New Collection: As Autumn Falls

Autumn is my favourite season, and October one of my favourite months.  I adore the changing colour of the trees, the rapid change from peaceful green to burning reds, oranges & yellows.  As I've mentioned before, we chose our flat because of how close to the Kelvin & botanic garden it is, a lovely river which flows almost unnoticed in the west end of Glasgow through leafy green avenues, passing by a wonderful arboretum. 

I'm not sure if people really realise the arboretum is there, it's always lovely and quiet, even on the warmest of sunny days, tucked away across the road at the back of the botanic gardens.

It's from this changing of seasons, from the turning of the leaves and the crispy drop in temperature, that the Autumn collection is derived (here on rav). 

Front centre of "Baile" cardigan, as below

Comprised of a golden brown/orange cardigan - Baile, two gorgeous hats inspired by hay bales and golden twigs - Bulgurwheat & Slipthatch, and last but certainly not least, the Emmer shawl - a slightly more sombre pink/brown shawl, inspired by empty stalks and leafless branches. 

The entire collection is knitted in beautiful malabrigo yarns; a super soft merino for the shawl, superwash merino for cardigan (sensible), and silky soft merino/silk for the lighterweight hat with a single spun worsted beauty for the heavier weight hat.

Emmer- I wanted emmer to be loghtweight but warm, so used twisted stitches and occasional yarn overs to add detail to this delicate but robust shawl.  Using 150g of 4ply, it's just the right size for wrapping around your shoulder when those cold October winds begin to blow!

 

Baile - I wanted this cardigan to look complex whilst being very simple to knit, and think we've managed!  The front panels are a short repeat, easily knitted with only basic knowledge of ssk, k2tog and yo. 

Charts are written out as well, so if confused you can always use both!  

Slipthatch - this hat blocked beautifully.  The woven stitch creates a dense fabric in this worsted yarn - this hat is toasty!!  It's inspited by hay bales and thatched rooves and warm autumnal fun.

 

Bulgurwheat - after that toaster of a hat I needed something more delicate - how about one which reminds me of bare stems and golden stems of flowers long gone? 

 

On Ravelry the patterns are individually priced.  £9 for the 4-piece collection - I think ravelry adds tax to this depending on where you are! 

If there's enough interest, maybe we could run a wee knit-along in the Ravelry group? 

Which new item is your favourite??  What's your favourite time of year, and if it's Autumn, is it for different reasons to me?

DIY: Kitchener Stitch

Kitchener stitch is a method by which to join two live edges of your knitting.  It's particularly useful for top-down socks, because it doesn't leave a bothersome seam at your toes.  I also use it at shoulders, because this technique gives an almost invisible finish, making the shoulder look like one continuous piece of knitting.  It's not the strongest seam, but I've yet to have any issues with my shoulders unravelling...

To do this technique, you'll need to get set up with:
tapestry/yarn needle
two sets of live stitches on their respective needles, wrong sides facing, with needle points facing the same direction

The first few times you use kitchener stitch you might feel like the tension is completely off, or that it's incredibly uneven.  This will probably just improve with practice, but a good tip is to remember not to pull your stitches too tight - there's a great draw to do this, but don't give in!

Starting - for the first st on each side you want to do the following:

Hold your wrong sides together, with needle points facing the same direction.
1. pop tapestry needle through 1st stitch on closest needle, purlwise.  Pull needle and yarn though, but leave the stitch on the needle.
2. pop needle through first st on back needle, knitwise. Again, leave st on needle and pull yarn through.

 

Continuing - for the rest of the stitches until the ones on the end, you'll want to do this:

1. Needle into first st on front needle, knitwise.  Slip stitch off needle. 

2. Needle into next st on front needle, purlwise.  Don't slip stitch off needle.  Pull yarn through. 

3. Needle into first st on back needle, purlwise.  Slip st off needle.

4. Needle into next st on back needle, knitwise.  Don't slip stitch off needle. Pull yarn through.

Repeat until 1st remains on each needle.

As you knit, your work will start to look like this in the image below - with a little practice your seam should look like just another row of knitting.  Pause every so often to adjust tension in your stitches, you can always do them loose individually and tighten them at regular intervals by pulling on your working yarn as required.

You want to keep kitchener-ing until you have one st left on each needle.

For your final stitches, you want to do step 1, then step 3 above. 
Now you have all the joy of sewing in your ends left.



Hopefully this was helpful!
I have a new DK cardigan pattern coming out on 1st October which uses this technique - please let me know (owlprintpanda@gmail.com) if you'd like to test-knit!


What have you been knitting recently?  Any favourite seams?

New Pattern: Ardence

I'm writing to you from a picturesque little square on the island of Kos, 'wish you were here' and all the rest of it :)

Recently, this beautiful scarf materialised from some Malabrigo yarn, and it is time to share! 

You can find the pattern on Ravelry.  

Spinning Pre-Tour & Star Wars Marathon

Maybe it's because I figured out how to run my wheel without it squeaking quite so much; maybe it's because I've been getting excited about the Tour De Fleece, but there's been quite a lot of spinning going on!

Firstly though, after several recent conversations and a twitter encounter, Star Wars arrived in my flat.  Being reliably informed episodes 1-3 are not worth watching, I plan to start my marathon of knitting and sci-fi with Episode IV this evening!  It'll involve fizzy pink and some microwavey popcorn.  All good things.   I'll let you know how it turns out.  I'm scared I won't like the star wars.

It has already been quite a film filled day - Edge Of Tomorrow is currently in the cinema and it is gooooooood!!  Not usually a fan of the Cruise man, I was under duress by the boy, but it was definitely worth it.  Now, watching Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt on the Graham Norton show - it ties in so nicely, and they both seem lovely.




Pink alpaca, brown massam & white bamboo, from my epic carding session (and the subsequent spinning session).

BFL / silk from Hilltop Cloud

Merino from Malabrigo

I've no idea what I'll be making this lovely lot into, maybe they'll just be sitting in my smooshing stash for a while... 

Doomsday Knits & 'The Littlest Giant Geek'

AAaaaah t'is here.  What an awesome book.  Whilst waiting on it to arrive, I've been getting carried away again (much like arrow necklaces for arrow shawls sort of carried away), and playing Apocalypse themed games with popcorn and beer.  Mmm.   Largely due to this, and my excitement that we were about to watch a film involving humans living in space, my partner reminded me yesterday that I was 'the littlest giant geek'.  I shall wear that badge with pride.

This week I've to compile a mini-CV and fill out the online portfolio required to apply for the second year post of my job - it's a little scary!  There are at the same time too many and not enough choices.  What do I want to do??  I have no idea.  Maybe I should just close my eyes and throw little sticky balls at the list.  There are two of the jobs I really would like, but then there's the perpetual dilemma of 'getting your hopes up'.

That all sounds a little pessimistic really doesn't it!  Of course I'll apply for the ones I'd love.  I'll just give it a little while before I grow attached.  Distract myself with knitting, and books which combine post apocalyptic earth geekery with the best hobby ever* (*in my humble opinion).

In case you'd like to join me in the land of tiny giant geeks, the book is 'Doomsday Knits: Projects for the Apocalypse and After', and can be found here on Ravelry.

The yarn?  What is the yarn, you ask? Is some Yummy Malabrigo.  Is squishy.  I squish it.