Granny Square Scarf For Dina

May 20, 2014 LeftFootDaisy7 Comments

You might have noticed I’ve gone a little crochet mad of late, I’m not even sure why to tell the truth. I am and always will be a knitter and it kind of feels like I’m having a bit of an affair really.

The crochet is quick, instant colour gratification and in my case, used mostly for items of frippery.

This scarf for Dina, my daughter (she shows up here quite regularly and is equally obsessed by woolly things – she’s been infected) came about when I was helping a customer to select colours for a crochet blanket project.

The aforementioned customer ended up choosing a more pastel combination I’d grouped together whilst I found myself fit to burst with the need to crochet these five up.

Casting the bookwork aside (any excuse) I set to work on a granny square, still not sure what it would end up being.

I made a couple more squares and it dawned on me that a summer scarf was the way to go.

First dilemma = How many squares?

It’s a summer scarf so it’s not really for warmth (hopefully). Originally I thought 15, but after trying it on several times I opted for 13. Each square is roughly 5″ x 5″ so the scarf is approximately 65″ long.

Using all these colours unfortunately equals a lot of ends to sew in and I even found myself taking it to bed on one occasion, refusing to go to sleep until they were all done.

Not too bad a job, even if I do say so myself.

Second dilemma = How to join the squares?

I could have sewn the squares together through the back loops only, mattress stitched them, over stitched them but instead I chose to crochet them together using double crochet.

This has created a beautiful ridge which defines each square and also ads a little weight to the front of the scarf. Hopefully it will also mean it sits the right way out when worn.

More ends to sew again, this time whilst waiting in the car for my youngest to come out after school. This time I refused to drive off until I’d finished. (my poor family)

I’m really happy with the finished scarf and it took very little yarn. Hopefully my beautiful daughter won’t mind me taking a pic or two of her wearing it for me to share here. In the meantime I’ve had to use a chair to drape it over.

What do you think?

Happy Knitting!

Crochet’s fine too though 😉

Granny Square Crochet

May 14, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I’m not the best at crochet, in fact I can’t actually hold my hook and tension my yarn correctly, instead I choose to knit my crochet. This means I hold the hook and the yarn in my right hand and work as if I’m knitting with one pin. It achieves pretty much the same results, although apparently a crochet professional can tell the difference?

Anyway, undeterred it is my goal in life to cover everything in glorious multicolour granny crochet, trebles to the initiated. This book was made for just that and much to my delight Granny Square Crochet by Catherine Hirst has come in with May’s samples from The Book People. Even better their selling copies of it for just €8 at the moment.

Ok, so there is a ‘Useful Information’ chapter at the back of the book, full of stitches, abbreviations and pictures of how to hold your hook (gulp!). Can you hear this section being closed as I go straight back to the pretty pictures?

35 projects are in this book, yes I did say 35 – lets look at some of my favourites.

I love the Granny Round Cushion Cover to pieces and can see a beautiful round table cloth in the making. Actually, more of a centrepiece thingy to be precise.

What’s not to like about the Stripes lampshade Cover? Great way to transform those cheapy lamps from Dunnes and Heatons and make them more personalised. I’m sure I picked up a job lot in the Dunnes Sale for €2 each and they’d make a great gift for friends.

I could definitely be persuaded to use a teapot more often if it looked as pretty as this, what about you?

The Colourful Granny Stripes Scarf is beautiful and if you made it a little wider and slightly longer it would make a great summer evening shawl to wrap round your shoulders. Or perhaps you have a friend in hospital that would love the cheery colours and welcome the extra warmth?

The riot of colour in the Granny Square Cushion Cover is created using 7 complimentary colours and would be a great way of using up your ends although I”m duty bound to mention that knitting a few Knit Happens stockings is another great way too (cheeky!)

Lastly and only because I want to leave a little mystery, look at these beautiful little shoes. The Mini Granny Square Booties are so adorable I’d happily use them as a decoration in my house just so I could look at them.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m rather in love with this book – power project finishing here I come because it wouldn’t do to start yet another project would it…..?

Happy Crochet!

