A new design and a realisation

The PPS

This week saw most of my plans crumble like a soggy digestive. A recurring inner ear problem put me firmly out of action for a few days and meant that my lovely neat content calendar went disregarded - seriously cross - I used coloured pens and everything.

But I did manage to launch my new shawl design - The PPS* - which I was really pleased about. And a huge thank you to everyone who has been in touch, bought the pattern or talked about it to their friends. I really appreciate it, and seeing it on the front page of Ravelry patterns (albeit briefly) was a huge boost - Thank You.

In the past though I would have been stressed about what I was not doing, about things that I “should” be doing. They were in my planner for heavens sake - therefore they must be done.

This time though I listened to my inner voice - the one that sounds uncannily like my Mum. Telling me that I really couldn’t do it all. That trying to battle on through a horrible combination of vertigo and seasickness was never going to end well. And that it was OK to just take a few days off.

And so I did. And I have to say that it felt really good. Maybe, just maybe that pesky inner voice knows what it’s talking about sometimes.

*The PPS - why the name?

It stands for the Pattern Please Shawl - which if you are a member of any online communities (Facebook - I’m looking at you) you’ll instantly recognise as the pesky phrase that pops up repeatedly when people share their work but don’t share every last detail of the pattern/yarn/needles. I’m easily amused, I know but I quite like the idea of people asking “pattern please” when folk share an image of their completed shawls to which the response can quite legitimately be “why yes it is, how did you guess”

I told you I was easily amused - although judging from your response I think that quite a few of you also share my sense of humour

Comfort Blanket KAL

Comfort Blanket KAL

Well, that escalated quickly.

So many of you were so enthusiastic about me running a Comfort Blanket KAL that I dived in with both feet and have now got the pattern page up on Ravelry and ready for your purchasing pleasure.

For a serial prevaricator like me you’ve no idea how unusual this course of events is. I can dither for weeks sometimes before hitting the Ravelry publish button.

The KAL kicks off on Monday 8th April and will run for 8 weeks, but please don’t worry. I’m not expecting you to knit a blanket in 8 weeks, I promise.

Each Monday, you’ll get a pattern update on Ravelry and it will alternate between a pattern for a particular mitered square, and self-care tips and suggestions. On Ravelry at the minute there is a pre-KAL Information sheet available for download after purchase. That just sets out the key dates for your diary and gives you a bit more information on the closed Facebook group for the KAL and some basic information on yarn/needles.

If you’d like to find out more I’ve summarised it HERE

And if you are ready to jump in and join me for the most gentle of KALs - just click HERE

Any questions? Just drop me a quick email and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

How to make felted dryer balls

Whilst casually scrolling through Pinterest and various zero waste websites I came across a number of references to tumble dryer balls. For the uninitiated these are balls (no surprise there) that you put in your tumble dryer in order to speed up the drying process.

Mr Amazon of course sells packs of these in various shapes and sizes - most of them plastic - which didn’t really appeal to me. Then I came across a reference to tumble dryer balls made of wool and of course my keen knitterly senses perked up at this.

A bit of Googling later and some kitchen experimentation I found myself with quite a bowlful of these cute felted balls. The jury is still out on the whether they categorically reduce drying time but my goodness they are such fun to make - and of course a fabulous way to use up an scraps of 100% wool you happen to have about your person.

I’m sure there are a variety of techniques available for doing this but when I shared photos on Instagram so many people asked about them I thought i would share it here:

HOW TO MAKE FELTED TUMBLE DRYER BALLS

1. You must use 100% wool for this

2. Also be aware that strong or deep dye colours in your wool run the risk of colour transfer to your laundry so choose accordingly.

3. Start of with a small core of tightly wound sock yarn (any yarn will do for this) - about 5g in weight, or if you have any spare roving/yarn ends scrunch these into a small walnut sized ball.

4. Take your 100% wool and start to hand-wind to form a round ball. Rotate it carefully to ensure an even round shape.

5. The balls in the photo use approximately 20-25g wool

6. Once wound, break the yarn and tuck the end in firmly

7. Once you have amassed 4 or 5, stuff them into the cut off leg from an old pair of tights. Put one down in the toe, then tie a knot. Then add the next ball and tie a knot. Continue until all of the balls are encased - with a knot between each one to stop them felting together.

8. Throw the balls in with your laundry for a few cycles of washing and drying

9. Then remove them from the tights and hey presto - cute, fuzzy yarn balls.

PIN FOR LATER

How to work the clasped weft join

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll know that I suddenly developed a passion for knitting scrappy socks with leftover sock yarn. Having previously shunned them for fear of having to weave in All The Ends, I discovered the Clasped Weft Join and became positively evangelical about it.

Simple to do, no needle is required or any faffing. You don’t even need scissors if you can just snap the yarn by hand. It takes less than a minute and you are up and running with your new colour.

Sounds too good to be true? Just try it - and I’m sure you’ll be a convert too.

I uploaded a short video of how I do it, as it really is easier to see it in action than to try to write out a tutorial. It’s the first time I’ve ever uploaded anything to YouTube so please be kind - I may need to hire my teenaged sons to be my social media managers at this rate.

And we're off...

The Precious Metals Sock KAL starts today - and I have to admit I’m just a little bit excited. It seems like ages since I did a sock KAL and I’ve really missed it.

The first installment should be in your inbox, if not now, then very shortly.

If you haven’t yet signed up there’s still time, just click this link to subscribe .

I’ve also created a pattern page on Ravelry - please do generate your own project page and share your progress with the hashtags #preciousmetalssockskal and #preciousmetalssocks

Happy Knitting

Mickelby Cowl

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mickelby

This was originally part of a collaboration with Eden Cottage Yarns and now this cowl pattern - my Mickelby Cowl - is on general sale on Ravelry with a little early bird discount - although if you are a newsletter subscriber please check your inbox first for a little extra discount*.

This is a quick and really straightforward knit which looks way more complicated than it really is.

If you have always shied away from colourwork or filed it away in the box marked “too scary” I promise that it’s a lot simpler than it looks. The slip stitch pattern means that you only work with 1 colour per round and it’s really addictive - a real “just one more round” kind of project.

And, as an added bonus it is a snug fitting cowl - it uses only 50g of sockweight yarn with 2 x 10g mini skeins - ideal for stashbusting purposes.

So there you go, quick, easy and thrifty - what more could you want.

*The discount codes apply until March 2nd

You can buy the pattern here, and if you’d like to sign up to receive notifications on future pattern releases as well as the forthcoming sock KAL you can sign up here.