July Competition

I know I say this practically every post, but where does the time go? A week has passed yet again since I blogged. I never intend for it to be a week. However this time I feel I can pass the blame onto someone else. It's this man's fault -



I'm sorry, gratuitous I know, but Rafa Nadal has forcibly stopped me from moving away from my TV set, playing the most stunning tennis I've ever seen. I always love Wimbledon, but this year was a particularly wonderful year. I did get plenty of knitting done though, and even more sewing up, lots and lots of sewing up and finishing. I know this isn't many knitters favourite way of spending time, but I really enjoy it. Its probably the dress maker in me, but I love turning unfinished knitted shapes into complete garments. Most of what I've been doing is for knitonthenet which should hopefully be 'live' at the end of the weekend.

This month's giveaway isn't quite as up to the minute as the last but it is a lovely book nonetheless. Its Loop D Loop Crochet by Teva Durham.



I bought two of these, one for me and one for a friend and she had already bought herself it! And of course, I forgot to send it back and is now waiting for a good home. It hasn't even been looked through as I use my other copy so is definately as good as new. Even if you're not a crocheter I think its an inspiring book. This is one of my favourites.



All you need to do is leave a comment on the blog before next Tuesday night and I will pick the winner at random.

Finally, my copy of Vogue arrived in the post this week, and there is a gorgeous photoshoot of Agnes Deynes as a 'northern lass' showing some scrummy knitwear for the autumn. This one's my favourite, probably because of the pig, but I've been told that even if I make the cardigan I won't get the pig!



Love the Desperately Seeking Susan styling as well. Reminds me of my youth!! I never managed the eyebrows though.



for now
Ruby xx

Sideways KAL

The Woolly Wormhead Sideways knitalong on Ravelry is due to start to today. I have signed up as we are knitting Ziggy from knitonthenet



I just adore this hat as does my daughter, so we'll be fighting over this one. This is the first sideways Wormhead hat I have tried and I'm really keen to do so. I'm going to have to wait a good week before I start however, as I'm still (as always) in a state of emergency trying to get everything ready for the next issue of knitonthenet.

For Ziggy, I have 3 edible skeins of worsted handspun from lazykate called Beatrice.



I have 7gms less than a skein of Lorna's Laces shepherd worsted which the original is done in so I'm going to do the smaller size and just hope that I have enough. I'm pretty sure I'll be ok but you can never be sure!

I went to Woolfest on Saturday and came away with some fabulous goodies which I haven't yet photographed. However, two of the things I got where these two books:

The first is this Ondori knitting pattern book called Aran Knit.



I got it from The Knitting and Crochet Guild bookstall. Their stall always has books you just don't seem to be able to get anywhere else. I have tried to follow one or two japanese patterns before - there are no written instructions to speak of -



however these cable ones are particularly complicated so it might be more of an inspiration book rather than a pattern book!



However, to help me on the way, I got this aswell -



Its simply called Knitting Languages by a lady called Margaret Heathman. It is fantastic. I've wanted it for ages. It includes french/english, japanese/english norwegian/english and seven others, including danish/english, which means I can start translating this book which you may remember I bought some time ago.



There are a number of patterns in this book that I would love to do, but I'll probably pick a simple one to start and work my way up!

All this talk of books reminds that is is now July. If you pop back later in the week I will have the July giveaway ready for you - same simple rules as last time.

for now

Ruby xxx

49 (and a half) skirts and a load of fish

On Sunday I went to the Liverpool Design Show, which is a great new event similar in emphasis to the design shows in London. It was at a great new venue called the Contemporary and Urban Centre, which is an old warehouse built in the 17th century and originally used for receiving and selling fish from the trawlers coming in from Greenland - the building is actually on Greenland Street.



It has been empty - in fact, derilict for eight years and a truely beautiful renovation has taken place, completely sympathetic to the original building whilst making it a contemporary, useable space.



At the show I had the opportunity to meet and have a lovely chat with one of my favourite textile artists, Alison Willoughby. I first saw her work about three years ago at an exhibition at my local art gallery. Alison produces fabulous circular skirts constructed in the most amazing ways. These are a couple of them





They are just fantastic.

What was really great was that I had just bought both myself and Charlie, a copy of her book 49 and a half skirts - this cover is of the US edition printed by Interweave which is just called 49 skirts, but other than the cover the two books are identical.



