Festive Greetings

New Website

I've been busy rebuilding my website which I hope will be much improved, offer more flexibility and most importantly,  provide a better experience for readers & customers. It's still at www.fyberknitics.co.uk but will look a little different. I'd be glad of any feedback, so why not pop over to have a look around and let me know what you think? I'd love to hear from you :-)

Ally Pally and Choosing Knitting Needles

Well I've had an action packed couple of weeks which included a trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace - worth a trip even just to admire the grand architecture of the building set in extensive Parkland with views across to the city's be-gerkined skyline. But that of course wasn't the main attraction for those attending the show, and there was plenty on offer to feast the eyes on or indeed relieve the pocket :)

My mission on this occasion was to buy some more knitting needles to extend my range of sizes, but also to consider some new options. I gave up the long straights a number of years ago in favour of using Knit Pro Symfonie interchangeable wooden circulars for a number of reasons:

• I have  recurrent tendon 'issues' and a touch of carpel tunnel syndrome so circulars are a more comfortable option as it reduces strain caused by the weight and 'leverage' of the long straights. The actual knitting rests on your lap, thus further relieving your hands and wrists of the weight.
• For similar reasons I favour wood which is kinder on the joints & tendons than metal, but I also just prefer the feel of wood over metal.
• Circulars are great for knitting in transit as they take up less space (to the relief of the person seated next to you), and also if you drop your needle it can't roll away down the length of the carriage thus avoiding the embarrassment of having to do an ungainly duck dive to rummage under the other passengers' seats to retrieve it - not that that's ever happened to me of course (cough cough!).
• They are pretty and a gal's gotta have some knitting bling right? 
• If you have 80cm length cords you don't need dpns as you can use the Magic loop technique, so you really can knit anything with these needles.

We have all heard the old adage 'a bad worksman always blames his tools', and whilst many a good crafts woman can work with less, life really is made much easier if you have good quality tools, and the right ones for the job. I have been increasingly working with fine yarns and like many knitters, have been enjoying the resurgence in more traditional  skills such as lace knitting so had been deliberating over getting some lace needles. What are lace needles I hear you ask? They are much like other needles except you have a longer, pointier tip, the purpose of which is to make stitch manoeuvres that often feature in lace patterns (such as knitting several stitches together, passing slip stitches over, or knitting through the back loops) a lot easier. you don't have to have special needles to knit lace but pointier tips definitely make this an easier and therefore more pleasurable experience. Also lace needles are not just for knitting lace - they are great for all types of knitting.

The picture to the left should hopefully show the difference comparing these to 'ordinary' needle tips - From left to write, 3mm knit Pro Symfonie; 2.5mm Addi lace fixed circular, 3mm Knit Pro Karbonz, bamboo ordinary straight 3mm, metal vintage size 11 (3mm).

As you can see the the ordinary needles are  less sharp, and I think the Knit Pro Symfonie & Karbonz tips are very much akin to the Addi lace. The difference looks fairly subtle but the effects are significant. You don't have to have special needles to knit lace but pointier tips definitely make this an easier and therefore more pleasurable experience.

I've been more than happy with my Knit Pro interchangeables, but as with all sets of interchangeables they only start from a 3mm and I needed finer for some projects I have in mind. You can get from 2mm in fixed circulars, but although I love the wood I find they tend to break easily. So I have tried an Addi Lace fixed circular, which does make for a smooth knit, and unlike other metal needles I have used previously they feel warmer to the touch and are less 'clanky'. There is a lot to commend them, as you can see in this review, however the Knit Pros continue to compare favourably. Having read this needle review by West Sussex blogster Sarah Knight of Crafts from the Cwtch I had been deliberating over acquiring a set of these Addi Click Long Lace needles.

However, they only range form a 3.5mm - 8mm, and I think my Knit Pros offer a more extensive size range. What is great about Addi's though is the needles and cables are clearly marked with the relevant sizes so you don't have to figure this out each time with a needle gauge or tape measure. Having said that Knit Pro have now started to mark the tips with the size, but the cords remain unmarked. This is no doubt something that they may well tweak in future. Another feature I like about the Addi's Click Long lace is the slit they have designed in the ends of the cords to aid in the placement of  life lines and, as with their fixed lace circulars, the cords feel exceptionally flexible. That said, I think the Knit Pro cords are really pretty close in terms of flexibility, and you can thread your lifeline through the little holes in the cable fittings that are designed for tightening with the little metal 'keys' - check out this video to see that in action.


