Monday, 8 May 2017

Planning for a little me time

The past month has featured quite a lot of secret deadline knitting, and finally an end is in sight, which can only be a good thing as I have a bit of an ache in my thumb and a puncture wound on my right index finger. And I am looking forward to a couple of days that feature no knitting at all to give my hands a rest.

I do have crafting plans afoot, with some sewing on the horizon, including a dress for me (New Look 6262 in some swallow print chambray) and finishing a baby dress for a friend's toddler (a WIP that I started in January. Ought to get a move on or the small person will be rather too large for it...).


But for now it's back to the needles. Do you ever find you need to switch crafts for a day or two? Which crafts do you turn to?

********

I'm blogging every day in May. If you fancy reading all the posts, you can find them here.

Sunday, 7 May 2017

The Knit Night Collection: The people behind the designs

Just before Easter I launched my Knit Night Collection: three pairs of socks named after some of my favourite knitty people. And thankfully it has been really well-received, so thank you to everyone who has purchased the patterns and is currently knitting a pair of Lyndas, Amys or Sara Elins!

Today I thought I'd tell you a bit about the people I named the socks after.

Lynda

Lynda socks

First up, Lynda. I met my friend Lynda at a newly-launched local knit night a few years ago. I'd been looking for more local people to knit with as, strangely, the people I worked with weren't all that interested in my knitting. Every week Lynda would come along, chat and knit socks. I had always vowed not to knit socks (I have huge feet and was concerned that they would take forever; that I wouldn't like wearing them when they were done; and that I would never be able to knit tightly enough to make a viable sock), but there was clearly something enticing about watching someone knit socks. So one day I found myself in a local yarn shop holding a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in the Blue Tit colourway and some tiny knitting needles; I immediately sent Lynda a text to ask if she would help me knit my first socks.

The following Monday night at our regular knit night, Lynda arrived and handed me two books on sock knitting: Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd and Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oates. Over the course of the following week I read the whole of the Ann Budd book, knitted a swatch for my first socks and cast on. Within a couple of weeks, with a lot of encouragement from Lynda, I had my first pair of socks. And with that I was hooked! I now always have a pair of socks on the needles (and the accompanying sock yarn stash accumulation issue...), and I have Lynda to thank for that.

Amy

Amy socks

I met Amy early on in my PhD; I had just moved back to Durham having been away for a few years, and in the interim all my old friends had moved away. Whatever the course was on wasn't terribly interesting, so it rapdily became an opportunity to get to know a few more people at the university. Amy was heavily involved in GirlGuiding, and invited me to come and help at a local Brownie unit, something I had done when I lived in Cambridge, but hadn't thought to continue doing when I moved. Over the course of the following few months we got to know each other and realised we had a mutual love of crafts.

A few years ago, Amy moved away (she finished her PhD a lot faster than I did!), but our friendship continued and we sent photos of our crafts back and forth, both really appreciating having someone to 'talk' to about whatever it was we were working on. At some point we both learnt to knit socks and shared our frustrations with whatever yarn/needle/pattern we were working on. I knew as soon as I started writing my collection of sock patterns that I would want to name one of the patterns after Amy and was delighted when she said yes! Thank you Amy for coming on my knitty adventures!

Sara Elin


Sara Elin is one of those knitting friends that I haven't actually met, and instead know solely through the internet. When I first started writing a blog, Sara Elin was a frequent commenter, referred to the blog via my brother who knew that Sara Elin liked knitting, and is now my most frequent commenter, and we routinely send emails back and forth too! There are lot of knitters that I have never met, but count as friends, mostly through Instagram. While these socks are named Sara Elin, they are for all the knitters I know but have not met; the people who I most frequently chat to about whatever I'm working on, the people who understand what it is to be a knitter. Thank you all.

I have a KAL for the collection* going on in my Ravelry group, which finishes at the end of May, so you have plenty of time to join in if you'd like to. And you'll be eligible for prizes if you finish just one sock!

*Ravelry link, you'll need to be logged in for this link to work.

********

I'm writing a blog post every day in May. If you'd like to read them all, follow this link.


