These would look darling in a nursery or a craft studio. I know, because I have them up on my wall right now! They depict a sort of “water cycle” for knitting. :) It’s raining outside > you make yourself a nice hot cup of tea or coffee > and then it’s time to knit!
If you don’t have any room on your own walls, they’d make a great last-minute gift for a baby shower (pun intended) or a knitting friend. You could print them out & frame them before you gift them, or for the more tech-savvy, how about putting the files on a pretty flash drive / USB stick? I think that would make such a cool present! The prints come in blue, pink, and green (in case the baby’s sex isn’t known yet), and I’ve included the original SVG file, so you can actually make them any colour you like!
SVG file of all prints + alternative colours & frames
All prints are 5″ x 7″ to fit a standard photo frame (2 fit on an A4 sheet)
All prints are vector & can be scaled as desired
Honestly, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve promised to knit for a baby, only to find that they were suddenly racing towards their 2nd birthday. Oops! Have you done this? Or if you’re one of the amazingly organised knitters who haven’t, please tell us, how do you manage it? Luckily, printing these out is 100% faster than knitting anything. I’m glad I’ll have some backup from now on. :)
Looking at the lamb, I’m reminded of this poem, which was one of my favourites when I was little (and still is, actually):
There Were Three Little Sheep
There were two little sheep,
And three little sheep,
Came to see why baby
Wouldn’t go to sleep.
They peeped in the window,
And they entered at the door,
And their hard little hoofs
Tap-tapped on the floor.
Said the first little sheep,
‘O hush-a-bye-bye!
You will waken all the lambs
In the fold if you cry!’
But the third little sheep
Never said a word,
For baby cuddled up
Like a tired little bird.
Then the three little sheep,
In the turning of a pin,
Tap-tapped out,
As they tap-tapped in.
Aww. I wish I could be in Wales over the spring; it was one of my greatest delights to take the train from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth, and watch the new lambs hopping away to their mothers. Have a great weekend, knitters! Time to Knit!
KnitLove vol. 2 has been updated! I added a brand new card design (’You’re my Knight of Knit’), a liner for the envelope, and some stickers to seal it, and took some new photos, because I wasn’t too happy with the old ones.
The collection was originally designed for Valentine’s Day, but I think the cards would bring a smile at any time of year. Besides, you can always use them as notelets, if you don’t fold them up. Volume 2 costs £4, but shhh, blog readers can use this extra-special discount code to get £1 off: VALENTINE11. All because I ♥ you, knitters! :) Happy Valentine’s Day!
I wrote this post last week, but couldn’t post it because my internet was down. Better late than never, I guess. Hope you’re all enjoying 2010. :)
At last the chaos of the festive season is over. The decorations are neatly packed in boxes for another year, the leftover turkey is (finally) finished – though there are still enough mince pies to last another month or two – and you can actually walk through Tesco’s at a reasonable pace. Ahhh. I got some lovely presents this Christmas, including the ‘Never Not Knitting’ page-a-day calendar, the Yarn Harlot’s ‘Free Range Knitter’, and a stitch dictionary (a knitter’s dream, surely). I’ve never had a page-a-day calendar before. There’s something both satisfying and terrifying about ripping away days and throwing them in the recycling bin. I also borrowed ‘Twilight’ from my cousins and spent boxing day reading it when I probably should have been interacting with my extended family. Oops.
I’m very excited because I have about 5 pages of new year’s resolutions (so far).* It’s a list I can turn to if I ever feel like I’m stagnating. All the items are easy and fun to accomplish, and I can take some sort of action towards them immediately, even if it’s just a bit of googling, but each one is part of the “grand plan”. I encourage you to give this a go. Don’t just make resolutions like, “Eat less” or “work less”, make your resolutions compelling and simple so you can’t wait to fulfill them!
Last year I also tried the idea of having a word that I could mull & ponder & use, which was ‘enthusiast’ (not ‘enthusiastic’ or ‘enthusiasm’). I found it very helpful, so I’ve decided to pick one for 2010. My guiding phrase for this year is ‘travelling light’, which I feel is a great metaphor that I can apply to any area I need: travel, photography, eating & drinking, dressing, living, working, etc. It also happens to be the name of one of my favourite JJ Cale songs (’Travelin’ Light’ to be precise).
To top it all off, here’s a PDF I cobbled together for myself. It’s 4 little cards that you can use to write notes in, things you want to think about every day; maybe the values you want to live by, your new year’s resolutions, actions you want to remember to take every day to Raise Your Standards. I’m sorry the picture isn’t terribly suitable. I wanted to represent a “standard-bearer”, but I wasn’t prepared to spend 40 hours trying to draw one. Just imagine yourself lifting your standard high above your head for all to see, as you march forward to conquer. :)
Every knitter knows this is the best possible advice in all circumstances. Even if you’re procrastinating by knitting, hey, at least you’ll have a jumper by the end of it! If you’re a strung out, tangled-up, deadline-bound knitwear designer, every time you look at this poster I hope it will remind you to take a deep breath and remember why you love knitting. See number 1? It’s calming. If you’re snowed under with Christmas knitting/shopping/carding, if you’re annoyed at someone, or if you’ve just been dumped (ahem), keep calm and cast on. Stiff upper lip, darlings.
