Tag: lace knitting

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One Stitch at a Time


Well, it’s been quite a week. Lichfield came out in The Knitter last Thursday and I’ve had some lovely comments about it.

Lichfield Cathedral close-up.

I’m coming to the finishing stages of my Treasure Chest Socks design. The largest size is being added and knitted and I’m working my way through the gusset decreases currently. That will be out in October.

I do need a name for this design still. With some designs the name actually comes first because of the inspiration (as with Lichfield), but with others it’s one of the last things to do. I might even ask for suggestions…!

Tomorrow sees the halfway point of my Summer KAL. There’s another Zoom – this one is a knit and knatter, 12th July, 7.30-9pm BST, and just as before, the tickets are available online for free with a £3 paid option should the mood take you that way. If you’re knitting something of mine and you’d like to join us it would be wonderful to see you there.

I’m more than halfway through my Marianne Half Hap (my SummerKAL project), though I always forget how long a knitted on edging can take. There are some super fine sections in this second skein of yarn so I will need to be extremely careful when blocking it. I don’t want any nasty popping or snapping of yarn to occur!

I’ve also realised that it’s only five and a half weeks until the Pop-Up Wool Show in Port Sunlight. That means there are spreadsheets to sort out, patterns to print, kits to put together and wood to sand, oil and burn.

I picked the redcurrants! Well, most of them. After the fourth massively overloaded colander went into the sink I decided the birds could have the rest. The netting is now just on the blackcurrants which are waiting patiently for their turn.

I think I got about 10lbs of fruit, after pulling the berries off the stalks. I was going to freeze it all, but there just wasn’t room in the freezer for that much, so I turned 6lb of berries into jelly and the rest is frozen.

I’m doing quite well with my plans for this month so far. I finished reading Melmoth. I have also finished spinning the singles of the Polwarth dyed by Velvet Sixpence and I shall ply it once I get back home.

I’ve spun the whole braid onto one bobbin (didn’t plan ahead), and, as I want a two ply yarn, I think I shall bracelet ply it, which means I will need to ply the whole thing in one go.

I finally did some embroidery. I realised that my plan of completing two 10 x 10 squares of the chart in a month was a little unambitious. At that rate I will still be stitching this piece in 2045! So I have completed 6 squares of the chart and I’m going to finish the whole of the bottom row this month as well if I can.

Even if I complete one whole row of 10 x 10 squares per month that will still take until about Christmas 2024. Crikey.

I’m at Mum’s again for a few days and she has completed the bag for me that was originally supposed to be a folder cover. It’s really rather amazing. I’m going to add a couple of magnetic closures to the inside top.

There were two partly completed folder covers and Mum wrote out the instructions for me to do the other one!

I also was allowed to have a look through one of her fabric boxes and choose some fabric to take home – there will be lots more sewing in my future!

Do you ever feel you have more things you want to do than there is time to do them in? I do, but I’m finally realising that I can only do is what I can, one stitch at a time.

Take care one and all. Have a good week and do some stuff that makes you happy, K x

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Fourth of July

Part of two strips of Mystical Lanterns crocheted blanket laid flat on a pale gold carpet. The crocheted motifs each contain four colours and the colour combos are randomly selected from over 20 colours.

Some days don’t begin quite the way you’d want them to. I’d been looking at the netting on the currant bushes yesterday and thinking that the wind / local cats had dislodged some of it and I needed to sort it out.

Then this morning, what do I see? A dark brown bird had got inside and was struggling to work out how to leave. Cue me dashing down the garden in my nightie to help it out. It was a thrush and I’d not seen one for a while. Once it located a gap in the netting, it claimed its independence and was back up on the rooftops pretty quickly! From the kitchen I’d thought it might be a female blackbird, but you can’t mistake that mottled feathered breast up close!

While I was down the garden I decided to try to re-secure the netting to avoid a recurrence and I thought I’d check out the progress of the veg. I found a courgette just about ready to pick (so I did). Large teaspoon for scale.

But the broad beans look rather pathetic and more worryingly were covered in light grey feathers… I wondered if the sparrow hawk had been back, but if it had been I probably wouldn’t then have found most of the poor wood pigeon at the bottom of the path. I’ve tidied it up now, but it was not the most pleasant start to the day – for me, the thrush or the pigeon!

