Tag: Crochet

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Housiversary

Part of a crocheted octagon motif from the Persian Tiles blanket by Janie Crow. It is in orange, red, dark blue, teal, yellow, light blue and cream.

Twenty years ago today we moved into our bungalow. Moving from our little flat we thought that we’d never run out of space again. How naive we were!

Regular clear outs and de-clutters have to happen to help us still fit into our home that has become more and more ‘us’ over the years. During the time we’ve been here, pretty much the only things that haven’t been changed are the walls and the bathroom (apart from the basin which had to be replaced). The garden has grown along with us too: the daffodils we planted in the lawn last year are starting to come up, the roses and fruit bushes are ready for pruning and the hellebores and snowdrops look beautiful.

It’s made me think about how things can change over time so that even though technically you’re in the same place, in other ways you’re definitely not.

When we moved in I was 30, teaching music (still part-time then) and singing as a regular alto dep at the cathedral. Now I’m 50, I’ve been out of the classroom for 5 1/2 years, I’m working with yarn full time, designing, teaching knitting, exhibiting at yarn shows and I’m singing again.

Back in the day I had made a couple of (quite simple) crochet jumpers and I loved them. I made a couple of granny square blankets too. Then I didn’t do any crochet for years, apart from the odd edging to a piece of knitting or an amigurumi, such as the unicorn I made for my sister-in-law and the Pikachu I made for Sue.

Then last year I started the Mystical Lanterns blanket designed by Janie Crow and loved it. I’ve not yet finished it, but it’s coming on. And last week I began my most challenging crochet project yet – the Persian Tiles blanket, again designed by Janie Crow. I’ve completed one octagon motif which was very successful and tried a small granny triangle which is a little lopsided at the moment.

Persian Tiles octagon motif

It’s so good to learn new things, especially when you teach – getting yourself into the place of ‘not knowing’ is really valuable to understand what it feels like for your students!

I mentioned exhibiting at yarn shows. I’ve already publicised that I’ll be at East Anglia Yarn Festival (EAYF) in Norwich next month and Buxton Wool Gathering in May.

I can now let you know that I’ll also be at Wonderwool Wales in April! This is held at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells and has always been my favourite show to visit, so I’m thrilled to be exhibiting there.

I’ll be back at the Pop-Up Wool Show in Port Sunlight too in August. And there may be more shows to tell you about in the coming months as well!!

In terms of designing, I’m juggling a couple of things at the moment. The sleeves for the adult Honeybun are nearly complete – I just need to work out how to add the extra shoulder shaping into the pattern writing.

Then the button band and it’s off to the tech editor! Fingers crossed it will be ready for Wonderwool.

I’m also working on a lovely reversible cowl which I hope will be out quite soon (no pics of that yet).

I bought some fab yarn at Ewe & Ply on Saturday and it’s already being used!

Caramel Slice was first published in The Knitter in August last year and the rights have now returned to me. The pattern is now in my own format and I’ve taken some new photos with Shelby modelling the cardigan. Once these have been fully edited and added to the pattern it will be ready to be published and I will have printed copies of the pattern with me at EAYF!

I’m at my mum’s until tomorrow – Cleo the cat says hello:

And I’ll say goodbye until next week!

Take care all and have a good week, K x

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Fire It Up

A close up of knitted brioche in fiery autumnal colours. The pattern has a motif of interlocking leaves.

We had a wonderful time at Wool-in Garden City as you will know if you’ve seen any of my social media posts. The part I was nervous about (giving a talk as part of the Meet the Designers session) was great fun and my workshop students were amazing. An unexpected bonus was meeting a completely different set of vendors from the ones I have previously come to know at the shows I did last year. I think this must be because the location was that bit further away. It’s nice to expand my network of yarnie folk – and, just like the people I’ve met previously, they were such a warm, welcoming collection of people. As the event lasted a whole week, it gave proper time to talk to everyone and I got some excellent advice and top tips from other vendors and designers, most of whom are far more experienced than me in the business of yarn shows!