I was able to have a look at these at the show, and although I was very tempted to buy a set, after much deliberation I just concluded I prefer the feel & lighter weight of wood over metal, and I have to say I think the stylish and sturdy case appealed to me as much as anything.

So I opted instead to try out some of the new Knit Pro Karbonz which are made from high-tech carbon fiber with tips in nickel plated brass. I'll let you know how I find them, but early 'tests' look promising. I doubt I'd replace my much loved Symfonies, but these may well offer a great solution for me for the finer sizes.


Whilst Knit Pros have many pros the con, if any, is that I do not like the case much and older sets do not have the size on them.What I really liked about the addi click set was I think the rather lovely case - but pink is not my colour  - so I'm on the lookout for the perfect interchangeable needle case that: also holds a number of fine fixed circulars; comes in a lovely shade of fresh green, teal, raspberry or purples; and that I can put custom labels on the pockets for sizes - not at all fussy then, am I? If you see anything that fits that description, please let me know - I would love to hear from you :-)

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Mincemeat meditations & memories of Mary

I love this time of year when the darker evenings beckon us to stay indoors and indulge in more cosy, homely pursuits (not that I need much beckoning for that!).  Whilst many loath the run down to You-Know-What, I find it a valuable opportunity for stepping out and taking pause from the hectic whirligig that everyday life seems to be these days to focus on simpler pleasures. This hasn't always been the case though and the other side of the coin is that this time of year can seem hugely burdensome, adding considerably to stress levels and an already bursting schedule. The magazine shelves are filled with bumper issues on designing and making the perfect homemade, creative, visually stunning, socially rapturous and extensive festive period - but for most of us it never lives up to such unrealistic expectations.

We find ourselves surrounded by not only pressure to buy, buy, buy, but also to become perfect cooks, interior decorators, event organisers and glamorous hostesses. This is of course particularly true for women - men on the whole seem to be largely impervious to such Yule time hysteria and, as far as I have seen, seem largely (and perhaps sagely) content to take the opportunity to park on the sofa for a few days of  R&R! This combo often results in less than harmonious relationships leaving one party frazzled & inwardly seething whilst their partners wonder why they have to make such a meal of it. Now I'm not going to start about the unfair division of festive labour here - we largely bring this on ourselves. And neither would I suggest having a 'male' approach as this would I fear be a pretty dull affair!

The tricks are, I have found, to keep things simple and start early - not original ideas I know, but takes years of practise to achieve. Keeping it simple basically involves being selective - only choose to do the things that:

• you enjoy doing
• really must be done (e.g a bit of cleaning is necessary, full refurbishment is not!)
• you want to (rather than feel you should) spend your precious time on - unless you are super gregarious you will find the number of invitations to social engagements far out ways any desire to be sociable!

Now I am no domestic goddess, and whilst I do on the whole prefer homemade stuff to manufactured,  I know there is no way I could achieve that perfect homespun Christmas we are so often 'sold', but there's no reason why you can't enjoy a little bit of homely creating. I love homemade festive preserves, but I know I can neither make (nor in fact eat) the whole array so I am selective and just pick the one I enjoy making - my own mincemeat. I chose this as it's easy to make (i.e stick stuff in bowl and stir), but is so much nicer than even 'luxury' brands of shop-bought, so really is worth going to the effort, such as it is.  I make this in October so it has time for the flavours to  develop, and I also make a big batch so I can furnish family & friends with a jar or two. The good thing too is this favour is often reciprocated with such treasures as a jar of homemade piccalilli, plum chutney or even home farmed honey - so win win, as they say.

Another reason I enjoy making this is, as well as the warm feelings the spicy Christmassy smells evoke, it also brings fond memories close to mind of the lovely Mary Molson, sadly no longer with us, who privileged me many years ago by sharing her much sought after and secret recipe. It contains no fruit peel which makes it appealing to many who may not like mincemeat otherwise. Now I couldn't possibly share that original recipe, as that would feel somehow disloyal - Mary was very particular about who got to know! However, over the years I have tweaked it a fair bit to suit my own tastes more and to make it vegetarian (for my non-carnivorous friends), so I can happily share my version with you.


