Tag Archives: Knitting

The Knitted Home – Ruth Cross … The Winner!

Two weeks ago I reviewed this great new book by Ruth Cross, The Knitted Home and offered a copy as the prize in a draw. There was a fantastic response: sixty comments in all, with some great knitting stories. It’s amazing how long some people have been knitting, so many people being taught by mums, and grannies. One person taught herself from a Ladybird book, and another learnt over the phone!

The one that made me laugh out loud was this… “My Grandpa taught me to knit, with his method that no child forgets! ”stab it, strangle it and pull its head off” not for the weak and feeble…” Thanks to Penelope Brown for that one, I shall use it myself!

I’m glad I made it a draw rather than saying it would be the best story which won because I wouldn’t have been able to decide. I allocated numbers to each entrant and use the online Random Number Generator which is a quick and fair way to select a winner (although it immediately makes me feel bad about everyone who didn’t win!)

Anyway, enough rambling on, the lucky winner is…number 16….Natalie, of Free Spirit Designs. Congratulations!

Now Natalie doesn’t actually knit yet, so I really hope this is the start of her knitting career. The Free Spirit Designs blog is here, and the Facebook Page is here so we’ll have to call in regularly to check up on Natalie’s progress!

(Don’t forget you can still buy the book at a special price, see the original post for details)

I will be back very soon with another fantastic and generous giveaway from the lovely chaps at MOO! I’m sure you need some business cards, postcards or similar…?

The Knitted Home – Book Review

Every now and then I am asked if I would like to review a book, and I have to restrain myself from biting off the offering arm in my delight at the chance to see a new crafty publication! This one, the Knitted Home by the talented Ruth Cross arrived to fit in very nicely with the subtle, monochromatic vibe I embraced to produce my needlefelted sheep. This book is a visual delight, and feels gorgeous too! (Am I the only person to love the feel of the thick matt finish which seems to be used more and more for books and magazines?)

Throw and Cushion from The Knitted Home - Ruth Cross

Although some of the projects in this book are quite challenging, there are excellent clear instructions at the back of the book so even a completed beginner could get to grips with some of the easier patterns. Ruth’s explanations of creating textures with stitches will soon inspire the adventurous, and for many of the projects the main requirement is the patience to see a big project through to the end.

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cable throw -The Knitted Home - Ruth Cross

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textured knitting panels - The ~Knitted Home - Ruth Cross

The project I’m looking forward to trying is this beautiful table mat. I love this crushed raspberry colour, but I’m also dying to see whether it will work in Planet Penny rainbow colours. It starts off with 24 stitches and ends with 360 stitches, so even that is a challenge in itself!

circular place mat - The Knitted Home - Ruth Cross

But there is also a neat little pattern for beginners which is also a great way to make use of experimental squares when you are getting to grips with stitches and patterns. Turning them into lavender bags means you don’t have to accumulate a big bag of knitted bits to stitch into a blanket, just two little squares and you have the makings of a little pretty to hang in the wardrobe or drawer handle.

Stripey Lavender Bags - The Knitted Home - Ruth Cross

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Stripey Lavender Bags close up - The Knitted Home - Ruth Cross

And now the even more exciting bit…would you like to win a copy? I have one right here, sitting on my desk and it could be yours!

All you have to do is to leave a comment on this post and tell me what or who got you started with knitting. If you haven’t started knitting yet, well you can tell me about that too! You can comment up until Saturday 28th April, then I will put all the names into a virtual hat (Random Number Generator actually, I’ve tried getting Higgins to do it and he either eats the slips of paper, or the hat!) and announce the lucky winner on Sunday 29th April.

And if you can’t wait, you can purchase a copy of The Knitted Home at the special price of £16.00 (RRP £20.00) details below.

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To order The Knitted Home (9781906417727) for £16.00 including p&p*, telephone 01903 828503 and quote offer code JS190. Or send a cheque made payable to: Littlehampton Book Services Mail Order Department, Littlehampton Book Services, PO Box 4264, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3TG. Please quote the offer code JS190 and include your name and address details. *UK ONLY – Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

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I’m linking up again with Handmade Harbour and Handmade Monday again this week and I’m looking forward to hearing your knitting stories. Also, I would like to thank everyone who left such encouraging comments about my sheep in the last post. I always read your comments although I’m afraid I don’t get time to answer as many as I would like and they are always much appreciated. Thanks so much.

