Gifts

Raspberry stitch mittens

| beth

Over the Christmas break, I took the opportunity to get a few projects under my belt. There’s nothing like having three days with no plans to make a considerable dent in your knitting list!

Debbie Bliss paloma yarn in rust 007, knitting blog uk, free knitting pattern

One of my favourite projects has to be the raspberry stitch mittens I designed and knitted for my friend Su. I’m a big fan of Debbie Bliss yarn at the moment (I’m going through a phase…) and made these fingerless mittens out of the beautifully soft Paloma in Rust (007). This yarn suits mittens and smaller projects perfectly due to its ‘chain’ construction, meaning it’s warm and chunky yet stretchy and light too.

So without further ado, here’s the free knitting pattern for you to have a go yourself!

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Mum’s knitted hat and mittens

| beth

I know I’m biased, but my Mum’s awesome. So when it comes to treating her and buying her gifts, I like to put real effort in. This Christmas I took a break from making my own designs and I made presents of her choosing – a knitted hat and mittens set.

Mum chose the Quincy Moebius Hat by Jared Flood for Brooklyn Tweed and the Sherwood Mitts by Pam Allen for Quince & Co. (She’s got awesome taste in knitting patterns too!) I found both of these patterns lovely to work with and learned a good few things to add to my knitting arsenal!

Quincy Moebius Hat – Jared Flood

Firstly, this hat is downright beautiful. The moebius construction seems like it would be difficult at first glance, but it’s actually really easy to make and I love the way the twist sits when you wear it. Here’s a picture from Brooklyn Tweed’s website to show you what I mean.

Brooklyn tweed, hat, knit, knitted, knitting blog uk, knitwear, knitted accessories, Quincy hat, Jared Flood, yarn, wool, moebius twist Continue reading →

Seed stitch cowl and mittens

| beth

I have far too much wool!….Hi my name’s Beth and I’m a ‘woolaholic’.

I buy skeins and skeins of the stuff, in all different thicknesses, textures and colours without much regard for what I’ll use it for! It’s these balls of wool that normally get left to the bottom of the pile, gathering dust until one day I’m struck with a little inspiration.

I’ve had this green speckled wool in my possession since I began knitting almost three years ago. It began its life as a massively oversized and badly ‘gauged’ infinity scarf in seed stitch, which I promptly unravelled. I then remade it into a slightly better gauged stockinette infinity scarf, but it still wasn’t the right size! It was like something out of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’….

Then, two months ago I picked up my nemesis green wool and some 12mm needles and just started knitting! You know what they say – third time lucky.

Seed stitch infinity cowl - Shortrounds Knitwear Continue reading →

A baby blanket for Toby…

| beth

I’ve made quite a few baby knits over the past couple of years, with several of my friends having newborns! In between the 80-hour-plus jumpers and cardigans these mini versions of hats, mittens, blankets and jumpers can be a welcome break – knitting up quickly with almost instant reward! One of my favourite knits I did recently was the Candy baby blanket by Pickles for my dear friend and fellow blogger Hannah (check out her lovely blog on motherhood at Budding Smiles). Destined for her adorable son Toby, little did I know it would become his favourite blanket! Here’s the cuddle monster all snuggled up in his first few weeks…

Toby's Pickles baby blanket - Shortrounds Knitwear Continue reading →

Decorative homewares – Oates & Co.

| beth

Every once in a while you discover a website that you just know will frequent your browsing history for years to come. I probably look at hundreds of websites in any given month but I have just a handful that I keep coming back to. These little gems are discovered very infrequently but when they come along they can be a heady mixture of impactful, thought-provoking and inspiring!

So when I heard that my friend Sylvia was embarking on her own decorative homewares business venture earlier this year, I was a little more than excited! Today there are more start up businesses than ever before and more and more people are finding interesting and creative ways to turn their passion in a viable, thriving business. You hear of this happening almost everywhere, and I was so pleased and proud to see that someone I knew personally was taking the plunge.

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