Christmas countdown 2016: Day one

This year is the first time in ages I have been really excited about Christmas; there are several factors in this: (1) I have finally finished everything to do with my PhD, so I don't have that hanging over me; (2) my son is at an age where he is really excited about Christmas and it's rubbing off on me, and (3) I have three yarny advent calendars to open over December!

The first Advent calendar is one that I made for myself using all the mini skeins I have lying around my house. There are also some little sweet treats in there, woo! All the skeins from this calendar will be added to my sock yarn blanket.

The second Advent calendar is the Painbox Yarns Advent Calendar, which I won at the The Flock party I went to at the start of November. It contains 24 little (10g) balls of Paintbox Yarns DK, and I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with them; they are really cute as they are though, so as a temporary measure I'm going to put them in a Kilner jar, and if I totally run out of time I'll thread them all onto a long piece of yarn and hang them as bunting! If they're lucky I might manage to knit or crochet them into cute mini stockings for the Christmas tree.

The third Advent calendar is a bonus. Last weekend Love Knitting discounted their Opal Advent Calendars, and while I didn't think I could quite justify it, my husband did by buying it for me. It is HUGE! And my son is very interested in the box, so it might have to be hidden in a couple of days to avoid probing fingers. The calendar contains twenty-four 15g balls of Opal sock yarn, so they're also going to be added to my sock yarn blanket (which will be almost doubling in size this month if I keep up).

Here's day one, look at all the lovely yarn.

I also have lots of other knitty plans for December, including finishing my son's Christmas jumper, which just needs a couple more seams, pupils and a neckline. Should be done in time to see Santa at the weekend.

Does anyone else have a yarn advent calendar? Or some other exciting calendar? I have seen candle, tea and stationery options this year (I would have loved the stationery one when I was small)!

*This post contains affiliate links, please see the Disclaimers and policies page for more information.*

#GAL2016: Meet Jenny Vangy

The Indie Design GAL is in full swing over on Ravelry. As part of the GAL I am interviewing a selection of my favourite participating designers. Here's the third in the series, an interview with Jenny Vangy.

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Jenny Vangy is a mum of 5, who designs adorable knits for children, with the occasional knit for adults as well. Her designs are simple, with little touches that make them really special, such as a lace panel, or a little frill. One day I will get round to knitting myself her After the Ball cardigan as it is a such a versatile garment. She has also released a couple of hat patterns (The Reindeer Paw and Oh Christmas Tree) for charity, both of which would be perfect as last minute Christmas gifts.

After the Ball, image copyright Chloe Taylor

Reindeer Paw, image copyright Jenny Vangy

Oh Christmas Tree, image copyright Jenny Vangy

 

When did you learn to knit? 

Both my grandmas and my mom were avid crafters, and although I don’t remember learning to knit, I do remember knitting with all of them when I was very young. I crocheted a lot as a teenager, and really picked up knitting when I had my second son in 2010.

How did you getting into designing and pattern writing? 

When I was pregnant with my third son in 2104 I was sitting in church and the girl in front of me was wearing a darling blouse with ruffled sleeves. I sat there staring at it for the whole hour, and in the end decided that I could totally knit that, and thus Edith was created. Once my third boy was born I realized that the options for boys were limited, and my best bet was designing exactly what I wanted for my boys.

Edith, image copyright Jenny Vangy

 

What designs do you have in the pipeline? 

I’ve got a bulky collection in my mind that I want to create, knit all with local, hand dyed yarn. Other than that, I always have a bunch of patterns I want to create, but usually just pick the one that is appropriate for one of my kids at that moment.

What’s your favourite knitting technique? 

I don’t know that I have a favourite technique, but I do always love learning new things. Lately I’ve been trying to choose projects specifically so that I can try out new techniques, whether it’s as simple as a new cast on, or as complicated as a new sweater construction, or colorwork method.

What knitting techniques would you like to try in 2017? 

I’ve never done double knitting or brioche, and I plan to do at least one project of each this year.

Which other GAL designers have caught your eye? 

Oh, the GAL is so tempting to me. Every year I’ve stuffed my library full of new designs. This year I intend on knitting Kate Boswick's They’re Paisley.

They're Paisley, image copyright Kate Bostwick

Do you knit Christmas gifts? What are your favourite gift knits?

I have 7 sisters, and each year I knit a sweater for one of them. Besides that, I don’t always do a lot of Christmas specific knitting, I just knit a lot, all the time. If I don’t need the FO for a sample of a pattern, and it doesn’t fit one of my kids, I usually give it away to one of my 30 nieces or nephews.

