New Year, New Patterns, New Skills!

Happy New Year!!

Yes - I've been very busy! All kinds of busy in fact; looking after Mum while Dad was in hospital (heart problems - he's home now and keeping well with lots of medication!); having an operation myself (arthroscopy to trim cartilege tear in my right knee, and they also diagnosed arthritis); and (of course!!) designing knits and writing patterns!


Since I last posted I have published 3 patterns - two double-knitted scarves and a beret. You may realise from the images below that I have also invested in a new camera and have put a lot of effort into taking good photos with it to show off my designs:

Falling Flowers:

Sky at Night:

And Lórien:


I've also invested in a decent camcorder, and have started to make technique videos for lefty knitters. The one I've 'embedded' below is about the long-tail cast-on. This is part of my growing mission to make available clear and correct teaching material for lefty knitters. It seems (from what I see in Ravelry) that lefties are often pushed to learn knitting in the right-handed direction due to a combination of the erroneous widespread notion that mirror knitting involves lots of pattern translation, and because of a lack of left-handed teachers, or at least teachers who caqn teach lefty knitting styles. While many lefties are fine knitting in the same direction as right-handers many lefties are not, and I've now (mostly via Ravelry) come across many who gave up on knitting until they tried it mirror-style.

Anyway - here is my first half-decent technique video. While there are still a few issues to work on (camera shake and lighting) I think this one is good enough for public viewing, so I've uploaded it to YouTube.

Centered Double Increase

I designed this blanket square intending to enter it for The Knitter magazine's competition in aid of MacMillan cancer support. Unfortuantely I was so busy preparing for a coffee morning I hosted for the same cause that I didn't finish the square and pattern before the competition deadline. So, I have instead posted the pattern in Ravelry for all to access as they please.

The square uses an increase method that I devised earlier this summer for some armwarmers I'm knitting (I'll post about these sometime soon). As the increase is so unusual (possibly unique) my sister has helped me to produce this video tutorial for the increase to accompany the pattern. She did the knitting (as I'm a mirror knitter a video of me doing it would be very confusing for most) while I did the voice-over.

Published!!

I can finally post pictures of the socks that Lark commissioned me to design for The Joy of Sox. They've given me the pictures you see below to use as blogger fodder and for general blowing of my own trumpet! Unfortunately they don't show the details of the heel and foot as weel as the ones they used for the book, but you get the idea. They have named them 'Snow Bunny', I think because the colours are reminiscent of the Playboy Bunny girls, and because they take the narrow diamond border pattern on the legs to be similar to the symbols used on maps showing challenging ski pistes.

Gosh - it's rather dusty in here!! I didn't realise it was quite so long since my last post here. I get so caught up in my knitting groups, posting at my Potter blog and in Ravelry that I forget this one. Which will not do as it is referenced in the bio section of The Joy of Sox, the Lark Books publication featuring a design by Yours Truly (they've called the design 'Snow Bunny'!).

Well, what have I been doing since February? Knitting and spinning of course! One wonderful experience was learning how to spin superfine lace yarn with Anne Baron from Bradford Guild. I can now spin yarn as fine as hair!!

Another highlight was UK Ravelry Day in Coventry in June. This was a marvellous day at which I attended inspiring talks by Meg Swansen and Debbie Bliss, as well as meeting lots of wonderful Ravellers, including the famous designer Jared Flood, aka Brooklyn Tweed:


I designed some full-length British-themed gloves for the fashion show at Ravelry Day. Jade silk with a red rose for England, red wool with a daffodil for Wales, and white wool with a thistle for Scotland (alas - I have no pics of these last ones to show you).

I plan to publish the pattern, either via Yarn Forward magazine (negotiations ongoing) or via Ravelry and my new website (which I will link in the sidebar here at some point!)

Of course I have lots of other knitting on the needles, much of it self-designed, especially as I am still putting together a book proposal. I've also taken on knitting a shawl for Mum who had knitted it rather badly and wants a better version to wear. Very sadly I think she is beginning to lose skills as she ages. I frogged it earlier today and am now off to wash the yarn prior to reknitting it.

