Knitting and more

Managed to import last night's blog

2009-07-28T09:23:00.002+01:00

I don't know what was going on last night but whatever i did I couldn't access this blog so ended up starting a new blog. This morning I decided to have another go at access my existing blog and everything seems to be OK now, I even worked out how to import my blog from last night! I still don't understand what is going on but at least it is working now!

The vagaries of Blogger and Dyeing Yarns

2009-07-27T20:00:00.001+01:00

Having spent ages trying to access my old blog (I now have a google account so can't seem to access my old blog linked to my old email) I've decided to give in and start a new blog with the same name as the old one but with a different URL!!

Sometimes I hate computers!!!!

Anyway after all that I wanted to post about the yarns I dyed a few weeks ago. In the workshop I was showing how to rainbow dye with both acid and fibre reactive dyes and also how to paint dye with acid dyes and how to use the plastic bag method with fibre reactive dyes.

This first group of 3 yarns where all dyed with acid dyes using the rainbow dyeing method i.e. the wet skeins where put in a pan with a small amount of water and the dye powders sprinkled over them. Although alt the time the dye seemed quite strong the finished colours are quite muted. The large skein at the top was Norfork Horn wool, the middle skein was 100% soya yarn, Just Soya from Sirdar which was already a stone colour and the bottom skein was 100% smooth mohair.

These next 2 yarns are both bamboo, one tape yarn and one plyed yarn, both have been dyed with Fibre Reactive dyes. The skeins where soaked in water first and then the dyes where painted on with a sponge brush.

These 2 yarns are also dyed with Fibre reactive dyes. The top skein was bamboo and the bottom skein is Just Soya, from Sirdar in a stone colour. I didn't make sure the dye was pushed all the way through the fibres so there are areas of undyed yarn.

It was interesting to compare the 2 skeins of soya yarn as one was dyed with acid dyes (for protein) and one was dyed with Fibre Reactive dyes (for cellulose fibres). Neither of the colours where particularly strong but that might also be due to the fact the yarn has already been dyed once.

These 2 skeins of green yarn are bamboo and cotton soya mix dyed with Fibre Reactive dyes using the plastic bag method. The wet skeins where put in a plastic bag with the dye and chemicals already added. The skeins where 'mashed' for about 5 minutes or so until all the liquid was absorbed into the yarn and then left for about 30 minutes before being rinsed. Both skeins took the colour well.

This skein is cashgora yarn dyed with acid dyes which where painted on. Once the dye was applied the skein was wrapped in clingfilm and steamed for 30 minutes. Cashgora which is a variation of angora goat takes dye in a similar way to mohair i.e. good depth of colour and also has a sheen.

This last picture is of some milk fibre tops which has been painted with acid dyes and then steamed to fix the dye. I haven't tried to spin the top yet so I don't know if the dye process has had any effect on the spinning handling of the fibre. I'll post something about this if I ever get around to spinning it.

It was a good day on the whole and I think the students enjoyed the dat as well.

Felted Knitting and Needlefelting

2009-06-30T10:25:00.009+01:00

When I posted on Sunday I forgot I did have some images of both felted knitting and pieces of 3D needle felting. I have previously posted pictures of 2 knitted felted bags that I designed and sell patterns for.

These 2 bags where originally knitted in Elle Merino Brights (Aran weight) felting wool but as this yarn is no longer available I reworked the pattern for Noro Kureyon.

This chevron felted bag is knitted in Twilley's Freedom Spirit and then I decorated it with a needlefelted flower. The individual petals are needle felted from merino tops and then sewn onto the bag with a cluster of beads to form the centre of the flower. The pattern for this bag is now available although it does not include instructions for the needlefelting.

A couple of years ago I was asked to demonstrate needlefelting on the Elle Yarns stand at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace and then to help teach a couple of workshops they ran in conjunction with a couple of wool shops, one in Bury and one in Wells. There where photos of the Wells workshop in Simply Knitting as one of the assistant editors attended the day. Partly in preparation for these workshops I made this little teddy with needlefelting.

He is made in several pieces and the arms and legs are sewn on so they move. He is about 3 inches tall when standing and is made from needle felted merino tops. He did take quite a few hours to make. I enjoyed making him but as yet have not made another.

Talks and workshops

2009-06-28T19:06:00.004+01:00

I've just got back from teaching knitting for felting and needle felting to the Kent Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. I did a talk to the Guild yesterday on the subject and then a workshop today.

Despite the heat all the ladies that attended seemed to enjoy the day. They where all very friendly and welcoming (as I find most Guilds and groups are) and I was very well looked after both day.

I'm booked to teach quite a few knitting and crochet workshops over the next few weeks including a couple of new crochet workshops; 'Crochet onto knitting' and 'Crochet circles, flowers hats and bags'. I've also been booked to do a number of talks to machine knitting clubs. People are still finding time to enjoy their craft interests.

A few weeks ago I taught a workshop on dyeing. Once I have got the photos downloaded to the computer I will post them on my blog. I included some 'new fibres' i.e. bamboo and soya among others in the skeins I dyed to see how they would take the dye. If I get five minutes I might try and knit some of the samples to see what the dye is like in a fabric.

Patchwork/domino knitting handspun waistcoat

2009-05-23T14:24:00.013+01:00

I've been meaning to post pictures of this waistcoat for some time but just not got around to it until now. I started making this waistcoat about 9 or 10 years ago using yarns that I spun when I first learnt to spin. The lady who taught me to spin kept Jacob and Manx Lockton sheep so I learnt to spin from the fleece initially and then from carded or combed fleece and some drum carded batts made up of a number of fibres.

Around this same time I learnt about Patchwork/Domino knitting and made a couple of large shawls using the squares unit. Having made a couple of shawls and a cushion I thought I should try to make a garment and decided to use my handspun as patchwork is a great technique for using up small amounts of different yarns.

I made the back in 2 panels with the squares facing towards each other and joined them with garter stitch. The original garter stitch section was marled on one side and white on the other making the centre panel look unbalanced but it stayed that way for quite a few years. I decided to turn the squares to look like diamonds for the front panels and again made both front up to just below the armhole point, and that is how the knitting stayed for quite a few years.

I teach workshops on Patchwork knitting so it was a work in progress sample which was pinned onto a fabric waistcoat shape to show students how to put garments together. At the end of February I was teaching another squares workshop so before the class I decided I should really try to get this waistcoat finished. I reknitted the garter stitch panel at the centre back which looked much better and then went back to working the squares on the front panels.

A square was knitted on one front panel and then the same square was knitted on the other front panel so they where mirror images. I worked on both fronts at the same time to make sure I had enough of the same yarn to work the square on each panel. I was originally going to change to smaller squares at the top of the fronts but when it came to actually knitting the top sections I kept the squares all the same size and changed the neckline to fit with the squares.

I joined the front and back panels at the shoulders with garter stitch and included some short row knitting to give a shoulder slope. The back and fronts where also joined at the side seams with garter stitch panels and all the edges where finished with garter stitch bands. all the pieces where knitted together so there was no sewing up once the garemnt was finished.

Although the garment is a bit bigger on the shoulders than I would like on the whole I was pleased with the end result and all the colours seemed to work well together even though I didn't plan the colour scheme at the start although I did use the handspun Jacob throughout the garment and the other handspun yarns in different parts of the garment.

Catching up and Top down jumper

2009-04-26T18:36:00.010+01:00

This last month and a half seems to have flown by. March started off with a machine knitting exhibition in Bournemouth that went very well. There seemed to be more people attending the exhibition this year which is encouraging.

It was also the Swanage Blues Festival that weekend which we also attended with some friends on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. I managed to get some more sock knitting done while listening to various groups.

I was booked to teach quite a few workshops in March as well as the usual City and Guilds class and then the first weekend in April was the Nottingham machine knitting show. After a slow start we had quite a reasonable day at the show although there weren't as many stall holders as in previous years. Before I left Alan Hunt asked me to see if we can encourage some hand knitting yarn suppliers to attend the show next year so I will be looking into this possibility in the next few months.

In the last 2 weeks I have done talks to 2 Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guilds. Last week I went to the East Sussex Guild to do a talk on knitting with handspun and this weekend I went to the Sommerset Guild to talk on knitting with beads. Both talks seemed to go down well.