1 More Sleep

May 2, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

So Yarn Shop Day is very nearly upon us, 1 more sleep until the fun begins.

As promised here’s a little peek at some of the goodies on offer tomorrow on our market stall outside the shop.

They’ll be all of these books and more all down to €5 each with some going for as little as €3.

All of the packs of yarn on the stall will be €20 each, including the multi packs.

There will be other yarn in the special bins for €3 a ball and the day will be full of on the spot give-aways. Not to mention the raffle and the competition to find the fastest Knit Happens stocking knitter.

I hope to see as many of you as possible.

Happy Knitting!

Yarn Shop Day – Saturday May 3rd

April 26, 2014April 26, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

It seems like I’ve been trying to write this post for weeks now what with computer and internet problems *sigh*

Anyway….

Yarn shop day (taking place on Saturday May 3rd) is all about you showing your love for local yarn shops. It is also an important opportunity for bricks and mortar shops – such as ourselves – to remind our customers how valuable our personal experience and knowledge of all things wonderful and wooly really is.

Whilst the online yarn market is fantastic for those that cannot manage to get into a shop or can’t find something particular it is also unfortunately taking away from the tradition of local yarn shops. There is nothing better than going into your local yarn shop and having a good squidge and play with the wool, as well as getting hands on help and advice. Knitters and crocheters alike are an enthusiastic bunch and our shop has often played host to a number of excited discussions about new projects and ideas between strangers that have bonded over their love of the craft.

Yarn shops are fast becoming an endangered species and every week I will have someone come in and say how nice it is to have found a wool shop because they no longer have a local one. A visit to the yarn shop was something I looked forward to as a child and even now I still get excited when I go to a new place and discover they have a yarn shop to explore.

So in the spirit of all things woolly we are planning the following events, giveaways and special offers to celebrate Yarn Shop Day.

The first 15 customers to spend €25 or more receive a baby knits goody bag.
11am – There will be a demonstration on how to use the amazing Clover Pom-Pom Makers.
2-4pm – We are holding a competition to see who can knit a “Knit Happens” stocking the fastest.
There will be a woolly raffle with prizes including Knit Pro needles, Scrumptious Yarn and a variety of books. (Details of the raffle will be posted here and on Facebook in the coming days.)
A free Sparklemouse pattern will be sent to your via e-mail when you spend €5 or more.
Clearance packs of yarn and books will be available to buy throughout the day on our market stall outside at less than even Stash Dash Prices.

Throughout the week we will try (I stress the word try) to pop up photos of some of the items that will be putting on the market stall and using as raffle prizes.

Woolly Clearance

April 16, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

The time has come to accept that my addiction for all things woolly might be getting a little out of hand. I know, I know, most of you had probably already spotted it some time ago now and for those of you that know me, you’ll know it’s not going to stop any time soon.

Facing the facts, I need to make space before I disappear into one of the stock rooms and never return -“suffocation from yarn, there are worse ways to go”.

After discussing it with friends, family and anyone who’ll listen, I’ve decided to give in and try an ecommerce site. My lovely customers have been asking me to do this for years now and I’m concerned they’ll think it’s so much more than it is (apologies in advance).

It is a clearance shop, with clearance prices. The yarn will only be sold in packs of 10 balls and you can buy as many packs as you want at the much reduced prices.

I intend to work my way steadily through the boxes of Stash Dash yarn one at a time and will therefore be popping up new products on a weekly basis (I’m aiming for Tuesdays). The yarn will be from all the companies we stock and will include acrylics, wool, cotton, blends, etc, though once it’s gone it’s gone.

Postage here is still extremely expensive, with An Post the cheapest at this stage.

They’re prices are – €6.50 for 500g/1kg or €7.50 for 1.5kg/2kg

You can of course purchase your packs of yarn on the website and collect them from the shop, but I’d ask you to contact me to ensure I have it waiting for you at the shop for collection.

We’ll see how it works, maybe it will go so smoothly that I can be persuaded to look at running with a proper online shop at some stage.

