A Knitter for All Seasons

I mainly knit accessories. This is because:

1.       Although I love the process of knitting I don’t have the patience for bigger projects
2.       I’m nervous of spending lots of time and money on something that doesn’t fit
3.       I can wear accessories in the UK for pretty much all the year
4.       I can knit lightweight accessories all year round in the UK without overheating
5.       I feel a bit naked without a scarf around my neck!

I made my first lace scarf in January 2010. A really good pattern for a beginner, it is from p/hop, and I really enjoyed making it. (Do have a read about p/hop if you’ve not heard about it. Its a brilliant knitting/msf charity.) since then I have made quite a few others but my Trinity is the one that I wear the most. It is made in Meriono/silk from Violet Green that my little sister bought for my Christmas 2009. I always ask for yarn for Christmas but rarely get any so this was a lovely surprise and a great colour choice.

My plans for neckwear in the near future are to explore the wonderful world of Stephen West. I think that some of my handspan might work well for his multicoloured designs. I’d also like to add something in a more lightweight yarn to my wardrobe for the summer maybe in cotton, linen or bamboo. Right, I’m off to explore my stash then!

Thank you for all the lovely comments this week. The Knitting and Crochet Blog Week has been a revelation to me and I’m so pleased to be taking part.

For more writing on Knitting for all Seasons google 3KCBWDAY4 or click here.

Knitting Heroes: my Granny

For day 3 of the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week the topic was to write about a knitting or crochet hero. As soon as I saw this topic I had no doubts who I would write about: my Granny.

She taught me to knit when I was little but I never made anything other than the odd scarf for a teddy until I was at University. I know she would be proud if she saw what I could make now.

She used to knit school cardigans for me and my sisters and many multiples of small items for us to sell at Church Fair Brownie stalls over the years (only now can I appreciate how much time she must have spent doing this ) but the things I remember most fondly are the toys that she would knit for us.  Some have got lost over the years but I have two, both designed by Jean Greenhowe that mean a lot to me.

The first, a caveman is about 10cm tall. I can’t remember how old I was when Granny knit him but I think he must be about 20 years ago. I did have a witch as well that I must try and find and my two sisters had a ghost that rattles, a fisherman, an artist and I think a cowboy as well.

The second is a ballet dancer with her own presentation stand and is about 30cm. This dates back from my ballet days which I think I stopped at least 16 years ago. As you can see she could do with a bit of a clean!

A few years ago I was really pleased to find I found a second hand copy of an out of date book of Jean Greenhowe’s containing loads of the patterns that I remembered as a child.

Then my Auntie went through her collection of my Granny’s knitting pattens and found many that were duplicates so now I have quite a collection.

There are some brilliant new toy designers out there that I have explored because of the influence of my Granny. I especially love Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land and also the wonderful world of Cheezombie.

My favourite toy that I made myself is my Gnome designed by Alan Dart.
I think my Granny would have liked him too.

To discover other people’s knitting and crochet heroes google 3KCBWDAY3 or click here.

Fibre stash

My boyfriend borrowed my camera to take to work this morning so I was forced to be slightly more creative than I had planned. Experimenting with the Photo Booth app on my iPad I came up with these two pictures of my fibre stash that is patiently waiting to be spun…

To see other creative photo posts search google for 3KCBWDAY2  or click here.

Green is the word…

If you’d have asked me what my favourite colour was before I got involved in spinning and, to a lesser extent, knitting I could have confidently told you it was purple. I wouldn’t have defined the shade and although I would have gone for the darker end of the spectrum out of choice I would have been happy with anything.

Now I find myself unable to name a colour without inserting an adjective first. Colours are now rusty orange, lemon yellow or Tardis blue.

 I bought a cardigan in what I am currently considering to be “my perfect green” from United Colors of Benetton. It is like a dark apple green and make me think of the 1950s (which I doubt is historically accurate) but it was buying this that reawakened my love for the colour. Today my favourite colours include many shades of green.

I find I am drawn to greens for knitting, spinning and wearing.

Here are some of my favorite greens that I have knit, spun or will do soon and last but not least a lovely green for drinking.

This post is part of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.
To find posts from other people google 3KCBWDAY1 or click here.

Photo project 366 – days 12 to 22

Rowan Number 51 has arrived! 12/366

I’m certainly more of an autumn/winter girl than a spring/summer one but there’s some great projects in this one.

North Greenwich 13/366

I went to watch the International Trampoline Competition at the North Greenwich Arena today – had a brilliant time! I took loads of photos of the bouncing but this picture as I was leaving was the best.

Past their best bananas 14/366

Not the best looking bananas but I like the contrast between the colours.

New fabric 15/366

New fabric for my next project.

Birdy 16/366

My lovely little wooden red birdy.

B is for… 17/366

Chocolate All-Bran 18/366

Yummy 🙂

C is for… 19/366

Chilli cocktail 20/366

Chris’ work leaving do.

Cruella de Vil 21/366

Prep for my fancy dress outfit this evening.

Chinese New Year 22/366

China Town, London

Photo project 366 – days 7-11

Me and my Singer 7/366

I’ve had this sewing machine for a while but not really got to grips with it. Today I realised that I’d been threading it wrong and once I’d sorted that out everything was so much easier!

A is for… 8/366

52 weeks. That equals 1 set of upper case and 1 set of lower case letters. Should have an interesting set by the end of the year!

Patchwork beginnings 9/366

Hopefully this will end up as a quilt in the not too distant future…

Gym locker 10/366

Tuesday is trampolining at the gym for me. Not very exciting but here is today’s locker.

My Gin! 11/366

As you can see from the label this gin has been sitting around waiting to be drunk for some time. Tastes great now though!

Photo project 366 – day 6

Barry Flanagan@Tate Britain 6/366

We went to Tate Britain today and the photo I chose to use was one of Barry Flanagan’s bronze hares. I could have spent ages photographing this but I think this was just a quick snap.

Photo project 366 – day 5

A Windy Thursday 5/366

I thought this was an appropriate excerpt for a windy Thursday such as yesterday.

Photo project 366 – day 4

George’s Bath 4/366

My boyfriend bought George for me a few years ago. I love him but he’s got pretty grubby over the years. I was a bit worried about washing him (childhood memories about my polar bear being hung up by his ears on a washing line) but he really needed a bath.

He actually looks quite relaxed I think.

He will sleep in the airing cupboard tonight.

Photo project 366 – Day 3

New Bento Box 3/366

To encourage me to take more packed lunches to work this year and be more creative with them than just boring old sandwiches I bought myself this cute Bento Box.

I used it for the first time today and I love it!