I feel like I’m stepping into a room where you can write your name in the dust on every surface. Okay, it’s not been that long, but it feels like ‘Write blog’ has been staring accusingly from my to-do list for more than just a couple of months. Of course, the more time I’ve left this space in a state of neglect, the harder it becomes to work out what to write. I’ve decided that the only way forward is to attempt a sort of ‘okay, this is what’s gone on, wipe the slate clean, onwards!’ approach.
Bramble Hat and Mitts
Flora Beret and Gloves
So. Pattern releases. There have been a few that should have had a bit more of an airing than they did. Firstly, the other two Eden Cottage designs that premiered at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show: Bramble and Flora. As a yarn, I love and recommend Eden Cottage BFL. I also think the world of Victoria and her business and am really pleased with the designs I (eventually) came up with, along with the photoshoot we did at my in-law’s farm. However, if ever a project was beset with obstacles- time, illness, discovering your original idea looks just like a design in a clothing catalogue, technical problems with printing- then this project was. To put the tin lid on it, sales have been…modest, let’s say. Still, all part of the learning curve I’m on as a designer. There really are so many things to learn.
Folk Dance. Image copyright Practical Publishing
Dodger Spats. Image copright Practical Publishing
Tweedy Cowl and Gloves. Image copyright Practical Publishing.
Where the collection for Eden Cottage had some sort of coherence, my recent clutch of designs for Knit Now have been a little more diverse. I’ve come back to stranded colourwork again for the Tweedy gloves and Folk Dance dress, the latter being the first time I tried the technique of mixing ombre yarn (Crazy Zauberball) with a solid colour. The ‘Dodger’ spats were a very quick, fun knit with Rowan’s very fluffy, bulky-weight yarn, Tumble. It’s not the sort of yarn I’d normally use but I have to say the colour was beautiful and the yarn very soft. Obviously, being the weight it is, you also get very quick results.
Baby’s First Book. Image copyright Practical Publishing.
Knit Now also launched a spin-off just before Christmas in the form of Quick Baby Knits. The idea was that you could buy the magazine and that any one of the patterns featured could be made with the yarn that came free with it. I thought this was a really great idea for people who do a lot of knitting for little ones, or who are perhaps taking up the craft again because a baby is due. My contribution to all this was ‘Baby’s First Book’- yet more colourwork, this time to make simple, two colour images on each page and a personalised front cover.
That rounds up the pattern releases but it doesn’t really tell the full story of what my needles have been up to. My Christmas season also included a couple of Kate Davies stranded colourwork designs (is this a phase, or an actual addiction!?)- Snawheid, made for a fabulous and much appreciated colleague, and Boreal, made for me. Yes, that’s right, I actually found time to sit down and make something just for myself! It was my Christmas treat/project and I have absolutely no photos of it yet, not least because the weather has been so unrelentingly grey. We haven’t even had the snow everyone else seems to have had this week and my Boreal would look AMAZING in the snow. I think when I finally get some pictures sorted I will have to write about it separately here, because I love it so. I have also been working on a project I owe my sister as a birthday present from last year, but we won’t talk about that because her birthday is NEXT MONTH and it shows that I shouldn’t promise anyone knitted presents ever.
So that’s surely a slate cleaned, all ready for a 2013 jam packed full of thoughtful and creative blogs from yours truly? Hmm, I think the knitted present issue above should teach me something about rash promises. I think the best I can do is do my best.
A new release- Acorn Hat and Mitts
This is the start of an exciting week for me, as I’m hoping to release not one, not two, but three new designs!
All three designs have been developed using Eden Cottage Yarns’ Bowland DK, which you can discover more about here. It’s the result of my ongoing collaboration with Victoria at Eden Cottage, hence the samples of the new designs are due to be displayed on her stand at Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show.
‘Acorn’, shown here, takes a motif I’m fond of (you can see it in a different incarnation here) and puts it around a slouchy beanie hat and on the back of some neat little mitts. The charted design simple but satisfying to achieve and felt, as I went through the development process, perfectly suited to the colourway used: Autumn. There are so many rich warm shades in this yarn and of course, being a hand-dye, every batch is different, therefore every version of this hat and mitts will be unique.
