Can life be like knitting?

Life's irritation number 16
Don't you just hate change?

Sometimes it takes more than a bit of Knit Lotion to sooth life's irritations, nothing less than a full course of anti-histamine can get rid of that awful itch!

You have to admire knitting designers, they spend ages thinking up an idea for a pattern, selecting the best yarn and stitches to make the item look just the way they imagine it, writing the pattern, getting other knitters to test it, making amendments and finally publishing it. Occasionally, us knitters come along and, thinking that we know better, decide that we want to knit this carefully designed pattern but don't want to use that yarn or maybe even that stitch pattern so start changing things!

Sometimes it works out but other times these changes can have disastrous effects.

There are so many elements that have to work together to produce that perfect item that if we change one it can throw all the others out.

By changing the type of yarn, the experience of wearing the item can go from something which is soft and feels like heaven against the skin to something rough and scratchy. Different types of fibre have different properties which will effect the drape, elasticity, handle and something called loft which is the amount of air in the yarn making some yarns light to wear and others heavy.

Some fibres are strong, others break easily, some take dye more readily than others producing vibrant colours, some possess an elegant sheen while others are dull. Certain yarns wash well while others felt at the merest glimpse of water, some are so soft they shed fluff as you knit, others can feel like knitting with barbed wire.

By changing the ply of the yarn, the size can change from a perfect fit to something which is either far too small or much too large.

And if you change the yarn you will nearly always need to change the needle size and if you don't get that right the resulting knitted fabric could be very loose and holey or really tight and stiff.

Surprisingly, even the needle material can effect the gauge or tension, wooden, metal, plastic and, the new kid on the block, Carbon Fibre can all result in up to a 2 inch different in width and length on an average garment.

Then there is the stitch pattern! 20 rows of garter stitch will not measure the same as 20 rows of stocking stitch, moss stitch will produce a firmer fabric, lace patterns a looser one and goodness only knows what happens if you use brioche stitch.

It takes a lot of time and energy to make changes successfully. Sometimes we knitters are just not prepared to put in all that work so the project doesn't even get on the needles let alone off them.

But if we really must change something there is no option but to swatch, swatch and swatch some more (a thing that is greatly disliked by many knitters). Even then there is no guarantee that it will come out right. Sometimes it might look like the tension is okay and you might even start to knit only to find when you are half way up the back or even finished that it doesn't fit or look or feel quite right and then there is nothing else to do but rip it out and start again on a different project.

So yes, sometimes life is like knitting!

And what's on my needles right now?

Having not blogged for over a year, a lot of things have gone on to my needles and some of them have come off. According to my Ravelry project page I have started 13 items since March last year but I know I haven't finished them all. 

Here is a recent finished item which I love.  

The pattern is Dufton by the lovely Victoria Magnus at Eden Cottage Yarns and it is knitted in one skein of her Whitfell Chunky in the beautiful Damson colourway which is actually a deeper shade in real life than the photo suggests. I made it slightly longer than the pattern by adding an additional repeat as I wanted it to cover my ears. I also added a little knotted i-cord pigs tail to the top as I didn't want a pompom.

I bought the yarn on a visit to Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft, a fascinating little museum founded in 1985 in the historic village of Ditchling on the South Downs which provides an insight into the work of the varied artists and craft workers who set up a community in the area in 1921, including some familiar names. There is still time to see the exhibition celebrating the centenary of the publication of A Book of Vegetable Dyes by Ethel Mairet which closes on 16 April. 

I know that I haven't been a regular blogger over the last two years but I am planning to address that in the coming months now that I am no longer working full time. I have some interesting knitting projects that I want to tell you about so please do keep following me.

Bye for now! 

Never judge a book by its cover!

Life's irritation number 15

Don't you just hate it when they change a book's cover (or even the title) so you don't know whether you have read it!

I know, I know, I have been away for a long time, over a year but my day job has succeeded in getting in the way of almost everything but particularly blogging. I have started any number of posts during that time but completed none. You however, dear reader, have continued to visit,so much so that there have now been over five thousand page visits in total! All I can say is Wow. So I am dusting off one I prepared earlier, finishing it and I will really try to be more regular with my posts from now on.

Lots of knitting blogs have regular book reviews, mostly instructional or pattern books but I have to admit that I am a sucker for a knitting novel. Knitting novel, I hear you say, you mean there is such a thing as a knitting novel?  Well, yes actually there are a number and I have read quite a few of them.

There is the lovely Blossom Street series written by the prolific Debbie Macomber. Set in Seattle, these ten books (so far) tell the story of Lydia, who after surviving two bouts of cancer opens a yarn shop and teaches knitting to local women, of mixed ages and from different backgrounds, who have trials, troubles and successes of their own. Drawn to knitting for various reasons they form lasting friendships and their lives are followed to varying degrees though subsequent books. It is probably a good idea to read them in order as Lydia and her family appear in them all but as each book introduces new characters they can also be read as stand alone books. These are my go to books when I want something light to read and it always feels like catching up with old friends!

