Day 30 - Favourite knitted item that some else has knitted

I have the most amazing hat that I once bought when I was on holiday in Estonia (pictures soon)

Esty shop
I have added my Etsy shop on the the side of the page however I'm not at the moment selling anything all the items are what I have favourited but feel free to have a look there are some amazing items on there (even if I do say so myself). Hopefully I will be soon selling things that I have made from recycled/ upcycled materials so keep looking!

Day 29- Do you have any tips?

Yes I do here is my top 10 just for knitters I will also post a top 10 for designers at some point too;
1.Sign up to Ravelry
2. Start off buying needles from charity shops- or free off the front of magazines
3. Buy cheap acrylic yarn until you know what your doing- it comes in really bright colours too
4. Read as many blogs as possible (including this one of course ;) )
5. You can get thousands of patterns for free!!
6. Patience- Frog it baby!
7. Not every one has to knit socks|!
8. You are only as good as your knitting hero
9.Practice- continue to push your self
10.It can be as small and as big as you want to make it just make sure its going to come out the size you want it to be by doing a tension square especially on big projects like jumpers etc.

Day 27- How do you acquire most of your yarn/ vintage show

Most of my yarn is from either charity shops in Cannock or Lichfield or from the market in Cannock if I have to make a special purchase I always look at Kemps wool shop on-line first:  Kemps I don't know how they manage it but they always seem to have what I want on offer !

Here are the pictures from the vintage fair that I went to at the Fat Cat Club in Hanley :

A lovely woman who I saw in the line going in

A stall holder who loves Hello Kitty just as much as I do

Her nommy things a lot of which I wanted to buy but I had no money

Tomorrow I shall show you what I bought x

Day 26- Where do you keep your knitting notes

 This is my current and still my first ever knitting notebook. I got it from WH Smiths about 4 years ago and it has served me very well, below is a typical page because I usually have to write out the pattern or quite a lot of it  because I cant just work it out in my head when a pattern does the * thing  or when it says reverse stitches that's just too complicated. When I knit I like to be able to watch TV and anything that doesn't allow  re- runs of Come Dine With Me isn't not going to get knit.

Day 25- Have you ever made your own pattern or dyed your own yarn?

I always change the yarn in a pattern that I am doing or I make it easier lol, but I have never dyed my own yarn because I'm not advanced enough to warrant doing something like that but I suspect that in the future I will go into that x

Day 24- What project would you start today?

I would say that it would have to be  owls jumper by Kate Davies I have the yarn but am already knitting a jumper which I WILL finish this year.  Here is a picture of owls:

I just love that detailing!

Day 23- Have you ever taken someone of your knit for list?

I almost took my cousin off it (before he was born ) because my aunt had promised them a hat before I offered to make one for him. However, once I saw him I just felt like he needed a Brain monster hat, like ye: Brain monster hat. Today I was a bit bored and I needed some where to store my coppers so I made a bottle bank (lol) x

Day 22- Do you knit for friends and family

I do a lot here are some examples x I knitted this for my mum her middle name is rose so I thought it appropriate: I have knit two of these for my friends babies and am about to knit 2 more: I knit this for my dad And I knit this for my bezzie at uni :)

Day 21- What are the reactions to you knitting in public?

I have a wide variety of responses to me knitting because I am considered to be a young woman and young women in England are perceived to be mostly pregnant criminals, I am neither of these things. Some people give me a confused almost dissaproving look, others come over and ask what I am doing (what project) and some tell me about their own knitting past. I love people to come over and talk to me I don't however like it when people come over and tell me to stop knitting because of my age. I was in a charity shop once and some woman started an argument with me because she wouldn't believe that I could knit and she said that I shouldn't even if I could! To prove I can look at the picture below! Any way here is the scarf that I knitted (the very first thing that I ever knitted) and I didn't like it as a scarf I hadn't fringed it or anything so I sewed it together as a mobius strip and I now use it as a snood x Here is a picture:

Day20- What do like to knit to?

I usually knit in front of the TV very rarely whilst listening to music and even rarer in silence. I like the TV on mainly because it feel like there is someone else there its company. Today I spent about 20 mins trying to get the sticky things off the back of bottle caps until i gave up to look for ideas on the internet and found out that adding heat to them would have helped. If anyone wants the list of sites that I looked at feel free to mail me and I will email you them (there are 25).

Day 19- Have you ever had a project ruined that you loved?

I haven't to be honest if my projects haven't turned out right its because I haven't done them very well, like made a mistake or sewn them up wrong. I was witness to a terrible knitting accident. I was at my knit meeting with all my lovely ladies and Mrs G was crocheting something for another member of the group and we ordered some drinks I ordered a Hot Chocolate and the waiter spilt it all over the item that she was making and all our books on the table. Needless to say we didn't see that particular waiter for quite a while in fact he's only just started to come over again x

Day 18- Have you ever had any knitting related injuries?

