FO: Stopover Sweater

Whoosh! And it was done!

In a shade over 2 weeks I have officially banged out this sweater. And now I'm not taking it off. No, really, I'm not! It is light and snuggly and warm, and it is giving me that warm glow of satisfaction in the creation of something beautiful and useful. I'm trying hard not to immediately cast on another one...

Just in case you've missed any of my excitement over the last fortnight, this is a Stopover, designed by the delightful Mary Jane Mucklestone. Jim and I edited up some extra sizes for the pattern, to help with the excitement that Kay and Ann have generated with their Bang Out A Sweater KAL. They are world class enablers. Resistance truly is FUTILE! You can browse the beautiful finished sweaters on Instagram with the bangfinisher hashtag.

There's been a bit of chatter over on Ravelry about adding short rows to the back neck, in order to raise the back/drop the front neck. So I thought I'd share my blocking photo here... This is how I shaped my neckline while it was damp, and then left it to dry. I've not added any short rows. It's entirely shaped as per the original instructions in the pattern. I followed Mary Jane's excellent advice to block it firmly to the shape I wanted, and then I marked the back neck by weaving in some of the orange contrast, to remind myself which side was which. I'm not sure that adding short rows would have improved on this particularly! So trust in Mary Jane, and just shape it while damp. :)

I will do almost anything to avoid knitting with 3 colours in a round, so the contrast pops of orange and teal at the neck were added by duplicate stitch (Swiss darning) at the very end. I then went round and patted and prodded the stitches in the colourwork and darning while it was damp, to ensure that everything was looking its absolute best. I'm constantly amazed by the power of a bit of poking at this stage in a garment. It's transformative!

If you're inspired to make your own Stopover, I'm de-stashing my leftovers... You can find all the details on my Ravelry trade or sell pages: Leftover Lopi

There is still plenty of time to knock one out before the weather warms up!

Pounding out a sweater

I can't put it down. Since I cast on last week, I've knitted the body and 1.5 sleeves. This jersey is everything Kay and Ann promised. Satisfying and most of all QUICK! My plan is this: Continue to knit monogamously on my Stopover, and then enjoy being snuggly warm wearing it, while I knit the remainder of my Alfrick socks for the BomBella Colourwork KAL.

I thought I'd be able to balance work on each of these projects, but in reality, I am overtaken by the fact that I just want to be wearing the sweater! And I want to be wearing it right now. I am hoping to finish the second sleeve tonight, and it should then be a sprint through the yoke. Once I join the pieces in a design like this I feel like it gets faster and faster until the final stitches are cast off and it's done. No doubt it's the decreasing number of stitches in the rounds, but I'm sure I just knit more quickly too. At times in my past knitting life I've knitted on many projects at once, but more and more I'm finding that monogamous attention to one project is what works best for me. It feels like I finish things more quickly if I focus on them. It doesn't stop me daydreaming about the next project though, and I have a few ideas up my sleeve...

A Tale of Two Knitalongs

I am so easily enabled. It's ridiculous! I have a number of great projects in my queue on Ravelry, all waiting patiently with yarn and pattern in a bag and ready to grab at a moments notice. But all it takes is the feeling of excitement emanating from scores of knitters online, and I'm diverted - printing off a new pattern, and searching for the right yarn. Exactly this has happened to me, not once but twice in the last fortnight!

First up was Bombella's Colourwork KAL. I've been talking about making colourwork socks for some time. And up until now, I've not taken that leap. I wouldn't say that I was exactly scared of them, but something deep in my psyche has definitely pressed my pause button. I love colourwork, and have made a good number of colourwork accessories and garments, but never socks. So Ella's KAL with the promise of support, and plenty of fun chatter around techniques and tips, was the perfect opportunity to jump in the deep end! I'm casting on a pair of Alfrick socks. It's a beautiful design by Rachel Coopey - and I've had the yarn waiting in my stash since I first edited the pattern last year. I'm using Lang Jawoll which has the added bonus of coming in 50g balls, so I only needed to purchase 100g of yarn (rather than 200g for sock yarns with the more common 100g put-up). I also plan to use the little bobbins of reinforcing thread for the heels and toes, since that's where I wear through my socks most frequently.