It has inspired us both, and Charlie had already started planning her first Willoughby skirt. Its a great book with guidance on many of the techniques Alison uses to achieve the effects that she does. There is also a circular skirt pattern at the back of the book to help you get started.

It was lovely to meet Alison, she was extremely friendly and happy to talk to all her fans - even those of us who got giddy with excitement!

On the knitting front, I have nothing I can reveal right at this moment, I have just sent off a project that is being included in a book! And other than that am working away on designs for knitonthenet which are due to be photographed very soon. I'm using silks, cottons and hemp yarns this time. I will hopefully have a couple of little sneak previews shortly.

for now
Ruby xx

at the very bottom of a dark, dark trunk...

there was ... a bag, and in the bag was, this



a crochet project I had forgotten all about, using Jaeger alpaca 4 ply, long since discontinued yet gorgeous, gorgeous stuff, and which had been and gone by the time our love affair with alpaca really kicked in. In the bag was the pattern, which is from RYC book 4 and is called holiday



Its a very simple crochet pattern.



You join each motif to the next to make strips then you join the strips together.



Its really effective and very, very pretty. And the yarn just turns it into something so sensuous. I think this will be a good project to take on holiday at the end of July. It will be very hot so little crochet squares could be just the thing.

I had been reading about Rowan's 30th anniversary recently, and finding this hidden pattern made me think about the earliest Rowan patterns I have knitted.

This is my earliest project that is still in existence



Its from Rowan number nine, it took me four years to make and I hated it from the moment it was finished. Mainly because of the shape, the armholes were at my elbows!
It now languishes in a bag in the attic, never to be thrown away because it took so long to make but never to be worn again!

A slightly earlier project that unfortunately is with us no more is this beauty from Rowan book seven



I wore and wore this little top to the extent that it eventually fell apart. From when I first saw this image in the pattern book, I believed when I wore a Rowan garment I would magically turn into this vision of perfection. I didn't of course, and I never even got the basket!

My very earliest project of all is from Rowan book four and it is in this photo of the perfect Rowan family



Can you guess which garment it would be?

That's right. The one the old bloke with the beard is wearing! The pattern came in two sizes, enormous and so big you could fit 6 people in it (it was a unisex pattern) and was a long, slow knit. I loved it, but rarely wore it as it was so big, heavy and hot. In the end an ex boyfriend benefited from it, and I regret it now - I wouldn't like to wear it, but I would love to still have it - however, I certainly won't be knitting it again, I must have had a lot more time on my hands in those days.

for now
Ruby xx

Its my birthday and I'll sew if I want to....

Sorry for the gratuitous misquoting of song lyrics but as it is my birthday I am going to take a bit of time out to sew. I have a number of knitting projects on the go, and they are all 'getting there' but I just thought an hour or two today cutting out the pattern and making fit adjustments wouldn't be the end of the world (Listen to that guilt!). So I found a different pattern in my stash to use with the barefoot roses fabric and it is this New Look pattern (no 6587)



I am going to do version C without the ribbon trims at the bottom. The cap sleeves and collar will be in the contrast pink spotted material. If I have enough of the spotted fabric I may try to make a length to insert in the skirt near to the bottom but I don't really know if I have enough. I will cut the sleeves and collar first to see. Here's the two fabrics together again.



I'm going to have to adjust the waist length as waists are always in the wrong position on me so I'll take some photos as I do it to share later.

I got a lovely bouquet of flowers off my beloved which show our chosen kitchen colours really well.



This is the purple by itself, which will be the colour of the doors.



and here it is with green as a supporting colour. The shade of green isn't right but it does illustrate really well how they will work together. This is the tile that I'm hoping to use.



Its from Fired Earth from their French Glaze range called Haute Provence. This is green 152 and there's also green 21 which is very similar, so I've sent for a sample of each to see which is the right one. They're not cheap and I'm adding birthday money to my kitchen fund to get enough together for them. Saying that we're only using them in moderation and at the same time they are so important to the finished look of the kitchen that it will be worth it.

I'm off to tea at my parent's tonight, mum is making us a roast dinner with lots of roast potatoes and I hope (if you're reading this mum) an enormous pile of carrot and turnip.

In the meantime, I'm off to try and find our stepladder so I can search my buttons for the right ones to go with my dress.