In between the talks and teaching I finished another design for 'Knitting' magazine which is schedules to be published in the July issue. The May issue of the magazine arrived last week and has my article on blocking and pressing knitwear. The June issue should have my article on sewing up knitwear using mattress stitch.

All this hasn't left much time for any other knitting but I have done some more work on my top down jumper. Although I was using 2 balls of yarn and knitting alternate rows with each ball the yarn has continued to pool. After knitting quite a bit down from the armhole I did try the jumper on and decided that the pooling looked OK once the jumper was on even though it doesn't look that great laid out flat.

Since taking these 2 photos I have actually finished the body section. I've added a moss stitch border to the bottom of the jumper as I don't want it to pull in. I'm hoping to get back to finish this garment fairly soon, after I have finished another garment for the magazine, a bias knitting waistcoat in Mille Colori Lang yarn and a jacket in the Lang yarn that Kareen at the InterKnit Cafe has asked me to design!

Unravel event in Farnham

2009-02-23T15:27:00.006Z

I very much enjoyed the Unravel knitting and fibre event in Farnham last Saturday. Unfortunately I didn't get to have a very good look around the show myself as I was busy either sorting out knitting problems for people in the knitting surgery or helping my husband on my stand. However I did manage to catch up with lots of friends and knitters who have attended my knitting workshops.

I also forgot to take my camera to take photos of the stand so I must try and remember at the next exhibition to do so. I understand from Kareen (who owns the InterKnit Cafe) who was quite involved with organising the show that the people at The Maltings where very pleased with the attendance at the show and have agreed to run it as a 2 day event at the end of February next year. Lets hope it continues to be a success.

I'm booked to teach a number of hand knitting workshops over the next month and the 'Machine Knititng Live' Exhibition at Bournemouth is on 7th March so I better get back to doing some more work!

A bit of crochet for a change

2009-02-06T16:27:00.011Z

A few weeks ago I was showing some of my students a felted crochet bag I designed. It is a bucket shaped bag and one of the ladies put it on her head as a hat for a joke. It worked quite well apart from being rather deep; a good hat for Marge Simpson! but it did give me an idea.

Last week I thought I would play around with this crochet idea and designed a chullo hat using crochet and Rowan Colourscape yarn. The hat design is very simple as i started at the crown with a ring of chains and then increased out until I thought the centre crown section was big enough. i then changed to a shell stitch pattern for the rest of the hat working in a circle initially and then back and forth for the ear flaps.

I tried the hat on as I went and had to undo some bits a couple of times before I got what I felt was a well fitted shape but I was quite pleased with the end result and it only took a few hours to work out.

With the success of this first hat I then went on to crochet a cap which was in fairly basic stitches, double crochet, trebles and chain mesh stitch

It is crocheted in Rowan Colourscape again which gives the gradual colour change and is worked from the centre of the crown outwards. Again I kept trying on the hat while I was making it to see how well it fitted. I did have to undo some chain rows but as crochet is very easy to undo it didn't cause any problems and again only took a few hours to make.

Having got into the swing of things I had another go at making the cap with mesh stitch edging but using a DK yarn this time. i happen to have some Elle Escapade so decided to use that although generally I don't like using acrylic yarn but it did work up very easily so here are some more pictures.

Top down raglan

2009-01-30T17:16:00.007Z

I recently started making a top down raglan V-neck jumper for myself! I am knitting it in Rosarios 4 Capuccino which is a 60% milk fibre, 40% Australian wool mix and is about an Aran weight. It feels like a smooth good quality wool to knit with and as you can see from the picture this particular colourway is variegated.

I decided to start with a crochet provisional cast on as I prefer to have 'live' stitches when picking up around the neckline. The top section with sleeves is knitted in rows until the neck shaping is completed. I decided to use a left and right 'make 1' increase for the raglan seams working the increase just before the stitch in front of the stitch marker and after the stitch after the marker to give me the raglan seam. I also worked the neck increases 1 stitch in from the edge to give a clean line of stitches when picking up the neckline to knit the band.

Once I completed the raglan increases I divided the stitches up into sleeves and body and continued knitting in the round. One problem I realised with using the variegated yarn is when I started to knit the body section the yarn colours have started to 'pool'. I did unpick the body back to the beginning of this section and started knitting rounds with alternate balls of yarn so the 'pooling' isn't quite as bad although it is still happening in areas. I think this is a problem I will just have to live with in this particular garment.

I'll post another picture when I am near the bottom of the body section.

Sock knitting workshop

2009-01-25T17:03:00.003Z

Yesterday I was teaching at The Knitting Habit in Alton, Hants. It was a sock knitting workshop. I teach several different sock workshops and yesterday was knitting short row heel and toe socks. Although this is not the most commonly used sock technique it is the method I have used to make my own socks since I learn how to make them this way from an article in Interweave Knits written by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts in 2000.

Both the heel and toe are shaped with short rows and the socks are knitted on 5pd (stitches divided over 4 needles and 1 to knit with) so there is no need to rearrange stitches when you come to shaping the heel. The socks also finish with an unusual 3-needle cast off which gives a seam on the top of the foot at the base of the toes, very much like commercial socks, but you don't feel the seam when wearing the socks. Casting off this way means there is no grafting of toe stitches so another big advantage over other methods.

Some of the students found knitting on 5pd took a bit of getting used to and the short row shaping proved a bit of a challenge to some but by the end of the day most students had nearly completed their mini sample sock. Hopefully they will give this method of sock making another try as it is very easy once you have learn the short row shaping.

If you are in the Alton area do go and visit The Knitting Habit. It is in Alton town centre in the street that goes up a hill near Boots. The owner Marion is very friendly and helpful and I will be teaching more one day workshops there througout the year. For details of when and where I'm teaching look at the Events page on my website.

I have been knitting

2009-01-23T18:04:00.009Z

I was pretty busy before Christmas with work for Knitting magazine but I did manage to do some other knitting as well. I designed this cream lace scarf to be knitted in Knitting4fun Alpaca Aran yarn. It takes 1 skein of 100gms to make the scarf. I used a diamond lace and an extended diamond (pillar lace) lace pattern which work well together. In the last repeat of the pillar lace pattern I made a slit in the scarf so the other end of the scarf could be threaded through it. I just need to write the pattern for it now.

The next 2 scarves I knitted as Christmas presents (so I couldn't post this before Christmas - at least that's my excuse for not writting anything for agaes again). The taupe coloured scarf (described as burgandy by the yarn company) is knitted in Rosarios4 Silk4milk which has been naturally dyed. Silk4milk is 60% milk fibre, 30% silk and 10% cashmere and it is a lovely yarn to knit with. I used the fern lace pattern and in order to make sure the scalloped edges matched I knitted the scarf in 2 halves. I knitted the section arounf the neck in k2, p2 rib to make it thicker and warmer.

This 3rd scarf is knitted in Adriafil Carezza which is a 70%angora yarn and again feels lovely to knit. It didn't seem to shed to much either. I used the horseshoe print lace pattern for this scarf but knitted it from the same principles as the Silk4milk scarf.

When I have a few spare minutes I will get down to writting the patterns for these 3 scarves.

Finding design inspiration

2008-11-27T07:50:00.009Z

As well as teaching a range of knitting techniques workshops I also teach City and Guilds Design and Craft courses in both hand and machine knit textiles. On this course design is as important as the craft skill so I encourage student to always keep looking for design sources - anything that interested them visually.

My current mobile phone does have a good camera in it but I keep forgetting that I can use it. When going into Fareham town centre I frequently walk past the multistory car park. Several years ago when the council was spending money to smarten up the town centre they installed these blue railings around the lower level of the car park.

I've always found them interesting. As I was walking past them this week I was thinking about the C&G course and thought they would make an interesting starting point under the design theme of line so I decided to take some photographs.

Whether I get around to doing something with the images is another matter but I thought it might be helpful to my students to remind them you can find inspiration anywhere if you just look.

Knitting group and Beret pattern

2008-11-21T10:02:00.004Z

I went along to the local Borders knitting group last night. They are a very friendly bunch of ladies who meet every Thursday from 6ish till the shop closes. I usually get there about once a month or so.

One of my friends mentioned she read my blog about teaching at Made but couldn't find the beret pattern I mentioned. I should have said it was in issue 1 of The Inside Loop so you have to look in the archives. The pattern is called Frances (after my daughter who is also the model). Here are a couple of picture of the beret. It is also linked on my Ravelry designer page.