Recent Knits

As I haven't been posting very regularly (!) I have again quite a few finished projects to share.

Firstly, I did finish Tom's scarf during the Christmas break, so he has been able to benefit from it's super-warmth during the recent snow!



One skein of my indigo-dyed yarn made this Swallowtail Shawl designed by Evelyn Clark(this one is for me!):



Another skein made this scarf for Mum (modelled by my dear twin-sister). I found the pattern on Ravelry - it's called 'The Waltz':



Odd sock yarn remnants made these hats for Bonnie Babies (UK Special Care Baby charity). They are based on a design by my wonderful Danish knitting friend, Kaae:



The yarn I span with wool from Freyalyn made this 'Morning Surf Scarf' from Spin-off magazine:



And I finally knitted the Ravenclaw Quidditch Socks from Charmed Knits that I've been lusting after since I got the book from my son last Christmas:



Next post - 'On the Needles' - embarrassingly more projects than permitted by my usual '5 or less' rule of thumb!

And then there were three...

Columns in my blog, that is! I've used a wonderful online tutorial to edit the template setting so that I could add the sidebar you see on the right. That way I can now make a better job of showcasing my patterns. Because the tutorial was so clear this was a lot easier than I anticipated.

Double Knitted Bookscarves

I've spent a lot of time before Christmas and in January working on my skills in double knitting (see the video tutorial in the advanced techniques section at knittinghelp.com for basic instruction). Having progressed to the middle section of Tom's scarf I received in the post a version of it for my nephew, made by a Danish knitting friend, Heidi Bybeckmann. This scarf was so beautiful and so perfectly executed that it sent me to my needles to swatch, swatch, swatch in an attempt to emulate her amazing skill. However, only after seeking advice from the Master Knitter herself did I manage to recreate the beautiful corded edges and approach anywhere near her even tension. My two-handed yarn management (which I swear by for fairisle) was not working well for double knitting, and my single-stranded edge stitches were making the edges messy.
Armed with this new knowledge about how to do double knitting I designed and knitted these Hogwarts bookscarves to practice with:

Fronts:



Backs:



Pattern:

Materials:

4ply/Sock yarn in House Colours as shown Main colour = Colour A, Contrast colour = Colour B
2mm needles

Instructions:

Cast on: Make 18 stitches in each of the two colours for the bookscarf (36 stitches in total), alternating the colours with every stitch. Any two-colour cast-on will do. (I do a very fiddly thing with Judy's magic-cast on to make a cast-on that looks like the back and front were knitted as one long piece and then just folded and seamed at the edges. I'll explain that technique in another post.)

First row: Slip the first stitch knitwise, then alternate knit then purl stitches as when working K1P1 rib, but work all the knit stitches with Colour A, and all the purl stitches with Colour B until the last stitch. Purl the last stitch with both colours held together.

Second and subsequent rows: Slip the first (doublestranded) stitch knitwise. Working a knit stitch first again alternate knit and purl stitches, but working the stitches in whichever colour is required as follows:
On the right side work all knit stitches in the colour shown on the chart, following each knit stitch with a purl stitch in the other colour (i.e. not the colour that was used for the knit stitch). On wrong sides work all the knit stitches in the opposite colour to that shown on the chart following each knit stitch with a purl stitch in the other colour (i.e. not the colour that was used for the knit stitch).
Purl the last stitch with both strands held together.

Cast off: Any cast off will do. I like to separate the stitches so the stitches from each side are on different needles, then graft the two sets of stitches together with Kitchener stitch.

Weave in all ends, and you're done!

Charts: (these link to my flick account - please feel free to download larger versions of the charts from there for your own, non-commercial use)



Enjoy your Potter reading!

Indigo

Yesterday I finally got round to using some of the stuff we sowed and planted in spring at the allotment for me to try some natural dyeing with.

