Martin Storey Knit-a-Long 2

Exciting news! – the new Martin Storey Knit-a-Long 2 launches tomorrow, with motifs, textures and colours based on Northern European knitting traditions including the knitted textures and fairisle patterns of the Shetland Isles; the Faeroe Isles; Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland.  More details here:

Martin Storey KAL 2

I’ve chosen the blue colourway for my blanket, which uses the following Pure Wool Superwash Worsted yarn: Light Navy 153 x1 ball; Breton 147 x3 balls; Light Denim 154 x 5 balls; Electric 143 x3 balls; Lovat 161 x2 balls; Ocean 145 x3 balls; Mallard 144 x2 balls; Topaz 160 x2 balls.

You might have guessed from previous projects that blue is one of my favourite colours and I’m really looking forwards to knitting with all of these fantastic shades.  In addition to blue, there are three other classic tonal palettes that you can choose: soft and natural; fresh evergreen or zingy spice to suit your mood and home.

There will be eight square release stages in total, with a square being released each fortnight (48 squares in total) and a final and ninth release on 12th May 2016 featuring the edging design.

You can also listen to Martin talk about the KAL on You Tube here: Martin Storey KAL 2 You Tube Interview  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s progress and I hope to share some more photos on my blog and facebook page too.  Needles ready!

Claire x

Merry Christmas

Hello friends, just popping by to wish you a merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy 2016.  2015 hasn’t been the easiest of years with family health issues to deal with so I’ve had less knitting time than usual.  I’ve just been finishing off a few projects including Trent which I’ve knitted for my husband in Rowan Yarns Brushed Fleece, just in time for Christmas despite having to knit three sleeves! The first sleeve disappeared and I have no idea where it went so I had to buy more yarn and start again… luckily it was a quick and easy knit 😉  Here it is unblocked, but you get the general idea and it was the perfect cosy garment to wear whilst walking the dogs in the woods today.

If you haven’t knitted with Brushed Fleece before, I’d definitely recommend it.  Its a very light and super soft blend of extra fine merino wool and baby alpaca with a soft marl colour effect.  The colour my husband chose for Trent is called Peat 262.  You can view the Brushed Fleece collection on Rowan’s website which includes 16 knits for men and women including wraps, shrugs, capes, sweater dresses and cardigans designed by Martin Storey.

Hope to be back soon with some more ‘finished knits’ and I’m also going to sign up for the second Martin Storey Knit-a-Long starting on 28th January; details here:   http://www.knitrowan.com/news/martin-storey-knit-along-2-%E2%80%93-official-announcement-image  What are everyone’s knitting plans for next year?

Merry Christmas and see you in 2016! xx

 

Happy Valentines Day from Shaun the Sheep // competition

Last weekend Rowan Yarns teamed up with the Telegraph Magazine with a special offer to get some free Rowan wool to knit Shaun the Sheep in celebration of the opening of the new Shaun the Sheep Movie. If you fancy knitting your own Shaun, you can download the pattern for free by visiting the Rowan Yarns website knitrowan.com or by clicking here. You will need 25g of black yarn DK and 25g of cream/white DK.

Rowan currently has a competition to win £100 of lovely Rowan yarn – you just need to photograph your finished Shaun in an unusual location and post it on Rowan’s Facebook page before 24th February.

It was great fun knitting Shaun this week – he has now been adopted by my little girl, but the pup has also taken a fancy to the little sheep too (must think it looks like one of his dog toys) although he does seem to have taken a fancy to snatching yarn in general looking at the ‘caught in the act’ photo above!!!
Hope you’re enjoying Valentine’s Day today, however you are spending it with the knitting, people or pets that you love.
Claire xx

COMPETITION!!!!:

I’m running a little competition to win some Rowan Yarn to knit your own Shaun. Answer the following Question if you’d like to enter:

Which was the name of the film that Shaun the Sheep first appeared in? Leave your answer here or on my Facebook page with an email address or Ravelry details so that I can easily contact you. Deadline is 5pm sunday 22nd February. UK only please. Good luck 🙂