Do you remember how much I’ve been enjoying making my Mystical Lanterns blanket? I decided it was about time I extended my crochet skills further and I now have a copy of Persian Tiles blanket, also designed by Janie Crow. For Mystical Lanterns I took the opportunity to use some yarn that had been in my stash for a while and I’m loving the random colour approach of ‘pick a ball out of the bag without looking at it – whatever it is, that’s the next colour you use’ (it’s not finished yet, but it is growing well). However, for Persian Tiles I’ve decided to go down the traditional route of matching the colours of the original design. Not exactly, as I’m using West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK rather than the Stylecraft used in the pattern, but I’m very pleased with the shades I’ve got. I already had the red and cream and picked up the rest this afternoon at Yarn O’clock. I like ColourLab as it’s pure wool and not desperately expensive and I use it in workshops quite a lot. The yardage isn’t as long as the Stylecraft at 225m/100g rather than 295m/100g, but I’m hoping it will be enough – if not, I’ll just have to top individual colours if I run out.

I realised this morning that there’s been a definite colour theme going on recently in what I’ve been knitting – perhaps I’m channelling orange to combat the darkness of the winter evenings (and some of the days)? I know that I’d love to go to Shetland for the Up Helly Aa fire festival one year.

Some exciting things will be happening soon with the lightest orange in that picture – watch this space!

The orange/fiery theme continues with my small Petulia which has grown quite a bit since last Tuesday! This pattern is currently exclusively available from RiverKnits as either a kit or just the pattern.

Speaking of exciting things happening soon, here’s another picture of beautiful yarn that is going to become something lovely in the near future.

This is Donegal Rich Tweed 4-ply from McIntosh in the colours Rossnowlagh, Raphoe and Ardara. Aren’t they gorgeous!?

At the beginning of the month I launched my year-long discount for members of my Facebook group (the imaginatively named ‘Kath Andrews Designs’ group) and subscribers to my monthly newsletters. Folk receive a discount code they can use each month (as often as they like) on specific patterns which change each month, so by the end of the year, my full portfolio will have been included. Facebook group members can get 10% off the full price of patterns and newsletter subscribers can get 20% off. January has been all patterns beginning with A or B – 11 designs in total. February will be – you guessed it – all patterns beginning with C or D.

This year-long discount has been introduced partly as a thank you to folk for signing up to the newsletter or joining the group and partly as a balance against the price changes I have been bringing in.

Garments are now £7 (for those with 4-7 sizes) or £8 (for those with 8+ sizes).

All other patterns are now £6 with the exception of my very simple patterns (Beginners Bunting Triangles, Furrowed Fields Scarf) and baby blankets (Croeso Baby Blanket and Nos Da), which are £5.

Those of you buying online in the UK won’t actually see a difference in price on the £6 patterns on platforms such as Payhip. Patterns will have already been costing you £6 because VAT was added on top of the main pattern price (the extra 20% is then kept by the website and passed on to the government).

However, I didn’t really like the fact that the price you paid depended on where you lived. So, I’ve now included any VAT due on digital patterns within the price – and raised the basic pattern price to cover this. This means that if you live in the US, patterns will cost you a little more and I will receive a little more. If you live in the UK (where VAT is 20% on digital patterns), patterns will cost you the same as they previously did and I will receive the same as I previously did.

It may sound a bit complicated, but it isn’t really. You’ll just see a single price that is the same for a given pattern regardless of where in the world you are.

Enough of the maths! During the rest of this week I will be putting Caramel Slice into my own format and continuing to knit the sleeves of the adult version of Honeybun (as well as playing with some fiery coloured yarns!). I’m nearly at the full width of the sleeves and then once I get to the sleeve cap things will progress quite rapidly as the stitch count drops.

We are hoping to visit the Process exhibition at Qube in Oswestry soon as well. The exhibition continues until 12th February and is open Monday-Friday 9-5 and Sat 9.30-12.30.

I’m hoping to have some completed sleeves to show you next week (and maybe a few other things too!). Until then, take care and stay warm. K x

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An Abundance

Two small metal colanders sit on a bamboo worktop, filled with raspberries. There are a few borage flowers in the one on the left as well.

Yarn Gathering is in less than three weeks! I am excited to tell you that Anne and I did the floor plan at the weekend and there’s going to be a really lovely mix of vendors for you to visit. There will be nine stands in the main hall of the Daniel Owen Centre and three in the cafe space. The cafe itself won’t be open, but you can get refreshments from a variety of places in Mold on a Sunday – or even better, why not visit the Mold Food & Drink Festival while you’re here? There’s a map of the town showing the venue and car parks on the Yarn Gathering page.

One word of caution, especially for the folk who are not from Wales and may be less aware of the upcoming changes in the traffic laws. From 17th September, (nearly) all roads in Wales that were previously 30mph will be 20mph. There will be 30mph signs for any roads that are exceptions to the 20, but the general intention is ‘see street lights, think 20’. I don’t know if traffic police will be issuing fines from ‘Day 1’, but we would hate anyone to get caught out. My town has been one of the 8 trial areas for the 20mph speed limit and there have been very mixed responses from the local community, but it will be happening, starting from Yarn Gathering day, so take it steady on your way to inhale the yarn fumes!