Acorn is available from today in my Ravelry shop, with the printed version also going on sale on the Eden Cottage stand at Harrogate.
Spirograph
It’s not often that a design springs into your head, fully formed and ready to go. For me, its usually more a case of dreaming up the general gist, then refining with swatches, sketches and general tinkering to get things how I want them. In the case of Spirograph it was much simpler.I got an email from Kate at Knit Now about coming up with a design for the summer festival idea using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and immediately sketched something on the back of an old receipt or something similar that I had to hand. If I could find that original sketch, with notes like “slanting eyelets spiral round” and “narrows to hug crown of head”, you’d see that what I sketched was exactly what I made.
Publishing lead times being what they are, when I was thinking about this, summer was a bit of a distant dream. As a result, when I decided I wanted to try out making a version for myself, I used Manos del Uraguay Silk Blend and used more pattern repeats for a deeper, ‘lidless hat’, destined more for chilly tramps in the Lake District than chilled out festival nights. It must say something that I’ve worn it regularly since early Spring, through the summer and even more in these autumn days.
The magazine version, in the Cotton Fleece, was a little narrower for more of a summery, hairband feel. I think this is one of the strengths of this design, as it’s pretty easy to adapt to your own tastes or yarn choices- as demonstrated in a certain well-known designer’s version here. (Yes, that is one of my knitting designer-heroes making and blogging about my design and yes, I did nearly wet myself with excitement when I knew about it.)
The pattern is now available as an individual download through my Ravelry shop, with instructions included for both the shorter and longer versions.
French Press Slippers
As sometimes happens to all of us, I’ve a little too much on my plate at the moment. It’s kind of a case of too much of a good thing, as the vast majority of what I’ve got on is enjoyable, but the deadlines involved-stacked up behind each other as they are -mean there’s a danger of things becoming less pleasure, more chore.
With this in mind I’ve decided that, even though time is of the essence when it comes to the stuff that’s due for finishing, I need to grab a chance here and there for unchallenging, pleasurable, dare I say selfish projects?
This is one such project. The chance I snatched was just a few hours that constituted the drive to and from a christening we went to at the weekend- no good for any proper designer work, but fine for some simple knit and purl. The project was the hugely popular French Press felted slippers. They’re hugely popular for a reason- super quick to knit, easy to follow instructions and pretty good results (incidentally I thought French Press must be something exotic or vintage, but it’s just the US term for cafetiere!). Actually, you’d probably get really good results if you used the yarn recommended – I used Schachenmyer Wash + Filz it – and if you had a US style top-loader washing machine- I used the standard 40 degree cycle and eco-balls in our front-loader. My only issue with the result is that they turned out slightly large for my size 6.5-7 feet, and as I say, I don’t think this was the fault of the pattern, as felting is an unpredictable business.
Felting is also a bit of a leap of faith. Even if you’ve done it before, you look at this floppy, oversized, misshapen object that you’ve knitted and wonder how on earth putting it through the wash is going to help when lighter fluid and a match seems to be the only answer. Sometimes you’re right, and it comes out after the felting process, less floppy and oversized but still misshapen and hopeless. Not this time, though. This time the magic worked and although they aren’t perfect (organic, I like to call it!) they are pretty in their own way and very warm. Now back to work…
Back to the Drawing Board
…or how sometimes what seems like the worst thing can turn out for the best.
My working relationship with Victoria at Eden Cottage Yarns began not long after I started designing. When Knit Now asked its designers to come up with patterns for their ‘Marvelous Mittens’ campaign I submitted Treacle Toffee and, having seen Eden Cottage Yarns featured in a magazine, I asked if I could use some for my design. I loved it so much that I kept checking back to see what other colourways Victoria was dreaming up. When ‘Purple Iris’ came along, I immediately knew I wanted to design with it, and Starry, Starry Night was the result.
One of the many things I like about this yarn company is that a lot of the wool is not only dyed locally (in the same county I live in) but also sourced locally, from sheep reared in the Bowland Forest, just a little way further east. When Victoria said she was looking for pattern support for her lovely Bowland DK yarn, then, it was no surprise that I jumped at the chance.
