Tag: Sugar Loaf Cardigan

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Sugar Sugar

Part of a pink knitted cardigan with a slipped stitch pattern using teal, raspberry and lime green stripes.

This has been an exciting morning – and, as I start today’s blog post, it’s only just gone 9am!

I’ve been printing out copies of Sugar Loaf Cardigan – 20 copies will be going with me to Buxton Wool Gathering this weekend. The pattern will also be going live online tomorrow!

Sugar Loaf Cardigan has been a big piece of work for both me and my amazing tech editor, Deb Bramham. The pattern contains 20 sizes, each of which has 2 length options, so there are 40 different possible size variations. And the pattern fits neatly into 12 pages of A4.

I created this design as a result of customer feedback – so many people were disappointed that Honeybun Cardigan was a design for children and only went up to Age 8, that I promised I would make an adult version. I used the same yarn, Rowan Summerlite 4ply with a new colourway. As with the child’s version, the body is made in one piece and the sleeves are knit flat separately, seamed and joined to the body. The sleeves are a hybrid of inset and raglan design, just like the original Honeybun, with cute shoulder shaping at the top of the sleeve cap.

I also have to give a shout-out to The Button Box, Devon. I got the gorgeous metal buttons for Sugar Loaf Cardigan from them at East Anglia Yarn Festival.

The first inside page of the pattern lists all the sizing details along with the schematics. I will be adding this as a picture to the online info so folk can see if the design will work for them before committing to buying it. Sizing info is important – and we need to know more than just a chest measurement in order to know if a design will fit us.

You may notice the term ‘9-14cm positive ease’ in the first sentence of the image above. That means the garment will be between 9-14cm bigger at the full chest than a person’s body, depending on the size. Negative ease would mean the garment measurement is smaller than the actual body measurement – for a garment that would only work for stretchy fabric designed to fit snuggly! I imagine the only time I’ll be using negative ease in designs is for sock or mitt cuffs or the brims of hats like berets, where stretchiness is an important part of making the item fit or stay on/up.

Last week I was talking about my epic alpaca knitting and I was hoping to have finished the third part and maybe even made a start on the fourth and final part of it by today. Well, I am very pleased to report that I finished the third part on Friday and last night I got to the half way point of part four! So, at this rate, I may even have finished it by next Tuesday!

There are definite advantages to being the passenger in a car when you’re a knitter, and the M25 decides to be VERY slow. That was Friday on the way to Kent (the day after Sue’s AMAZING book launch in Worcester). I also got quite a lot done on the way home on Saturday. For some reason the sat nav took us up the M11 towards Cambridge and then on to the A14, rather than our usual M1 route to the M6, but it was a pleasant and quietly uneventful drive!

We are learning to trust any unusual routing the Apple Maps sat nav suggests after blithely ignoring it on the way to East Anglia last month where we ended up trying to drive down terribly frosty/icy lanes at 6am because the road we had expected to be on was actually shut for repairs. The sat nav knew about the road closure and that was why it was trying to take us a different route from our usual one!

Woolly Wormhead has a book out and I am hoping to get a copy tomorrow from Yarn O’clock. It is called Short Row Colorwork Knitting, the Definitive Stitch by Stitch Guide and is published by Sixth & Spring Books.

Woolly is even going to be coming to the UK for a book tour to celebrate its launch with events at RiverKnits Open Day in Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, on Sunday 19th May and at For The Love Of Yarn in Glasgow on Sunday 26th May. Sadly, I’m not able to get to either of these events myself, but if you are, I recommend going!

Of course, the reason I can’t get to the RiverKnits Open Day is that it’s the same weekend as Buxton Wool Gathering. If you can’t come Buxton but you’d like to see my designs and kits in person, I’ll also be at the North Wales Wool and Fibre Festival in Bangor, North Wales, on June 1st, Wool@J13 in Staffordshire, June 29th-30th and the Pop-up Wool Show in Port Sunlight, August 17th. I will also have a stand at Yarn Gathering in Mold on September 15th which myself and Anne from Yarn O’clock are organising and is returning for its 3rd year, and there’s one more large yarn show I’ll be exhibiting at this year too…!

Right, that’s enough for today! Have a good week if you can and do some stuff that makes you happy. Take care, K x

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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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It’s Really All Happening!

There are only a few days left before we travel to Wonderwool Wales! I’ll be in Hall 3, Stand W16.

Late this afternoon and early evening I’ve been going through edits on Sugar Loaf Cardigan from my tech editor. It’s getting there! Sue did a fabulous job of modelling the cardigan outside at the weekend so I could take some proper photos and the pics were really well received on social media:

I made the sample in this size as it’s the size of my mannequin, but I hadn’t realised that the mannequin has no shoulders and therefore the cardigan doesn’t sit right on it. A real person shape complete with shoulders was needed for the photos, and I was sooo grateful that Sue agreed to be the model!

Note: The final thing I do when I write a blog post is to choose the title of the post. I initially chose “It’s All Happening” as that seemed to encapsulate the week. But I did my usual check in case I’d used that title before. And I had! On December 5th 2023 when I’d just cast on the sleeves for Sugar Loaf Cardigan! So, I tweaked the title a little to avoid a repeat, and because I like the link between two posts referencing the cardigan!

Even before we go to Wonderwool, I have a workshop tomorrow night – and there’s still time to book! Introduction to Brioche Knitting is the same workshop I taught at Wool-in Garden City and it’s a great one – and tomorrow I will be teaching it at Shaz’s Shabby Chic in Buckley.

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I updated my website with pages that grouped my designs by yarn weight. I now have a new events page as well!

This replaces my “Where I’ll Be” page and hopefully will be a better way of seeing what workshops are available and which shows I’m going to be at.

See that ‘Beginners’ Knitting Workshop’ on the drop-down list above? That’s taking place at Ditzy Rose in Tattenhall on May 23rd.

It’s an afternoon workshop, 1-3.30pm, so it won’t suit everyone time-wise, but if you know anyone who would like to learn to knit, or return to knitting after a long break, then please point them towards this workshop! Nikki, who hosts all the many and varied workshops at Ditzy Rose, is lovely and welcoming and will be providing drinks and cake as part of the £30 price of the workshop.

All the details are on my Events page about it as well as the Facebook event page. If you’d like to book, email nikki@ditzyrose.co.uk

I have actually done quite a bit of knitting as well this week, but guess what? I can’t show it to you! I did, however, ball up a skein of gorgeous sock yarn that Sue chose from Weku Yarns when we were at Wool-in Garden City. It never ceases to amaze me how different yarn can look in a skein and in a ball. And different yet again when knitted up! Of course, if I was super clever I’d have made sure I’d got a photo of it in the skein before I wound it up, but I didn’t, so here it is all wound up.

I’m going to have to keep this one short today as my head is a bit mashed after driving down to Mum’s yesterday and then back again today (followed by the number crunching). It was a quick impromptu visit in advance of her birthday and it was lovely.

I’ll see you on the other side of Wonderwool and have lots to tell you next week. K x

P.S. If you come to Wonderwool, please do come and say hello!