“On the Road“ Reversible headwear now for sale

The first version of the On The Road reversible headwear is now for sale here in my Folksy shop.
It’s made from Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect yarn, the colours giving it a nice winter feel.
Happy wearing! 🙂

“On the Road” Reversible Headwear

Update: 
The “On the Road” pattern is now for sale on Ravelry!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/on-the-road-reversible-head-wear


My husband and I are planning a long cycle tour through Europe before Brexit kicks in.
What knitting project to take? I figured that 4-ply yarn will be the easiest and lightest to take. I am trying to design some easy and versatile patterns.

My first is an open hat, which doubles as a head band and a cowl. I have road tested it this week and it is warm, fits under a cycling helmet and has not lost its shape.

Hoping to write up the pattern for Ravelry soon.

Back to basics - Spinning alpaca

My lovely Ashford spinning wheel has been gathering dust behind the bedroom door for years, but not any more! I dusted it down last week and gave it a go, spinning an alpaca fleece which my mother-in-law gave me a couple of years ago.
Turns out spinning is like riding a bike - you never lose the knack!

What a joy to get carding, spinning, plying and washing the alpaca fibre.

Question is, what shall I turn it into now?

Stash reduction 2018 - the bits and bobs blanket

Almost exactly five years after starting the bits and bobs blanket, I have finally finished it! The mitred squares were added by picking up the stitches from the edged of previous squares, so there was virtually no sewing involved. I added two crocheted rows as edging. It measures 1x1.4m and fits our sofa almost perfectly.

FREE EU beanie pattern

Introducing the EU beanie!

This beanie was designed as a political statement following the Brexit vote in the EU Referendum. But you can knit it and wear it for any reason at all.

The pattern is written for DK/8 ply yarn and fits the average adolescent to medium adult head.
The pattern is written to knit in the round on double-pointed needles, but it can also be used knitting in the flat. (Just add two extra stitches for edge stitches to allow for the seam.
You need to be able to use the colour stranding technique (using two colours at the same time, running the second along the back). If you are not familiar with this technique, there are different tutorials on the Internet. It may take a little practice to get the tension right.
I am very happy to receive questions, comments or suggestion.

The FREE pattern is available as a download on my Ravelry page. I would really appreciate it is you could share the pattern far and wide. KNIT IT, WEAR IT, SHARE IT!

Happy knitting and KEEP THE EU FLAG FLYING!

"I love NHS" beanies

I have done no Easter knitting whatsoever this year.
The main reason is that I have been inundated with orders for my "I love NHS" beanies.I must have knitted a dozen or so, including one extra large one and one with earflaps.

I designed the beanie because I am passionate about our National Health System which provides free health care at the point of delivery to whoever you are!
The thought of it being gradually dismantled and sold of to private companies for their personal gain is abhorrent and flies in the face of what the welfare state is about. But I won't bore you with details. You can read more about my passion for the NHS here is you want.

My ethos for the NHS beanie has always been that I want to make no personal profit from it. I try to cover the cost of material and posting, and any remaining profit goes towards the fight against the privatisation of the NHS.

Similarly the Ravelry pattern for the beanie is FREE and available here.
It is knitted flat and is designed for a head circumference of 22-24” or 56-61cm, but you could easily add/reduce some stitches/rows if needed.
You need to be able to use the colour stranding technique (using two colours at the same time, running the second yarn along the back). If you are not familiar with this technique, there are different tutorials on the Internet. Remember to cross the colours over at the back to avoid holes appearing.

Please share the pattern far and wide. I am not precious about it. 
What matters is that we save our NHS!

#ToriesMustGo beanie

I cannot believe that I haven't blogged for nearly a year. I can assure you that I have done plenty of knitting though!

More importantly, I have become political!
I won't bore you with details here, but if you are interested, you can read a bit about my exploits in "madhat's musings" - my 'other' blog.

I have also become an avid Twitter user. 18,000 tweets in less than a year. Should I be worried??



Twitter got me thinking about knitting politically when a Twitter acquaintance suggested that I should knit a #ToriesMustGo beanie for him.



So I did ...
And wrote down the pattern ...
And put it up on Ravelry as a FREE pattern.

You can find the information and download the pattern as a PDF here.

As we enter this election year, I am quite excited at the thought of people walking around, wearing beanies with political slogans.

And of course, you could change the slogan
to whichever you choose.

STAY POLITICAL! x

Dora's prayer shawl

Yesterday I finished the prayer shawl I had made for Dora - the Ugandan lady my friend's son stayed with in Uganda for three months.

In the end I made up a different pattern and used the garter drop stitch to create a lighter fabric.
I cast on 90 sts in DK and used needles size 4.
The overall dimensions are 55cm x 110cm (not counting the fringes)

I added stripes in different colours and made a multi-coloured fringe as my friend had wanted it colourful.
It is not visible on the picture, but in the four corners I knitted a small cross - purl stitches on knit background over a 12x12 square.
The cross may not be easily spotted and you may have to look to find it ... but it are there nonetheless - ALWAYS! :)

So my prayers go out to Dora. May she enjoy the shawl and may it give her joy, warmth and comfort.