Have a lovely day

for now
Ruby xxx
P.s. edited FOUR times for spelling mistakes. Disgraceful.

And the winner is.......

I went for the old fashioned approach as I don't have a random number generator and wrote everyone's names on a piece of paper, folded them up, put them in a bowl and then got a third party to draw out the name. (I found it really exciting!)

And the lucky name pulled out is .... Stephanie N.

Congratulations, Stephanie. Its a lovely book, I hope you enjoy it. I'll email you shortly to get your postal address. And commiserations to everyone else and don't forget to try again next month. I haven't managed to reply to everyone over the weekend but I will do so during the week.

for now
Ruby xx

Barefoot Roses

Despite not getting any sewing done recently I couldn't resist buying these fabrics a few days ago when I went to a very exciting but hush hush meeting. The floral cotton is called Barefoot Roses which is such a beautiful name. I bought a smaller piece of the spotted fabric to put with the floral as a trim.



I just love the colours.

I also bought this Amy Butler pattern which I'm considering using with these fabrics



Its a very different shape for me and although I really like it I don't really think the tunic shape is right for my shape. I think its going to be tight over the hips so I might incorporate the top section which I love into a different skirt shape. I'm going to start with a toile of the existing pattern though and see what I think. I'm probably going to have to move the waist position and make the skirt shorter.

I've been thrilled at the number of comments I've received this week, Its great to 'meet' some of you for the first time. I will try and reply to everyone over the weekend. Don't forget there's still time to post before the end of the competition on Saturday morning for your chance to win Knit so Fine. There's even a Knit So Fine Kal and blog now here

for now
Ruby xx

June Competition

(I know its the last day of May, but if I don't blog now I won't tomorrow!)

I'm going to have a monthly competition for a little while to 'deal' with some things that I have that I don't need to have. Everyone who leaves a comment over the next week will go in a draw to win a copy of 'Knit So Fine' Designs with skinny yarns, just released by Interweave Press.



Its a lovely book but somehow I've ended up with two copies.

Its going to be a big knitting and sewing up weekend, some of which I won't be able to show, but hopefully some which I will. My big excitement today though is going to the kitchen showroom to see the designs for our new kitchen. I am thinking of PURPLE doors, which sounds madness when I say it but in the showroom and in the brochure it looks fantastic. Its aubergine really and will be able to have eau de nil or duck egg blue tiles with it. My favourite colour combination. I will hopefully have some photos later to add to the post.

A couple of weeks ago Gudrun asked me to complete this meme that everyone's been doing, and I've finally done mine:

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I had just finished a college course and I was a struggling designer working for myself.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Go and view the designs for my new kitchen.
meet with the plasterer and try not to faint when he gives us his price - dito for the kitchen!
Work on two commissioned designs for a book.
Move mountains of yarn from one room to another so that we can actually sit down.
Help Charlie revise for her science GCSE.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
All crisps but particularly Thai Sweet Chilli, cashew nuts, cheese, fruit, yoghurt.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I've never had money so I must admit its very hard to imagine, but I would like to think what I would stop doing is, worry. Then I would buy some land preferably with a wood and water and have a small holding. I am the first generation of my family not to have had pigs and I would like either Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, chickens, ducks, some Highland Cattle and of course sheep. Look after family and friends and knit, paint and write more.

5) Places I have lived:
I haven't lived in many different towns or countries but with my ex husband moved 14 times in 13 years. I have now stayed put for three years and its lovely.

Don't forget to leave a comment this week for your chance to win 'Knit So Fine' and have a lovely weekend.

for now
Ruby xx

Some signs of progress

There is a lot of frantic knitting going on behind the scenes, but so much of it I am unable to share, which is so frustrating but them's the rules.

However, I finally managed to take some photos of a couple of WIP's which have been hanging around for a while but are slowly but surely progressing.

Here's Miss Scarlett No. 2 - for me. This is to fit 40 inch chest - Dita is about 32-34 so it looks rather large on her, but its looking nice and the RYC Cashsoft DK is a joy to knit with. I have a family function to go to next weekend but I don't think it will be ready for then I'm afraid.



And here is my Teva Durham sweater. I thought this would be a quick knit but to be honest its not at all.



I'm really enjoying knitting it (despite the 'squeeky' yarn) but every row is different and you really can't get into any sort of rhythm. I found it easier not to use a cable needle and hold the stitches on my finger instead which has speeded the process up quite a lot.



and the cables are really beautiful, like a landscape in blue.



