Following on from my Ophelia post, a good few of you asked about the pattern for the hat Dina was wearing. Ever organised 😕 I obviously had the pattern written up. To be fair I did, but it was on Post-it Notes rather than on the computer and it was no where near ready for anyone else to have a look at.
Since then it’s been typed up, test knitted and corrected and is now up on Ravelry Here for €2 but it’s free to download on Ravelry until Midnight on Christmas Day with the checkout code Ophelia. (Enter it before you checkout.)
It only took the one ball and a couple of hours to knit up and should work with most chunky yarns or even 2 strands of double knit yarn held together like this one.
Last night the knitting group decended on the Pepperstack Bistro for our Christmas get together. I think it’s obvious that good fun was had by all in attendance and we all left full to the brim. The food as always, was tasty and filling and the staff were as lovely and attentive.
We all took part in the Secret Santa Christmas Tree Decoration Swap, as you can see from the photos the standard of knitting and crochet this year was quite high.
The whole gang (those that could make it)
Wait a minute I was there too.
See
Sadie, Rachel and Mary
Caroline & Orela
orela, Michelle & Elizabeth
Lee Ann & Mary
Fiona & Deidre
Deidre & Clare
Edwina & Dina
Our Secret Santa pressies.
With only 14 more sleeps to go until the big day there’s not that many more hours left to get those gifts made up (if you’re like me anyway).
I’m not usually too much of a fan of furry yarns, but of late I’ve noticed there are changes underfoot. I even caught myself pondering colours for a project and warming to mint? Those of you that know me, will know I’m not really a pastel kind of girl, quite the opposite usually, but combine the mint and my new found amour with fur and it’s fair to say I’m concerned 😮
In fairness to myself the fur I’m alluding to is in colours more to my usual taste and it is so incredibly soft, that I’d defy any of you not to be smitten too.
The yarn I’m referring to is Ophelia from Sirdar.
Each 50g ball contains 95metres/104yards of this yummy yarn which also has a glimpse of lustre from it due to the metallic thread running through it. Ophelia knits to a tension of 14 stitches by 19 rows on 6.5mm needles and is perfect for making garments and accessories, as well as gifts. Ophelia is machine washable and easy care.
Ophelia is available in 10 shades including white and cream which could also be useful to those of you considering making cardigans for Communion and while we’re thinking along those lines, what about a cover up for a Winter wedding too?
Despite how busy things get round here when Winter hits, I did manage to find the time to have a play and whipped up a really quick hat – beautifully modelled by Dina my ever suffering daughter.
Her co-operation, as you can see was very forthcoming….
I’d caught her off guard when she was sweeping after we’d closed on Saturday, hence the broom.
Me being me, couldn’t resist popping it on her head – oops, I slipped 😉
Not sure exactly what she was about to say, maybe it was Festive or Fluffy?
♥Beautiful♥
Come to think of it I’m rather lucky she didn’t bop me with the broom.
I’m ♥loving♥ this pair and they’re doing an excellent job of adding a festive feel to the shop counter. I do have a confession though…..my friends Noreen and Liz made them for me along with the Tinsel Owl below. Big thanks to both of them, they are without a doubt, skilled when it comes to making knitted toys.
The snowmen are made using Sirdar Snowflake (dk for the smaller of the two, chunky for the larger) and Stylecraft Special DK for the accessories The biggest chap stands approximately 11 inches tall whilst the shorter one is about 8 inches high.
The design has been created by Sue Jobson for Sirdar, pattern 4513 and the girls assure me they’re a fairly straightforward knit. As with all toys, it can be easier to sew as you go, otherwise the task can seem a little daunting if you leave it all to the end.
Loving the addition of the red on the robin’s breast, much more appropriate me thinks 💡
Here’s the afore mentioned owl, he’s a rather big boy and is the largest size on the pattern. He still only took the one ball of King Cole Tinsel and he’s proving even more popular than the hedgehog at the moment.
As you can see it’s pattern 9022 I think they’d make a lovely little present for someone, especially as owls are so popular at the moment. I think I’d rather like a little white Snowy Owl perched on our Christmas Tree.
At the beginning of the month I shared a Ravelry link to the pattern for the Dropped Stitch Cowl by Abi Gregorio. As i mentioned at the time I was planning on knitting up one rather quickly after having fallen in love with the pattern.
The first one I knitted was for Dina in the awesome bright red Rico Super Chunky and I’m happy to report she loves it, so much so that it’s never going to be left in the shop long enough for people to see.
So when 5 new colours in Rico Creative Twist arrived in I knew the Dropped Stitch Cowl would be the ideal quick knit for a display garment. It took a little over the one ball and I’m actually going to knit up a stripey one as a Christmas gift using a ball of the grey with the remaining burgandy yarn.
I hate taking ‘selfies’ but there was nobody here to help me. basically my arms aren’t long enough to hold the camera far enough away and my hands are too small to hold the phone and press the button. However, in the spirit of ‘we’re all friends ere’, ta-dah!