I’ll be back soon to tell you about my next adventure. I’m off to London tomorrow to find out about a campaign just for bloggers. Intrigued? So am I, because that’s all I know about it for now. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet some of you there.

Back soon…

Feeling Blue…and Grey.

This is a post in two halves because I’ve had a few days where my usual Pollyanna disposition has been conspicuous by it’s absence. I’ve been in two minds too, as to whether to even write the post but in the end I felt that appearing relentlessly upbeat is probably a tad annoying and maybe letting on about the down times is a good thing (occasionally)

It’s not been helped by the weather. Not just the cold, but the unrelenting gloom. I don’t function well under sullen grey skies and feel like I’m carrying the weight of them around balanced on the top of my head. I know this means I’m feeling blue but I love blue, and grey, well not so much.

Add to this an M.E. flare up, my other half being in the middle of the North Sea and the boys heading off back home to the South Coast it’s been a bit grim round here, I’ve definitely been Mrs Grumpy.

But today there was sunshine.

The aches and pains have subsided a little so I could enjoy my walk with Higgins properly and I could almost see the flowers in the garden opening…

Apparently the Met Office consider March 1st as the first day of Spring, so the end is in sight. Lets hope it sweeps the grey away!

I celebrated the sunshine by announcing an upcoming Facebook Giveaway which will happen when I reach the 2000 ‘likes’ milestone so if you’d like the join in the link is here.

…and I also indulged in some silliness with a little sheep. I retired the sheep I’d had on my keyring for some years when I changed my car and swapped it for a crochet heart keyring, but despite looking a little battered and tired I couldn’t bear to part with her.

So after a quick wizz around in the washing machine she has now been spruced up and given another car based role. Together with her knitting she’s going back in the car to sit on the dashboard to bring a spot of Planet Penny colour to what is alas, a grey car!

Next step, a crochet cushion or two!

Back soon …x

Keeping Mobile!

If last week’s post was all about the Hearts and Flowers Mobile, this week has just been about keeping mobile, full stop! Last Monday morning I was proceeding blamelessly down the road in my little car, an old faithful which has been in the family for years, and an elderly man pulled out of a side road straight into me. He confessed that he just didn’t see me. Neither of us was hurt, just shaken, and I thought I had got off lightly with a damaged bumper. Alas, an inspection at the garage discovered that all sorts of things had happened under the bonnet (you can tell I’m not terribly sure what happens under the bonnet!) and my car was deemed beyond economical repair.

I’ve forgotten which insurance company used to trumpet that they don’t make a drama out of a crisis, but it certainly wasn’t ours! I won’t bore you with the tale of how many hoops they produced for us to leap through, even when it was established I was completely blameless. I’ll gloss over the gibbering frustration and cut to the happy ending which was that the lovely man in our local garage (we went to primary school together) produced an ideal replacement which ticks all the boxes, particularly of transporting my mum and her wheelchair. And in the nick of time as Tim has just headed off in his car which is about to spend a week in the car park at Luton Airport. (Not Tim you understand, just his car!) So I’m mobile again, and I’ve got a much better use for hoops than jumping through, as you will see…

We’re about to plunged back into Winter apparently. I saw a newspaper headline yesterday which screamed “48 HOURS OF SNOW HELL!!” some people can expect “UP TO 10CM!!!” That’s around 4 inches if you are reading this in the US, where by all accounts some of you are sitting under 4 FEET and more of the stuff. If you are, I’m thinking of you. I’m sure you are coping better than the UK where the default position seems to be of ‘making a drama out of a crisis’ again. SO embarrassing!

So that’s why I’m going back to earlier in the week when the sun shone and Higgins and I went out into the garden to spot signs of spring. The primroses are still looking good…

There was just the one violet…

…a solitary crocus..

..and of course, my favourite snowdrops…

I brought this piece of Spring indoors too…

A good use for a favourite cup which has been glued back together after an unfortunate incident with a tabby cat!

And those hoops we were jumping through ? Well, I’ve made another mobile, for the knitters this time. Remember the Christmas ornaments from Day Two of the Advent Calendar? I just loved the mini yarn balls and needles so much I wanted to use them again…

It would be perfect for hanging in a craft corner…

…and a great way of using yarn scraps. (It reminds me of the story of the old lady who had a box in her dresser labelled ‘Pieces of String To Short to be Useful’, I have bags of yarn like that!)

