Tag: Spinning

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If at first you don’t succeed…

A very tangled and twisted mess of brightly coloured hand spun yarn held in my hand.

…well you could give up, but that isn’t what I do, is it?

Today both I and Floella (my lovely car) have both had to have a second go at something. She needed a new tyre before she could pass her MOT as one of them was bulging(!), and I needed to sort out the spaghetti tangle that my spinning had become. We have both now succeeded!

You’re probably more interested in the spinning (I hope), so I shall tell you what happened. Last week my singles were coming along nicely and I was spinning it all onto one bobbin with the plan to chain ply some of it into a 3-ply structure and bracelet ply the rest as a 2-ply. Chain plying works really well off a single bobbin, and I started to do this, but didn’t love the effect – I wanted the colours to blend and contrast more and for that I needed to ply the yarn either from two bobbins or by using each end of the singles yarn.

Do you remember that when I posted about spinning last week I mentioned I hadn’t done any spinning for a while? I also forgot that winding 100g of yarn around your wrist and middle finger to prep for bracelet plying is a really stupid idea. Three times I rescued my middle finger from the tightening yarn around it before it went completely blue. And then I could barely get it all off my wrist. I’d also forgotten that I’d bought a tool to use instead of wrapping the yarn around my hand back in June…

So, I did eventually get the 100g of singles spun yarn off my hand, but there was no way I was going to be able to get it to hang nicely from my other wrist while I plied it. It crinkled itself into a telephone wire/spaghetti style ball that I tried to ply from with it on my lap, but that didn’t work either. The photo below is just some of it!

The telephone wire nature of the yarn made me think that it probably had too much twist in it as well and I decided to attempt a rescue. The lump of wool had divided itself almost into two so I snapped the yarn and developed a plan. If I could get this mess back onto two bobbins with approximately half on each, then I could try again with the plying. Very slowly I eased the yarn onto the bobbin, turning the wheel in the opposite direction to remove some of the extra twist. I had to keep stopping to undo knots and tangles, but I got there in the end.

After that I went straight into plying the two strands together – still moving in the opposite direction of the first twist (that’s what you do when you ply singles together), which probably removed a little bit more of the original over-twisting.

I’ve actually ended up with a decent looking yarn with exactly the contrasting changing colours in the two strands that I was after. But blimey, it was hard work and I did for a while considering walking away from it as a lost cause. I’m so glad I didn’t though. It was worth trying again and not giving up!

Today hasn’t just been about spinning and visiting the garage though. I have also pressed send on a pattern that will be published in January and submitted another design idea to another publication. These are both exciting things. I’m hoping the submission will be accepted – and if it is that will be another ‘if at first you don’t succeed’ moment, as the designed has been submitted before elsewhere. This time I’ve reworked the idea, re-swatched and I think it’s now a stronger design all round. Sometimes not being successful first time around leads to an even better result at the end!

I can’t show you the new pattern I’ve just sent off or the submission idea, so there isn’t any new knitting to show you this week. I have done some more crochet, returning to my Mystical Lanterns blanket (another great design by Janie Crow). Two more strips of motifs have been added to it this weekend. It’s about half the size recommended in the pattern at the moment. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll make it any bigger than that – there will be enough yarn – or if I’ll make it the size stated and have it as a cosy lap blanket.

Of course I haven’t forgotten about Yarn Gathering on Sunday!

There are daily posts going out on Instagram and Facebook highlighting each of the 17 vendors attending. If you can make it to The Daniel Owen Centre in Mold on Sunday (CH7 1AP), please come along!

The vendors we have coming are:

Plus, Anne will be opening Yarn O’clock between 12-1pm!

Entry is free, you don’t need to book a ticket, parking in Mold is free on Sundays and you will be able to visit the Mold Food and Drink Festival as well. I’m really excited about co-hosting our third annual Yarn Gathering event with Anne from Yarn O’clock and also being one of the vendors.

If you can’t make it on Sunday, I’ll tell you all about it next week – as well as getting even more exciting about Yarndale at the end of September! Until then, take care and, if at first you don’t succeed… have another go! Kx

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Flying the Shawls

Beth March Shawl, a hand knitted brioche shawl in a cloudy sky forming the shape of a diving sparrowhawk.

Well, last week’s post hasn’t yet united Simon with his mitts and hat – but I live in hope that he will indeed have kept my business card and contact me soon now it’s September.