Ingredients: makes approx 4 jars

250g each of currents, sultanas & raisins
250g vegetable suet
75g or so dried cranberries
250g apple, diced and steamed lightly and cooled
500g soft dark brown sugar (light brown if you prefer)
6tbsp Brandy
Juice of one small or half a large orange.
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 whole nutmeg, freshly grated.

It really is worth going to the trouble of getting a nutmeg grater - they are inexpensive and fresh grated nutmeg is a whole class apart to the pre-ground stuff you can buy.

So - wait for this it's really complicated........... Put everything in a large bowl (or stock pan) except the apple. Give it a thorough stir, cover and leave while you cook and cool your apple - not too much as they go to mush. Then - again, wait for it......stir them in to the rest of the mix, exhale breath loudly, mop brow and sit down a mo after all that exertion ;-)

I then jar them up - little kilner jars are pretty, but I favour recycling so reuse jam jars I've collected over the year. I think the Bon Maman jars are particularly nice for this. Whatever you use tho it's important to soak off the labels and then sterilize them first, and this can be done simply by running them through the dishwasher. You also need to ensure you do the lids up tightly.


If you've time and fancy a little craft time, you can prettify them with ribbons and a label. The mincemeat probably isn't likely to left uneaten for  long, however it will last a good  9-12 months. I usually make a double batch as raisins etc come in 500g bags and if I don't use it all it tends to just clutter up my pantry until it goes past the use by date! Also this means there's plenty spare for gift giving.




Making & giving mincemeat has become one of my simple seasonal traditions and one that I particularly enjoy. I'd love to hear about any little traditions you may have - don't be shy and do leave a comment :-)

Crochet from Scratch Workshop at Hazel Court

I had a great time yesterday tutoring a beginners crochet workshop with a lovely group of ladies. This is an intensive workshop as, unlike many other crafts, the basic skills are probably the trickiest to learn. The good news is though, that once you have those under your belt, it gets much easier and you can soon start creating some lovely items which are quick to make too. It's amazing what you can produce with a hooked stick and a length of string! These ladies worked really hard, but as you can see by the photos they still managed to have some fun too.

Crochet is experiencing quite a resurgence in popularity of late and crochet classes seem to be in great demand at the moment. I keep max numbers with this workshop pretty small to ensure a quality learning experience, and so this class was fully booked pretty early on with a number of people being left disappointed. But the good news is I'm holding another one in Feb next year, so if you missed out this time around here's your chance to bag a place.

Craft Stall debut at Moira Furnace Folk Festival

I like a challenge and there's nothing like a deadline to keep you motivated, and putting together my first craft stall at Moira Furnace Folk Festival, as well as being involved in putting together a creative textiles exhibition provided both of these.

Having just got back from the TSG Summer school, I then had just over 2 weeks to complete my exhibition pieces and to prepare for the craft stall.

So first off I needed to make some items to sell ! - so I had a very intense couple of weeks dyeing calico shopping bags, fat quarters and threads; making brooches & cards; and printing off some knitting patterns.

Next I had to think about how to display it in a 3x3m gazebo and here's the result:

After all that prep & set up I could settle down to enjoying the event. It was lovely chatting to customers who dropped by for a colour and yarn fix. As is usually the case when fellow textile-o-philes get together, many were also very generous in sharing hints' tips and techniques. One lovely lady even demonstrated her rag rugmaking whilst holding on to my gazebo to stop it blowing away in a gale - and that's before entertaining us all with a spirited performance in the national spoons orchestra! - A big thankyou to 'Ballast' Jean - you know who you are :).

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Fast forward to fall

Well that has to be the fastest summer ever! I've been a very busy bee over the last 6 weeks or so, hence the lack of blog posts. So now I need to play catch up......

For a number of years I've been promising myself a 'creative summer' where, rather than go away on holiday, I use my holiday leave to immerse myself in all things creative - and this year I did precisely that.

At the end of July I spent a week at the Textile Study Group's Summer School at Harper Adams Uni in Shropshire. These summer schools are excellent so if you ever get the chance to go I would highly recommend them. They have 3 courses to chose from each year run by exceptional artists/tutors who are   Members of the TSG and leaders in their field. This year I opted to study with Sian Martin working with every day throwaway fragments, bringing them together to make beautiful surfaces to stitch on.

My 'efforts' made in the class

It was a very intensive week, I learned a huge amount, plus it was great to catch up with a few people I'd met last year, such as the lovely Judy Alexander, plus I met some lovely new & very talented folks. You can see some of the other students' work on Sian's blog.

