Tag: knit midleton

It’s A Little Nippy – Last Minute Knit

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OK.  So we’ve all seen the ‘super quick knit’ patterns that seem like a good idea until you realise that they’re actually referring to those amongst us that can break all kinds of speed knitting records.

I’m a steady knitter, neither fast nor slow and if we’re being extremely honest, I’m prone to distraction.  However, this little neck warmer did actually take a little over an hour to knit up – PROMISE!

So what are you going to need?

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I’ve used 10mm needles and 2 balls of Rico Fashion Elegance in shade 3.  They’re 5ometres each so you need approx 100metres of super chunky yarn.

Cast on 20sts and knit every row in plain/garter stitch until work measures 56cms/22″.  Cast off loosely

2013-12-23 12.03.08I slipped the first stitch of every row to keep my edges tidier but it’s not necessary.

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Join by sewing your cast on and cast off edges together.

Ta ddah……..

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Of course now my neck’s warm but I can’t see a blooming thing.

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Much better.

I’m going to make a couple for my youngest to wear as he always forgets to put a scarf on and I’m sure my hubby whose a plumber and constantly working outside on dairy farm installations at the moment, might even fancy a couple.

In case your wondering it’s 20cm/8″ deep.

Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

Top Woolly Gifts This Year

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

As there are only 3 more shopping days for your loved ones to get down to the shop, I thought I’d show you our most popular gift items this year.

In no particular order ……

All things Knitpro Symphonie

knitproThe new Knitpro Karbonz Sets have also been popular.

karbonz-spitzen-setThe extra special Knitpro Box of Joy

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Clover Pompom Maker are a great stocking Filler.

Clover-2-Pom-Pom-makersThe heart shaped ones are a little bit different too.

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The very gorgeous Hedgehog Fibres.

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Scarf Yarns

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Gift Vouchers

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Cushendale Boucle

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Let us interrogate you for a bit about the person, give us a budget and we’ll make up a kit.

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Happy Knitting!

The Knitting Group’s Christmas Outing

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Our Knitting Group Christmas Outing took place on Wednesday night.  The evening was spent indulging in a gorgeous 3 course meal at Rosies/The Pepperstack in Aghada.

The food was lovely, the portions were so big that I’m ashamed to admit I had to leave some.  Being a vegetarian I opted for the Tomato & Coconut soup, Thai Curry and Strawberry Pavlova – yummy!

However, that’s not what you want to hear about is it?

We exchanged our Secret Santa gifts which as always has to be a handmade Christmas Decoration.  You can see our attempts in the pics, the one I made was the Angel and Dina made the Russian Doll.

I’m thinking handmade Christmas Decorations are the way to go for the future, because by the time you get to my age you’re not really in need of anything (other than a Mark II Ford Escort).

Happy Knitting!

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Delicious Yarn

LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

I dropped a little hint about this lovely yarn from Hedgehog Fibres in my last post.  Having unpacked it, lined it all on the table, looked at each individual hank and generally just fawned over it for some time, I feel I can now share.

Twist Sock is 100g hand dyed yarn. Beata the lady from Hedgehog Fibres describes it as a blend of 80% Blue Faced Leicester wool and 20% nylon. High twist will ensure durability and marvelous stitch definition. Soft, yet durable and machine washable. Best of both worlds!

With colours that shift beautifully from one to another. Randomly dyed to prevent striping or pooling, as much as possible, my yarns create variegated effect that looks good in plain stockinette or advanced stitch motifs.

No dye lots, dye is applied randomly, therefore no two hanks are the same.
Machine wash. 4ply. Approx. 365m/100g

What’s not to like love?  Not just for socks either, there’s sooo many lovely 4ply projects out there.

Now I guess you’re gonna want to see the colours?

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The photos really don’t do the colours justice, you’ll have to come and pay us a visit to see the deliciousness (can yarn really be this gorgeous?).

Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

 

December is Here – Lots to Tell

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2013-12-05 14.33.39Tis’ the season to be jolly …….

There’s no time to hang about so, rushing straight into what’s going on here for December.

