Welcome to my blog. I live, knit, crochet, spin and craft near the Northumbrian Coast (but not too near – the waves won't be splashing my yarn!).There's a story in every stitch, every grain of sand, every blade of grass. I thought I'd blog about it…
Today I’ve been busy writing Christmas cards and finishing off a bobble hat for a friend’s little girl. I always seem to get very close to last posting date, especially for the cards that are going to family and friends abroad, but, with a little help from K this evening, managed to get everything written, addressed and with letters and photographs included for the people I’m not in touch with on social media. Just need to get them stamped and posted tomorrow now.
I also finished off this bobble hat.
I always knit (or crochet) something when anyone I know has a baby and somehow I missed this one, so when I saw L and her baby girl the other week I asked what she would like and this is what she was after – a warm bobble hat in a dark grey, to go with a pink and grey snowsuit. I used this free Cabled Baby Hat pattern by Marianna Mel that I found on Ravelry and used a really soft washable DK – Women’s Institute premium acrylic from Hobbycraft in grey.
I added a pompom made using one of these.
It works the same as two cardboard discs but as the plastic rings are hinged and fold out to two semicircles it’s much easier and quicker to wind the yarn round. I used the largest in a pack of three pompom makers and it produced a lovely fat, even pompom that barely needed any trimming – I just needed to snip a couple of stray pieces of yarn off.
It’s very stretchy, so I hope it’s not too big for L’s baby, but it’ll certainly be lovely and cosy.
Do you make pompoms like this or use the old-fashioned cardboard discs or another method?
More lovely baby tops and hats were produced this week by members of the Knit and Natter Group at Alnwick Medical Group
We were given a lovely Christmas treat by Julie, one of the practice nurses who looks after the group. She’d made us this beautiful gingerbread house.
Julie has made 32 of these (she donates them to charities) and says that her kitchen is covered in edible glitter! In the end she had to open it because none of us could bear to break it up – it’s so pretty. She’d even personalised it with K+N for Knit and Natter.
It was absolutely delicious!
The group has now finished for Christmas and reconvenes at 2.30pm on Friday 10th January. I’m going to miss it over the next few weeks.
No “Scone of the Week” post today – my fellow scone eater had a prior engagement so I made a big pan of broccoli and stilton soup and had some of that instead. Then I had a think about some of my past projects and decided to share this one on the blog.
Here in Northumberland, throughout the summer, there are agricultural shows held most weekends. We go to quite a few and there’s always a lot to see. Immaculately groomed livestock are judged; horses and ponies compete in showing and jumping classes; talented crafters bring their work to exhibit and try to win a prize; gardeners show their fruit, flowers and unfeasibly large vegetables! Barnacre Alpacas attend many of these events, bringing some of their cute alpacas and selling alpaca yarn and hand knitted items.
A couple of years back I bought some of their alpaca yarn, in a creamy beige colour – I couldn’t resist any longer! It is sooooo soft! I didn’t have a project in mind at the time, but decided it would make a wonderful warm hat for the winter, so I had a look for a pattern on line.
I love knitting cable, and when I found the 14 Cable Hat pattern I couldn’t wait to get started – it is the busiest cable hat I’ve ever seen, with 14 different cable designs running up the hat. It’s the perfect one to knit if you are a cable fan. It’s a free pattern and includes a very colourful chart. Some of the featured designs I’d never seen before and are quite complex. It made for a really interesting project. I used double pointed needles, which wasn’t great – I’d definitely use circulars next time.
I bought a furry pompom to go on the top – it is attached with a press stud to remove for washing (or changing on to other hats). I wear it often during the winter months – it is delightfully warm and cosy.
I mentioned in my post My Knitting Inheritance that I sorted out my large collection of knitting needles recently. I’d been storing them on a cardboard cylinder – a gift box that came with a bottle of bubbly in it, but everything was jumbled up and there were duplicate sizes so it took forever to find anything – even worse for the double pointed needles and having to to get the needle gauge out every time I wanted to use them.
I decided that it was time to make a storage roll, so I dug out a couple of pieces of cotton fabric, , bias binding, ribbon and a sheet of foam (previously some packaging – I do like to repurpose things.) I sort of made it up as I went along. Initially, the needles fell out the top, so I added an extra pocket along the top to tuck the needle ends in.
