HRYC

Taking a moment out this afternoon to flip through the new Knitscene mag, oh my oh I was well taken with some of the patterns!

Besides the fact they are yellow and grey - I'm in love with the graphic styling of these Caution mitts by Rebecca Blair

Humboldt Raglan by Alexandra Virgiel - gorgeous simplicity in Cascade 220 Sport (we'll have more in stock in a few weeks) 

The eyelet pattern in the yoke of this great pullover has completely won me over. Again perfectly simple yet interesting and balanced design - the Rockfall Sweater by Mari Chiba

And of course i'm saving the best to last:

Grenadine by the one and only, ever wonderful Michaela Moores. It's wonderful to see Michaela in Knitscene - and this tunic dress is a delight. I adore how it puffs out a little at the mid-thigh, just short enough to intrigue. This is great knitwear design - timeless, classic, and yet incredibly modern. It's knit in Spud and Chloe Fine, and it the perfect winter go anywhere, do anything dress. On my queue it goes! 

Now I think about it, it would also be gorgeous knit in up in Zealana Kiwi Fingering. Mmmm. 

All images are thanks to Knitscene and all pattern links take you to Ravelry. 

Happy knitting! xx

I'm knitting a Trellis Lace scarf from Margaret Stove's Three Simple Lace Scarves pattern sheet (that we are now handing out for free, hooray!).

On a tired day, I start the first lace row and have to do it over a couple of times before my brain remembers how to count to 3. 

As I sigh, and knit the row again, I wonder at how i'll knit a whole scarf and remember the two different rows of the pattern:

Row 1: k3, * (yo, sl1, k1, psso) 3 times, k1, (k2tog, yo) 3 times, k2. Repeat from * to last stitch, k1.

Row 3: k4, * (yo, sl1, k1, psso) twice, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k4. Repeat from * to end of row

And after about 10 repeats, like magic, I can remember the pattern off the top of my head. No more checking back to the pattern.  Knitting becomes that lovely gentle dance of balanced increases and decreases. 

Which has me thinking about things I put off learning, because I assume I won't be able to remember: I'd like to learn to code; to spin; to learn more crochet stitches. To be able to look at html and know exactly what the outcome will be on a website in the same way as looking at a knitting pattern allows me to visualise how a lace motif will look. I'd love to understand more about the structure of yarn by making my own from scratch. I'd really quite like to make more than just a Granny Stripe Blanket.

There has been plenty of discussion about how knitting is similar to code, so why do I feel like I can't do it?

Here I was, assuming that I couldn't do something, that I wouldn't be able to remember. That the skills weren't mine. I'm sure we all have these moments of self-doubt. People come in to the shop and say they couldn't possibly do this that or the other thing - and I always disagree. 

We can do anything we put our mind to with practice. 

I've stumbled across something so amazing, so magnificent, that I had to share it with you immediately. (Thanks for the link, Rochelle!) 

Knitterstream is a data visualisation project that believes all that online chatter shouldn't disappear. So they took tweets and turned them into knit fabric in real time. OMG. 

Not only have they made something amazing with a knitting machine, it's a great reminder that what we do everyday may seem a little mundane, a little dull, but it is ours. That in itself makes it special. And we're knitters: we make special things from long bits of pretty string and pieces of wood. Incredible. We create, we make, we produce. And thanks to this, we are part of a great community of knitters. 

Best of all: anyone can join us :)

Have a great weekend, everyone. 

The first meet-up of CBA(a) was on Saturday - so perfect timing then that I finally settled on the pattern i'm going to get stuck into.

A whole pile of Knitsch Sock seconds are bound to be this blanket. That means an epic chain of 302 to start. What have I got myself into?

There have been some great planning discussions around the shop and the thread on Ravelry about everyone's projects - and don't forget that you are more than welcome to join in online if you can't make it to the shop for a session. 

This blanket? One person's goal. Much puzzling has been done over the hexagon pattern.

And inspired some deep discussion. 

Fancy joining us? You can bring your crochet along to any Saturday Sit & Knit from 11am - 1pm every week. The next official session of Crochet Blanket Addicts is Saturday 23 March. Hooray!

Dream Mitts

I dreamed this mitt. Seriously. And when I started knitting it, I was all concerned that I wouldn't do the stripes justice. (I still feel that I haven't, really). Also, Blue Sky Alpaca Sport is a dream yarn - 100% baby alpaca is beyond words. 

Feel free to freestyle the stripes: starting them after the thumbhole will make life easier, and allow for nice big chunks of the two colours at opposite ends.  

The mitts are designed so you can either hide your thumb inside the mitt on super cold days, pulling the mitt up and scrunching it around your wrist, or wear them the usual way, so you have full dexterity for important things such as carrying your coffee on a brisk morning walk to work. 

Yarn:

Blue Sky Alpaca Sport 100% baby alpaca

100m / 50g

1 skein nat light grey

1 skein citron 

or

Zealana Kiwi Fingering

124m / 40g

1 ball Majesty colour 14/4

1 ball Papura colour 06/4

Needle: 2.75mm 80cm fixed circular (for magic loop)

Gauge: 25 sts x 36 rows = 10cm

Abbreviations:

K – knit

P – purl

Kfb – knit into the stitch as normal, without taking the stitch off the left hand needle. Knit into the back of the same stitch, slide stitch off needle

Pattern:

CO 52 sts

Join in round, being careful not to twist. Place marker at beginning of round. Work using the magic loop method.

Next row: *k2 p2 repeat from * to end

Work in rib pattern for 2.5cm

Next row: knit for 3.5 cm

Next 2 rows: p2, k 46, p2

From here you will be working the mitt as if it were flat - turning your work when you reach the end of the row. When the thumbhole is completed, you will join your work in the round again.

Work back and forth for the next 12 rows

row 1: k2, p 46 to last 2 sts, k2

row 2: k all sts

repeat rows 1 & 2 four times more (12 rows)

next row: knit to last 2 sts, p2

re-join in round, p2, k to end

next row: k to last 2 sts, p2

next row: p2, k to end

Knit 14cm in stripe pattern (carry ends to you don’t have to weave lots in).

Continue stripe pattern, and:

k1, kfb, k to last st, kfb, k1 (54sts)

repeat increase row every 4th row four more times (62 sts)

Knit until the arm is as long as you'd like (the mitt I knit is 21cm from the last row of the thumb hole to the beginning of the ribbing)

Next row: *k2, p2 repeat from * to end

Continue in rib pattern for 2.5cm

Cast off using a stretchy bind off - I like Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off.

Here are the stripe patterns we used, however feel free to have fun with them J

Thanks to all our pattern testers as well! xx