1 2 3 4 5 6 7 -->

Saturday 2 January 2021

Advent Calendar Blanket

 First off, hope 2021 brings better things. 

This (or last I suppose) year I was finally able to afford one of these yarn advent calendars I'd seen Instagram awash with. However, come Dec 1st I could not muster the enthusiasm, let alone the Christmas spirit so left it on the top of the shelf in the spare room. At some point between Christmas and New Year I thought it would be nice to have something to look forward to in January, so I strung the little pouches onto some string ready for the 1st. 


My plan was always to make a patchwork corner to corner crocheted blanket, using the join as you go method. I also picked up a set of 10g mini skeins in the sale from The Knitting Goddess to supplement the speckles I was expecting from the Mothy and the Squid advent yarn. 

The first two skeins definitely fit the 'speckled' genre of hand dyed yarn.....the first being a mixture of raspberry ripple and blue bubblegum ice-cream, and the second a mix of browns, greens and tiny flecks of blue, reminiscent of a mossy forrest floor.





Saturday 6 April 2019

Gothenburg Botanical Gardens

I feel so lucky that mini-breaks are now a thing in my life, and on a long weekend break in Gothenburg, Sweden, last weekend I finally got my spark for photography back. Amongst consuming pastries the size of a dinner plate, chugging back litres of (full caff) coffee and perusing the art galleries we visited the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens

Our garden in March

In March we had rain......



But our teeny raspberry bush has started to thrive.....



As are the primulas we planted in the tree pit outside our house last spring.



and you know.....more rain....

I asked over on Instagram when people would recommend pruning back a hydrangea. The responses were really mixed, some had already done so, others recommended waiting until there is no further chance of frost. I decided to wait which I think was a good idea considering the 1 degree mornings we have had this week. 



OUr sweet peas have shot up.....I think we need to provide them with a cane soon as they have started to clutch onto the strawberry pot, and the strawberry plants look to be STRUGGLING. 




Our tulips look like they are starting to bud and I cannot wait to see what colours we planted!




Sunday 17 February 2019

Our garden in February

I'm starting a serious of photos "Our garden in...." with one post a month, documenting our garden  over the seasons. I need a photography project to get me back into taking photos, a hobby that I used to love. 

In February, as our garden comes back to life, I hope that my passion for photography does too. 

In February, we are starting to see the appearance of daffodils....


In February we are excited to see that our Hydrangea is showing signs of new life....



 In February our raspberry bush that we thought was no more has these tiny new shoots.....


In February the Primrose is in full flower again...


In February the 'Red Robin' is sporting these rather lovely looking buds....


In February, our sweet pea that I planted far too late last summer has grown some new leaves and curly tendrils, maybe it will even flower this year?



Professional Finishing Techniques- Black Sheep Wools



We've all been there.....spent hours (and hours) (and hours and hours) knitting something and when we get to finishing it off, sewing it up, jigsawing all the pieces together it looks a bit, well bleugh, and not at all reflective of the knitting time and effort you put in. 

When I first started knitting I mostly knitted toys. Lots of tiny individual components knitted flat which the needed sewing up. My seaming was so bad I always thought that it completely ruined the finished project. I never even thought of trying to knit a garment for this exact reason.

Fastforward five or so years and I am now slowly starting to build myself a handmade wardrobe. I have knit a Flax by Tin Can Knits (more on this in a future post) and a Carbeth Cardigan by Kate Davies. Flax is a seamless, top down design, knitted completely in the round (ie no seams) but the Carbeth Cardigan, whilst essentially knitted in one piece required picking up stitches for the button band, and around the top of the button band for the neck. It took me almost as long to add the finishing touches as it did to knit the whole thing. 

So far I have avoided garments requiring seams, garments requiring a provisional cast on, garments requiring proper button holes, as I thought my dodgy finishing techniques would not do the end product justice. 