I realised a while ago that I haven’t done much spinning at all this year, and towards the end of last week I set about putting that right. I chose a lovely vibrant braid of Rambouillet fibre in a colourway called “Lucy” dyed by Sealy MacWheely that I’d bought at Wonderwool Wales in 2023. It reminds me of watermelons and summer. Rather than do anything fancy with it like try to split the braid lengthwise, I just started spinning from the end of the length of fibre and kept going. There isn’t much left to do now! Either I have got faster at spinning or I sat spinning for far longer during the two sessions I used to spin up what’s now on the bobbin than I thought I had. I’m very pleased with how it looks at the moment.

It’s got long blocks of colour at present with some gentle blends at the colour changes. When I get to the plying stage that could change completely depending on which plying technique I choose. If I do a 2-ply and start from the two ends working towards the middle, I could get something quite funky. If I do a 3-ply chain-plied technique the colour blocks will be largely maintained. I’m undecided! Maybe I’ll do half as chain ply and half as a 2-ply and compare the end results!

I’ve been knitting up a storm this week and I’ve used up nearly 200g of 4ply yarn (that’s 800m!) but I can’t show you as it’s a commission. I am really pleased with it and I’m looking forward to seeing it finished and blocked.

It’s a very long time since I went to a gym, but today my body feels just like it used to the day after a big workout! We’ve been trimming the top and sides of the hedge – and it’s very tall – with our pole hedge trimmer. It’s incredibly good at the job, but it’s so heavy! And it’s quite awkward when you basically have to stand with your face in the hedge to reach the very top! It’s getting there though, looking more under control, and we are gradually reclaiming some of the space it had taken from the garden.

If you follow me on social media or subscribe to my monthly newsletter, you will have seen that I have something new and very exciting in stock. Desktop calendars! Bear with me. That may not sound exciting in and of itself, but the pictures really are! When my lovely wife and I photograph my shawls she has long been in the habit of lying on the patio and getting me to throw them in the air above her head. She somehow takes lots of shots while the shawl is in the air and they often create the most amazing shapes!

Sue has been carrying Ronnie and Elastic band desktop calendars in her shop for a while, and she kept saying that a calendar of flying shawls would be just the thing for me! Well, we selected 12 of the best shots that we could also give interesting names to and the finished calendars arrived last week. They are available in my shop and I will also have them with me at Yarn Gathering (Mold, 15th September) and Yarndale (Skipton, 28-29th September).

As an introduction to the calendars, here is the front cover (which is also December), titled “Beth March as ‘Sparrowhawk'” and March, titled “Petulia as ‘Swimmer'”. By coincidence, these both happen to be brioche shawls!

I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am to have a really good wool shop (Yarn O’clock) so close to where I live. Mold is a small market town near me, and it has a great variety of independent shops, including Yarn O’clock. I can think of at least three more proper yarn shops not too far away, each in small North Wales towns (Find Me Knitting in Betws-y-Coed, Ewe Felty Thing in Conwy and Wayfarer Wool Shop in Ruthin).

Today I am visiting Liverpool with my lovely wife, sister-in-law and nephew and, although I don’t need any more yarn in my stash, I decided to look up wool shops in Liverpool. Reader, there aren’t any independent wool shops in Liverpool that show up on Google! There’s the haberdashery in John Lewis and Abakhan in Stafford Street which I may well visit, but I can see nothing else that is an independent ‘destination wool shop’ for a visitor to the city to explore. I imagine the city centre rents are far too high.

Do you have a good wool shop near where you live? If not (and if you are a knitter or crocheter), how do you find quality yarn to work with and discover new brands or hand-dyers? Maybe this is a good time to remind you that we will have 16 amazing vendors at Yarn Gathering in Mold on Sunday 15th September (and Anne will be opening Yarn O’clock between 12-1pm as well that day)?! They are all fairly local to Mold, all being based only an hour or so away. And there will be 201 independent dyers, designers, bag makers and other wonderful folk who work with textiles from all over the country at Yarndale in Skipton on 28-29th September.

That’s all for today – I may have some plied yarn to show you next week! K x

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The Blue Distance

After the glorious sunshine we had at the weekend, the past couple of days have once again been cloudy, windy and sporadically wet. However, the roses are looking amazing in spite of the wind and rain and one of them is defying its name (Tottering By Gently) and attempting to grow taller than the fence it is next to! We also had a little day trip to Llandudno yesterday to help celebrate my lovely wife’s birthday – and there was, indeed, a little hint of blue sky at times in the distance. Why not have a listen to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song, The Blue Distance while you have a read? It’s a beautiful song and very relaxing.

