Tag: Online learning

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Needles and Pins

An overhead shot of three knitted hexiflats lying in a horizontal row

Well, the Covid jab knocked me sideways for a good few days. I had the Astra Zeneca one and side effects have been varied and wide-ranging! My arm is still sore and when I went out for my first walk five days after the jab I was so wobbly we had to cut it short and come home very gently. But I’m taking comfort in the thought that this probably means my immune system is doing what it should.

My plan of knitting some hexiflats to add to my Beekeeper’s Quilt was a good idea. The queue outside the vaccination centre was very long (but at least it was dry), so I knitted whilst waiting beforehand. I’ve made a few more since then too – it’s useful to have a small project to hand when your arms and fingers are tired. Not only can you feel like you’ve actually achieved something tangible, as one hexiflat takes about 40 minutes, but also you’re not having to wrangle large quantities of fabric.

And what news of the Grand Secret Project? Well, it’s finished! It’s blocking (has had a long soak in the sink, been rolled up gently in a towel, been laid out flat on a mat and patted into shape) and I’m now just waiting for it to dry. I’m so pleased with it and can’t wait to be able to share it with you. I also worked out a really nifty way to accurately calculate the yarn quantities for all the different sizes. The pattern and associated files all need tidying up and double checking and then it’s good to go!

What will be next once the loose ends are all tied up? Well, I’m going to talk to Anne at Yarn O’clock soon about plans for the next Mystery Knit-along and I will be able to finish recording my Introduction to Lace Knitting course for Craftucation. I also have plans for a new shawl design using Knitting Fever yarn.

The wholemeal and seeded loaf was gorgeous by the way. So much so that I’ve made a second one just the same. I do want to get more rise (also called Oven Spring) into my sourdough loaves; the dough is now a good consistency when it goes in the banneton, but the loaves do tend to grow sideways rather than upwards in the oven. Some experimenting is called for, I think.

An overhead shot of a sourdough loaf scored with five lines spiralling to the centre

Having caught a crow in the act of removing and stealing the filled half coconut from the apple tree I’m keeping an even keener eye on it than before. That was the second one that had been taken; the first had moved from the tree to the lawn one day and vanished the next. I’m sure it’s the same bird that has made a few skirmishes on the replacements too – it gets a loud ‘shoo!’ which seems to do the trick at the moment. An alternative feeding solution has been ordered from C J Wildlife which should put a stop to the thefts.

A crow caught stealing, flying in front of a camellia bush with the coconut hanging from it's beak

It’s been lovely to see the range of birds that visit the garden increase since putting the feed out. There have been robins, blackbirds, pigeons and sparrows which we’ve usually had, but also blue tits, coal tits, gold finches and even a pair of thrushes! The magpie is quite keen on it too. There was a pair of coal tits yesterday on the tree, one of which was feeding the other (as a sign of being a good provider I think) and I’m hoping we’ll get visits from any offspring they have too.

That’s all from me for today. Stay safe and keep knitting, Kx

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What’s New Pussycat?

Following last week’s excitement of getting the Little Orme Hat pattern and The Little Orme Collection out into the world (and photographed at the Little Orme, too!), there has been a real change of activity in the past couple of days.

I’ve done lots of knitting on my garment commission and I *so* wish I could show it to you, because I am absolutely in love with it. However, you (and I) will have to wait until October before it gets revealed.

As I can’t tell you very much at all about the current main knitting project in my life, I shall have to focus on the other things I’ve been doing. I was very kindly sent a bag of Bowmont Merino fleece locks a little while ago, and over the past few days I’ve been cleaning them. Fortunately, the kind person who sent them to me also sent a couple of links to some very helpful videos (thank you, Anne M and YouTube!), so I had some idea of how to go about this. The change of colour was quite astounding, although the first dip in really hot soapy water and rinse in even more really hot water left quite a lot to be desired. So, they got dunked again, and this time came out gleaming.

