Tag: patterns

Stash Dash Ready

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Super chunky, chunky & aran
Super chunky, chunky & aran

As you can see from the pictures the shop is now Stash Dash ready for Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th March.  There is sooooo much lovely yarn included that I will have to try to control the urge to buy it all myself.

Of course if we’re going to be honest then I shall have to admit to having selected several balls (slight understatement possibly?) for some of the projects I’ve cued…….. Who could blame me?

Double knit
Double knit

So will I give you an idea of what to expect when you come in for your 20 minutes?

Spring/Summer is supposed to be coming so it stands to reason that there will be chunky yarns, including –

Shades of Wendy Merino Chunky, Rico Galaxy, Bergere de France Duvetine, Twilley’s Purity & Sirdar Folksong to name but a few.  We are also clearing Wendy Celtic Chunky & Wendy Norse.

In super chunky were clearing Sirdar Denim Ultra & Big Bamboo, shades of Sirdar Big Softie and there’s a few packs of Rico Super Chunky Tweed there too.

In aran weight there’s Wendy Traditional Aran, Rico Country Aran, shades of Sirdar Supersoft Aran and several lovely cottons from Araucania.

More dk
More dk

As you might expect there’s loads to tempt you in double knit yarns – shades of Sirdar Baby Crofter & Snuggly dk, we’re clearing King Cole Riot, Shades, Moods, Moods Duet, Baby Alpaca & Haze.  Sorrento from Wendy is also included to clear as is Tiny Tots from Sirdar.  There are also shades of Wendy Merino Dk, King Cole’s Splash, Rico’s Cotton dk and Sublime’s Egyptian Cotton.

4ply & scarf
4ply & scarf

In 4ply and lace there is Sirdar Countrystyle to clear and Rico’s Romance, there’s also sock yarn, shades of Comfort 4ply and loads of odd balls and hanks.

There’s also scarf yarns from Sirdar, Rico & Tivoli, shades of Reflection from Rico, Snowdrops from Sirdar and loads more yarn in lots of lovely colours, too many to mention.

I’m looking forward to having another look myself and hope everyone that’s coming finds something they like.

Don’t forget your list.

Happy Knitting!

Countdown Beginning……………..

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Are you ready?
Are you ready?

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.

Stash for the Dash
Stash for the Dash
Laceweight, 4Ply & more Dk
Laceweight, 4Ply & more Dk
Super Chunky & Novelty
Super Chunky & Novelty

Let the mayhem begin!

Look at the Lovely Donations

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
003
Edwina made this

As most of you are already aware we are constantly encouraging everyone to knit or crochet for charity.  At least once a week I hear the words ‘I use to knit all the time, but my kids/grandchildren won’t wear knitted jumpers anymore’.  Hopefully, this is becoming less the case as all things woolly have become quite fashionable of late and some of the coolest people are donning Aran jumpers or oversize sloppy hats, and there’s no denying the current trend for super chunky cowls.

So knitting is the rage once again but if you remain unconvinced perhaps you could be persuaded to pick up the needles or your hook again and get to work on creating some much needed winter woolies for our current charity – The Kyl Assylum in Belarus. If you want to know more have a read through my previous post here http://knitmidleton.com/2012/11/15/our-latest-charity-collection-is/

The lovely scarf above is a beautiful 4ply, yes I did say 4ply, number knitted by Edwina.

006
Sinead’s Mum made these

This lovely trio of hats were knitted up by Sinead’s mum, they also dropped off a bar of soap to add to the toiletries collection to send out to Belarus too.

001

In addition to the knitted items, Mary also grabbed a bargain batch of gloves and hats to include and whilst some of them are for children they will still be passed on to needy smallies via the charity.

002

Teresa O’Flynn has sent in some more baby raglan jumpers and cardis.

005

Lastly there’s these lovely hats that a lady dropped in to us to forward on.  Unfortunately, she didn’t leave her name so if anyone know who she is let me know and we can credit her beautiful work.

So if you’ve the time…….. all donations will be sent to worthy, reputable causes and will be very much appreciated by those in receipt of them.

Happy Knitting!

For 38 Days I’ve Been Moody

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I thought it was time to update you all on how my Moody Blanket is progressing.

007

The first thing I should point out is that it’s definitely taking longer to complete the two rows than it was when I first began.  I think it’s largely to do with the increasing size of the blanket, which means there’s more fabric to move along the needles.  I’m finding I need to allow at least half an hour to complete the two rows now and I expect the time to increase as the blanket does.

Unfortunately I had to use the flash on my camera to take these photos and it’s made the colours much starker than in reality.  The colour changes are (I think) far less noticeable and seem to flow into each other rather nicely.  By using the cream Sirdar Bonus Tweed Aran continuously and only changing the one strand there is a continuity of colour that adds to the blanket’s charm.