Fingerless mittens - NEW Ravelry pattern!

My latest pattern is out on Ravelry.

It's a simple pattern for fingerless mittens. They are knitted in the round on a set of double-pointed needles.
For the mittens shown in the pictures I used Regia World College sock yarn in DK. Very cleverly a 150g ball creates 3 almost perfectly matching pairs of gloves.
But any other DK yarn should be fine.

The size fits a medium-sized adult hand.
Adjustments can easily be made. For example you can make the cuffs longer or shorter, or widen the gloves my adding 4sts to the width. (Be aware that this may affect the amount of yarn needed)

Check out the pattern here.
Thank you!

Yarn bombing

Our little town square got yarn bombed. How beautiful! (Why wasn't I told??)

Liv's teddy

I received a request via etsy to replicate a very simple little teddy for a girl called Liv in Australia. She is in the habit of losing her teddy and he mum wanted a replacement - in the event that old teddy disappears for good.


So, equipped with a picture and the basic measurements I set out to give it a go.

Here is the final result. My ball of wool was enough to make three, so Liv should be quite safe for a while!

Will send teddies and knitting instructions later this week.

Using up my stash

With the Christmas rush over, it is time to use up my left-overs. So I have decided to declare January my Use-up-your-stash month. (Which did not stop me from sneaking in a quick yarn order at kempswoolshop.com before the end of December. ... That's not cheating .... it is??)

I have started by making a mitered square blanket. Rather than knitting individual squares, I am picking up the stitches for the new square from the previous one.
Here is what it looks like so far.


I will keep posting as I work my way through my stash ...

Hubby's slipper socks

Here are the slipper socks I knitted for my husband this Christmas. I am quite proud, because not only did I design the pattern myself, but I also attached leather soles. I've never tried that before.

Hopefully it will make them last better.

He has already ventured down the garden path a couple of times, hence they are not pristine any more!

Craft fair

It's a while since I have had a stall on a craft fair, so I was delighted when friends from one of our local churches asked me to come.

My daughter joined me and we sold a selection of knitting, sewing and drawings.

Thank you to Holy Trinity church, who arranged this event as a fund raiser for their church building and work.

Brooches

Fingerless gloves - for Valentines

I designed these fingerless gloves myself. After some attempts and more unraveling I decided to use gussets for the thumbs.

I find gussets made the gloves more comfortable to wear and didn't pull the heart pattern out of shape.

As and when I get round to writing up the pattern, it will appear for sale on Ravelry.

Voyager cap - the experiment

So I set out to knit a voyager cap for my husband, following Wicked Woollen's pattern.
I used Rowan's dk tweed, which is 100% pure new wool, colour scheme Askrigg.



The hat started to look worryingly large, but I was reassured by Wicked Woollen's comfirmation that that was just as it should be!
I even dared going a bit bigger, because my husband has a big head. Haha!
The final measurements of the finished hat before felting was 66cm/26" long and 52cm/20.5" circumference.

Then the felting fun began!

I used an old large boiling bucket and a stick of soap, filled it with hot water (as hot as I could bear to touch) and got rubbing.
I found a wire mesh in the garden, which I found useful for rubbing against; but just stirring, rubbing and wringing the fabric in the water worked pretty well too.

Just as I started to panic, because if anything the hat seemed to get bigger, it started to get smaller.
The fabric feels lovely and thick and soft.

It fits my husband perfectly. Handsome, eh?!

Baby set pattern

My Baby Set pattern has been checked and proof-read and is now up for sale on my Ravelry page.

The pattern is for a hat/beanie, a pair of booties and a pair of mittens, designed to fit a 0-3 month old baby.

Newborn baby mittens

Here is a free pattern for mittens in a newborn size:

Material: DK yarn, remnants

Needles: 3 ½ mm/ US 4/UK 9

Abbreviations:

K = knit

P = purl

stst = stocking stitch

k2tog = knit 2 together

sl1k1 = slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch

psso = pass slipped stitch over the knitted stitch

Mittens (Make 2)

Cast on 28 sts. Rib K1, P1 for 14 rows.

Then knit in stst for 16 rows.

Reduce for top:

17^th row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K7, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K7, k2tog, K2 (= 24 sts)

All reverse rows: purl

19^th row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K5, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K5, k2tog, K2 (= 20 sts)

21^st row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K3, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K3, k2tog, K2 (= 16 sts)

Cast of and close seam. Darn in all remaining ends.

The pattern of a full set of hat, bootees and mittens is for sale on my Ravelry page. Check it out here!

Snail tea cosy

I made this snail tea cosy for a competition for the Marie Curie Cancer charity

More information on my Ravelry site, and the pattern is now for sale here.