Today I attempted to spin some of them – the idea being to spin the yarn as finely as possible. This was much easier said than done, even to get it to catch onto the leader yarn to get going. Eventually it did though and I got about two and a half locks spun, before frustration at the constant falling apart of the yarn finally got to me. So I took a deep breath and put that to one side for the time being.

And then to console myself I got out a plait of Polworth fibre dyed by Rachael of Cat and Sparrow. I got this at The Knit-Tea Retreat marketplace and it was said to be a great fibre type for newer spinners. I love it. As well as the fact that I’m not attempting to spin as finely as possible with this, it’s a gorgeous fibre that so far is behaving beautifully.

Do you remember me talking about the next Craftucation course I’m working on? It’s called An Introduction to Lace Knitting and goes through all the important aspects of lace knitting. You learn many of the common stitches one at a time (yarn overs and eight types of knit decreases!), before putting them together into a practice piece, as well as learning how to follow both a written lace pattern and a lace chart. You then move onto a similar but larger and slightly more challenging small blanket/throw. In this you learn about lifelines – the amazing lengths of thread that stop your knitting unravelling any further – and how to insert and make use of them. You also work a knitted on lace edging and block your finished piece. How cool is all that? All you need to know before undertaking this course is how to cast on, knit, purl and cast off. If you can follow a basic pattern already that is a bonus.

Here is the practice piece:

I’ve recorded a fair chunk of this course already, but I can’t record the next part until my skin heals a bit more. The sudden change back to very cold weather has caused my knuckles to split and that’s not a great look close up on video. I want people to be looking at what my hands are doing rather than the state they’re in!

Hopefully I’ll be able to record the next section soon, but the joy of these courses is that I’m able to create them on my own schedule. Which is the same for the people who take the courses too – no deadlines, no weekly meetings that might not work in your time-zone – you just work through the course at your own pace, in your own way, with access to the tutors and other students on your course via the individual online course forums. There are videos, downloadable and printable pdfs of notes with the video script transcribed and lots of still pictures as well as the original patterns used in the course. So, if you want to try knitting and would like a course that can work for you and around your schedule, have a look at my beginners’ courses: Knitting for Beginners 1 and Knitting for Beginners 2. These links give me a higher proportion of the course fee than if you simply go to the website so if you’d like to starting learning to knit (or know someone else who would), please do use these links!

My current audiobook, Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness (the fourth book in the All Souls Trilogy….), has given me one of those weird coincidences. Last week we watched Hamilton on Disney+ (it’s amazing what you get when you upgrade a phone these days), which I found fascinating and really enjoyable. I previously knew nothing about this period of history. Then, Time’s Convert takes me to the same time period and some of the same characters as well! It’s funny how things sometimes line up together in life like that.

It seems I had plenty to tell you about after all, despite not being able to share the Grand Secret Project!

Stay safe and warm, and keep (or start!) knitting, K x

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What a difference six months make

A view from the top of the Little Orme towards Penrhyn Bay and Rhos-on-Sea. The sea is calm and the sky has a few hazy clouds.

Can you believe it’s six months since I launched this blog? So the website is six months and one week old! Reading back over my first post I was concerned then about the changes Ravelry had made (though I left it un-named), was excited about Craftucation (from which I received my first payment yesterday!) and showed a picture of the view from the Little Orme, one of my favourite places, and the place after which the collection I am currently working on is named. The hat pattern will be released soon by the way! Today’s picture is unashamedly the same one as from that first post.

I didn’t know then that I would be getting a spinning wheel, or bringing a sourdough starter into existence and doing lots more baking. I also didn’t know that I wouldn’t see my mum once in this whole six months. Sometimes it’s good not to be able to see into the future. Hopefully the restrictions on travel between Wales and England will be lifted soon and I’ll be able to visit her again.