So…I swatched on my holiday. I sketched my ideas for a pair of cardigans and spent a lovely hour or so with Victoria when she did a trunk show in Manchester’s Purl City Yarns, choosing the perfect colour combinations. I signed up to Rock & Purl’s Grading Course to make sure I’d get the sizes and pattern writing spot on. I was all on track to get going when…I got a Christmas catalogue from one of my favourite clothing companies, People Tree. Flicking through it I was dismayed to find something that looked remarkably like my cardigan design in their range.
I was gutted, frankly, but it was just one of those things. Supportive designer friends told me that there were enough differences between the two to save me from any accusations of breaching copyright. They suggested that I could make some small changes to differentiate it even more, but the fact was, I couldn’t face the thought that I could release a design and someone could say ‘She’s just copied that from People Tree’. In addition, I didn’t feel I had either the time or the heart to make big design changes.
There was nothing for it but to have a rethink. I went back to the start, swatched again and rediscovered what I loved about the yarn. Instead of cardigans (I’m off cardigans for a while!) I’m looking at a collection of retro inspired accessories- back to what I know well, eh? I’m aiming for lots of texture and a little colourwork to work in harmony with Victoria’s lovely colours.
What’s strange but wonderful is that actually, it’s working much better than I expected. It’s maybe even working better than the blessed cardigans would have done. Apart from being on a bit of a downbeat, timewise (we’re hoping for a release date of late November) it feels so natural to be making these designs, as if they’re what the yarns want to be. Serendipity, I’d say.
Snowball on the Holla Knits Blog Tour
Woohoo! It’s Holla Knits Blog Tour day! I’m very happy to be part of the tour and to be able to offer a fabulous giveaway, of which more further on in this post. As I wrote about the collection in general on launch day, I thought that today it would be good to give a little more background on my contribution to the collection
I’m not 100% sure where the idea for this design came from. It’s likely that my habit for trawling charity shops for knitting patterns from the 50′s and 60′s had something to do with it. The ideas of loop stitch and bonnets then twirled around in my head with the current vogue for blogger/street style like this and the glamour of 60′s ski resorts and winter wear.
The result was this loop stitch bonnet, made in two pieces- a flat piece with shaping for the back, with a short seam to fit it at the back, then a long tube of stocking stitch to make the front and ties. The first version, shown here, worked as I hoped it would, either tied under the chin (surprisingly flattering for the cheekbones I discovered!)…
…or worn loose with pom-poms flying.
However, hen it came to developing the pattern for the Holla Knits Fall 2012 Accessories Collection, I decided some adjustments were needed. The depth at the back of the original version had a tendency to look a bit ‘Little House on the Prairie’ when untied and a little bit like Marley’s Ghost from ‘A Christmas Carol’ when untied- not a look that everyone can carry off, especially if you don’t rock a big hair do.
The Holla Knits version is therefore a much neater, cuter affair. As you can see from the pattern shot, below, it suits long or short hair on the wearer and although it’s quite small, it gives great ear coverage (from the ties) and warmth (from the loop stitch- all those grannies making pramsuits knew what they were doing!). It’s quite bold and a wee bit ‘out there’ but I love it, and can’t wait to see how people work it in their own style.
Image copyright Sweatshop of Love
The search for the best way to do loop stitch, or fur stitch as it’s sometimes known, was another point of development for this pattern. While the basic method of making the loops by wrapping the yarn around your finger or thumb then knitting it into the base of the stitch is similar, I found a number of different techniques described in my vintage patterns, stitch dictionaries and online. Some wrapped forwards, some backwards. Some made a loop every other stitch on a row, others every stitch. Some needed a lot of tugging after completing the stitch to stop the loop loosening up and shrinking as I knitted on.
In the end, I found the technique I thought worked best to use for the pattern- which includes detailed written instructions for the stitch (road tested by Allyson when she made her version of the design, so we know they work for UK and American style knitters!) It’s also worth noting that there’s a nice clear tutorial on the Crazy Aunt Purl blog here , which is worth checking out as its one of those stitches where it’s a lot easier to see or do it than describe it.
