Author Archives: Jenny Stilwell

A New Wool Show

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Last Sunday I had a lovely day out with my friend Donna. We went to a new wool show in Waltham Abbey. http://www.walthamabbeywoolshow.co.uk/
It’s the first one they have put on but are hoping to make it an annual event. It reminded me of Knit Nation and I Knit but on a smaller scale.
I was looking forward to it but also a little worried as it would involve lots of walking and standing. Luckily because of its location there were lots of spaces to sit down.
I had my shopping list which consisted of needles and notions. I managed to get most of them apart from the DPNs I wanted. I need them to finish zahras coat. I know I could do magic loop but I would rather use DPNs.
Among the fabulous stall holders of lots of independent yarn sellers was Jane Crowfoot showing her gorgeous crochet club blankets from previous years and selling her books and kits. I had thought of it I would have taken some photos but I was too over whelmed with all the lucious yarn and the riot of wonderful colours.
We were both very good and didn’t buy much. I bought a sock making kit from http://www.etsy.com/shop/RosiesMoments?ref=pr_shop_more. It was fantastic value, ten pounds for a skein of aran yarn, DPNs and a pattern. She said we could knit a pair in two nights so I figured that could get my stash down.
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I searched out Jane Lithgow http://www.janesprobablyknitting.blogspot.co.uk/ where I bought an amazing mitten pattern that covers all yarn weights and every possible hand size you couldneed. I love mittens and the beauty of this pattern is that as well as the range it covers you could easily add a pattern to the main hand as well. This was a bargain at £2.50 for the amount of work that must have gone into this.

My next purchase was from http://yarngarden.co.uk/. I hadn’t planned on buying any more yarn but I picked up a skein and it was called creeping Jenny variegated. Well as Donna said it’s got your name on it you have to buy it. The yarns that this couple hand dyes are amazing. When we went to luch we invited Louise to sit with us and she has some really exciting things happening shortly. I also purchased a book from her that I had been after for a little while.one skein lace knits. Her books are very reasonably priced as were her yarns as well as being so scrumptious. I expect to hear a lot more from her in the future.

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My final yarn purchase was from the crochet chain and was a ball of King Coles Zig Zag yarn. This was only £3 and I only Bought it because of the colours. Red, white and blue. I said it would be good for swaps but if I’m honest it was the colours.
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I still haven’t started the aran socks yet as I’ve been concentrating on Ysoldas MKAL , Zahras coat and my first batch of Mystery Blanket squares. I am not allowing myself to start another project unless I am up to date on my MB squares and MKAL. Even with these purchases I have still got rid of a lot more yarn than I’ve brought in.

Yarn in 300g
Yarn out knitted 0g
Yarn out sold/donated g
Total 2014 5560g-

Yummy yummy fabric

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I have been very open about the fact that I am a sucker for fabric.
For Christmas my daughter bought me a subscription to Popular Patchwork.  It came with a free gift of a Moda jelly roll.this arrived yesterday morning and I got very excited thinking of the projects I could make with it. I am still drooling over it but am being a good girl and not opening it yet until I have made all Baby Jones 2014 bits.
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Over commit much?

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Late last year I bought Ysoldas Follow the Arrow MKAL (mystery knit a long). I was determined to knit from stash and found some Precious 4ply silk.itisso lovely and soft and a dream to knit with. I cannot post a picture of the shawl until the knit a long is finished but here’s the yarn.
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When I signed up to this I thought that I’d never done a mystery knit a long before, then brain kicked in and I remembered Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket . I guess I don’t think of it as a mystery knit a long and yet that is definitely what it is. So as well as doing the follow the arrow shawl, I am doing Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket and a smaller version of her playmat blanket. In my brain fog I also signed up for a couple of swaps which involve knitting a small item. There are also the birthday presents I will be knitting and I have a long list of sewing I need to do. I knitted option B in the shawl but after seeing option A I was very tempted to cast on another shawl, luckily common sense took  ovetr and if I haven’t got too much on once its finished I may knit another and use more of my stash.
I am only putting totals in and out once a project is finished

One present down

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I have finished my second project this year.itis the T.A.R.D.I.S hat for my nephew birthday.he is massive doctor who fan and has been since he was three.  Iam hoping to knit him a dalek facecloth to with it . This is the only project I am buying/have boughtyarn for this year.
I used Rowan Pure Wool Aran.and Kid classic for the cream from stash . It was a fairly easily knit. I did swiss darn the cream windows after knitting them.
This used about 110g of the Pure Wool Aran and a few metres of the kid classic.
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Yarn in 200g
Yarn out knitted 100g
Yarn out sold/donated 2660g
Total 2014 – 5860g

At Last

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I have finally made an item from the Pretty Pin Cushion book I bought ages ago. In anticipation of my recuperation I purchased 10cm of felt in every colour they had. I was going to make every one in the book. That didn’t happen although I do still have six weeks to make them.
I have been making patchwork hexagons from fabrics that I have used when stitching items for Harry. The wonderful patchwork pouch Zoe made me has been used as my hand sewing project bag and I was putting my pins in the lining. After putting the pins in the lining and drooling over the pouch again I decided I needed a mini pin cushion so that I didn’t ruin the lining. Now despite having a few mini patchwork pin cushions my brain chose that moment to forget about them but remember the pin cushion book. I chose to sew a small beaded heart. I am not normally a fan of stitching lots of beads, knitting I have no problem with. I followed,  well tried to follow, the instructions for double beaded blanket stitch.  I wasn’t happy with the quality of my sewing so I added more beads.the only other change I made was to use Hollowfibre for the stuffing.  I did enjoy making this but doubt that I will make another one.
The felt is  more electric blue than it looks in the photograph.
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So Much For New Year Resolutions!