Another favourite series of books set in a small seaside town in the UK are Gil McNeil's three books about Jo who, after the death of her husband moves from London to take over her Gran's wool shop. We first meet her in Diva's Don't Knit. Unfortunately this is the book that's title was changed when it was published in the USA where it was called The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. This addition came out in 2009 and should have only been available in that part of the world but with the ease of internet book stores it upset many fans who ordered it thinking it was an addition to  this much loved series, I, myself, got caught but passed it on as a gift to a friend. Jo and her children's adventures can be followed in Needles and Pearls and Knit One Pearl One.

Meanwhile in the US, another single mother is running a yarn store in Kate Jacobs series starting with The Friday Night Knitting Club and followed with Knit Two and Knit the Season.

Although I have not read them myself, there are loads of knitting novels that will appeal to those who like murder mysteries; eight in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series by Anne Canadeo, eleven Seaside Knitters Mystery books by Sally Goldernbaum and thirteen in A Knitting Mystery series by Maggie Sefton, set in various American states, knitting women solve local murders.

I understand that there are also books featuring magic and knitting but other personal favourites of my own are Knitting by Anne Bartlett and The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood.

If you have read any of this genre and want to share you favourites post a comment and let me know.

And what's on my needles right now?

I have actually managed to do some knitting over the last year, I would have gone mad if I hadn't been able to do that! 

I'm a bit of a starter but not very good at finishing so something I need to concentrate on during the rest of the year is working on my many UFO's (unfinished objects for those not in the know). I did manage a hat for a Christmas present but forgot to take a photo of it.

I am just casting off a Shedeer shawl for my mother in Debbie Bliss Rialto DK having shown her the balls of wool in a bag at Christmas she is hoping it will be finished by Mothering Sunday.


Because it is so big it is no longer portable and as I have to have knitting to take out and about with me I have started my Linus on the line Kit by Midwinter Yarns in the colour ways that I selected at Gwlana last October (remind me to tell you about it some time).


So bye for now and I'll try not to leave it so long before the next time!

KAL - Knitting as a team sport.

Life's irritation number 14

Don't you just hate it when you arrive late at the party?

According to my Mother, I'm always late but she, like other elderly people, has all day to get ready for her chosen outing, over estimates how long it takes to get anywhere and I have noticed has developed an inability to tell the correct time. If she is to be believed her clock only shows whole hours and half past and always rounds up!

So I was a bit late joining in the communal knitting activity that is the knit a long but now I have I'm in there with the rest of them!.

Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch holds regular KALs and I was almost tempted to join in the Pick a Boo summer 2013 one. I found a pattern and some yarn but I just couldn't get going with it so I gave up.

It wasn't until a couple of friends, Kathleen from Knit Like You Mean It and Catherine from Chopkinsknits announced that they were having a KAL for the Right-as-Rainbow baby cardigan August 2013 that I thought about joining in. I didn't really jump at the chance as I didn't have a baby to knit for and the rules were that at least one of the yarns used must be Spud and Chloe Sweater but then they announced there were to be prizes!

As you can see the cardigan uses small amount of a number of colours and the Spud and Chloe worsted weight yarn comes in 100 gm skeins so I bought one skein of the main colour from Mrs Moon, a local yarn store and managed to find an alternative discontinued yarn with a similar wool and cotton mix.

I was up against it time wise so I decided to knit the smallest size and as there was to be a special prize for creative input I did something a bit different with the use of colour at the bottom.

 I used the same colour combination on the sleeves and edge as I did on the yoke! I really enjoyed this project and my eye for colour was rewarded by the designer of the pattern, Stephanie Lotven who's role it was to choose the winner.


Fuelled by this success I joined the Spring 2014 KAL with Crafts from the Cwtch which was for the lovely Miss Winkle pattern with it's interesting looped edging. It is a long thin triangle shape with one long straight side, the loopy slopped side and a short straight cast off.

 I love this Deep Sea colour of BFL sock yarn from Beth at what was Luscious Little Somethings.

A few months ago I bought a pattern and some old style Milburn 4 ply from Eden Cottage Yarns. The old style yarn was being replaced by a slightly different spin of the same combination of wool and silk blend. The pattern was the Quadratic shawl, another garter stitch shawl with a slightly different construction and the addition of coloured strips based on mathematical principles.

Any knitter can imagine my pleasure when I looked at the Eden Cottage Ravelry Group to find that there was a planned Quadratic KAL starting at the beginning of December and finishing on 11th January. It was a no brainer I was in and as I was off on the Yarn in the City Road Trip to Bath Market on the last Saturday in November, I wound my yarn and cast on in the coach (other KAL member had been unable to resist starting before the beginning of December as well!).

I decided to make a small modification to the original pattern as I wanted to use more of the lovely mustard and grey colours that were the contrast to the damson of the body. So I got out my calculator and did some sums to work out the ratios between the number of rows between the coloured strips and the garter stitch rows. I then used these ratios to work our a mini Quadratic at the top end of the shawl reversing the colours.