I’ve been baking again!

These are vegan sourdough chocolate brownies and they are truly delicious – especially with vanilla ice-cream and homegrown raspberries. My sister-in-law is coming to visit today, and it seemed an excellent reason to get the baking going again.

Update – Katie loves the brownies and helped pick today’s raspberry harvest.

We’re getting this many every day or two at the moment. Even though they’re autumn fruiting, the canes are really going for it!

Last week when I wrote I was getting to the end of the medium sized sock for my upcoming sock pattern, Bodelwyddan. As you can see, that sock has been finished and the small (second size) sock has also been made! The dark (medium) sock is in RiverKnits Nene 4ply (100% British Bluefaced Leicester Wool) and the light variegated (small) sock is in The Yarn Artist Sock 4ply (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon). Both of these socks were knitted using leftovers from other projects – there wouldn’t be enough for two of each, but who says your socks have to match?!

I’ve also been storming ahead with my own version of Lichfield. This is size 7 and I have finished the back and the left front, and made a start on the right front. As we have a couple of long car trips this week, I may even have finished a sleeve by the time I write next!

Something I forgot to share with you last week was my one purchase at the Pop Up Wool Show.

I bought these two beautiful skeins of 4ply wool from Doulton Border Leicester Yarn. The yarn comes from their own flock and all the sheep live out their full lives, even after their fleeces stop being suitable for use – they have an oap/retired sheep field! I really like their philosophy and the yarn looks and feels very high quality. I don’t know what I’m going to make with it yet, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve!

I’ve been doing a little more crochet recently – what, two crochet projects on the go? Shocking! To the right is my first attempt at puff stitch. Those are the stitches that form the heart in the centre of the granny square. I’m not sure I’ve got it quite right in terms of tension, but I think it’s pretty good for a first attempt! I also decided to treat myself to a crochet blocking board.

This was one of the Amazon images for this crochet blocking board. Can you see what is wrong with it?! 😂

It almost put me off buying it, but at least I could see the pics were of actual crocheted items actually held in place with the metal pins. This was a big improvement on some listings which showed a similar board with badly cropped pictures of crochet overlaid and photoshopped images of the pins floating in mid-air in front of them!

I’m glad I did get it though, it’s decent quality bamboo and metal pins and I like the idea of being able to block several squares at once stacked above each other – guaranteed to be blocked to the same size!

Anyway, that’s all from me for today. Take care of yourselves and I hope you get to do some stuff you enjoy this week. Keep your fingers crossed on the cardigan progress for me! K x

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And Then There Were Two…

You know I enjoyed the sewing workshop last week, when I made the zipped pouch with Jo Paloma Makes at Amanda’s Fabrics? Well, I enjoyed it so much I made another! There will be more…

Are these boxy little bags something you’d like to see on my stand at yarn shows?

I’ve also finished, blocked and photographed my new sample of Amy March Shawl (though I haven’t updated the pics on the webpage yet), so I shall have the new sample and printed patterns with me at the Pop Up Wool Show on Saturday at Hulme Hall. In fact, I’ll have Amy March AND the updated version of Marianne Half Hap – as well as all my other patterns of course!

This week has also seen the completion of the second sock of the largest size in my new design that will be out in October. The pic shows it just after turning the heel. That’s five socks I’ve knitted using this pattern now. I’m going to make one of each of the second and third sizes as well, in different yarns, so folk can see how the pattern works well with striped, semi-solid, variegated and speckled yarns. The pattern still needs a name, but I have a few ideas now, so it won’t be nameless for too much longer.

My Mystical Lanterns Blanket, designed by Janie Crow, now has a fifth row. It’s interesting to see how, despite the random colour selection process, some colours are grouping together in the same area of a row each time. I think I shall have to give the bag a good shake after I put the yarn balls back in next time.

There’s even been some spinning! Having been working hard at getting thicker yarns more consistently I decided to ring the changes and explore the higher ‘gears’ or ratios on my spinning wheel. That just involves moving the elastic band that links the big wheel turned by my feet to the small wheel that spins the bobbin where the yarn goes.