Jenny can be found as JennyVangy on Ravelry and on Instagram as vangyknits. Jenny blogs at vangyknits.blogspot.com and has her own Ravelry group, http://www.ravelry.com/groups/vangy-knits-by-jenny-wiebe*

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If you want to find out more about the Indie Design GAL, start by reading my blog post on the event, or head straight to the GAL group on Ravelry.*

*Note that you will have to signed in to Ravelry for this link to work. Joining Ravelry is free and Ravelry is an excellent resource for knitters and crocheters.

The Knitters' Gift Guide 2016

Christmas is fast approaching, and if you are a knitter who wants to add a few more things to their Christmas list, or someone who needs to buy a gift for a knitter, look no further. Here is a selection of knitting-related items that I would love to find under the Christmas tree.

Background image from PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay

An animal head: I had heard about Sincerely Louise's animal heads through social media and very nearly came home from Yarndale with her unicorn head. Louise has a large selection of kits in her Etsy shop. Knitted in super chunky weight yarn, these are definitely a talking point.

Sincerely Louise's Unicorn head

Some woolly jewellery: Another shop I discovered while at Yarndale, Max's World sells jewellery with a yarny-theme, from acrylic necklaces that shout 'KNITTER' to earrings made from tiny balls of wool. I love them all.

A selection of the gifts available from Max's World. Images copyright Max's World

Funky stitch markers: Can't remember what type of decrease to do when? Yarnistry's laser cut stitch markers are there to help. Brightly, coloured and hard to ignore, these stitch markers feature common knitting abbreviations to make it easier to keep track of what you're doing. Yarnsitry also make fab needle gauges that have a slot you slide the needle tip into to work out the size, rather than having to guess which hole your needle will fit in.

Something for the home: If you feel your love of yarn should spread beyond the yarn basket, this mug from Debbie Bliss might fit the bill - it has garter stitch on the outside and knitting instructions on the inside.

Some pretty yarn: plenty of recommendations on this front:

Anything by Mothy and the Squid. Mothy and the Squid's yarns are hand-dyed in Glasgow and come in a huge variety of bright colours, with rainbows, stripes and mini skeins a speciality. I have never managed to look at her shop without adding something to my wishlist.

Beautiful yarns from Mothy and the Squid. Images copyright Mothy and the Squid

Malabrigo Worsted is wonderful to work with, it's soft and comes in amazing colours. One skein would comfortably make a hat, two will make a good-sized crescent shawl (Susan Ashcroft has lots of designs that can be made in any weight with around 400 m of yarn). I am coveting the Purple Mystery.

Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply; made by a British company, Fyberspates yarn has a beautiful shimmer to it, and comes in intense jewel-like colours. I have a skein that I bought a couple of years ago that I have been known to pet; it might be too beautiful to actually make into anything! One skein will make a pair of socks, or a crescent shawl; I made Helen Stewart's Spindrift shawl in the summer, and this yarn would be perfect for it.

Spindrift shawl, which would look great in Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply

Hope this gift guide has given you a few ideas; do you have any other suggestions of must-have items that I should be adding to my list?

*This post conatins affiliate links, see the Disclaimers and policies page for more information. All items are subjecvt to availability.*

#GAL2016: Meet Dana Gervais

As part of the Indie Design GAL, I have interviewed some of my favourite participating designers. Here's the second in the series, an interview with Dana Gervais.

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Dana Gervais is based in Ontario, Canada, and specialises in designing bright, beautiful, eye catching socks that feature an abundance of colour and texture. Many of Dana’s designs reference popular culture, such as Dr Who, Sherlock Holmes and My Little Pony; I especially love her Rainbow Dash socks, with their bright rainbow stripes.



Sherlock Holmes inspired Moriarty Socks; image copyright Dana Gervais

Dr Who inspired Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Socks; image copyright Dana Gervais

My Little Pony inspired Rainbow Dash; image copyright Dana Gervais

When did you learn to knit?

I learned to knit when I was about 7 or 8 years old from my Grandmother. She was an incredibly talented knitter and has always been my knitting inspiration.

How did you getting into designing and pattern writing?

Designing and pattern writing was an evolution for me. I started by heavily modifying existing patterns to suit my needs, then I started making my own designs from scratch. After many compliments and knitters asking me where they could find the pattern for something I made, I decided to start writing and publishing my designs. I started slowly at first, about 2 years ago I decided to treat it like a business.

What designs do you have in the pipeline?

I have so many projects on the go! I have partnered up with 2 subscription services and will be designing for them next year, I have two sock designs that will be featured in a book that is scheduled to be published in May and 2 other designs that will be featured in a book that is scheduled to be published in August. I also have 5 sock designs in various stages of production. I’m hoping to release at least 2 patterns per month in 2017.