I’m quite impressed that after all that, I *still* managed to write my newsletter and get it sent before my 9.30am haircut.

On a more exciting note, I got my subscriber and contributor copies of The Knitter through the post yesterday – and my design is on the cover!

Meet Lichfield – it’s the spotlight pull-out so there’s no page number. Issue 191 will be in the shops on Thursday 6th July, or if you’re a subscriber too you may already have it!

Why Lichfield? Well, the border design reflects the stone niches carved on the front of Lichfield Cathedral.

It hardly seems possibly that only three days ago (on Saturday) I was recording a video on how to pick up stitches at the very edge of garter stitch, including picking up front and back in the same stitch. Any yet now I only have 16 rows left to do of the 50 rows in the border of my Marianne Half Hap Shawl!

At this rate I will have finished it before the end of the Summer KAL, which runs until the end of July. But that’s ok – there’s another of my designs that I want to knit a new sample for too so I can start that 😉.

Remember, if you are taking part in the Summer Knit-along by knitting any of my designs, you can share your progress on social media with the hashtag #KathAndrewsSummerKAL and/or sign up to come to the mid-KAL Knit and Knatter on Zoom next week. (Weds 12th July 7.30-9pm BST). Tickets are free (although you do have the option to pay £3 if you really want to.

One of the things I’m really trying to do this month is to not ‘waste’ time. I don’t mean I’m not going to relax or do things like read, or even sit and ponder the nature of the universe. What I’m trying to move away from is losing an hour or so scrolling random social media posts or playing online games – it’s quite shocking on occasion to look up at the clock and find it’s at least an hour later than you thought it was!

So, instead, my July plan is to:

1. Finish my Velvet Sixpence Polwarth fibre spinning – I’m really enjoying it and it’s coming along well.

2. Finish reading Melmoth by Sarah Perry. I started this book a while ago and it’s taken me ages to get halfway through it- so this month I will finish it!

3. Complete another 2 strips of my Mystical Lanterns crocheted blanket. I joined the first two strips together yesterday and I really like it so far.

4. Get back to my embroidery of Mum which has been sadly neglected. I’m going to take a slightly different approach and aim to complete two 10 x 10 squares of the chart rather than work on a single colour. I did this for the partial squares down the right hand side and it was really motivational to see a small area completed rather than little bits all over that don’t look as though much has been achieved.

I’m also intending to re-oil the bamboo kitchen worktops and keep a note of how far I walk each day with the aim of regularly walking further by the end of the month.

Those are my non-work-based plans! I’m trying to use SMART targets (that used to make me roll my eyes when I was in the classroom) as I’ve figured out that if I have a plan that isn’t ‘specific’, ‘measurable’, ‘achievable’, ‘relevant’ and ‘time-based’ – it’s far less likely to happen!

We’re also working away in the background to bring Yarn Gathering to you again this September – I’ll be able to tell you more about that in the next couple of weeks (yay!).

Do you have any plans for July?

Take care one and all, hold each other close and do stuff that makes you happy. K x

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Let it Grow!

We’ve had rain – and the garden is very happy about it! There’s even some new life emerging from the champagne rhubarb crown.

The netting is definitely helping the currants to stay on the bushes and not get eaten by the birds. I saw a really good homemade fruit cage online the other day – made of two simple metal arches covered with either polythene or netting. It might be worth a try next year.

I’m not sure the broad beans are going to come to much – I think I sowed them too late. You can just about see the plants with a few very small pods in the left hand pic below! This morning I podded and blanched a batch of beans from elsewhere having saved the best eight to dry and sow next year. I might even do what my grandfather apparently used to do and plant them on (or near) Boxing Day!

An update on the quilting. After returning home from Mum’s I discovered that I did indeed have a walking foot for my sewing machine (it had come with one) and I’ve tacked the other two placemats. The backing fabric for these two is different from the first one, although it does still feature houses.

However, I only thought to look on Sunday morning for whether I had any quilting needles for my machine (they have a different type of tip to stop the wadding getting pushed/pulled through the outer fabric), and it turned out that I didn’t. I ordered some and they arrived this afternoon so I shall be getting on with completing the set of placemats tomorrow!

