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Follow Jen and Jim's many knitting and craft adventures, including expert knitting tips, tutorials and book reviews, with bonus quilting and other crafty content.
To say that we have been excited about this release would be something of an understatement…
I’m not entirely sure when I first started to talk to Gudrun Johnston (below) about working on her next print book, but from a trawl through my extensive email collection, it seems to have been around five years ago. From the start I knew that this collection was going to be something really special.
Read moreNot yet strictly Rhinebeck, but bear with me…
I’m trying out the app on my phone in the hope that I can write a few short blog posts while I am on the road. Fingers crossed I’m about to have the most knitting-filled week that I’ve had in a long time, so there should be plenty to talk about!
I’m starting my journey by train to London, and I have just the crown shaping remaining on my Marangoni Hat – this month’s Boost Your Knitting pattern. All things being equal, it will be finished before I catch my flight tomorrow.
Boom! Hat is all done, save for the last couple of ends, with two minutes to spare before it’s time to leave for Heathrow.
This is the obligatory plane knitting shot. I cast on for the smallest size of Antler Cardigan by Tin Can Knits using our Something to Knit With Aran and knitted both sleeves and a good chunk of body during my flight from Heathrow to JFK in New York. It’s so satisfying to rattle through the pieces of a garment like that, especially when my last couple of garments have been 4ply epics. Note to self: Next adult garment should be in aran weight…
On Thursday, together with Kay and Ann of Mason-Dixon Knitting, we headed upstate to Red Hook, which is just a little way from Rhinebeck. I could write a whole blog post about what a joy it has been to spend time with these two! Ann is wearing her fabulous aran weight Dionne Shawl by Jeanette Sloan and I’ve borrowed Ann’s Parallelogram Scarf, which I need to immediately cast on when I get home. It is one of the designs in the Sequences MDK Field Guide, and unbelievably squishy and warm! This was just the start of a parade of incredible hand knits – many of them from MDK Field Guides…
Knitting has been almost non-stop – in the car, on the subway, on the plane, at restaurants and at home. I was really inspired by Kay’s gorgeous basketweave socks on her needles (in their Wanderlust Field Guide), as well as Ann’s Petula Sweater (Downtown) and the Corrugated Shawl (Sequences) that Ann was working on. Spending time enjoying the process of stitches and wool against a background of friendship is such a powerfully recharging thing.
My Antler Cardigan started to take shape!
Tivoli Bays was the perfect backdrop for some fresh air and a walk, and we were joined by MDK team member, Christina…
…for a photo shoot for our new album cover: Knitters on Tour.
And what do knitters do when they are on tour? Why, they head to the nearest town with a yarn shop of course! We went to Fabulous Yarn in Tivoli, NY which was PACKED with stunning yarns and notions. It took all my willpower not to dive in and buy everything.
I was very taken with this aptly named Oooh! cashmere chunky yarn. I held strong though, safe in the knowledge that the weekend would bring plenty to tempt me.
To be continued…
I can hardly believe it, but in just under 12 months I have knitted myself a 4ply cardigan!
I’m totally thrilled with how it turned out, and I’m already wearing it a great deal! I thought it would be helpful to talk through how I took Ella’s absolutely beautiful Ola Yoke sweater pattern and converted it to a cardigan, as it’s really not a difficult transformation to make. I should say of course that the sweater is fabulous, and doesn’t need modifying at all. I just know that I wear cardigans a lot more than sweaters, and wanted to get the most from this lovely knit.
Read moreThere is a great temptation sometimes to doubt one's own ability and for many, me included, this is often around design and use of colour. But fear not! Help is at hand.
You may have been lucky enough to have taken one of Felicity (Felix) Ford's classes, and if you have, you will undoubtedly have been filled with her boundless enthusiasm for the potential of just about anything as a source of inspiration for design. We love spending time with Felix (above) because she sees the world differently from us and can communicate how she sees things so clearly that we cannot help but have our eyes opened to the possibilities.
Read moreHave you chosen your pattern? Found some yarn? Swatched? It must be time to kick off the final Year of Techniques knitalong, and this is a great one! I know SO many knitters who are fabulously accomplished, and yet haven't tried cutting a steek in their knitting. There's a fundamental feeling that taking your scissors to something you've spent so long knitting must be a bad idea, but honestly, with the right yarn (and this is KEY), it's a piece of cake.
Read moreIt may be becoming a tired phrase on the pages of this blog, but there really is always something new to learn when running your own business. While not without its frustrations, being permanently challenged is one of its great joys.
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