One of the other ladies also asked if I was the person writing in Knitting Magazine as my name is mentioned on the front cover. I've written a third article on 'changing or adjusting' a pattern to suit you as an individual in the December issue. The previous articles where changing the style of a garment e.g. from a short sleeve jumper to a long sleeve cardigan with collar which was published in the September issue and an article on adjusting a pattern for size in the October issue.

I also have 2 patterns in the December issue, the 'Creme de Cassis bolero' and 'Magical Miser's purse'.

Teaching at Alston Hall

2008-11-19T13:04:00.014Z

After teaching at Made I went on to Alston Hall as I was booked to teach a one day workshop on 'Introduction to Crochet' and then a residential weekend on 'New fibres, eco friendly yarns and traditional stitches'.

Alston Hall is a lovely old manor house that is owned by Lancashire Adult Learing. They run a huge range of courses throughout the year both during the week and over weekends. I have taught a one day and residential weekend course there for the last 3 years of so.

Both the crochet and the weekend course where fully booked so it was a busy weekend. The atmosphere at the hall is very relaxed and fully catered so all the students have to do is enjoy their course.

The 'Introduction to crochet' went very well and all the students could crochet by the end of the day. The centre will be offering this course again but not until next November 2009. Next November we will also be offering a follow on crochet day workshop to develop basic skills, read patterns and understand how to shape garments.

Some of the students on the crochet workshop stayed on for the weekend course on new fibres etc. Having given the students an overview of where many of these new fibres come from and how they are made on the Friday night we moved on to trying out these different yarns in a range of fibres.

I provided yarn packs for each student which included samples of bamboo, hemp, linen, cotton/soya mix, ramie, milk fibre, milk fibre/wool mix, corn fibre and wool/seaweed mix. We started looking at knit and purl patterns and I explained how a traditional Gansey is knitted including demonstrating the knotted (Channel Island) cast on. Later in the day we moved on to cables, travelling and twisted stitches and on the Sunday we looked at lace.

I also arranged for a friend, Bev from Knitting4fun, to bring some of her yarns, kits and other bits and pieces to the hall. I should apologies to the students for tempting them to spend money or more nice yarns!

Although it was tiring I enjoyed teaching the course and hope the students enjoyed it as well.

Teaching in The Wirrel

2008-11-19T12:44:00.002Z

Last week I was invited to teach a one day workshop at 'Made' in Wallasey. I arrived on Tuesday evening to teach Wednesday. Val, the owner of the shop was booked to demonstrate the 'Knifty Knitter' to a ladies club so arranged for the knit and knatter group to look after me at Weatherspoons. we had a very enjoyable evening and I would like to thank the ladies for looking after me.

The workshop was Fair Isle knitting. After introducing the subject and showing everyone samples of how different ways of combining colour can completely change the look of a pattern they all got stuck in to knitting a beret (the pattern I designed for The Inside Loop). I demonstrated knitting Fair Isle in the round with a yarn in each hand and most of the ladies had a go and found it wasn't as difficult s they first thought it would be.

I have asked Val to send me some pictures of the completed berets so hope to be able to post them at a later date.

I enjoyed my day teaching very much and hope the ladies who attended also enjoyed the day.

John Allen Design Group and IKnit

2008-08-02T16:59:00.007+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to London for the day. I run the Farnham based John Allen Design Group and this year we went to the South Bank for our study day to collect inspiration for next year's class.

This year John set us a slightly different project using the area in and around the Festival Hall as out source of inspiration. Looking out of the Festival Hall at various views or starting from outside the Festival Hall and looking around the views and into the Hall.

Although I have run the Farnham Group for the past 13 years and used to take part in the course, in recent years I haven't had the time to participate but this year I am being strongly 'encouraged' (told) I should join the class again.

There are lots of interesting areas to work from so I will have to see how I get on. I may even be brave enough to post some of my work at a later date!

While in London I also took the opportunity to visit IKnit as it is very near Waterloo station.

The shop has lots of different yarns including a long wall of sock yarns. I decided I could resist buying yarn this time as I do have a not insignificant stash at home (even if it is my day job as well as my hobby). However they did have some interesting DVD's from America including some of the Lucy Neatby DVD's and the new Lace DVD from Meg Swanson. They also had Addi Lace needles in sizes I don't already have so I did have to spend some money there.

While I was browsing I also got chatting to a very nice lady who had only just discovered the shop which is very near where her father lives so I think she will be visiting again. Unfortunately when I visited neither Gerard or Craig where there but I was served by a very helpful lady (sorry I didn't ask her name). Although there where nice settees to sit on and knit I couldn't wait around as I had to catch the train home.

I'm sure I will visit again particularly as it is so close to Waterloo station. Here are a couple more pictures of the shop.

Back to Knitting

2008-06-03T10:57:00.016+01:00

I recently wrote an article on substituting yarns for Knitting magazine but due to limited space I didn't give any information about the yarns used in the swatches. Here is some information about the swatches and some more that wheren't included in the article.

The yarns in this first image are as follows (reading from left to right, top row then bottom row). The red swatch is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK; 55% merino wool, 33% microfibre and 12% cashmere with 110m per ball. The green swatch is Sirdar Country Style DK; 45% Acrylic, 40% Nylon and 15% wool with 318m per ball (100gm balls). The multi-coloured swatch is Knit Cole Candy DK; 80% Premium Acrylic and 20% Nylon with 290m per ball (100gm balls). The cream/brown swatch is King Cole Big Value DK; 100% Acrylic with 290m per ball (1oogm balls). The raspberry swatch is Elle Elite DK; 50% wool and 50% cotton with 114m per ball. The cream swatch is Sirdar Snuggly Babybamboo DK; 80% Bamboo and 20% wool with 95m per ball.

The second photo includes 2 extra swatches that where not included in the article. (Again from top left). The green swatch is Wendy Mode DK; 50% pure Merino wool and 50% Acrylic with 142m per ball. The red swatch with moss stitch border is King Cole Landscape DK; 70% Acrylic and 30% wool with 254m per ball (100gm balls). The other red swatch is Patons Diploma Gold DK; 55% wool, 25% Acrylic and 20% Nylon with 120m per ball. The pale blue swatch is Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK; 75% extra fine Merino, 20% silk and 5% cashmere with 116m per ball.

All these swatches where knitted on 4mm needles (the size recommended on the ball band) and washed before measuring. They all gave a tension gauge of 22 stitches and 28 rows to 10cm, again the recommended gauge on the ball band.

The last group of swatches where also knitted on 4mm needles and washed before measuring. They all give a stitch gauge of 22 stitches to 10cm but the row gauge is different; they all need more row to knit 10cm.

The swatches in this final group are (left to right); the raspberry swatch is Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK; 100% extra fine Merino wool with 116m per ball. The cream swatch is Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK; 57% extra fine Merino, 33% microfibre and 10% cashmere with 130m per ball. The dark blue swatch is Sirdar Denim Tweed DK; 60% Acrylic, 25% Cotton and 15% wool with 170m per ball. The lilac sample is Patons Washed Haze DK; 50% Cotton and 50% Acrylic, and the last swatch is Rowan Wool Cotton; 50% merino wool and 50% cotton with 113m per ball.

As you can see I have sampled quite a wide variety of yarns both in fibre content and yarn supplier. The main point you have to remeber if you are going to substitute yarns successfully is that you match your tension gauge to that given in the pattern. The results for all these yarns are with me knitting but that doesn't necessarily mean you will automatically acheive the same gauge.

I hope this information helps some of you to experiment with the yarns you use to knit patterns. You don't have to be tied to the yarn (and colour) the pattern is originally knitted in. A little time spent doing a gauge swatch can save time and money later.

Singapore!

2008-05-24T12:29:00.010+01:00

So, this is the last blog of our holiday, then normal knitting service will be resumed.

How can you summarise what we saw in Singapore in just a few pictures? First impressions - expansive airport, which could have been anywhere in the world. The midnight journey to Dave's cousin's place did not shout out "Singapore" - all the signs were in English. And they still use the UK plugs!!!

After a sound sleep we started on a two day personal tour - Jenny was fantastic and very keen we saw everything.

So, we took a trip to Sentosa Island (via Cable car), saw the huge Merlion (a big symbol in Singapore), visited the butterfly garden (which also featured parrots - see below!)

We were taken to the "beach" for lunch - actually a gravelly shore, covered with tons of imported sand and kitted out with palm trees, but with the odd background of oil tankers. Still, very warm (we were 50 miles north of the Equator) and although humid, not intolerably so.

