January Haul

There won’t be a haul blog post every month. I hope. Don’t think I could afford it every month. This month I had some Christmas money to spend and I went to town. I bought this months edition of The Knitter. Like last month there are a lot of fantastic patterns in there. Many of which I would quite like to knit. There was even a men’s zipped cardigan which I can see myself knitting for my dad for Christmas.

One of my goals was to learn new techniques this year. Brioche was high on the list and I even planned to do something this month. I then watched Fruity Knitting’s first podcast after Christmas. Nancy Marchant (the Queen of Brioche) returned for an interview and she talks about her book Knitting Brioche Lace. Fruity Knitting are holding a knit along with brioche lace or tuck stitches. I think that I was a bit optimistic that I would be able to join in but I have been wanting this book since it came out. Lots of beautiful patterns in there. It is self published so if you are looking for your own copy Stephen & Penelope are the official stockist in Europe. I got my copy the day after I ordered it.

I also ordered myself some sock blockers. I have had acrylic ones where you can change the size to suit the sock. I hated them. They just didn’t work for me although I know there are people out there who prefer them. I have read that some people find that the wooden ones can catch on the yarn if they aren’t finished perfectly. I haven’t found that with these. They finish is fantastic. I got mine via SmirnOFF Designs on Etsy UK. I’ll be honest, I don’t normally block my socks. I decided to invest in these because I thought my socks would photograph better for my sock patterns. If you follow me on Instagram you will see the difference in one of my latest photograph collections with my new sock pattern. So maybe blocking is worthwhile in socks after all.

I also got myself some Knit Pro DPN’s as a pattern I am planning on working on soon requires a size that I didn’t have. Unawares I picked up cubies. Have any of you tried these yet? As the name suggest the needle is cube shaped rather than round. I have always found Knit Pro to be very comfortable to work with but the cubies provide even more comfort. Might be good for people who have problems with their hands.

A lot of yarn this month but none for stash. All project specific. The first is a Rowan yarn which is for a scarf by Martin Storey. Stupidly I haven’t bought enough. I suppose it would be fine if I wanted a shorter scarf but I picked this pattern because  it’s a windy scarf. Funnily enough that is also the name of the pattern. The middle yarn is for a brioche hat in order to expand my knowledge of brioche stitches. Finally the last is by cascade yarns and it’s for a pair of slippers. The first and the last are part of my garment challenge. The project after those will be a jumper (which will be really out of my comfort zone).

Not haul but I am really into my podcasts just now. I prefer visual rather than audio and so I have three that I have begun watching religiously. Fruity Knitting is one I have mentioned before. I have gotten so many pattern ideas from them and learnt about lots of designers. It was from watching Fruity Knitting that I decided that it was about time that I moved past the socks. East London knits is another. Her podcasts are shorter but I like them because she designs her own patterns and I have even bought a few of them. Finally, I recently came across the Grocery Girls which is by two Canadian sisters. It reminds me of the knitting group back in the day. Just full of chat and excitement over new patterns and yarn. I have added a few patterns to my ravelry library thanks to them. I am sure there are many more podcasts but these three are a firm favourite. I should warn you that Grocery Girls tends to run over the two hour mark. However, I make myself a coffee and get out my knitting and get comfy. I haven’t linked any of these but you will find them all on YouTube. I might actually link them to my blogs page. Podcasts are just like blogs right? Does anyone else have any favourites?

Zig Zag Lace Socks Pattern

I promised I would shut up about my Zig Zag Lace Socks pattern until I had published it. Well, I have finally done that. Over the last few weeks (between other projects) I have been working on the final pair for my pattern and gave it another read through. Tweaking  it here and there. Sunday night I did the final tweaking and it was ready to publish. My intention was to wait until Monday morning or until I was ready to write about it here. However, I couldn’t hold my water (as they say). I went ahead and did it. I now have my first pattern for sale on ravelry. You can find it here. Or you will notice at the top of the page I have added a new tab labelled designs. You will also find a link to it there. Please be kind as it’s my first but also do let me know if you have issues with it. I can’t fix what I don’t know about. It is fairly simple though so hopefully I have written it to show that.

For the actual pattern I decided to go with a yarn that most people will have access to or will have heard of. I picked Cascade Yarns Heritage 4ply. It has nylon in the mix which is perfect for the heels of socks. It is also beautiful to knit with. I am in love with this blue which is called turquoise. It feels very soft and knits up well. Please feel free though to use any sock yarn. You might find though that the pattern is better suited to a solid colour.