And here is a photo of my finished Quadratic which I wore out shopping in Kingston yesterday and nearly lost when it slipped off my shoulders in John Lewis!

And what's on my needles right now?

Well to be honest - nothing! After the frantic knitting of 8 (yes 8) Aran cotton flannels for my family at Christmas, a chunky infinity shawl to my own pattern as a present for a friend and finishing the Quadratic, I haven't had time to cast on anything else although my virtual knitting bag (where I keep all the projects I an thinking about) is full to overflowing.

But then I saw this posted by BBC Radio 4 calling for the knitters of the World to unite. Now I wonder if my idea will work, I need to get my skates on as the deadline is 22nd January.

Life is a drama!

Life's irritations number 13

Don't you just hate it when someone changes the rules half way through!

A couple of weeks ago the drama group to which I belonged in my teens, Youth Action Theatre were told by the local council that the scheme that allowed them to use a local schools premises for rehearsals at no cost to them was being discontinued next year. They had no real idea of the financial value of this scheme because the money passed directly from the council to the school so it was a bit of a surprise to learn that it amounted to about £10,000 a year.

The Crucible 1972

Right from the start in 1970 when the group was founded by Eric Yardley the ethos was that membership should be open to all between the ages of 16 and 25 years without cost. There weren't so many groups around then and although there seem to be an influx of 'theatre schools' these days fees are costly at an age when young people are striving for independence, starting work or incurring student loans in order to continue their studies.

The only income the group have is from the sale of tickets which are mostly sold to other young people. Although they produce about four show a year, after production costs, profits are small and certainly wouldn't cover hiring rehearsal space at market value for all the hours required.

A request went out from the management committee to members and supporters for testimonials and this is what I wrote. You can also see it here on the website.

'On Monday 6^th September 1971 at the age of 17 I stood in the playground of the old Collis School alongside other similar teenagers, male and female, one or two I know but most I didn't. I can’t say I was shy and lacking in confidence but many of the others were, coming from various schools in the area, we were a motley bunch. Over the coming weeks we got to know and trust each other, learned discipline, commitment and teamwork, grew in confidence, explored possibilities, solved problems and under the direction of a very special man produced a play which was not written down by anyone but sprang from the group. This could have been a risky course of action but no ideas were ridiculed, each was tried and the best included in the pubic performance which resulted less than four months later. New members joined and the group expanded, no one was turned away, the only requirement was an interest in theatre.

Although I had taken part in a couple of plays in school and my local community, even attended courses to put on shows, this was different. The mix of young people came from diverse backgrounds, some attending private schools and others going to the local secondary, the fact that there was no charge removed any barriers to joining. The shared interest and working together on the next project made everyone equal, each had his or her part to play and that wasn’t necessarily on stage, each role was as important as the next. No one was belittled or bullied, our differences were respected and friendships were made for life.

What did it do for me? As well as life long friends, I worked on six plays, it gave me (and others) the skill and confidence to study dance and drama at college, allowed me to share the things I learnt with other young children, equipped me with strategies that I use in my working life, instilled in me a love of the performing arts that I still have today and gave me a purpose at an age when many of my contemporaries were sitting on street corners complaining that there was nothing to do.

And 43 years later, YAT is still doing all these things for 16 to 25 year olds who are not so different today. Hundreds of young people (including two generations of the same families) have experienced the joy of YAT during that time, some have gone on to pursue professional careers in the theatre, TV and films but they have all taken part in over 150 plays or shows in a variety of theatre genre, performing to audiences all over the world.'

How do you put a price on a formative life experience, not just for me but for so many others as well? Young people are so often given a bad reputation as disinterested, lacking in motivation or drinking to excess but these young people have a passion for theatre which they share and want to continue sharing, surely that should be encouraged! 

Rumour has it that YAT is like the Hotel California 'you can check out......... but you can never leave'!

And what's on my needles right now?

I have been busy since my last post (all right I know it has been a while) but things seem to be a bit repetitious. I am now on my third, yes third Barbs Koigu Ruffle by Churchmouse yarns. It is a quick knit and a simple pattern, the only down side is the number of stitches that need to be cast on before you can get started as it is knitted sideways.

This is the first one, a gift for a friend who I spent an enjoyable weekend with. It is knitted in an older colour-way of  The Natural Dye Studio Dazzle 100% Blue Faced Leicester wool sock yarn, not being sure of her favourite colours I chose this blue green mix.

I knitted the second one for myself and had to cast on even more stitches as I wanted it a little longer. I used a single skein of  Lleyn wool and mohair, beautifully hand painted by JillyBean Yarns in a colour-way called 'Whacky Sky'. This British yarn is sourced from small flocks of rare breads and Jill can often even name the animal who produced the wool. 

Having seem this second one my Mum said that she would like one as well,so still on my needles is number three. I took her a number of skeins of yarn in different colours from which to choose and she plumped for the autumn colours of  Natural Dye Studio Dazzle in Puzzle Combe. I'm two thirds through and should be finished in a day or so. 