Today, there are butterflies in the garden, it’s 20 degrees outside and the sun is shining. The blackcurrant bush is coming into leaf and the redcurrant is just starting to think about joining it. Last year I allowed all the redcurrants to be eaten by the birds, partly because I hadn’t pruned it and the stems were so overlapping that it I couldn’t face the tangle. Now, of course, that means we have run out of redcurrant jelly, which is a real shame and meant that on Sunday I did something I’ve never done before; I *bought* a jar of redcurrant jelly! Inspired by the weather today and Sunday’s purchase, this morning I pruned the redcurrant bush and promised to take better care of it in future.

Sunday itself was an adventure; we went to a garden centre. They were allowed to re-open in Wales just over a week ago I think. Our nearest one is exactly five miles away, though it felt further! We bought some red cowslips which I have never seen before, some cell trays for the veg seeds and a few other bits and pieces, including the redcurrant jelly. It was so strange to be out in a place where there were quite a few other people and, although our trip was quite a brief one (less than 30 mins), by the time we were through the tills I was glad to be going home again.

It feels late to be planting seeds in a way, but with the extreme winds of yesterday and the snow and sleet forecast for Easter weekend here I didn’t want to kill off delicate seedlings, so I still haven’t done it. Next week!

Following my post about Ravelry last week I had a lovely message from someone offering me an extension/theme that might help. If you’ve seen my social media posts you’ll know what happened; I stupidly compared the version of Rav showing with the theme to the actual NuRav page and got hit with a horrible headache and nausea. It slowed me down somewhat on Friday to say the least. But, at least I know the theme works! I won’t be going onto Ravelry more than I have to after tomorrow though.

Speaking of which, there is a plan to stage a three day boycott of Ravelry from 31st March to 2nd April. Why bother? Well, their main income is from the advertising that users are shown and if you’re not on there, you won’t be shown adverts and so their revenue will drop. It may not have any impact at all or change anything, but I’m happy to wait to pay my March invoice for a couple of days!

Some exciting developments happened during the week with my magazine commission. Having received the email listing the chosen yarn and colours, I expressed some concerns about the way that yarn would behave given the nature of the design. Those concerns were listened to, considered and a different (much more appropriate) yarn was proposed. There is a whole new colour scheme and a new name. Also, a new gauge as the yarn is a slightly different weight, but that just means I get to play with numbers a bit more. It’s making me want to stalk the postman for yarn deliveries, but fortunately I have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the meantime.

I hope the year is being kind to you so far and that you are benefitting from the longer daylight hours. I know I am.

Stay safe and keep knitting, gardening, baking, spinning and doing what makes you happy. K x

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She’s a Rainbow

My newest and most exciting news is that our new MKAL (mystery knit-along) launches next month – on January 8th! Llanberis is a small colourwork item in three shades and kits are available for £20 from Yarn O’clock. Alternatively you can buy the pattern on its own for £4 directly from me and it will be available to purchase in advance, although you won’t receive it until the launch date.

The pattern is being released in three parts on January 8th, 15th and 22nd. All you need is 3 x 25g of DK yarn in different colours, 8 stitch markers, 3.25mm 40cm circular needles or dpns and 3.75mm 40cm circular needles and/or dpns. It’s so good to have something to look forward to in the New Year – why not join us?

The picture above is the a little part of the quarry at Llanberis. We miss going there as we’ve not ventured far at all since March.

It’s also been a fairly intense week on the computer – but I now have all my recordings and notes done and uploaded for my second course on Craftucation. I’ve even put on lipstick for the first time in well over two years for the sections where the camera was on me.

Me with lippy!

Changing the frames per second rate to 60 from 30 made a massive difference to the image quality of hand close-ups, but it doesn’t half eat up the storage space on your computer! Before I had finished my 1TB storage was full and I had to go through my hard drive to delete the old and unnecessary. It’s amazing how much junk you transfer from an old computer to a new one without realising.

All that’s left now is for me to take stills from the videos to add to my notes and “Knitting for Beginners 2” will be submitted for listing on Craftucation. The website launches in just over a month – January 18th 2021.

