To celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee this weekend you can enjoy 25% off my Jubilee Socks pattern between 1st and 6th June with the coupon code Jubilee60 the code’s redeemable both on my site and Ravelry. So why not treat yourself to a spot of knitting this extra long weekend.
In honour of Ebony’s gotcha day (a special birthday to celebrate a rescue dog finding their forever home) for one day only I’m donating £2 from the sale of every copy of Ebony to Dogs Trust to thank them for looking after her so well while she was in their care.
Currently I’m sat in a rather bustling train station waiting to come home after a very pleasant trip to RHS Chelsea. This is the first time I’ve been having joined the RHS a few months ago in the hope it would encourage my budding love of gardening and also provide me with plenty of inspiration for new designs.
Needless to say it’s provided me with a few (rough) ideas for possible designs but what I really had to share with you is the summerhouse in the photo. Part of Chelsea’s ‘Artisan Retreats’ area, this is Kaffe Fassett’s offering dubbed ‘Needlepoint Haven’ and isn’t it just? I have to confess Kaffe Fassett is an enormous hero of mine, I was first introduced to his work by my mum. As a child I remember her knitting seemingly endless streams of bright multicoloured jackets, sweaters and sometimes cushions. Things that seemed almost magical to my child’s eyes – so many colours, so much work. I was in awe.
As I got into my teens and took up knitting myself I began to appreciate on a different level his work. I’ve spoken before about my synesthesia, something which inspires a lot of my work be it through use of colour or texture. Although I’ve never come across reference to Kaffe as a synesthete his use of vibrant and beautiful colours seems to me to be very synesthetic. His designs often seem to leap out of the photos or sing to me. One of the many reasons I chose to start designing my own patterns was because of the influence brilliant designers like Kaffe Fassett have on me. Next month he’s making a very rare UK appearance which I’ll be attending. Needless to say I’m very excited, possibly more excited than in the run up to getting married (apologies to my husband but it’s true. I’m sure he understands though).
As I’ve said before in previous posts I’m a big dog lover and rescue dogs are my favourite dogs of all, after hearing from my local rescue centres how desperate they were for blankets for the dogs I decided to whip up a few of these. Knitted from the centre out with increases in each of the four corners they knit up into a square and can be a good way to use up oddments of yarn for a slightly less ordered look than the regimented 2 round wide stripes.
You will need:
4.5mm needles, double pointed needles to start the blanket off & a circular needle for when the blanket gets too large for the double pointed needles.
100g acrylic double knit yarn in colour A
100g acrylic double knit yarn in colour B
4 stitch markers
Tension unimportant for this project but finished blanket will measure approximately 25 inches by 25 inches. For a larger blanket just add extra balls of yarn.
Cast on 8 stitches in colour A distribute equally over 4 needles and join in the round. (I often find this bit fiddly with so few stitches and would suggest it’s easier to find a flat surface on which you can lay the needles out as you redistribute the stitches so they don’t get twisted.)
Round 1: knit into the front and back of every stitch (16 stitches)
Round 2: purl.
Round 3: with yarn B, *knit into front and back of next stitch, knit to last stitch on needle, knit into front and back of last stitch on needle* repeat 3 more times.
Round 4: with yarn B, purl.
Round 5: with yarn A *knit into front and back of next stitch, knit to last stitch on needle, knit into front and back of last stitch on needle* repeat 3 more times.
Round 6: with yarn A, purl.
Repeat rounds 3-6 in increasing 8 stitches on odd numbered rounds until there are too many stitches to fit on double pointed needles. Transfer your work to the circular needle placing a stitch marker in each corner of the blanket (the place where increases are worked). Blanket will now be worked as follows
Odd numbered rounds: *knit into front and back of next stitch, knit to 1 stitch before marker, knit into front and back of next stitch, slip marker* repeat 3 more times.
Even numbered rounds: purl.
Continue in this manner changing colours every 2 rounds until just enough yarn remains to cast off (it doesn’t matter what colour your last stripe is) and using same yarn cast off all stitches knitwise.
Last but not least, find a homeless dog to give your blanket to. Sadly there’s a lot of these about and if your local animal rescue centre is anything like mine they’ll always be in need of new bedding. A hand knitted blanket along with all the love you knit into it will provide a lot of much needed love to a poor rescue dog finding kennel life stressful. For those who don’t know Ebony was a rescue dog who found living in kennels very, very stressful despite only being there for a short time. She loves her blanket and takes it with her everywhere she goes, especially when she gets frightened.