So I arrived home fired up and exhausted at the same time, with just a moment to catch my breath before launching into preparing for the rest of my creative summer events - 2 'firsts' for me: a craft stall at Moira Folk Festival; and the launch of the Stitches Coven exhibition in Swansea, which I'll tell you about in my next post or two.

One Pleasant Summer's Morning

One Pleasant summer's morning

When all the flowers were springing out

Nature was adorning

And the wee birds sweetly singing out......

This folk song comes to mind this morning - I love early morning time in the garden when it's cool & peaceful and everything smells so fresh and, well, gardeny! And it's great to steal a few moments from a usually jam-packed day to take in some of the beautiful flowers - Mother Nature is an amazing designer isn't she?

I am always intrigued by the structure of things and find it amazing how plants know to grow a certain way -  this fuscia is a great example.

This morning I'm also enjoying these blowsy sweet peas - aren't they lovely?

Like many people, I find nature to be a great source of inspiration. What inspires you?

Another finished object - yay

In an earlier post I confessed to being a serial 'starter' of projects, and resolved to have a Rule of 3 where I could only have 3 unfinished projects on the go at any one time. And I have (for the most part) managed to stick to this.....only I was of course referring only to my knitting projects- ha ha!! Yep, there are also other types of Un - Finished - Objects lurking in my closets! Back in April I had just started swatching for a new design with some Rowan Summerspun yarn I'd picked up on my travels. I finished the knitting of it a week or 2 ago, but have only just had a chance to block it. Blocking is so important for getting a great finish, particularly with lacy knitting,  and often seems like a mysterious process needing specialist equipment - but the truth is you can keep it pretty simple - I just pin the item in question onto a towel on my work table for most things - though for serious blocking such as for a cobweb lace shawl, then specialist blocking wires are recommended. Up until now I have tended to just use ordinary quilting pins for blocking as these are sturdy and long with large flat heads which can't disappear into the knitting.  Though recently I treated myself to some proper rust proof blocking pins which I've used to block the sharflette (cross between a scarf and shawlette) I designed which has a lace border. Before pinning it out I soaked it in cool water for a few minutes - but more often than not I tend to pin out dry then dampen thoroughly with a plant spray filled with water.





If you've never blocked your knitting, or don't see the point in it, then take a look at the before and after blocking piccies. I hope you agree it really does make a difference on how your stitches 'behave' and shows off the lace patterning to it's best. What you can't tell by a photo though is it also improves the handle of the knitted fabric considerably making it much smother, softer and enhancing the drape significantly.

Before blocking

After blocking

So it's all dressed up and ready to go now but, if you follow me on facebook you will be aware that, I'm now trying to think of a good name for it. Am thinking it would be great for summer evenings outdoors when the temperature drops.....or breezy days on the beach when you want a little extra layer around your neck. I'm also thinking along the lines of 'french village market'..... 

Update: You guys came up with some excellent suggestions for a name, and after much deliberation I went with Sea Holly. The pattern for Sea Holly is available to purchase here.

It's knit with Rowan Summerspun yarn in Greenwich - a mix of pretty turquoises & blues - I've had a few great suggestions already but would love to hear yours! Whoever makes the best suggestion for a name by Friday 12th July can have a free PDF copy of the pattern when it is available (very soon!). To make a suggestion just leave a comment below, or on my facebook page if you prefer. And please do pass on to your friends too :)

If you like the look of lace knitting and would like to develop your skills , then you may be interested in my Lavish Lace workshop in Swansea on 20 June 2015. Lace knitting is undeniably beautiful and has become increasingly popular over recent years, yet many knitters feel daunted by taking on such an apparently complex project. If you have been too afraid of trying lace, or are seeking to further develop you skills in this type of knitting , then this is the class for you. This workshop is ideal for those wishing to develop their fine lace knitting skills, and will provide a foray into all-over lace patterns with the addition of beads using the crochet hook method.

Something fishy going on ......

If I've been a little quiet here lately it's because there are quite a few deadlines looming and I have been beavering away to get some things finished. As well as enjoying all things knitterly, I am an active member of Stitches Coven, a local creative textiles group, and we are holding our first public exhibition from 20th August at Swansea Grand Theatre. As this is only 7 weeks away the pressure is now on to get pieces finished and prepared for display. As well as a range of our own individual pieces we have all been tasked with contributing a fish for a group display and here's a peek at my effort - I can't wait to see him displayed with all his other fishy friends.

