Currently browsing: Inspiration

Tickled Pink

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“I believe in pink.” – Audrey Hepburn

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.

3rd February, 2011 // Houselock, Inspiration // tags: cables, garter stitch, hot water bottle cover, hottie, knit, pink, pocket.

Keep Calm and Cast On

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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…

8th December, 2009 // Downloads, Inspiration // tags: christmas, crown, download, free, keep calm and cast on, poster, printables.

Knit Things & Get Very Excited!

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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.