Tag: needles

I Think We’re There Now

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The last two weeks have seen an enormous amount of squares and finished blankets being handed in to us at the shop.  So many in fact that I’m pretty sure we’ve now passed our 83 blanket target – YIPPEE!

I know from talking to many of you that there are still squares out there yet to be handed in and we will still happily sew them up into the blankets.

Hopefully the Global Missions Ireland team will welcome a few extra blankets, if not I have a few other charities in mind for the surplus.

A humongous, ginormous, gargantuan THANK YOU for all of you that have supported our collection.  It is heart warming to see the extent of people’s goodwill.  I will take lots of pictures of the piles of blankets when all the sewing and crochet is complete.

Happy Knitting!

Look At The Pictures

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Loads more yummy yarn has arrived over the last few days and I’m trying to stay ahead and photograph them as they come in for those of you that use the blog to plan your trips in. It’s definitely becoming more difficult because of the sheer volume of supplies and my ever growing list of shop samples to get knitted.

Undeterred here’s some of the latest arrivals.  I think it might be quicker to just do pictures.

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New shade in Rico Essentials Merino Aran
New shades in Sirdar Snuggly Double Knit
New shades in Sirdar Snuggly Double Knit
New Hayfied Aran With Wool 100g
New Hayfied Aran With Wool 100g
New Sirdar Snuggly 4ply
New Sirdar Snuggly 4ply
Gorgeous Katia Merino 100%
Gorgeous Katia Merino 100%

In addition to all the lovely new yarns there have been more books and patterns.  Here are just a few to wet your appetites.

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New books from Sirdar
New Sirdar Snuggly DK patterns
New Sirdar Snuggly DK patterns

They’ll be lots more to come, watch this space.

Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve Actually Managed To Finish Something.

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I thought I’d pop up the photos of the finished baby jumper I’ve been knitting with in the new Merino Flash from Katia.  The 0-6months jumper literally only went into the third ball for about a third of the second sleeve (grrr).

So in a bid to be more aware of my ever expanding stash I decided to knit the accompanying hat.  Now I only have a little bit of the yarn left and a much clearer conscience.

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Not sure that button is in the centre now though?  I’m sure it was when I first sewed it in.

Happy Knitting!

 

 

Love This New Yarn

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The boxes are arriving thick and fast at the moment.  All full of lovely new yarn to tempt and patterns to add to the list.

The first yarn I unpacked this week is Basic Merino Flash from Katia and I’m completely in love with it.

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There are 8 beautifully variegated shades in this double knit yarn.

Each 50g ball contains 120 metres/131 yards and its a wool blend.  52% wool, 48% acrylic.  Machine washable and according to the label it can go in the tumble dryer too.

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I’m presently knitting one of the designs from Katia book 44, which is a special issue for beginners and I’ve deliberately chosen to work with a colour I wouldn’t usually choose straight away (I’m a blue girl).

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I’m impressed though, I think it’s going to make a lovely little garment that may even end up in the grandma box.

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For those of you wondering, it’s knit sideways from sleeve to sleeve.

Happy Knitting!

Week Ending 7th September

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Wow!  We had an amazing amount of squares and blankets handed in last week and at this rate we’ll easily make our new target of 83 blankets.

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Last weeks donations include squares and blankets from the following people-

Noreen handed in 3 blankets, 2 of which Lucy joined to make 1

Linda = 2

Kirstie = 18

Cati = 1

Elizabeth = 1

Betty Holland = 16

Breeda Ryan = 35

Martina = 35

Mary Donnelly = 4

Mary Mac = 12

Lise = 32

Joan = 4

Lucy = 4

Total 164 squares and 2 blankets

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Keep em coming please.

Happy Knitting!

New Baby Yarn

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I’m usually very good at staying ahead of the game when it comes to new yarns.  However, I must confess to being caught out rotten by Stylecraft’s new baby yarn.

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I’m not really sure we needed another baby yarn but I just couldn’t resist Lullaby.  There are 14 beautiful shades available in the range and the pattern support is divine.  You can really tell that Stylecraft have a new designer on the team.

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Each 50g ball contains 135 metres/147 yards

The yarn is made up of 55% Nylon and 45% Acrylic and is machine washable at 30 degrees, it can even be tumble dried.

Tension is 22 stitches to 30 rows.

Even better it’s only €3.30 per ball

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Which one of the 9 designs is your favourite?  I think mine is the little blanket.  Many of the patterns have an extra design on them so they’re great value for money.

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Happy Knitting?

Blanket Update

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Last week was a bumper week for our blanket collection and some of you may have already seen the photograph I’d posted up on our Facebook page of the 5 blankets Lil had completed.  In addition to Lil’s contribution we also received 30 more squares from the clients at Oak Lodge, a full size blanket , 51 squares from Lucy, 2 from Edwina, 5 from Mary O and 1 more from Dina.