Some useful dog rescue links. This is just a handful of the charities out there who’ll be glad to receive your blanket donations, and you never know, if you drop them off in person you might meet a furry friend to take home.
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at least 25% of the price of this pattern will be donated to Dogs Trust
registered charity numbers 227523 & SCO37843
Most people who know me will know I’m a big dog lover and I’m very rarely to be seen without my faithful pup by my side. She brings so much joy to my life not least of all when we’re out walking and exploring the great outdoors. As anyone who walks dogs can tell you it can get pretty cold out there first thing in the morning so gloves are often an essential accessory. A downside to wearing gloves is that they felt against the friction of the dog’s lead in your palm, not to mention having to take them off every time you need to get into your pocket for a treat, to play fetch or grab a bag for Rover’s leavings. I tried to solve this problem by choosing a non felting yarn (I opted for hemp but you’re equally welcome to pick cotton, acrylic, linen or any other non felting yarn of your choice) and keeping fingers free for all those little tasks you have to do. It’s designed to fit a 7 inch palm circumference but can easily be resized for smaller or larger hands by changing needle size.
The reason why I’ve chosen to donate part of my profits to Dogs Trust is this little girl: 
this is Ebony my rescue dog for whom the pattern was named. I adopted her from Dogs Trust’s Leeds rehoming centre in May 2010 when she was only 7 months old after she’d been picked up as a stray and taken to a nearby council dog pound. From there she was taken to Dogs Trust where I was fortunate enough to spot her just as she was being brought out of the van. To say she was only a puppy she’d already had a hard life, she was underweight, scared of skips, terrified of men with spades, bins and metallic noises. It emerged that her previous owners had treated her terribly but despite this she was so loving and sweet, wagging her tail with happiness every time I went to visit her in kennels. Ebony’s now much better and with a loving stable home she’s managing to get over many of her previous fears. The staff at Dogs Trust were a big help with this as they provide free behavioral advice for as long as you have one of their dogs. They also have a policy of never putting a healthy dog down, which for a dog like Ebony is a big thing. As she’s a Staffordshire Bull Terrier she’s victimised by the terrible reputation that her breed have thanks to a small number of irresponsible owners who use the breed as ‘status dogs’ this means that dog pounds and rescue centres up and down the country are filled with unwanted and unloved dogs like Ebony who just want a second chance. Many of these dogs won’t get that second chance and sadly many of them will be needlessly put to sleep. Thanks to Dogs Trust and other rescue organisations like them Ebony got her second chance, something which I’m very grateful for. At least 25% of the price of this pattern will go directly to Dogs Trust to enable them to help even more dogs like Ebony. As with all my other patterns you don’t need to be a Ravelry member to purchase, all you need is a Paypal account. On behalf of Ebony and all the other rescue dogs like her, thank you.
I love knitting socks, they’re portable, they’re a quick knit and they’re a great way to express your individuality. One way of customising a sock to your exact tastes comes in the shape of the choice of heel. I have to confess a soft spot for the short row heel – it’s simple, it’s clean and it usually avoids the pooling that sometimes comes with the increased stitches of the heel flap and gusset. In terms of comfort sometimes I find a heel flap and gusset, maybe combined with an eye of partridge section on the base of the foot to be a better fit. As a designer I’m curious about your preferences, do you have a method you come back to time after time? Maybe you just use whichever method’s in the pattern, does the idea of putting in an afterthought heel fill you with dread? Whatever your opinion let me know.
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Normally this would be the part where I rave about my choice of yarn or some other such element but I want to start by raving about the location I chose for the photoshoot (I’ll get to the other stuff soon enough don’t worry). I usually don’t get much say in where photoshoot locations are other than getting to specify whether it’s indoor or outdoors but this time I was quite adamant that the photos needed to be taken in a very specific location. The location I picked was the site of Highroyds Hospital, a former psychiatric hospital which closed almost ten years ago. The site itself has since been bought and turned into a housing estate but still remains one of the most important places in my life for a number of reasons among which is my former career as a psychiatric nurse. Despite the history of the site the hospital grounds provide a calm, still and reflective atmosphere for me and it’s a favourite place of mine to take a walk, ponder and find some inspiration.
