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…

Ah, December. Post-autumn, pre-Christmas, prime Knitting Season. It comes after the shooting season, before the London season, and is by far the cosiest and the most fun. I’m exceedingly pleased with my WoollyWormhead Mystery Hat, now christened ‘Everglade’. The gales in Wales almost claimed it, but I ran after it into the wet black night and deftly snatched it back. I’ve lost too many hats on walks, dear knitters. First my pink & black Pirates hat, which I dropped on the beach at Ynyslas, then a navy blue Felicity which I lost on a woodland walk. The latter was particularly annoying, as it went so well with jeans. I refuse to relinquish any more knitted hats to the wilderness!

Anyway, I just got my very first printer, which I am very excited about. Up until now I’ve had to talk nicely to other people to be able to test the KnitLove collection, or scan various application forms. Now I get all the hassle & expense myself. Yay! The first thing I printed was the ‘Get Excited and Make Things’ poster. Actually, I usually reverse that order…

Make things: Mug Jumper.
Get Excited: Nearly 80 faves on Ravelry!

Knitting this won’t take you much longer than emptying the contents of your mug… unless you drink really quickly. Or knit really slowly. And for the moment the pattern only costs 90p. Go on, knit a few. :) What I loved about designing this was that I was able to just sit down with my mug of tea, and ‘unvent’ as I went along.* See what I mean?

I just followed the cables on my mug. I might still be struggling bending notes on the harmonica, but bending a cable is a piece o’ cake. I found this knitty mug at Superdrug a few weeks ago, by the way. It isn’t the most amazingly crafted piece of crockery, but it’s got cables & it’s pink & I love it.

More quick gift-knits will be coming soon. We all know it’s not “last-minute” until we’re in double figures at least. ;)

*I’d write about unventing cables, but Eunny did it much better, and about four years earlier.

I hope you’ve all seen the wonderful wintry delight that is the latest issue of the Twist Collective, dear readers. Apart from the usual joy I feel at seeing the latest patterns, this issue had an extra little something that sent my heart racing in excitement. As the page loaded I jumped up and walked around the room for a while… Then I took a little peep. Eee! I ran off again and did something else because I just couldn’t bear the excitement. Then I came back again and looked at the next page. Squee! Here’s the spread with my photos illustrating Paula Berman’s beautiful poem, ‘Clotho Visits the Local Yarn Store’. There are a couple of photos on the Articles page too, but I thought I’d share some of the outtakes with you, and tell you how it all came to be. You can see the full set on Flickr.

The whole vision took a while to present itself to me, as it always does. After I received the poem, I did some brainstorming on paper, I set up a few shots with my spindle and some roving, but things were grey and still and boring. As is always the case, I had nothing in my stash that would work for the assignment. I was also having trouble with good natural lighting, so I decided to take a trip to Wales. True to the title of the poem, I visited my Local Yarn Store first. I walked in, carrying my weekend bag & backpack, rather out of breath as I was hurrying to catch the train, and asked the girl at the counter whether they had some nice creamy-coloured yarn, something fluffy. She thought about this for a bit, then went and found me a ball of Wendy Chic. I explained that I meant yarn with a nice pile, preferably something natural. She ummed a bit more and found me another ball of acrylic. I gave up, spotted a bag of a silk/merino blend that was on offer, paid and ran out of the shop. I’m sure Clotho never had this trouble…

Clotho, in case you don’t know (I’m sure you do) is one of the three Fates (Moirae) from Greek mythology. Clotho (the “spinner”) spun out the life of a person, Lachesis measured it out, and Atropos cut it. The Fates were usually depicted wearing white, and I thought making everything very pale would add to the sense of mystery and dislocation. This meant getting very cold in a white summer dress in the cottage, and seeking out blank walls. I did my best with the spinning shots, as my skills are still rather rudimentary. I dreamt a lot about ordering a custom ebony spindle, but I overran the deadline as it was! Ah well.

The next photo involved emptying all my boyfriend’s books off his shelf. I wanted a lot of ghostly motion in the photos; everything must be ethereal, as the premise of the poem is basically a dream (and I imagined Clotho as rather incorporeal).

I love the end of the poem, the strong voice booming, ‘I am Destiny’. This is mythology, after all, not the place for happy endings. I wanted to presage this; Clotho’s inability to escape her role. Here is Atropos sneaking into the shot, ready to cut the dream short…

I hope you enjoy the photos, and thanks once again to the lovely ladies at Twist for giving me this opportunity! :)

Your life has all the makings of an idyll.
Have a wonderful week! :)

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? ;)

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. :)

Sign up below (or here), and leave your comments below that to let me know what you think of your small gift. Happy knitting!