Poland Jaunt

Had a lovely jaunt to catch up with family near Wroclaw, Poland. We hadn't actually been to this city before as most of the folks live about and hour and a half away - it's been awarded the European Capital of Culture for 2016 and for good reason. It's a vibrant university city with some beautiful traditional architecture, as well as boasting more contemporary flagship buildings such as Sky Tower which is currently the highest building in Poland.

It's also known as the City of Gnomes - you can find numerous characterful wee gnome statues dotted around the city - and it's apparently lucky to touch them if you find them :)

Unfortunately we took some Welsh weather with us, so the photos are a little on the dark side but I do hope you can still see how charming Wroclaw is.

Featured in June's edition of Making Magazine!

I'm very excited to have been featured in Making Magazine's Craft courses section :)

Knitterly Pleasures

After a hectic week it's great to let you mind enjoy a bit of 'free-range' wandering, dreaming of new projects and ideas. And even better, last weekend I had the pleasure of a good friend's company  in the craft 'roost'.

I didn't really 'produce' anything as such - but it's not always about that is it? I'm definitely more about process than product - that's my excuse anyway! I mostly had a long overdo tidy up of my workspace, and sorting through my materials and bits & pieces I'd been playing around with for ideas  (my unfinished sentences, as I call them) often sparks off a load more ideas.My friend Jane was a little more focused than me though and made this set of  beautiful beaded stitch markers.

Later on I had an exciting delivery from Janet at Smalls Crafts - a bundle of Manos Serena loveliness in these beautiful watery colours. This yarn is a fine dk in baby alpaca with cotton, giving it a lovely soft feel and great drape. I've been fancying knitting the Dahlia cardigan by Heather Zoppetti for a while now, but I will have to finish off at least 1 of my  current projects before I am 'allowed' to start knitting it...........

............but swatching doesn't count as starting knitting though does it?? And I needed to test drive Jane's lovely stitch markers afterall, didn't I?

These stitch markers were lovely to use, and as they are made with a loop of tiger tail wire rather than a jump ring they are great to use with finer yarns which can get caught in the join of a split ring.

And it you are liking the look of these, they should be available to buy soon in from the fyberknitics shop. And if you are attending the Magical Moebius workshop on Saturday with the lovely Alison Crowther-Smith you will be treated to one of Jane's lovely stitch markers for you to use on the day.

Introduction to Creative Upholstery Workshop - June at Gorseinon Institute

www.leighannetreadwell.co.uk

If you ever fancied a go at upcycling your furniture, then this workshop will be of interest. We have invited artist and upholsterer Leigh-Anne Treadwell to give us an introduction to upholstery techniques with a creative twist, and we have a few places available.

On the day you will be working on either a ‘drop-in’ dining chair or small footstool which can be covered in upholstery fabric or even a piece of your own creative textile art work! These items provide the best introduction to upholstery tools, materials and techniques, within the time allocated.

 

Visit Stitches coven's workshops page for further information and how to book

Simple Hand Printed Card for Hanna

I've always been fascinated by Matryoshka (or babushka) nesting dolls, and these often make appearances in my work be it knitting, stitching, feltmaking or papercraft. To me they symbolise my eastern European origins, and maternal lineage. I made this design to give to my Aunty Hanna for her birthday recently, but today I've made a little army of matryoshkas.

The doll was printed using a simple print block I made using a paper embossing tool on a piece of foam pizza packaging - so it's recycling too :) I've mounted my 'babushkas' onto some lovely decorative papers and finished a few carefully selected buttons. It's always lovely to give or receive handmade cards, and even though using the same print block, each print will be unique.I got a bit carried away so I have few spare which are available to buy here.

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London Jazz Jaunt

www.michaelblack.com

I took a sprint on the train with Mr Jones to Ronnie Scott's in London last week to see the truly awesome pianist Michel Camilo -  and when I say awesome I mean that in the good old fashioned sense of the word, when it was used rather less excessively than today. In fact we are so used to exclamations of awesome, OMG, etc for  commonplace, everyday occurrences (such as 'that bag is awesome' and, that's an awesome pimple you have there!'), that it seems increasingly difficult to find suitable words to do justice to such an outstanding performance.

Fortunately for me Mr Jones is not short of words on this topic as you can see by the review he has written for Jazz Journal where he 'encounters a force of nature in pianist Michel Camilo, his mix of musical fireworks and blistering cadenzas earning a standing ovation'.