Inspiration came late last year on a walk round the grounds, as I walked down the hill towards the clock tower and administration block (shown in the background of the featured photo) I was struck by the history of the place and all the souls who’d taken the exact steps 100 years ago that I was taking now, pre NHS, pre psychotropic drugs, pre care in the community, when Highroyds itself was a self contained community. Evangeline sprung from this pondering and took on many guises before becoming what you see before you.
I opted for a simple lace pattern to complement the delicate colour changes and tweed neps within the yarn I chose for the smaller version of the shawl designed to be worn as a neckerchief. The yarn is Posh Yarn Erin in T.G.I.F which is a lovely deep pink almost purple colour and just begs to be squished both in the ball and knitted up. For the larger version I opted for another of Posh Dee’s yarns, this time some of her Chloe in Fairy Dust which is a lovely duck egg blue. As the name Fairy Dust might suggest it also has a hint of silver sparkle to it to add subtle interest to the almost solid colourway. Inspired by the Victorian era in which Highroyds was built I stuck to a rather simple pattern for the body finished off with a ruffled edge for an extra feminine touch. Because of the simple pattern this would make an ideal first project for someone new to lace knitting. It’s also worth noting (particularly if you want to keep with the Yorkshire theme) that Kirsty at Wharfedale Woolworks has a number of yarns I’d recommend for both the large and small versions of the shawl and they’re dyed within a few miles of Highroyds itself.
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I have a bit of a thing for skull motifs. Maybe it’s the punk rocker in me, maybe it’s something to do with my previous career who knows. Either way they’ve always held a kind of fascination for me. I also love knitting and wearing scarves but I always feel a little frustrated that with knitting there’s always a right side and a wrong side. This becomes especially obvious when knitting anything in colourwork and one gust of wind ends up exposing the side of your work you always intended to stay hidden.
It was this that led me to look a bit more closely at double knitting and its ability to make a totally reversible fabric in a negative of the image on the other side. The double thickness fabric also makes it incredibly warm so makes a great choice for a cold winter’s walk.
I designed Attitude primarily as a man’s scarf but to be honest I’m planning on casting on another of these for myself and I can think of at least two other women in my circle of crafting friends who’d knit and wear this themselves. The yarn is King Cole Merino Blend DK which is a lovely and very affordable pure wool yarn, the bonus of which is it’s also anti tickle (something I think my model on the day was rather grateful for). It comes in a load of great colours so if red and black aren’t really your thing there’s plenty of other shades you can choose from. Attitude takes 3 balls of each colour which means you can make it for just over £15 or if you’re feeling a bit more flush or can’t get hold of King Cole yarns Cascade 220 makes a very nice substitute. Again this is a great yarn to work with and comes in a range of different colours.
Tonight was Baa Ram Ewe’s new season launch for Spring/Summer 2012. I always enjoy getting to go to these events to see Verity & co’s picks for the next season and of course getting to squish and explore all the new yarns and get inspiration for my next lot of designs.
Incidentally I’ve already found for the yarn for one project that’s on my to design list and another yarn for a project that’s still in the rough sketch stage.
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A lace scarf inspired by the decorative brickwork outside Leeds combined court centre, I would have taken photos to demonstrate the design process but I felt taking photos of a court would probably get me carted off to a cell and accused of terrorism so instead I sat in a nearby coffee shop sketching out my initial idea while drinking white tea. The yarn I chose is hand-dyed Teeswater 4ply (dyed by the lovely Wharfedale Woolworks) and is exclusive to Baa Ram Ewe. For those who can’t source this I’d suggest 4 balls of Kidsilk Aura if you have any in your stash as this has been discontinued or 2 strands of lace yarn in complimentary colours held together for quite an interesting look.
If you are using the Teeswater yarn a scarf can be knitted up from 1 skein fairly quickly and would make a great Mothers Day (or Mothering Sunday if your mum’s anything like mine) gift. It’s a 100% wool yarn from the Teeswater sheep native to County Durham and naturally has this beautiful fuzzy halo to it. The subtle colours it’s dyed into seem to compliment this perfectly, despite the bright sounding names the colours are all very delicate and beautiful. The undyed yarn is equally gorgeous too being a wonderful shade of cream that just seems to glow and looks almost good enough to eat.