Oh knitting, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

1. it’s calming.
2. it’s creative.
3. it’s enjoyable.
4. it’s easy.
5. it’s difficult.
6. it can be undone.
7. it encourages me to practice maths.
8. i don’t need maths to do it.
9. it encourages me to be lazy.
10. it allows me to do something with my hands, even when i have to concentrate on something else.
11. i like the feeling of yarn.
12. i like the feeling of needles.
13. i like the gentle click the needles make as i knit.
14. i like to make the things i wear.
15. i like to know how the things i wear are made.
16. i like to keep warm & help others keep warm.
17. i like having the ability to create something i want to wear.
18. it helps me think.
19. it improves my concentration.
20. it connects me with many other people.
21. it creates physical representations of time, effort, and love.
22. it encourages me to improve my photography.
23. it encourages me to improve my drawing.
24. it encourages me to think laterally.
25. it’s taught me a lot about fiber that i would otherwise not have known.
26. it helps me make decisions about what i wear.
27. it encourages me to be patient.
28. it encourages me to try new things.
29. it can be practiced almost anywhere.
30. it’s ancient.
31. it’s brand-new.
32. it never gets old.
33. there is no limit to the variety of stitches and patterns that can be knitted.
34. there are many many different ways of knitting.
35. it’s elegant.
36. it’s a way of filling my life with colour.
37. it’s a language not everyone knows.
38. it’s a language everyone knows.
39. it’s multi-lingual.
40. it’s tiny.
41. it’s huge.
42. it’s extremely precise.
43. it can be fudged.
44. it can be used to make the most necessary, and the most unnecessary things in life.
45. it’s practical.
46. it’s limited.
47. there are always things to learn.
48. it’s meditative.
49. it can help you look cool & detached in a heated discussion.
50. it’s endlessly frustrating. (it winds me up!)
51. it’s basic. all you really need is a length of something string-like.
52. it’s thrifty.
53. it’s luxurious.
54. it takes hours to learn.
55. it takes years to perfect.
56. it’s addictive.
57. it’s tempting.
58. it’s ripe for allegory.
59. it makes me want to jump out of bed.
60. it makes me not want to go to sleep.
61. it’s taught me to notice which styles flatter me & which don’t.
62. it encourages me to challenge myself.
63. there’s no wrong way of doing it.
64. it can be a social activity.
65. it can keep you company when you’re alone.
66. there’s no need to make long preparations.
67. it keeps me from biting my cuticles.
68. it looks impossible to non-knitters.
69. a knitted piece is never final or finished, but is always in flux.
70. knitting is a fun way to donate to charity.
71. knitting teaches you to deal with anxiety and worry.
72. a knitted piece can always be recycled.
73. knitting can be work or play.
74. it can help you procrastinate.
75. it can help you stop procrastinating.
76. it improves your visualisation skills.
77. it’s a conversation-starter.
78. it’s resourceful.
79. you can rip it when it makes you angry, and it’s still OK.
80. it’s not fashionable.
81. it can help you show someone just how much you care.
82. it’s literary & makes me want to write.
83. it can drape.
84. it can be sculptural.
85. it’s concrete.
86. it’s better than just sitting there.
87. it’s one of the simplest ways of creating fabric.
88. it encourages you to branch out into other fiber-crafts.
89. you can literally put blood, sweat, tears (and hair) into it.
90. you can use your needles to stratch your back.
91. it often defies both logic and probability.
92. every stitch is unique.
93. every stitch is a brief metamorphosis, every stitch has a previous existence.
94. it’s made of loopholes.
95. it’s high-tech.
96. it makes a good day better.
97. it’s feminine.
98. it’s masculine.
99. you are what you knit.
100. it’s active, dangerous, risky & terrifying.
101. it’s classic.

Writing this list really filled me with joy for my art. I’m sure I could find another 101, but I’d quite like to read some of your reasons too!

Well may you ask! When I came back to Turkey for a few months, I hadn’t realised that a combination of heat, intermittent internet, and a general lassitude would keep me away from work for so long. Many events have passed unrecorded, including my birthday, and the Skein Queen contest I won, to name one of her gorgeous colourways. The name I entered was ‘Summerhouse Love’, and it’s fairly descriptive of my current state. Ironically, I must await my return to Wales to fondle the Plushness, but the cool colours will be a reminder of my indolent summer days. I had already treated myself to a hank of Skein Queen yarn for my birthday (look at Deb’s gorgeous packaging! I admired it for a long time before I let myself open it), along with a tiny hank of Artist’s Palette ‘Glisten’. Really, the difficulty of the larger questions of life (its meaning, what one should do with it, etc.) pale in comparison with the painful hours of deciding which colourway of handpainted yarn to purchase.

Much of my time has been spent reading, listening to Cole Porter songs, taking photos of congruous colours, and of course, doing a lot of mindless knitting. These socks are now finished, though it’s too hot to wear them.

I mentioned in my entry to the Skein Queen competition, how much I love summerhouse novels. Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Proust’s Swann’s Way (the only one of the series I’ve managed to read so far), and Colette’s Ripening Seed are the chief ones that occur to me. To a lesser extent perhaps von Arnim’s The Enchanted April (which I suppose is not summer), Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, Forster’s A Room with a View, and maybe even Bellow’s Herzog, though they’re all very different books. Admittedly A Room with a View doesn’t even involve a house, but it is still one of my favourites.

And if you’re looking for musical accompaniment, here is my Cole Porter mixtape:

1. I Concentrate on You by Frances Wayne
2. I Loved Him but He Didn’t Love Me by Kaye Ballard
3. Get Out of Town by Chris Connor
4. Night and Day by Ella Fitzgerald
5. Just One of Those Things by Diana Krall
6. I’m in Love Again by Bobby Short
7. The Laziest Gal in Town by Marlene Dietrich
8. Where Have You Been? by Judy Holliday

So close to your side I’ll stay,
You can never say,
“Baby, where have you been?”

“Now that lilacs are in bloom
She has a bowl of lilacs in her room
And twists one in her fingers while she talks.”
- T.S. Eliot, ‘Portrait of a Lady’

Few things are as uplifting as a bunch of lilacs in a room. Even when you’re not looking at them, their scent still surprises you. Being able to pick them myself from the garden is a priceless pleasure. And even after the lilac flowers have gone over, I love seeing the name ‘Laylock’, and remembering the inspiration this plant offers. What a delightful business growth model lilacs would make! Graceful, profuse, colourful, robust, and full of heart.

In the door-yard fronting an old farm-house, near the white-wash’d palings,
Stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom, rising, delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle……and from this bush in the door-yard,
With delicate-color’d blossoms, and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig, with its flower, I break.
- Walt Whitman, ‘When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d’