Re-FO: A blue Barley Twist cardigan

You may remember that a few weeks ago I showed you a 'finished' powder blue Barley Twist cardigan. And yes, it was finished, in that I needed a sample of the short sleeved version of the cardigan to include in the pattern photos. But this cardigan is going to a friend for her little girl, and she requested that it had long sleeves.

So I took lots of lovely photos of the washed and blocked short sleeved version, then unravelled the sleeves and knitted on longer ones instead. And here it is in all its glory (we finally had some sunshine yesterday so I could get some photos of it).

I love this little cardi, and I hope that its recipient does too. Aren't those little daisy buttons just the cutest (I really need to buy some more, or to delve deeper into my button shash - I have a feeling there are some slightly darker daisy buttons lurking at the bottom)?

If you fancy making your own Barley Twist cardigan (short or long sleeved), the pattern can be purchased from my Ravelry or Love Knitting stores.* If you buy the pattern from my Ravelry store before 11.59pm BST, Monday 31st July 2017, and use the code SCHOOLSOUT you can get 20% off.**

The cardigan is knitted in MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran* in shade 222, Powder Blue. The Ravelry project page for the cardigan can be found here.

*Affiliate link.
**Code and discount not applicable to patterns in my Love Knitting store.

Barley Twist Cardigan: what the testers did!

After they have been tech edited, I have all of my garment designs test knitted by generous volunteers who recieve a free copy of the pattern ahead of publication, they then knit the item in a yarn of their choosing (to a deadline) and provide feedback about the knitting experience and the finished object.* Here's what a couple of my test knitters did with my latest pattern, the Barley Twist cardigan.

Julia (Julluuh on Ravelry) knitted the cardigan in the 18 months size in a beautiful shade of purple. She used Drops Nepal (65% wool, 35% alpaca), an excellent value yarn (all yarns from Drops are excellent value! - they're great if you are new to knitting as you can make a whole garment in a natural product in only a little more than acrylic would cost) to knit this super-cute long-sleeved version. Look at that hanger!

Image copyright Julia (Julluuh on Ravelry)

Nalan (nalanhobi on Ravelry) used a wonderful shade of green (Nako Superlambs Special, 50% wool, 50% acrylic) to create her 12 months size version. Nalan made a couple of minor modifications to the pattern as she knitted: she omitted the increases down the sides of the body, to give a straight body shape, and moved the buttonholes a stitch closer to the edge.

Image copyright Nalan (Nalanhobi on Ravelry)

Sandra (SandraRobben on Ravelry) knitted the cardigan in the largest size. She used some cute silver sparkly yarn (Zeeman Sparkle, 95% acrylic, 5% manufactured fibres), and tested the short-sleeved version. As you can see, Sandra's cardigan (modelled by her daughter) has plenty of growing room, and makes an excellent neutral layer that can be worn over long sleeved tops.

Image copyright Sandra (SandaRobben on Ravelry)

One of the main things that came out of testing was that the increase I used for the raglan increases was a bit confusing (it's a really easy increase, but is an unusual one, so not many of my testers were familiar with it), so I added a photo tutorial to the end of the pattern to cover this. Pattern testers really do make a difference to a finished pattern!

If you've been inspired by these pictures from testers and would like to knit the pattern for yourself, head to the pattern page now to pick up your copy. If you use the code TWIST you can get the pattern for the introductory price of £3.75 (the code is valid until 11.59pm BST, Tuesday 18th July 2017, after which the pattern will cost £4.50).

*If you'd be interested in test knitting for me, head to my Ravelry group and let me know via the call for testers thread. Once you've let me know, I'll earburn you every time I have a test knit ready and you can let me know if you're interested in the pattern I'm testing. Test knitters must be Ravelry members.

Do the twist: Barley Twist Cardigan available now!

One of the things I have been focussing on for the past couple of months is getting some of my patterns that were originally published in magazines re-released so they can be enjoyed by a wider audience. One such pattern is my Barley Twist cardigan, which was originally published in Knit Now magazine at the end of last year. At that point the pattern was available in only one size (0–3 months), and one of the things I was keen on for its re-release was expanding the size range, which I have done. As of today, the pattern is available in my Ravelry store in sizes 3 months to 12 years (covering chest sizes 40.5 cm [16.25 in] to 76 cm [30.5 in]).