There’s Harlequin, a new chunky yarn from Stylecraft, great for those quick knits, There’s some lovely pattern support for it including my favourite, this fab cape come poncho thingy.

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There were also 3 new shades to add to our range of Stylecraft’s Kwik Knit which seems to be really popular for cowls and scarves at the moment.

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There’s also another new scarf yarn from Tivoli.  Lace is €12.95 a hank and like most of the scarves it’s a one ball = 1 scarf knit.  It makes quite a full scarf and is selling like hot cakes.

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Lastly (for now anyway) our Special offer this month is on Sirdar Freya which some of you might recall I knitted the hat in last month.

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freya

There are 8 lovely shades and being a chunky it will knit up fast.  A little goes a long way, I made the hat with one ball.  There’s some lovely pattern support for it too including the accessories below.

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9884_col

I could be off to unpack some yummy hand dyed yarn now, more about that next time.

Happy Knitting!

Tivoli Husk

LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

husk2 tivoli spinners

I wanted to quickly show you the new yarn Husk from Tivoli although I’m not sure the photo above does it any justice.

I’m not a massive fan of novelty yarns myself preferring the look of a good stitch pattern however, I’m a little smitten especially with the little bolero that you can knit in it (see the bottom pic).  I cast on the scarf last night and will have it knitted and hanging in the shop to squidge for next week.

Husk knits on 6mm needles and the hat and scarf pattern comes free with each purchase of the yarn.  It takes 1 ball to knit the hat or the scarf and the yarn retails at €6.99 a ball so it’s great for a gift.

This bolero pattern is also available in the Woman’s Way Magazine.

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Must go as we have a super busy day full of classes in the shop today.

Happy Knitting!

Drool

LeftFootDaisy6 Comments

It’s no secret that I love Danish Designer Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard’s knitting designs.  I would go so far as to say that she’s in my top 10 of knitting designers. Elizabeth Zimmerman is without a doubt, number one – her Baby Surprise Jacket is iconic and worthy of the highest praise, and don’t get me started on the rest, there’s the Totem Jacket, the February Sweater……

Anyway, back to Vibe.  ‘Lullaby Knits’ is the latest book of designs to be released by Vibe, published by Collins & Brown. The book has the same vintage feel as Vibe’s previous book ‘Labour of Love’ that I cooed over for some time. This time, however, the designs are all for babies, with the largest size for 18 – 24 months.  The exception is a beautiful lace wrap for mum.

If I’ve counted correctly there are 22 patterns in the book: seven sweaters, six cardigans/jackets, three vests and six patterns that fall under the accessories heading.  It’s difficult to pick my preferred designs as all of the patterns are photographed beautifully, with the most gorgeous of little models dressed in the knitted items. However, if my arm were twisted I’d have to go with the following

The Stay on Ribbed Boots are so sweet. Sadly, the pattern is for one size only (0-3 months).

2013-11-08 10.23.58The Cable and Daisy Stitch Sweater is beautiful and very like my favourite pattern ‘Matilda’ from the previous book ‘Labour of Love’.

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The Garter Stitch Jacket is knitted in aran weight yarn, making it a super quick baby knit and one on my list to make in a hurry.

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I’m usually able to decide on an absolute favourite pattern with most of the knitting and crochet books I see, however, this time I’m torn between two. Both are jumpers, both are unisex, you decide.

This is the Small Cable Sweater

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Whilst this is the Little Tree Sweater

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I might have to find some time to knit both and see if one of the designs wins through.  The only trouble with that is that I no longer have little people small enough to wear the finished garment, so they’ll be ones for the Grandparent Box  (no pressure there!).

In the meantime back to the Christmas gift knitting I go.

Happy Knitting!

So Excited

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It’s silly, I know but I was so excited when three big boxes arrived from Katia just before closing on Thursday.

Inside there was more of the popular Merino Flash and a pack of a new aran we’re looking at possibly stocking, but there was also ……….

2013-11-23 07.33.16The very Christmasey scarf yarn Boulevard (Christmasey is a new word for any of you that haven’t heard of it yet) and……….