The higher the ratio, the faster the top wheel spins and the faster the yarn goes on to the bobbin. While I’ve been getting used to it I’ve actually slowed my feet down dramatically, just so the fibre doesn’t fly out of my hands before I’ve put enough twist in it to hold together. But it’s certainly more successful than the last time I ventured onto the fastest end of my wheel and this time there was no swearing!

My week hasn’t been all yarn and fabric based. I’ve been busy designing and editing the flyers for my knitting workshops taking place at Shaz’s Shabby Chic and advertising them on social media.

If you know someone who would like to learn to knit from scratch or develop their skills further with slip stitch knitting or knitting in the round, please send them in my direction! You can even scan the QR code in the image above with your phone’s camera, which will take you straight to Ticketsource where you’ll find all the details for each class and be able to book tickets (or click the link!).

The final preparations for the Pop Up Wool Show are taking place, with printing of patterns, checking of kits and wooden items, clarifying my display set-up etc.

I know that I’ve got a space against a wall this year, which is good for me, and I hope you’ll come and say hello to me and my lovely wife if you get the chance.

I couldn’t leave you without mentioning Yarn Gathering.

We’ve got 12 lovely vendors lined up for you this year. There are a few more folk to add to the webpage, but do have a look and see who’s coming. There will be some cafes open in Mold, parking is free on a Sunday (as is entry to Yarn Gathering), and of course, the Mold Food and Drink Festival will be taking place as well, so there is a lot to come and enjoy on September 17th!

What have you been up to this week? Take care and I hope to see some of you on Saturday! Kx

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Productive

There are lots of things coming up that I can’t tell you about just yet (but I will soon, I promise!), so I thought I would share this week’s progress with my various projects.

Yesterday I managed to pick the blackcurrants – I got 7.5 lbs of fruit off our one bush, which shows that netting these and the redcurrants has really made a difference. Again, it wouldn’t all fit in the freezer, so I used just over half to make a batch of jam. I do need to get some more jam jars – or make sure we use up some of the preserves I’ve already made. I thought the 8 jars I could find wouldn’t be enough, so I washed and sterilized a Kilner jar that had been storing dried fruit and thank goodness I did as that got filled up as well! It took hours for the Kilner jar to cool down and as there was some condensation on the lid I thought that would be the best one to open first. It tastes really good – rather like super concentrated Ribena…

The gooseberries have been hiding under their leaves and are very ripe, but if I get them picked in the next day or so we should be able to use them for crumble.

We also harvested our first round courgette! They are supposed to be picked when the size of tennis balls, so this one was a little on the large side, but it tasted fabulous with pesto pasta.

The few lonely broad beans in the colander are all that were on the plants in the garden (they went into the same meal as the courgette). When I picked them, the whole plant came out of the ground as though the roots hadn’t properly taken since being planted out. Next year I shall sow the broad beans directly into the ground and do it much earlier.

Beyond the garden, my spinning is complete – there are some irregular sections, but overall I’m very happy with it. Velvet Sixpence‘s Polwarth fibre has been a delight to work with.

I’m thinking about adapting my Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl pattern to include a range of yarn weights and this might be a good yarn to knit a chunky sample with!

Also completed is my lace-weight Marianne Half Hap shawl! I cast off this morning.

Straight off the needles it’s rather frilly and uneven, but that’s because it’s not yet been blocked. Blocking will happen tomorrow morning and I am going to be super careful with it as the gorgeous yarn, Northampton Shear Shetland Lace from RiverKnits, is a single ply with some very very fine sections. I think it will be more a case of easing and pushing the knitting while it’s damp, rather than pulling and stretching.

This means I can cast on another new sample of an existing design as part of my Summer KAL – this one will be Amy March Shawl using two beautiful skeins dyed by The Yarn Artist.

My Mystical Lanterns crochet blanket is now three strips wide and I started the fourth strip today – two and a half motifs are done on this one so far. I’m really enjoying this design by Janie Crow – especially as I’ve now got the main motif memorised which makes progress faster.

It’s a great stash-buster. The central ring of the motif uses hardly any yarn, so if I have a colour I think I have virtually nothing of I can still get it into one or two more motifs.

Progress has also been made towards the Pop-Up Wool Show that is happening at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight in a month’s time (19th August, 2023) – yay! I’ve printed out the extra patterns that I needed.

Don’t worry, this isn’t everything I’m bringing, it’s just a top-up print to make sure I have enough of each design with me! Later this week I shall be sanding, waxing and burning stitch marker pots, and knitting/sheep themed coasters.

Now I’m off to a leaving do. It’s for my lovely wife who, after seventeen years in the role, is in her final week of term as a primary headteacher.