My plan for my next course to go on there is “An Introduction to Lace Knitting”. If you have any requests for knitting courses do let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

I have been delighted with how my yarnie advent calendars have been developing. The flower wreath from Yarn O’clock is stunning and I keep thinking of new possibilities for the mini skeins from Bear in Sheep’s Clothing.

Yarn O’clock Advent Calendar Wreath
Days 1-5 Mini Skeins
Days 6-10 Mini Skeins
Days 11-15 Mini Skeins

So, it’s dark and chilly, but we have yarn and colour. I’ve also noticed that lots more people locally have put up Christmas lights this year, which is really cheering.

If you want to add any more colour into your life with a knitting kit then you have until the end of this week to order. After that I won’t be posting anything out until the New Year. Digital downloads of patterns are, of course, available twenty-four hours a day. ☺️

Keep knitting and remember to stretch. K x

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Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful!

The pervasive sound of pneumatic drills is going on outside, which has led me to write this week’s post earlier in the day than planned. You won’t hear it, but if I try recording anymore of my online knitting course right now it will be very audible on that. Maybe once they’ve gone home (they must be getting soaked) I’ll do some recording – or early tomorrow morning if the rain doesn’t let up too!

I had an exciting delivery yesterday – my new business cards from Moo. They are lovely and I’ve redesigned them to include my logo and website, neither of which existed when I had the last batch printed. Two have already been given out – one in an online order for a Hanging Heart Decoration and one to one of the people who came to service the gas fire this morning! She had been admiring the knitted nativity in the lounge window, but said she couldn’t knit, so I told her about the launch of Craftucation next month where I will have online courses for beginner knitters. You never know when you’re going to able to make a new knitter, do you?

I made the nativity years ago for my wife’s school, but it can’t be put on display there this year because of Covid, so we get to enjoy it at home for a change. My favourite is the donkey, I think – what about you? (Sooty, Sweep, Frosty the Snowman and the bearded gnome are not traditional parts of the nativity, but … actually I don’t really have an explanation for that. It’s just one of those things that happens here sometimes). As an aside the window isn’t really curved – that seemed to be what happens when taking a panoramic photo close up.

You may have seen the progress of my yarnie advent calendars on social media. I’m posting daily pics of the flower wreath from Yarn O’clock as I add one each day and of the wonderful palette of yarns that is emerging from Bear in Sheep’s Clothing. It’s a little moment of joy each morning opening the paper wrapping to see what colours are next. If you haven’t seen them – check them out! Links are at the top of the page.

There hasn’t been anything in the way of designing happening this week, but that’s probably due to my brain being focused on recording (thanks again, drills!), editing, transcribing, and knitting for the new course. There has been some spinning though! I’m not going to show any pics of it yet as it’s going to be a gift to the lovely person who gave me a whole bag of different fibres – I’m pleased with it and my ability to produce and maintain an even yarn is really improving!

I’ve finished re-listening to the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaranovitch (I do hope there’ll be more) and my mysteries have moved from the magical to the mundane as I’ve gone on to Val McDermid’s Broken Ground. I’ve read it before and it’s a cracking good tale with lots of subplots and jumping about in place and time while you put the pieces together.

If you’re knitting anything lovely at the moment or enjoying an unusual advent calendar I’d love to hear about it.

Take care, K x

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Advent!

Several things have improved or moved along since last week’s post, which is great.

After bemoaning my lack of kit sales – I sold one (Heart in my Hands Mitts Kit)! Admittedly to a friend, but it was through the website/payhip shop and she gave me a great shout-out on Facebook too. My Beanstalk Throw pattern continues to sell well on Ravelry and Knitpicks and I’ve been able to help some knitters out who were less experienced with reading cable charts or who wanted advice on adapting the pattern for specific requirements. I find that some knitters are just desperate to make ‘the thing’, despite never having used a particular technique before and I’m always happy (within reason!) to give them advice and helpful pointers, although occasionally it does get to the “it would be a really good idea to contact your LYS (local yarn shop) and see if they run any classes on this” stage as there is a limit to what can be done by email.

