent%20smoothie

Knit Today has a few animal versions – http://www.knit-today.com/pattern/innocent-smoothie-hats

Lottiotta on ravelry made 1 hat a day from October 15th 2009 for the 2010 Big Knit Campaign her blog http://365hats.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/well-hi-want-to-make-a-hat/  has some really nice little pattern ideas.  I like the Spirals Hat http://365hats.wordpress.com/tag/pattern/

The deadline for hats is 30th November this year and we’ll be aiming to send ours off about a fortnight before the deadline.

38 Hats to Start The Collection

These are ones that were dropped off a little late to us last year so we’ve already got 38.

The hats can be made in knit or crochet and absolutely any colours are acceptable – have some fun.

Happy Knitting!

Our Donations Are Off

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
What a collection!

Wow didn’t we do well? So well in fact that this little lot completely filled 3 black bin liners.

In total there were:-

  • Hats – 110
  • Scarves/Cowls – 86
  • Gloves/Mitts – 39

All of you that gave your time, energy, skill, yarn and most importantly care should be so proud of yourselves.  When Deena from The Chernobyl Children’s Trust came to the shop to collect the garments she was honestly shocked to see how many items we had.

The organisers gave out as many woolly items to the visiting children as they could before they flew home and intend to send any that are left over later in the year.  There are 2 lorries traveling over to Belarus later this year hopefully,  full to the brim with everything the charity can collect in to help as many families as possible.

The charity are still keen on trying to get unwanted pairs of knitting needles in if possible.  I know we’ve already sent a good few over but if you have anymore please let me know.

A big thank you once again to everyone that contributed.

Happy Knitting.

Everybody Keeps Asking Me –

LeftFootDaisy3 Comments

Since we had our Stash Dash Day soooooo many people have expressed their dismay at missing it, or not being able to attend.  I thought I’d been fairly proactive with the advertising and had done my very best to let everyone know, but like anything new it takes a while for these things to filter through.

So just to keep you up-to-date………

The Stash Dash Days will take place twice a year: one event in March and one in September

That means that about in about 4-6 weeks, after we’ve moved into our new premises, the second Stash Day of 2012 will take place.  It will probably be on a Tuesday or Wednesday and we will be sticking to the ‘book your place’ method, although I think the time you have to shop will be increased to 20 minutes rather than 15 minutes.

How to Prepare

Most people got the hang of what we were suggesting before, but for those of you that were a little unsure here’s a little more help:-

Project Notebook

You can see from my notes the patterns that I have in my ‘to do list’. Next to each I’ve written the approximate amount of yarn I’m going to need to complete the project and the weight of yarn I need.  If I’m yarn shopping when I’m away (madness I know) I always have a rough idea of my go-to projects. I love knitting hats and baby garments although sometimes seeing what you can knit out of one ball/hank of yarn can be fun and it’s much easier with Ravelry.

The best bit of advice I can give any knitter buying yarn for a project, particularly if it’s in a sale, is to buy at least one ball extra.  If you don’t end up using using it in the garment you can always use it to make a tiny item, like a baby hat, and if you’re super organised you could knit a square(s) using your remaining yarn.  Collect these squares up and sew them together to make cushion covers or a blanket – great for those pesky tension squares too.

Get planning now while you have the time. The Stash Dash Days will become relatively seasonal with the lighter more summery yarns being cleared in September and the warmer ones in March.  However, there are bound to be exceptions when I decide to clear a range or two based on yarns I’ve ordered for the coming season.

As you can see from my notebook the In Leaf Cardigan is up there on the top of my list, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s lovely.

In Leaf Cardigan from Knitty.com

Happy Knitting!

x

Hat for Preemies

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

After being contacted by The Irish Premature Baby Charity I went off looking for ‘basic’ knitting patterns and was bogged down by how many were out there.  Many of them seem to be perfectly lovely, but some of them needed to be paid for or had a suggested donation and we’re already making them for charity aren’t we?

So I grabbed some needles and some double knit and knocked one up myself.  You will discover that the hat is a little higher than we would usually knit, this is to accommodate the little babas’ heads, which can sometimes be a little oddly shaped.

Preemie Hat

Hat Dimensions

Height 5.5″/11.5cm

Width 4.5″/14cm

Tension

22sts x 28 rows

Abbreviations

k – knit

p – purl

st(s) – stitch(es)

ws – wrong side

k2tog – knit the next 2 stitches together

Materials

A little squidgy, soft double knit

4mm Needles

Darning Needle

Pattern

Using thumb method cast on 56 stitches.

Work 4 rows in 2×2 rib – (knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches repeat these 4 stitches )

In stocking stitch work  until hat measures 10cms ending with a ws row.

Crown

1st Row – K6, k2tog across all sts (49 sts)

2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th  rows – Purl all stitches

3rd Row – K5, k2tog across all sts (42 sts)

5th Row – K4, k2tog across all sts (35sts)

7th Row – K3, k2tog across all sts (28sts)

9th Row – K2, k2tog across all sts (21sts)

11th Row – K1, k2tog across all sts (14sts)

Cut yarn leaving approximately a 12″ tail, using your darning needle thread the yarn through your remaining stitches and remove them from the knitting needle.  Fasten off and sew up using yarn.  Sew in ends.