Update

I have no idea why this summer my blog seems to have gone by the wayside, I think having a tumblr hasn't helped but it has and I apologise for this. Any way I recently took part in a Princes Trust entrepreneur course   which has thrown up a lot of personal questions about what I want. The simple answer is I don't know..


In terms of knitting I am in the middle of a couple of projects and will post when I have completed them. I am also in the process of looking for wool jumpers and cardigans so that I can felt them and use them to make other more interesting items of clothing. so far I only have two a black and a grey purple striped cashmere jumper. :)

New knitting basket

Just a quick one my knitting basket broke (because I stood on it) and so while it was disassembled I decided to change the fabric on it from the grey flowery one that it had on before to this material and the sides which are made out of jeans. I used the original as a pattern and sewed it up on my bernina although I had to do the bottom by hand x
Just a not i got the fabric (polyester i think) from a church sale x

Etsy

Just a note to let every one know that I am now selling 4 types of items on Etsy take a peek and treat yourself x

Ch- ch -ch-check it out!

Here is the hat that I finished a couple of days ago its a really simple stitch and I think pretty effective, inspired by 1970's fair isle yokes x

Pattern:
CO in the round in an even number of stitches enough to fit your head
P1, K4 all the way round
repeat until desired length
*Stay in the P1, K4 pattern count* 10 stitches then Co2  repeat until end
P1,K4 to end
 Repeat from * to * and every other row count one less stitch until you Have about 10 left and then draw all your stitches together
Any clarification just ask I know those instructions are rubbish x

Second ever commission:

I got asked by one of my uni mates to knit her a rose for a cardigan that she has she wanted a brooch so that she could pin it together because it didn't have any buttons here is the finished object:




Here is the back showing how I attached the pin and what pin I used:

Cowl design

Here is the cowl that I recently knitted at uni, I got the yarn (some kind of faux mohair but it didn't have a tag on it) at a charity shop for £1.50!!!





Please excuse the outfit I was painting (see future post lol)



her it is wrapped around its very warm


Use big needles I used 8mm

Pattern:

CO 24
knit
BO


Its that simple!!

Top 10 for knitting designers

Just a few tips for the budding designer out there from the point of view of a knitter;
1. Keep small things to simple stitches- If its hat and below in size I don't want to be doing anything more complicated than k, p, k2tog, p2tog and m1.
2. Knit it up in a nice but neutral colour- like beige, earthy browns and greens, or blue (unless of course the point of it is, that it is a specific colour).
3. Photo any garments on either yourself or someone so people know what its like on people and not on the floor.
4. Provide good photos of any details that appear on the item.
5. Provide a step by step tutorial on your blog or just blog about how you came up with the idea and how you knitted up the item this all helps when people are looking for things to knit.
6. Have a blog/ Ravelry page/ Etsy site- get yourself known !
7. Think about your audience- is a 90 year old going to wear a caplet?
8. How are you going to make your pattern available blog, PDF?
9. Don't start off charging for patterns and give some away for free when you do start charging.
10. Don't just copy experiment x

This is just a compilation of my opinion and nothing else its not a guarantee that if you follow these rules you'll become the next Kaffe Fasset but its just a few things that I have observed from my own buying habits. x

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 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.