Add this pattern to your Christmas Knitting list, you won’t be disappointed and neither will the recipient. The only problem will be everyone else asking you to knit one for them.
Dina my daughter said to me on Saturday “to be fair mum you never do things by half” and whilst I’m loathed to admit it, she could be right.
The best thing about taking on a big project like the Knit Happens Knit a Stocking for the East Cork Rapid Response Campaign and the blankets before, is the laugh we manage to have as the countdown begins. This Saturday was no exception, as my lovely knitting ladies turned up in force to help with the ‘quality control’ aspect of the campaign.
Every stocking that has been handed in so far had to be checked to ensure it was complete. I’d noticed as they were handed in, that some of the little socks were without hanging loops, or had ones to small to successfully hang on a tree. We also wanted to separate the novelty stockings, as we’re hoping to try and sell these for €5 each on a ‘Lucky Dip’ basis.
I need to say a big thank you to the following friends, for generously giving up their time on Saturday afternoon only to find themselves squashed into the kitchen with bags and crates of stockings.
Fiona, Lucy, Sadie, Deidre, Martina, Michelle, Shirley, Agnieszka and Lee Ann.
Hopefully, you can tell from the photos that we managed to have a laugh.
There’s more to sort and we’re hoping they’ll be a good few more stockings handed in too. In the meantime we managed to get through a good few of them and have checked, counted and re-counted the little stockings into bags of 50. These will be distributed to the businesses around the East Cork area, that have kindly agreed to try and sell some of them to help the collection for the East Cork Rapid Response.
81 bags ready to go so far, or to put it another way 4050 little Knit Happens Stockings which we hope will become €8100.
Swift Knit Stripes is the latest super chunky yarn to be released from Stylecraft Yarns.
As with all super chunky yarns think quick knits, great for last minute gifts there are 5 shades to tempt you with several lovely designs created especially by the Stylecraft design team to show off the stripey effect.
Swift Knit Stripes is a blend of 80% Premium Acrylic and 20% Wool, easy-care, machine washable and only €5.60 for a 100g ball so it represents value for money. Recommended needle size is 10mm’s with a tension of 9 stitches to 12 rows.
To further tempt you Stylecraft have produced a free pattern leaflet which you will receive with each Swift Knit Stripes purchase (while stocks last). The leaflet contains 4 patterns, each of which takes 1, 2 or 3 balls of the yarn and can be knitted in next to no time.
If you’d like to have a look at the rest of the designs pop over to the Stylecraft Pinterest Board here
I ran the hat up really quickly for the shop, but have realised it’s rather difficult to model hats now since I’ve had all my hair cut off :-0
My target customer in the shop is me, which probably means I tend to put a little too much thought into what we stock at times. However, I think and hope, that it’s what’s brings people from all over the country through our door?
For me as a knitter, there is always room for improvement and there been a couple of yarn qualities missing from our shelves that I would like to see including, a high percentage, wool blend aran weight. So I’ve spent a lot of time researching suitable yarns initially, by looking at the fibre content versus the recommended retail price and the range of colours available. When I’d narrowed it down to 4 yarns I bought samples to knit up, in order to access the finished fabric by comparing the stitch definition, drape and weight.
I know it probably seems like a lot of trouble to go to for one yarn, but this is going to be a staple in the shop, so it has to be right as there’s not enough room in the shop to have several yarns that do the same thing.
Of the four I knitted up, New Zealand from Adriafil came out top. The 75% wool, 25% acrylic blend is a pleasure to knit with, it creates great stitch definition and produces a smooth fabric that’s not too heavy. With some blends the acrylic can make the yarn look ‘shinny’, but there’s isn’t a hint of it with the New Zealand.
Each 100g ball contains a whopping 200 metres/219 yards which means very few are needed to to complete an average woman’s jumper. I find it knits to the usual aran weight tension of 18sts by 24 rows on 5mm needles without creating a very dense fabric. The colours are fantastic too, making it a great choice for babies and children’s knits too, not bad for €7.25 a ball hey?
I’ve currently chosen 12 of the 38 available colours and intend to add more over the coming months and if there’s any you think we could particularly do with, please say.
As I said I’ve had a play and have knitted up one of my favourite little patterns the In Threes sleeveless cardigan by Kelly Herdrich which is available on Ravelry for $6. If you don’t have Ravelry we now have in store access too, so you can purchase your pattern in the shop, we’ll print out a black and white copy and send the pdf directly to your email address too.
My bands look a little rough here 😦
Back to the In Threes cardi, it’s a great, speedy little knit. Knitted top down, with minimal finishing this little garment is hugely popular with the knitters of Ravelry with nearly 4500 projects to date. I’ve made six so far and count it amongst my ‘go to’ patterns. This little one is for the smallest size 0 to 6 months and it’s very generously sized. Having made this size before, I can confidently say that in most cases it’s a little more like 3 months to a year, so the baba will certainly get the wear out of it.