The Barley Twist cardigan is my take on a traditional raglan children's cardigan. Sometimes I want to knit something simple, but with little details that maintain my interest as a knitter: the Barley Twist cardigan does exactly that. The raglan lines feature cabled details, and the A-line shape stops the body being endless stocking stitch! The cardigan is named for the cables along the raglan lines.

The cardigan is knitted top-down, and the yoke is knitted back and forth in reverse stocking stitch with a cable detail along the raglan lines, then the sleeve stitches are held and the body knitted back and forth. The body includes increases to create a gentle A-line shape, and the buttonholes and button-bands are knitted at the same time as the body and yoke. Once the body is complete, the sleeve stitches are returned to the needles, and the sleeves are knitted in the round. Instructions are given for both long and short-sleeved options.

The cardigan is knitted in aran-weight yarn (all three samples shown are knitted in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino Aran* [100% merino wool; 80 m (87 yds) per 50 g ball] because I am completely in love with the yarn!), making it a quick and straightforward knit. And the size range means this is a pattern you can go to again and again.

Fancy picking up a copy? Head to the pattern page! And if you use the code TWIST you can get the pattern for the introductory price of £3.75 (the code is valid until 11.59pm BST, Tuesday 18th July 2017, after which the pattern will cost £4.50).

Image copyright Practical Publishing

*Affiliate link.

Coming soon! And a chance to win...

On Tuesday I will be releasing my latest pattern to the world: the Barley Twist Cardigan, scaled up from its original 3 months size* to sizes up to and including 12 years!

The cardigan is a top-down raglan with cable details down the raglan lines, and is knitted in aran weight yarn for a quick knit. The body has an A-line body shape, making it more interesting to knit than a fully stocking stitch body. I am confident this is a knit you will return to again and again.

Fancy winning a copy of the pattern when it launches on Tuesday? All you need to do is sign up to my newsletter. I'll be drawing five names from my email subscriber list as soon as the pattern is launched and each name drawn will win a copy of the pattern. What are you waiting for? Sign up now.**

The competition is now closed. The winners were Michele, Hannah, Rebecca, Dianne and Jo. If you'd like to buy a copy of the pattern, you can do so by following this link.

*The one-size version of the pattern was previously published in Knit Now issue 65.
**To be eligible to win, you must have signed up to the newsletter before the pattern goes live on Ravelry, which will happen around 10am BST on Tuesday 4th July 2017. Five winners will be selected from the email subscriber list using a random number generator. Patterns will be sent via Ravelry gift to the email address used when you signed up to the newsletter.

Sitting still and finding shade

Today it is too hot to do anything, including knit, read, cook, in fact anything beyond sitting. In a strange twist of fate I have nothing urgent to knit, so am quite happy to spend a day just sitting. I did sew some buttons on to the short-sleeved sample of my Barley Twist cardigan (pattern coming next month), and that's quite enough work for the time being. I have spent the afternoon sat in the shade at soft play, contemplating ice cream.

My brother has been to visit this weekend, and yesterday we took a picnic to the Bowes Musuem in Barnard Castle. The Bowes Musuem is a building built as a museum and to look like a French chateau, which is a little surreal in Teesdale - certainly not in keeping with the surrounding architecture - and it is an amazing treasure trove of artwork and exhibits, not least the large silver swan automaton that is forms the centre of the collection. The swan was built by clockmakers 245 years ago, and its 30 second sequence is played at 2pm every day; my kids were impressed, which is saying something! The other thing the kids really enjoyed was the kids quiz sheet (possibly because of the promised prize of a lollipop), and they each whizzed round the building looking for the exhibits shown in the clues. Definitely somewhere to go back to another day!

Hopefully my knitting mojo will return in the next day or two. This is the week to think about Christmas knits, so I can get them published in time for the start of September. There's nothing quite like knitting an adult-sized aran-weight jumper in June... For the time being though, if you want me I'll be hiding indoors reading a book.