One thing to note about loop stitch is that, with all those loops, it’s quite yarn hungry. Which is why it’s so great that the lovely people at Artesano UK have provided not one, but two sets of yarn for today’s giveaway prizes!
One lucky winner will receive a copy of the Snowball Pattern, along with three skeins of squishy, warm and subtly haloed Artesano Alpaca DK in the Cream colourway used for my original Holla Knits sample.
Another, equally lucky winner will receive a copy of the Snowball Pattern, along with three skeins of Artesano Alpaca DK in ‘Venezuela’, a sumptuous deep berry/wine colour that is so on-trend at the moment, it hurts.
To be in with a chance of winning, please share your thoughts on the Holla Knits Fall 2012 Accessories Collection in the comments section below. Two comments will be picked at random to each win one of the prizes described above. Comments will close and winners picked on 23rd October. Comments closed! Winners will be getting an email soon… Remember, if you aren’t lucky enough to win, the pattern is available to buy here.
Be sure to keep following the tour, because there are still more giveaways to come…
October 17: Gynx – pattern giveaway
October 18: Adaly Myles Place – pattern giveaway
October 19: Canary Knits – Subscriber exclusive yarn giveaway, pattern giveaway
October 22: Webs Yarn Store Blog - yarn giveaway
October 23: The Sweatshop of Love Hosts Homestead Heirlooms! – subscriber exclusive purse kit giveaway
October 24: Knitted Bliss – pattern giveaway
October 25: Stash, the Knit Picks Staff Blog
October 26: Holla Knits hosts Tara Shade! – Subscriber exclusive yarn giveaway, pattern giveaway
Holla!
It’s here! It’s here! Finally the launch day for the Holla Knits Fall 2012 Accessories collection is here and I am soooo proud to be part of it.
On the subject of accessories, Coco Chanel is said to have advised that before leaving the house, one should take off whatever was the last item you put on. Now, it’s not everyone who’s a follower of her pared-down aesthetic, but I think we can all learn something from the doyenne of style’s less-is-more mantra.
Take knitting techniques. I never cease to be amazed by the sheer number of fancy stitches and techniques out there. Seriously, a glance through Ravelry project pages can show you tricks with yarn and sticks that seem to defy nature and the laws of physics. I am full of admiration for knitters and designers who can do that stuff, but I do have a little worry that sometimes when a whole garment screams “LOOK AT MY CLEVER KNITTING” it can come across as a little bit try-hard. A wee bit self-conscious in proclaiming the highly skilled, handmade credentials that say this is absolutely not a shop-bought article. The Chanel-influenced part of me wants to whisper “tone it down a little”.
This is the joy of knitted accessories as far as I’m concerned. A small but perfectly formed canvas, you can make them in a luxury yarn without breaking the bank and pepper them with stitchy wizardry without it getting over the top. A fancy-pants handmade accessory worn with a simple outfit quietly asserts your originality and skill but will never end up wearing you.
The point of this little sermon was to highlight the gorgeous techniques that make the items in the Holla Knits Accessories collection so worth you getting your needles warmed up.
Take the beading on Teresa Gregorio’s Knight Service. On an all-over garment not only might you go mad with all the bead threading, but you’d also risk getting a bit too pretty-pretty. On this shrug with its major shoulder shaping it looks fierce and urban on top of the pretty, and totally luxe to boot.
Then there’s the super-smooth colourwork on Katie Canavan’s Scallop of the Sea bag- so elegantly modern retro!
There’s more amazing colourwork (and colour choices) on Emma Welford’s Wallpaper Cowl, but what makes this one for me is the Latvian braid. A traditional technique (though a new one on me until I saw the project-in-development pictures) in beautifully harmonised shades it takes the finishing on this design to another level.
My contribution to the collection, the Snowball Bonnet, challenges you to dust off that old favourite of knits for grandchildren in the 60s and 70s: loop stitch. I’m going to write a little more about that one when the Holla Knits Accessories Blog Tour hits these pages on October 16th- details below.
