Stained Glass Cushion

£3

It’s been a while since I’ve done any homewares and I’ve had this pattern burning a hole in my mind in one form or another for well over a year now. I toyed with the idea of making it a more literal interpretation of a stained glass window or making the black bars between the coloured panels cabled to give extra texture but found the former unappealing and the latter too yarn intensive and finally settled on the rather more simple diamond pattern.

I don’t consider myself to be a particularly religious person but I’ve always found myself drawn to the beauty of stained glass in many forms, the way it catches the light and draws your gaze seems almost magical on a clear bright day and I wanted to try and capture some of those jewel bright shades here.

Each cushion takes 3 balls of King Cole Merino Blend DK and 1 ball of King Cole Riot to make a cushion that will fit a 20″ pad. Instructions are given for a cushion which is sewn closed so as not to disrupt the pattern but could be easily adapted by those with the know how to include a zipped closure instead.

Fleur

£3

 

Fleur is a feminine cowl knitted in less than one skein of Wharfedale Woolworks merino/silk blend 4ply. The pattern is based on a traditional Japanese stitch pattern and inspired by a Japan loving friend of mine. The cowl itself is a very quick knit and could probably be knitted over the course of a few evenings making it a perfect Christmas gift (are we talking about the C word yet? Is that allowed in October? Who knows.)  or as a quick knit for yourself now the weather in the northern hemisphere’s taken a definite turn for the chillier.

The yarn is a beautifully soft blend of merino and silk making it very soft and snuggly round even the most delicate of necks, despite the number of beads (156 in total) it adds very little weight to the finished cowl meaning it could be worn comfortably by a child as well as an adult.

Business In The Front, Party In The Back

£2.50

 

A novelty sock designed to be worn with flip flop/thong sandals with a cabled pattern on the back of the leg which continues over the short row heel and underneath the sole to the split toe.

Designed to fit a 8.5inch foot circumference, to resize either remove stitches from each edge or go up/down a needle size.

In addition you will need:

• Cable needle.
• Stitch holder (a safety pin or scrap of waste yarn will also work).

These were designed as a bit of fun and make a great sock for lounging round the house in or for those who are feeling a bit braver why not knit them up in a bright yarn and pair with some cropped trousers to show off your stitches? From the front they look like your average, every day ribbed socks but take a look at the back and they’re actually a rather rebellious pair of cabled socks, because why should the front of your feet get to have all the fun? Despite what you might think the cabled sole is actually very comfortable, especially when worn with shoes.

The yarn is Wharfedale Woolworks superwash BFL and nylon which has a rather soft cottony feel to it and is of course painted beautifully. I made them to fit a UK8 and there was still plenty of yarn left over to do an extra inch or two on the foot, perfect for any large footed boys and girls out there.

Man’s Best Friend

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Man’s Best Friend was designed as a bit of a novelty, a little nod to the stereotypical image of the teenage boy who doesn’t always take the care he should with his personal hygiene and may try to stretch the wear of his socks out just one more day by turning them inside out. Now he doesn’t have to choose, with both designs in Man’s Best Friend (1, left or 2, right) there is no wrong side, with a little bit of knittery magic both sides are identical and as they’re both knitted in anti-bacterial Tofutsies yarn there’s no reason you can’t make your socks last that extra day*.

The basketweave pattern on MBFI carries on under foot once you’re past the heel making it nice and squishy underfoot (or so I’ve been told), while MBFII has a 1×1 rib on the sole which helps it cling to the foot and support the cable on the top of the foot. The yarn I used was some from stash and I’m not sure of current stockists/import into the UK right now so my advice on yarn substitution would be that any bog standard sock yarn would work well, however if making the larger size of MBFII which will require 2 balls of Tofutsies I’d avoid anything that comes in a 50g ball unless you’re confident you can make any join invisible (using a split splice method or similar if the yarn’s suitable for felting) as there’s no wrong side to hide the ends in. The original sample for MBFII was knitted in Wendy Happy which tends to be a very floppy yarn due to the lack of animal fibres. It worked perfectly with the structure of the cable pattern however.