In the evening, Jenny took us to the midnight safari, a must-see attraction. Basically, all the creatures of the night were out and feeding and we saw a Fisher Cat tiptoe across a small dam, grab a fish and disappear off into the night… lions…tigers….elephants…all far too dark to take pictures of.

The next day we were taken to the Singapore Botanical Gardens. A wondrous place, with the Orchid Gardens taking pride of place, a “cool house” (for alpine plants) and a mist house. Our first clap of thunder happened here and all those in the know started frantically looking for shelter. Apparently when it rains here, it really rains. But we were having none of that!

We were then taken for a bum boat ride on the Singapore river – very beautiful with the gaily coloured Merchant’s Houses, bridges, another Merlion and the magnificent design of the Esplanade Theatre…

Then off to China town and the incredible Buddhist temple…. Where everything was for sale (to assist in your redemption).

A visit to a Singaporean food hall (everyone eats there – it is so cheap) and then finally the piece de resistance – RAFFLES! One Singapore Sling later we were on our way home after an incredible few weeks and the horrific prospect by all our friends of endless reminiscences of a truly great holiday!

Now, back to knitting…

2008-05-03T02:14:00.001+01:00

Last days in Sydney

2008-05-03T01:51:00.003+01:00

Fi is now very involved in her workshops and has given two talks already to clubs near Canberra and Newcastle. Today it is Sydney itself and then she has a half day break before we head off to Singapore for two days. The talks have been very well received and are deemed a success. Fi will tell more when she has a moment or two!

In the meantime Dave has been given a free reign to tour Sydney harbour at length and make full use of his travel card. He has been to Parramatta - the first outpost to successfully start a farm and therefore ensure the survival of the pioneers in Sydney. The first Government House was established there and therefore the oldest "modern" buildings in Australia. A very interesting place.

The Parramatta river flows from there into Sydney harbour and is a 1 hour trip. So that had to be done. The Cat Ferry fills the river at that point and is an "interesting" journey until the river widens. A great trip!

Dave has also been to Bondi (well you have to, don't you) and a beautiful bay it is too - amazingly to my mind not too commercialised and full of what I call 2 second amateur surfers - i.e. they never last more than two seconds standing up on their surfboard before they spectacularly crash back into the surf to wait for another try.

I then took a bus to Watson's point, which is the last outpost of the Harbour before you enter the Pacific (or to be exact, the Tasmian Sea). A beautiful place and with spectacular views of both the ocean and the harbour. I think this Harbour trip beckons again today as my last view of this amazing place before we reluctantly leave and start the final part of our holiday.

Opera House. Bridge. Harbour. It must be Sydney!

2008-04-30T07:20:00.005+01:00

We can't believe we are here. We have spent most of our time taking in the Harbour, the bridge and the opera house. We have photographed each site in extreme detail, down to each tile on the opera house and each rivet on the bridge, from all directions and time of day. The place is awe enspiring and we love it, although our feet are worn down to our kneecaps.

We got a travel card so have used all modes of transport - especially the ferries! We are about two miles from the harbour so the busses have taken a bashing.

Fi found a wool shop on the first day (Needle Craft and knit bar) which took up some time...

Yesterday we took a tourist trip into the Blue Mountains, where we saw massive forested gorges, waterfalls and sites to please the eye.

We took a ferry to Taronga Zoo and saw (and photographed) many exotic creatures with an amazing backdrop of the harbour. This was especially obvious during the bird display and all photos incsude the bridge and opera house (we'll add photos when we can get reasonable internet access).

Today we walked through the Botanical Gardens and sat on Mrs Macquaries' seat! (she didn't complain).

Fi now starts 3 days of intensive workshops, so for her the sightseeing has sort of come to an end (until we reach Singapore next week).

Manjurah and Leaving Perth

2008-04-27T10:20:00.003+01:00

Our final experience in WA was visiting friends Fi had made before I arrived. They had made us very extemely welcome and were very generous to their guests.

When we arrived, after a cuppa we were whisked away to their friends' house on one of Manjurah's many canals (Murray Lakes). They had a view from their house to die for, topped off by the presence of a boat bobbing up and down, about to take us, with some wine and nibbles, along an eye popping journey of the residences along the canal. This was followed by a real Aussie BBQ - our first (and last) this trip. Everyone there was so friendly and generous, we had a wonderful evening. The only way we would be able to reciprocate would be to offer a trip along the english canals by the gas works. Well, Dave would enjoy it anyway.

The following day saw us at the Manjurah inlet quays on another boat this time to spot Dolphins. It went along more astonishing canals with even more astonishing and apparently often empty properties of A$2m plus value. We saw no Dolphins on that trip, but were rewarded with some sightings while we were eating at a cafe later. The Estuary at Mandurah.

A resident of Mandurah.

After sad goodbyes it was a long drive back to Perth, retuning the car and the trip to Sydney.

More later!

The Treetop Walk and Manjimup

2008-04-27T10:06:00.006+01:00

We left the hotel at Walpole and went East to the treetop walk. There was a LOT of rain around, but we managed to avoid all that. The TreeTop walk was situated in a Tingle Tree forest and consisted of platforms which you walked along which took you to 40m above the jungle floor - along the treetops. What was quite disconcerting was that the whole structure swayed (it was designed to!), but it meant that Dave hung on for grim death inbetween frantic grabs for the camera and amazing pictures. What was strange was that there were NO birds to be seen or heard...

Quite an experience!

We then had a 120km drive to Manjimup our next stop. We went thought some delightfully colonial towns such as Bridgetown and Balingup. A chance viewing of the signpost to a "Craft Shop" led us on a 2km detour to the Old Cheese Factory. This was a Tardis of a place with room after room of souvenirs and antiques. Each room led to another room which could not possibly exist stuffed with, well, stuff.

Finally we found Dingup House - an old colonial residence built in 1870 and lovingly restored by its current owners, who housed resident in the old building while they occupied a newer part. Not what other landlords would have done...

It was truly beautiful with period furniture and a very welcome log fire. They were not expecting us despite confirming by phone, but it didn't matter -we were the only ones there and they made us very welcome. It was amazingly quiet expect for some really spooky bird noises all night and the following morning. A great stay and highly recommended.

We spent a little time in Manjimup, but it was suffering from a lack of cash investment and has a run down feel. Fine for residents but not a must stop experience for tourists (apart from a good set of shops).

Next stop was Manjurah.

Walpole

2008-04-27T10:04:00.002+01:00

It was sunny when we woke up so we decide to do the WOW ECO-cruise through the Walpole and Nolunup inlets in the morning. It was a lovely cruise with a very entertaining and informative host. Most of the way down it was sunny. We then had rain for about 10 minutes and then it was lovely and sunny again. We stopped at a jetty on the south peninsular and walked over the hill to the beach on the ocean side. The beaches are amazing, sandy and empty but the sea can be quite dangerous as there big waves and quite a strong undertow.
We walked back to the boat and had coffee. While we were sitting there a number of pelicans few over. It was amazing to see they gliding on the wind currents. We then travelled back to Walpole through another rain squall and arrived in sunshine again!

This is the Swarbrick Saw Mill (this is for our Swarbrick friends - the Swarbs were BIG in Walpole...).

After the boat trip we went for a car drive to Conspicuous Bay. We had to go down a gravel road to get there and were the only people there. Another amazing beach with lots of surf waves and we even paddled in the Ocean. This is the Southern Ocean but it was pretty warm. We will have to go for a paddle in the Indian Ocean before we leave WA and when we get to Sydney we can paddle in the Pacific Ocean!

More around the Pemberton Area

2008-04-27T09:59:00.002+01:00

The main attraction in Pemberton is the Gloucester Tree (named after the Duke of Gloucester who was a Governor General in the 9130s). In the '30s they developed a system of putting lookout posts on the top of very tall Karri trees to use to spot forest fires. The Gloucester Tree is one of 3 lookouts still in use and if you are OK with heights you can even climb up the tree using the pegs as you can see in the photo. Dave was about 8 meters off the ground. The lookout is about 70 meters off the ground!

As we left Pemberton we visited the Cascades, a small rapids type waterfall. We were able to walk on some of the rocks as the water level was fairly low.

After Pemberton we continued south to Walpole.