You can see above that I have knitted this pattern many times and I have used a different sock yarn in each. The bright pink is yarn by Hedgehog Fibres, the centre is the only striping yarn I used and is by Orange Jellyfish Dream. Finally the pale pink and the paler blue at the bottom are both by my favourite indie dyer For the Love of Yarn. Please have fun with it. I can’t wait to see others knitting it. Also, feel free to prove me wrong with the striping yarn. 

I have more patterns at hand but it might be a while longer before they are published. Two need tweaking and one needs written from scratch. In the meantime I am getting back to my 2020 challenge.

First of Challenge Done

So my first project for this years challenge is finished. If you can’t remember I have challenged myself to knit garments for myself other than socks. The aim is to have eventually filled up my wardrobe with hand knits. I am starting off easy and began with a hat. Felt it was only right since my last hat lasted all of a day (thank you Molly). Also, while I have knit many hats for my sister I don’t actually have any myself.

The pattern I chose is Cannetella by Woolly Wormhead. You can find it on ravelry if you are interested. Woolly Wormhead is famous for her hat designs. She plays around with stitches to come up with the most interesting designs. Her hats are also famous for being perfect for those who love to knit with indie dyers variegated yarns. They have that perfect balance where both the design and the colour way are highlighted. I have found that most designs one almost always overpowers the other. If you fancy learning new techniques on a smaller scale I would go an pick one of her designs.

I didn’t go for any of those because I really wanted a slouchy hat. I wear my hair all tied up in a tight bun at the top of my head for work. So beanie hats are a no no. I would look like a cone head. In any case I love a slouchy hat and I love a lace pattern which is why this one was so perfect for me. The pattern is easy to follow. It has a repeat that is fairly easy to remember so you can work out quickly where you are. How many times have we put down a lace pattern and come back to it a few days later with no idea where you are in the pattern. It’s easy to work out with this one (although I do tend to track in my notebook). It comes in many sizes too so you can chose one to suit yourself. I went for the largest because I wanted a good slouch on it. I would recommend using circulars rather than DPN’s. I am a DPN girl normally but a few times the stitches came off the end and I started the hat twice as a result of this. Next time I will get the circulars. Mind you, if you go with a smaller size you might be okay.

I used the yarn that I picked up in Amsterdam almost two years ago. It’s by Hedgehog Fibres and the colour is called Salty Tales. I have said recently that for the most part I will be a project knitter but I had the yarn picked out before I found the pattern I wanted (although I had a rough idea of what kind of pattern I wanted). The good thing is that the yarn came from my stash so I did a little stash busting. This yarn is beautiful. The colour changes are subtle and they pick up well in the light. At the moment I am in love with greys and I am especially in love with greys that have other colours through them like this one. Beautiful to knit with and perfect for this slouchy hat. Mind you it would have been perfect for socks too or a light jumper if you had enough of it.

I have ordered the yarn for the next project in my challenge and it’s a scarf. Also in grey to match the hat although the project is not lace. Looking forward to picking it up and starting it.

A Very Late Christmas Gift

I finally finished a gift for my sister which was supposed to be for her Christmas. Both hat and scarf come from Kim Hargreaves book “Still”. The patterns in the book look fairly simple and I thought I would manage to knit them up in no time. I was wrong. The yarn for the scarf is no longer available. Which is a shame as I would have loved the colour way storm for my sister. I think she would have liked it. Thankfully it was just a striping version of Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze and so easy to replace. I picked out anthracite as I liked the greys and I was sure my sister would. I forget that knitting with a lace weight yarn takes far longer though. I saw on ravelry that a few people knitted it up with half the suggested amount of yarn. I wanted the full length scarf though. While the fabric knitted is cosy it is also light and needs a few wraps to keep someone warm. I also had some leftover black from the hat which I added into the centre of the scarf. Not sure it really adds much to it but my sister liked the touch and I was happy for not wasting any yarn.

The hat combines Rowan’s kidsilk haze and Rowan kid classic. You knit them both together. I had some trouble with that as they are both sticky yarns and I found myself in knots a few times. My sister actually inadvertently picked the hat when she pointed out she liked it while looking through the book. It’s knitted in a fisherman’s rib and like the scarf is an easy knit. Unlike the scarf it also knits up quickly. The hat is super soft and squishy. Plus it makes my sister’s pink hair really stand out. No photo’s sadly as she refuses to wear it over to mine after she saw what the cat did to my hat.