It took one ball of New Zealand yarn in the lovely soft turquoise and the multicoloured buttons from Rico add a little something extra and are a move away from my traditional choice of wooden ones.
The little cardigan is on display in the shop so you can have a squidge and see how lovely the New Zealand yarn is.
Apparently it can be either and Dina my word buff isn’t here to advise.
You might have seen a photo of the stripey crochet cushion I’d been working on in Stylecraft Lullaby yarn in my previous post? I’d already knitted some baby booties with the yarn when it first came into the shop but hadn’t gotten around to crocheting with it and as it’s being cleared now, there was some urgency.
When I first saw the yarn the colours reminded me of the palette used in a lot of the Cath Kidson products and instantly brought to mind stripes, so after much picking and choosing I opted to use 11 shades for my cushion(s).
Top row – Winter White, Primrose, Rosebud, Opal &nDeep Blue Bottom row – Candy, Cloud, Spearmint, Berry & Ivory On top – Sand
My crochet is not the best, give me any kind of knitting and even if I haven’t worked the stitch before I’ll figure it out, but I can’t say the same for crochet. Yes I can work out how to make the stitches, but counting the ones I’ve already worked is something I just can’t get the hang of.
See it’s wonkyWonkier still
Using a 4mm hook I made 54 chain stitches and then 2 more for turning to count as 1 dc. In the top photo I changed my colours after the first four rows and then every 2 rows until I reached the last 4 rows which I worked in one colour again. (The photo should actually be the other way round as I started with the red and finished with the lemon.)
Anyway, there are 60 rows because I wanted it to fit very snuggly around the 16″ cushion I bought, which is now a rather plump 15″.
For the second side I changed the colours every 4 rows.
After weaving in my ends it became obvious how little attention I’d paid to my stitches, particularly on the second side (embarrassed).
Undeterred and because time is in short supply round here, I joined 3 of the sides using double crochet with the right sides facing out. I then squished the cushion inside and holding the remaining edges together with pins I continued to crochet round, cutting and sewing in the ends when they met.
Oops! Nearly forgot to say that I crocheted an extra chain at the corners so the stitches didn’t pull too much.
Not sure it’s too obvious how wonky it was to begin with now.Would have preferred it if I had managed to find a cream cushion though.
Not too bad for a couple of evenings work and as you might expect, I have quite a lot of the yarn left so I can make another one to match. Wonky edges and all.
Sitting happily on The Green Bin 🙂
Happy Knitting! maybe that should be happier knitting?
Many of you have enquired as to when Stash Dash will be taking place so you can stock up on woolly bargains in time for Christmas gift knitting. Sadly, as a result of many things including the refurb, Food Festival, Yarndale and family issues it is not going to be possible to organise the event properly. So I’ve been wracking my brains for a way to clear the yarns we’ve been putting by, but to still give it a bit of a buzz and ensure you all get a good bargain. Cue The Big Green Bin.
Before you meet I feel it only right and proper to give you a brief history on The Big Green Bin.
The bin has been with me for a little less than 24 years. I bought it, along with it’s twin, to use to store my then baby’s toys. Since it was first purchased it has been rather well travelled and used and ended up at my dad’s for quite a long time, because it kept things safe from the mice that attacked everything in his Lock Keeper’s Cottage.
When my dad died it came back to me and since then it has again been keeping things safe from the mice, moths and damp, this time in one of our outdoor storerooms. I’ve been using the bin to store…… yarn, no surprises there I guess.
The bin, as you will see in the shop, is not your ordinary refuse type of bin you can buy now, oh no. It’s extra sturdy, smooth and really rather cool (as bins go). Being 24 years old it’s stood the test of time rather well and I’m unsure you’d be able to tell its age just by looking at it. Talking of 24 year olds, something, or should that be someone, else that’s 24 is Dina, who I rather bullied into this for me.
Isn’t she lovely? Bless her she had a stinking cold too. In case any of you are wondering yes, that is the scarf I made her a while back and even more exciting, she’s wearing a pencil skirt her brother made her. Yey!Me thinks she’s slightly sad about being put in the bin 😉
Anyway, I digress (something I do far too much).
The plan is to use The Big Green Bin to clear yarn,but and it’s a big but, the clearance yarn willonly be available at the much reduced price for 1 week. Some will even be less than our usual Stash Dash price of €3 per ball. That means you have to grab it while you can, come in, send someone in or get it sent by mail order. However, you do it, if the yarn is something you want act quickly.
Our first yarn to go into the bin and be available until we close on Saturday 11th October is…….
Stylecraft Lullaby for €2 per ball.
I wrote a post about the yarn including all the necessary information and photos of the shades last year and you can find it here. To be honest I’m only having to clear it because we just don’t have the space since the refurbishment and I had to choose which yarns to let go.
I’ve been having a bit of a play with it over the weekend and have been using it to crochet up a cushion cover for the shop. There’s still a bit to do, but I’m finding Lullaby lovely to work with and the colours seem to lend themselves well to being striped.
Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet 