To celebrate my appearance in Let’s Knit April 2016, you can get 10% off my Hessian Baby Blanket knitting pattern for the whole month of April over on Ravelry. Just pop on over to the pattern page, and enter HESSIAN10OFF at checkout!
Handmade
Quince & Co. Scarborough Shrug
This is one of my most favourite knitting patterns that I’ve ever had the pleasure to knit. Simple and effective sequences of yarn overs and dropped stitches create the beautiful lace knit pattern that makes up the Scarborough Shrug by Quince & Co. The end result has been better than I could have ever imagined (having never tackled lace knitting before I was worried about the consistency of my stitches and heaven-forbid dropping a stitch somewhere).
Knitwear faves – 14/3
Ofinn linen hat | A knitting pattern
Ofinn – meaning ‘woven’ in Icelandic, is my latest knitting pattern available to purchase now on my Ravelry store.
Ravelry Faves – the shawl edit
Just a quick one from me this Friday. And with a whole free weekend ahead of me with absolutely no plans but to read and knit to my heart’s content, I’ve been thinking on which patterns I could pick up the stitches to next! My Ravelry favourites contain not too few shawl patterns at the moment, and I’ve yet to make anything bigger than a scarf to wrap around my shoulders. So here’s a selection of shawls and wraps that I’m mulling over for this weekend. Which do you think I should go for?
French Cancan Shawl
Hessian weave baby blanket | A knitting pattern
Say hello to my latest knitting pattern Hessian. So called for the repeating slipped stitch pattern used, which creates a similar texture and weave to a hessian or burlap fabric. This super soft baby blanket knitting pattern is quick to knit, and features a non-rolling edge stitch for a very neat finish. It’s available to purchase on Ravelry and LoveKnitting right now.
Handwashing your delicate knitwear just got easier…
The worst laundry related disaster happened to me this week. I got BEETROOT on a WHITE TOP! But rather than flapping around thinking that my favourite blouse was ruined forever, scrubbing it wildly with anything that I could get my hands on (my usual reaction to the frankly frequent spillages I make), I calmly reached under the sink for my trusty bottle of Soak.
A Q&A with knitwear designer Veronica Shaw of Fishtail
I’m so pleased to introduce you to an amazing knitwear designer Veronica Shaw of Fishtail. Her unique and individual patterns are instantly recognisable to me, and yet they are wonderfully straightforward knits to pick up, with quite a few of her projects being able to be completed in one quick sitting. I have had the pleasure of testing one of her knitting patterns over the Christmas break and found I’d completed my triangle shawl in just two short hours! Veronica is driven by a passion to introduce as many people as possible to the beautiful craft of knitting through her stunning knitwear designs, which in my opinion can be picked up easily by the complete beginner through to the expert crafter.
I want you to get to know this independent knitwear designer as well as I do, so Veronica very kindly agreed to take part in my latest Q&A. You can find Fishtail knitting patterns frequently featured in Let’s Knit magazine and new patterns will be launching on Ravelry very soon, so keep your eyes peeled and knitting needles at the ready…
Getting your knitting stash organised
Before Christmas my knitting stash was an unbelievable mess and my two main areas for keeping my yarn and needles were inside a footstool in our lounge, and *shock, horror* chucked behind one of our armchairs!
Something had to change.
For the last few months I’ve been ever so slowly compiling items of furniture and home decor/storage boxes to be used in my perfectly cosy little office. A slow process because I’ve not wanted to just buy things for the sake of it. Instead waiting patiently until ‘the one’ of every purchase came around. This can take time, but one by one I’ve found my perfect desk, chair, desk lamp, lampshade, shelves and storage boxes. In due course I must take some pictures and show you how it all looks, but at the moment it still needs a lick of paint and a blind (just ordered).
However, it is useable. So over the holiday I started using my office space, having a full clear out of my yarns in the process. Here’s how I tackled my dishevelled collection.
Knitting treats to up your game in 2016
Christmas is barely over and I’m already thinking about all of the lovely knitting related things I can get my mitts on now we’re in a New Year!
The yarn embargo is over, I’ve cast off on lots of projects (watch this space for upcoming blogs) so I can now purchase away to my heart’s content. Well, at least they’ll sit on a wishlist until next pay day! I want to up my knitting game in 2016, and with these handy treats available to me I’ll surely be set.