Pemberton Area

2008-04-25T12:55:00.007+01:00

After 2 nights in Margaret River we moved on to Pemberton but on the way we visited the Jewel Caves and Cape Leeuwin light house. Much of this area is limestone so there are a number of caves yu can visit. We visited the Jewel Cave which was quite stunning. I haven't seen such a variety of stalagtites and stalagmites including 'straws' which are very thin straight stalagtites up to 5 meters long.

We continued on south to Cape Leeuwin the most south westerly point where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. We didn't actually go up the lighthouse but we could see the 2 oceans, one on each side of the point.

After lunch we travelled north and east to Pemberton on the middle of the Karri forests. Karri trees are one of the many varieties of gum tree that grow very tall with very straight trunks. On the way to Pemberton we stopped at the Beedelup falls. Due to the very dry weather (before we arrived) the falls where not as spectacular as they can be after the winter rains

We stayed in a chalet at the Lavender and Berry Farm. The chalets overlook a lake with the farm shop/cafe and gardens on the opposite bank. Another very pretty area which was more landscaped than most places we have stayed. They also do excellent pancakes!

And here are some roos we saw on the way!

Margaret River Area

2008-04-25T12:46:00.006+01:00

We stayed at some lovely chalets, the Riverglen chalets, 10 minutes walk from Margaret River. The chalets are set in a wooded area near (but not overlooking) the Margaret River.

Margaret River itself has lots of cafes and eating establishments and some interesting shops. I found some hemp yarn at The Hemp Shop and an amazing bead shop where all the beads where in jars just like a sweet shop.

The Margaret River area is very famous for its wines but it is very difficult to decide which wineries to visit. Dave wanted to visit a brewery so we went to Cowaramup Brewery where he sampled 4 of their beers and then went to a small family winery nearby which turned out to be really lovely.

As it was late in the afternoon we where given personal attention and even taken round the back to see the grapes in some of the vats and the old fashioned grape press they where going to use the next day. We tasted 3 white wines and 3 reds and all of them were very good, good enough for us to actually buy a white and 2 reds, but we will have to drink them before we come home.

The Indian Ocean

2008-04-19T06:02:00.010+01:00

After Perth and a great trip on the Swan river "wine tasting" (or getting a bit sqiffy as it is also know), we took a car (hope the owner doesn't find out) and went South.

First port of call was Bunbury, which had an amazing shopping centre for somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The beach was great with lots of butch waves. Just like being in Cornwall! (hope no-one from Oz is reading this...).

Then we visited Bussellton which has the longest wooden pier in the Southern Hemisphere. It is nearly 2km long and was built to allow deep ships to tranship goods. We started the walk in beautiful sunshine, but finished completely soaked as a rather surprising and very wet squall sprung up...

Perth!

2008-04-19T05:48:00.007+01:00

Hi, Dave here! I thought I'd give Fi a rest. Perth is apparently the most isolated city in the world. In the UK I'd equate it to Southampton. It's very nice and at the start, was very hot and sunny. As with all cities there are key views, so here is the Perth cityscape in the day...

and at night!

There is a wonderful building called the Swan Bells which houses an old set of bells from St Martin in the Fields which the Queen gave to Perth to celebrate the bicentinery of the founding of Australia. When we were there, bell ringers were actively using the bells and there was a gallery where you cold see the bells ringing. Finally at the top there were brilliant views of Perth and the River Swan.

Visiting the wheatbelt

2008-04-19T05:35:00.005+01:00

After teaching workshops at a number of places in south WA my host took me to stay with her daughter in Bruce Rock to show me another type of country to the area Dave and I are visiting.
The picture below is of a salt pond near Quariading on the way to Bruce Rock. The pond on one side of the road is pink (the one in the picture) but on the other side of the road is more blue. The little white specks are salt on dead tree branches.

The next picture is just a view from the car of wheat fields or stubble as they are at the moment. I did also see quite a few sheep in some of the fields as the farmers farm wheat and sheep but all the sheep are very dirty from the dust etc. Everything is very dry as it is the end of their summer.

Knitting Seminar

2008-04-19T05:23:00.007+01:00

I didn't have a chance to say much about the knitting seminar which was almost 2 weeks ago now. All the ladies were very enthusiastic and very nice to me being a visiting Pom. There were 2 other tutors, one from Queensland, Trudie teaching cut and sew and one from NSW, Dianne teaching 'Beginnings and ends'.

The seminar started on the Friday evening with a BBQ and 'Make and Model' fashion show. Unfortunately due to the wet weather the BBQ was a meal inside so I still haven't had a real Aussie BBQ. Some of the garments in the make and model were very good.

Saturday dawn VERY wet, they had all April's rain in one morning! I must have brought the English weather with me!

I taught 3 sessions and in the evening we had a dinner followed by a fashion show. There were some very interesting garments and I am hoping to get some images to put on my blog at a later date.

Sunday I taught another 3 sessions and then we finished with a 'Show and Tell' session with all 3 tutors.

Overall a very enjoyable (although tiring) event.

Travelling around

2008-04-18T03:08:00.002+01:00

Dave joined me last Sunday night. We had 3 days in Perth and then started travelling yesterday. We stayed in Bunbury last night and are off to sample some wines now!

I will write some more updates and post pictures when we can find a good internet conection.

Having a great time.

First day in Oz

2008-04-04T06:49:00.007+01:00

I arrived late on Tuesday and on Wednesday afternoon I was taken out to see the Caversham Wildlife Park (on the north side of Perth). The wildlife park just has Australian animals and birds.

These are some of the pictures I took.

Can you tell what it is yet!

The possom managed to walk up to get some food.

Entertaining the public is a bit too much for this Koala

Helen talking to one of the kangaroos

Visit to Oz

2008-03-30T19:25:00.003+01:00

It's getting quite exciting now as I leave for my trip to Australia very soon. I've been invited to teach at the annual seminar of the Machine Knitting Association of Western Australia which is next weekend.

I've still got one item to finish before I leave but otherwise I'm pretty organised. I am a 'last minute' person as I do tend to work to deadlines rather than doing everything in advance.

While I'm away I will try to post some pictures of the seminar and the workshops I'm teaching the following week.

Here's hoping they all go well

Corn fibre and wool/milk fibre samples

2008-02-11T08:56:00.000Z

These are the samples for the other 2 new yarns I mentioned in my post a couple of weeks ago. This yellow sample is knitted in 100% corn fibre. The ball band suggests a needle size of 6 to 6.5mm but I felt this was much to big as the yarn looed to me like a DK weight so I knitted the sample on 4.5mm needles. (The little eyelets at the bottom of the stocking stitch section are a shorthand to indicate the needle size)

The sample knitted up to a very nice smooth stocking stitch fabric giving a tension gauge of 23 stitches and 30 rows to 10cm (4 inches) - fairly close to the standard DK tension. the knitting feels smooth and soft but seems to have more spring than cotton yarn. It produces a good stitch definition although the 'print' colour makes the knit and purl pattern more difficult to see. The yarn does come in solid colours as well.

The brown sample is 30% milk fibre and 70% Australian wool. Again the needle size given on the ball band is 7mm but the yarn looks like a DK weight so I started the sample on 4.5mm needles but after the moss stitch section I changed to 5mm needles. The tension gauge on 4.5mm needles was 19.5 stitches and 28 rows to 10cm (4 inches).

The knitted fabric feels like a good quality wool with a slightly silky feel. It has the body and elasticity you would expect from a wool yarn. The stocking stitch produced using the 4.5mm needles is good but slightly firmer than I personally like so I went up a needle size to see what that was like. After the second section of stocking stitch there are 8 rows of blackberry stitch followed by star stitch leaning to the right and then leaning to the left. The star stitch makes an interesting pattern even in the 'print' yarn. This yarn is available in solid colours as well.

The 4 yarns I have been trying out are all produced by Rosarios 4 and made in Portugal. I understand from my student who supplied the yarns that they are imported by Moral-Fibre

Machine Knitting Pattern

2008-01-25T11:34:00.000Z

I knitted this jumper some time ago as an example of using a machine knititng technique called wave stitch (or pillar stitch). I have now finally written the pattern for the jumper. The jumper is knitted in Yeoman Yarn's Panama 4ply; 50% cotton 50% acrylic.