What’s your favourite knitting technique?

I’m a fan of any kind of colourwork that doesn’t require me to knit with 2 different yarns at the same time. I’ve just discovered Roositud and I love it! It’s also known as Estonian inlay and it’s a knitting technique that allows you to embroider on the surface of the fabric as you knit it while only knitting with one colour of yarn. I have a couple of designs in the works that use this technique.

What knitting techniques would you like to try in 2017?

I have a few types of heels that I’m eager to try and maybe some unique gusset construction.

Which other GAL designers have caught your eye?

I’m lucky because I’m on the Pinterest team for the GAL, so I get a sneak peak at some of the designers and the patterns that will be featured. I’ve favourited some designs by Jane Richmond, Catherine Knutsson, Ambah O’Brien, Andrea Rangel, Virginia Sattler-Reimer – I feel very honoured and humbled to be in such talented company.

Do you knit Christmas gifts? What are your favourite gift knits?

I don’t usually knit Christmas gifts because the pressure of the deadline takes the fun out of it for me. Also, if I knit a Christmas gift for one person I feel obligated to knit for everyone. I do love to give the gift of knitting; I just prefer to do it for no reason and throughout the year instead of on one day. I often gift people socks (big surprise!), hats, mitts, shawls, cowls, dishcloths, and scarves.

Diagon Alley; image copyright Dana Gervais

Dana Gervais can be found as knitalot924 on Ravelry, Instagram and Twitter and at DanaGervaisDesigns.com

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If you want to find out more about the Indie Design GAL, start by reading my blog post on the event, or head straight to the GAL group on Ravelry.*

*Note that you will have to signed in to Ravelry for this link to work. Joining Ravelry is free and Ravelry is an excellent resource for knitters and crocheters.

 

#knit1000g: It's cold outside

A couple of week's ago the weather suddenly turned cold. As a knitter, my cupboard is well-stocked with woolly hats, gloves and scarves, but as soon as the cold snap hit I realised a large gap in my winter wardrobe: I shawl that goes with any of my coats!

Before I had children, I had coats in several colours, mostly cosy woollen coats, with a waterproof for cycling and damp spring days. And since I've had children my coat wardrobe has been reduced to a ski jacket and a waterproof, both purple, and a smarter jacket which is black, but only appropriate when the weather is rather warmer. When I looked in the cupboard to get a scarf out I discovered that all my current scarves are blue.

My solution to my mismatched scarf problem was an obvious one: knit a new scarf. So a couple of weeks ago I spent the morning wandering round my house with a skein of purple chunky weight yarn draped round my neck. The yarn was Artesano British Wool (long since discontinued), a chunky weight yarn in a solid purple that was just the right colour, but I was a little concerned it might not be soft enough to wear around my neck. After an hour of having the yarn around my neck, with no itching, I decided that the yarn would be great for a big, chunky shawl to get me through the colder months.

Yarn testing: an unusual necklace

The next step was to hunt Ravelry for a chunky weight shawl pattern, and I came up with two likely contenders: Offhand Lace by Caitlin ffrench and Maya's shawl by Justyna Lorkowska. Both were what I was looking for: a straightforward, quick knit that I could have knitted before the weather got any colder.

I cast on Offhand Lace, and made several mistakes in the first few rows. I have no idea why (possibly the stinking cold I had at the time), but I just couldn't follow the pattern, so gave up and cast on Maya's shawl instead, with much more successful results.

The body of Maya's shawl is a simple stocking stitch triangular, so I worked away on the shawl happily on the train to London, and at various points over that weekend. Several Ravelry projects had noted that the shawl came it smaller than they'd like, so I increased until I had 161 sts before starting the lace.

The lace border went well at  first, with the leaves being just challenging enough to be interesting to knit, while not being too slow. I did struggle with the simple lace border though, for some reason I find I am prone to messing up simple stitch patterns that involve a lot of repetition, and that was certainly the case here, with the seven rows of simple lace taking me several sittings.

The pattern suggested going up a couple of needle sizes for the cast off, but I was being lazy and just did Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off as it saved going to hunt for another set of needles. I then darned in the ends and admired my new shawl.

Before blocking the shawl, I wrapped it round my neck bandana-style, which is how I wear shawls, and immediately had a panic about it not being big enough. I always do this with shawls; I pay little attention to gauge or finished dimensions (though I do often hold the centre of the shawl at my chin and see if half the shalw is about the same length as my arm - if it is, then the shawl should be a good length for wrapping), and am then concerned that the shawl will be too small. Rather than dwell on sizing issues, I put the shawl in the washing machine on a hand wash cycle and went out for the day.

