Be off with you February!

I’m not a big fan of winter in general – I quite like a bright, crisp, frosty day but give me flip-flops and a warm breeze and I’m at my happiest – and February surely is the worst of all. Over the Christmas excitement, a long way from the promise of longer evenings and warm days – and this year we got snow too! Let’s just say I’m never sorry to see the back of it and thank goodness it is the shortest month…

Having laid that bare it is, I have to admit,  a good knitting month! Firmly stuck in my winter ‘funk’ I seem to subconsciously make more time to pick up needles and sit, quiet in the gloom with soothing fibres and repetitive rhythms to get me through. So, while the blog has been sorely neglected through the darkest month, there is now lots and lots to share with you! See, it’s not all bad

This is our youngest…

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A smiley...

feisty...

free-spirited (read wilful) ...

cheeky...

'Ninja of Fire' (apparently... I blame his big brothers!)

This is his new  ‘mummy-knitted’ Hoody…

It’s not nearly as much fun without him inside

 

Pattern: Child’s Neck Down Jacket by Diane Soucy published here

(with added hood as inspired by ‘Frazzled Knitter’ here )

Yarn: Sublime Chunky Merino Tweed ‘Tartan’ (238) (from our own sale )

All ravelled here

Is it finished yet mum?

A common refrain over the past few weeks in the Meadow Yarn household! After many months of hinting, politely asking and downright demanding from Tom, I finally set about knitting the much desired ‘hoody with a zip’. Those of you that know me (or have eyes!) will have realised that I am mostly a ‘selfish knitter’… with a large scarf collection… and some nice cardigans…

It’s not often I pick up the needles intent on creating a large garment for someone else (at least I’m honest!) but after finishing The Big One earlier this summer the prospect of a cardi for an 8 year old wasn’t too desperate

I think he’s quite pleased with it

It was a nice easy knit, with chunky yarn, using this pattern by Diane Soucy. The original pattern didn’t have a hood but I found someone on Ravelry who had added one and kindly made notes (such a fabulous community!)

The yarn I used was from our clearance sale – Sublime Chunky Merino Tweed – and while it is lovely and soft and nice to knit with it’s not got much body so the hood is a bit flippy-floppy if I’m honest. He doesn’t seem to mind though…

My stitch gauge was a little off so I knit the largest size knowing it would likely come up small and it’s a good job I did as it’s a perfect fit on my rather tall, skinny boy!

It’s all Ravelled here and what’s left in our clearance sale (still some nice bargains to be had!) is here. The original pattern can be found here

The only problem I have now? The other two boys want to know when theirs will be done… and with Christmas looking (I know, I know!!!) the next couple of months might not be quite so selfish!

Making space…

I came back from Knit Nation energised and full of ideas for new brands & products I’d love to stock but first we need to finish making space ready for a bit of a ‘re-birth’!

We’ve got up to 30% off some truly lovely yarns (so hard to say goodbye!) so if your favourite is up for grabs now is the time to treat yourself…

Pixie hat time again!

Some friends of ours introduced a new ‘human bean’ to the gang a couple of weeks ago! Welcome to the world Hermione Rose!

Because I don’t like to start knitting for a new baby until we’ve heard the good news I’ve collected together a few simple patterns over the years that make for sweet little gifts and can be completed very speedily! This hat has always been a hit…

It’s a lovely vintage style pattern that’s available here and is easily adapted for different weight yarns and embellished with, for example, a soft fabric lining and a contrasting vintage button…

This lining is a little piece of Michael Miller ‘Hedgehog Meadow’ that I had lurking in my fat quarter stash! The yarn is Sublime Cotton Kapok DK – again from the stash, in a lovely lemony/lime shade that’s perfect for a Spring baby.

We’ll be introducing our mob to Hermione Rose in the next few days – wish her luck!

October – knitting round-up / confession

October has been a busy month! The store has been getting steadily busier as we head into prime ‘knitting season’ and home life has had the usual variety of birthdays, minor illnesses, kid’s parties and other incidentals all adding  to the day-to-day excitement!

Knitting has been ticking along though, sometimes in the foreground and other times most definitely in the background as ‘life’ takes over. This ‘pile’ represents the progress, or otherwise, made during this crafty month…

There’s been a bit of progress on the blue ‘correspondent’ scarf…

Quite a lot of progress on the wonderful ‘Kozue’ scarf/wrap in the beautiful green ‘Past & Present’ Posh Yarn…

The remnants of the balls of Sublime used for a couple of reversible squares for a secret cot blanket (ssshhhh….)

and perhaps most excitingly, my Chipmunk is ready for steeking!!!

More on that next week – I’m going to make sure that you’re all holding my virtual hand when I get to the point of cutting the current sweater in order to transform it into a cardigan!!

The skeins of Hazel Knits – in the fabulous ‘hoppy blonde’ shade – are just about ready to cast on for my next project, the Madeline Tosh ‘Hay’ cardigan which I am very excited about…

What the observant among you may have noticed is the very obvious lack of socks…

Hmmm, now the ’round-up’ becomes a confession!! After all my contemplation and deliberating over the choice of yarns, the subtleties of shades of pumpkin and saffron, the excitement over the imminent Through the Loops Mystery Sock pattern…. I have failed *miserably* to even cast on!!! A sock-less Socktoberfest seems certain given there are only 2 days of October left (and one of those is going to be consumed with a fifth birthday!!) Oh well, there’s always next year…

I have plans for this…

It’s Sublime Chunky Merino Tweed – new for A/W 2010 and it’s a fabulous soft, airy yarn that is perfect for toasty sweaters.

I’ve been contemplating making an ‘Owls‘ sweater for some while now. It’s a very popular pattern by Kate Davies of ‘Needled‘ fame and I think this might just be the perfect yarn for it. Soft yet with a sense of the traditional tweeds and lightweight yet warm…

There are lot of wonderful example of Owls projects on Ravelry – here. Some of them are just so beautiful! It’ll be a tough job to do it justice but I feel inclined to try this Autumn!

A little knit for a little sister!

There’s nothing nicer than knitting for a new baby and when a good friend added #3 to her brood this summer I grabbed the opportunity to test some of the Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk and Cashmere Merino Silk that I’d not had the pleasure of knitting with before.

The pattern was an obvious choice; the Little Sister’s Dress is a free download via Ravelry (if you haven’t signed up yet, why on earth not! Be warned – it will revolutionise your life but may impact negatively on your knitting time once you get sucked into the amazing wealth of information and patterns!) and is just the sort of quick but interesting knit that I love.

Little Sister's Dress

Knowing that baby Celeste was likely to be adorned in strong, bright colours rather than traditional newborn white/pastels I delved into the wonderful rich shade cards and came up with a gorgeous plum for the main colour and some lovely lemon, teal and pink yarn for the accent ribbing. We think she liked it! Just perfect teamed with a vest and leggings on an English Autumn afternoon…