Tomorrow I am back to needlefelting, neglected for too long. I have a group of 14 ladies from or local W.I.S.E. group (Women In Search of Entertainment) I just hope I can entertain them with a needlefelting class…we are making hearts and I hope to have some pictures for my next post.

I’m linking up with Handmade Monday later today which you’ll find hosted by Wendy over on Handmade Harbour and…

I’ll be back soon, have a lovely week …x

Advent Calendar – Day Fourteen Christmas Jumper Day

For the Advent Calendar today I’m harking back to this post, because its Christmas Jumper Day today, in aid of Save the Children!

Debbie Bliss has designed these beautiful patterns for stunning Christmas Jumpers.

Both large and small!

But before you think I’ve completely lost it, I’m not suggesting you run up a Christmas Jumper for every family member before the Big Day (11 Sleeps! – Eeek!) but you have got time for the tiny ones. Remember these…?

They’re just perfect for your Christmas breakfast eggs, and if you anticipate being too full of chocolate coins and Brazil nuts by then, they make fabulous Christmas tree decorations…

And you can download the pattern here.

If you’re thinking, well I really don’t have time to start a knitting project just now, but would like a little jumper for your tree, how about one of these?

To raise funds for Save the Children these little Jumpers are available for auction, here..NOW!

Just leave a bid in the comments saying which Jumper you would like, and the highest bidder will receive it in time for Christmas (UK onlyI’m afraid) Once I’ve worked out who has the highest bid I will contact the winner to arrange payment via Paypal.

This is such a good cause, and it would be lovely to contribute to it so please, leave your bids. Bidding will close on Sunday at 4pm.

I look forward to hearing from you .,..

Bexhill, Hastings…and a little bit of knitting!

After last week’s London adventure you’d think I’d retire for a rest, but no… the very next day we were packing the car to set off to the South Coast for a couple of days in the Bexhill/Hastings area staying with elder son and family. It was an eventful start. While I was away Higgins had tried out his ‘Super-Dog’ impression, leaping off the arm of the chair shouting at a passing jogger and landing painfully hard on his little stumpy legs and pulling a muscle. This involved a trip to the vet before we set out, a rigorous examination to check nothing desperate had been done, and instructions to make sure Higgins took things easy, and No Running About…

What? We were on our way to stay with his favourite little boys, who live in a house with a garden full of squirrels….

After a long day driving, Friday is not a good day to travel, Higgins had had the equivalent of 24 hours bed rest and was even less likely to do what the doctor ordered when he arrived, but a lot of effort was put into nursing care…

We had a peaceful morning on Saturday, with a spot of craftiness…

and a trip to the park in the afternoon…

but the next day it was pouring…

Not a day for the beach for anyone.

We spent the morning with a little bit of knitting…

you just see how helpful Higgins was being!

In the afternoon however, we donned waterproofs and headed to Hastings…

I love the area around Rock a Nore in Hastings with it’s strange black fishing huts, and despite the rain found Claire Fletcher‘s great little studio opened for the afternoon full of beautiful bits and pieces, and one I had only that morning been reading about in a copy of Coast magazine…

When the big black doors in the photo are opened, you see this!

After a little wander around in the teeth of the wind and rain…

….we reached the Jerwood Gallery which I’ve wanted to visit since it opened.

It’s an amazing exhibition space, and although it is controversially built next to the fishing area of Hastings on The Stade , the sympathetic design means it sits comfortably alongside the black sheds. Inside, the large plain windows frame the surrounding views, making the town part of the exhibition…

I now wear the badge I bought in Claire’s Studio with pride!

And I did manage a little bit of creativity of my own…You don’t think I went away without my knitting did you? Unable to find the pattern I made my fingerless mitts from a couple of years ago (if you remember, Higgins ate them!) I devised a new pattern of my own. Very simple, (and I could knit in the car too, obviously not while driving!)

but with lots of scope for embellishment…

…and so good I made them twice!

I’ve written the pattern, and it’s available for free here, if you’d like to make some too.

So I’ll leave you for now with the link to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour, and I’ll be back soon…x