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 moreIt seems like every time I log in to my Ravelry account there are loads more posts in the Lace KAL thread! It's a chatty place with no end of inspiring lace projects, hints and tips. If you don't fancy wading through all of the chatter, then I highly recommend clicking the button at the top of the thread so that you can browse through just the photos in the thread, which gives you a more manageable 145 posts (rather than the 1200ish in the whole thread!).
Read moreToday I'm handing over the reins of the blog to Alix Pearson. Alix is one of the moderators in our Ravelry group, and is a fount of knowledge on both stranded knitting and adjusting patterns for fit. I have long admired her beautiful stranded vests, so today she is going to share some helpful tips on making your own. Over to you, Alix!
Read moreWould you like more time to knit? I most certainly would! Well this year, I've been quite successful in making more time to knit (it's still not enough, but it's definitely better than it was), and my secret weapon has been my Strickplaner.
Read more…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 moreWe're nearly at the end of the second week of the lace knitalong and already there is plenty to admire. The brief for the KAL is simple: knit a lace project, post photos on the Ravelry forum and tag your project with SN2LAL.
Read moreI 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 moreThe new Mason-Dixon Field Guide (No. 7 Ease) has landed here at Arnall-Culliford Knitwear Towers! These little books are crammed with joy – joy just oozes out of them! They each contain a few patterns and heaps of reasons to stop what you're doing and cast on.
Read moreOn Sunday our Something New to Learn About Lace Knitalong kicks off! Unlike other topical kick offs, this isn't about winning or losing, and there certainly won't be any penalties... just lots of knitters working on lace projects and sharing their progress, hints and tips. Now is the perfect time to wind your yarn, maybe knit a swatch or two, and find a project with some lace!
Read moreI am travelling to Germany this weekend (my first overseas travel in a LONG time!) for an Open Studio event with Martina Behm. I'm super-excited about it on so many levels!
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