Which of course is even more reason to be excited about the launch of Craftucation next month! Once I’ve got more classes up on there I can direct people to those if my initial tips aren’t enough to get them through their sticking point. The launch date has been announced – January 18th 2021 – and I intend to have two courses up by then. This morning saw me recording a big chunk of the second one (Knitting for Beginners 2) and I shall be editing those videos tomorrow.

Speaking of supporting your LYS (and, indeed, any local small shop), it’s really important if you can. I have been just as likely as anyone to take the easy route and hit the amazon site (although I am consciously trying to reduce this), but when you buy from a small business it does make a big difference. I think I have mentioned my LYS – Yarn O’clock – in most, if not all, of my blog posts! Anne, who runs it, is phenomenally knowledgable about the yarn she stocks (British where possible) and has supported me both as a designer and knitting teacher. She is also my yarn supplier for my kits!

My lovely wife treated me to two *amazing* yarnie advent calendars this year (I know! Two!) and one of them is from Yarn O’clock. I love the fact there is a pattern that comes with the yarn and it includes both knitted and crocheted options. The image at the top of this post shows today’s yarn knitted into a flower which is attached to a handmade willow wreath (made by the very talented Janet – another local craftswoman). It’s going to look beautiful as it develops over the month. My other advent calendar is from Bear in Sheep’s Clothing and I was blown away by the colour this morning. There isn’t a daily pattern that comes with this one, so I’ll show you the first week’s worth of colours next time.

In other good news, the hand (and back) pain has lessened, helped by some compression mitts, a laptop stand that helps my posture and a soft and velvety wrist rest to go along the edge of the desk. This, along with a new December decision not to make myself do the things that are just ‘too much’ in the present climate of Covid, sees me signing off as a more hopeful and cheerful knitter.

Keep knitting and remember to treat yourselves kindly, K x

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OK Computer

The past two days have seen me pretty much glued to my computer adding still pictures to the notes for my first online course. I had previously selected all the images I wanted to use as stills from the videos, cropped them down and saved them in the relevant folders ready to upload, but then I discovered that they were too small pixel-wise, so it was back to the drawing board (or rather, iMovie) for me!

I am therefore very pleased to report that apart from uploading two small Word docs that are downloads, this course is done! It does, of course, need to be moderated and approved, but fingers crossed I’ll be able to move onto the next one. There’s loads of detail for complete and utter beginners to knitting, right down to how to make a slip knot – if you’ve ever fancied learning to knit, keep your eyes peeled for the launch of Craftucation in January.

Last week I mentioned ideas for the next MKAL with Yarn O’clock. Well, I had lots of fun with my coloured pencils in my bullet journal and have been swatching and the new pattern is born. This is a different approach for me as I usually play around with charts on my computer using Stitchmastery, but it allowed me to explore ideas whilst on the phone (don’t tell my mum!) and watching TV. I just need to knit it now and then do a bit of grading. I love using my bullet journal as you can probably tell from all the stickers and tape poking out of it and I’m eternally grateful to Felicity Ford’s (Knitsonik’s) bullet journalling course which encouraged it as a working space, not a thing of ‘perfect’ pages.

Have you ever upgraded your computer’s OS and then wished that perhaps you hadn’t? I installed Mac OS Big Sur at the weekend, only to find that it doesn’t play nicely with Stitchmastery yet. Grr. (I had already done my charting on paper – that wasn’t the reason I changed my usual routine). Of course, I did a full back up before the upgrade, but I’ve done quite a bit of stuff since then and am in two minds about whether to go back. If the fact that all my docs are stored in the cloud means they won’t get deleted if I revert then that might be tomorrow morning’s fun and games…

Wish me luck and keep knitting, K x

P.S. I’ve spun one bobbin of laceweight yarn (50g) and the second one will be started tomorrow. Can’t wait!