I finally got back to doing some spinning yesterday. I hadn’t done any for a while and I’m not quite sure why as it’s really hypnotic and relaxing – especially with the Polwarth fibre I’m using at the moment. This was dyed by Velvet Sixpence and it’s a joy to work with. I’m going to aim to get this spun up, plied and skeined in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve been really enjoying knitting up my lace-weight version of Marianne Half Hap for the Summer Knit-along. I got a little done during the Zoom Cast-On Party – lots of chatting and fun was had. and as you can see from the progress shots, I’ve done quite a bit more since. The yarn is gorgeous (Northampton Shear Shetland from RiverKnits) and still slightly greasy – in a good way! – so my hands are getting moisturised as I knit!

I also discovered an error had been quietly sitting in Row 33 of the central triangle (!); it said to place a stitch marker when there were 11 sts remaining on the needle, but it should have been 10… This seems like a small thing, but it could cause confusion and frustration to a knitter. An update has been sent out to everyone who has bought the pattern on Ravelry, and updated files are available to download from Payhip and Lovecrafts as well.

My sock design is all written up and I’m now knitting up one of the smallest size, just to check a few things. After knitting the socks in Zauberball Crazy, it’s nice to see how the design works in a more solid colour too.

An interesting difference between these yarns is that although there is very little difference in the meterage of the two yarns – the Zauberball is 420m per 100g and the other yarn is a high twist 400m/100g, they seem to have quite a different gauge. The Zauberball definitely felt like a thin 4-ply as I was knitting it. I will knitting the start of the large size in a ‘standard’ sock wool such as Regia or West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply as well and see how the gauge and size compares. I want the pattern gauge and sizing to relate to most standard sock yarns so folk can reliably choose a size and it will work.

What’s the most important aspect of socks (knitting or wearing them) to you?

That’s all from me for today. Take care of yourselves, K x

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Join In

My current design is coming along well now and I only have the final edging section left to knit! But you knew I wouldn’t be able to resist making a start on the crochet blanket, didn’t you?

I’ve also just finished going through the tech editing process on another design and I hope to be able to share details of when that will be coming out soon. It’s very cool and is effectively two patterns in one.

You may notice the main menu of the website is looking a little different – I’m aiming for a sleeker look that is easier to navigate, with more drop-down options and fewer things to read initially. So, instead of ‘Patterns’, ‘Kits’ and ‘Wooden Things’ each having their own space in the menu bar, they are now drop-down options under ‘Shop’.

It’s a small change, but one I hope will help people find their way around when visiting the website.

During the past few days I have been taking part in an Instagram challenge to share images of my work each day and to nominate another artist each day to do the same. The format of the posts is as follows:

“I was nominated by @deunynknits to present 1 piece of my work each day for 10 days, with a nomination of another artist to do the same.
–
10 images, 10 nominations, no explanations, all to promote creativity, passion, the love of what we do and support our artistic friends.
–
Today I nominate…”

I thought it would be nice to share the images I have selected so far with you as well!

The designs are: (top row) Maid Marion Shawl, Nevern Throw and Diamonds in the Breeze and (bottom row) Of Night and Light, Into the Vortex and Angel of the North.

Marianne Half Hap Socks Yeah

Summer KAL

I’m going to be running a Summer Knit-along in my Facebook group and you are warmly invited to join us.

It will start on June 21st and run until the end of July. After running a poll in the Facebook group, I have decided that it will be an ‘open’ KAL – that is, you can take part by knitting any of my designs. And there will of course be prizes!

We’ll have a cast-on party via Zoom on Wednesday 21st June (7.30-9pm) and two more Zoom events during the KAL. Finalised details will be published on Facebook, Instagram and my website with links to book tickets for the zoom events.

I have decided that my project for the Summer KAL will be a new sample for my Marianne Half Hap Shawl. You, of course, are welcome to join in by knitting any of my designs!

The shawl was originally knit in a sport-weight yarn, and then in this 4ply/sock yarn (Socks Yeah!) and I’m now going to knit the pattern up in a lace-weight yarn. I’m going to use two skeins of RiverKnits’ Northampton Shear Lace. 

