I’m a day late! Sorry, folks. It’s been a *really* busy couple of days – including at least six hours on the road – and I didn’t plan ahead very well to get my post drafted in advance.
The image at the top of this post is part of my Leaf & Vine Cardigan, published in Haven: Knit Lace Patterns published by Knit Picks. I will be running a give-away of one printed copy of the whole collection in my Facebook Group this month – if you want to be in with a chance of winning a copy of this, join the group!
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I made the rookie error of going away and only taking one knitting project with me. I wrote about it in the post “Coming Together“. So, in an attempt to avoid a repeat of this shocking state of affairs, I made sure that I wouldn’t be without knitting on this trip to Mum’s. I took this little lot:
That’s five projects (one is hiding in the project bag – I’m working on the next MKAL!) that I took with me. Six to do there if you remember the cowl I did some knitting on for Mum last time I was there and is being kept now as back-up knitting for me!
Guess how many I worked on while I was away? One (the MKAL). But at least I didn’t run out of knitting – just time.
My Nevern Throw Expansion Pack is nearly complete! I have one more square to knit up, then the borders and joining to do. These are three of the new six:
Remember this is an addition to the original Nevern Throw, doubling the original number of designs. The gauge, yarn, needles and making up instructions are all in the original pattern and the expansion pack will just include the six new charts. All of the designs are drawn from the Nevern Cross in Pembrokeshire:
As each of the squares has the same number of stitches and rows they are all interchangeable, meaning you can choose how many different squares you include in your throw.
I did mention I’ve been working on the next MKAL, but it’s a *mystery*, so I can’t show you! You’ll just have to join in with us if you want to see it as soon as possible.
I’ve also been revising and updating the notes for my Cast-On/Cast-Off workshop, which I will be teaching at Yarn O’clock on October 18th (6.30-9pm) and at The Knit-Tea Retreat at Insole Court, Llandaff, Cardiff, October 22nd-23rd.
There are six small swatches that students will make, each with a different cast-on and cast-off and appropriate stitch pattern:
The workshop notes are now laid out with a page per swatch with a space at the bottom of the page to attach the swatch itself, thus building a library of cast-on and cast-off techniques. I’m ridiculously pleased with this layout as previously the notes were organised in two sections: Cast-Ons and Cast-Offs. This pairs relevant ones together and makes a lot more sense to me – and hopefully it will to the students as well!
Speaking of The Knit-Tea Retreat, did you know that as well as teaching three workshops there (the Cast-On/Cast-Off workshop is just one of them!), I will also have a stand at the Sunday afternoon marketplace which is open to the public, not just the retreat attendees. If you’re near Llandaff on October 23rd, 2-5pm, come and say hello!
I’ve made a little pledge with myself to spin a little each day when I’m at home this month as I didn’t get to my wheel at all in September! So far (out of three possible days) I haven’t actually done any, but tomorrow is another day and I am determined to do some spinning! On the other hand I did get to spend some time with a knitting friend this afternoon which was lovely.
I’m away again next week but, as I won’t be travelling on Tuesday, I’m hoping to get my blog out on time! Take care one and all, K x