There were some achingly beautiful moments in Camilo's playing, and for me this performance  sits right up there with some of the most memorable experiences I've had so far.
 

Intrasia Unravelled Show & Tell

Jules attended the Intarsia Unravelled workshop last week and here are some pics of her finished project - a wee birdy purse. Love her choice of colours, and I think you'll agree she's done a great job hasn't she?

back

Hazel Court workshops launched

Having planned and anticipated for months, the day for the fyberknitics 2013 programme of knitting workshops at Hazel court finally arrived . After many hours preparing yarns, learning materials & project patterns the programme launched on Saturday with Intarsia Unravelled. As soon as the participants arrived and had settled in their seats I knew all that prep had been wholly worthwhile - what a lovely group of people :)

Although we had a lot to cover, a lively yet relaxed atmosphere soon developed where we were able to share tips and retail 'finds', as well as chatter a little about our lives, and a lot about our mutual love of knitting. After teaching all day you'd think I would be exhausted, but I usually find quite the opposite to be true - if anything I find the experience to be energising, and often go away feeling as inspired by my 'students' as I hope they do from me.

I was further delighted to then receive these kind words from the lovely Alyson who attended:
'Thank you for you workshop yesterday, it was really inspiring. I'm not afraid of colour now and I can't wait to make something of my own.....your enthusiasm has really rubbed off on me!!! Can't wait for the next workshop.'

Mission accomplished :)


The next workshop is on Saturday 8 June and welcomes guest tutor Alison Crowther-Smith who will be introducing us to her latest obsession of Moebius knitting. Places are limited to ensure a quality learning experience, so don't miss out on this rare opportunity to spend a day with this accomplished designer.

New Beginnings and a Rule of Three

There are few things more exciting to a knitter than starting a new project - this is in fact SO exciting that the temptation is to just keep starting but never finish - I have always been really bad for this, casting on, then casting aside to cast on something else! I know I am not alone in this and it seems that behind every keen knitter is a scarily large number of UFO's (unfinished objects) - go check your pile before ye judge ;-)

 

UFO, from a distant galaxy........started long long ago...!

Until very recently I found my UFO's were well into double figures, surreptitiously stashed in various hidden locations around the house like dirty little secrets. I could remain in denial as to the true extent of  my serial hit & run approach , but I had a niggling guilty feeling knowing there was all that beautiful yarn gathering dust and going to waste. So I decided to come out as it were, gather all these abandoned projects and 'half finished sentences' and put them all in one (large!) space so I could take stock. There's more than a few, and spanning across several decades so I'm in the process of deciding what I'm actually going to finish, what I'm going to frog, and what really should go (GO??!..... hyperventilates at the prospect).

I know I'll never be one of those tightly disciplined knitters who only ever work on one thing at a time, never giving in to the lure of ripping the label off a plump skein of lush new yarn until that project is absolutely finished, (including blocked and stitched up). For one thing my resolve is as strong as a wet tissue in the face of  gorgeous looking new yarn, but more importantly I think it would seriously constrain my creativity. I need to be able to quickly follow up on some new thread of an idea before it evaporates, and if I wait until I've finished the project that creative impulse would be lost. However, there has to be some kind of balance here, as if I set off unrestrained with every new idea the moment it is glimpsed, all those other ones will wither as sure as my house plants do when I inevitably forget to water them. And then we will be back to the shameful stash of UFO's....

Crescent Shawl designed by  Sarah Hatton

I am learning that restraint is an important factor in the creative equation, and although apparently contradictory, both restraint and freedom are needed if any of my creative ideas are to ever come to fruition. So I've come up with a compromise - my Rule Of Three.  I like things in 3's, so I'm going to allow myself 3 projects at a time - 1 UFO from the pile, 1 new project on the needles and 1 working design......let's see how long I can stick to that!

So at the moment my 3 projects are:

1. finishing a modular knit cushion that's been on the needles for .....mmmmm...a wee while...
2. a lovely crescent shawl by Sarah Hatton, 
3. swatching with Rowan Summerspun with the intention of making a small accessory - not sure what yet, but possibly a shawlette. I have just 3 balls (coincidence or what!) so this will have a major influence on my design decision making.

 

So Summerspun, what y'a gonna be???