What will I knit next? I need to find something as I am going on Yarn in the City's Road Trip to Bath Christmas Market next weekend and there will be plenty of knitting time on the bus!

Great London Yarn Crawl

Life's irritations number 12

Don't you just hate it when you plan a journey and there are engineering works!

There are engineering works on my local train line each weekend during September, I need to travel this weekend and next Saturday is the 2nd Great London Yarn Crawl!

Last year two friends Rachel of Porpoise Knits and Allison of Champagne and Qiviut had a great idea. Both knitters, as newbies from across the pond a couple of years ago, the pair enjoyed exploring the many yarn and fabric stores there are in this large city of London to which they have both moved.

Yarn Crawls have taken place in some US and Canadian cities for a few years so why not in our very own capital and these two set out to make it happen. After months of planning over 70 knitters spent a day travelling in 5 colourful groups under the direction of volunteers around London each visiting 4 different yarn or fabric stores. Rachel and Allison had thought that most participants would live in London but they were wrong with an equal number travelling into the city from all over the South of England and possibly further.

Purple Route preparing to enhance their stashes!

Meeting in a local coffee shop, each crawler received a goody bag and, after a little refreshment and a chance to freshen up following their initial journeys, the members of Purple Route started with  Loop in Islington, possibly the holy grail of yarn stores to knitters in the know.

Moving on by bus to The Handweavers Studio and Gallery in Finsbury Park, where the spinners amongst the group were in seventh heaven cooing over spinning wheels and fleece. Then tube and bus to West Hampstead and  after a stop for lunch to The Village Haberdashery who stock a lovely range of fabric as well as yarn.

And here are Purple Route standing outside.

And our last store was Sharp Works in Herne Hill, which provided a small bank of cinema seats in the shop to rest the weary legs of  the by now tired crawlers.

Heavy with their day's purchases the crawlers took their final train and tube to the after party in a pub near Waterloo, where all the 5 routes met together to show off the day's haul, have a drink and cross their fingers that they might win one of the many lovely door prizes that were up for grabs. I with my usual luck in raffles and tombola's won nothing!

No time was wasted!

There was, of course, plenty of time for knitting on the day and needles came out whenever the chance arose.

Although this was all great fun and an opportunity to spend money, there was also a more serious note to the day. The profit raised from the event was donated to Refuge, a charity who help women and children in situations of domestic violence.

This year's crawl takes place on Saturday 20th September and there will be even more crawlers on the 9 sheep named routes so an much bigger venue for the after party has been sort at Kings Cross. Most of the routes are sold out but if you hurry you could just get one of the 2 remaining tickets here.

And what's on my needles right now?

I've knitted a couple of things since my last blog. 

I have finished Blackcurrant Swirl from August Lets Knit issue 82 in The Natural Dye Studio Dazzle HT sock yarn in a blue green yellow colour way called Weir Waters Wood but still have to block it.


Also the Sweetheart Shawlette from September issue 102 of Knit Now magazine. It is knit in Juno Fibre Arts Mytle yarn which is a mix of  50% Merino and 50% Tencel in an unusual colour called Undercover.The yarn was great to knit with and the pattern was a very quick knit, I finished it in 10 days which surprised me as I only knit at lunch time, in the evening or at weekends. Unfortunately Juno Fibre Arts are giving up dying yarns and their Etsy shop will shut at the end of October.

Both these shawls form part of the study of shawl anatomy which I am undertaking to understand the construction of the various styles which I hope might help me to start designing. You will have to watch this space on that one!

Remembering.

Life's irritation number 11

Don't you just hate it when you forget small things?

I've had a lot on my mind lately and I know I shouldn't complain as we are having a good summer for once, but hot weather does seem to suck the concentration out of my brain. I have been very distracted in the last few weeks and haven't even kept up with reading the other blogs that I follow.

My day job has been occupying my thoughts a lot over the last few months and that doesn't look as if it will be any different in the coming months either.

I have also been involved in a couple of things which will be covered in future blog posts when I can get my head in gear to write them. I already have a number of drafts started and I really will try to post more regularly in the future!

Here in the UK, we are collectively remembering, during this year and particularly this week, the start of the First World War. The Great War, the war to end all war as H G Wells put it, started 100 years ago and events of commemoration are happening across the country. Friends are remembering and sharing family memories in person and on social media.

This week has been more poignant for me personally as a dear friend who has, with great courage and very little complaining, been bravely fighting the battle with cancer for the last seven years finally lost the war. So you see, I have been doing some remembering of my own.

And what's on my needles right now?

Well, there have been a number of things on my needles since my last blog post (it has been that long!). 

• I have knitted 58 days of my Knit a Year, which is 16% of my whole year.
• I have turned 5 heels! (More about that in my next post)
• I have knitted a birthday present for a friend.
• I have knitted Blackcurrant Swirl from Lets Knit August Magazine, which I still need to block and will post a photo in a later blog.