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One of my new year resolutions is to get my stash down and I have decided that if I do not have the yarn or fabric for a project I cannot make it. However as I cannot lift more than two kilos I cannot raid my stash properly. This has led to my interesting prospects as I pick up the yarn I can reach and then see what pattern I can make from it. Another good thing is that I don’t agonise for hours over which colour to choose. A good example is the Otto Cardigan from the last post. If I’d had access to my Aran box I would have probably chosen cream or pink.
However it is my nephews birthday in the beginning of February and I have a Tardis Hat to make him and I can only reach the blue I need so I will need to buy a ball of grey Aran even though I have a full pack buried deep in my stash. I don’t have any other suitable colours handy to use instead either so this will be the only one I will be buying for. All other birthdays are after I am able to lift again and this was the only one with a specific project so no more yarn purchases, I promise.

First Finished Project

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I am very pleased to say I have finished my first project for 2014 a cardigan for the lovely Zhara .I finished it on Friday and only need to add a button and popper. The pattern used was Otto Day Cardigan, a nice quick and easy pattern. The only change I made was to knit the sleeves flat. The pattern can be found here: http://www.threadandladle.com/2013/01/knitting-pattern-double-breasted-baby.html.
I used 4.5mm needles as my tension is normally loose when I knit with Cashsoft. I used Rowan Cashsoft Aran in a lime green and just under 100 g.
otto 1

Yarn in 0
Yarn out knitted 100g
Yarn out sold/donated 3100g
Total -3200g

Memory Blanket

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I had a thought yesterday. I want to make a knitted memory blanket for Harry so that when he is an adult he will have a lovely throw just for him. I was going to knit a square to match the pattern in each of the garments I had made then I discovered the sock yarn blanket on Ravelry,

http://www.shellykang.com/all-about-the-blankie

It use your oddments of sock yarn but says it can be made in any yarn. I like the idea of this, as it is smaller squares and more of a proper patchwork patchwork. I can also use the smallest amounts of yarn. I may change my mind about the blanket I will make, but one thing is certain a memory blanket will be made

Digital Subscription Costs Illogical

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I am having a good think about my current craft magazine subscriptions and a lot I will not be renewing. The problem with craft magazines, knitting ones in particular is that one tends to hold onto them once you have flicked though them. I think it’s because they have the knitting patterns in them and there is that way of thinking that I might need this pattern one day. It’s ridiculous really. If I was to buy one of the glossies for the same price I would recycle it once I’ve flicked through so why can’t I do the same with my craft ones. Every year I go through them all and see which ones I really am unlikely to need and either give them to a group or friend or I recycle them.
This time around I thought I would go the digital route. This would mean I could have all my copies on my tablet or laptop to browse at my leisure and never have to throw a copy away again. I browsed the various formats and imagine my shock and disbelief when I saw the price. The digital copy of Knit Now is £20 more than the hard copy. What makes it even worse is that you don’t get the cover gifts or any free gift that is offered if you take out a subscription and you don’t get your magazine until release date. I’m not fussed about the free gifts but if I am not getting them I would expect the subscription cost to reflect that. I have looked at other magazines as well and they all appear to be the same. You pay the same price for digital or hard copy yet with some of the hard copies you get a free gift as well.
As you can imagine I have gone with the paper copy. Twenty pounds was too big a difference to pay.

New Year Craft Resolutions

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I have a large stash. No that’s not right I have a few large stashes. Fabric, yarn, buttons, embroidery they are all there. 2014 is the year I get these stashes down. I know it’s been said before but if I can’t make your present you’re not getting one. I aim to make my Christmas presents early log them on Ravelry with a note about the secret safe place I have hidden them. If I see a project I want to make, if I haven’t got the materials needed I can’t make it. My Christmas list for 2014 is already written with the age children will be beside their name.

I also aim to sell a large amount of my stash off. I will be giving friends first option but the other bits I don’t like or am never likely to use will be sold. I have written a list of all the yarns I want to keep which is probably a little longer than it should be. I want to keep all my non acrylic lace, 4ply, DK and Aran weight balls and anything with Alpaca. I also want to keep a lot of my good quality sock yarns and all my Rowan Felted Tweed, Cotton Glace, Hand knit Cotton, Wool Cotton, Big Wool and Pure Wool. I will be selling all my acrylic, novelty yarns, bulky yarns and what I call stranded cottons. Ranges like Sirdar soft cotton or Rowan Milk Cotton which looks as if you could pull it apart for embroidery.

I plan to sew my way through at least one 35 litre box of fabric and will probably be making little girls dresses in sizes that are too big for them. Last year in Liberty I bought a knicker making kit which I am eager to try to make some for my daughter. The fabric that comes with it is quilting cotton and a little stiff for my liking but I will use this for the first pair and then use Liberty Tana Cotton for the rest.

Watch this space to see how I do.

Happy New Year one and all