Whatever you’re doing this week, I hope some of it brings you joy. Take care, K x

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Sunshine After the Rain

The garden is coming on – especially after the rain/thunderstorms we’ve had over the weekend and yesterday. The courgette plants finally look to be developing flower buds and the broad bean flowers haven’t all been washed away by the rain. The rain has also given the chickweed and other weeds a boost so I shall need to get out there with the hoe soon as well. Each day the sun comes out and the plants look so much happier now we’ve had some water fall out of the sky.

I even got around to covering the currant bushes, though not very well… The bushes are actually one heck of a lot bigger than I thought. The netting we have only sort of reaches the fence and pulls down on the bushes somewhat. I’d had visions of creating some sort of rectangular construction with the canes with the bushes all inside, but it seems to be keeping the pigeons away so far, which was the intention. We ended up covering one of the gooseberry bushes too as it grows so closely to the currants.

The Zoom events are all set up for the Summer Knit-along and tickets are available to book. There’s a free option and a paid (£3) option. Both ticketing options give you exactly the same access to the event; I just want to give people a choice.

I’m hoping we’ll get some folk signing up for all these events. The cast-on party is next week!

If you’re thinking of joining in, please do book a place; there are 100 spaces available so you won’t be stopping anyone else from coming if something crops up! I don’t anticipate we’ll get much into double figures, but 100 was a good figure to choose to absolutely ensure anyone who wanted to could book a ticket!

On July 6th, Issue 191 of The Knitter will be out and in it will be a new design from me! It uses Pure DK from West Yorkshire Spinners which is beautifully soft, and the design comes in 10 sizes, to fit 71-167.5cm / 28-66″ chests.

I’m looking forward to making a start on a version of this for me (the sample for the magazine was a UK size 10 – size 2 in the pattern, so I won’t be able to wear it after it’s returned). That will be once I’ve finished my Marianne Half Hap lace weight sample during the Summer KAL,

The design I’m working on is nearly finished! Hurrah! I have 10 repeats of the edging left to do, a tiny seam, blocking, weaving in ends, measuring gauge and finalising the details on the written pattern. It’s turned out really well and I’m pleased with the construction and how it’s looking. The deadline is in just under two weeks so it’s all moving along to schedule. I wish I could share pics with you, but I’ll have to be patient and wait until nearer publication time.

I’ve done a little more on my Mystical Lanterns blanket designed by Janie Crow. I’m joining the motifs as I go as suggested, but I’m not entirely sure how long to make the strips as I haven’t got the same quantity of yarn even with the extra leftover yarn from Violet Green that I added to the mix of Wrigglefingers and Cambrian Wool. I might go with 7 rather than 11 motifs to a strip and if I end up with more motifs than I’m anticipating overall, it can be a wide blanket.

I love how it tessellates too!

That’s all from me today. Take care out there folks. Hold your nearest and dearest close and tell them you love them, K x

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Peek At You!

I said it might be finished by this week, didn’t I? The individual pieces were all complete by the weekend, but it took until today for me to sit down and sew it all together. One of the hardest things, strangely enough, was cutting out the felt pieces and glueing them into position. That right eye (the white part) had to be stuck on four times before it decided to stay put!

If you play Pokemon Go you might appreciate Pikachu’s pose in the featured image above – for those of you who don’t, sometimes they pop up in the corner of photographs!

Pikachu Front
Pikachu Back

There’s actually enough yarn and stuffing to make at least one more, although I used all the felt supplied. I won’t be making another one yet though – a 2.5mm crochet hook can be quite hard on the hands.

Buxton Wool Gathering is just under four weeks away now! I love the new social media images that have been shared with the exhibitors by the organisers. That crown on the sheep is very jaunty and a nicely subtle nod to the yarn show now being on the Coronation weekend. The show itself is on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday – do come!

An important point to note is that the 10am opening is for folk who have bought their ticket in advance – if you want to buy a ticket at Buxton Pavilion on the day, you’ll be able to from 11am on both days.

I finished my current spinning this week. I think it’s come out at about an aran weight, which is what I was aiming for. I’ll check it soon against my yarn gauge. The colours are not ones I usually go for, but I really love how it’s turned out. ‘Faded Blooms’ is a really good name for it, don’t you think? The fibre came from FibreHut and it’s 100% Bluefaced Leicester Wool, which is brilliant to spin with.