When I know something is going to take all day, I need some kind of spur to actually get on with it! In this case it was the fact that natural dyeing with plantstuff is this month's assignment for Herbology in the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup. So I asked Dave to harvest the leaves from two of the Japanese Indigo plants while I set up the kitchen for the task ahead so that I could get the leaves into hot water as soon as he brought them in.

My sister was here and took lots of photos of the process for me to share. I followed instructions in Rita Buchanan's fantastic little dyeing book 'A Dyer's Garden':

1) I covered the leaves with hot water in Kilner jars and put them in a big pan of water, then slowly heated them up to 160 degress F over two hours.



2) I strained the liquid off, and squeezed as much as I could from the leaves:



3) I added some soda ash to make the solution alkaline:



4) The mixture had to be poured back and forth between containers to aerate it - this apparently releases the pigment, and it did turn a more blue colour as I did this:



5) I added some Spectralite (a 'reducing agent'), then heated the dyebath to 120 degrees F for an hour before putting the first skein in. The dyebath had now turned a greenish yellow colour:



6) I left each skein (I did three consecutively) in the hot bath for 30 minutes. I was thoroughly excited by how the skeins changed from yellow to blue when I took them out, it took seconds rather than minutes, and they went through a marvellous turquoise moment on the way:



The same skein seconds later (though it was less bright than the picture shows):



After hanging the skeins to air for at least half an hour I washed them, then re-skeined them (they had felted a little in the process). This is how they ended up - beautiful soft tones of French blue, grey and silver. The top skein shows the bare yarn I started with - a laceweight lambswool from Texere:



An awesome experience!!

Dave is so enthused by this he has created a raised bed at the allotment just for my dyeplants!

Sheep Spotter!!

Masham Sheep Fair was fantastic!!! I went with my sister and we had lots of fun ogling the sheep and all the various stalls. Marie was so inspired by the displays in the schoolroom where Bradford and Craven Guilds have stalls that she bought some fibre from Adelaide Walker, has borrowed a spindle from me, and has now learned spindle-spinning. I'm avsolutely delighted because last year she gave up in disgust after only a few minutes with my spindle during our camping holiday. She has now spun at least 25g of her lovely mixed blue merino top.



The biggest treat for me was finding a little pocket-sized 'Know You Sheep' book - recently published. It is going everywhere in my handbag because I am indeed a sad little wool addict and really want to be able to identify every sheep that I meet. I've been this way since my teens, and do now know many brreds by sight. I struggle with Blackface and Swaledale and Lonk though - they are so similar. While the Swaledale has only a grey muzzle, the markings on a Blackface or Lonk can take that configuration anyway, and Lonks and Blackfaces of any markings seem indistinguishable. And if I ever come acvroos some 'down' sheep I'll also be in trouble because they all look virtually identical too! Ah well...!!



Marie drove, so I was able to get some knitting done on the journey, and am pleased to report that I have now finished Tom's Hogwarts Socks. I've just to finish writing up the pattern and then I'll publish. Alas, I haven't got a decent photo yet -the flash has made the purple cuff and foot look blue. The text says 'Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon' - the Hogwarts school motto!!

Advancing skills?

At last all the children, including my sister's children, are in full-time school. Instead of using the extra time this frees up for housework I have, of course, been doing more spinning and knitting! It really is addictive, and I am well and truly hooked! Especially as during the last week I have been doing new things - styles and techniques I've never or rarely tried before.

First off I finished the Quidditch yarn - 300g of BFL spun to 'worsted' weight (roughly aran). I got 350 yards, and was reasonably happy with the results as I have rarely spun such thick yarn before. It turned out more consistent than I thought it would be. An unexpected element was added when I discovered that bonus points were available for metallic looking metal colours. How is Hufflepuff black a metallic colour? Well, apparently black is associated with iron in heraldry. Going with this I felt there was grounds for a hint of gold in the yarn, as 'fools gold' is really iron pyrites, so I plied the singles with some gold filament thread I have. It looked great. especially after dyeing the yarn black - the metallic thread didn't take the dye, so the gold glints really stand out. First picture is before dyeing:

In order to free up bobbin space for the Hufflepuff yarn I also plyed the singles I spun at Alston Hall from some dyed roving I bought from Freyalyn - her Wisteria colourway. I decided to Navajo ply because I wanted to maintain lengths of solid colour. This felt very brave because my last go at Navajo plying was very bumpy!! However, this time the yarn does not have bumps where each chain meets - those points are barely discernable. I thought I had overplyed as the skeins twisted so much when I took them off the niddynoddy, but after an intersesting discussion with Penny Leonard at Guild on Saturday I found that the yarn did indeed relax so much after washing that the skeins no longer self-twist. Perhaps my last Navajo-plyed yarn was so bumpy because it was underplyed?

Here is a section of the skeins as they hang to dry, and a full shot of them (sadly the colours don't show well - they are much more vibrant in real life):

And finally, my new knitting craze - I have been learning double-knitting. This is not in this case a yarn thickness, but a knitting technique that creates double-sided knits. I first came across the technique when I saw an article about double-knitted socks which solved the mystery from 'Knitting in the Nordic Tradition' about how the nurse in War and Peace knitted two socks in one. Then a friend of mine knitted a two-colour double-knitted bag, and I realised the possibilities double-knitting affords for colourwork. I wondered if this would resolve my problem with Aidan's scarf, knitted as a fairisle tube, which was turning out far too thick. So, I researched the technique and cast on. It works!! I am knitting a scarf that has a design on both sides, yet only uses two strands of yarn, and is a perfect thickness. The biggest win was getting the name (this one is for my middle son, Tom) to read properly on both sides. The scarf so far:

Clever eh?

Made it!

Ok - I'm a fast knitter! I am regularly accused of this in Ravelry due to the rate at which I add finished projects. This week I managed to knit a whole jumper in just five days! Before you faint with exhaustion at the thought I'd better add that it was for a child - it started life on my needles as a jumper for my middle son, and came off the needles a better fit for my youngest, who now owns it. What I'm proud of is that I've finally mastered my Mum's skill of knitting while watching T.V. (or in my case, while reading the computer screen!) - I feel like I have 'made it' as a knitter!

The well-read among you will immediately recognise that this is a Weasley jumper. Indeed I knitted it as my Transfiguration 'homework' for the 'Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup'. We had to do something that would be a good learning process - something we hadn't done before, and were supposed to do a Potter-themed pattern to boot. I went for the sweater because I have rarely knitted them - mostly due to hating seaming. Hence this is a seamless, top-down sweater! I love the technique and think I will be doing many more, and learning more about sizing in the process.



My youngest son will also be the beneficiary of a glove design I am currently working on. I charted the pattern a year ago, intending to knit it to go with the Nordic earflap hats I made for my boys and my nephew and niece last Christmas. Fortunately for this design there is an astronomy class in the House Cup for which we have to do a star-themed knit, and that supported me to actually get on and knit these. They are a combination of Nordic and Yorkshire design, patterned, fingered gloves with names on being a traditional knit in Yorkshire in times gone by. I need to tweak the pattern a little, then I will publish it. At the moment the index finger is disproportionately long:





As well as all this 'homework' I also have Quidditch practice to do because I'm a Beater in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. The game consists of creating a knitted or crocheted item as a team effort, with the 'Seeker' doing the design work, two 'Beaters' spinning the yarn, three 'Chasers' knitting/crocheting it, and a Keeper doing the finishing! My job is to spin 300 yards of aran-weight wool, then dye it black. Tough call, as I have rarely spun anything thicker than sock-weight! Anyhow, I've spun the singles - perhaps a little overspun - spot the snarls! Tomorrow I shall ply.




And finally, here is the promised picture of the cardigan I knitted for Poppy. The pattern is one I found in Ravelry, based on one Lucy wears in the first Narnia film:

Resolution!

