We’re nearly there in our race to finish a sweater before Yarndale. Oh, and the yarn’s pretty great too.
Read moreHow fast can we knit?
Jim and I have embarked upon a slightly wild plan to knit a sweater before Yarndale. I have been lusting after a Telja sweater for some time. My lovely local yarn shop (Frome Yarn Collective) had a sample of another of Jennifer Steingass’s patterns in the window earlier in the year, and I walk past twice a day on the school run. Every time I saw the sweater I fell a little more in love with it.
Read moreHow I got hooked on dip stitches
I'm entirely blaming Hunter Hammersen. It's completely her fault!
We have been chatting by email for a few months – comparing notes on getting carried away with techniques and the demands of running a knitting publishing business. She's been sharing photos of her experiments with what she has called "dip stitches" over on her Instagram account (HunterHammersen) for a few months now, and earlier in the summer she sent me a preview copy of her new book, Firmament, which explores these fun stitches in detail.
Read moreSummertime...
…and the knitting is easy!
As promised I’ve been plodding away on the body of my Ola Yoke and my Rainbow Socks. It doesn’t make for very interesting blog posts I’m afraid! I’ve passed the halfway point on Ola’s body, and I’m so excited to reach the beautiful colourwork of the yoke. There’s still quite a bit of stocking stitch to work through before I reach that point though! My Rainbow Socks have all of the end of term concerts, services and productions knitted into them. I’m nearly at the toe of the first sock, which is quite good going seeing as I keep them in my handbag and only work on them when I’m out and about. I will always associate them with this heatwave. I’m pretty sure that’s going to make them extra cosy when they are done.
Read moreKnitting in Germany
I had a great trip to Damsdorf, Germany last weekend, to visit Strickmich! Headquarters. We had great weather (not too hot!) and Martina and Peter and the family were so welcoming. One of the best things about it was that I got absolutely LOADS of knitting done. Since the hot weather started here in the south-west, the kids have been finding it really hard to get to sleep in the evenings. This means that my normal 90 minutes of knitting between their bedtime and mine has dwindled down to 45 minutes if I'm lucky, which frankly isn't enough to keep my sanity! So it was a welcome break to have travelling time and then a relaxed weekend with Martina and her family to recharge my knitting batteries somewhat.
Read moreWhat was I thinking?
Dearest blog readers,
Please accept my humblest apologies for my choice of knitting projects. I appear to be working only on projects that consist of endless stocking stitch. There won't be much excitement to report for weeks to come, as I plough through the bodies of not one but two fairly plain, 4ply, adult garments. I shall endeavour not to post endless photos of incremental changes in the length of the stocking stitch bodies that I'm knitting on, but at the same time, would welcome encouragement to stick with my knitting, as it will all be worth it in the end.
What was I thinking?
Read morePicking and Flicking
And no... this is not where I write a disgusting post about personal habits, but rather, a discussion of knitting styles! Let me start by saying there is no right and wrong in knitting styles. It's definitely a case of what works for you, and I'm definitely not an advocate of any one style being "better" than another. There are hundreds of different factors that come into play when individuals work in different knitting styles, but there are definite benefits to being comfortable with more than one.
Read moreSome knitting for fun, and a hiccup
It was probably inevitable, but because I finally have time to knit for me, I've got over-excited and my RSI has flared up. It has left me feeling rather glum, as knitting is my main self-care activity, and I'm a bit at sea as to how to recharge myself without it. I haven't had any significant RSI since we became parents (mostly because my knitting time was cut so drastically), so I think I shall have to find some complex, subtitled, Scandinavian dramas on Netflix that I would normally struggle to knit and watch at the same time!
In the meantime, here's what I got up to...
Read moreTime for knitting
I've been making progress on my Alonzo socks.
My needles have been busy, but it's been a while since I posted any knitting updates over here. We have limited time during the school day to get work done, and the priority over the last few months has been to get the first two books in our Something New to Learn series written and published, launching our yarn range, oh and attending Edinburgh Yarn Festival to both teach and sell. Written out like that, the start of 2018 seems like the craziest plan I've ever seen. Anyhow, both books are done, the yarn is out there and EYF is feeling like a distant memory, which means the I've been getting back to some non-work knitting, and finally have some time to chat about it.
Read moreChoosing my colours for Oorik
I'm popping in today, as I've been making great progress on my knitting projects. I've cast off a heap of things in the last few weeks, which means that I'm all set to be casting on for my Oorik tank top, bang on schedule, next week. I'm hoping that a few of you will be joining us in the final official monthly knitalong* for A Year of Techniques. Sobs. I can't believe we're there already!
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