Saturday, 6 May 2017

Some socks are not meant to be

Once in a while the universe shouts loudly that I have too many projects on the needles. As it was Yarn Shop Day today, I wanted to cast on my limited-edition West Yorkshire Spinners self-striping yarn in their Yarn Shop Day colourway. I had the yarn ready, and yesterday posted the options for heels and toes to Instagram for a few opinions (overwhelmingly blue, if you discount the many people that suggested mix and match; anyone who has ever seen my sock drawer is aware that is not an option). I knew I would need another ball of whichever yarn I chose as a contrast, so popped into the yarn shop in town yesterday lunchtime to pick up a ball, only to find that they were out of stock of both colourways! Rather than hunt through all my cupboards to find some 2 mm needles, I had also decided to get another set of needles for this cast on (yes I have plenty, but all the good ones are in use), and there were none of those in stock either.


Not one for quitting, this morning I drove to the next-nearest yarn shop, where I bought one ball of the pink and one of the blue (still a little undecided in which colour to go for), and my son added a ball of blue self-striping for some socks for him (he commented on the way home that it wasn't fair that only one person in the house could knit, as he'd like to knit socks too, so that's a future wet weekend sorted), but still no 2 mm needles.

Blue stripes that have been claimed by my son

Before we'd gone out I had located a Knit Pro Zing 2 mm circular needle, but when I took it out of the bag to cast on, I remembered my (almost) irrational fear of knitting socks on Zings; I don't like them and they don't like me (many reasons, but I can't get consistent gauge with them, which is the main one). So when we got home, I dug out the bag of emergency needles: magazine freebies, half pairs and cheap needles purchased when nothing else was available. Hooray, a 2 mm 80 cm circular needle. And I cast on.


I'm using blue for the contrast, and the needle is totally fine. A bit stickier than I'm used too, and the join isn't the smoothest, but certainly not too bad. And I am making excellent progress. Sorry to all the other sock projects, you might be on the sideline for a little longer...


*********

I am blogging every day in May. If you'd like to read the other posts, click this link.

Friday, 5 May 2017

My feet are (probably) larger than yours

A little break from crafting for the blog today, instead I'm going to ponder on shoes...

Looking at the photos for my Knit Night sock collection,* you may think that I am always wearing glamourous, vintage style shoes, and while I do own several pairs of heeled Mary Janes, you'll more typically find me in boots or trainers in the winter and Birkenstocks in the summer. I have large feet (UK 10, EU 44), and finding shoes I like and that fit is hard work (my feet are not wide; the proportions are pretty standard, just bigger than most of the population). The largest size for standard women's shoes in the UK is an 8 (EU 42), with some shops stocking a 9 (EU 43) - I often mention the issue to the staff in shoe shops and am repeatedly told there is no demand (trust me, there is!). As a result, the vast majority of my shoe shopping is done online.

Knit Night Collection - lots of sizes to even big feet!

The seasons I struggle with most, shoe-wise, are spring and autumn, when it's too warm for boots and too cool for sandals. At the minute I really like the casual dress with plimsolls look (which would be perfect with a lot of the dresses I'm hoping to sew in the near future), but my feet look pretty ridiculous in plimsolls and basketball shoes (especially with dresses; I have bought a pair of basketball shoes to wear with jeans - they're unisex, which makes buying them much easier than buying other shoes)! So my quandary at the minute is what to wear with summer dresses before the summer weather starts.

Basketball shoes - ok with jeans, not so good with dresses

Does anyone else share the large feet issue? What do you wear with summer dresses during the day? Which suppliers do you like best?

*I am running a knitalong for the Knit Night Collection in my Ravelry group from now until the end of May. If you'd like to join in, follow this link (Ravelry link, you must be logged in for access).

********

I am writing a blog post every day over the course of May. If you'd like to read them all, they can be found here.

Thursday, 4 May 2017

Yarn Shop Day 2017

This Saturday is Yarn Shop Day, a celebration of the local yarn shop and their role in the community. I don't have one single yarn shop that is my 'local', but I do have several local favourites where I go to see yarn in the flesh (colours and textures are always better in real life than they are over the internet), talk to the staff about yarn and patterns (yarn shop staff at small yarn shops, at least the ones I've come across, are generally very knowledgeable and willing to help) and get involved in the local knitting community. Many also run classes and events, which can be excellent places to expand your crafting knowledge.


