Country Livin'

It’s hard to give a definite answer. I think part of it was my inexperience. Releasing patterns (or anything, actually) is a scary business. Still, designing, knitting, writing up, and photographing a pattern, and then not doing anything with it? Silly. And lazy.

I regularly get messages from people looking for these patterns, and I have to tell them a little sheepishly that they were never released, and won’t be in the near future. The pieces themselves are now in storage in the UK. The patterns are tucked away in my hard drive, all on their lonesome, when instead they could be duplicated and reduplicated all around the world; proliferating in all manner of shapes and colours, and perhaps bringing a little excitement and delight to knitters.

Baby Blues

The baby version of the Houses Slipover (looking appropriately mournful in these photos) was, admittedly, a failure. I knit it upon fervent insistence, but it didn’t occur to me that the motif is rather large, and babies are rather small. Ha! Oh dear, this is turning into “Knitting & Crochet Confession Week”. ;)

Still, all yarns can be reknit, retold, and not all those who wander are lost. Hopefully these patterns will come Home yet. :)

Have you read?

1. A Knitted InVESTment
2. Cabling in the Country
3. Houselove

Pink is powerful. It can make anything cosy in an instant, without being aggressive or overwhelming like red. Pinks don’t clash, which is lucky for me, because at the moment, everything I make or buy has to be pink! I worked up this pink version of my hot water bottle cover pattern the other day. It only took me a day and a bit, so I’m considering making one for each of my girl friends, for Valentine’s Day. I wonder whether I should modify the hottie pattern into a muff so that I can wear it out and about? I had a muff when I was little that had strings to go around your neck. And I’m always losing gloves! What do you think? :)

Here’s the link to the Ravelry Project Page.

Also, I loved this video by Michelle Phan about different ways to wear a scarf. I usually do a loop or a wrap-wrap, but I’m really excited to try out the knots she shows.

Have you read?

1. Pink Haze
2. Time for a Hottie
3. The Really Useful Central Decrease

Elizabeth mentioned in the comments that she would start calling HWBs, ‘hotties’ which I think is excellent practice, even if people get the wrong idea when you tell them you’re going to bed with a hottie. ;)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Yarn

• 2 balls Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran
• [100gr; 100% wool; 170m/186yds;
• in shade 027 Lewis Grey]
• or 3 balls Rowan Felted Tweed Aran
• [50gr; 50% merino wool, 25% alpaca, 25% viscose; 87m/95yds;
• in shade 729 Soot]
• or approx. 230m/252 yds of aran weight yarn.

Gauge

• 14 sts / 27 rows
• over 10cm / 4in
• (with 4.5mm (US 7) needles,
• in garter stitch).

Finished Size

• 21cm x 34cm, approx. 8¼ x 13½in.
• To fit a hot water bottle 19cm x 30cm.

(On the subject of hotties,) my boyfriend informed me that he gave in to his urge to put a teabag in his hottie the other day. He said he chose peppermint because you didn’t have to put milk in that. Clever man. Except he can’t get the teabag out now, so if you try this, we recommend loose tea. In fact, we’re thinking of patenting some kind of teapot/hottie combo. Watch out for that one. ;)

I’ll be sending out copies to the “mystery winners” as soon as my flaky internet connection allows me. With the rain & wind tonight I think it’s going to be the perfect weekend to snuggle up with a hottie (both kinds). And if you want a good book to go with it, watch out for my next post. The pattern is just £3.00 on Ravelry, so go forth and knit! Have a great weekend! :)

Have you read?

1. Tickled Pink
2. Mysteries Ravelled

No one guessed my mystery project, and to be fair, it was a bit mean of me to expect you to. Here it is, modelled in all its rustic elegance by a MAN! Since I first dreamt it up, I thought this design would make a great gift for a gentleman, because it’s genuinely useful, hard-wearing, and cosy in a non-pink, non-fluffy way (though it could easily be made into both these things). I wanted it to be completely unfussy – no buttons, no drawstrings, just a simple fold-over top. There are a few short rows for the pocket to accommodate large hands, but otherwise the pattern is very straightforward.

And if you want further proof that men love this hottie, I got two commissions from builders while we were shooting these photos. I informed them that I actually sell patterns, so they’d have to learn to knit first. I can just see them at home, relaxing after a day’s work with a bit of knitting and a tipple. :)

The pattern will be released sometime next week, and I’ll see if I have time to throw in a little surprise. I’ll send everyone who commented on the last post a free copy, since it was so tricky.

Of course the other mystery that we’re all excited about is WoollyWormhead’s Mystery KAL. Here’s my progress. I don’t think it merits a spoiler warning yet. The yarn is Sirdar’s Country Style DK which isn’t ideal, but it was all I happened to have. Anyway, I like the colour and I’ve finished the first installment. Now I’m eagerly awaiting the second…

I’ve said goodbye to Wales for a few months. On my last day I had the perfect pleasure of the first ripe strawberry of the year, and a glass (or two) of rosé. Mmm…

Have you read?

1. Beeton Counterpane Shawl
2. Easy Shawl Borders
3. Knitting Vlog