I’m not a huge gift knitter, but this year, I have a few handmade presents planned, and they’re keeping my needles completely busy. While I’m really enjoying making for people I care about, I’ve also started to daydream about what I might cast on when the last gift is cast off! I usually have a thousand and one thoughts swirling in my head about what I’d like to knit next, and the challenge is sifting through all the inspiration to figure out what I need or what to knit most. So the other day, I broke open my new Strickplaner to start getting organised for 2022.
Read moreFlux Hand Warmers + Folded Hem Fun!
It’s here: the first of the month and the very first pattern release from Confident Knitting! Let me introduce you to your hands’ new best friends, the Flux Hand Warmers by Martina Behm. We’ll be using them to explore the tidy joy of folded hems this month!
Read moreYarn bossing
Do you happily knit from the ball, taking the yarn as it comes? Or are you more of a yarn bosser? Do you look at the colours in a ball of gradient yarn, and decide where you want to start, or move things along a bit if you're getting bored of a particular colour? Or are you one of those people who cuts out the dissonant shade in a ball of Noro?
Read moreHedera Helix - warm socks for December
I've never been in a charity calendar (and never will), but for the purposes of A Year of Techniques, I'm Mr December. The combination of the deep green colour of the yarn we chose for the project and the tangled cable pattern made me think of the ivy that grew up the side of our shed many years ago. Hedera Helix, the Latin name for ivy, seemed apt.
Read moreIntroducing Martina Behm's Wood Warbler cowl
We have had the exciting phone call to say our books are on their way, so we're into the final countdown until parcels start landing on doormats around the world in September. The complete eBook will be uploaded to our shop and Ravelry on 6th September, when we will also be launching the September pattern video tutorial at Mason-Dixon Knitting. To pass the time between now and then, we're going to reveal a pattern a day this week, starting with our cover design: the Wood Warbler cowl by the wonderful Martina Behm.
Read moreThe Designers
Jim and I are so happy to finally be able to share what we've been up to... Image © Jesse Wild
Is it Wednesday already? This week has flown by, and it's finally time to share with you the list of designers from all over the world, who have contributed to our new book, A Year of Techniques. To say that we are enjoying working with them all doesn't really cover it. This is a dream line up for me - these are the designers whose work I turn to when I want to cast on something new. We really hope that you will enjoy their creations as much as we do. Jim and I spent many hours on the sofa, chatting about who we wanted to work with, and how we wanted our book to be, and the time has finally come to share all our plans. We can't wait to be knitting along with you from March!
Read moreThe Yarns
During the commissioning process, we had long discussions about which yarns we wanted the designers to use in their submissions. Our criteria were fairly straightforward: they had to be yarns we absolutely loved, widely available in quantity, and come from brands with a range of options in weight and fibre mix. After some to-ing and fro-ing, we settled on three of our all-time favourite brands: Fyberspates, Jamieson & Smith, and Schoppel Wolle.
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