I’m so pleased with it! On the principle that everything is easier the second time, and because there was enough fabric left over, I made another smaller version to store my double pointed needles. I put strips of paper with the size on in each pocket (this will save a lot of time in the future!)
To complete the set, I made a wallet to hold all my circular needles,
I’m feeling super-organised now (well as far as my knitting needles go anyway!
I love it when you find the perfect item to knit for someone. I just have to knit something when anyone I know has a baby, so when my friends had a little girl I found this Sirdar pattern (since discontinued). I simply had to make it as they have a little black terrier.
I had to change the colours a bit – on the original pattern, the dogs were white with a black eye and collar. I did the dogs black of course, but that would mean there was something missing – I had to find a way of doing the eyes and I settled on using shiny black beads.
I figured that sewing beads on a baby garment wasn’t terribly safe, so I decided to knit them into the design. Threading beads with small holes on to double knitting weight yarn is not easy, but I found a solution. I painted the yarn end with clear nail varnish and rolled it between finger and thumb to make a sharp point. When it was dry, it was quite easy to thread on the required number of beads.
I knitted a bead into the front of the stitches that would have been the eyes on the chart.
Overall the cardigan came out well. It was one of my early attempts at colour work and the pattern section came out a little bit tighter than I would have liked. The little shoes were less successful- there was no way a baby could keep these on!
Have you ever found the perfect item to knit for someone? I’d love to hear about it.
The Knit and Natter Ladies have been busy again this week
We had another lively session at this afternoon’s Knit and Natter Group at Alnwick Medical Group. In the last week alone, our members have made another big batch of charity knits: hats, bonnets, tops and bootees.
You don’t need to be able to knit to contribute to the charity knits. Most of these hats were made on a knitting loom .
making a hat on a knitting loom
You may have used this sort of technique before . I know I did as a child, when it was known as French knitting or bobbin knitting . We used a cotton reel with nails stuck in the top or a purpose-made wooden figure with four metal loops stuck in the top – I think it was called a Knitting Nancy. They produced a thin knitted cord, but the modern looms like the one in the picture produce a wider tube. When the tube gets long enough, one end is gathered closed to make the hat.
The bigger the loom, the wider the tube and the bigger the hat…..and they are very quick and fun to make. Group members have made tiny ones for babies and large ones for homeless adults.
I have some of my late grandmother’s knitting needles
I’ve been thinking about my late grandmother (Nan) quite a bit recently. I was sorting out my knitting needles the other week (which is a whole new post in itself) and in amongst them are a good many that belonged to her.
I mentioned in my post Another Kind of Yarn that I was busy editing my friend’s book. I came across these lines she’d written in her third book (working title:When All Else Fails)
Even stitches,
Don’t pull too tight,
Take pride in what you are doing
One of the characters is stitching and as he works he thinks back and fondly remembers the wise words of the woman who taught him. That got me thinking about Nan, who taught me to knit and crochet. I remember my mother showing me how to knit too, and how to sew, but Nan was the great knitter of the family.
She always had knitting on the go and my brother, my cousins and I had jumpers and cardigans in every colour of the rainbow. With the leftover yarn she’d knit garter stitch squares and make them up into colourful blankets, which were used at my grandparents caravan, by the river at Corbridge.
Nan taught me how to crochet when I was about 8 years old and I picked it up pretty quickly, though she was always telling me that the way I held the hook was all wrong! I’m pretty sure that she taught my cousins too and they still crochet. She also used to make the most exquisite tatted lace, which was used to edge handkerchiefs.
I love that I still have some of her knitting needles (and crochet hooks too). When I use them it’s reminds me of Nan and what she taught me. It’s great to be part of that wonderful tradition of skills being passed down the generations.
Who taught you to knit/crochet/sew? Have you inherited any of their equipment? Please follow the blog and share your stories.
How the weather has changed since I posted this time last week in the same place. The rain has stopped and the temperature has dropped. While K walked the dog I put my knitting on a picnic table while I took photos – It was freezing, so I was soon back in the car to get on with my knitting before my fingers got numb.