Next week I’m going to tell you a little bit more about this! 🥳

Until then, take care, keep an eye out for the KAL info and enjoy the sunshine (carefully) if you can. Kx

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Dros y Penwythnos

(that’s Welsh for “Over the Weekend”)!

Well, what can I say? Buxton Wool Gathering was fab! Sunday was warm and sunny with LOTS of visitors – apparently more people came that day than came over the entire weekend of the previous year. After the show closed I was able to enjoy a plant-based salted caramel ice-cream on a bench in the Pavilion Gardens which was just the thing after a busy day.

The weather on Monday took a turn as expected and it rained for much of the morning, with a few drier hours in the afternoon. It was a quieter day at the show, as is usually the case with the second day of a yarn show (that’s why I tend to visit Wonderwool on a Sunday), but everyone who was there was having a good day and was cheerful about the rain.

It was wonderful that my lovely wife was able to help me set up my stand on Saturday. We drove over in the morning and, thanks to me believing my sat-nav knew what it was doing, ending up driving across (up?) the peaks and up the Cat & Fiddle – not quite the A road I’d been expecting! However, we still got there in good time, got everything looking beautiful on the stand and went off for an explore in the rain. The cable ties for the items on the clothes rail were such a good solution as it removed the problem of things sliding onto the floor!

We had lunch at The Herb Garden, a lovely little vegetarian cafe that was friendly and welcoming with super vegan choices. Following that there was more walking, Ronnie flew above the rooftops of Buxton, we explored some of the shops and then drove up to the Premier Inn.

After settling into our room we booked a table for dinner, chilled out and dried out a little, then walked back into the town centre for dinner. Once we had walked back to the hotel we’d clocked up over 12,000 steps!

Sue had to return to Wales on Sunday and so I was on the stand by myself, but not for long, as there were so many people to chat to, both vendors and visitors.

My immediate neighbours were brilliant company over the weekend and deserve a shout-out:

Zwölf Fibres had yarn and rugs from his own sheep and was doing his first ever show. Edelweiss Fibres had gorgeous hand-dyed yarns inspired by florals and the natural beauty of Scotland. Noodle Soup Yarns are also hand dyers, specialising in punchy colour on sock weight yarn and All Wool That Ends Wool had a wide range of full and mini skeins in bright and bold hand dyed colours.

You’ll see some of their stands at the end of this video I took on Monday morning:

Buxton Wool Gathering, just before the start of Day 2

I also got to meet Pod from A Happy Crow in person (I follow them on social media), learnt how to make a Saxon Vat for indigo dyeing without extra chemicals from the fab folks at Blotz Natural Dyes and managed to grab a few good chats with the one person I knew from before this show: Tanya from The Woolly Tangle.

There were lots of other fantastic folk there as well, but my brain can only remember so much today, so please forgive me if I was chatting to you and haven’t given you a mention.

A couple of designing highlights of the weekend were: when two people came round the corner and one exclaimed “I recognise that!”, pointing to Bargello Aurora Wrap which she had just finished knitting and when someone at my stall said “I’ve got a list”, and just as I was thinking she was going to ask for the whereabouts of some the other vendors, showed me the section of the list she meant – she had gone through the patterns on the website and had a list of six patterns she wanted!

There were lots of other great moments – those are just the two that stand out most in my thoughts at present.

Sue had made dinner when I got home on Monday evening and it was so good to sit down to eat a home-prepared meal. I slept REALLY well too!

This morning I combined my notes of sales from each day and was delighted to realise I’d sold 77 patterns and 4 kits – so over 80 patterns in total. That led to some very necessary re-printing (especially as I’d sold 22 copies of Tiffany) in readiness for Wool@J13 this coming weekend! That will be a slightly smaller event in term of number of vendors (about 30 rather than 50), but there will be food vans and music and workshops happening as well, so it promises to be a lively show. The stands are in a marquee in the grounds of Bishton Hall; fingers crossed the weather improves a bit from what we’ve had today and the grass has a chance to dry out beforehand – especially for those brave souls who will be camping! Not me, I’ll be extending my range of Premier Inns visited.

I didn’t get much knitting done while I was away – though I did manage to turn the heel of a sock I’m working on during a quiet patch on Monday. I will be glad to get back to the needles for a last bit of swatching for my next design during the next few days before I pack up the car on Friday and do it all again!