I have got to add the machine knitting pages to my website as I now have several patterns and 2 techniques booklets available. If you want more information about any of my machine knitting patterns or booklets you can contact me through my website

Back in the swing of things

2008-01-24T12:46:00.000Z

After having a bit of a break over Christmas I am now back into teaching knitting workshops and doing talks to groups and guilds.

On Monday I was at The InterKnit Cafe in Farnham teaching a workshop on felted knitting and needles felting. The photos show people busy knitting during the workshop. The workshops are held on a Monday as the shop is normally closed on a Monday except in the autumn run up to Christmas. As the shop was closed it was possible to have the tables in the main part of the shop so everyone can sit and drool over the yarn while they are knitting!

Tomorrow I am off to Belfast to give a talk to the Machine Knitting Guild of Northern Ireland on Saturday and teach a machine knitting workshop on Sunday. This is my first visit to Northern Ireland so hopefully on Monday I may be able to see something of Belfast before flying home again.

I have been booked to teach a number of hand knitting workshops over the next few months. For details of where I'm teaching go to the Events page on my website.

New Yarns

2008-01-20T15:40:00.000Z

One of my City and Guilds students opened a new yarn shop last autumn. The shop is called Wa Waas Wool n'Bits in Bexhill on Sea. I haven't been to the shop as I live about 90 miles away from Bexhill but at the first class back this year I asked Fran to bring along some yarns from her shop.

She brought along a variety of new fibre yarns for me to knit samples with. These yarns are all made in Portugal.

Sole Latte is a yarn made from 100% milk fibre. It looks and feels very much like a soft cotton yarn. The sample in the picture was knitted on 4mm Addi Turbo needles. It knitted very easily to make a nice even fabric in stocking stitch and good stitch definition when knitting a knit and purl pattern. The sample I knitted gave a stocking stitch tension of 22 stitches and 28 rows to 10cm (normal DK tension). The sample I had is multi-shapes of brown but I think they also produce the yarn in solid colours.

The next yarn Capuccino is 30% milk fibre and 70% Australian Wool. Again it is multi-shades of brown but may also come in solid colours. It looks like a wool yarn and is slightly thicker than the Sole Latte. I haven't knitted a sample in this yarn yet but will post more information when I have.

The 3rd yarn is Bio Bamboo which is 100% Bamboo yarn rather than a banboo tape. It has a silky feel and the sample is knitted on 4mm Denise interchangable needles. As the yarn is silky it is a bit more difficult to knit when using Addi Turbos as they are very smooth. The Denise needles provide a bit of 'grip' on the yarn making the knitting easier. As you can see from the picture the knitting is still on the needles but it produces a good even stocking stitch and I think it should also give good definition when worked ina aknit purl pattern. the stocking stitch tension on my sample is 22 stitches and 28 rows to 10cm, the same tension as the Sole Latte sample. the bamboo drapes more than the Sole Latte as it is more like silk or soya bean yarn.

Pop Corn is the 4th yarn Fran brought along. It is made from 100% corn fibre. The yarn feels soft and the way it has been plyed gives it a slightly textured look. Again I haven't knitted a sample in this yarn yet but will post more information when I have.

Waistcoat Finished

2008-01-08T16:20:00.000Z

I did finish the waistcoat before Christmas but haven't had time to upload it till now. I attached the I-cord around the edge but on the first attempt I wasn't happy with the tension or the colour section that was the next section on the ball. I undid the first I-cord and reworked it with a darker section of colour which I think works better.

I just have to get down to writing the pattern now! I may publish it in 2 versions, the one knitted in the Lang yarn and the one knitted in the Noro yarn. I'll post a message when the patterns are available.

Nearly finished the waistcoat

2007-12-17T13:16:00.000Z

I have now finished knitting the second front/back of the waistcoat and joined the back seam with a 3-needle cast off on the right side. I just need to finish the edges with a row of I-cord all the way around.

I should be able to post a picture of the completed waistcoat soon.

Multi-directional waistcoat first side finished

2007-12-08T10:14:00.000Z

I finished the first side a couple of days ago and forgot to take a photo before starting the second front. The lower back section is joined to the upper back section as far as the centre back then the stitches are left on a spare needle.

When I started the second front I chose a ball that nearly match the point I stopped knitting when working the first side so i didn't have to loose much yarn in order to make sure the second front more or less matched the first front. In the photo I have knitted the second front down as far as part way through the short row shaping.

I should finish knitting the main body of the waistcoat by tomorrow, which just leaves the edging.

Multi-directional waistcoat

2007-12-07T07:05:00.000Z

I have now finished the front of the waistcoat. There are 2 sections of short row shaping to turn the knitting as the underarm and back of the waistcoat is knitted sideways i.e. the knitting runs vertically rather than horizontally.

In the second picture I have just started knitting the lower back section to the upper back section. I should have this part of the back finished soon.

Multidirectional waistcoat and Knit Knit

2007-12-01T09:33:00.000Z

This is the next picture of the waistcoat. I finished increasing for the front neck and have started doing the short rows to turn the knitting at the bottom of the right front. The short row wedge is repeated twice in total and i have just started the second wedge.

One of the things that does irritate me about Noro yarns is that they join them in the middle of the ball and the two sections don't match. I have just knitted through one of these joins and as the colour sequence was brocken up too much I did continue knitting rather than changing to another ball. As it comes in part of the short row section where the colour sequence does break up I don't thing it shows too much!

I've also been buying knitting books again. As my City and Guilds students know I am always buying new knitting books and my latest addition to my library is Knit Knit by Sabrina Gschwandtner. I had a quick look through the book and it looks really interesting. I particularly like books that tell you a bit about other designer makers and how they work. Heather and Jo I will bring the book to class tomorrow.

Multi-directional knitting

2007-11-29T18:56:00.000Z

Some months ago I knitted this multi-directional waistcoat in a Lang Yarn. I've worn it quite a few times when teaching workshops or giving talks about knitting and have been asked for the pattern which I haven't written up yet.

I have decided to re-knit the design in Noro Silk Garden Lite before witing the pattern as Noro yarns, as well as being beautiful, are also more readily available than the Lang yarn. I thought I would log the progress of this re-knit on my blog so here is the first picture.

As you can see in the picture I've knitted the upper part of the back, divided for the back neck and started to knit the right front. I'll add another picture when I get to the short row shaping at the bottom of the right front.

A bit of a hiatus

2007-11-29T18:45:00.000Z

I have had a bit of a break from writing this blog as i have been very busy this autumn. This time of year is usually busy with teaching workshops and talks to knitting groups and guilds but I was also offered some commission work as well at the beginning of October.

I was contacted by Angels the Costumiers to make some jumper for a show. I thought it would be an interesting challenge to do the work. It was interesting and also proved to be a bit more of a challenge than originally anticipated. Initially I was asked to knit 2 jumpers (machine knitting) and some extra rib fabrics to attach to fabric to look like jumpers. They wanted everything knitted in very fine yarn so even the rib pieces took longer than expected. Then part way through making the pieces they asked if I could do 2 more sets of rib bits and could I also do duplicates of everything!

On top of all the teaching work it was a bit stressful but I got all the work done so now I can get back to all the other things I put off in the meantime.

Knitting Workshops and talks

2007-06-30T12:55:00.000+01:00

One of the nice things about my job is that I get invited to different parts of the UK to teach or give talks about various aspect of both hand and machine knitting. A couple of weeks ago I spent two days in Southport Lancashire as I was invited to talk to Longton Machine Knitting club in Preston and Southport Machine Knitting club.

The clubs organised for me to stay in a local B&B so I had the opportunity to see some of Southport while I was there. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so wasn't able to take any photographs. I knew nothing about Southport so was quite surprised by the number of shops along Lord Street, I think it was called, as well as the new shopping centre, particularly the number of expensive jewellery shops. I enjoyed window shopping but that was all!

The two knitting clubs where very friendly and had there where a good number of people at each club. I did a demonstration of open fabric manual techniques to Longton machine knitting club and a talk on surface decoration on knitting to Southport machine knitting club.

This week I was invited to teach a one day workshop on bead knitting in Blackpool. Two small family hotels got together to offer a knitting break, a Monday to Friday break with two one day workshops.

I was invited to teach bead knitting on the Wednesday so travelled up to Blackpool on the Tuesday afternoon (as I live about 5 hours away from Blackpool). When I arrived the ladies where just finishing their Tuesday workshop on 'Hand made not homemade' which they all seem to enjoy. I was made very welcome by Paula, the owner of the Westcliffe hotel where I was staying. Angela runs the King Edward Hotel next door where half the students where staying.