EDITED TO ADD: COMPETITION WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who popped by to enter the competition. I had 30 entries in total and chose the winner using random.org. My competition winner was Carol Hesketh – congratulations Carol! I’ve since discovered that Carol has her own Knitting page on Facebook called Fred Knits. Do pop by & say hello 🙂

Stainsby – a Sweater in Alpaca Colour

Hurrah – I’ve finally finished Stainsby from the Rowan Alpaca Colour Collection.  I started knitting this jumper at Easter, then put it aside to take part in the Rowan Mystery Afghan Knit-a-Long over the summer and after a big break, finished it off ready to wear this autumn.  It was worth the wait – I’m seriously smitten with this yarn!  Its so soft to the touch, and comes in a gorgeous palette of colours, with beautifully subtle colour changes which really give this yarn its special quality and character.  I can honestly say that it was a joy to knit with and is a joy to wear. I did make a few modifications to the pattern.  I lengthened the body, and when the jumper was ready to assemble, I decided to pick up the stitches and knit the neckline in the round.  I’ve also chosen to leave welts, cuffs and neckband as they are rather than fold to the fold line as you’ll see in Rowan’s picture below. I also used Garnet 139 for the cuffs and neckline rather than Topaz 143.  I decided to stick with Graphite 142 for the body as I love the colour and it fits in well with my wardrobe.   However, now I’ve finished this knit, I’m really tempted to be a little more adventurous and check out some of the other colours too.  Check out the full colour range here.  Am seriously drooling over these….

Rowan has updated its Alpaca Colour range this autumn/winter 2014 with 4 new shades: Jade 136, Jewel 144 (a gorgeous red which is quite Christmassy!), Marble 145 and Precious 147.

The Alpaca Colour Collection features 17 designs by Rowan designer Lisa Richardson.  Rowan describes this collection as a “story of textured knits – cables, lace, bobbles and openwork stiches in a variety of easy to wear modern shapes, including fitted jackets and tunics, wrap-around cover-ups and slouchy sweaters“.  The art work is worth checking out in this brochure aside from the gorgeous designs….

My friend and Rowan Ambassador Linda has also knitted Stainsby but in a different colour scheme – she is my “Stainsby twin” – we both discovered we were wearing our jumpers on the same day this week!  Do pop over to Linda’s blog Knitted Pink to check out Linda’s version – she also has some fabulous other projects to share: http://knittedpink.wordpress.com

So onto my next project…what will it be?  Well, I’ve started playing with some of Rowan’s scrummy new Fazed Tweed….   What are your plans for this season? Has anyone started making things for Christmas yet?

Claire xx

Autumn Salsa – a Hat in Big Wool Colour

Hello Autumn!

Meet Salsa, a hat designed by Lisa Richardson and knitted in Big Wool Colour from Rowan Yarns.

My daughter loves her new hat – she’s a big fan of slouchy hats with bobbles…

Big Wool Colour as you can see has a fun bright colour palette and is ideal for accessories.

Its fantastic for the beginner knitter as projects can be easily completed within a matter of hours.

Rowan Big Wool fans will also be pleased to hear that Big Wool Colour knits to Big Wool tension so knits to all Big Wool patterns.

The Big Wool Colour Collection published by Rowan this autumn features 13 designs by Lisa Richardson using Big Wool and Big Wool Colour. Here are a few of my favourites:

Jitterbug:

Foxtrot:

Mambo:

Fandango:

Have you seen the recently published Simple Projects for Cosy Homes by Sarah Hatton?

I love this collection, with gorgeous projects like these cushions that also make use of Rowan Big Wool.  I think they would look really great knitted up with Big Wool Colour too.  What do you think?

And how about using Big Wool Colour for these sweet little knitted baskets?

