Shout Out to Designers

While I am hoping to help support small businesses the focus has been on indie dyers. However, there are knitwear designers out there who make a living on their creativity too. I know it will come as a shock to some but I am primarily a sock knitter. This year I was hoping to challenge myself to move beyond that and I still hope to do that. It’s just on hold for now. While I was making these plans I started collecting some patterns and I have come across a few favourite designers thanks to watching podcasts. I thought I would share some of the patterns I have bought recently. I apologise that the photographs above only give you a partial view of the pattern but these images aren’t mine. I thought the collage would give you a hint and you can follow the links to each pattern to better see it.

1. Waterscapes pullover by Katerina C. Rieckel. I came across this gorgeous jumper through instagram. The designer was offering it for free for people during our current social distancing. This offer is no longer available and she did ask that those who could pay did. Which I did. I thought it was a lovely offer and I can’t wait to knit this.

2. City Limits by Tanis Fibre Arts. I do like Tanis Fibre Arts. I’ve became a fan thanks to watching the Grocery Girls. I’m not sure if I cam across this pattern on the podcast (although they sisters have talked about it) or instagram. I love a fade pattern although have yet to knit one. This was free too for a while. I like the fact that it is reversible too.

3. Summer Long by Sosu. Another I came across on Instagram. I loved this cardigan because it looked so comfortable. I can picture wearing this while lounging around the flat. Perfect since I get to do that on my days off. It looks like something I could do as a beginner too.

4. Common Ground by Elizabeth Smith Knits. Yet another Instagram find. The designer posted a photo of her newly published pattern and I knew instantly I had to knit it in the future. A cardigan with a hood! It’s pretty too.

Of course I couldn’t leave out socks entirely. I have been trying to stick to mainly garments when buying patterns as I have so many sock knitting books. Easier said than done though.

1. Knit Like It’s 1999 by Tricot & Stitch. I don’t remember where I first saw this pattern. I have seen it so many times though being knitted up by fellow sock knitters and I felt left out. Such a pretty pattern and I love the fact that it is different for each foot.

2. Sweet & Tartan by Tracie Millar. These gorgeous socks were designed by Tracie of the Grocery Girls and I definitely came across it thanks to their podcast. I have been rather impatiently waiting for it to be published. I now have the yarn to knit them too which I will show off in next months yarn. I am intrigued by how the pattern will read as it uses slip stitches rather than colour work. Looking forward to it.

I am also taking part in another knit along. This will be my FIRST garment for myself. I can’t wait to try it. I will be posting more on that early next week.

I hope you are all safe and well and please feel free to share some of your favourite patterns from indie knitwear designers.

Three Pairs for Nurses!

I feel like I have been a knitting machine the last few weeks. Since I decided to put aside all projects and knit socks for my fellow nurses I have knitted up five pairs. Three of those have already found a new home. You have already seen the first two pairs I finished so thought I would show the latest. I decided to put them together in one post rather than one each as I imagine this could get boring very quickly.

So the third pair I finished were these. Like all of the socks I plan to knit just now it’s a basic pattern. The yarn is from my stash and was hand dyed by For the Love of Yarn. It’s a sparkle sock yarn although you can’t see that in the photo. The colourway is called camp fire and I honestly can’t tell you when I purchased it. I absolutely love it. The striping is very short so there is no pooling of the colour at all. Trust me, I was looking for it. This is the only pair from this lot that has been given away. The recipient was chuffed and is already an owner of some hand knit socks which she inherited from her gran. So she knows the work that went into them. She did have to explain to one of our consultants that I did not change the colour of the yarn every two stitches. I most definitely can’t take credit for all those lovely colours in there.

The second pair I finished knitting was these ones. As yet I haven’t decided who these are going to. Perhaps because I feel that these are a little more special. This was another yarn by For the Love of Yarn but is part of her cherub collection. This is called Comic Con and was hand dyed by her oldest son with money going to charity. I think in this case it was the Glasgow Children’s hospital. I am so very tempted to keep these for myself as both the name and the colours speak to me. I won’t though. I just need to find the right nurse to give them to. I think I might have an idea who that is. Oh, and again there was no colour pooling. Thank you Callum for the beautiful yarn!

These socks I actually finished today. Again by For the Love of Yarn but a little different from the others. Instead of Merino/nylon or stellina. It’s merino bamboo! It’s a beautiful yarn to knit with and I highly recommend it. The texture isn’t quite as smooth as the merino/nylon but this makes it perfect for socks to wear with boots because they are definitely more durable. If you are looking to knit a pair of hiking socks I would recommend this type of yarn base. I love the colours too. The colour is called Midnight Fun and I am sorry, again this was from deep in my stash with no clue as to when it joined it. Let’s just say the chances are it was waiting to long to be knitted up.

Here is all three skeins of yarn in their glory before I wound them. I always like to show them in their skeins as I do think they always look very different when wound or knitted up. The vast majority of my knitting stash is by For the Love of Yarn. However, the next three pairs will be knitted with yarn dyed by other dyers. Well two of them will be. If I go at the same rate you will be seeing those in another couple of weeks.

In the meantime I hope you are all staying home and staying safe. A huge shout out to all key workers out there. That includes those working in shops, Royal Mail, public transport and refuse. You are all appreciated.

Supporting Small Business

As an NHS worker I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of others. Last week received bread, chocolate and pizza. More importantly I also received lots of warm words and messages of support as have my colleagues. I hope that other key workers are receiving the same thanks as they put themselves out there. However, as I said to a friend recently, at the end of the day I will be paid regardless. I will still have a job when we come out through the tunnel. I understand that there are nurses out there who are literally living month to month but I as I don’t have a family to support I am not one of them. Instead, I worry about my friends who are running their own business. Who rely on income from these businesses to feed their families. So I urge you all to continue to support them if you can.

My plan is to support my friends and favourite small business through buying from one of them once a month. I know it is not essential to my needs which is why I am going to try to limit my ordering to once a month. This month is my favourite hand dyer Lisa of For the Love of Yarn. I have to admit I was planning this order anyway for other reasons. If you are a fellow Instagramer who follows various hand dyers you will have heard about operation SJW. Many dyers are submitting yarn under this and donating to various charities. Lisa took part in this as she and her son had been the recipient of some trolling recently. Her son dyed this yarn and it’s called Respect is for Everyone and is part of the anti bullying campaign RespectMe. Callum designed the yarn and came up with the name himself with all money going to SAMH. They have raised over £1000 already. I can’t wait to knit with this. Those colours!

This is another dyed by one of the cherubs. This time Isabella. It’s called Silver Slubby. If you remember to my last yarn haul post I had received the teal slubby and I was planning a pattern for it. All my pattern planning is on hold just now as I am knitting socks for my work colleagues. However, I will get back to it and I plan to use this yarn for the same pattern as the teal. I do love a semi-solid yarn colour and I think this will be perfect for the pattern I have planned.

I realised that I had used the last donegal base I had in my stash. Which is why I ordered this beautiful yarn. It’s called blush and I am loving the colours. I might keep this one for myself. It is my favourite base after all.

I hope that you are all staying safe. If you are struggling speak to someone. And please don’t feel you have to be productive while staying at home. It’s okay to stay in your jammies and watch rubbish on tv. I’ve had days like that too as I am sure everyone has. Yesterday I did very little. Today I’m feeling slightly more energised with banana bread in the oven and I’m about to wind some yarn. Take care of yourselves everyone.