When I got in later in the day, I pulled the shawl out of the washing machine and realised there had been no need to worry, the shawl is huge! I pinned it out to block and the span is over two metres.

And here it is, my finished shawl. The colour is perfect, and it definitely goes with all my outerwear, I just hope the weather is cold enough that I actually get to wear it this winter.

 

Beautiful lace

 

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I wrote the text for this post before I had worn the shawl out. There is a problem: even after my testing for itch, it is too itchy! I am very wool-sensitive, so I knew it was a risk. I am now trying to decide what to do with the shawl. Step one will be to take it to my knitting group on Monday night and see whether it's just me that finds it too scratchy... 

Huge, wonderful, but rather itchy

#GAL2016: Meet Susan Ashcroft

As part of the Indie Design GAL, I decided it would be nice to learn a bit more about some of the designers taking part, so over the course of the GAL, I will be posting interviews with some of my favourite designers. First up, we have Susan Ashcroft.

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Susan Ashcroft is a well-established designer, having designed patterns for over five years (you may have seen her TGV shawl, Quaker Yarn Stretcher and Hogwart's Express shawl, which have been popular on Ravelry for years). Her approach is often mathematical, using a percentage system to design shawls that can be knitted in any yarn weight and at any gauge, with the aim of making the most of the yarn you have; last Christmas I knitted her Love Train shawl in some beautiful worsted weight yarn and it is now my most worn hand-knitted item. Susan's knits are simple and relaxed, and let the yarn do the talking; her blog is also an excellent source of tutorials and knitting tips and tricks.



TGV; image copyright Susan Ashcroft

Quaker Yarn Stretcher; image copyright Susan Ashcroft

Hogwart's Express; image copyright Susan Ashcroft

When did you learn to knit?

Not until I was about 13 - I taught myself from a book I got from the library.

How did you getting into designing and pattern writing?

I’ve been modifying patterns as long as I’ve been knitting - with TGV I came up with a slightly different construction so I thought share it and it all took off from there.

What designs do you have in the pipeline?

A collection inspired by my recent trip to Murano.

What’s your favourite knitting technique?

Mosaic knitting because it’s such an easy way to get colour effects. 
Often a specific yarn is my starting point and I try to find what will work best for that yarn to “do right by the yarn”.

Do you knit Christmas gifts? What are your favourite gift knits?

I give knitted items to friends/family throughout the year. If you come to dinner at my house, you’ll probably go home with a knitted item, so usually people get something different at Christmas.

But when I do make presents I tend to make smaller items like hats and gloves (I never have any of those “in stock”; they always seem to get adopted as soon as they’re finished).

Image copyright Susan Ashcroft

Susan Ashcroft can be found on Ravelry as stitchnerd, and blogs at stitchnerd.blogspot.com

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If you want to find out more about the Indie Design GAL, start by reading my blog post on the event, or head straight to the GAL group on Ravelry.*

*Note that you will have to signed in to Ravelry for this link to work. Joining Ravelry is free and Ravelry is an excellent resource for knitters and crocheters.

Knitty things to be thankful for

Today is Thanksgiving in the US, traditionally a celebration of harvest, it's now (at least in its portrayal in films and television) a celebration of everything you can be thankful for. Here in the UK we don't have such an event, but I feel that it's important to stop once in a while and take note of the things that we are thankful for. So here are five (knitty) things that I am thankful for.

1. Community
Through knitting I have found a wonderful community of very generous people, including some of my very best friends in real life, as well as connections across the globe.

2. Socks (and never a wasted moment)
Since I learnt to knit socks I have always had knitting in my handbag. Socks projects are portable, can be knitted anywhere, and can be knitted in colourways too crazy to be considered for an item of clothing that is worn more openly. I also wear all my handmade socks, while other knitted items have been known to hide at the back of the wardrobe. I really do love knitting socks!

3. Five minutes peace
When I'm feeling wound up after a long day, knitting calms me down and helps me to relax, which, let's face it, is probably beneficial to the people around me as well.

4. Feeling cosy
It's November, and every morning on the school run I am reminded of quite how cold it can get in the UK. As a knitter, cold weather is an excellent excuse to show off all the winter woollies what we've been stockpiling since the spring. Yes, on cold days I am pretty smug about my handknitted socks hidden inside my boots!

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating today and this weekend. And to everyone else, what do you have to be thankful for today?

Today's knitting (socks) with my favourite project bag and the book that inspired it. I only realised today that the book featured knitting!