Click on any of the thumbnails to download a PDF file of the poster. Then print away!
The crown design is from a slipover I started knitting years ago, by the way. I suspect it just needed to be seamed together, but it’s still sitting in a basket in Ankara. Funny how that happens…
Hello! Welcome to those of you who found me last weekend thanks to the lovely Julia. I hope I won’t disappoint! It’s Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK (a 3-day weekend, basically). I haven’t enjoyed weekends very much since I left school (whatever happened to saturday night?). For a start, I always get the urge to order yarn on Friday evening, just when I’ll have longest to wait for it. Then if I decide to go to the library, or to the supermarket, it’s always extra crowded. And then the internet is always so quiet (where do you all go? sniff). Besides, I’m not going to stop “working” just because it’s not a “workday” for most people! But well, thanks to Julia and the Twist Collective, this weekend was devoid of its usual tedium, and I was bouncing around in excitement instead. So welcome! :)
It’s another grey day here, but I hope you’re making the most of your long weekend (if you have one) to do some knitting. I felt like something quick and cosy yesterday & found this in my stash. I love Colinette so much. This is One Zero in the colourway ‘Banwy’ (I wish their website still had those charming blurbs, remember those?). I found myself driving (well, being driven) through Banwy the other day, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop and scout out the Colinette workshop. Anyway, I absolutely adore this colourway (though no photos can do it justice), in particular the inky blacks that look like they’ve been dripped onto a light mossy green pool. Welsh slate, mossy rocks, tenebrous woods, and (this is pure genius) the rosy glow of morning sunshine on limewash. How did they do it? How did those clever Colinette dyers manage to put all this in a yarn?
You really don’t need to work hard to show it off. Sometimes the simplest thing is the best: stocking stitch (stockinette for Colinette, you might say). Wide and loose cowls seem to be in fashion this winter, but I like mine to actually keep my neck warm! And this is the perfect width for that. It’s jolly tricky taking photos of yourself with a manual focus 50mm lens, by the way.
There were so many sixes in this pattern, I decided to call it the Sixes Cowl, maybe it’ll make it easier for you to remember if you decide to knit one.
Simple Instructions for the Sixes Cowl
You might just be able to squeeze a cowl out of one hank of One Zero, but get a couple (or 6) just to be sure.
Gauge is also a bit tricky since One Zero is a thick & thin yarn, but mine is approx. 12 sts / 19 rows to 10cm/4in of stocking st.
Using 6mm 60cm circular needles,
Cast on 66 sts & join to work in the round.
Work in 1×1 rib for 6 rows.
Work in stocking stitch for 30cm / 12in (or however long you desire).
Work 6 rows in 1×1 rib.
Cast off in rib.
Weave in ends (my cowl is still umbilical).
Easy, eh? Look at that sweet wobbly cast off! Because of the uneven nature of the yarn, your stocking stitch will have gentle waves. I recommend you enjoy it that way, rather than trying to block it flat. If you need help with circular knitting, read All About Circular Knitting. And did I mention you can wear it either way out?
Just in case you haven’t got any One Zero handy though, and you can’t bear the wait, how about having a picture of it to warm up your desktop? You can download a large copy of the photo above from Flickr, which should shrink to size when you apply it to your desktop. If it doesn’t work though, let me know your screen resolution & I’ll see if I can whip up some specific sizes. :)
P.S. I was very tempted to call this ‘Cawl’ (pronounced ‘cowl’), which is a hearty Welsh soup made with leftovers. Just the thing after a long damp walk. But then I thought (cowls being addictive) that maybe I’ll knit another cowl to call Cawl, what do you think? ;)
A gift is not worth giving unless you’d rather keep it yourself.
I read this long ago in a novel and since then I’m reminded of it every time I’m buying a gift, or trying hard to convince myself not to part with it. For example, I bought a couple skeins of Debbie Bliss SoHo the other day, which I believe is now discontinued. It’s in that ingenius blue/lilac combination and oh, what a cool hat I could make with it. Something floppy for an autumn pallette of browns, blues, and purples. Siigh.
But I restrained myself (really, I did!). They were the last two left in the yarn shop, and they’re now safe in the hands of a very capable knitter, who will doubtless make something fabulous out of them.
