A Perfect Christmas with the Andrews Sisters

The single most exciting thing for me this week was the release of The Perfect Christmas Jumper from Vintage Christmas Knits as a downloadable PDF. You can also use the link in the right hand column of the blog to download the pattern on ravelry. It can now be bought individually for £3.00 but it also means all the lovely readers who have pre-ordered Vintage Christmas and start knitting their christmas jumpers (if they want to of course!) I have just heard today of the first casting on which is really, really exciting. I can't wait to see photos of finished winter woollies. Some of the pages of the PDF and the book have been such fun to put together and I think, look just right for the period and the books they are emulating. I can't wait to show you the rest of the patterns I've been working on!



I have also been 'attending' one of Stefanie Japel's online classes. In actual fact, the class I have been doing online, is 'How to teach an online class'. I am hoping that in 2010 I will be able to offer vintage inspired online knitting (and hopefully dressmaking) classes. As a teacher I'm finding the potential behind this really exciting - being able to make contact with people all over the world who otherwise you might never get the chance to connect with. So over the christmas period I will be thinking of a selection of online classes to make available. Is there anything in particular you would like to learn? I've got lots of ideas of my own but would be really interested to know what appeals to you. It would be a great help to know I'm heading in the right direction.

There are a lot of plans beginning to come together for 2010 which will involve, naturally, a heck of a lot of work. On that front I now have a wonderful freelance, part time, long way away assistant, who I already couldn't do without. This is Ingrid, and you can read her own craft adventures on her blog, IngridNation. She is also now writing, very regularly, on the knitonthenet blog and dealing with a lot of queries that come through by email and also on ravelry groups. She is brilliant. On this point of too much to do, I am looking for knitters, preferably in the North West of England (so I can meet up with you in person) for sample knitting for all types of projects. I need experienced knitters who can understand a pattern and who can identify when something isn't working. If you are interested please contact me at ruby[at]dentrassis(dot)com. I probably won't sort anything out until the new year but it would be good to know if there's anyone out there who would like to get involved.

And finally, with 12 days to go until christmas what better way to start counting down than with the wonderful Andrew Sisters with their rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas with that old crooner, Bing Crosby. Enjoy!



for now,
Ruby xxx