With all this activity it is easy to think that I have no UFO's (unfinished objects) but that would be wrong I have UFO's that are now vintage! I also haven't finished my experiment, my Waterlily has no yoke and my upside down Riverside sock has lain untouched for weeks.

So the photo is of the Lacy Linen Snood  that I knitted for my friend's birthday, it is in her favourite colour and was very well received. Knitting it proved to be a great antidote to the drab colour I had been knitting for weeks before I started it but more about that in the next post! 

Knit my Year

Life's irritation number 10

Don't you just hate it when the years fly by (and your mother tells everyone how old you are!)

I have been very remiss, I haven't posted a blog for a month and you, lovely readers, have kept visiting so now my view total is up to 1200 which is amazing! I have done what I promised myself I wouldn't do when I decided to write a blog and that is be inconsistent, I promise to try harder in the future. I have a number of unfinished posts, include a half rewritten one which previously disappeared into cyberspace, but I just haven't been able to get down to posting any of them and my only excuse is that it is my birthday on Monday. You all know the sort, one with a zero at the end and I am being dragged kicking and screaming towards it.

In the past I haven't worried about saying my age but this is the birthday I am not admitting to. Others have often been surprised when I've told them how old I am, most people say I seem much younger. Having a child in my late 30's probably helped, mixing with other mums who were younger it is easy to be thought to be the same age as everyone else. Keeping up with a toddler, coping with the school run while working and going through the teenage years also keeps one young. I am also lucky to have inherited good female genes from my mother (who is now 88) and my grandmother.

I have never managed to do things at an 'age appropriate' time, I had my tonsils out in my late 20's and a few years ago I had grommets fitted and booked cataract surgery in the same week, too old for one and too young for the other.

1967 Guide Camp

At 13 I was a skinny tomboy, much later to 'mature' than the rest of my class mates and even when I did get my first bra there really wasn't much to put in it. Even in my 20's, when larger busted friends complained of laying on their back and it flopped into their armpit, mine only went concave!

This late start to womanhood also meant being late crossing the finishing line. That was another thing my mother went round tell people and my GP claimed that I was the oldest patient he had ever seen whose hormones were still moaning!

So you see, my body (and my mind) are not in agreement with my mother or my birth certificate who are insisting that I was born sometime in the 1950's.

The Government no longer think that this particular birthday is 'special' as they have taken away most of the presents they used to give women at that age and will not give them back until they have worked another 5 or 6 years, which is the average time people stay in a job so could be a whole new career if employers were open to taking on workers who are over 50. They do still give free prescriptions but that could be a cunning plot to keep you well so that you can carry on going to work and, along with your birthday cards, the NHS will send a little screening kit!

Am I odd in my reaction to my birthday? Have others felt the same way or have you all welcomed and embraced this formerly 'special' age? Is it just a sign of changing times? Please leave a comment to let me know if I am totally out on a limb on this one.

Courtesy of Jean Paul Gaultier

So you see, in this centenary of Dylan Thomas birth, I will not 'go gentle into that good night' I will 'rage against the dying of the light' and when I feel old and need to use a shopper to carry my weekly shop home it will be one like this!

And I will probably wear purple!

And what's on my needles right now?

Or rather what will be on my needles in the coming months.

I saw something somewhere about this very interesting project Knit a Year and I thought what better time to do this than at the start of a new decade.

I have kept diaries on and off during years of my life and it is interesting to look back and see what I was doing and thinking at the time.

So every day for the next year I will knit a few rows in what ever colour, yarn or pattern that I fancy that day, I will also keep a brief log with a sample of the yarn and any pattern notes. I will also let you see how I'm getting on.

But I won't start it until Monday! 

I'm not a Granny yet!

Life's irritation number 6 -

Don't you just hate it when the world sees you as a stereotype!

Yes I knit but I'm not a Granny, nor do I knit because the Duchess of Cambridge knits, in fact I have been knitting since before she was born!

The knitting community has been twittering away this week about an article on the Guardian website entitled Knitting and Needlework: relaxing hobbies or seditious activities? You would think knitting was a peaceful hobby but people with very sharp sticks should not be upset. Here are a couple of responses from fellow bloggers Louise at Knit British and Kate at Woolwinding.

The first mistake the paper made was to use a photo of elderly women knitters gossipping over a garden fence as all of us in the knitting community know that knitters come in all shapes and sizes. I first knitted as a Brownie way back in the early 60's and have knitted in every decade since. I am far from in my dotage but when acting as a guide for the Great London Yarn Crawl last September I was the oldest. There are 4 million users worldwide of Ravelry the social network for knitters, spinners and weavers and if their 'avatars' are to be believed 12,000 of them are cats! And a fair few of them are MEN.

The next mistake was to say  that knitting is 'the relic of women's servitude'. I am not sure that women have ever been forced to knit, some like the Shetland Knitters have done so to support their family but in the 19th Century when early knitting books, like those available on line from the University of Southampton, were first published many women took up needlecraft in the same way as they learnt the piano to fill the hours until they married. Later during the war years women knitted to send some little piece of home to their men at the Front and with clothes rationing, one way to get a new outfit was to make it yourself. My Mother used to knit all my cardigans when I was a child but as manufactured knitwear became cheaper hand knitting was no longer a necessity, it has now become an active chose. 