You may remember the gift tags (with garment care symbols on the back) from a while back. They were one of my gifts to you. :) Well you loved them so much that I decided to extend them into a whole range of printable knitty goodies for gift-giving. You can download it here. The PDF file is stuffed with everything I could think of that you could possibly need to give, send, present, yield, lend, donate, surrender, devote, label, write, organise, entrust, relinquish, pass down, bequeath or swap:
Labels
Gift Tags
Writing paper
Notecards
Envelope
Stickers
Bookmarks
Bookplates
Wrappers
Sleeves
Small sleeves
Pillowboxes
Straight sheaths
DPN sheaths
Yarn bag
Tips & tricks for printing, cutting, and construction.
You can view all the photos here on Flickr. I hope you enjoy them. I have at least one more collection planned, with useful things like calendars, index cards, invites, etc. Suggestions are most welcome!
Don’t you love looking through books of stitch patterns for knitting inspiration? I often keep a few next to my bedside and flick through them before I fall asleep. Stitch patterns are a brilliant opportunity to practice, learn new techniques, and begin to solve the mystery of how stitches create different fabrics. They’re often a good starting point for designs too, especially if you don’t yet have the time or expertise to discover your own.
I’ve selected six stitch patterns to highlight knitted texture, lace, and ribbing, and because I wanted to make this booklet extra useful, each of the stitches is photographed on the right side and the wrong side (I haven’t seen this done before, but I wish more publications would adopt the practice), and I offer additional tips and advice to help you on your way.
Whether you’re a beginner or a bored expert, I think you’ll enjoy The Little eBook of Knitting Stitches. I’m offering it as a free gift to subscribers of the Laylock mailing list. The subject of the mailings will be ‘better living through knitting‘, emails will only be sent once or twice a month, and of course I will never spam you or share your information. Nevertheless, if you’d really rather not subscribe, write me an email & I’ll send you the PDF file anyway. Just because. :)
The eBook contains:
6 stitch patterns
2 texture
2 lace
2 rib stitches
photographed on both right & wrong sides
laid out with clear instructions & advice on usage.
Scroll down to read what knitters are saying about The Little eBook of Knitting Stitches…
If you find my free Knit Love gift tags, and Bird Labels useful, and fancy making your own, here is an .svg file of the blank care symbols. I made these using Inkscape, which is a great open source vector graphics program. If you need some guidance using Inkscape, The Knitting Penguin has started an excellent series called ‘Inkscape for Knitters‘ which will teach you enough about Inkscape to use this .svg file. She’s clearly put a lot of time and effort into the series, so please take the time to thank her.
The blank symbols are public domain, so feel free to use them as you wish! Enjoy!
I had a lovely Easter weekend, full of amazing food, flowers, fun, sunshine, boating & bunnies. I’ve loved seeing all the Chick Egg Cosies popping up on Ravelry during Easter. Eight-year-old Rose Red made a very sweet yellow chick, chia777 didn’t have any felt, so she beaded the beak, clockworkpurple made some with googly eyes (if I ever get my hands on some googly eyes, I’m going to make some that look like Pacman ghosts, with zig-zag edges!), smartcinderella made some cosies that are laced up corset-like, and theknittedcupcake knit some amazing multi-coloured chicklets. All so clever & crafty! If you haven’t knit any yet, remember, chicks and eggs aren’t just for Easter! :) Also very lovely was seeing Vetiverknits’s finished Houses Slipover in gorgeous merino cashmere from The Knittery. Just nothing more exciting and satisfying than seeing people enjoying knitting from your patterns. Thank you all!
I’ve been knitting too, of course, and fiercely designing. I have too much inspiration for two hands, as always! But in addition to the knitting, I’m also very excited to be writing reviews for Cast On! I’m somewhat ashamed to say that I had never listened to Cast On until a few weeks ago; have I been living under a knitted rock? I remember last year a fellow knitter (Julia, who I met on Ravelry) and I were sitting in Aberystwyth Arts Centre drinking coffee and she told me I should really go listen to some knitting podcasts. She then whisked me off to a dance lesson and in between trying to remember the steps to the cha cha and the waltz I completely forgot about this excellent piece of advice. Well, I have now finished Series 5 of Cast On and I’m hooked on Brenda’s lovely voice, and in particular her weekly sweaters. My first review as a Knit Review Minion is for Simple Style, from the same series as Interweave’s Lace Style, Folk Style, and Wrap Style. I hope you have a read and let me know what you think, if only for my somewhat silly, rhyming bio!
hot water bottle cover with pocket - £3.00 (approx. $4.70)
houses slipover - £3.00 (approx. $4.70)
earring & key holder - free
bow pouch - free
* Paypal will show you the precise currency conversion before you confirm the sale.
(round)about
My name is Derya and I'm 25-years-old. This blog is an experiment in better living through knitting. Learn more about Laylock in the Introduction. If you'd like to get in touch, leave a comment or email me at: d.y.davenport AT gmail.com.
17 March, 2011 | 
5 O'Clock, Downloads, Photographs | 
tags: floral, kid, lace, parasol, pink, spring. 