Many local yarn shops are holding events to celebrate Yarn Shop Day, a map of yarn shops taking part can be found here, so if you're free, why not pop along to your local and see what's happening. Or you could try out somewhere new.

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to make it to any yarn shops this Saturday as we already have plans, but I will be knitting some of this exciting self-striping sock yarn, a limited-edition release from West Yorkshire Spinners on their Signature 4ply base, which I've raved about previously. And if I get a minute tomorrow, I will be popping into a yarn shop to get hold of some yarn to use as a contrast for the heels, cuffs and toes. The yarn is only available through yarn shops, not on the internet, so if you want some for yourself, you'll have to head to a yarn shop and hunt some down!


Are you doing anything for Yarn Shop Day? Which is your favourite yarn shop?

********

I'm blogging every day in May. This post is the fourth. If you'd like to read the others, follow this link. If you're getting involved, let me know in the comments!


Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Yarning Along: Chama, chama, chama, chama, chama, chameleon!

Last weekend I had a little look through the cupboards at some slightly neglected projects. The one that stood out most was my TOFT chameleon. I had been so excited about the chameleon when TOFT launched it last summer, and only resisted buying because the hand-dyed kits were cost-prohibitive. In the autumn TOFT released new kits featuring their coloured yarn, which, while expensive, brought the cost down to an amount I was willing to pay.

I started excitedly in the gap between Christmas and New Year, optimistic that I could finish the chameleon pretty fast. But it turns out I couldn't. There is nothing difficult about working on the chameleon (fiddly, but not difficult); the pattern is really clear, but I have to concentrate on every stitch, which makes it hard to work on when I have the children around, and when I don't I have other things I would rather work on. But I want the finished chameleon, so this week I am going to work on it.

The chameleon's body and head are already done (I finished the head on Sunday), just four legs and two eyes to go. Maybe I'll have a finished chameleon by the weekend...


And as it's Wednesday I'm joining Rachel for Yarning Along. I'm still reading After You, and enjoying it. It's rather different to Me Before You, with only one central character in common, but I'm finding it interesting and want to know what happens.


********

I'm blogging every day in May; this is post three. If you'd like to read all the posts, follow this link.

Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Lucy Locket Land

I meet a lot of people via social media, and some of them become friends in real life too. One of these friends, Lucy, announced earlier in the year that she would be opening her very own yarn shop.

So last month, I went to the grand opening of Lucy Locket Land.

Lucy has been running craft workshops and crafting groups in her house since the start of the year, and the shop is clearly designed with this purpose in mind. There is a large table for groups to work at and around, and lots of comfy sofas to make yourself at home. The shop is decked-out in a vintage style, and the whole shop is warm and welcoming.


Lucy has sourced items for sale from a wide variety of local artisans, and you can buy jewellery, bags, cards, felted items, ceramics, etc., as well as locally-sourced yarn, including yarn dyed by Lucy herself and her daughter, Penny. Lucy also stocks plenty of yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners, which is a favourite of mine.


The event was held in the evening, and while the shop is a bit of a drive from Durham (it's a little under an hour's drive), it was definitely worth it. I spent a lovely couple of hours sat on the sofas knitting on a pair of socks and chatting with fellow crafters. Of course I did a little bit of shopping too, and came away with a few beautiful items: a skein of yarn dyed by Penny (which you might recognise from the Lynda socks I shared last week), a couple of balls of Bergere de France Gloomy 50 (perfect for a pair of socks), a gorgeous little project bag with a rabbit on it, some mini skeins and a card. I also signed up to do courses on lino cutting and printing, and dyeing mini skeins (much easier to do in someone else's space than my kitchen!), and can't wait to go back!


If you'd like to visit Lucy Locket Land, full details about how to get there and opening times can be found on Lucy's website. I highly recommend it!


********

This post is the second of my Blog Every Day in May posts, head here to see them all.