Last week we had a lovely trip to Bodnant Garden – making use of our National Trust membership. We walked nearly all the way down to the bottom of the gardens and I felt very brave crossing the water on a set of stepping stones. I’m not sure I’d have been brave enough without the handrail there too though! The magnolias, rhododendrons and camellias were absolutely beautiful – and some of them are VAST!

The swathes of daffodils (or should that be ‘hosts’?) across the meadows were also gorgeous and very varied and it inspired me to photograph all of ours once we got back home.

This is one of my favourite new daffodils. It’s got real ‘attitude’ and is quite large too so we can see it clearly from the kitchen even though it’s at the bottom of the garden. I think it’s ‘Boscoppa‘.

The knitting is coming along well. Re-reading last week’s blog post I saw that I was just about to cast on the body of my latest design last Tuesday. Well, I’ve knitted the whole body now (some of it twice) and today I’ve written the pattern for the sleeves, so they will be started next! It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve knitted a child’s garment and I’d forgotten just how quickly they grow.

This coming Thursday (13th April) sees Issue 188 of The Knitter hit the newsstands which includes Part Four of Branwen Knit-along Shawl. Subscribers probably have their copy of the mag already! If you’re knitting this shawl, do share your progress on social media – or even by email! On social media, add the tag #KathAndrewsDesigns and I’ll be sure to see it. There’s one final part left to be published after this one. If the weather continues as it is today for much longer (cold, wet, very windy) knitters making this cosy DK shawl will be very glad of the growing shawl on their knees as they knit!

By the way, my sourdough starter is behaving a bit more reliably, but it’s still taking nearly 24 hours to not quite double in size. It needs a bit more TLC, but we’ll get there.

That’s all for today. I hope you stay warm and dry, and get to do some things that make you happy this week. K x

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Reader, I frogged it.

Despite the cold mornings over the past couple of days, spring is really here. The daffodils are looking wonderful. We went a bit mad on bulbs last year (we got ours from Scamps in Cornwall) and there are 10 or so different varieties in flower at the moment, of all shades, shapes and sizes. One is so frilly and multi-layered, it almost doesn’t look like a daffodil at all!

The rhubarb is coming up a treat too, and I think I will be making rhubarb and ginger jam again very soon. I last made it on 6th April 2021 – and I noted on the jam labels that it had been snowing that day. Hopefully we won’t get any more snow this year – last month’s was quite enough for a while.

I’m managing to gradually wake my sourdough starter (Audrey 2) up, though she is still very sluggish. It’s taking about 24 hours for it to nearly double in size and it should be a lot quicker than that. I think it is time to consult one of my “Sourdough Whisperer” books by Elaine Boddy. She is an absolute whizz with sourdough, has a very no-nonsense approach, and has advice on almost any possible scenario from getting a happy active starter, to trouble-shooting loaves that haven’t turned out as expected.

On the yarn-based side of things I’ve been quite busy as ever. The adult cardigan has been delivered to its destination and the pattern emailed. No pics allowed yet – it’ll be published in July. The child’s cardigan (next commission) has a healthy looking spreadsheet and I cast that one on last night. Again, no pics – that one will be published in August.

In a couple of weeks I will be giving a workshop on Finishing Techniques. This is the one workshop that involves a lot of knitting prep, as I like to give the knitters the blocked swatches they will be working with. The first time I ran this workshop knitters were asked to bring their own blocked swatches and they were…quite varied. Some people did not know how to block, so hadn’t. That’s fair enough – that’s all part of finishing. It is far easier to seam something once it’s been blocked (as long as it’s done properly!).

So, now knitters are given two swatches and then the one remaining swatch that hasn’t been blocked is given a wet block there and then to show them how easy it is – and what to avoid doing. They will have squares of two colours, pick up stitches along one of them (in a third colour) to knit a shaped flap with a buttonhole, and then seam the two squares together to make a small purse. There are a lot of skills involved in this – picking up stitches, directional decreases (choosing and positioning them well), different types of buttonholes, working mattress stitch seams down the side of a knitted piece and on a cast-on edge, weaving in yarn ends. And how to block.

There are a couple of places left on this workshop (18th April, 6.30-9pm, £35 at Yarn O’clock in Mold), and if you’d like to brush up on your finishing techniques contact Anne at the shop (01352 218082) to book a place.

Pikachu – the crochet kit I bought after Christmas – is coming on well. He has a body/head, two stripes and a double thickness tail. I’ll be making the feet later today, which just leaves the ears and arms. You never know – it might even be complete by next week!

