There have barely been two weeks pass in January and I feel like I’m flying with the knitting and crochet 😎
I’m currently working on the sleeves of the jumper Cobblestone for my son Du. The pattern is worked bottom up in the round and I’ve reached the part where the sleeves are joined. I had promised to concentrate solely on the jumper, but I just can’t do it. I need the satisfaction little projects bring 😉 So I’ve set my deadline to the end of January instead.
So… I’ve also managed to get a quick hat for Kye, my youngest knitted up in the specified burgundy colour as requested.
Using my latest hat pattern Toasty & Textured, I whipped up another hat, this time in Twilley’s Freedom Wool.
Feeling inspired by the yarn I put in the sale I quickly (and it was, even for me) crocheted a half granny square shawl in Rico Creative Galaxy Chunky yarn using a 7mm hook and 3 balls and I l♥ve it!
Drum roll please…
I’m also happy to announce that I’ve completed my first pair of socks for 2015. To be fair, I’d all but knitted one of them before the end of 2014 but it still counts towards my goal of 6 pairs for the year 😉
I’ve also started working on my next pair too, that’s what the pretty piece of knitting is at the beginning of this post ♥
I feel like I’ve wasted so much time this week trying to post here, Ravelry and Facebook without any success because our internet has been so poor 😡 So the first thing I did when I arrived at the shop this morning was upload lots of photos to store in my various media libraries, ready for the next few posts. I also managed to get the pattern for my latest hat Toasty & Textured up on Ravelry at last too ⭐
The hat is knitted in 1×1 moss stitch with Rico Essentials Big on 7mm needles. I’ve also knitted up a couple with Rico Flame and will try and persuade Dina, to let me take a photo or two 😉 at the weekend to post here.
January can be a difficult month for some after the extravagances and the build up of the festive season, even the most positive among us can feel like the wind has been knocked out of us a little. I’m fortunate in that Dina’s birthday is on the 16th, which gives us something to enjoy and this year she’ll be 25!!! So to ♥celebrate♥ I’ve made the pattern for Toasty & Textured free to download until the end of the month with the coupon code 25.
Be sure to enter 25 before you checkout and remember to share you’re projects so we can see. The hat is super speedy to knit and will work for both men and women. I’m hoping to find a couple of sneaky hours to have a play with combining some of my stash yarns and will post photos of the results here if they work.
By the madness I mean the build up to Christmas Day, which I convince myself every year that I’m not going to buy into, only to find on Christmas Day that I have 😞 Maybe though, that’s part of the fun?
Unlike previous years I really didn’t manage to get as many presents knitted or even generally handmade as I would have liked to. The year seemed to rush by faster than a speeding car and before I realised it it was the end of November and I’d only knitted the one gift, a Hitchhiker for a friend of mine. Of course I’d forgotten to take a proper picture of it before I’d mailed it, so this is one I’d posted on Instagram whilst I was knitting it.
I used a ball of Rico Poem Superba in green and a ball of King Cole Merino 4ply. The Poems Superba is variegated, so the greens change as the scarf grows. I found it a really lovely pattern to follow, with only 8 rows and by using 2 colours, the stripe effect meant I really didn’t have to concentrate on which of the rows I was on. A lovely happy accident.
Nearly everyone that would wear one received a knitted hat of some kind, mostly these ones though. The pattern is very basic and I should be able to get it up on here over the next couple of days.
Nostrils shouldn’t be that big should they? It’s obscene 😬
I liked them so much that I’ve even made one for me.
Tate looks rather fetching in Leann’s one too, bless him.
Some friends including my Secret Santa recipient received my crochet baubles, which I loved making once I’d figured out what to do. I used several resources to help me, but the circles kept getting bigger because of the trebles. After trying a few different things I decided double crochet was the way to go. A couple of you have asked for a pattern already, but I’m not sure if I can write it up as a ‘proper’ crochet pattern, so it might end up being more of an instruction sheet?