Did you have a good weekend? K x

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May Day!

I wish I could share a pic of my desk with you right now. It’s rather overflowing with work! However, I can’t show you, because one of the things on it is the finished child’s cardigan that no-one will see until August, and there’s also piles of pattern printouts and schematics with various measurements relating to that. On the right side of the desk is a stack of stitch dictionaries with a small heap of knitted and blocked swatches on top, ready for the next design! I’ve even started using the top of my printer as a desk extension, which probably isn’t very good for it…

Now that it’s May we finally have some warmth here. I walked to the post office earlier with sandals on! I have good news on the seedlings too – they are sprouting well. As long as they survive we should have some homegrown broad beans, dwarf French beans, mange tout, coriander, and courgettes so far. I’m having to do regular sweeps of our click-together plastic-covered greenhouse to check for slugs and snails; I just lob them into the patch of ground elder and tell them to munch on the new shoots of that instead. Pics soon!

The cardigan is done and even has its buttons sewn on (pics in July when it’s published). I have recovered from the shock I had at the weekend end when I opened the pattern file only to discover several pages were missing! Fortunately I had printed the pattern out as I was working on it. I also discovered an older version saved in the back ups on ‘Time Machine’ from two weeks ago that mysteriously had more of the pattern than the current version and I was able to recover that, which saved quite a bit of re-typing.

I can’t imagine how five pages of a Word doc vanished, unless something went very wonky when I was using my new iPad and I accidentally deleted them without even realising? Something similar happened with my Excel spreadsheet file for the same design a few weeks ago too – maybe there’s something I’m leaning on on the screen? Losing work is NOT something I want to experience on a regular basis!

This afternoon I’ve been chomping through the numbers, double checking they all work and make sense – and result in a garment of the proportions intended for all sizes! I’m really pleased with the sample. It’s made using West Yorkshire Spinners Elements DK and includes two of the new seasons’ colours.

If you’ve been following my social media over the past week or so, you’ll know that I’ve been knitting my own version of Tiffany, one of the shawls I designed for RiverKnits. It uses their Nene 4ply Shadow Rainbow minis set and the colours are so rich and saturated that you could just sit and look at the yarn for hours. However, I had a shawl to knit – with the aim of having it ready to display at Buxton Wool Gathering, which is now only 5 days away!

This morning I finished the shawl and photographed it before I went on to block it.

I videoed the blocking process. It’s quite an ‘aggressive’ block and it tends to make my blocking mats lift up at the edges. You also need to put the pins into the mats at a steep angle to stop them pinging out. You’ll see in the vid that I end up weighing the edges of the blocking mats down. The end of the video is cut off as my phone ran out of space – the video was 37 minutes long at that point! Don’t worry though – I’ve edited it and sped it up A LOT so it now takes less than 90 seconds!

Blocking Tiffany

Yes, I really do measure each point of the shawl from the cast-on tab at the centre top of the shawl. This makes sure it’s a semicircle. The finished blocking is a heck of a lot larger than when the shawl comes off the needles, and you need to leave it pinned until it is completely dry. It will pull back in by about 3.5cm on the radius once the pins are removed and I think it will look stunning at the show.

Speaking of Buxton Wool Gathering, here’s a reminder of the details. It’s being held at Buxton Pavilion Gardens, St. John’s Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6BE. There’s a pay and display car park and food and drink available both at the venue and in the town which is only a short stroll.

Please note that the show is on Sunday and Monday (as Saturday is the Coronation). Tickets bought in advance allow entry from 10am, tickets bought on the door allow entry from 11am.

Buxton is closely followed by Wool @J13 on May 13th and 14th!

My Moebius Knitting Workshop at Yarn O’clock on May 18th (£35, 6.30-9pm) still has a couple of places on it. If you want to understand and learn to create the unique structure of a true moebius ring and how this technique can be used for wonderful neckwear and more, this is the class for you! Learn two Moebius cast-ons and create a simple headband. Ring Anne at Yarn O’clock (01352 218082) to book a place!

I’ve also recently been invited to have a stall at the Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Friendship Day the following weekend, which was a lovely surprise! If you’re a member of the guild or one of the other local guilds they invite to join them, you’ll see me there!