The first sleeve of my Umbriel sweater was sailing along. Until today when I tried it on. You may remember I said that I’d picked up extra stitches than stated in the pattern as I need generously sized sleeves. It turns out I’d overdone it. As I was working the short rows there were a couple of points on around the armhole where it was looking a bit ‘pleated’, but I thought it would be ok once on and my arm would smooth the fabric out. Once I transferred the stitches to a long needle so I could try it on I realised just how unlikely that would be!

So, dear reader, I frogged the sleeve worked so far (‘frog’ as in ‘rip it, rip it’) and I’m back to square one. The moral of this tale is to listen to nagging doubts – it won’t always block out – and try on as you go when you can. I’m so glad I hadn’t completed the first sleeve before trying it on. Frogging your knitting is almost as much an act of faith as knitting it in the first place. You’re saying ‘I can do this differently, better’. Also, although some people will look at you pulling out what to them look like several evenings worth of perfectly good knitted stitches, if you know that you won’t wear it as it is, there’s no point in leaving it as it is. It’s quite liberating actually.

Good points I noted when I tried it on: the sweater does have a wonderfully soft and warm fabric, I was right to shorten the length as much as I did, and the body fits beautifully – even over a t-shirt and woollen dress.

This is the armhole after the sleeve was frogged. Ready to go again!

I’ve got my ticket for Wonderwool Wales (which is less than three weeks away now!) and then before you know it I’ll be exhibiting at Buxton Wool Gathering (May 7-8) and Wool @J13 (May 13-14). Full details and links for how to buy tickets for these are on the “Where I’ll Be” page and I’ll be writing more about upcoming shows in the next week or two.

I hope you have a good week, and are able to do some stuff you enjoy. Take care one and all, K x

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Time Flies

Can you believe that it’s already six months since Tiffany and Agnes were launched into the world at Yarndale? It’s really flown by. That means that I will be adding the patterns to my usual platforms (my website, Payhip, Ravelry and Lovecrafts) on Friday 31st March. RiverKnits are still selling kits (yarn and printed pattern) and I will include a direct link to those where I can for people who want a kit rather than the digital pattern. I will also have printed copies with me at future yarn shows! Yay!

I have to admit to a particular fondness for Tiffany (shown in the Shadow Rainbow Set of Nene 4ply minis), but Agnes also has great deal of charm (shown in two colours of Aysgarth yarn) and the pattern includes two size options. They will soon be joined by Petulia – the third in my collection of shawls named after the younger witches in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series – and they all use RiverKnits yarn.

Keep an eye out for social media posts towards the end of the week letting people know that the patterns are available from me!

I’ve finished the cardigan that I can’t show you – it’s all sewn up and all the ends are woven in! It looks really smart and I will be making one in my own size as well. I have checked and double-checked the pattern against the publication’s house style and the wonderful tech editor has been very helpful with my queries.

All I have left to do now is: a final check on all the numbers (particularly that they’ve been transferred correctly from the spreadsheet to the word doc); double check the chart files; finish the schematic; and calculate the yarn quantities for all the different sizes. That last one ends up sounding like one of those maths questions where the question setters try to put things in a real world context – except this one already actually is – and on a big scale: “If a UK size 8-10 cardigan takes 368g of DK yarn, how much will a UK size 4-6/ 12-14/ 16-18/ 20-22/ 24-26/ 28-30/ 32-34/ 36-38/ 40-42 take?” That will be tomorrow’s job!

Also tomorrow, I will be posting off the yarn I sold on eBay. One person bought both colours – they got a very good deal and I recouped some of the money laid out on yarn I won’t be using. So, thumbs up for everyone!

I promised to tell you how I got on with my new ChiaoGoo needles. I was using the two shortest tips (2-inch long and also the thinnest at 2mm) with what I thought was the shortest cable (I thought it was 5-inch long, but it was actually 6). I was finding it quite hard to make sustained progress, although it was much better once I’d finished the ribbing and there was *something* to hold on to. I think this is also because I have been using 4mm and 3.75mm needles a lot recently as well as the shortness of the tips.

In an attempt to make things easier on my hands, I tried knitting continental style (carrying the yarn in my left hand rather than my right) which helped a little, but not enormously. Continental knitting is a very rusty technique for me even with regular sizes needles, but I do think that it will be a good knitting style for small circumference knitting if I can persevere with it and improve.

My final tweak has made the most difference. I now have a 3-inch long tip for my right hand and a 2-inch long tip for my left, joined by what actually IS the 5-inch cable. My hand next to the needle tips in the pic below gives a sense of scale. As the previous cable I was using was the 6-inch one, the overall circumference is the same, but there’s significantly more needle to hold on to with my right hand now and I feel much more in control! Fingers crossed for further progress during the week.