Does this all sound a bit familiar to any of you? I'd be really interested to hear how you approach the UFO issue, and what helps your creative processes - don't be shy and do leave a comment :)

I'll post with progress - both regarding the projects and how I get on with keeping to my new Rule of Three!

Job Done!

 

 

© Donna Jones 2013

Here's the reverse of my Birdy Cushion as promised now the buttons are on - What do you think?


This was a really enjoyable project to knit and I'm very excited about sharing these skills at my Intarsia Workshop in May :)

Easter Antics

 

Well I don't know about you but I had a lovely time over the Easter break. It was cold but we had plenty of sunshine, enough to entice us into the great outdoors for a couple of hours. I am so fortunate to have this just a couple of miles down the road at Kenfig nature reserve & Sker beach.


The views are fab from here - you can clearly make out the North Devon coast across the sea from one angle, and in this direction the Gower coast reaches out across Swansea Bay. You can also see a wide range of bird-life amongst the dunes and pools.






 

Esther & Ernie - I think they've hit it off :)

And inspired by seeing all those birds, I couldn't resist a bit of fun making up a couple of these cute Easter Chickens. These were designed by Janice Anderson and the pattern is available as a free download on Rowan's website. I hope you agree they make a lovely couple :)













Speaking of birds, I've finished knitting my Birdy Cushion and it's all sewn up. The cushion is reversible with a random stripe back - I'll show you this soon once I've sewn the buttons on.

© Donna Jones 2013

This is made up of a number of birdy blocks, and we'll be having a go at making these blocks at my Intarsia Unravelled Workshop on 4th May at Hazel Court, Sketty Park Swansea. What's more, those who attend will receive a complementary copy of the Birdy Cushion pattern. Places are limited to ensure a quality workshop experience and pre-booking is essential. What's more I've introduced an early bird discount of 10% for those who book before 13 April.

I'm really looking forward to seeing some of you there :)

Birdy Progress

© Donna Jones 2013

The Birdy Cushion I've been working on is now almost finished and I can't wait to see how it looks made up. I decided on random striping for the back in the end, for two practical reasons. Firstly, both sides are a feature so this makes it 'reversible' - if you fancy ringing the changes you can simply turn the cushion around. The second reason was to make the best use of all the different colours 'left over' from the birdies on the front to make this as economic a knit as possible for those that don't have a lot of stash and need to buy the yarn from scratch.

Here it is so far - The problem with so many stripes is having all those ends to sew in, but I hope you agree it's worth the effort. I've pinned it out and sprayed it generously with water to block it and, by the time it has dried completely, the fibres will have relaxed and the stitches will have smoothed out noticeably. I much prefer this method to pressing as you can iron the life out of your knitting if you are not careful!

All that's left to do is sew it up and raid the button box. The pattern for this will be available to buy soon on my website and Ravelry, and will be free to those attending my Intarsia Unravelled workshop on 4th May 2013 at Hazel Court, Swansea.

Stash Busting

I'm sure I'm not alone in my hoarding of 'stuff' which may 'come in handy one day' for craft purposes - today I found a way to kill two birds with one stone and tackle the fabric and cardboard I've been accruing, and use one to knock the other into some kind of shape.

Like many of you out there, I'm a bit of a craft book addict and have developed a bit of an Amazon habit - here's the evidence! I usually tend to hang on to the packaging to reuse as packaging or as 'material' for various art & craft activities.

I had got rather a lot of the stuff though, and today I managed to put it to good use in organizing my fabrics. I don't have a before shot, but believe me it was chaos - various carrier bags of assorted yardage and scraps in numerous locations around the cupboards and under my worktable

Needless to say this isn't a very effective way of storing stash - I had no idea what I had actually got, and would never be able to locate anything if I did actually know I'd got it.

I wanted to store my fabics in drawers but in such a way they would stand on their side so I could see what I have at a glance.

The Amazon packaging was just the right length to cut into strips and wind my fabrics around like a bobbin. Because the card's pretty thick you can secure it in place with pins.

You can also write on the end of the card if you want to add any useful notes like fibre content, where purchased & price etc.

So I've made a start as you can see. This is great for larger pieces and yardage, but I think I'll sort the smaller pieces & scraps into colour groups and store in clear plastic tubs in the other drawers.

Another thing too is I'm now out of book packaging which can mean only one thing........?

Over to You

Anyone else got any good stash organisation tips you can share? I'm always glad of any hints so do leave a comment below to join in the discussion - I need all the help I can get!!