Thanks for popping by!
P.S I’ll be back soon with an update on my Alpaca Colour sweater – its all finished and good thing too, as the weather is certainly getting chillier!   Happy Knitting 🙂
Claire xx

Rowan Afghan Ta Dah!!

Hurrah, I’ve finished my afghan!! Thank you to Martin Storey for a wonderful design and to Rowan Yarns for a great Knit-a-Long – I’ve really enjoyed taking part and I hope there will be more KALs in the future or maybe a Crochet-a-Long (hint hint Rowan!)

I’m really pleased with how my afghan has turned out and now have a lovely blanket to snuggle under in the coming autumn and winter, although it has already been “borrowed” by children and pets….

In the end I decided to make a slightly smaller version of the official afghan design but I included at least one of each weeks patterns as I really wanted to try out each design for myself and have a finished afghan that incorporated a little of everything.  My afghan is made up of 35 squares rather than 48 and I also decided to crochet the trim using Linda’s pattern over on the Knitted Pink blog.  I do love to mix knitting and crochet and I’m pleased how it turned out as well as the fact that it was super quick to do.

I used a simple slip stitch to join the squares:  using the tail of yarn left over from the cast on/cast off, insert the needle into the loop of each purl stitch along the edge of the squares you are joining:

So, to round up ~ my favourite square:  French Plait (week 7)
I do love a nice cable and I also loved knitting with this shade of Pure Wool Worsted – a rather vintage looking pink (Candy 118).

Favourite shade of Pure Wool Worsted: Oxygen 137
I also love the Nordic Square design from Week 2.

Another favourite shade of Pure Wool Worsted: Peacock 139, shown here in Dots & Dashes  from week 5:

I also used Peacock for the crochet trim.

Favourite KAL helper: Izzy the dog: a keen lover of wooly blankets

I love the way that an afghan holds so many memories, reminding me of the places that I visited and the people that I met and who I was with when I was knitting each square… something to always be treasured.  If you didn’t take part in the KAL and would still like to make the afghan, you can download the entire design for free on Rowan’s website by clicking here.

Thank you also to my friend Deana who very kindly let me borrow her lovely sofa for my afghan photos. Do pop over to Deana Ashby Interior Design at www.deanaashby.com ~ Deana lives in a very beautiful house and is a very talented lady.
So, what’s next on my needles? Well, I’m finishing my jumper in Alpaca Colour that I started before the afghan KAL and I’m also SUPER EXCITED about the new autumn / winter yarns and designs over at www.knitrowan.com.
Have you finished your afghan?  Do you have a favourite square too?  What projects have you got lined up for next season?

Thanks for visiting!
xx

Rowan KAL : Weeks 4 to 8 : catching up

Next up on the blog, Lace Kisses for Mystery Afghan Knit-along Week 4 Rowan’s Pure Wool Worsted in Mallard. I really liked knitting this square, although I found that the yarn overs didn’t always go well with watching TV!  Its very pretty to look at and great practice if you’re new to lace knitting.

Week 5 was all about the bobbles!

Oh the possibilities…..!

And overcoming my fear of blocking so many squares!
Unblocked:

Blocking:

Blocked:

It was so worth it to end up with a nice flat pile of squares. So easy after all – popped them in for a quick wash then pinned them out in the sunny garden to dry – simple!

Some people have asked me what blocking mat I use – its a Prym Stretch and Steam mat that I bought on the internet.

I tried out some Pure Wool Worsted in Granite for Week 6, Little Doughnuts and the French Plait in Week 7. I love the French Plait and probably found it one of the easiest squares to knit.  Also trying granite out here with week 8’s Ripple Cable …. The pink duck just had to join in (I was on small child bath duty, knitting in the bathroom when I took the pic) 😉

Do you have a favourite KAL square?  Have you finished your afghan or are you catching up like me?

I’m hoping to lay out all of my squares this weekend and come up with a layout plan of my own as I didn’t stick to the original Rowan colour scheme. The end is in sight!  Can’t wait to have a snuggly afghan at the end of it all, looking ahead to autumn/winter….