Image © Rachel Coopey

Then as if one KAL wasn't enough... I've been following the Mason-Dixon blog for a good while now. It's been a joy to see Kay and Ann return to regular blogging. They really make me laugh and I love the feeling of community that their blog has created. They started to post about wanting to Bang Out A Sweater in a few weeks... A sweater you could wear before the weather improves... Tempting. Their chosen pattern was Stopover by Mary Jane Mucklestone.

Image © Kathy Cadigan; Design © Mary Jane Mucklestone

It's a design in létt lopi, knitted at a loose gauge to give a light airy fabric. Sounds lovely! But I got tipped over the edge when Mary Jane emailed to ask if Jim and I could add some extra sizes to the pattern, ready for the KAL. I'm a sucker for being made to sit and look at pretty sweater pictures all day! I just couldn't resist! So I made a swift yarn order, and I'm ready to go. If you want to see a heap of pretty lopi sweater pictures, I recommend checking out the #BangOutASweater hashtag on Ravelry and on Instagram in the following weeks. There are some lovely colourways in progress. Who knows? One sweater may not be enough...

Given how easily lead I am, can anyone else be tempted into joining me? Gwaaan, you know you want to!

Toasty Volume 2

I have the enormous privilege of editing for Rachel Coopey. I may have mentioned my love for her a few times before on the blog... But it never gets old. 

Rachel's latest book is the second in her Toasty series, showcasing the beautiful Titus 4ply from Baa Ram Ewe. This is a truly beautiful yarn. The colour palette is stunning, and it works brilliantly in both colourwork and in textured knits.

If you're thinking about knitting accessories over the next few months, then definitely check out the patterns in this collection. As well as the 7 hats there are also a pair of mittens and a lovely cowl - guaranteed to keep you snug as the temperature drops!

Jim and I worked on this collection over the summer and it's such a thrill to see our names together in a pattern book - more on this to come...

You can order a print copy of Toasty volume 2 from Rachel's online shop (and each print copy comes with a code to give you a copy of the eBook as well): Print Toasty 2 £12.00

Alternatively, if you're having the urge to CAST ON NOW, then you can download it instantly from Ravelry for £12.00. You will be Toasty!

Jam Heaven

Or how to get blackberry jelly to set... I posted a smug tweet last week about how I had made 10 jars of blackberry jelly before 10 on a Monday morning. Well, it came back to bite me in the bottom, as that jelly failed to set, and I ended up hunting around for hints and tips on how to fix it. I had some great suggestions from friends on Twitter, and it was reassuring to know that many people struggle with blackberries!

I eventually found a great article from PickYourOwn.org explaining how to fix jams and jellies that don't set. So off I trotted to buy a bottle of pectin, some lemons and more sugar; and having boiled it up again according to the instructions in that article, I now have set blackberry jelly! Whoop, whoop! And it's completely delicious.

However, I still had a dozen empty jars and half a bottle of pectin, so last Saturday I decided that I would see whether I could buy some fruit at the market to complete this year's jam collection. Boy, did I hit the jackpot! A 5kg tray of damsons for £2.00!! They were starting to go over, so we spent a fun 20 minutes picking through them and chucking the ones that were too mushy or already a bit mouldy, and still ended up with nearly 3kg of damsons.

And this is the result of our efforts - a shelf packed with home made jam, and an aspiration that it should last through until next year's harvest. This year we ran out of home made jam in February, so fingers crossed next year we won't need to call on the talents of the Bonne Maman at all.

FO: Wee Cria

This is a really, really lovely pattern. When Little Red in the City first came out, Cria was my favourite design by a long shot. When my good friend Nic bought Ysolda's Wee Ones collection for me, I was delighted to discover that Ysolda had designed a babies' version called wee Cria. Did you know that you can buy patterns and eBooks as gifts for your knitting friends? I've been lucky enough to be gifted patterns a few times through Ravelry, and it is such a lovely treat!

Wee Ones was a great present - thanks Nic! - and I've really enjoyed knitting my wee Cria. I cast on back in July, before the summer holidays started. I chose a skein of Wollmeise "Pure" 100% Merino Superwash, in the Sabrina colourway, that had been sitting in my stash awaiting the perfect project since Knit Nation 2010. It's a good thing that yarn doesn't go mouldy...