I wouldn't say knitting, I usually prick myself when sewing things up cos its at the point at which I'm not concentrating. Today I did some organising as a usual knitter does I have accrued many knitting needles and sorted them out. I have a knitting app in which I can 'stash' all my needles, hooks, wool, projects, and it even works as a counter although I prefer hand tallys and pencil. Before the sort: After the sort:

Day 17-least favourite pattern and why?

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winter-warmer-3
I did look at this pattern but when just looking at something gives you shivers down your spine you want to run away and hide!

I added some more storage to my room at home (I had originally bought it for uni but then I moved rooms and didn't need it any more). On the top level there is a hello kitty but its mostly for DK yarn then fancy yarn and WIP's below that, other crafts that I do and then on the bottom all the knit notions that I have (lol)


Here is the bottle tops and ring pulls that I have collected to make jewellery with its only taken me a couple of week's but that's because I make sure that I only upcyle (like picking them off the ground, or getting them from friends) rather than buying them.

Day 16- Worst yarn you have every used

Well I love the colour and texture of the yarn but its really difficult to judge any kind of gauge for it. I am talking about Sirdar pom pom its lovely but trying to work out how much of it is going to make a square big enough to cover a cushion is just annoying. x

Knitwear is really coming into fashion this autumn with loads of high street stores stocking up on weird and wonderful jumpers and cardigans i particularly like this one form top shop : href="http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag&catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&productId=2588089&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208525&parent_categoryId=203984&pageSize=20&refinements=Colour{1}~[green]&noOfRefinements=1">

Day 14 - Yarn that you love but cant find a project for

I have lots of the fluffy stuff that hobby craft sold off (pictures coming soon) in pink, purple, blue and like a greeny grey which I just don't know what to use it for. I don't have enough for a jumper so i think perhaps something like a stole/cowl type thing. Well see I'm sure.


Here is a picture of the business cards that I have just had done for my group (www.vistaprint.com). I apologise for the quality of the photo it really doesn't do them justice but they will be handy to give to people as I tend to get talking to randomers in the street.

Day 13- Where do you keep your stash / Yarn Gathering

My stash is kept in my room (messily) here are some pictures: It looks a bit worse than it is promise!!









I went to stone today to have a look in Yarn Gathering in Stone which is a lovely shop run by a lovely and very helpful woman you can find information on her on Ravelry. Also go and see her! She gave me the posters and I bought some Noro and hand dyed wool form her to make some cute flowers for my new bag which I have fallen in love with. (Its from Asda and is half price x)

Day 12- do you have a knitting hero?

I don't really have any one person who I look to, to inspire me to knit. I suppose my group are the most inspirational mainly because they have much busier lives and still manage to knit and crochet 10 times more than I do. They have truly incorporated knitting and just crafting in general in to their lives along with children and stressful jobs and I hope that in the future I wont loose my ability to keep crafting because life over takes me.

Day 11- Fave pattern or designer / other crafty stuff

I don't really have a favourite pattern I suppose the one that I have done the most is either the:brain monster hat http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/brainmonster or the official kittyville hat http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/official-kittyville-hat which is in the first stitch and bitch book.

MY favourite designer would probably have to be Susie Johns: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knitted-Fruit-Twenty-Susie-Johns/dp/1844485404/ref=pd_ys_qtk_wl_img?ie=UTF8&coliid=I34VO5TIVN0FRR&colid=1Y3EZ96YNV754&pf_rd_p=217325491&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=home&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1BDZXQQBHY4G04FAHMJE . She contributes a lot to Lets Knit magazine and I just love her work and all the available pictures of her house look amazing!


Here is the canvas and paints that I will be using to paint a picture that I have been meaning to do for ages hopefully you can just see the outline but I haven't finished yet

Day 10- fave fiber or yarn

Well I tend to knit most things in acrylic yatns as its usually a toy or a small gift for one of my cousins. So Hayfeild bonus DK or anything like that is good, if im feeling more adventourous (spelling??) Then I really like the feel of the Sirdar Peru that I am using for my cardigan although I am lead to believe that it is now discontinued. (Links to come)

Day 9- most challenging project

The cardigan that I am attempting at the moment is probably the most challenging, because even though I can do all the different elements putting them all together and in such a large item (not saying I'm fat just that its bigger than a bag or a toy).
Here is the link on the Ravelry database: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/design-b---cabled-hoodie-with-zip-or-buttons