To say that it 'is not relevant to the reality of modern women's lives' is an assumption which is not justified, with so many modern women taking up knitting as a means of self expression, for relaxation, to make garments that are unique or for any other of the many reasons knitters knit who can possible say that it is not relevant. And to think knitting is 'for women who have just too much time on their hands' could not be further from the truth. It is for women who have too little time on their hands, women who work, are mothers, have homes but who make time to do something that they really enjoy using yarn that they fall in love with!

And the writer should never have used the term 'revival', I have seen so many revivals during my knitting life that if I were a cat I'd be half way though my nine lives! Knitting has never been dead so hasn't needed to be revived, it has always been there carried on by dedicated few. The thing that has changed over the last few years is that knitting has become more social. Once an activity that I did alone at home and hardly ever talked about has turned into a group activity with Knit and Natter Groups everywhere you look. It is knitting that has given me and many many others the opportunity to write this and all the other knitting blogs around. Knit a longs (KAL's) are fun ways to join a group of other knitters to follow a pattern but to put your own mark on it with your individual use of yarn and colour. The camaraderie that has developed in the knitting community is something that other hobbies have enjoyed for years so why shouldn't we knitters have it too. A common interest encourages us to learn new techniques, stretch ourselves, write and publish our own patterns, move our craft onto another level.

I'm a Knitter and I'm proud.

And what's on my needles right now?

Well talking about KAL's, I'm knitting Miss Winkle by Martina Behm as part of Crafts From The Cwtch Spring KAL. The yarn is called Sea Deep and is hand dyed by Beth Sutherland of Luscious Creations. This is an enjoyable to knit narrow shawl/scarf with an unusual looped edge which I may have overlooked it it wasn't for this KAL.

Workshops aren't really work!

Life's irritation number 5 -

Don't you just hate it when people don't seem to be on your wavelength!

But don't you just love it when they are!

In everyday life we all spend time with others who are not interested in the things we are and sometimes they have an interest in something that bores us rigid, it would be a very strange life if everyone was the same. We do all, however, feel an infinity with those who share a common passion so it is extra special when we can spend time with like minded people and I have been luck enough to have a few of these special occasions lately

Instead of the usual Saturday morning at work I got to spend a whole day with knitting friends a few weeks ago and it also provided an opportunity to bring together friends from different parts of my life. A group I had first met through a knitting retreat had arranged a workshop at Proteus Creation Space in Basingstoke and accompanying me were two friends from my regular monthly knitting group.  There was plenty of time for knitting, chatting and catching up as well as a bit of learning something new.

Rachel of Porpoise Knits shared her knowledge of cast ons and cast off's (or bind off's as she calls them - forgive her, she is American).

Most of us are guilty of using only one or two methods of casting on, usually the one we were first taught; I know I am and I have been using the thumb method for as long as I can remember. Sometimes the one we choose is not the best tool for the job and I have fallen in love with Judy's Magic Cast On which I learnt as part of a toe up sock knitting workshop. It truly is magic, producing a fabric that is knitted from each side which has no lumpy seams so is perfect for sock toes. We also learned a tubular cast on and it's companion cast off, as well as an i-cord cast on which works perfectly for top down hats.

The venue was just right for the size of the group and we had home-made soup for lunch, plus a selection of home baked goods. Everyone seemed to have fun, even some newbies who were getting to grips with knitting. And it was great meeting up with new people and old friends.

The next Saturday I learnt how to make lined curtains thanks to Sue of Sweet Seams who provides sewing lessons in my community centre. Our very small group discussed all the things you need to think about even before you look at fabric when it comes to making curtains. Then once we had practised a mitred corner and herringbone stitch, we each made a small sample curtain.

That tiny grey patterned one is mine, it is lined and has weighted corners and I am extremely satisfied with a day well spent.

I have also attended a couple of craft sessions that are being run by Nicole of Think Make Do at The Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames. They have both been on very different types of fabric printing, this weeks was block printing and the first one was heat transfer.

They are both techniques that were new to me and ones I wouldn't have attempted at home particularly the heat transfer due to the specialist equipment needed.

Although the workshop is only 2 hours there is a chance to try the technique out on a number of samples and also to print a final useful item to take home.

These workshops take place on the first Tuesday of each month and I am already interested in the Japanese Shibori style heat setting which is being offered in May!

PS: My knitting group ladies have made it into the local paper. 

And what's on my needles right now?

Well, what's not on my needles! I still have my sock, have started the heel but not done very much knitting on it as I haven't taken it out anywhere with me. 

And the Waterlily is ready to divide for the lace yoke but I am not sure if it is too big and I need to decide whether to frog (that means undo for the non knitters who may be reading) it and start over on a smaller size. While I am considering my options I have started something else but I don't want to tell you about that now as I want to talk about it next week.