This is it - from now on I will post here at least once a week!! As this is the 'website' I have given to Lark Books to go with my profile I really need to start using it properly again, instead of focusing solely on my Potter blog (which I love!). So - I'm going to tidy up: Re-organise the buttons. Put some links to my online pattern sales. Give details of new designs I am working on. And I will ramble on about the events in the life a a small-town housewife from Yorkshire! Some posts may be brief, some may be very long - I make no resolutions there. Most will include pictures and/or links for added interest.

Without further ado I will introduce the designs I have published this summer. Links to purchase coming soon in the sidebar:

Luna's Moonlight Socks:



The Fleur Tote:



Chaussettes de Beauxbatons:



I've also been doing some other stuff, some my own designs to publish, and a little baby knitting for my new niece, Poppy, born last week! I'll tell more of that in my next post. Meantime I must fly - have to go and pick up my eldest from the railway station. TTYS!!

'Tagged'

A couple of folk in The Swap have 'tagged' me with this questionnaire now, so I guess I ought to do it. Must be quick though - I have socks to knit!!

1) What were you doing 10 years ago?
Teaching in a secondary school in Oldham (near Manchester - the 'wrong' side of the Pennines!)

2) name 5 things on you TO-DO list for today?
Knit another motif repeat on first Pink Passion sock
Knit another motif repeat on second Pink Passion sock
Lift clean laundry from floor onto spare bed
Replace black print cartridge
Book train ticket to Cockermouth for Woolfest next Friday (yippee!! - + no guilt cos I have 8 hours knitting time on train!)

3) snacks that you enjoy?
apple crisps
oranges
sherbet lemons(fruity eh?)

4) what would you do if you were a billionaire?
Fund social projects for young people in the UK
Have Mum and Dad's home gutted and swanked up for them (don't think they'd want to move after nearly fifty years there!)
Buy a super-eco car (fuel cells?)
Go to S.O.A.R.
Buy a country property for eco-renovation and have the renovation done for the Wigworthy clan to inhabit

5) Name places you have lived.
Huddersfield
York
Easingwold (tiny market town 15 miles north of York)near Raskelf ('middle of nowhere'!)Ulverston (Market town next to the English Lakes)
Lindal- in- Furness (village near Ulverston)
Brighouse (small textile town in south Pennines)

6) what jobs have you held?
Cafe dogsbody
Specialist nurse (learning disabilities)
Teacher (religious education)
Lecturer (theology/religious studies)
Freelance writer for AOL

7) Who are you tagging?
Lily Clearwater

Felting

Gosh - a whole month since I posted! I do seem to be on a slippery slide with frequency of posting here. Let's see if I can improve the numbers in June!

I do have quite a few things to report, including a lovely holiday in the North York Moors last week. The highlight was the pirate day at Whitby Abbey, where Tom and Toby got to fire cannons, properly drilled by a lovely old sailor. There were some 'infantry' (re-enactment) there firing real cannons (not the toy ones the boys were drilled with) - the noise was incredible.

On the craft front there has, of course, been a lot of activity. My biggest project has been creating a bag for a design competition that the headmistress at Hogwarts instigated. My entry was my first ever felting project. It's rather cute, and I love the felting. There are some far more stylish and aesthetically effective designs that others have done though, so I don't know how much chance it has. She's planning to select four or five winners. I did mine with very reasonably priced British yarn that I found out about in Ravelry, from New Lanark Mills. Since I finished it my darling twin-sister has claimed it for her own!!
So photos of said project:

The latin roughly translates as 'Never Needle a Magical Knitter' (latin scholars - please don't flame me for the grammar!)

There are several other works in progress, including the Gryffindor Pride socks which I have now almost finished, and should be publishing the pattern in a day or so. Today yarn arrived (from New Lanark!) for some baby stuff for my sister-in-law's baby - she's expecting a girl in August. I'm planning to knit and felt some booties, and knit a fairisle cardigan, and design and knit a skirt (cos I can't find a decent pattern for baby skirts!)

I've been posting a few of my patterns in Ravelry, and when I have time (Hah!!) I plan to create a section in this blog to link them. My other big news is that I have just submitted a pattern to Lark Books for posssible publication in a book they're planning for autumn next year! Watch this space...