For now this is where you’ll find us Online Clearance Shop

Please be patient with us, hopefully there won’t be too many teething problems 🙂

Happy Knitting!

Knitting With Giant Needles

April 9, 2014 LeftFootDaisy1 Comment

Included with our regular delivery of books from The Book people this month was Knitting with Giant Needles by Hanna Charlotte Erhorn and published by Dorling Kindersley.

If I was to be completely honest, on first glance I wasn’t that impressed with the content of the book however, I decided to give it a proper chance. Armed with a cuppa I spent some time perusing the pages and have since revised my opinion.

Using big needles or crochet hooks isn’t everyone’s idea of fun. Big tools can be a little different to get use to holding and you will probably have to change your technique a little, but the speed with which you can finish a project is fantastic. I love the look of chunky stitches and the added interest they bring from the texture. Big knitting is a great way of incorporating knitting into your home with chunky cushions and throws, bathmats and even wall hangings.

Back to the book…..

As you might expect with a book from DK, everything is photographed beautifully and explained very clearly. There are a couple of pages at the front of the book discussing chunky needles and yarns and towards the back of the book there is a great techniques section covering basic knitting, sewing up and crochet.

In total there are 35 projects in the book, most of them would fall under the heading ‘accessories’ or ‘frippery’ , however most of them are cute and quirky and would make great gifts.

My only complaint is that there isn’t a pattern included for the beautiful, crochet hearts shown on page 9 of the book, but I’m sure Attic 24 has a version on her blog.

I’ve picked 5 of my favourites to show you

This one to be fair is a little questionable

Overall not a bad little book for The book People price of €8 and it would be a great book to give with a couple of balls of super chunky yarn and a set of big needles as a gift to a newbie knitting friend.

Happy knitting!

Oh Dear

March 31, 2014 LeftFootDaisy6 Comments

Oh dear indeed…….

The number of projects I’m currently working on has gotten a little out of hand lately and I only realised how bad things were getting when I opened a project bag and discovered about a third of a blanket knitted in beautiful, Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino that I’d completely forgotten about. Hoping to regain control I frogged it! All 600 metres of it!!!! Ouch!

So in an effort to overcome my problem and in the hope that I’ll manage to complete some of the ongoing wip’s I’d like to confess.

Sorry for the awful pic, the sun wasn’t shining my way.

So…. They consist of

A piece of green knitting that needs to be felted and made into brooches.

One lace sock that needs it’s equally lacy partner.

3 balls of yarn for a gift that needs to be knitted ASAP as the birthday is looming.

There’s a beautiful piece of red knitting belonging to 8 year old Aoife from my children’s knitting group that needs sewing up into a cowl.

There’s a shop sample jumper in Stylecraft Stars.

Another shop sample is the woolly sheep I’ve made in Sirdar’s Snowflake Chunky and Snuggly Dk that needs sewing up and stuffing but I’d like to make some more legs so it’s a little more multi-coloured.

There’s the blue, grey and red Alice Cardigan that I’m knitting for myself.

More socks for me too.

Ongoing are the Knit Happens Stockings for the East Cork Rapid Response.

Also the Attic 24 inspired crochet flowers.

Catrina aka Purl Petal is to blame for the crochet squares. If she hadn’t brought her beautiful blanket into the shop to show me, I wouldn’t have needed to start one. Go and check it out http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PurlPetal/granny-squares-crochet-blanket

10 in total

EXCEPT THERE’S NOT

Whist I was pulling out my patterns and books I realised that I’ve also been working on a jumper for my son Durahn, but have stopped because I need to check his measurements.

Also, if this really is a confession, then I should probably include the bag of crochet bunting that I add to occasionally. The two easy, cinema knitting scarves that I have hanging on the back of the door and my beautiful Moody Blanket. The main part of which is finished but I need good light to photograph knitting the applied i-cord edge for a ‘how to’ post.

This is the missing, offending jumper for my son. It’s beautiful and the yarn is lovely to work with but he’s 6 feet tall so it’s gonna be the right size even if I have to tie him up to measure him.

How many wip’s do you have on the go? I hope it’s not as bad as me.