2013-11-22 17.06.41A lovely new warm red/rust shade in the Merino 100%, and wait for it……….

2013-11-22 17.07.54This riot of colour.  I’m so daft – you’d think I’d have gotten over it by now having had a yarn shop for so many years.  All I’ve been thinking about is what sample to make for the shop. Azteca is 100g of beautiful, multicoloured aran weight yarn. The picture just doesn’t do it justice, it really has to be seen in the flesh.  Maybe squidged and stroked a little too.

Happy Knitting!

I’ve Gone Pro (apparently anyway)

LeftFootDaisy6 Comments
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Super Chunky Tea Cosy

OK, as most of you know I knit. In fact, I knit as often as I can (love me, love my knitting) and would love to be a guinea pig if they ever discover a way for you to do it in your sleep.

In addition to the knitting of other people’s patterns, I always have loads of my own ideas sloshing around in my head.  Some of these make it onto scraps of paper or into notebooks and then, if I have the time, a few of them end up being tested

I’ve popped a few of these ideas up on here in the past and my Easy Lace Scarf has been quite popular.  However, in an attempt to become better at this side of my business a friend suggested I take the designing to the next level.

Based on her suggestion I’ve just opened up a Pro account on Ravelry to begin selling some of my designs and the first one to go up is my Super Chunky Tea Cosy.  I’m not interested in making any real money from the patterns but acknowledge that if I ever get to write the book I want to, I can’t have all of my patterns available online for free.

My Super Chunky Tea Cosy pattern costs €2.50 and I hope it will be the first of many designs.  If you like the style perhaps you could be persuaded to go and add it to your favourites and if you’re interested in purchasing a copy, just click here.

It’s knitted with Super Chunky yarn on 10mm needles and takes no time and very little wool (approx 70 metres without the pompom).  Who knows you might even have some stashed yarn just lingering for such a project.

Tea cosies are one of the most requested patterns in the shop so it seems a great place to start.

Happy Knitting!

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Last Week’s News (some of it anyway)

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I spent a large portion of last week convinced I’d achieved very little, however, after reviewing the amount of things I’d managed to do I realised I actually got through quite a few items on my never ending list.

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Firstly, there was the hat I ran up for myself in the new Sirdar Freya. Some of you might have seen the photo above on the shop Instagram account.  It’s a dream to wear as it’s so lovely and soft.

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Then there was the waistcoat I completed whilst at Wednesday night’s knitting group.  It’s made in King Cole’s Ultimate Super Chunky.  The pattern doesn’t actually have a full arm band but I felt it needed a little more than the cast on, then cast off that was instructed on the pattern.  The yarn knits up beautifully, but to avoid any colour pooling I did knit with two balls, following a two row stripe sequence.

Ultimate
Jeans, Melange, Marine, Moorland, Heather, Rainbow, Dusk, Ember

There are 8 shades of Ultimate Super Chunky, great for those quick knit projects.  There’s a really good range of patterns to support the yarn including several accessory designs.

Talking of King Cole, the new Glitz Chunky arrived in too.

White, Black, Rouge, Plum, Atlantic and Burnt Orange
White, Black, Rouge, Plum, Atlantic and Burnt Orange

Six shades this time, great for a little Christmas sparkle, and if you prefer double knit yarn then King Cole also added three new shades to their range of Glitz DK.

Petrol, Silver and Royal
Petrol, Silver and Royal

I also managed to complete the little baby cardigan I’d been working on for the shop in Peter Pan Merino Baby.

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There are six pretty pastel colours and some beautiful pattern support.  For the month of November while stocks last we’re offering 10% off the usual selling price of €5 per 50g/116metres. I think the yarn would work as a great substitute for most double knit patterns, particularly if you favour lighter shades.

White, Baby Pink, Silver, Lilac, Cream and Baby Blue
White, Baby Pink, Silver, Lilac, Cream and Baby Blue

This week I’m trying to power into another scarf and to get a little work done on my Christmas knitting, all being well.

Happy Knitting!