Paula and Angela arrange for a local yarn shop to come over on the Tuesday evening with a selection of their yarns and patterns for everyone to look through. they couldn't bring all their yarns so brought shade cards for people to choose from and deliver the ordered yarn by the end of the week.

On the Wednesday I taught my workshop on bead knitting and hopefully the students enjoyed it. Like any new technique some picked it up quicker than others. Angela took some photos of the workshop so I will upload some pictures when I get them from Angela.

On the Wednesday evening Paula and Angela organised a trip to the local 'Hot Ice' show for those guests who wanted to go. I needed to pack up all my bits so didn't go to the show but did enjoy a walk down to the sea front. The hotels are in the North Beach area, quite close to the seea front so here are a couple of pictures of the sea front near the hotel and a bit further down the road, a view down towards Blackpool Tower.

I came home on Thursday just as the others where preparing to go to Fleetwood market and Freeport for a bit of shopping. I hope the ladies enjoyed their knitting break, I certainly enjoyed teaching them and seeing another part of Blackpool.

Yarn shops

2007-06-16T12:59:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to London for the day to meet my City and Guilds students at the V&A Museum, but as we weren't meeting till 2.00pm I took the opportunity to visit Stash Yarns in Putney.

When I arrived I was made to feel welcome by Michelle the owner. Although it is a fairly small shop they have lots of interesting yarns imported from the USA. Muchelle is American so when she goes home to visit family she also takes the opportunity to search out new American yarns.

While we were chatting Michelle was telling me about the knitting circle that meet at the shop, that they are knitting mainly socks or lace shawls and scarves. The shop stocks a number of American yarns used for lace knitting including Fiddlesticks Knitting and Hand Maiden yarns. I was tempted to buy a ball/skein of each.

I bought a ball of Fiddlesticks Zephyr, a fine fingering weight yarn which is 50% merino wool and 50% tussah silk. There is approximately 630yds in the 2 oz ball which should be enough to knit a shawl. I've been commissioned to design a lace shawl using a fine bamboo yarn but I thought this Fiddlesticks yarn would work well as a practice yarn before working with the bamboo as I don't have a lot of the bamboo yarn to play with.

I also bought a skein of Hand Maiden Sea Silk, one of these new yarns that is 70% silk and 30% seacell (which I think is extract of sea weed but it doesn't smell of the sea). The skein has also been hand dyed. It was expensive as the skein was 150gms but should be sufficent to make a lace shawl or garment in a luxury fibre.

I sat knitting and talking with Michelle and her assistant Diane for most of the morning before making my way back to South Kensington to meet up with my students, so had a very enjoyable though rather expensive day.

I will go to visit the shop again but not until I have saved up some money as the yarns are very tempting!

Bring a ball of yarn party

2007-06-07T10:29:00.000+01:00

I recently had a birthday, one of those ones with a nought on the end, and decided to have a party to celebrate! Quite a few friends have reached the same age over the last few years and had parties, so to make mine a bit different I decided to have a 'Bring a ball of yarn' party.

When I suggested the idea to by hubby Dave his reponse was 'you need more yarn like a hole in the head', but can an obsessive knitter ever have enough yarn! The invites were sent out with instructions to 'bring a ball of yarn'.

Most of our friends do not knit so the first challenge was to find a wool shop but everyone did find somewhere and quite a few people brought more than one ball, so I have quite a colection as you can see in the photo.

The idea is to make a throw as a momento. I plan to knit it as a free form blanket/throw which will be an interesting challenge. I have done quite a bit of free form knitting as I also teach the technique but I think this will be an ongoing project! My intention is to keep a log of the progress of the throw on this blog and you never know I may have finished it by the time I reach the next landmark birthday.

As well as receiving lots of yarn and other presents some of our friends decided to put on some entertainment in my honour. The video can be viewed on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fYhT0mwIq8 I'm sure you agree it takes knitting and dancing to another level!

Listening to Knitting

2007-05-01T10:39:00.000+01:00

or should I say listening to people talking about knitting. I've just listened to the 'More or Less' show on the BBC website after seeing a link from Pat Ashforth about her being on the show talking about knitting and maths. I've know Pat for many years and have her first book 'Woolly Thoughts' which links maths with knitting so it was interesting to hear her talking about garter stitch squares and their mathematical relationship. Sandy Black (knitwear designer and tutor at The Royal College of Art) was also on the programme talking about knitting.

Last year I discovered Podcasts and started listening to Knitcast the podcast by Marie Irshad. She has interviewed lots of interesting knitters and designers over the last couple of years, some from the UK but many of whom live in America; such is the wonder of technology these days. I really enjoyed these interviews as I like to hear about how people got into knitting and designing and how they work. She hasn't produced any more podcasts since August last year but hopefully there will be some more to come.

I also sometimes listen to cast-on put together by Brenda Dayne or at least I do when I can get the computer to download the podcast; I've had problems ever since my hubby got me an iPod shuffle and I had to load iTunes to use it. I think I'll have to try reinstalling iTunes and Quicktime again and see if it works better next time.

Technology is Great! I just wish I knew more about it so I could get it to work when it goes wrong. At least with knitting I know what I'm doing and can figure out a solution when I hit a problem. Back to the knitting then I think.

Bead Knitting, talks and teaching

2007-03-25T17:22:00.000+01:00

Here I am at the end of another busy week and we're at the end of March already. Yesterday I was invited to talk to the Petersfield branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild about Bead knitting.

They are a very nice group who meet every other month in a hall in the centre of Petersfield. They don't always have a speaker, I think sometimes members of the group will demonstrate a technique or something.

They where interested in the different ways beads can be knitted as there are several different ways to work beads into knitting e.g. placing the beads between stitches in a garter stitch pattern, using a slip stitch technique to place the bead in front of the slipped stitch and knitting the bead through each stitch.

I have included a photograph of 3 beaded purses I have designed. I do sell purse patterns and as offer them as kits which include everything you need to make the purse. More information about the patterns and kits can be found on my website.

Talking of bead knitting, one of my City and Guilds students, Heather, had her beaded bracelet pattern published recently in Magknits - 'way to go Heather'.

On a slightly different subject I am teaching a couple of 'Learn to Knit' sessions at an advertising agency in London. They contacted me a couple of months ago to teach the sessions. A couple of weeks ago I contacted the Hand Knitters Association to ask about getting some help with yarn and needles for these teaching sessions and explained what I was doing. I was a bit surprised that they where so interested in my getting this 'job' because the company approached me rather than the other way around. They are keen to promote knitting anywhere and where very interested that a company wanted to provide some learn to knit sessions for their staff.

Hopefully I will be able to get some photos of the day and try to post them later in the week.

Felted Knitting

2007-02-28T16:11:00.000Z

This year is flashing by; its nearly March already!

I have been booked to teach a number of hand knitting workshops for Alton Knitting and Woolcraft, the yarn shop in Alton. One of the workshops I was booked to teach was 'Felted Knitting' and the original date was 10th March.

In the second week of January Marion, the manager, rang me to say there had been a 'cock up' on the dates and the programme said I was doing the workshop on 10th February, (which did in fact happen). Suddenly I had only 3 weeks to make the samples instead of the month and a half I had expected.

At the end of last year there where a couple of articles in Knit Today about felting knitting which proved to be useful. I had done quite a bit of washing machine felted knitting with both hand knitted and machine knitted items but my previous attempt at hand felting had been OK but not as easy as I had hoped. In the Knit Today article they mentioned using protective shelf liner from Lakeland; a plastic mess which comes in a roll. I ordered some and when it arrived tried it out, and I have to say I was very pleased with the result.

It didn't shrink the knitting as much as the machine washed pieces but it did make a very acceptable piece of felted knitting very easily. It worked very well for flat pieces but I think 3 dimensional pieces will felt better in the washing machine.

For the workshop I knitted a bag in Rowan Tapestry and Kid Silk Haze with an eyelash yarn for the top section of the bag. I knitted some leaves to add to the bag as decoration. I also made a flower corsage in Rowan Scottish Tweed. The bag was washed at 40 degrees and felted well and the Scottish Tweed was washed at 60 degrees. (I have tried felting it at a lower temperature but it doesn't work as well).

In the last few months the yarn spinners have also caught onto this idea of felting knitting as both Twilleys and Elle Yarns have a good range of yarns suitable for felting in the washing machine at 40 degrees.