I had previously knitted up 2 skeins of Wollmeise - one in twisted stitch socks and the other in some pretty complicated gloves, and I'll admit that I didn't much enjoy knitting with it. I know that many people feel similarly - it doesn't have much in the way of stretch and if your needles are too sharp, it's easy to split the plies of the yarn. This time it was different. There was no complicated texture, as I had used in the past, and the yarn made the most incredibly beautiful flat stocking stitch fabric. I absolutely fell in love with the fabric, and would definitely choose Wollmeise Pure again for a kids' garment. It comes in 150g skeins, so this cardigan, in the 12 month size came comfortably from 1 skein, and I'm completely chuffed with how it looks. It just goes to show how much the pattern and needles can affect your enjoyment of a yarn...

And that's what we were waiting for... A picture of the cardigan on my clever niece, Honor! Happily, the cardigan is a bit too big at the moment, but I'm hoping it will be just right in a month or two's time, when the weather starts to get colder.

I really enjoyed the construction of wee Cria - it is knitted from the top down, with all the sleeve head shaping incorporated, so there is very little finishing beyond sewing in a few ends. I struggled to remember to count the rows between buttonholes, but managed to drop a couple of stitches and put them in a few rows later when I realised my mistake. I should have been using some scrap yarn to track the rows, but it wasn't a big problem to fix.

I even discovered that I had some great contrasting buttons in my button box. They work so well with the cardigan, that Honor was in danger of being too well camouflaged on her quilt!

You can find all the technical details of my project over on Ravelry: JenACKnitwear's Wee Cria where you will also find an option to purchase the wee Cria pattern from Ysolda for £4.00 or buy the whole eBook (7 kids patterns) for £10.95. If you have little people to knit for, I would definitely recommend it!

Bird Inspiration

Thank you for all the love for Cross-Country Knitting volume 3. Kate and I are so enjoying creating these mini-collections! We talked so much about birds while we were working on these designs, I thought it might be interesting to write a bit more about why I'm so in love with them.

A puffin we met at Sumburgh Head on our trip to Shetland in 2012.

There’s such a variety of bird life, even in our back garden. Birds seem to me to have different personalities in a way that other animals just don’t. The friendly chaffinch; comedic puffin; wise tawny owl; hungry gannet; violent arctic skua; beautiful blue tit; tiny nuthatch. They are all different! It's a real pleasure to watch them feeding while we have breakfast. We keep the feeders topped up with mixed seed, niger seed, sunflower seeds and fat balls. This seems to encourage a good mix of birds - although we do have a special fondness for the goldfinches. They seem so much more exotic than sparrows or tits. That said, the sparrows have a pleasing sociability when they are chattering away in the hedges. It's a bit like watching some kind of slow-paced birdie soap opera. We often wonder what they are up to!

As my friends and family realised that I liked birds, they did what all good friends and family do, and lavished me with bird-related cards and gifts! Here's a post from when I first started my blog, about some of the birdie birthday presents I received: A flock of birthday birds! 

I particularly love illustrations of birds, and here in Frome, we have a great selection of talented artists and inspiring shops selling beautiful art. I have the difficult task of walking down Catherine Hill on an almost daily basis, and I completely fell in love with Mel Day’s beautiful wire bird sculptures (http://www.melday.co.uk/birds).

© Mel Day (http://www.melday.co.uk/node/35)

Jim was kind enough to buy me a little owl sculpture for my birthday, and it sits on my shelves looking pensively at me while I work. Back then, owls were my favourite and my best.

I’ve spoken to Kate many times about my love of Kate Broughton’s illustrations. I came across her work at Seed in Frome (when it was on the Hill - now to be found at the Black Swan art centre). Her drawings have a simplicity which I love as well as cute facial expressions. The barn owl is so quizzical! My brother and sister in law were kind enough to buy me a wonderful poster of British Garden Birds for my birthday this year, and it now hangs in front of my desk in the office. Inspiring stuff!

© Kate Broughton (http://www.katebroughton.co.uk/shop/british-garden-birds-print/)

I also love the look of her Coastal Birds print (how predictable of me? It includes a Puffin!), and who wouldn't want a poster of British Tits? She really seems to portray the personalities if the birds she draws. And the fact that you can get everything from posters to temporary tattoos is very appealing too - there is a great range of things that would go well as stocking fillers as well as larger presents. Go and check out her work!

My last bit of bird-related enabling was another find at Seed (I think they must share my love of birds!) - the ceramic artist Alice Shields. 