010

One of the best things about knitting the blanket is that it’s warm, even at the size it is now – all 13.5inches of it.  However I guess that might not be so appealing in June, or at least we hope so.

011

I am really enjoying being able to look over the diary of the last few weeks and am pleased to report that so far I have had :-

2 Tough days

18 OK days

13 Good days

6 Really good days

Not bad considering it’s been dark dismal January.

Happy Knitting!

Super Chunky Mistake Rib Cowl

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

081

Having managed to persuade my usual model to pose for a picture, you can no doubt see how she feels about it.

Mistake rib is a great stitch pattern to use for scarves/cowls as it gives you a double sided fabric rather than one with a definite front and back (like stocking stitch).  The easiest way to remember the pattern is to cast on an odd number of stitches, in this instance I used 17.  With an odd number of stitches every row of your scarf will be the same.

085

We managed to wrap the cowl around Dina 3 times, but the friend it was made for is very tall and tends to wear it wrapped round her neck twice.  if you want to make it wider and a little shorter cast on 2 extra stitches (the pattern remains the same).

Cowl  Dimensions

Length 180cm/70″

Width 23cm/9″

Materials

5 Balls Sirdar Big Bamboo

10mm Needles

Darning Needle

Abbreviations

k – knit

p – purl

st(s) – stitch(es)

Pattern

Using thumb method cast on 17 stitches.

Work every row as follows – knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches repeat these 4 stitches to last st, K1

Work until almost all of your yarn has gone ensuring you save enough to cast off loosely (approximately 3 times the width of your knitting).

Sew cast on edge to cast off edge in order to make a large ring and sew in ends.

Tip – When joining in a new ball of yarn try to do this somewhere along the row rather than at the beginning of a row as usual.  This will help to keep the edges of the cowl tidy and means your ends can be better hidden.

New Crochet Magazine

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Simply Crochet
Simply Crochet

Yes my crochet is basic, very basic actually. Still, that hasn’t deterred me from picking up the first edition of the new Simply Crochet Magazine to have a nosey at.

The first thing you’ll notice about the magazine is the paper. It’s not your usual glossy paper, nor is it the heavier, recycled kind of paper that you get in Mollie Makes.  It has a vintage feel about it, with more of a matt look and it’s absolutely packed with editorials, information, yarn reviews and most importantly patterns.

Untitled

There are 30 items to make including motifs, home furnishings, a baby girl’s cardigan, a woman’s cardigan and a beautiful blanket too.

This is a little snippet of the home furnishing patterns –

crochet

The instructions for this super chunky cowl are also included, it’s made in Rowan Big Wool but you could substitute any other super chunky yarn instead.

cowl

Some of my particular favourite patterns in the magazine are these little hearts.  I can think of several friends that would adore a few of the little decorations dotted around their homes.

hearts

All of the patterns have a little pictorial information panel at the beginning indicating the stitches used in the project, the weight of yarn it’s made in and the size of hook required, which is extremely helpful when selecting what to crochet.  As a ‘novice’ I can spot the projects I’m capable of straight away by which stitches are used.  For example the Cosy Baby Blanket uses shell stitch, which I’m yet to learn.

The magazine will be published on a monthly basis around the 10th of each month and costs £4.99/€7ish, although there are the usual subscription offers enticing you with cheaper issue prices if you take out one.  There is also a digital version of the magazine available too on Apple Newstand, it’s www.simplycrochetmag.com/digital and for Android/PC customers go to www.zinio.com
A 13 month digital subscription costs £44.99 about €57 which is quite a bit cheaper than if you bought 13 printed issues.

It’s difficult to tell if an experienced crocheter would enjoy the magazine as much as I have as the projects all seem to be aimed at people with beginner and intermediate levels of skill.   I can guarantee you’ll enjoy the magazine if you like funky granny squares, quirky hearts and looking at what other people have created (Pinterest anyone?).

The Simply Crochet Magazine blog http://www.simplycrochetmag.co.uk/ complements the magazine beautifully, there are even links to the odd free patterns, plus readers news and competitions.

I hope future issues of the magazine are as interesting and appealing and that it continues to be chockablock with patterns of all kinds.  If you’d like to have a little look at it, I shall have my copy at the shop for a while.

Happy Crocheting!

Open the Box

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Look What's Arrived?
Look What’s Arrived?

So, this box arrived at the shop on Friday and there are  no prizes for guessing where it came from. As anticipated the yarn inside is lovely.

For our initial delivery of Knitcol from Adrafil we have gone with 6 of the most popular shades – 46, 55, 56, 58, 59 and 62.  (If the light is good tomorrow in the shop I will take a photo)

For now the shade card will have to suffice.