Black Sheep Wools in Warrington run a course that covers all of the above and more. Perfect! Run by a knitting expert from Rowan, Nicole, we were guided through mattress stitch (mind-blowing) both for stitching side seams, and attaching sleeves, picking up around the neckline, button holes without any dodgy looking loopy bits, and shoulder shaping using short rows. We were taught how to make sure our decreased lean the right way, how to make an invisible increase (no more m1) and which cast on method is most suited to different types of project. I'm so glad to have mastered the provisional cast on for 1 x 1 rib. 

What Nicole really emphasised was that you really need to take your time. A cardigan that takes you two months to knit should not be sewn up on a Saturday evening in front of the TV with only your evening mood lighting to see by. To do a good job of it set aside a weekend, or an afternoon. Make sure your pieces are blocked and dry first. This aint a rush job. 

This course has not only given me the knowledge, but also the confidence to adapt techniques in patterns, change the cast on style, add some short rows for fit, change the shoulder shaping. I would definitely recommend to any frustrated knitters, like myself, where the end project never quite matches up to your expectations. There is another course soon- click here to have a look. 





Tuesday 13 November 2018

Finished Object- The Carbeth Cardigan by Kate Davies






This weekend I got to wear my finished Carbeth Cardigan by Kate Davies on a whistle stop tour to Amsterdam. Kate released the Carbeth jumper pattern in January, followed swiftly by the cardigan in February.  


I started this in Sept, finishing by the end of October. For someone with limited knitting time, 2 months on a garment means that this is one speedy knit. The main body took me a couple of weeks and each sleeve took me a weekend. What did take me the time was the finishing. The picking up for the button bands took me multiple attempts and I'm so glad I took my time on it as I'm really pleased with the fit and the finish. 

I used Kate's own yarn for this project, Buachaille,  which is a 2-ply, worsted spun 100% Scottish yarn, the Squall (natural dark grey). I  bought a Carbeth kit when Kate was running a newsletter subscriber discount offer. You can find the kit here. Two strands are held together when knitting. I had to go down a needle size to a 6mm for the main body in order to obtain gauge, and 5mm needles for the ribbing. 

Modifications: I made 3 modifications to this pattern. The first was very simple; I added a couple of inches onto the body as I whilst it is a cropped cardigan I have quite a long body and I didn't want it to be too short. My second modification was the ncckline. The pattern does not have any neck shaping, and when I tried it on it was a bit gappy at the back of the neck so I adecided to add some shortrows at the back.  Being my first cardigan, and only second garment and I've never done this before I thought I was pretty brave (or stupid) to attempt this. My knitting confidence has grown recently so I watched 30 seconds of a YouTube video on short rows and ploughed on.....till I realised that what I was doing was never going to work! Cue a  confidence knockback and an almost-tantrum...... Knitting can be the best and the most frustrating thing ever! We've all been there.... I took a few deep breaths, did a little more research and got out a pen and paper. An hour, and lots of diagrams on the back of an envelope later, I'd only bloody done it! So pleased I didn't give up as it fits so well on the back now, who'd have thought 6 shortrows could have made such a difference!

The third and final modification was another altogether less stressful one. I cut out 10 rows out of the neck ribbing. The Buachaille yarn is gloriously rustic and I was a bit concerned about it rubbing round the neck. Had I not down this I probably would have run out of yarn. I also slightly changed the position of the button holes, choosing to put the top button just below the collarband. 


The buttons are my absolute favourite. I bought these with the Carbeth in mind when I was at Lucy Locket Land in Sunderland in April.

All in all I'm very glad to have joined the Carbeth Clan!

Oh yes, and whats a trip to Amsterdam without a trip to Stephen and Penelope....eeeek!!!


Wednesday 28 February 2018

What I'm up to Wednesday

I always used  to post weekly under 'Work in Progress Wednesday' which followed my (mostly) crochet projects. For me personally everything falls by the wayside during the winter when I struggle to get the time to take photos in daylight. As the days lengthen I am starting to document my progress again. I thought I'd also share some of the things I've been making, any new yarn that I've acquired, my crafty plans and anything I've been listening to and reading that has resonated, or that I think that will be interesting to you.