The bag in the picture is knitted in Elle Merino Brights, a softly twisted, singles, merino wool, dyed in long lengths to give a gradual colour change which felts in the machine at 40 degrees. I used a modular knitting technique to make the front and back panels, and short row knitting to shape the side panels. Wherever possible I picked up and knitted pieces together as I would rather knit than sew! I also made a knitted lining for the base so I could use stiff card to keep the base flat.

The pattern should be available soon along with other patterns on my website. I am also teaching the Felted Knitting Workshop again on Sunday 25th March at the Interknit Cafe in Farnham.

HNC first item made

2007-01-31T10:56:00.000Z

Having developed ideas for eight textile at the end of last term we were asked to develop one of these textiles into a finished piece. I decided to make something using one of the fabric and knitting ideas.

Due to time pressures (and any other excuse I can think of) I went for the easiest option which was to make a scarf, so the next thing to do was buy some fabric and yarn. I went to John Lewis in West Quay to look for fabric and yarn. Unfortunately they didn't have the type of fabric I originally want ed to get but I decided to buy the fabric shown in the photo opposite. I don't know what it is called but it changes colour depending on the angle of the light and is a creased textured fabric. I also bought some yarn which seemed to go quite well with the fabric

When I got home I decided the fabric wouldn't drape the way I wanted the scarf to drape so went to the sewing shop in Alton to see what they had. There I found a devoured type fabric (as seen in the 2nd photo), so went next door to the wool shop and bought some more wool to go with this fabric. (Well you have to add to yarn stash don't you!)

I used the fabric to make the ends of the scarf and knitted the centre section lengthways in garter stitch stripes. I then had to work out a way to join the fabric and knitting as neatly as possible. I used a running stitch along the top of the fabric which I could knit into. I also picked up along the edge of the scarf to cover the selvedge and knitted the two sections together with a 3-needle cast off.

The last two photos are of the finished scarf. I still have the brown tone fabric and yarns which I still want to use but will try one of the other techniques I used in the samples for another, possibly more unusual scarf.

Keeping track of tension

2007-01-02T15:53:00.000Z

Before Christmas, like many of you I expect, I had to tidy up to make way for visitors, eating at the dining room table etc. As part of this tidy up I decided to try and put some order into my tension swatches and sample ideas pile of knitting.

Last year my sister gave me a very nice spiral bound sketch book so I decide to use this to keep information about gauges for different yarns, samples of the yarns with their label and samples of some stitch pattern ideas.

As I work out all my own knitting designs I do knit tension swatches. I am also a machine knitter so I've found over the years it is easier to make tension swatches on similar lines to machine knitting even when hand knitting. I don't like knitting a piece and then having to mark out an area 10cm square and trying to count the rows and stitches. It can be quite difficult in stocking stitch let alone a textures stitch or textured yarn. Instead I prefer to use marker rows and marker stitches, and decide how many rows and stitches I am going to measure over to calculate the gauge.

If I am knitting DK, Aran or Chunky yarn I tend to knit 30 rows between marker rows and 20 stitches between marker stitches. In the section below the first two contrast marker rows I also work a number of eyelets to note the size of knitting needle I am using. The stitch markers can be knitted in either on row 15 or rows 10 and 20. Once the swatch is knitted it is quite easy to measure between the inside edges of the two sets of marker rows and the inside edges of the two marker stitches.

To find the stitch gauge divide 20 by the measurement you read from the ruler (in cm) to give you the number of stitches to 1cm, and to find the row gauge divide 30 by the measurement you read from the ruler to give the number of rows to 1cm. If you want to check your tension again that given in a pattern then multiply the rows to 1cm by 10 to get the number of rows to 10cm and the same for the stitches.

As well as an example tension swatch I have included a couple of pages from my sketchbook showing yarn labels, yarn, stitch samples and notes.

Having started the sketchbook I will have to try and ensure I keep adding to it over the next year. It should provide a useful reference for the future

My 'Eight Great' almost there!

2006-11-28T17:21:00.000Z

I have more or less chosen the eight fabrics I am going to submit for the first project although a couple still need a bit of work and none of them are mounted or presented in any way yet, but here is a taste of what I have been doing.

The black and white patchwork piece was hand knitted and then felted. The black and white striped and Fair Isle pieces where machine knitted and felted. The top right black and white piece was machine knitted on the double bed with needles out of work and a feather yarn woven through the ladders. This sample needs a bit more work with an alternative colour and/or yarn threaded through the other gaps. The middle left piece is a combination of ladders cables and transfer stitches on the knitting machine and the lower left sample is 3 variations of the fabric and knitting idea.

I'm supposed to be starting work on my next project which is colour so will let you know how I am getting on.

The Good and the Bad

2006-11-28T16:33:00.000Z

I have now got around to photographing the fabric samples I have made so far as part of the HNC Stitch Textiles course. Some of the samples are good, some are so so and some are pretty bad but I thought I would include them all.

This first set of samples where the initial stage of gettting a number of ideas down at once based on the mood boards we created the first week.

I haven't included a picture of my mood baord but the pictures on it where largely in white and light naturel colours with some bright pink and dark purple.

A lot of the pictures where of clothes being modelled, some outside and some on the catwalk. I was particularly interested in the garment shapes and the way the fabric draped.

The first 2 pictures where a collage of ideas.

The third picture is some of the early fabric samples I made but have not incuded in my final choice of 8.

These 3 pieces combine fabric or lace with knitting. In the white sample the knitting has been added on top of the fabric whereas the 2 brown samples the lace has been knitted into the sample fabric.

The top left hand image is of another group of samples combining fabric and knitting. The knitting is worked by hand but they were inspired by some samples created by Iris Bishop, a very experianced and inventive machine knitter.

The right hand picture shows a sample of hand knitting, a sample of machine knitting with lycra and a couple of pieces of fabric that where pleated and dyed.

The bottom left hand picture is of a couple of pieces of hand knitting based on the patchwork/domino knitting technique and a piece of machine knitting using a cut float weaving technique.

Several samples led to more work and some of the samples included in the final eight.

Knitting shops

2006-11-19T18:47:00.000Z

I thought I would also keep a record of the vaious knitting shops I visit as I am being asked to teach workshops for different wool shops.

The first shop is Alton Knitting and Woolcraft. Earlier this year they moved to new larger premises next door to Alton Sewing Centre in Alton, Hampshire. The shop has a good range of yarns from basics to Rowan yarns and some more expensive yarns e.g. Noro and Gadifra.

As you can see from the photo the shop is well laid out with a table to work at if you want to knit or need help with your knitting. The shop also has knitting books and magazines.

The shop staff are very friendly and helpful. The manager, Marion also happens to be taking the City and Guilds 7922 course in Hand Knit Textiles. The shop runs a knitting circle on alternate Tuesday nights.

Workshops

2006-11-19T18:33:00.000Z

I have been busy teaching workshops as well as my usual City and Guilds class over the last few weeks. A couple of Saturdays ago I taught a 'Finishing Techniques' one day workshop at Alton Knitting and Woolcraft.

The workshop was held in the back room of the sewing shop next door. It was a bit of a tight squeeze teaching 10 students in a fairly small room but we all had a good day.

There was lots of discussion on the best way to complete garments and how to deal with problems when following a commercial pattern which doesn't explain how to use the techniques we covered e.g. short row shaping for shoulders rather than casting off. Everyone worksed hard and went away with a number of samples covering sewing up, necklines and short row shaping.

I ment to take photos of the workshop during the day but forgot right untill the end of the day, so here are a couple of pictures of the student just finishing at the end of the day.

Taken the plunge

2006-11-08T18:54:00.000Z

I've been thinking about writing a blog for some time and have finally taken the plunge. Never having kept a diary this is all new but hopefully enjoyable.

I also hope this blog will help me keep track of my various knitting and textile project, of which there are many! I am also taking an HNC course in Stitched Textiles and will record my progress here.

I am the only knitter on the course. Most of the other students work mainly in embroidery and patchwork and quilting although some of them do knit as well. The course is a progression from the City and Guilds Design and Craft Diploma i.e. theC&G 7923 Diploma in Embroidery but the tutor is very open to all textile crafts.

We are currently working on 'eight great textiles' inspired by a mood board we created in the first class. When I have worked out how to post photos I'll upload some pictures of the work so far.