1. Print out this PDF.
2. Cut out the quotation cards (I recommend a ruler & craft knife).
3. String up some ribbon on your wall or corkboard.
4. Peg the cards onto the string.
5. Be inspired!
So here is my slightly Victorian motivation wall with a preponderance of Thoreau and Gibran. This is a project I’ve had in mind for such a long time & it’s almost embarrassingly easy to execute. I just pasted a few quotes into a Pages template et voila!
Sometimes a sentence is all it takes TO DO IT.
It’s been a couple of years since I released my Glossy Ravelry Icons & I decided to make a little addition to them. I thought this would be a sweet way of rewarding your favourite bloggers, while supporting Ravelry & indie designers at the same time. How about placing one in your blog sidebar with a note that says: “My birthday is…” or “If you enjoy the posts on this blog, please consider gifting me a pattern from my Ravelry wishlist”? :)
I made two versions: one with the Ravelry parcel icon, and one with a simple bow, which I thought went better with the RSS feed icon. There are 7 sizes of each version: 24, 32, 48, 64, 80, 128 & 256px. The .ZIP file also includes the 2 extra 150×50 icons & the .SVG file so that you can edit them to your liking.
Here’s the code to use. Just change your username & the image name/path:
<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/USERNAME/queue?wishlist=true"><img src="wishlist150x50-1.png" alt="" /></a>
Hope you enjoy them, Ravellers! Leave a link to your wishlists if you’d like & maybe the Ravelry fairy will grant you a wish. ;)
A dainty little pattern for your leftovers. Making this is so quick and simple, that I don’t think even a beginner knitter could go wrong. I’ve included life-size schematics, so you can get away with only printing the second page. Then grab your yarn & needles & a tapestry needle and head to the park. Though these photos are rather autumnal, this is actually the first pattern for my summer collection. More on that later!
As I mentioned before, there are 3 different closures you can choose from: A fold-over & sew closure, a button flap closure, and a loop closure. The fold-over closure is the easiest, and doesn’t even require a button. The loop closure is also very simple, and I’ve included a tutorial on how to crochet the loop, so don’t fear the hook! :)
The pattern already has lots of Ravelry , and has been downloaded over 100 times. One knitter has even finished hers, out of Handmaiden sock yarn no less. See, it’s so pretty!
& all manner of other small thinglings that are always getting lost.
What will you keep in yours? Comment ‘cos I’m curious. :)
If you don’t fancy wearing it on your wrist, you can make one just to keep in your handbag / backpack / knitting bag, or even cooler, if your bag has a detachable strap, you can slide your pouch onto it!
Also, this is my favourite dress. I can’t tell you how delighted I was when I got it home & found out that it had POCKETS!
Hellooo wonky garter stitch!
I can’t wait to see everyone’s lovely sock yarn creations. Hope you enjoy! :)
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!
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? ;)
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 follow Laylock on Twitter, you may already have seen that I’m holding KniTwit Wednesday every week. The idea is simple: I tweet knitting patterns that are less than 140 characters. You can then knit them, re-tweet them (just add ‘RT @laylock’ to the beginning of the pattern I tweet and people will know where you found it), or write your own succinct little patterns so I can re-tweet them. I’ve written a few of the patterns already and find it a great thinking & knitting challenge, so I strongly urge you to give it a go!
For convenience I’ll link to all the KniTwit Wednesday pattern tweets here:
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’ve also been playing around with knit “patterns” of another kind recently, and they developed into these gift tags. Small hearts and kisses in stitches & knitting needles. Like my birdy labels, and the labels that come with the Houses Slipover, they have empty care symbols that you can fill in according to the yarn you’ve used for your gift. The tags are now licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License, but I would like to ask that you link to this blog post rather than directly to the PDF. Thank you & I hope you enjoy them! :)
Fold & glue the tags before cutting them out. Less cutting!
I find the tags are firm enough when printed on regular printer paper & then folded, however, you could also print them on card. Check your printer manual for help.
You could fold the tags, but leave them unglued & use the inside for extra space to write your message.
Punching holes in the right spot takes a bit of practice! ;)
You could also use these tags to label swatches!
The countryside is as beautiful and muddy as ever. I can hear my latest batch of neighbours being unloaded as I write. Baa-aa. I’ve been hanging out with the forsythia & the magnolia, and I’m terribly behind on everything, so if you’ve been waiting for a reply or a package from me, don’t give up hope!
Also, I realised yesterday that my feed somehow broke, so you may have missed my last post. It should be fixed now, but if you didn’t subscribe through FeedBurner, you may have to resubscribe. Have a lovely long Easter weekend! Eat lots of chocolate & don’t forget to take your camera with you!
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.
26 April, 2011 | 
tags: 
Download on Ravelry
, and has been downloaded over 100 times. One knitter has even finished hers, out of Handmaiden sock yarn no less. 
coming soon!
coming soon!
