A little bit of sunshine....

I normally like to wind my skeins by hand, partly because I like to know if these are any slubby bits or knots and partly because there's no easy place to set up my ball winder and swift.


Last week I had quite a few skeins which needed winding and not a lot of time so I decided to get the winder out - everyone (children and adults alike) was fascinated by it and there was much arguing about whose turn it was and who was winding the quickest, they made short work of my pile of skeins:





Most of these are for socks but that rather fabulous yellow on the end is for my Angostura, a perfect pattern for relaxing knitting, yellow is my current colour obsession and the lovely Jeni at Fyberspates dyed this Scrumptious DK for me in this oh so cheerful shade - just what I need at this rather grey time of year:





I'm on the look out for the perfect black or grey dress or skirt to wear with it...

Rowley

This is the latest pattern to be added to my Winter One Collection - the Rowley Hat.








It's a beanie style hat with twisted stitches and a travelling stitch pattern, the yarn is The knitting Goddess Merino Cashmere Nylon DK which is very soft and bouncy, it's a 'well-rounded' yarn if you know what I mean (I'm not entirely sure I know, so if you do, well done), the stitch definition is fantastic.





I took these photos on a trip to Rocamadour over Christmas, it is beautiful and quite close to where my sister now lives so I think it's likely we will be going again at some point. I also took some more photos of the Adela Mittens (fingerless version) accessorised by a rather fabulous pair of Doc Martins....

Goals for 2012...

I've got a few things I'd like to achieve in 2012, I don't have a massive amount of time for personal knitting anymore so I'm not going to be too over optimistic, this isn't everything I'll knit this year but it's the things I really, really want to do.


First on my list are my 8 pairs of Van Gogh socks (you can read about them here) I've got a pair of plain socks on the needles that are nearly finished and as soon as they are done, I'll start the first Van Goghs.





I want to knit both my sons a jumper - this blog post by the Yarn Harlot sums up why and there is a great book of Boy's Knits coming out soon. Son No.1 wants red and No.2 wants purple - I will need to acquire (washable) yarn for these.


The lovely Sarah Hatton wrote me a pattern for a cardigan - it's going to be epic (and stripy).





I need hats - I have 2 hats in my possession, I have knit many more than this but my sisters keep stealing them, I plan to combat this by knitting them in colours I know they hate. HA.


Lastly, I want to knit Christmas presents for 2012, I didn't knit any this year because I didn't have time but it made me sad - my family love to receive knitted items and I love to give them. I hope that by starting early (can't get much earlier!) I can pace myself and everyone will have a merry, WOOLLY Christmas in 2012!

Merry New Year!

WOW! Where did December go??


I haven't blogged for a while - I've been super busy and I spent Christmas in the middle of the French countryside with no internet access (and a LOT of cheese), I promise to do better in the new year.


2011 has been a busy year for me, I went to Knit Nation and Fibre Flurry, I released 25 designs and I did a lot of knitting! I'm looking forward to 2012 - there are exciting things lined up and I can't wait to tell you about them!


Merry New Year to you all! (I'm quoting Trading Places - one of my favourite films)


I'll leave you with one of my favourite moments on 2011, an Ibiza sunset.

Van Gogh loves socks...

I haven't got enough handknit socks. Which is completely ludicrous because I spend most of my life knitting them, but many of them are samples and have to either be sent off or kept pristine for shows or events. At this very moment I'm waiting for a pair to dry on the radiator so i can wear them later.


In an attempt to rectify this I am undertaking a personal challenge to knit myself at least 8 pairs next year and I'm going to use the Opal Van Gogh yarns which are sooooooo pretty. I've knitted a monster/stripy sock for Kayla at Fibre Flurry to display in the shop (it's hard to see what these yarns will do in the ball) and I love it:





These are kind of self striping/self patterning yarns, each one is inspired by a specific Van Gogh painting and I'm going to knit plain stockinette socks with black cuffs, heels and toes.





If I had to chose a favourite (and I really do love every colour) it would be the second stripe, I love the yellows and blues.





You can see the famous Sunflowers represented here and just above it is the Starry, Starry Night. I'm notoriously bad at sticking to personal challenges but I am determined to do this one - I'll keep you updated with my progress throughout 2012!

Grellow

A hat? Or two hats?


Mittens?


Colourwork?


Stripes?

Adela Mittens

The latest pattern to be added to the Winter One collection is the Adela Mittens:







They are cabley and snuggly - just in time, I think the snow is on it's way here and it's already arrived in a lot of places around the world!







You can buy the pattern here:



The pattern includes instructions for a fingerless version too:







The cables on the left mitten mirror the cables on the right mitten and there are charts and written instructions. The yarn is The Knitting Goddess DK Silk and Falkland Merino, it's soft with a bit of shine and its a dream to knit with, I'm dreaming of a cabled cardi....



The next pattern to be added to the collection will be a matching beret, here's a sneaky peak...