A fair bit of sweat and maybe a few tears!

Life's irritation number 4 - 

Don't you just hate it when you find you have agreed to something but you don't actually know what is involved!

The trouble with me is I'm a problem solver and an ideas person so no sooner has someone said 'Do you think it would be possible to .............' than my mind is in over-drive and I'm going through the various stages or potential problems that might be encounter, but instead of keeping those thoughts in my head I find that I am saying them out loud!

The challenge I unveiled last week started with an email to my knitting group. The group does get emails from time to time requesting them to knit things for charity, last year we knitted little swimmer for the annual dinner of the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation so there was nothing strange in that. This request was to knit blood drops for the blood donation service but it didn't say what they were going to be used for. I responded, was sent the patterns designed by Granny Willis, found some red yarn and asked the rest of the group to start knitting. Nothing strange in that either as I have often made suggestions as to what to knit over the years.

The email said that the finished items should have labels sewn on them and I needed to let them know how many we had knitted and they would send the right number. The group has been running for about three and a half years and is not very large, about seven regulars although it has grown a bit in the last few months. I describe us as being of mixed ages and abilities as we range from one member in her 50's who designs and makes tiny toys to my 88 year old Mum who will knit whatever she is told to as long as it's not too complicated.

As our meeting is monthly the completed blood drops were delivered to me by each knitter so when I finally counted them up there were over thirty, not bad for a small group. I emailed back with the number and the reply said the labels were in the post but to expect a phone call.

Well, I got the phone call and the million dollar question.

'Do you think it might be possible to knit a really really large blood drop?'

'Exactly how large?'

'We have something that is the right shape that we thought could make the inside but it needs to be covered in knitting so that it looks like the smaller ones.'

I heard myself saying 'most things are possible but I need to see the thing to be covered, if it is really big we will also need to be supplied with yarn to make it, so maybe one of the major yarn manufacturers might be interested in donating it, I'll email the names of possible suppliers.'

Our finished blood drops were collected and the large item brought for me to look at but had to be taken back straight away so it was out with the tape measure and loads of measurements noted down. It was far too big, at 160 cms tall with a girth of 230 cms, for one person to knit fairly quickly so it would need to be knitted in panels and a number of members press-ganged into doing the knitting, but first they would need a pattern. The giant blood drop shape was constructed in four panels so the knitting would consist of eight panels but how much yarn it would take was anyone's guess.

The initial approach to King Cole Yarns by NHS Blood and Transplant led to a call by me to discuss how many balls we required and after crunching numbers from the measurements compared to the number of balls it takes to make a baby blanket we finally came up with a number that should make the finished item and was acceptable for them to donate. The final say would be obtained from the MD on Friday and yes, the yarn could be dispatched straight to me. By the Monday, our monthly knitting group meeting, the yarn had arrived!

Thank you King Cole Yarns.

Now at this point I still didn't know what the blood drops were going to be used for or where they were going to be put. The campaign still hadn't actually been launched and the date that the giant drop had to be finished by was less than a month away. I suggested that it might be easier to get all my knitters on board if I had a bit more of an idea as to what was going on.

Although I have adapted patterns before I had never actually written one and this one needed to read like a proper pattern as the other knitters had to follow it! I started with swatching (absolutely critical) so that I could work out the tension, then I made a paper pattern based on the measurements which had been taken at 10 cm intervals. This allowed me to calculate the number of stitches wide at each 10 cm, by knowing how many stitches needed to be decreased and how many rows there were between I could work out the rows for the decreases. Once the pattern was written I had to knit a sample to make sure it was right but time was running out and the other knitters need to get started. So after a weekend of knitting in every available moment I still hadn't quite finished but gave out the patterns and yarn anyway. 5 other knitter started but it meant that two knitter had to knit two panels each to get them all done.

I was then let into the secret! There was still some time before the campaign launch but I was told the small drops would appear on trees and this large one would have pride of place in Kings Cross Station. It was then that it hit me! This had the potential of being BIG so messing up was not an option. What else was I going to need to make it all come together? A very long zip and a label to match the ones on the other blood drops. Luckily after a fair bit of searching I found some zip by the metre and the label was easy, red felt letters attached with Bondaweb to white fabric.

I was still keeping the secret location to myself when the Blood doesn't grow on tree campaign was announced on 21st February and even then all I would tell my knitters was that it was a central London location!

The finished knitted panels started to arrive but looked more like a pile of spaghetti.

 They did look a bit better after they had been ironed, then I could see just how long they were! I still hadn't got them all but couldn't wait so started to sew them together.

Sewing up is the one thing that knitters hate the most and I'm no different which is why I have a few UFO's in my collection which still need sewing up and finishing after I don't know how many years.

I spent a weekend sewing, still didn't have the final panels and couldn't try it on the model as although it was on loan it was so large it was in the corner of the office at work. So on Monday it had the first fitting and I was relieved to find that although it wasn't complete it appeared that it would fit.