I think this is my busiest month yet in terms of events – everything is on my ‘where I’ll be‘ page on the website.

I’ll tell you all about how things went at Buxton next week! Til then, take care, enjoy the sunshine if you can, and do some stuff that makes you happy, K x

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Kate and the Beanstalk

Sometime last year, one of my oldest friends (who is not a knitter) said he would like to have one of my designs knitted up. He found a knitter who was willing and able to take on a commission through the UK Hand Knitting Association, decided on and bought the pattern from me, and then asked about sourcing Welsh wool appropriate for the project.

The design my friend selected was Beanstalk, originally published by Knit Picks, using Tuff Puff, one of their super bulky yarns. It really is super bulky too as there are only 44yds / 40m per 100g!

Now, I know there is a lot of gorgeous Welsh wool being produced, but neither he or I could find anything Welsh of quite that magnitude, so it was decided my friend would order the yarn from Knit Picks in the original colour and have it shipped directly to Kate Gray, the knitter he had found.

I was kept in the loop throughout the process, with Kate’s photos of knitting progress being sent on to me, and it was lovely to see one of my designs coming into being. My friend had never seen Beanstalk in real life and was just going from the original photos on the pattern and those sent to him by Kate, and I don’t think he had really got his head around quite how big and squishy it would be. It’s a big blanket – and weighs nearly 3kg. With that in mind, my friend thought it would be a good day out to come to Wales from London to collect Beanstalk in person, South Wales being where Kate is based. I was invited along too, to see the finished blanket, meet Kate and have a catch-up with my old friend.

And so, a train journey was planned. It wasn’t until I got to Wrexham station that I realised it would be my first train journey since the start of the pandemic. I was fully prepared with plenty of knitting, but I wasn’t expecting the train I had bought my advance ticket for two weeks previously to no longer be part of the schedule! The next train wasn’t for another 45 minutes. Never mind, time for a cuppa and some knitting and time to let them know I was running late. From there the journey went smoothly and I had nearly four hours of knitting time.

Once I did arrive at Neath station my friend was there waiting for me and we got a taxi to Glyn-Neath where Kate was waiting for us at Sgwd Gwladys with Beanstalk all beautifully parcelled up. Before we had lunch and lots of wonderful conversation, the first thing my friend wanted to do was to see Kate’s handiwork. And he promptly fell in love with it, keeping it out on the seat next to him throughout the meal. I’m not surprised, Kate had done a fantastic job.

After a very excellent lunch we popped outside for some photos – the rusty iron fence seemed like just the right place to drape Beanstalk and we had some pics taken with Kate and I on either side of it as well.

All too soon, it was time to go home. Of course, taxis get busy at 3pm with all the school runs and so I missed the train I was booked onto at 4.12pm by 2 minutes, but I caught the next just after 5pm and had another nearly four hours of knitting time! I got regular updates from my friend on his journey back to London as well, and it seems he was unable to stop admiring Beanstalk all the way home – he even loves the back!

Do you remember how I had just started my version of Tiffany last Tuesday?

Well, by the time I got back to Wrexham station that night there was a whole lot more of it in existence!

I was partway through Colour 5 by the time I got back to Wrexham. The rest of the week was taken up with the child’s cardigan – which is now done, apart from sewing on the buttons and weaving in a few ends!

On Sunday I was at Wonderwool, which was a wonderful yarn-filled day, and I bumped into a lot of knitting friends and acquaintances (including Kate!), but there was no knitting either there or during the journey (I was driving). I only did a few rows in the evening once I arrived at my mum’s house, but I’m now on Colour 7 and hope to have it finished and blocked in time for Buxton Wool Gathering in just under 2 weeks.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my Beanstalk adventure, even though there were no giants, golden geese or axes involved.

That’s all for today. Look out for more posts about Buxton Wool Gathering (and Wool@J13) on my social media platforms in the coming weeks! Take care all, 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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Winter Winds

A middle aged white woman with vibrant blue hair and a purple coat stands on Llandudno Pier with the Great Orme and the sea in the background. Round her neck is a hand knitted shawl, wrapped like a scarf, in bands of gradient turquoise garter stitch and cream garter stitch lace. Her hair is being blown all around by the wind.

