A Summer KAL

The Pattern Please Shawl - small version

I wanted to let you know about a relaxed, no hassle KAL that I’m running over on the Everyday Knitter Mighty Networks community. If you are a member of the group, the pattern is being made available free to you for the duration of the KAL so do pop over there to get the code. And if you haven’t joined us yet, please do consider checking us out - here.

If you would rather knit-along in your own way there is a 50% discount code as well - see below for details.

About The PPS

It stands for Pattern Please Shawl - a slightly cheeky reference to the eternal ‘pattern please’ requests that pop up perennially in Facebook groups. The PPS is an elongated kite shape, that is fun to knit but does take a little more yarn than the average ‘one skein’ project.

Where can I get the pattern?

Go to the link below and use the code PPSSUMMERKAL, this will allow you to download the pattern for a 50% discount (until 31 August 2021)

https://payhip.com/b/DY5j

When does the KAL run?

It will start on Monday 2 August and run until 20 September 2021

Yarn requirements (uses 4ply/sock weight yarn)

Small version: 70" long and 12" wide/deep (pictured above)

• 60g main colour plus 5 x 10g contrast colours (CC1-CC5) - 50g contrast in total

Large version: 90” long and 18” wide/deep (pictured below)

• 2 x 100g skeins 4ply/sock weight yarn

Stashbusting

With 60g of main colour and 50g contrast colour (for the small version) this is the perfect project for making use of mini-skeins if you have any to hand, or using up odds and ends for the stripes. 

January Cowl - a cosy knit on darker days

January Cowl

Sometimes you need something cosy, something not too complicated and something that will work with whatever you happen to have in your stash.

I found myself in somewhat of a knitting crisis recently. A sudden urge to knit a worsted weight, cosy cowl in a textured stitch that I had been playing with. The only problem was that my husband was occupying the spare room (now office) where my stash was housed.

He was on a marathon length Zoom call with colleagues and I was desperate.

But I did have two skeins of Eden Cottage Yarns Pendle 4ply to hand in my emergency stash. So I decided to wind them and hold the yarn double to achieve the required worsted weight type squishiness. Success!

1 skein of yarn held double is enough for a single loop cowl, 2 skeins held double will give a more generous double loop version.

And in case you fancier a lighter weight version I have also given the numbers for a version with the yarn held singly, in which case half a skein would be sufficient for a single loop cowl, or a full skein for a double loop.

Both versions are included within the pattern.

The cowl is knit flat and seamed or grafted at the end.

The 2020 Temperature Blanket: Completed

Well, it happened.

2020 is done and dusted and so is the blanket to end all blankets. Much like 2020 itself, the blanket was seemingly never-ending and it has turned out slightly larger than planned.

And by larger I mean that folded in half lengthways, it’s the perfect size to cover our double bed.

It is well over 8ft long and no - I haven’t measured it as I don’t have a big enough house :)

I did do a few basic calculations though and worked out that it comprises approximately:

• 792,000 stitches

• 293 hours of knitting

• 1.98kg yarn

I managed to get a stretched out photo by employing a handy helper and commandeering the stairs.

We have agreed that the blanket can live downstairs as a family TV blanket snuggler, on the understanding that it lives on my bed at night and I think we are all happy with that arrangement.

If you are curious as to how I actually knit the blanket you can find my planning post here and at the end of this post I have given details of the yarns I used. I didn’t keep track of actual amounts though. At the blankets widest point it was 550 stitches across (2200 per day) so I ordered yarn as and when I needed it. It’s safe to say that I used at least 2 balls of each colour apart from the 2 extremes of temperature.

If you are interested in how to knit your own Temperature Blanket you can find my e-book here.

Barn Door Cowl

Barn Door Cowl

Heavens, the last few weeks have been a bit full-on haven’t they?

I have to confess that I have been off line a little more than usual, trying to dissolve my anxieties with hot drinks, warm baths and my knitting. I’ve also been reading at a pace I don’t think I’ve managed since my teenage years. There’s something therapeutic about losing yourself in a good book - I’d quite forgotten how it can take you out of yourself and your worries and put you in a whole different mindset.

This cowl has been patiently awaiting publication for a few weeks now - it flew off the needles back in October and I’ve been wearing it pretty much constantly ever since.

It’s knit in DK yarn (the sample is Eden Cottage Yarns, Hayton DK) and 1 x 100g skein is sufficient for a single loop cowl.

It is knit in the round using a fun textured stitch - which is surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. I have included links to two short videos in the pattern though just so you can see where the yarn is supposed to go, when you get to the tricky bit.

In line with my policy of transitioning all pattern sales away from Ravelry, this pattern is available for purchase on Payhip. There is a pattern page up on Ravelry for this design but the purchasing link will take you across to Payhip. If you buy the pattern and would like a copy for your Ravelry library please do let me know and I can gift a copy to you.

Time for a Socktober Sale

It seems like as good a time as any to have a Socktober sock sale. I haven’t managed to transfer all of my sock designs over onto Payhip yet, but all of those that are there are available with a 25% discount from now until the end of the month.

Just use code SOCKTOBER (don’t laugh, I don’t have the energy to come up with a cunning code today) and it applies to as many designs as you would like.

Thank you and happy sock knitting

xx

Socially Distant Socks

Socially Distant socks - on Payhip

I cast on for these wonderfully vivid socks a while ago using some fabulously named Pineapple Pyre yarn from Gamercrafting.

I had in mind a simple pattern, with no counting and no fuss but one that made the most of the brilliant variations in colour tone.

All the way through the knitting of these socks I knew they reminded me of something and my brain kept focusing on train tracks or tram rails. Then just as I was finishing them off it hit me - they reminded me of social distancing. Specifically the 2m distanced queues that we have become so used to seeing and being part of. Everyone together - but yet apart. Together but separate.

Talk about a metaphor for our times.

So here we have the Socially Distant socks - for your knitting pleasure. Toe-up, minimal counting and low stress. I don’t know about you but that’s been all I can manage in the knitting department of late.

If you subscribe to my newsletter please do check it out for a discount code, alternatively there’s the code SD25 which will get you a 25% early bird discount until Sunday 13 Sep.

The pattern is available on Payhip as well as on Ravelry.