Ravelry Round-up - Nine fab jewellery patterns.

One of the best things about starting a new blog has been planning lots of lovely features to include. The first of these is a regular Ravelry Round-up where, once a month, I share with you my picks from Ravelry.

This month, being the hater of waste that I am, I have mostly been looking at things to do with left-over yarn. You know, those little bits, 5 or 10g of a skein left when your project is done. Not enough to make anything substantial but too much to throw away. Now I know there are plenty of 'scrap blanket' designs out there - indeed one of my favourite long term projects, The Beekeepers Quilt, is perfect for using up the bits left over from sock knitting - but sometimes we want something we can knit up and use/wear/gift right now! And what better way of using up those luxury silk blends than in knitted and crochet jewellery?

Here is a selection of lovely designs from my Jewellery Favourites Ravelry bundle. I hope you like them! (You can see the rest here)

 1. Tassel Necklace by Ambah O'Brien 2. Seven Sisters Necklace by Brenda Burrell 3. Easy Knitted Bangle by Ambah O'Brien

I-cords make great jewellery - knit for as long as you want/until you run out of yarn, add a button and a loop and - ta-dah!a trendy wrap around bracelet. A perfect way to show case left over hand-dyed variegated yarns. Stack them, layer them or, in the case of Ambah O'Brien's fab necklace add a neon tassel and wear them around your neck! I adore Ambah's Easy Knitted Bangles too - just a few rows of stocking stitch knit in the round and allowed to roll over. I can see a whole stack of these on my arm very soon!

4. Knitted Knit Bracelet by Isobel Morainn  5. Blommer Bracelet by Helda Panagary 6. Autumn Leaf Earrings by Amy Yarbrough

 Oh I do love bracelets. The Celtic Knot inspired Knitted Knot Bracelet is all about those i-cords again. Helda Panagary's Blommer Bracelet is such a colourful treat for your arm and for those of you who make beaded jewellery as well (or like me, have dabbled and still have loads of kit) those delicate autumn leaf earrings are just adorable - be warned though this one requires teeny tiny crochet hooks but would be fabulous made in silky embroidery threads or fine silk lace weight yarn.

7. The White Flower Necklace by CreativeYarn  8. The Daisy Chain Kit by Frankie Brown  9. Tiny Rosettes by Melanie Larson

Finally something a little more delicate. Three sweet crochet patterns for summer days. I am totally in love with that Daisy Chain Kit - each daisy is individually worked with a little split in each stalk for threading them together, just like the real thing! And those tiny rose bud earrings are just perfect for those who like their jewellery on the more subtle side.

I hope you have enjoyed my first Ravelry Round-up. Have I tempted you by any of these patterns?

If you have never considered yarny jewellery do give it a go - it's the perfect way to use up those oddments and you still get to wear a little woolly wonderfulness even on the warmest of summer days!

Designs and Prototypes and Shawls, Oh My!

Well I had hoped to write a few more witty and informative blog posts this week but I have been so busy with actual knitting the writing about knitting thing has had to go on the back burner.
Priorities y'know.

First, and most excitingly, I got my very first pattern commission from a magazine! A month or so back I got in touch with the editor of Knit Now magazine asking about their design submission process.  She sent me a link to sign up to their designers email list and a couple of weeks ago I received the first 'call to action' - a design challenge using just one skein of yarn (from a selection) to be submitted in three days. I spent a quite enjoyable Sunday playing with stitch patterns, sketching my idea and creating a design submission which I duly emailed before the deadline. I may have whooped a little when I got an email back to say that they wanted to commission my design for the December issue!! So now I am furiously knitting up my design and wading through the magazine style sheet to write my pattern in the correct manner for the magazine. It's all a bit exciting. And scary. What if I get it wrong? What if the design just doesn't work with the yarn? What if I just don't like the finished object? What if no-one else likes the finished object? Stepping into the unknown is always a little stressful for me but I keep reminding myself that they must have liked my idea enough to take a chance on me.
Obviously I can't reveal any more right now but I will be shouting from the rooftops when the pattern finally goes into print!

Then a few days later I received another knitting job - this time from designer Erika Knight whom I knit design samples for. A bag of super chunky wool and a prototype pattern to knit up asap for a photo shoot for new product range for John Lewis. How exciting is that? Again I can't share much just yet but it's a great project and I look forward to seeing the results!

Thank goodness for knitting, tea and chocolate digestives.

And if that was not enough knitting to be getting on with the first pattern in The Shawl Society was also released and after a month or so of anticipation (I blogged about it here) of course I just HAD to get that started too! I probably shouldn't have, what with deadlines and all that, but I just couldn't wait to start knitting up that gorgeous Wool Kitchen yarn!

The Talisman Shawl is a simple stocking stitch crescent shawl with cute, yet subtle rows of star stitches and lace border. As always Helen's pattern is beautifully written with percentage system she uses being so useful in ensuring you have enough yarn AND so encouraging - just want to keep knitting to the next 5% mark! It's a simple enough knit to work whilst watching TV so whilst my days have been filled with work knitting, my evenings have been all about Talisman. As I type I am at about 75% so it won't be long before I get to the lace border and that picot bind off but they may have to wait due to aforementioned deadlines!!