We went to Llandudno on Sunday. Our main mission was to photograph Llandudno Promenade. on the pier and also on the promenade. Sue even lay down on the slipway to photograph the shawl flying as I threw it in the air above her. We hadn’t banked on it being *quite* so windy and cold, but we had a lot of fun. We also managed to get lunch at The Cottage Loaf which warmed us up a treat afterwards!

The shaw pattern is now with my tech editor and it should be having a relaunch in the second half of February.

Part Two of Am Byth MKAL was released on Friday and the photo below shows you Part One and a little bit more. I even did a little video to help folk with the 1-5 increase that is used during Part Two. If you are joining in with the MKAL and want some help with that, head to my Free Video Tutorials pages.

Two typos were discovered in the Special Stitches section (not the pattern itself, just the explanation of two of the cables) of Am Byth MKAL Part Two. It’s really annoying when these slip through, but it’s been corrected and the new version has been sent out to all those who signed up for email updates. If you missed it, the instructions affected are 2/2 RPC and 2/1 RPC which had the knits and purls the wrong way round (doh!). They should read as follows:

  • 2/2 RPC          Sl 2 sts to CN and hold at back, k2, p2 from CN
  • 2/1 RPC          Sl 1 st to CN and hold at back, k2, p1 from CN

Do keep sharing progress if you are knitting along with us using the hashtags #AmBythMKAL and #Yomkal.

Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours at Caffi isa, having a cup of tea (which turned into two!) and working on one of my current projects. The time spent away from other distractions was clearly helpful as last night I cast the shawl off and I blocked it this morning! This is Petulia, the third of my shawl designs for RiverKnits. As you can see it’s two colour brioche knitting and it has THE best shape – it’s just SO funky. The lighter coloured yarn is Chimera and the darker yarn is Nene 4-ply – both of which are fabulous yarns to work with.

I’m working on the chart now – brioche charts are always fun – and I’m thinking of including the sketch I used to work from as well as the chart and the written pattern. It’s a little bit like the idea of Stitchmaps, but simplified even more to give just the details of the movement of lines on the right side/light coloured rows (increases, decreases etc).

Keep an eye out for Petulia, as this shawl will hopefully be coming out in the next few months (once the charts, pattern, tech editing and photography are done).

The reason for my being at Caffi isa yesterday was so that anyone who was interested in Knitting for Beginners classes could come and have a chat with me or even have a mini taster session to see if they were interested. Actually, the one person who did come (hi Bev!) wanted to ask advice about picking up for thumbs on mitts and gloves. She’d seen my announcement that I’d be there on social media and thought she’d see if I had a spare five minutes. Well, I certainly did! Hence the second cup of tea and a lovely chat. I’m hoping to get some bookings in the next couple of days, otherwise I’ll probably need to postpone. Anyone can book a place by emailing me at kathandrewsdesigns@icloud.com or sending me a message on Facebook or Instagram.

My Sealy MacWheely fibre is now fully fledged yarn, skeined, washed and dried. I think it looks fantastic, even though there are occasional places in the yarn where the ply isn’t quite as even as you might wish for – but it is hand-spun, so it’s not meant to look the same as commercially spun yarn, is it?

Now I just need to decide which fibre I’m going to spin next!

I know I showed you this embroidery last week, but I’ve actually managed to make quite a lot of progress with it and have found the right angle for the photograph to show the stitches I’ve been doing! I’ve been working on the white and very pale beige stitches (beige currently on the needle here). If it wasn’t for the daylight magnifying lamp I wouldn’t have a hope, but these colours are (whisper it) nearly done and it *should* be a little bit easier with darker/brighter threads.

I shall be taking this with me tomorrow to Mum’s so she can see it in person, along with the current issue of The Knitter (my design is on the cover, did I mention that!?), and my Am Byth. I should probably take my socks in progress too as they are not going to finish themselves! I’m only there until Friday and there will be a lot of other things to do, but I don’t want to get caught out again like I was that other time, when I only took one project and finished it the first evening I was there!

I also made blackcurrant jam this week – but I forgot to photograph it. It’s VERY good, even though the blackcurrants had been in the freezer since July 2021…

Anyway, that’s all from me for now. Take care, stay warm and do some stuff that makes you happy this week. K x