Knitcol Shade Card
Knitcol Shade Card

Knitcol is 100% superwash merino wool.  Each 50g ball contains 125m, knits as our standard dk and retails in the shop for €5.25.  There are free patterns available on the Adrafil website here.

We hope to add to the range of shades we stock if the yarn proves popular.

Happy Knitting!

Moody For A Little Over A Week Now

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment
Moody for 11 days
Moody for 11 days

I thought it might be a good time to show you how my Moody Blanket is coming along, 11 days after starting my knitting on Saturday 5th January, which was a good day.

I’m really happy with how the colours are blending together using garter stitch.  You can probably see that there is a fourth shade, because guess what?  Apparently I do have bad days,  of sorts anyway.  The navy is shade 906 in Sirdar Supersoft Aran – a 100g ball not 400g, as I’m still convinced I have very few ‘bad days’.  I’m not even sure it was a bad day; I was extremely tired and my hands were really, really sore, which means completing every task was troublesome, but the rest of the day was OK.  Based on my irksome day I thought it appropriate to include an additional shade.

Of the 11 days so far – 3 have been good
1 has been really good (I got to spend time with lots of my friends at knitting)
1 has been tough
6 have been OK

I love the way the i-cord edge is finishing the blanket off nicely.

I-Cord edge
I-Cord edge

The blanket also looks great on the reverse

The Back
The Back

I see no reason for today’s rows not to be ‘very good’ as it’s my daughters 23rd birthday.  The 16th of January has been one of the best since 1990.  (how old am I???????)

Happy Knitting?

Pretty New Colours

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Six lovely new shades of Rico Creative Galaxy Chunky yarn arrived in last Friday and I thought I’d quickly share them with you.

Jupiter
Jupiter
Venus
Venus
Earth
Earth
Pluto
Pluto
Neptune
Neptune
Saturn
Saturn

I’m rather fond of the Saturn myself and am considering knitting the Shalom sleeveless cardigan by Meghan McFarlane in it at some stage – if I can find the time.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shalom-cardigan

Shalom cardigan
Shalom Cardigan

Happy Knitting!

Moody Blanket Pattern

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

020

Blanket Dimensions

Length 72″/183cm (hopefully)

Width 7.2″/183cm (hopefully)

Materials

2 strands of aran weight yarn are used held together.
You will need approximately 2400 metres of your base yarn and then the same amount again in your chosen combination of yarns.  I am using Sirdar Bonus Aran and Sirdar Bonus Aran Tweed and will need 3 x 400g balls of my base shade 929 and probably 2 x 400g of shades 822 & 817 and 1 x 400g of 994.  (I will have loads left for charity knitting)

You will also need around another 20 to 50 metres (doubled) to work your applied i-cord if doing so at both your cast on and cast off ends.

I also used scrap super chunky yarn for my provisional cast on and a 12mm crochet hook.

8mm Needles

Darning Needle

Tension

12sts x 18rows on 8mm needles with 2 strands of aran weight yarn held together in garter stitch

Abbreviations

k – knit

st(s) – stitch(es)

co – cast on

wyif – with yarn in front

sl – slip next st

sl3 – slip next 3 sts (for applied I-cord)

psso – pass slipped stitch over

K3tog – knit next 3 sts together

Applied I-cord cast off –

*k2, sl 1 k-wise, k1 (this will be 1 of your live sts at the cast off end or from the provisional cast on), psso, sl all 3 sts back onto left needle and rep from* until all sts have been worked.  Three I-cord sts remain on needle, K3tog, break yarn and draw through your final st.

Pattern  

For the i-cord edge you need to use a provisional cast on method and you want 222 sts for the blanket.

I prefer to use the crochet chain provisional cast on, so I chained 228 sts with a 12mm hook and super chunky yarn.

1st row – knit all stitches

For every subsequent row you knit until the last 3 sts, wyif sl3

I’m hoping to knit at least 324 rows or 162 garter stitch ridges. I shall be knitting 2 rows per day.

The I-cord edge is optional. If you are making the blanket without it – using thumb method and holding the 2 strands of yarn together cast on 216 sts and knit every row without slipping the last 3 sts.

If you follow the instructions in Moody Blanket part 1 & 2 you will hopefully end up with a beautiful and personal blanket.

I shall be using an I-cord cast off on my cast on and cast off edges.  Work on your cast off edge first by CO 3 sts using cable cast on method, work I-cord cast off as per instructions above.

Slip cast on sts onto needle and work as for cast off end above.

Sew in your ends, hiding them in the I-cord if you’ve chosen to make it.

This is what my blanket looks like after 2 days

013

Saturday was a good day whilst Monday was just ok.  The red is my provisional cast on yarn.  I shall try to update on the blankets progress weekly.

Happy Knitting!