Meanwhile, I strongly urge you to check out the full collection at Holla Knits.com. You’ll surely find at least one design to beguile you with its wit and originality.
As I mentioned, the lovely Allyson at Holla Knits has organised a blog tour to launch this collection. It’s going to be packed full of giveaways, so be sure to give it a follow. You’ll notice that the Audrey’s Teashop stop has a yarn and pattern giveaway- I’m delighted to say that this is going to involve yarny prizes for not one but two lucky winners! Here are those all-important dates and places.
October 8: The Sweatshop of Love – collection and pattern giveaway
October 9: Under the Red Umbrella – Subscriber exclusive KP yarn giveaway, pattern giveaway
October 10: Rohn Strong – pattern giveaway
October 11: Emma Welford Designs – pattern giveaway
October 12: Knits in Class – Subscriber exclusive yarn giveaway / pattern giveaway
October 15: Bumblebirch Designs – pattern giveaway
October 16: Audrey’s Teashop – pattern and yarn giveaway
October 17: Gynx – pattern giveaway
October 18: Adaly Myles Place – pattern giveaway
October 19: Canary Knits – Subscriber exclusive yarn giveaway, pattern giveaway
October 22: Webs Yarn Store Blog - yarn giveaway
October 23: The Sweatshop of Love Hosts Homestead Heirlooms! – subscriber exclusive purse kit giveaway
October 24: Knitted Bliss – pattern giveaway
October 25: Stash, the Knit Picks Staff Blog
October 26: Holla Knits hosts Tara Shade! – Subscriber exclusive yarn giveaway, pattern giveaway
Fino- Finally!
It seems like a long time since summer and the projects I was working on back then. Getting design work usually means that I can’t really share much of what’s in my workbasket at the time, but have to wait until patterns launch. The waiting is over with these though- so I’m proud to present my designs for the new Manos Silk Blend Fino: the Eloise head wrap and Genevieve mitts.
As I mentioned in my ‘Work in Progress’ post, this lovely silk/wool blend yarn is, as a 4ply, quite a bit finer than I’d usually work with. However, if anything was going to convert me, it would be Fino. Like most silk blends it has a gorgeous sheen that works really well with textured designs- hence my choice of lace patterns for these designs (gosh, I paid for that choice at tech-editing stage with the shaping on the mitts, though!). As far as working with it, I had no complaints as it feels so smooth and soft both during and after knitting and I had no problems with splitting, which can be an issue with single ply yarns.Then of course there are the colours- ooooooh, the colours! The range, which is newly launched this autumn, includes solid and variegated shades and the five that I’ve seen in real life have all been rich and lustrous.
Both my designs- which form part of the Manos Silk Blend Fino Book 1 by Artesano- can be made from a single skein of the yarn. They use pretty but fairly easy to master lace designs and both being knitted flat, they’re fairly accessible even for relatively inexperienced knitters.
Eloise continues my interest in the head-wrap/ head band concept. I first experimented with this idea when I made my Spirograph head band, which was originally conceived as a hat without a lid, enabling me to wear my hair in a top-knot without the ‘baked bean head’ effect when I wore a hat over it. Eloise differs in that it’s knitted flat, with a ‘keyhole’ at one end so that the wearer can loop the end back through and button it. This both ensures a good fit and forms a decorative effect as the wrap fans out through the keyhole.
For me, the Genevieve mitts are all about the buttons. The mitts are shaped around the thumb and the buttons hold them together along the inside of the wrists and above the thumb. Rather than buttonholes I opted for an applied i-cord edging incorporating button-loops, a little homage to my fave designer, Kate Davies, and her Manu cardigan. Delicate but warm in this yarn, I think that the choice of colour and buttons would lend itself to a lot of variation, depending on the way they were to be worn. I made a version in a variegated pink/red with silver swirly patterned buttons and another in a plain olive green with plainer copper buttons and the effect was really different from one pair to the other.
More of my summer projects are in the pipeline as I write- with a certain Holla Knits imminent- so watch this space!