This is my first time knitting with mohair. I quite liked the effect that it had when combining it with a second yarn. It gives a soft fuzzy layer which is so warm. I remember my mum knit me a mohair jumper when I was little because I loved hers and I couldn’t wear it because it was too itchy. I don’t see that being a problem with this as it’s so soft. Lorraine hasn’t complained so far anyway. I have to confess that I had planned to knit the scarf in black too. However, I knit the hat first and quickly remembered why I hated knitting with black. It felt like I was more prone top making mistakes and finding it harder to see. I also found it harder to see where I was in the pattern. I was lucky it was an easy knit. I probably wouldn't have had that problem with the scarf since the fabric it creates is not as dense. At least I did get some black in there though and the grey was such a nice shade.

On Which I Sit on a Throne of Lies.

Who doesn’t love and Elf quote? I actually managed to finish one more thing before the New Year. I fell in love with a hat pattern I saw on the Instagram feed of the Loveliest Yarn Company. You had to join the facebook group (Look up TLYC Knit and Knatter) to get this free pattern. A win win really. Join a group of knitters and get a free knitting pattern. The pattern is called Totally Tweety Hat by Michelle Gregory and she has written it out for all sizes. It’s a fairly easy pattern and so would be suitable for beginners. It also knits up very quickly. I love the fact that you knit it inside out. The end result is a pretty and cosy hat. I chose the larger size so that it would fit with my hair all up.

I used the recommended yarn which is Lama-Tweed by Cama Rose. There was no contest in the colour way. I will always choose blue-greens. The yarn is super soft and I loved knitting with it. I think a matching scarf or cowl in the same yarn would be perfect. It knits up well too. As a result my hat was extra cosy.

The hat was off the pins and the very next day I had it on. Perfect for going in to work. I kept it in my bag so that I wouldn’t forget it the next day. My handbag at the moment is fairly big. The bigger the bag the more I put in it. Yet, the next morning I woke to find my poor hat in the middle of the hall. A victim of my yarn loving cat. Clawed to bits beyond repair. Mental note. Keep my woollens out of reach. So molly is now happily tearing away at what was briefly the softest and cosiest hat I’ve ever worn. I will knit it again at some point though. I’ve also added to my knitting plans this year. Knit Molly some toys and make sure they contain catnip. That will also stop her for stealing my knits right?

2020 Challenges

Last year I discovered podcasts. Or rather, I decided that it was about time that I tried a few. Specifically knitting podcasts. I can’t remember how it came about. I think I might have seen an article but I did a search and came across a list of them. My favourites are East London Knits and Fruity Knitting. East London Knits is a shorter podcast by knitwear designer Renee Callahan. I love her knitwear and so I am not hooked to her podcast and love seeing her knew designs. The second, Fruity Knitting is by a knitting Australian family who live in Germany. Their podcast is filled with their own projects and interviews. As you can see, I enjoy knitting while watching and having a cup of tea (occasionally a red wine).

Watching both has inspired me. I have been knitting for years now and I very rarely stray beyond socks. A few years back I did knit some baby jumpers for the first time but I haven’t tried again since then. I have a drawer overflowing with knitted socks and I think my family probably do too. I have found a few new sock recipients but I now need to challenge myself. So thanks to watching these podcasts and seeing that there are a lot of designs out there that I love I have decided to knit my own wardrobe.

I don’t imagine that this will be a one year challenge only. I will need to build up to larger garments and the kind of patterns that I have been admiring. I need to learn techniques. So I have been taking notes in my bullet journal. I have been writing a list of the books on techniques that these podcasts have been recommending and I have been writing a list of designers and patterns I have admired.

From this I have been collecting patterns that I think that I can manage now and that I can build up to next. A whole host of patterns which include hats, scarves, easy jumpers, cardigans, tops and even a few dresses and a jacket. Oh and slippers. The hat, scarf and slippers will be my first three projects and I then will try my first larger garment. A simple but cosy jumper. The hat is already on the pins. A lovely lace item designed by someone I came across thanks to an interview in Fruity Knitting. I also have a list of techniques that I want to learn along the way. I’m really looking forward to this.

Lastly, as I have said previously, I am hoping to publish some sock patterns this year. I have a few designs that I have done already but just not written them out for public use. I also have a few ideas written down in my bullet journal for future designs. I’m excited about them and I see them as a challenge too. I am hoping to use some of the techniques I am learning in the designs.

I am hoping that this will turn me into a project knitter. What I mean when I say that is that I buy yarn for each project rather than because it is pretty. It’s why my stash is so out of control. Last year I was actually good at this. I bought very little yarn apart from that which I needed for specific projects. Also as a result though my stash is not going down as fast as I would hope but it will get there.

Does anyone else have fun plans for the new year? Would love to hear about them.