I began the crochet Pikachu last week as well. This was partly due to my frustration at not being able to show most of my current knitting to you or on social media. I wanted to be doing something I could share! I’ve done a few more rounds since taking these pics and I’m getting better at keeping track of stitch counts – thanks to the bulb pin to mark the last stitch of the round. The yarn is a thin 4ply cotton and the hook is 2.5mm which gives a nice firm fabric – ideal for stuffing!

That’s all I’ve really got to tell you about this week. Apart from the fact that I’ve been trying to wake my sourdough starter up. Audrey2 has been having a long snooze in the fridge and currently seems disinclined to wake from her slumbers, despite two feeds. I will keep going with her though – she’s always come through for me in the past!

Take care folks, stay safe and cosy and do something that makes you happy this week. Kx

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New Tricks

A completed crocheted granny square in self-striping yarn that changes from pink-maroon-orange. It is lying on the arm of a pale sofa.

Last night’s workshop of Beginner’s Crochet was great fun. There were a couple of people there who had done some crochet years ago and some who had never even held a hook before. By the end of our two hours they had all crocheted at least two rounds and were feeling more confident with trebles and chains. Folk even asked when the next class would be, so I must have been doing something right! Many thanks to Liz for sending me the pic of her finished granny square once she got home (that’s the main pic!).

All those attending were brilliantly positive and determined, even when finding something tricky initially. As adults we can forget what it feels like to learn a completely new skill and how frustrating it can be when it doesn’t click immediately. But the satisfaction when it does is immense. It’s only relatively recently that I taught myself to crochet right-handed, having done so left-handed for decades. It really did feel like starting from scratch – and I *knew* what I was supposed to be doing with my hands! But practice and time make it feel more natural, as with any new skill.

I’m so proud of what everyone achieved. If you are a crocheter (or are simply good at seeing patterns) you might look at some of these pieces and think you spot some ‘errors’ – and that’s completely right. As with the brioche knitting workshop a few week’s ago, unless something was going to cause a major problem later on, I encouraged people to avoid undoing their work, or to try and make it ‘perfect’. Leaving in ‘errors’ helps you see how you’ve progressed and also see what happens when you do a particular thing. For example, the centre bottom image has more trebles in the chain spaces than you would do in a granny square – but it would make a great flower!

Much thanks as always has to go to Anne from Yarn O’clock for booking and organising the evening, keeping everyone supplied with drinks and biscuits and for being generally fab!

The next workshop is on closed ring cables – there are spaces! If you are near Mold and are free on 21st June 6.30-9pm, have a look at the full details on Yarn O’clock’s website.

Next week I will be able to share something very exciting with you – a new design is being published on Wednesday 15th June. We have been asked to keep ‘sneak peeks’ to a minimum before then, so newsletter subscribers and blog readers will hear about it first in the early part of the week.

Last Wednesday we had a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We’d not been there before and although we walked miles (literally) and saw lots and lots, it seems there is still a huge amount to explore, so we will be going back again! There was even gorgeous vegan cake in the cafe. Some of my favourite sculptures were the Barbara Hepworth ones – and Ronnie enjoyed them too!

And on Friday we had an early morning walk around part of the Great Orme to celebrate my lovely wife’s birthday. We walked about a third of the way round and then back again. I’ve been all the round the edge of the Orme in a car, been up to the top in a car, a cable car and on foot, but it was the furthest I’ve gone round the edge on foot (must remember the walking shoes next time to avoid a repeat of the big blisters).

It was quite a wind-swept experience, but lovely to sit on a bench with a flask of tea with a view of nothing but the sea in front and the Orme behind and to the sides of us. We also saw seals, cormorants and… a peregrine falcon!!! We wouldn’t have known what we were looking at if I hadn’t asked one of the two men who were sitting on folding chairs with cameras that looked like paparazzi ones with the huge lenses on the front (apart from the camouflage wrapping!) who seemed happy with the photos they had been getting.

Finally, you might be pleased to know that I did finish the embroidery by my Friday deadline! Sue is very pleased with it and it is currently drying on a towel before being pressed and stretched over mounting board prior to framing. The pattern is “Hint of Chocolate Limes” from Peppermint Purple. This was my first experience of blackwork embroidery and I loved it. I will be doing more.

I’ll be showing you LOTS of knitting next week! Take care and stay safe. Kx