At my last count that means we have 61 blankets although only 52 of them are fully finished, some still have to be sewn.  The collection will be going on until the last week in November so if you have time please get knitting or crocheting.

Happy Knitting!

Holiday Knitting

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I have been promising to get a quick little post up about the knitting project I took with me on my recent trip to England and as there are so many new yarns, books, patterns, etc to tell you about there’s no time like the present.

As we were staying with our best friends you could guarantee there would be a good deal of talking into the wee small hours and there was.  So I needed something that wasn’t going to be full of lace or require much pattern watching and everything I was knitting (some of which I still am) didn’t fit the bill.

Dina my daughter is always adding things to her Ravelry queue, she loves plain and is always in need of more jumpers.  Having gone through her list of Ravelry favourites and discarded the bulk of them because they’re mostly 4ply (not happening) we agreed I’d make the Il Grande Favorito by Isablell Kraemer.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/il-grande-favorito

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Having knitted Dina a good few jumpers in the past, some of which haven’t ever seen the light of day I was reluctant to use the lovely merino she originally selected.  We compromised and as the jumper is a chunky knit I used a strand of King Cole Haze (now discontinued) and one of King Cole Moods held together.

Like all good knitters (?) I knitted my tension square (actually I really did) and cast on on the ferry crossing to England.  The jumper was completed by the time I got back back to Ireland as I took it with me everywhere in the car with us to try and squeeze some rows in.

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I even managed to get a bit of knitting in at the Pickering Steam Fair and the jumper would have been finished sooner had I not realised I’d picked up one less stitch under the arms than necessary – when I came to knit the cuff! One whole sleeve ripped out and re-knitted.

Even so it was a great, easy, top down project and Dina loves it, even if it doesn’t look like she does here.

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I’ll happily make her another in Merino now and have even added it to my ‘to do’ list as it’s a very flattering knit.  I think I might put a little waist shaping in for good measure too.  If you have a look at the projects tab on the pattern page you can see other knitters have used a combination of stocking stitch and reversed stocking stitch.  The pattern does cost €4.50 to download but I think it’s worth every cent.

Happy knitting!

Autumn/Winter Ranges Are Beginning To Arrive

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I’d like to be able to say that I have only recently started to think about new yarns for the coming Autumn/Winter season, but I’d be lying, really lying.  The truth is I started to look back in March, watching for the anticipated coming trends and beginning to consider shades and textures.  The actual yarn companies start to show their yarns as early as May and having to plan ahead can be a little difficult at times.

It’s clear from all of the yarn companies that super chunky yarn is going to be big, really big, with everything from accessories to garments.  There’s also a definite move towards creating home furnishings in knitting and crochet, which is great for those of us that like to decorate our houses too.

For us, it’s important to try and get our new ranges in in stages; most of it will arrive in from September on.  There are however several exceptions, one of which is Swift Knit from Stylecraft. 064 We’ve gone for 9 fab colours and I’m already busy knitting a shop sample with the grey. (see the photo at the bottom) Each 100g contains 60metres/66yards. It consists of 80% acrylic and 20% wool and knits to a tension of 8.5 stitches to 12 rows on 10mm needles. And all at the great price of €4.90 per ball

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As you can see there are lots of great patterns, which makes it a little difficult to choose one to knit.  So far I’ve whittled it down to either this one –

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or this one –

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and this is the pattern I’m already knitting as a shop sample and for Dina.

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It only takes 3 balls and is a lovely quick knit, providing you don’t do what I did and read the pattern wrong!  You’ll then have to frog your work and start again.  I’ll pop a photo of the finished cowl up when I’ve persuaded my model to pose for me.

Which pattern has tempted you the most then?

Happy Knitting!

Stash Dash Time

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For those of you that have been before you’ll know what it’s all about, the rest of you would probably best to read this previous post here http://knitmidleton.com/2012/07/23/everybody-keeps-asking-me/

 

Basically, we cover up all the shelves and lay out as many tables as we can fit into the shop; on top of these we put all the yarn we’re discontinuing.  There could be whole ranges of yarn, shades of yarn and some you might not have seen before.  There will be odd balls, several balls and packs of balls, no matter what, all balls are €3 each.

 

There are things to consider: you have to book your slot, you only have 20 minutes (you’re timed), you have to prepare, dig out the patterns, check your favourites on Ravelry, make sure you know how much double knit/aran/chunky you need.  Have a look at the post linked above if you’re not sure and make sure you book your place quickly before they all go.

 

This is what you should be expecting.

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Happy Knitting!