A wedding cardigan
I am ancient enough to have been one of those little girls who attended parties and special occasions in handmade, proper party dresses. When I was very small, these included some beautiful smocked numbers made by my Grandma, then by the time I was at primary school I’d graduated to ankle length, empire lines in printed floral cottons (it was the early ’80s and the Laura Ashley influence was still strong). By the time I was nearing a double figures age, things had moved on and junior versions of grown-up’s ra-ra skirts and ski-pants were more standard wear for pre-tween partying.
These nostalgic musings are not so unconnected with knitting as you might think. The proper party dresses I mention were invariably accessorised (in my memory at least) with a fluffy white bolero style cardigan, along with white socks and sandals. The cardigans would have been hand-knits by my Grandmother or great aunt and usually passed from my older sister to me, then on to my younger sister.
There’s nothing like having children of your own to make the nostalgia-prone go into overdrive. It’s not that I’m trying to recreate my childhood wholesale for my daughter, but there are aspects I’d like her to share. Fortunately my mum has slightly more time on her hands these days to indulge her talent for sewing and quilting and needs very little encouragement to get stitching for her grandchildren. As a result, M’s birthday party was Liberty print, hand smocked (front and back, I’m amazed my mother didn’t go blind). For an upcoming wedding Mama came up trumps again, going all the way to London to source the perfect dusky rose coloured silk to make this traditional style party dress, complete with big bow at the back.
So what was M to wear with a short sleeved dress to an autumn wedding? Of course, it had to be a fluffy white cardigan. Trouble is, with the amount of work I’ve got on just now, between the avalanche of paperwork that accompanies a new term of teaching, a satisfyingly hefty pile of commissions, a couple of birthday presents and the grading course I mentioned here previously, designing and making a cardigan in under a week was an insane idea.
So I didn’t design it. I just made it. Not insane at all, ahem. I had just enough Artesano Alpaca DK to make a little number with the sort of fuzzy halo I remembered from my own party dress days. I chose the pattern Jane by Georgie Hallam, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s a simple, seamless, button-free number that I felt I had a fighting chance of getting through in the snatched late-night hours I’d have to put into it. Secondly, when I’d previously made her ever popular Milo I’d been really impressed by how clear and well-written her pattern was. Again, I thought that this would give me a fighting chance of getting through it, even when I was tired.
True to form, the pattern was a joy to work with- clear, easy to follow and so satisfying as the top-down design took shape. The moss stitch edging and eyelet band (which you can thread ribbon through) adds just the right amount of detail, and having taken the designer’s advice and decided which size to make according to M’s measurements, rather than her age, the fit is perfect. I’m really pleased with it, and can’t quite believe that I’ve got it finished and blocked in time for this weekend.
Even though I’m delighted with this one, however, I still suspect that one day (it will have to be soon as it will probably seem like no time before M gets past the party dress and cardigan stage) I will have to design my own version of the cardigan that exists as much in my memory as in the handful of old photos of a late seventies/early eighties childhood.
Back to School
I love September and always have. I’ve never really lost that ‘brand new shoes and freshly sharpened pencils for the new term’ excitement and even after I left school I’ve always felt that the turning of the year from the excess of summer towards the cosiness and festivities of winter was the real start of a new year. Actual New Year I’ve always been able to take or leave.
Of course, these days, back to school actually means back to school as I’ve just started a new term of part-time teaching, with a classroom set up and running my way for the first time in years (I’ve done a lot of taking over from others, which has it’s challenges, but this time it’s my own domain, mwah-ha-ha!). In addition to this, my little boy has just started his first term at primary school, adding a new layer of complication to our busy little lives.
In case the flurry of name-tape sewing, packed lunch making and curriculum planning wasn’t enough to keep me occupied, I’ve also embarked on a bit of studying of my own. Having decided recently that I needed to add proper, sized sweater design to my repertoire, I signed up for the brilliant Rock & Purl’s online Grading Class. Given that I’ve got all the real-life school stuff and a slightly scary number of commissions (not that I’m complaining!) on the to-do list at the moment, I’m probably crazy. However, so far the quality of materials and support has been brilliant and I even get excited about getting homework- what can I say, I always was a bit of a swot.