Just Call Me Ruby: February 2011

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Paris in Springtime!

Admittedly a little bit of artistic licence with regards to Springtime but I'm happy to pretend it is, as tomorrow afternoon I set off for a few days in Paris. This makes me happier than I can possibly describe, especially as it is three days of haberdasheries, yarn stores, button shops, fabric emporiums, flea markets a little sightseeing, drinking hot chocolate with friends and l'aguille en fete, the major needlecraft event in the french calendar.

I've been invited over to visit the event, and have also been commissioned by The Knitter to write up a little piece about it too. I will also get the chance to spend some time with my lovely friend Helene Magnusson, otherwise known as the Icelandic Knitter, who is exhibiting at the show and also a former Paris resident.

One of the major reasons for going to Paris though is buttons. I haven't had a big button shop for some time and I have used up a lot of my collection recently. So the hunt is on. I'm looking forward to sharing the results of my foraging when I return.

I won't be able to tweet or reply to emails while I'm away as I'm turning off the roaming etc on my phone so if your blog comments don't show up for a couple of days please don't worry. They will as soon as I get back.

for now, au revoir
Ruby xx

Friday, February 04, 2011

Buttons and Bows

To celebrate the weekend I thought I would reveal another of my favourite patterns from A Stitch in Time 2.

This adorable sweater was originally published by Golden Eagle knitting wools in the 1940s, and was knitted in 3 ply 'Polynit'. You can see that the pattern is in quite a state of disrepair, which has helped me make decisions quite a few times when picking the patterns to be included in Volume Two. If a pattern or magazine is 'on its last legs' I feel its important to try and pass on its legacy before anything too terminal happens to it. The pattern states that the colours used should be deep blue, hyacinth, silver grey and cerise. I haven't managed to get exactly those colours but I think we've got quite close with a similar colour scheme of teal, fuschia, silver grey and pink.

I have used Biggan Design 4 ply which has got a terrific range of colours available making a garment of this type possible. Its 100% merino and all produced and spun in Australia. The company is based in Brisbane but I believe they are on high ground, are all ok and managing to do business! The main colour needs about 5 x 50gm balls depending on size chosen with just one ball of each of the three complementary colours. The little bows are knitted seperately and sewn into place, so the sweater could be made if preferred, without the bows and even in one colour. I love it just as it is though! The pretty gathered sleeve heads are accentuated with neat little knitted sleeve pads which give the sleeves that bit of oomph. The slightly squared off neckline is very flattering and quite unusual for the period. Finally, its all finished off with a cute little back neck opening with four dainty buttons sewn on.

We decided on a bit of an Andrew Sisters vibe for these photos- doesn't Theo look fabulous? Don't forget you can pre-order your copy of A Stitch in Time Volume 2 here.

Have a lovely weekend
for now
Ruby xxx

All images courtesy Arbour House Publishing 2010
Colour photography Susan Crawford

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

More exciting new things!

Over the last few months I've been working on a new range of kits to complement the books and individual patterns. As always, I'm a little bit late launching them! I had hoped they would be online for christmas but ...

However I have finally got the website edited to include a page all about the kits here and I am in the process of adding all the products to the knitonthenet shop so that customers can actually purchase them. Some are completely new designs and some have been been available as patterns previously.

Each kit comes in a lovely little eco-friendly jute bag, perfect for carrying your knitting around with you, any needles required (tied with some specially designed Susan Crawford ribbon), the required yarn in a choice of colours, pattern booklet and any notions required, such as buttons, ribbon or elastic.

Greta Turban Kit

There are currently 10 kits in the range with more to come. I've been getting lots of requests for the kits from yarn and vintage shops too so hopefully these little red knitting bags should be popping up at a LYS sometime soon.

The first kit which is also a new design, or should I say an enhancement of an old design, is the Greta Turban.

I brought out a similar pattern to this in the very early days of knitonthenet but always felt it needed improving. The stitch used has stayed the same and the basic principle of a shaped strip being knitted then tied with a knot also remains. The design has moved on though as the turban now has a crown, elastic attached at the back to hold it in place and a secured front knot, so much more a hat than a scarf. Perfect for those bad hair days or when you're in a Land Girl frame of mind!

The kit includes 2 balls of Baby Rooster yarn, knitting needles, elastic, the pattern booklet and project bag for £25.00

You can purchase the kit via the knitonthenet shop or see some more information at the susancrawford website. The pattern will also be available as a PDF download very shortly.

I've a heck of a lot of things to show over the next few weeks so I'm going to try and increase the number of blog posts but if I don't get there as quickly as promised please bear with me!

for now
Ruby xx

All Images Copyright Arbour House Publishing

Photographs by Susan Crawford