The back is already done and I've started the raglan shaping on the front. The two sleeves are different to each other aswell so that's going to take time, but I do think it will be worth it.

I'm also working on a 'top secret' project which has to be ready in the next week or two, and I'm using Rowan Fine Milk Cotton, which is a cotton and milk protein mix. I've no idea how they use milk protein in a fibre. All I can see in my head are the huge vats that milk is put into when first being turned into cheese and it gets stirred with a big paddle. I can imagine the cotton being put into the vat with the milk and then being mixed together.!



Looks quite ordinary on the swatch , but has a beautiful handle. It actually feels 'creamy' if that makes any sense, and the drape is far superior to a pure cotton.Its a gorgeous yarn. Not particularly cheap but really really nice if making someone a baby gift and you need to avoid wool but want something softer than pure cotton. I'm definately going to use it again.

I spent all of yesterday knitting and I couldn't believe my luck with films on the TV one after the other,

garment back to Roman Holiday - the serene Audrey Hepburn and the dashing Gregory Peck.

garment front to The Prince and the Showgirl - a rather bizarre Laurence Olivier and a breathtakingly beautiful Marilyn Monroe, who had the tighest, sexiest dress on throughout the film and made me proud to have a large bottom!

Sleeve one and half of sleeve two - The Da Vinci code - too much set in the dark for knitting to really, but ok for stocking stitch work, and you know the story so you can sort of cope when you miss bits.

Sleeve two now finished and on to yoke (?) and then sewing up.

Oh, one last bit of very good news. Earlier this week my dad got the all clear from the cancer specialist and he now doesn't have to go back for twelve months. Big sigh of relief.

for now
Ruby xxx

Rosebud

I wrote on Valentine's Day about receiving a very special book as a present - The Lady's Knitting Book. From it I devised my version of the Tippet.



(See link to free pattern on sidebar)

When you go through the book something very unusual for a knitting book strikes you - there are no images. There are descriptions and stitch instructions to follow but no diagrams at all.

So I thought I would dip in, pick an instruction and see what it looked like as it knitted up. It is a thoroughly lovely way of knitting. The finished stitch pattern is a complete surprise.

This pattern is called Rosebud Pattern Border, which forms 'a handsome border for antimacassars or baby's berceaunette covers'?



As you look at this first photo you start knitting at the left hand end by casting on 21sts.



You can get a better idea of the rosebud pattern in these two photos



I really like the way its come out. I'm adapting the border on the left hand side as you look at the photo below to repeat on the right side of the panel and for the pattern to begin on a different row so you don't get the 'lumpy' bit at the beginning and then hopefully use it either in a sock or scarf pattern.



I knitted this sample using an oddment of pure cashmere from Filatura Di Crosa on 5mm needles. I wanted to see if lace pattern would show up on the chocolatey brown fabric and in a natural light it did so very well.

I shall try and keep dipping into the book and sharing what I find. I'm very scared of using it too much though as it is so very old. You can't even open it up properly and trying to knit whilst holding the book in one hand isn't the easiest of knitting methods!

for now
Ruby xx

My baby all grown up

On Thursday my daughter went to her 'high school prom' before officially leaving school on Friday. She still has to attend school for revision and exams but to all intents and purposes she is no longer a school girl. Come September she will be at college. I look at her and I am so proud and so grateful.

Her birthday is on the 4th August but she shouldn't have been born until mid October. I developed pre-eclampsia (toximia) in my 28th week and an emergency caesarian had to be performed for there to be any hope of either of us surviving. My kidneys had failed and I was in a dangerous state.

Shortly after 9pm she was born. She weighted a little over 2LBS and her lungs wouldn't work as her body hadn't yet produced amniotic fluid around them so when she tried to breath her lungs stuck together. The doctors fought for 24 hours to keep her alive. We were fortunate to live in a health region which had access at that time to an artificial lung fluid which could be injected. (At that time not all areas did, so it was luck of the draw). I didn't see my baby for nearly three days as I was in intensive care myself and the first time I did she was bundled inside a mobile incubator with a little yellow handknitted bonnet on and I could only just about see her face. She was on her way to a special care unit at another hospital in Liverpool - it was nearly two weeks before I got to hold my baby for the first time. She has been a fighter since that first day and is an incredibly strong character (with a weak chest admittedly) and I am so, so proud of her and who she has become.