© Alice Shields (https://www.designsbyseed.co.uk/Fancy-Pants-Birds-Tea-Towel.html)

She studied Ceramics at Bath Spa University, and now sells her hand-drawn illustrations on both ceramics and these fabulous tea towels. Although this one seems almost too beautiful to use for drying a saucepan! I love how intricate her drawings are - a contrast with Kate Broughton's pared down style. Alice infuses her birds with the same personality I love when I see them in the wild.

So, I hope that my walk through my favourite bird artists hasn't damaged your bank balance too much! I know that I instantly added a swallow print by Dee Beale to my Christmas list after I saw it on Kate's blog post about Cross-Country Knitting...

I'll be back soon with some knitting... I sketched out about 8 blog posts on the way home from town yesterday. Apparently I've got a lot to say at the moment, so watch this space!

Cross-Country Knitting Volume 3

PUFFINS!

I recently spent a few days up in Scotland with the wonderful Kate Davies. We had such a great time, and it was the perfect antidote to what has been the toughest few months of my life. We went for walks with gorgeous Bruce.

And worked on a book for next year (I can't wait to tell you about that... but not yet!).

And we went out to Inveruglas with Tom, and he photographed us at An Ceann Mòr in our latest Cross-Country Knitting collaboration - bird inspired accessories...

Kate has designed the magnificent Murmuration Scarf. It's just stunning.

And I got carried away by puffins...

And designed the Fufnip Hat (above) which features puffins around the sides, with a crown inspired by a kaleidoscope of beaks with a central eye.

And these Fufnip Fingerless Mittens which use the same puffin motif. The silhouettes are created by stranded colour work knitting, and the single full-colour puffin is added by embroidery at the end. 

We had a great giggle on the photo shoot (I am incapable of being serious at these things!). And Tom did a magnificent job at capturing the joy of the shoot.

We even found some wild blackberries and blueberries to nibble on. It was a wonderful afternoon.

After the shoot we headed up to Bridge of Orchy, where we went for a wander, and tried to dodge the midges, before having a slap-up meal at the hotel there. It was amazing. Thank you Kate, Tom, Bruce and Jesus for a wonderful break!

If you fancy some birds of your own, then head over to Ravelry, where you can buy the Cross-Country Knitting Volume 3 eBook containing all three patterns as well as an essay by Kate on the inspiration of birds. The eBook costs £5.95 

Or you can purchase a print copy directly from MagCloud for $12.00 by clicking on the link below.

FO: Kaelyn Cardigan

I'm not sure quite how I overlooked blogging about this little knit. I guess that life just got in the way, as it sometimes does!

It's the Kaelyn cardigan by Kyoko Nakayoshi, from the Fyberspates Scrumptious Babies collection. It is such an adorable little design. I love the knitted flowers along the hem (even though I had to knit bobbles and I'm normally vehemently opposed to them...), and the sweet scalloped edging. I did a few little modifications to make my life easier... I knitted the garter stitch front bands at the same time as the body (rather than adding them at the end), and I just used one button at the top, so that I didn't need to keep track of anything else as I knitted. It's gone to my new niece, who will hopefully get a bit of wear out of it before she's too big! I used Fyberspates Vivacious rather than Scrumptious, and I was really pleased with how it knitted up. The fabric really shows off the stitch patterns beautifully. It was a fun knit! I look forward to trying a couple of the other cardigans from the collection in the future...

FO: Shetland Trader Mystery KAL

Thank you for all the Wee Bruton love yesterday! It was great to get the new patterns out into the wild. I'm going to talk a bit more about the finishing on the design later in the week, so watch out for that!

In the meantime, I've finished a few projects from my needles. First up is my Shetland Trader Mystery KAL:

I so enjoyed knitting along with this! The Ravelry group was so friendly and enthusiastic! I almost managed to knit the whole thing with the month of June - I just overran a little at the very end. Not too bad for someone with my limited knitting time these days. The design is so beautiful. It has 3 different textured patterns, based around a garter stitch background. Really simple to wear, and soothing to knit. I would love to knit another in 3 colours as there were some fabulous 3-colour versions made. I'm just not terribly confident about combining colours effectively, so I might have to steal a scheme from someone else. There was plenty of inspiration in the threads on Ravelry, so it won't be hard to choose.

The blocking technique was a bit new to me, as you thread the yarnovers with a thread to block the curved edge. I've read that before, but never tried it, as I have tended to make things with straight edges where I can use wires. It was a bit tricky to ensure it was even all round, but gave a lovely smooth curve, so well worth the time to thread them all.

Thanks again Gudrun for such a fun knit along!