And so, although it's the weekend, I shall mostly be working - albeit in my pj's, on the sofa, watching movies with my boy...  #lovemyjob

Contour Shawl by The Crochet Project

Last week I shared with you my love of knitting shawls. Turns out I like to crochet shawls too!

Now I know what I SHOULD have been doing whilst waiting (im)patiently for the first of The Shawl Society pattern to be released (just one more sleep!!!). I should have been working on my pile of current WIPS. There's an almost done sock - it's the second one too! - in the pile, not to mention half a sweater for the 8yo, two blankets, one knit and one crochet squares*, a fingerless mitt (again, the second one) and a rag yarn pet bed for whichever cat deigns to use it. Not to mention the ongoing hexipuff mountain that is the Beekeepers Quilt...

I really should have got at least one of those off the needles.

But I didn't. Instead I started another new project. Another shawl. But this is crochet not knitting so it doesn't count. Right?

Let me just introduce you to The Crochet Project if you haven't come across this before. Founded by designers Kat Goldin and Joanne Scrace (aka Not So Granny), The Crochet Project's main aim is to create and promote beautiful, wearable designs and they have certainly achieved that, publishing four beautiful books so far. Contour Shawl is their latest pattern and was released into the wild just in time for the bank holiday weekend - I think I spotted it on Instagram and instantly fell in love! I knew that it would be the perfect project to tide me over (or the perfect avoidance tactic ref all the WIPS currently clamouring for my attention...)

I was very good - I had a good rummage through my stash BEFORE I purchased the pattern just to make sure I had something suitable in the right quantity as this shawl requires quite significant yardage and I wanted a project to start NOW not have to wait for more yarn to arrive. Luckily I had four balls of Drops Delight hidden away at the bottom of the box with the exact yardage requirements.


The pattern uses only 2 stitches with increases in the centre and at either end to create the interesting asymmetrical triangle - it's shaped like a giant tick! - and despite never having done either stitch before I was able to get into the swing of the pattern very quickly and had no need to constantly refer to the instructions after the first few rows. I do find crochet projects so much easier to pick up and put down when the mood/opportunity arises as the need to 'finish this row' is much less pressing - perfect for a busy bank holiday weekend with family - but I surprised myself with just how quickly the shawl grew! I even took it to the cinema (Angry Birds no less. Ah the joy of half term movies...) and managed to hook a couple of rows. In the dark. Without making ANY mistakes!

Crochet, coffee, cat. What Sundays were made for!

Anyhow, my Contour Shawl was finished over the half term week and has served it's purpose of satisfying my need to start a new project and keeping my hands occupied before the Shawl Society kicks off. It's been blocked to within an inch of it's life and is looking beautiful. Unfortunately it's just too darn hot to wear it right now so I will have to make do with showing it off here until the Great British Summer does it's usual thing of sodding off just as we are getting into it!

The Knitty-Gritty
I hooked up my Contour Shawl using 4 x 50g skeins of Drops Delight in Autumn Forest colourway using a 4mm hook. I managed to get an extra row on my shawl than the pattern states and pretty much used up all the yarn. The pattern is available through Ravelry and costs £3.00




*actually when I look through my Ravelry projects I see there is a third blanket stashed away that has been ignored for far too long as well. Oops.

Garn Studio needs your help!

just a small selection of my Drops collection...

I am big fan of the Drops range of yarns by Norwegian company Garn Studio. They have an extensive range of gorgeous high quality yarns at prices to suit the most budget conscious crafters and are easily available via mail order (I purchase most of mine from the wonderful Wool Warehouse).

They also have a very impressive catalogue of patterns available to support their yarns. Pattern books are published several times a year and, for those of you who don't like having pattern books cluttering up your shelf, the entire back catalogue of individual patterns (nearly 92,000 of them!) is available to download from their website for free!

Garn Studio have just announced the shortlist of patterns for their Autumn/Winter 2016 collection and they want us - the people who buy and create with their yarns - to chose our favourites for publication later this year. There is an amazing array of patterns to choose from, from sweaters and jackets to ponchos, shawls and bags along with socks, slippers, hats and gloves. There are even some skirts and dresses and a selection of home accessories too! And these are not just for knitters - there are lots of crochet patterns as well.


If you fancy having a say in their Autumn Winter Collection why not nip over and check out the list here. Garn Studio are asking you to chose your 10 favourite designs (only 10! It's not easy...) with the most popular designs being included in the season pattern booklets.

I have cast my vote and already have my eye on a beautiful alpaca shawl (pattern z-752) and a loose flowing sleeveless jacket in alpaca boucle (pattern ab-068) so perfect for layering, so I really hope those two make the final selection!

What will you choose? I would love to hear your thoughts on this collection!