I spent this morning and a good chunk of the afternoon in a deep dive analysis of sales, costs and profits from the yarn shows I’ve attended so far this year. It’s quite eye-opening once you add in the mileage, the printing costs of patterns and the cost of knitting kits as well as the usual costs of show fees and accommodation. Wonderwool Wales has been my best show business-wise so far which I was expecting. It’s a huge show and we were busy all weekend. More of a surprise was that Saturday’s event in Bangor, the North Wales Wool & Fibre Festival came second! It was such a lovely day and, although we had a very early start leaving home at 6.30am, the sun was up, the A55 was actually quiet and the hour-long journey was a pleasant way to start the day. We met some new folk, all lovely and interesting people, and the whole event was very well organised by Jenny and Sophia.

This was our space in the window of what used to be Bright House in the Deiniol Shopping Centre. I didn’t get pics of many of the other stands, but these are the ones I did get. On the left is Mossy & Fern who was our stand neighbour and on the right is Saorimor:

Both weavers, but very different!

I also made a purchase! It was my first purchase at a yarn show in quite a while, but I was so intrigued by this little gadget on Tecstiliau‘s stand and then, when I saw how it worked, I was hooked!

It’s for bracelet plying when spinning. Instead of wrapping the singles around your hand and wrist (and risking losing the blood supply in the process as well as finding it very difficult to remove) you wind it around this and then remove the peg from the top when you’re ready to ply the two ends. Genius!

If you’ve seen me at a show recently, you might have noticed me walking a little less freely than usual. I’ve been experiencing plantar fasciitis (again – I had it years ago too) and it’s been quite annoying and painful. But I am hopeful that improvements will soon start to be felt. I’ve just taken delivery of these massage balls:

The spiky one is very hard plastic and the smooth one is like heavy rubber. Currently I am typing away whilst rolling the spiky ball under my foot and it feels heavenly! My foot already feels better than it has in months. Fingers crossed it will make a long-term difference. I’ll let you know!

Last week I showed you some swatches I’d been experimenting with for a knitters-new-to-brioche pattern. Well, I’ve been busy and both the knit flat and in the round samples for the pattern are completed (although I still need to weave in ends and block them), and the pattern has been written up! There are two size options and either can be made with or without the garter stitch border. The pattern (and kits) will be making an appearance in the coming months. 🥳

The colours of these cowls haven’t come out very well – the left one is two shades of blue and the right one is two shades of green with the light colour being more muted than the pic suggests! If I get better pics with morning light tomorrow I’ll update them.

Also moving its way up the ‘to do’ list and edging nearer to the needles is my update of Bargello Aurora Wrap. This gorgeous horizontally knit wrap hasn’t had quite the amount of love I feel it deserves.

I wondered whether the large number of stitches (and very long rows) might be putting some folk off, and so considered ways to extend the flexibility of the pattern. So, there will also be a cowl version and a vertically knit version of the scarf coming soon and I’m looking forward to winding this yarn up tomorrow. It’s the same yarn I knit the original sample of Bargello Aurora in, dyed by Rachel from Cat and Sparrow and it’s so gorgeous, being a single spun, superwash Blue-faced Leicester yarn. This photo has come out showing the colours exactly as they are!

There may even be progress on one of the new samples to show you next week – who knows!

Take care and enjoy the sunshine when you can, K x

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Roses in Bloom

This week’s blog post will be short and sweet! There may be a lack of links until Wednesday when I get access to something a little easier to write/edit on than my phone! (eta – Links now added!)

Buxton Wool Gathering was excellent and we had a lovely time. Sue has even started writing a poem inspired by it!

A particular highlight was when Helen brought her Tiffany shawl to show both me and Wool Is The Answer. She bought the pattern from me last year at Buxton and the yarn from WITA. I love how different the shawl looks with three colours of yarn rather than 12 – and Helen did a fabulous job both knitting and modelling it!

Next month’s yarn shows are the North Wales Wool & Fibre Festival in Bangor on June 1st and Wool@J13 in Staffordshire on June 29th-30th. All the details are on my Events page of the website.

Speaking of events, the Beginners’ Knitting Workshop at Ditzy Rose in Tattenhall that should have been this coming Thursday afternoon (23rd) has been postponed until the autumn as the venue had not received enough bookings. I will post the new date/time as soon as I have the information.

You can also book on the Pride Flag Knitting Workshop at Qube on June 13th 2.30-4.30pm which is taking place as part of Oswestry Pride (even if you are a beginner!).

Sue is running a poetry workshop there that day too – and they don’t overlap so you could even do both! All the details (for my workshop) are on my events page and all the Qube events are listed on their website.

Less than 24 hours after leaving Buxton and going home I was at Mum’s. Don’t worry – it was planned. Today I took her for a scan which has turned out to be the lesser of two evils – so she had some cherry cake this afternoon to celebrate.