Stay cool everyone!

Yarning Along: Whistling by!

The past week has whistled by, I genuinely have no idea where it's gone. When I last posted it was election night, and I was looking forward to spending the evening and early hours knitting away busily, which I proceeded to do. After the exit poll predicting a hung parliament, seats were called rather slower than usual, so I knitted my Barley Twist sample until 12.30, then called it a day and went to bed. I don't think I slept terribly well, and got up at 5 to watch the declarations for the final few seats, and spent the rest of the day, and large portions of this week, following the fall-out on the radio, TV, and internet.

All the time I have spent watching election coverage this week probably goes some way to explaining why I have read so little. I am still reading The Lake House by Kate Morton, and am enjoying it, not that I have much to show for my limited reading time this week. At the current rate of reading, borrowing a book from the library last week looks excessively optimistic...

My knitting time this week has been dedicated to knitting a sample for a magazine, which I'll get to share with you in the autumn. Yesterday I finally got back to my Barley Twist sample and now have a completed yoke and a decent amount of the body done. I have a couple of weeks until the pattern launches in my Ravelry store, so plenty of time, especially as the cardigan is in aran-weight yarn, and only in age 2! I spent a lovely hour or so sat in the garden yesterday knitting, accompanied by my shiny new Griffindor bag, which is perfect for throwing knitting in when I'm out and about.

One thing I have been enjoying this week is watching all the bees pollinating the flowers. Every morning on our walk to and from school my daughter delights in bending down to sniff the flowers and watch the bees. She finds them fascinating, and they are absolutely everywhere at the minute - mostly huge fat bumble bees - so there are plenty of opportunities for bee-watching!

 

 

What have you been excited about this week?

 

Joining in with Rachel for Yarning Along.

The Curious Case of the Monogamous Knitter

I've you've followed this blog for any period of time you'll know that I am not a monogamous knitter. But recently this appears to have come to a head and I have so many projects on the needles that none of them seem to be making any progress (and when I want a set of needle tips or some notions I can't find them as I can't remember which bag they might be in). So this weekend I decided that I would choose a project and work on it until it was finished.

I chose my Sockmatician Sockalong socks as they need to be done by the end of the month in order to qualify for the competition (a deadline is a great way to encourage me to actually work on a project). When I started on Saturday morning I had just finished the toe of the second sock. Every time I sat down to knit I picked up the socks and added a few rows. By the end of Saturday evening I had reached the heel, and I rattled through the rest of the sock on Sunday, finishing it on Monday evening (a bit of effort required there as I have mislaid all my tapestry needles. I found a few large darning needles, but nothing appropriate. I did eventually remember the pile of magazine freebies and located a needle that would do, and a cute tin. Both the tin and needles are now in general circulation, so I fully expect to have lost them in action within a week.).
 

I'm really pleased with these socks. They match to the stitch! And the colours of the yarn (Arne and Carlos sock yarn from Regia in the colourway Island) are lovely. I wore the socks all day yesterday and the fit is great. Hooray!

Having finished the pair of socks, I decided to stitch the buttons on the cardigan I finished last week, especially as I had a needle to hand. The buttons are from Textile Garden, and feature cute little bird silhouettes. My daughter had requested cat buttons, but I couldn't find any that would coordinate with the yarn (MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino Aran in Ochre**); she is yet to try wearing the cardigan as the weather today has been rather too wet to do a photoshoot, so I don't yet know whether she'll agree to wear it... The cardigan is a scaled-up version of my Barley Twist Cardigan, which I'm hoping to release in the next couple of months.

Two projects finished, time to pick up another. My pink socks have been stalled for a little while so I picked them up this morning and have worked the whole gusset today and will definitely have the heel done by the end of the day. I still haven't finished writing the pattern, but I do now know what I'm doing, so this pair should be finished up pretty soon. Maybe monogamous knitting is the way to go!