We’re speeding towards the end of the school term now, one week to go. We’ve had sports days, forest school picnics, parties, music concerts, assembly’s and school summer BBQ’s. My youngest will be saying goodbye to pre-school and my eldest to primary school. Lots of changes afoot here at Knitandpurlgarden but I hope they will all be good.

Hope you’re enjoying the summer or the season wherever you are!
I’ll be back soon with a finished afghan update xx

Rowan KAL week 1 : Garter Stitch Waves

Hurrah I’m pleased to say that I made it through week 1! It’s been fun.  Garter Stitch Waves is an easy pattern to memorise combining simple knit and purl stitches, so after you’ve knitted the first square, the rest can easily be combined with a spot of TV watching or a similar activity.  I started off with the recommended needle size 4.5mm but soon realised that I needed to drop down to 4mm.  I’ve also found that my squares are more rectangle in shape than square so I’ve added a couple of extra rows at the top and bottom of each square in stocking stitch (after the garter stitch rows but before the wave pattern).  I just need to block them.

Have you checked out the Ravelry Group for the KAL yet?  Its very busy over there – a great place to get tips and talk colours, needles and blocking and chat in general…  Last time I looked there were 495 participants in the KAL!   Check out the following link for further useful links to Clue No. 1, the You Tube Video by Martin Storey, the KAL shopping list, and Dayana’s very useful tips on how to download the free pattern from the Rowan Yarns website without any hiccups (note that you’ll have to sign up for a free Rowan account to download the clue – if the download button is missing after you have logged in, try refreshing the page in your browser).

Don’t forget – the next clue will be available next Monday 28th April!  I’m off to share a photo of my finished squares over on Ravelry – I hope to see your photos too.  Happy KAL-ing!

Here are the Pure Wool Worsted colours that I chose for the KAL:  oxygen 137, azure 138, peacock 139, mallard 144 , moonstone 112, granite 111, candy 118 and pretty pink 113.  My girls even made cupcakes this week to match my azure yarn!

Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the American Museum in Bath

Go see it if you can – it’s awesome!
The exhibition will be running at the American Museum in Bath UK until November.

Take your family and friends and follow the Easter Yarn Bomb Trail in April!
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Cuildorag House Cushion and the new Pure Wool Worsted

Rowan Yarns launched its new Pure Wool Worsted yarn this Spring and asked us  ambassadors to come up with some ideas for home accessories that could be knitted using the new yarn.  A little competition was launched over the holidays and my friend and fellow ambassador Jen won with her gorgeous moonstone cushion knitted in seed stitch using moonstone yarn with a fab mustard trim.  Check out it out on her fab blog Hey Jen Renee .  You can see all of our Pure Wool Worsted designs, on Rowan’s website in a free to download Pure Wool Worsted Home Décor Online Collection.  Download my Cuildorag House Cushion free pattern here too.

The hardest part of the competition was choosing the shades of yarn to use – did you know that there are 50 beautiful shades of this yummy machine washable wool!? In the end I decided on Mallard for the background colour, with highlights of olive and soft cream using a swiss darning method, with an olive crochet trim.

P.S if you’re wondering where I got the inspiration for the name of my cushion, its a reminder of a beautiful little place that we visited in the West Highlands of Scotland years ago, and I’ve always wanted to go back with the girls one day!

If you’re tempted by the new Pure Wool Worsted range and are a colour addict like me, look out for the new Martin Storey ROWAN YARNS MYSTERY AFGHAN KNIT ALONG – the dates have been released: 21st April – 23rd June.  More details on my blog and Facebook coming very soon!

There are also two new collections from Rowan featuring the new yarn: The Pure Wool Worsted Collection featuring textured stitch work and gorgeous cables & Simple Shapes Pure Wool Worsted, a mixture of 9 simple designs for men and women with a vintage yet modern edge, all designed by Martin Storey.

Which Pure Wool Worsted colours are your favourites?

Happy Knitting & Crocheting! xx