And she has great taste in shoes!

love Ruby xxx

The problems with vintage

The following points were raised in a comment on my post Vintage Textiles. I found the questions really interesting so thought I would post the comment and the response here as a seperate blog:


"Do you find that the vintage patterns are lacking when compared to modern? (I thrifted some 1960's & 1970's knitting patterns last week.)

By lacking, I mean that techniques like knitting in the round don't seem to be used. And a particular yarn might be listed, but the pattern won't identify 'worsted weight' for example".


Historically printed patterns were predominantly published by yarn manufacturers and as such they wanted you to purchase their yarn. Therefore alternatives weren't offered as they expected the consumer to buy the recommended yarn. We are in a very fortunate situation these days that designers are able to publish their designs directly and not rely on a yarn manufacturer to do so. It also accounts for why most patterns from the past do not have the designer's name on them.

Also on this point, yarn companies were not global. For example, Sirdar sold in the UK but not elsewhere, and there were only a limited number of yarn companies in the market place, so they knew that on the whole people could obtain them.

Considering the point of not using techniques such as knitting in the round:

This is indeed the case in the 60's and 70's - certainly in the UK at least. There tended to be a format for knitting patterns which involved front, back and two sleeves. These types of patterns are easier to write and grade (size) - bear in mind there were no CAD programmes to help tech editing. There was a trend towards 'simplifying' knitting and keeping techniques to a minimum. Finishing off is something else, that until the last few years, was barely ever touched on in a pattern.

Going back further again to the 30's and 40's - my favourite era - patterns were often very complicated and assumed a certain level of skill from the knitter, which again meant that some things were left unsaid. Patterns were predominantly published in weekly magazines, used yarns easily available, which all tended to be of standard weights - mainly 2, 3 & 4 ply yarns, and occasionally DK. The pattern usually recommended one of a small number of yarn companies, but knowing that a lot of people actually undid something else to knit the new design instead. There were severe yarn shortages in this period due to the war so garments tended to be made from fine yarns as they go further, short sleeves rather than long, shorter bodies to take less yarn. Patterns, as I have said, were released EVERY week, and yet were still complex so often using a basic formula of front back and sleeves made life much easier for the poor, unmentioned 'pattern writer' - not designer.

I hope this goes some way to explaining how lucky we are now to have the diversity of designers and patterns that we do and also how lucky we are to have the internet as it has made this diversity available to us all.

for now
Ruby xx

Dust

All around me is dust, its on my keyboard, on my fingers, in my hair, on my clothes, in my eyes and its been like this for over a week. The builders are in both at home and at work. At home, they have knocked through into our living room and kitchen - we have nowhere to sit and nowhere to cook. At work all the plaster had to be knocked off the walls, the walls then had to be refilled and now replastered. It is absolutely awful. There isn't even anywhere clean enough to take a photograph.

What this means in terms of knitting is that I have barely been able to even risk taking knitting out of its bag as the dust is settling everywhere.

I am about half way up the body of my own Miss Scarlett which is looking beautiful but not growing.

I have the back done and am half way up the front of this pattern



by Teva Durham, from her first Loop D Loop book for Tahki Stacey Charles.

I am using her Moss yarn as stated in the pattern and I like the end result but I'm not sure I like the yarn.

It has a very synthetic feel to it and I'm not particularly happy about that. I don't think that its a yarn I would use again. Its 85% extra fine merino and 15% nylon and I can feel the nylon. And yet, the garment is going to look gorgeous, so...

Three very exciting news items however,

knitonthenet was mentioned in a great article in The Guardian on Monday. You can read the article here, and


Barbarella



is featured pattern of the week on knitting pattern central. I'm really quite stunned and delighted. Wow!

and the new Kim Hargreaves book, Nectar, arrived yesterday. It has a classic Rowan feel to the production of the book, and the designs are classic Kim Hargreaves. There are a lot of designs I love but my instant favourites are probably



Jasmine

and



Sunlit


What looking through Kim's book also did was remind that Rowan Denim is a current yarn, and perfect for a design I'm working on for the next knitonthenet and I have LOTS in my stash. So thank you Kim for continuing to inspire me in so many ways.

for now
Ruby xx