Patterns Patterns Patterns

Oh blimey I'm excited.  Very VERY excited in fact.  I've been promising it for a while, and leaving you teensy tiny clues here and there.  But today my newest pattern is FINALLY ready for testing!

Check it out:

Honeycomb fingerless mitts!  I'm actually quite shocked at how well they worked out.  This is my first glove design using anything more complicated than stockinette stitch.

The pattern will be released soon (look forward to another bout of giddiness when that happens!), but for now I've just put the pattern up for testing on Ravelry's Free Testers group.  If you'd like to test knit these, you can do so by following the link!

That's all for now - I already have a few ideas buzzing around for my next project which are shouting out to be noted down before they're forgotten!

Kim x

It's A Stash Thing

Great British Yarns are AMAZING!  Not only are they the only UK-based company to stock a massive range of Knit Picks yarns (that I know of anyway), their service is absolutely astounding.  I ordered 2 balls of Palette yesterday, and this morning, there was a happy looking envelope waiting on the windowsill (ALSO - IT'S SUNNY ENOUGH TODAY FOR ENVELOPES TO BE LEFT ON WINDOWSILLS!  :D).  Super-fast delivery is my kind of delivery!

As you can see, I managed to find my mustard colour.  I've been pottering away designing some autumnal gloves, and I think this yellow-y orange is the perfect colour for autumn.  It compliments the turning of the leaves rather well I think :)

Here is a little sneaky preview of the pattern:

I absolutely cannot wait until it's time to share the finished thing with you all!  It's taking a lot of determination not to just type out all the details now!  I think part of my problem is that I struggle ever-so-slightly with the mathematics involved in designing knitted patterns.  In order to try and convince myself that I'm a professional (HA!!), I did my first ever test swatch to try and work out the number of stitches to cast on.  Oh dear, oh dear!  What a disaster THAT was!  It would have been like knitting gloves for an elephant!

Still, I'm enjoying the challenge of all this maths and logic.  And as a treat for sticking with it, I also added another colour to my online yarn basket yesterday, then promptly forgot which extra colour I'd ordered.  Imagine my delight when I opened the envelope this morning to discover this little beauty!

Lucy over at Attic24 recently blogged about colour, and talked about "soul colours" - those ones we are instinctively drawn to.  This is definitely mine; a deep stormy grey.  Grey gets a lot of stick for being dull or boring, but I really don't see it that way at all (and to my relief, I've also discovered that there are plenty of other grey souls out there!).

That said, I'm also a fan of brightness and less moody colours...  My little stash-busting blanket is coming along well, and I'm actually quite surprised at how well the colours are holding together...

I'm not following any particular pattern as far as the striping is concerned, but just trying to balance out the light and dark.  My plan is to edge it in a creamy colour - probably in crochet rather than knit - so hopefully that will help the whole thing look more "together".

Anyway, the needles are calling (they miss me when I'm not there you know...).  But if you do have any idea what you're meant to do with a test swatch once you've made one, then do leave a comment and let me know!  I'd love to feel a tad more profesh!  ;)

Until next time!

Kim x

Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

In honour of World Mental Health Day, Rosie-Posie is having a week-long blog party.  Combining people's stories, recipes for delish cakes, and resources for mental health wellbeing and awareness is such a fab idea, I really can't believe I didn't think of it myself!

Fortunately, Rosie offered me the chance to get involved by writing up my own story.  It sort of follows on from the post I made a couple of weeks ago about creativity and mental health, and reflects on my experiences with the two.  If you like, you can read my guest post here.

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I'll be back again soon with updates on what I've been up to recently (by way of a preview, I spent all yesterday with my designing hat on... not that I have a designing-specific hat, but now that you mention it that is a brill idea!... aaaaand, shock horror, it wasn't crochet I was designing, but knitting!!)

So, as soon as I've found some suitable mustard coloured yarn, I'll be back here to show you my progress!  Until then, keep well :)

Much love,
Kim

Hip Hip Hurray!

Guess what?!  I’ve only gone and cracked it!  Well, I think so.  What do you reckon?

I’m feeling pretty proud of what I’ve decided to call my First Proper Handspun :)  Although it’s anyone’s guess what I might actually make with it.  There’s about 50m of merino though, so perhaps these cute little butterflies might be the perfect use?

So far I’ve been using my Ashford “beginner’s” spindle to spin, which is pretty heavy.  When I bought it, I didn’t know whether I’d get into spinning or not and I had no idea about weights or other specifications, so I went (as all beginners do) for something cheap and simple.  Even though I’m still very new to spinning, I’ve grown pretty fond of my spindle – I’m getting used to the way it drops, the amount of spin needed, the general “feel” of it.

All of this is of course a Very Good Sign.  I’m glad that I find such pleasure in another part of the wool-making process.  I’m also taking it as a good sign that I’m still hankering after some of the more ornate and elaborate spindles out there.  Like this and this and this.  Beautiful aren’t they?  I can’t wait until I have enough spinning experience to justify owning such handsome tools.

But actually, that’s not entirely true, because during the course of my lusting after artistic spindles, I stumbled upon a giveaway by The Woolery on Facebook.  Up for grabs was an impossibly beautiful Butterfly Girl spindle.  All I needed to do was to leave a comment saying what I’d spin if I won.  Nothing to lose, I thought.  I already have some BFL waiting patiently, and I’d been thinking of ordering some Wensleydale.  I left my comment, and thought nothing more of it, until I got an email informing me that I’d won!  Goodness knows what it must have been like to live with me over the next week or so while I waited ever so (im)patiently for the delivery.  But it was worth it.  Just look:

It’s absolutely lovely, but so SO different to the Ashford.  Mind you, even if I never get the hang of using it properly, it’ll be enough for me just to have it on display!