Last night I finished the epic alpaca knitting! Once I get home I will be blocking it – I think the hap stretcher will be getting another airing for this one. As it’s deadline knitting you’ll have to wait a few more months until you get to see photos.

As the alpaca deadline knitting is complete, I’ve also been able to do a little more on Sue’s latest socks using Weku Yarn that she chose at Wool-in Garden City. The colours are pooling in a really cool way. Lydia and Hannah aren’t currently dyeing yarn, but you can see some of their beautiful creations and fun adventures Instagram.

Mum’s garden is looking very full and the scent of roses when you open the back door is really heady. When we got home on Sunday there was a lovely handwritten note through the door, admiring our front garden and asking if we would mind saving some seed from our black hellebores and blue & white aquilegias for them (with the offer of a seed swap). Some of Mum’s green fingers must have definitely rubbed off!

I think that’s all for today. Once I am home again I will edit and add links. – Links now added!

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Proud

There has been a lot of knitting happening this week. I can show you what I did this morning:

I am going to be running a workshop at Qube in Oswestry next month as part of Oswestry Pride, knitting pride flags (you can book via that link). The workshop is on Thursday, June 13th 2.30-4.30pm. There are three options, each with a different level of difficulty. The progress pride flag (bottom right) is the most complex as it uses intarsia with up to six colours in a row (though you only ever use one at a time) and the garter stitch pride stripes on the left is the simplest, being suitable for a complete beginner. The two patterns on the right (the pride stripes with the moss stitch border and the progress pride flag) are from the Knit Picks blog last June when they published a simple pattern with options for a whole range of different pride flags. I might see if I can work out a garter stitch version of the progress pride flag too to see if that gives a more even texture. The yarn I’m using for the workshop is West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK – it’s a pure, machine washable wool with, as you can see, a good range of colours!

There are also still spaces available on my Beginners Knitting workshop at Ditzy Rose in Tattenhall. This workshop is taking place on Thursday May 23rd, 1-3.30pm. You can book a place by contacting Nikki at Ditzy Rose either by email (nikki@ditzyrose.co.uk) or through the event listing on facebook.

This is my usual complete beginners (or returners) workshop where you learn the cable cast-on, how to knit and purl to create garter stitch and stocking stitch, how to count your rows, how to cast-off and how to seam and stuff your finished knitting to create a cute little creature, as well as giving it a face. If you know someone who might enjoy this workshop (it comes complete with cake!), please point them in the right direction. Participants should bring 4mm needles if they have them, or they can borrow/buy needles at the workshop.

The other knitting I have been doing this week is deadline knitting, due to be with a magazine by June 15th. I’m doing about 3 hours a day on it at the moment/, aiming to finish part 3 of 4 by this Saturday. Because it’s for publication I can’t show you any progress pics, but I can tell you that lace-weight alpaca yarn is very silky and the fabric is creates is as light as a cloud!

Because I’m spending so much time on the alpaca knitting, I haven’t done any spinning lately, but I have chosen a few skeins from my growing collection to take with me to sell at Buxton Wool Gathering which is taking place in less than 2 weeks! These will all be priced by weight, with the skeins varying from 25g to 197g! If I had a record of who dyed the fibre and the exact fibre contents I’ve included that on the labels, and that info is there for most of them, along with an approximate length based on the number of strands in the skein (yes, I counted them and then multiplied that number by 1.5 as my niddy-noddy is 1.5m per round), and the approximate yarn weight (eg DK etc).

Do you remember that last week I told you that Sugar Loaf gained some interest when I displayed the sample at Wonderwool? Well, it’s going to be ready in time for Buxton as I had an email from my tech editor on Saturday that started with “Okay, I think we’re nearly there!”. I’ve responded to those points and once my last tweaks have been signed off I can add the photos, print copies and upload the pattern to all the usual online places. It’s the most comprehensive garment I’ve designed yet. There are 20 sizes (from UK4 to UK42). And two length options. That creates 40 total possible combinations and yet the pattern comes in at just 12 sides of A4 – including the cover and the optional chart! I love that Sue agreed to model this cardigan for me – and she did it so well.

By the time I write to you next I will have attended my lovely wife Sue’s book launch in Worcester at Scripthaven bookshop. I am so proud of what she has achieved with this second collection and would recommend it to anyone.

I will also have visited my mum and my in-laws, and I may even have Sugar Loaf Cardigan printed out ready for Buxton! I should also be on the last part of the epic alpaca knitting.

Until then, take care and enjoy the sunshine when you can. 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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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