Last but not least was the jumper I’d been making for my hubby Con in secret. Many of you will have seen me trying to get a few rows done in the shop; especially if you popped in the few days before Christmas when I was frantically trying to get the sleeves finished. I’ll write up a separate post to tell you all about it and I might even be able to get a photo of the man himself wearing it 👨
Since finishing the jumper I’ve cast on and started knitting Cobblestone by Jared Flood for Durahn my son. I’ve also been sticking to my morning walk everyday, regardless of how cold it is and both Kye and myself have been going a bit photography mad with our phones. This morning’s walk produced some beautiful snaps, all with no filter too 📷
He pinched my hat.
2 of my dogs trying to drink from one of the frozen troughs. The black one usually dunks her head in, but even she’s not daft enough to do it when it’s this cold, right?
No wait…. She really is that daft.
I’ve also been watching far too many cheesy movies including the must see Guardians of the Galaxy which inspired me to make my own mix tape on Spotify. If you fancy having a look at what tracks I’ve included my profile is lmillar72. More mix tapes to come me thinks 🖭
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.
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.
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.
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.
It’s definitely knitting season here in the shop, with everyone eagerly awaiting the new stock. One of the more unusual yarns to have come in so far is Glo Worm from Rico.
Glo Worm is a slightly off standard yarn, somewhere between a chunky and a super chunky weight with a twist. The twist being a separate reflective thread that is wrapped around the main coloured strand. The yarn has been developed just in time for the darker mornings and evenings and it’s super soft so even the fussiest of children can be persuaded to wear it.
The recommended needle size is a 7/8mm with a tension of 11 stitches to 14 rows. The fibre content is 54%acrylic/30% wool/16% glass fibre and each 100g ball contains 110 metres for €8 each.
We are still awaiting delivery of a couple of the colours but so far there have been 5 arrive in and I couldn’t resist knitting up a quick hat for the shop.
Not the best photograph but I was trying to show the reflectivity of the yarn (think it’s worked a bit).
The pattern is called the Teo Hat and it’s available free on Ravelry and includes sizes newborn, small and large. It’s a lovely quick knit and I have loads of yarn left to knit a quick neck warmer up too.
Wendy yarns have really pulled out all the stops this season, first there was the rather lovely Ramsdale double knit yarn that I spoke about in my last post and now there’s Serenity Chunky.
As the name would imply the yarn is a standard chunky weight and suitable for patterns using a tension of 14 stitches to 20 rows on 6.5mm needles. Made from 20% Fine Alpaca, 10% Wool and 70% Premium Acrylic the yarn is super, squidgy soft and due to a some kind of manufacturing process the Alpaca is thrown to the surface of the yarn which gives it a fantastic lustrous look.
There are 13 autumnal shades to ‘oo’ and ‘ahh’ over, if you’re anything like me that is? Each 100g ball contains a generous 140 metres and costs €5.90 making it a very reasonably priced yarn for al your chunky projects.
As you might have already guessed I’ve been frantically knitting garments to display the new yarns in the shop and at this time of year there tends to be a good few of them to get through. As a result I looked around for a small persons garment to knit using the Serenity Chunky and decided to go with Snug by Hinke. The pattern costs €4.50 to download however, there is also an aran weight version of the pattern available and you can purchase both versions as an eBook for €6.
(I should point out I haven’t blocked my little Snug cardi in these photos)
The cardigan has been cleverly constructed to have minimal seaming at the back of the neck and over the shoulders and contains references to all of the techniques included, which include using a provisional cast on and grafting. There are 4 sizes – newborn to 4 years and the stretchiness of garter stitch knit sideways will ensure the cardigan is nice and roomy, so it will last for some time. The design element of the fold back cuffs also means they can be rolled down as little arms grow.
I made the second size and used about 2 and a half balls of the Serenity Chunky. There is a little finishing up along the front borders in crochet which I took up and around the hood because I like the look of it..
Last but not least are the oversize toggles, which I couldn’t resist sewing on with lime green yarn for a little bit of extra interest (not that it’s very clear in the photos).
Overall it’s an interesting little pattern, great for learning new techniques if you’ve never used them before and as there are over 1500 projects on Ravelry it’s obviously quite a popular choice too.
Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet 