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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.
This isn't one of the monthly AYoT video tutorials, rather a bonus one for May to show you how to work an applied i-cord edging to join 2 pieces. If you're nearing the end of Alex the Mouse, this could be invaluable.
And that's not all. Ella Austin has shared her expertise on finishing toys
Read moreJen caught up with Ella Austin (BomBella Designs), colourwork toy designer extraordinaire, recently to find out all about her inspiration and process of design.
Read moreToday's post is just a short one to let you know that the Summer Kits for A Year of Techniques are now on sale. Each kit contains sufficient yarn to knit the June, July and August projects from A Year of Techniques, as well as a large sturdy canvas project bag.
Read moreThis is Alex the Mouse, the marvellous creation of Ella Austin for this month's A Year of Techniques project. Thank you Ella! I can't stop cuddling him! I've had to physically fight off family members who have tried to kidnap Alex as their own. In fact over the last few months that he's been staying here, Alex has had a constant stream of admirers!
Read moreIf you're a regular reader, you'll know that April's A Year of Techniques technique was intarsia. Most knitters taking part in our KAL followed Bristol Ivy's Brambling shawl pattern, but others took the technique and had a go at something else for an extra challenge, as you will see.
Read moreI can't believe the first month of A Year of Techniques has flown by so quickly! The enthusiasm and excitement that you've shared this month in the knitalong threads, on Instagram, by email and in blog posts has been humbling. Thank you all!
present to you the Brambling shawl! I had a total intarsia conversion last year when I knitted my Harewood Hap, so when we started to think about techniques and designers for A Year of Techniques, I knew that I wanted Bristol Ivy to be our "intarsia pusher"!
Read moreDoes your knitting ever grip you to the point where you can't imagine that you'll ever want to work another technique? I still remember the fever of tubular cast ons that I went through after first discovering this beautiful way of starting a 1x1 or 2x2 rib. No other edgings were contemplated for quite a while. Eventually it fades, and something else will come along to inspire and excite me, but when I'm deep in the obsession, nothing can dissuade me. I seem to be in the middle phase of helical stripe fever. I've worked obsessively on the first few projects that use the basic technique, and now I want to apply it to every other project* in grabbing distance.
Read moreThree weeks onto A Year of Techniques and many, many Hyacinthus wrist warmers have been cast on. You will have seen a few examples in the yarn choice post from a couple of weeks ago and you can see the range of projects here.
Helical stripes aren't just for a single pattern though, so I've picked out a few from our KAL on Ravelry to highlight the range of applications.
Read moreHow does yarn choice affect helical striping? Read on to find out....
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Here is the first pattern for A Year of Techniques! We hope that you will have a ball learning how to work helical stripes, while you make these handy armwarmers. Spring is starting to be in the air here in Somerset, and around the town there are signs of bulbs poking up through the soil. Hyacinths are among my favourite spring bulbs, and the shades of this incredible Zauberball seemed to match the pot I've had on my windowsill this month. Some mornings there is still a bit of a bite in the air while I'm on the school run, or sitting working at my desk, so my Hyacinthus armwarmers are getting plenty of use. Hyacinthus is the genus name for hyacinths - when I'm not browsing Somerset villages for pattern names, my horticulture and bird books come in handy!
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