I can’t even claim that they’re mostly for the shop this time.

Happy Knitting!

(we’re going to sweep gracefully over the three other projects I frogged and the crate full of items that just need sewing up too 😉 aren’t we?)

More That’s New

March 26, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

As you’ve probably noticed from the last 3 posts there’s been rather a lot of new stock arriving in the shop of late and there’s at least one more new yarn still to come.

This time I wanted to let you have a quick look at the new shades in some of our favourite standard yarns. The ones we’ll always have.

With no further delay, lets launch straight in with 3 new colours of Sirdar Snuggly DK (there is a 4th but it kind of looks grubby)

2 really pretty colours in Sirdar Snuggly 4ply and although rather feminine I do think the Custard would look lovely in combination with blues in a stripy baby cardi.

4 new shades have also been added to the Sirdar Baby Crofter range. 2 brights and 2 a little more subtle the 1st is definitely my favourite this time.

We’ve also taken delivery of new shades in Bonus Dk, Aran and Supersoft Aran and as with all new seasons from Sirdar they have released a wad of beautiful, new designs to compliment the new shades.

Here’s just a few for you to cast your eyes over.

Baby crofter patterns — Baby Crofter designs now also showing the yarn being used for older children’s garments

snuggly patterns — Just a few of the new Sirdar Snuggly DK patterns

Crochet patterns — The suppliers are finally starting to listen, some of the new crochet patterns that have been released.

Lastly (for now), I wanted to give you a quick look at our lovely woolly sheep cards, that I’ve managed to locate after spotting them a good few years back. Ideal for the woolly enthusiasts amongst us.

Happy Knitting!

Wendy Festival Chunky

March 22, 2014 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

We were actually meant to have this yarn in before Christmas but it sold out completely and I decided to run with something else instead, but the patterns still arrived and having discovered them recently whilst trying to be organised I thought ‘why not’.

The yarn is a standard chunky with a multicoloured look that’s not too busy and I guarantee you’ll be as surprised as I was to hear it’s 100% acrylic. I saw and felt the scarf in the pattern below and was pleasantly taken aback when I realised. Needle size is 6.5mm and knits to a tension of 14 stitches by 20 rows over a 4″/10cm square, the 100g ball contains 118 metres/129 yards and costs €5.25..

I’ve opted for 6 of the 8 available colours to begin with and quite fancy making the ladies jumper, but will probably end up going with the baby one instead due to number of friends expecting at the moment. All of the shades have been named after music festivals including Glastonbury and Secret Garden and whilst a chunky yarn might not be the kind of knitwear that instantly comes to mind when you think of sunny summer days. it’s definitely what’s needed when the sun goes down.

As a standard chunky it will knit to most chunky patterns, here are the Festival designs I love the most.

I’ve had a quick look on Ravelry to see what people have been making with the yarn already and there seems to be a mix of knitting and crochet. MMKMads has knitted a Braided Knit Headband in it and it looks lovely, have a look at the pattern, it’s free.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/braided-knit-headband-2

Happy Knitting!

Sirdar Bonus Buzz

March 21, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Sirdar Bonus Buzz DK is a bright, cheerful, multi-coloured yarn, with each shade having up to 6 colours in it. Machine washable, great value and incredibly colourful, making it the perfect yarn for children. It’s great for making fun accessories, such as hats, mitts and scarves.

As it’s part of Sirdar’s Bonus range there are no specific patterns for it (yet), but it is a true double knit, so will knit to any double knit pattern.

Each 100g ball of 100% acrylic contains 280metres/306yards so it will go a long way and costs €3.99. Knit to a tension of 22 stitches by 28 rows to 4 inches / 10cm square on 4mm needles







I think both of these garments would look great knitted in Buzz Dk, each of the patterns are free to download, just click on the links.



http://www.yarnspirations.com/pattern/knitting/babys-hoodie






http://www.yarnspirations.com/pattern/knitting/top-down-super-stripes





If by chance anyone’s interested? It would also make great stockings for the Knit Happens Campaign (I’m just saying)

Happy Knitting!