As it's Wednesday, I'm linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.* I am currently reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and really enjoying it. I watched the film on Netflix at the weekend and so far the book is very similar. A girl in her twenties gets made redundant when the cafe she works at shuts down and she takes on a job working as a companion to a quadriplegic man in his early thrities. I cried my eyes out during the film, and I imagine the book will have the same effect.

What's on your needles at the minute? What are you currently reading?

*I went to grab the links for Yarn Along and Ginny has decided to stop doing it on her blog. So this is the last Yarn Along (which I was always a little erratic about anyway), but I will keep sharing my reading along with my knitting.

**Affiliate link. See the Disclaimers and Policies page for more information.

Quick and Easy Baby Knits

Every once in a while the team at Knit Now publish a compilation of knitting patterns that have appeared in their magazine. The collections are always themed, and the latest is quick and easy baby knits, and features four of my patterns: Elephant Parade, Barley Twist Cardigan, Reach for the Stars baby jumper and Hedgehogs and Hoglets.

Elephant Parade. Image copyright Practical Publishing.

Barley Twist cardigan. Image copyright Practical Publishing.

Reach for the Stars. Image copyright Practical Publishing.

Hedgehogs and Hoglets. Image copyright Practical Publishing.

The magazine also features an excellent selection of baby knits from other designers. My favourites include Lucy Lamb by Barbara Prime and Beach Hut Cushion by Kim Dickinson.

Lucy Lamb by Barbara Prime. Image copyright Practical Publishing.

Beach Hut Cushion by Kim Dickinson. Image copyright Practical Publishing.

The collection is available at many newsagents and supermarkets, or can be ordered online, and is a bargain at only £7.99.

#knit1000g: The first 1000g

A few weeks ago my friend Leigh said that she had decided some stashbusting was in order, and that she wasn't going to buy any more yarn until she had knitted 1000g from her stash. What an excellent idea, I thought; stashbusting has been on my mind recently as I have what could be considered too much wool (is there such a thing? I am almost out of cupboard space). So I decided that I would join Leigh in her challenge. Leigh put up the call on both Instagram (using the hashtag #knit1000g) and on her podcast and pretty soon we were joined by a small group of knitters all eager to make the most of their stash.

The #knit1000g challenge is very much a personal one, where everyone involved has decided what they want their rules to be; I decided that WIPs would count, and that I would only be counting personal projects, not third party commissions, although self-published projects would count (there is a backlog!). And with those rules set out, I started knitting.

The first project was easy - a baby cardigan for a friend's new baby, which was on the needles and very nearly finished. The cardigan is a slightly scaled up version of the Barley Twist cardigan published in issue 65 of Knit Now, and I'm aiming to have the pattern available in ages 3 months to 12 years early next year. 87g

The second project was another WIP - socks for my son in the wonderful West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply. The yarn is from their cocktails range and this colourway is called Mojito. WYS 4 ply is one of my favourite sock yarns; it's excellent value and I love all the colourways in the cocktail stripes range that was launched this summer. 47g

One final WIP made up project three: a baby blanket featuring buttons. This is a project that has been in my head for a long time, and I was delighted to finally get it committed to yarn! I'm in the process of getting the pattern finalised, and hope to have it published in the next few weeks. 603g

My fourth project was an urgent one: a hat for my daughter. In the past week the weather has turned from late summer to proper autumn. I decided on a cute seasonal hat, Harvest's Bounty, and the finished hat is adorable (it's getting lots of compliments on the school run too)! 40g

Project five was something new, and rather festive: a cushion featuring a large intarsia snowflake. Another project that I'd been planning for a while, and the #knit1000g  challenge was the impetus I needed to get it on the needles. I was really cutting the amount of yarn fine on this one, and had only a scrap of blue yarn left at the end. The pattern is now available in my Ravelry store, allowing anyone else who wants a go plenty of time to knit one in time for Christmas. 307g

And there we have it, 1084g of yarn used! I'm not stopping there though. I mostly use heavier weight yarns, so my personal challenge will be to use 3000g, ideally by Christmas. This may even include a cardigan for me! Do you want to join in the #knit1000g challenge? Set your own targets and join the fun! And as a reward, you can buy some more yarn when you reach your target!