The body of the poncho cape has grown and I’m really enjoying putting the different blue tones together. I’ve just joined in the turquoise colour you can see on the left – it is an oddment left over from the Valdres Sweater. The number of stitches is increasing rapidly, so I’m about to change to circular needles. You can see how this needle is absolutely crammed.
Last week’s breakers have washed up loads of kelp, The sea is a lot calmer now and it’s so good to have sunshine and blue sky. Coquet Island was clearly visible this week now the rain and fog have gone. The island is an important nesting site for the Roseate Tern – one of our rarest breeding seabirds. Other species breed there too, notably the Puffin.
Even though it was only about 2pm, the sun was very low in the sky, but then it is December. It made the Aln Estuary look beautiful.
I can’t believe that exactly a year ago our daughter bought and moved into her first house! It’s not far away so we still see a lot of her (she misses the dog!), but she has her own space. After a year she’s had time to get everything exactly the way she wants it: the house is looking lovely. I’m really proud of her!
C’s new living room, shortly after she moved in, complete with knitted accessories.
In the run up to the move, C had been collecting items for the house. She’d seen some lovely knitted pouffe/footstools and was wondering if it would be possible to make one. I thought the biggest issue would be the filling, but C had an old vinyl covered pouffe in her room filled with polystyrene beads. This would make a perfect base, almost firm enough to sit on or rest a tray on. We topped it up with more polystyrene beads from an old beanbag cushion.
I knew we’d need a load of super chunky yarn and C wanted grey to go with her furniture. Quite by chance we found some very reasonably priced yarn in B&M and bought the lot – I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get any more if we ran out!
I had a look at loads of patterns on Ravelry but the most crucial thing was getting something the right size to cover the existing inner pouffe. It would be knitted in garter stitch, with the cast on edge long enough to reach from the top centre round to the bottom centre of base. Using the recommended 10mm needles and multiplying the tension square dimensions up from the from rows/stitches given on the ball band, my initial attempt was going to be too baggy. I hadn’t factored in how stretchy the finished knitting would be, so I made shorter test strips, casting on fewer stitches – it sounds time consuming but the yarn was so thick it didn’t take long to work out the right number.
I continued to work straight in garter stitch until I had a rectangle long enough to fit all the way round the “equator” of the pouffe. To finish, I sewed the cast on edge and the cast off edge together to make a tube, then ran a length of yarn through one of the free edges, gathering and pulling it tight to close that end and sewing it to secure. The cover was then put on the base, ensuring the gathers were even, forming a rosette at the centre of the base. The other free edge was drawn up and secured in the same way. at the top centre.
I think it looks rather like a cactus!
There was a small amount of yarn left so I suggested a matching cushion – Caitlin wanted two so we found some similar yarn – this Robin Super Chunky.
I worked some squares incorporating a simple cable pattern to fit some cushion pads I already had. C thought she ought to do her bit, so she knitted the cushion backs in garter stitch using the new yarn.
Super chunky garter stitch cushions under construction.
With everyone helping, the move went really well. We spent a weekend assembling flat-pack furniture and our garage gradually emptied of boxes – enough for K to find his fishing tackle anyway.
C was happy with the way our work turned out. Since then, the knitted cushions have been joined by some teal and white satin ones which add a contrasting texture and a pop of colour. It’s looking good! C loves her new home.
Have you ever made home accessories for a daughter or son? I’d love to hear about them so please let me know by adding a comment or a link to a blogpost.
Those attending today’s Knit and Natter group at Alnwick Medical Surgery, once again brought along an impressive haul of beautiful handknitted items. The little angel tops for premature babies are proving popular with some of the knitters, along with hats, baby cardigans and bootees. The item in the foreground is one of the “fish and chip baby” tops that we’ve made for a maternity clinic in Zambia, Knitted items were needed because newborns were being wrapped in newspaper (like fish and chips) to keep warm. We are grateful for all the donations of yarn and knitting needles that have been donated to help us make these items.
Over the weeks we’ve also swapped knitting and crochet patterns, taught each other new techniques and made some good friends. Sometimes there’s more nattering and laughter than knitting!
We were all pleased to see that the refurbishment of the room where we meet is going well – we now have new lighting and windows!
The practice staff are very supportive and have totally embraced knitting too – here is Jon, who managed to find a spare moment to knit in a break from officiating at a swimming gala.
Stitches by the Sea 