Silver Mix of Knitting Yarns

Here is a shot of our newest bundle of yarns dyed in soft silver colour. I can't wait to try our 4ply Mist Mohair in this great new colour-way. I will be adding to our shopping cart this week.

132nd AUSTRALIAN SHEEP & WOOL SHOW

Last week saw me making a nostalgic trip to the Sheep and Wool show as a guest at the Women of Wool lunch.

Mum and I ran a stall at the show a few years back when she had just started hand-dyeing wool. We had a lot of fun and I never forget the time Kaffe Fassett stopped to admire mum's colours and introduce himself. It was quite a buzz.

A few years on and the Wool and Sheep show is still thriving and full of activity. I spent quite a while in the sheep judging area and managed to snap this shot of one of the competitors. I was also lucky enough to sit next to the energetic Dot Vallance who organises the Woolcraft section of the show and have a chat about craft trends. Brenda McGahan from Wool Innovation also gave a great speech at the lunch about some exciting new projects the Australian Wool industry is involved with.

Cheers
Pat

Winding for winter

Here is a cute photo of David wearing one of our tangled hanks of hand-dyed merino. Check out his new laser-cut glasses.

I have been keeping my staff busy winding yarn over the last few weeks to make sure our yummy colours are all ready for winter. New colours are still a few weeks away as is the cold weather it seems.

Rainbow flower

I have always wanted to use our Rainbow Metro Collection - 24 perfectly graduated colours of the colourwheel - for more projects. This lovely Nicky Epstein crochet pattern is one of 8 motifs from the Medallion Medley pattern in Cocheting On the Edge. It is perfect for the rainbow yarn collection as is has 12 rounds of crochet - half the colour wheel. I am currently working on the blues and greens flower. I will put together a yarn kit for this one soon...

Benjamin's Bunny

My continued obsession with crochet saw me making this cute bunny rabbit for my son Ben for Christmas. It is the first project to use our new Lara Cameron range of fabrics with the colour-matched yarn. The pattern is from Erika Knight's "Essential Crochet" and has an adorable little pom pom cotton tail.

I have put together a kit which you can buy from our new shopping cart. It includes the yarn, fabric, wool top stuffing, ribbon and contrast yarn for the eyes (book with pattern is extra).

Super simple Rope Scarf

Since having my first baby 2 and a half years ago, I have been exploring ways to make simple but effective pieces that can quickly be put down without the fear of stitches being dropped or increasingly active little fingers getting a hold of pointy needles. So, I went back to basics and started experimenting with the most basic of finger knitting techniques and came up with a rope scarf design.

Basic finger knitting is simply a chain stitch created with your fingers. Just like the crochet chain you create a slip knot, and then using your thumb and index finger pull the yarn through the loop in the slip knot and form a new loop. Keep doing this until you have a long rope then start experimenting with it.

The scarf in the photo was made with one ball (100gm) of our Slubby yarn in a dusty pink multi-colour. I finger knitted the whole ball (less 1 m) into a long rope and then lay it out across a long bench zig zagging back and forth 7 times to create an overall scarf length of about 1.7 metres at the same time aligning the colour variations. The colour that stands out the most was positioned at each end. I then cut and knotted the yarn where it turned resulting in 7 individual strands. To tie them all together I used the left over piece of matching yarn to individually tie the strands to each other in two places about shoulder width apart, leaving about a 1cm gap between each knot.

The effect is a lovely rope scarf which highlights the colour variations in the multi-coloured yarn. This project works best with multi-coloured yarns that have been dyed on a hank and repeat the colour range consistently. Try to pick a hank that has a couple of contrasting colours and have fun.

Knitting Tips - My TOP 5

Here is a list of my top 5 knitting tips - crochet and felting to come later.

1. Knit a tension square for every project you embark upon. Tension is the key factor in succesfully following a pattern and making a garment that fits perfectly. Many people think they know their tension and most people think they have average tension. Unfortunately tension can vary a lot over a lifetime of knitting and depend on the type of yarn you are using. If you regularly substitute yarns you will have a better understanding of how important it is to check tension and that not all 8ply yarns are create equal. So take the time to knit your tension square - I usually aim for a 12 by 12 cm square - and try a few different needle sizes until you get it just right.
2. Work shapings one or two stitches in from the row ends. A lot of knitting patterns will have you working increases or decreases at the beginning or end of rows resulting in a bobbly finish to your edges. Working all shapings one or two stitches in from the end of the rows will give you a neat finish to your edges and make sewing the pieces together much easier.
3. Count all rows. Many knitting patterns will ask you to knit a part of the sleeve or back until it measures a certain number of centimetres or inches. Count the number of rows it takes you to achieve the stated length on the first sleeve or back and when doing the second sleeve or the front simply work the same number of rows again. This will ensure you have perfectly matched pieces.
4. Try it on as you go. Knitting allows you the time and options to tailor a garment to fit you perfectly. The key measurement for jumpers is the centre back to wrist measurement. Try the sleeves on before casting off and check the width of the back when you get to the arm-hole shaping. A loose basting stitch to keep the pieces together often helps when doing a fitting.
5. Start knitting with the yarn end located in the centre of the ball. Sometimes this is hard to find, but worth digging around for. It saves a lot of time chasing the ball around the room.