*Please don’t take this seriously boys (and girls), clean socks and hygienic feet are very nice really and the people in close proximity to you will thank you for it.

Höfuðkúpu Peysu – New Design

£4.50

 

This is my first attempt at publishing a sweater pattern, I’d had the idea in my head for a circular yoke sweater with skulls for ages before I finally sat down and wrote the pattern. Originally I’d thought about a cardigan but decided that a sweater would probably be more practical not to mention more unisex. The tongue twister of a name comes from the Icelandic for Skull Sweater which I’d hoped would be appropriate after I took inspiration from the traditional Icelandic construction method. Knitted from the bottom up it makes a perfect travelling project as there’s very little concentration needed until you get to the yoke.

The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Bluefaced Leicester DK, one of Baa Ram Ewe’s latest additions at their most recent new season launch. It’s absolutely wonderful to knit with, very soft and snuggly and comes in 3 beautiful undyed shades (Höfuðkúpu Peysu shows it off in natural ecru and natural brown). If undyed yarns aren’t your bag (let’s face it, the smell of sheep doesn’t do it for everyone) it would work just as well in a wool or other animal fibre blend. Ideally you’d be looking for a yarn with some bounce to it and depending on the size you’ll need between 547 and 1037 metres (combined) of yarn.

Höfuðkúpu Peysu has been sized to fit a 26″ chest right up to a 54″ inch chest circumference. Because of the large range of sizes it woould be impossible to include all the numbers for each size without causing some serious confusion. Instead I’ve opted for a sizing chart similar to that used in Ysolda’s Little Red patterns, meaning that you simply write down the number corresponding to your size in the relevant alphabetised box after printing off the pattern. So while it looks a little complex at first it’s actually pretty simple and means you’ve only got to concentrate on one set of numbers.

Product Review – The Knitting Abacus

I’ve always been a fan of quirky little tools that enhance the knitting experience. WPI tool on a keyring? Check. Needle gauge on a ring? Just tell me where. Which was why I was rather excited to stumble across the AbLet on Ravelry.

Just like it says the AbLet is an abacus that you wear as a bracelet and for knitters who don’t want to carry a notebook around to mark down each row or keep losing row counters it’s perfect.

When it arrived it was nicely (and rather professionally) packaged with a clear explanation right there on the box as to how to use it, on the right you have the units column for beads 1-9 and just like an abacus you would slide a bead up the bracelet to mark each completed round/row. On the left is your tens column again numbered 1-9 meaning it can be used to count up to 99, more than enough I’ve found for keeping track of pattern repeats or even knitting the leg/foot of most socks.

The AbLet comes with an adjustable clasp meaning it can fit a variety of wrist sizes from 6 to 8.5 inches, though it’s worth noting that Sharon who makes these can also extend the length if needed to fit a larger wrist size. My wrists are somewhat smaller than the 6 inch minimum size it claims to fit but I still had no problems getting it to fit. The idea is to wear the AbLet close fitting to your wrist like a watch or cuff rather than a loose fitting bracelet. Doing this makes it much easier to move the beads up and down and means you won’t be endlessly chasing them round your wrist. You only have to adjust the fit once attaching the clasp onto the relevant link of chain. After that you simply fit the bracelet using the bar each time. The one thing I noticed about this method was that because of the lobster clasp it can be a little fiddly to pull the bar all the way through the hoop to secure it. I did find that pulling the chain through with my free hand then holding it in the palm of the hand that was wearing the AbLet while using my free hand to encourage the bar through did help. But it’s still much easier with two hands, this made it slightly less appealing to me as I like to take excess jewellery off before I go out for a run or to take the dog for a walk. After using the AbLet for a couple of projects now I’ve found it’s a skill that takes a bit of practice.