The remaining panels arrived and as anyone facing a deadline knows the finishing off takes much longer than you imagine. I still had a zip to put in and a number of panels to sew together and hardly any time to do it so after a couple of hours at work I came home and buckled down to the task.

Something else I had decided to do was to sign it in some way as it had crossed my mind that if someone found it languishing in a cupboard in five years time no one would know what it was all about so inside sewn in beside the zip is a label.

Once it was all sewn together I had to fit it and that was a task in itself as even with the zip it was so much fatter than it was tall and it wouldn't fit through the gap. After undoing the seam above the zip I finally managed to get the cover on but needed to sew the seam up again. Once it was on, the undone seam re-sewn and the zip flap caught down to stop it gaping there was only the label to attach. After pondering how it could be hung up (that was being left to others) and being unsure of which side would end up as the front, I opted to pin the label on rather than sew.

Six weeks after that infamous phone call it was finally finished and ready for collection!

PS: I discovered that Suzy Lishman Vice-President of Royal College of Pathologists tweeted a photo of the blood drop at Kings Cross Station last week!

PPS: Sorry that this week's post is so long but it was a mammoth task!

And what's on my needles right now?

It occurred to me that I could offer the Giant Blood Drop Pattern as a give-away but then I can't think of anyone who would want it.

So instead here is the latest thing I have started knitting - Waterlily by Meghan Fernandes from the latest pompom quarterly Issue 8. The yarn is Triskelion Taliesin 4-Ply in a colour called The Moody Grape and I am using an Addi Lace circular needle which I haven't used before and am very impressed with the fine tips.

The Secret is out.

Life's irritation number 3 -

Don't you just hate it when you have a secret that you want to tell everyone but you can't!

After four weeks of pattern writing, knitting and sewing the giant blood drop is finally in place hanging from the 'tree' inside Kings Cross Station. Forming a focal point for today's recruitment stall it will remain there watching over the station's users for one week. This unusual sight attracted a fair bit of attention while I was there this morning resulting in over 100 registrations by lunch time and hopefully even more by 7 pm tonight when the bright red gazebo was packed away.

It was joined by many of the other 400 or so blood drops knitted by individuals and groups from this region which had been hung from the real trees in front of Kings Cross and those too were a source of interest to the many commuters and passers by who stopped to look at them.

Hanging high up there it is difficult to gauge the actual size of that giant so here is another photo of the finished object with a chair to provide scale. Seeing it in place made all the hard work worth while for such a good cause that effects almost everyone at some time in their life.

We are so lucky in this country when being admitted to hospital needing blood but if it wasn't for those who donate freely that vital resource would not be available.

I gave blood a few times back in the late 1980's after my father needed to receive blood but for various reasons I had to stop and didn't think to start again. My 88 year old mother, in the summer of 2012 was so anaemic that she needed 2 units of blood before she could undergo surgery to remove a tumour in her colon, now fully recovered she knitted a quarter of the giant blood drop. So today I registered to give blood again and I know that it is not possible for everyone to but if you can I would urge you to consider doing so.

I will give you an insight into the making of the giant blood drop in next week's blog.

And what's on my needles right now?

Well not actually on my needles but recently off is this version of the Cadence Shawlette by Emily Straw (it is actually double size) knitted in Valkyrie Aran by The Natural Dye Studio. I love this colour which is called Kings Hedge and reminds me of Rainbow Chard.

Life’s irritation number 1 –

Don’t you just hate it when you have a really good idea only to find someone else has had the same thought before you!

In my job I have written a series of articles for inclusion in a local free twice yearly publication and while writing the most recent one I realised that it was the tenth piece I had written! So after five years of writing for work I decided it was the right time for me to write for pleasure, I enjoy writing and have loads of off the wall thoughts so why not share them with others. I'm not sure if there actually are many others who are interested in hearing those thoughts but I'm posting them here and only time will tell if anyone reads them.

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a while now and have had plenty of ideas for titles but when I have researched them each and every one has already been used by others. But now, though a chance comment passed by a friend, I think I have come up with something that is original.

It had to be something to do with knitting because that is what I do in my spare time, that is what keeps me sane after the frustrations of a 9 to 5 job and that is what I would rather be doing all day and every day. Unfortunately I am yet to find anyone who is willing to pay me a living wage to do just that so the 9 to 5 job (including all the extra days and hours I work) it has to be for the moment and knitting is relegated to my spare time and that it just one of life’s little irritations that knitting soothes.

It is possible that I am irritated by life slightly more than others are or maybe I just notice things that others don't and that is why they are not irritated by them. Hopefully you will find the things that irritate me also irritate you or at the least find my view of them slightly amusing, I don't intend this to be one long moan!

So Dear Reader this is my first blog, I am learning as I go along and my photos may not be very good but please be kind to me, you may not agree with everything I write or share my sometimes unusual view of life but I only hope that you will want to come back and read my future posts.

And what’s on my needles right now?

Well, it’s red, a strange shape and a bit of a secret but I will tell you more about it later!