Using the AbLet is simple enough, you move the beads up and down the ribbons to make each completed row/round. Because of the way it’s constructed, to move each bead has to be a very deliberate motion. Easy enough to move with the finger and thumb of one hand, but not so easy that the action of putting your jacket on will move beads and send your count wrong. This is quite reassuring if you need to take it off between knitting sessions seen as as long as you know which is the tens and which is the units column you won’t lose track of your place. In fact for the past few days I’ve been keeping mine loose in the pouch I’ve got my current sock project in without it tangling, losing or gaining a row. Slimmer wristed knitters may find the length of the chain a little annoying however, I’ve found that the chain gets in the way a bit while washing my hands for instance. Of course you could always move the bracelet up your arm slightly to the other side of your watch for example, but this would involve going back and readjusting the links to fit.

All in all I’m really impressed with the AbLet, it’s a nifty little item that comes in a range of colours, solves a crafter’s problem in a fun new way and looks good enough to wear while not knitting. I’d definitely recommend it to someone looking for a gift for a knitter/crocheter though the customs charges to have it shipped from the USA to the UK are extortionate (a comment more on Royal Mail than anything else). So buyer beware, if your parcel’s value is more than £15 you’re likely to be slapped with a customs charge plus an £8 Royal Mail handling fee for your trouble.

Camille

£2

It feels like I haven’t uploaded a new design in so long, I’ve been keeping very busy working on a variety of new projects which are all in varying states of readiness for publication including: two sweaters, a double knit scarf, a cowl and another pair of socks. I’m starting with Camille, a woman’s knee sock knitted in three balls of Cygnet’s Truly Wool Rich 4ply. It has a simple cable pattern but in order to keep symmetry over the foot it only works over the stitch count given, of course if you’re not bothered about your feet looking symmetrical feel free to play with the stitch count to get a better fit, otherwise I’d recommend using a smaller or larger needle to make a smaller/larger sock. Sized to fit an 8 inch foot circumference/13 inch calf circumference it could potentially be sized down to fit a small child by removing one pattern repeat from the top of the foot and the equivalent number of stitches from the sole. Camille is knitted from the toe up and makes use of Judy’s magic cast on and a stretchy sewn cast off so it might be worth brushing up on these techniques if you’re unfamiliar with them.

With this pattern I wanted to make a pair of knee socks that were elegant enough to show off yet not too flashy to wear every day. Plus even under trousers knee length socks are so much warmer than their ankle length counterparts.

Mab – A new design

£3

I designed Mab as a rather fun feminine shoulder shawl, named after the Shakespearean fairy queen it has a sweet lace edging which I thinks works rather nicely in the handpainted I Knit or Dye yarn. Designed as a small shoulder shawl/triangular scarf it could be enlarged by working extra rows in the stocking stitch section ensuring that the finished stitch count before working the edging is a multiple of 10 + 7 stitches.

The photos were taken on location in Farnley Park, ironically given my vampire like paleness with the local church and graveyard in the background.

December Discount

For the month of December, for those of you still working on your holiday projects you can get 20% off all patterns (excluding charity products) both here and my Ravelry store with the code ‘Chrismukkah12’
Happy knitting!

Runswick Bay

£2.50

Runswick Bay is a small village on the North Yorkshire coast with a long tradition for fishing (and use a smugglers harbour, but that’s a different story) and like many other coastal villages there is a history of gansey knitting. Gansies are a  sweater knitted in the round without seams and on a tight gauge to give them waterproof qualities, something which you’d expect the wearer would be quite grateful for. Traditionally gansies also had a cabled pattern on them, these patterns were unique to each village and enabled the wearer to be identified and returned home in the event of them being washed overboard and their body being recovered.

The cables on Runswick Bay were inspired by this tradition of a unique pattern (though with a slightly less grim intention in mind) and even though these are intended as men’s socks I think I’ll definitely be making a pair of these for myself. As well as the cable pattern there is also an eye of partridge stitch on the sole for extra comfort and to ensure it clings snugly to the foot. 4 sizes are available ranging from 6.5″ – 11″ foot circumference.