A find, but NOT a make!

It's a bank holiday weekend, and I'm settling down for some crafting. Thought I'd share a couple of pictures from a knitting pattern book I bought this week. I don't normally buy knitting patterns because of the funny pictures, as let's face it. there are a lot of terrible pattern pictures out there! However I just couldn't resist the book that contained these beauties...

Wow. Let's hope it doesn't rain, or that outfit is going to weight a ton. Don't think that colour is too practical for a farm yard either.

Perhaps this model misinterpreted the photographer's instructions to try and look relaxed and pose naturally.

I was sure there must be a Flickr group dedicated to bad knitting patterns - I couldn't find one but did come across, Knitting Pattern Handsome, which comes pretty close. I particularly like this smouldering man with a chicken, and this dazzling chap.

Such extravagant woolen outfits make my own knitted efforts seem pretty modest. I'm currently working on a pair of fingerless gloves, Fetching by Cheryl Niamath, for a friend's birthday.

Now I'm off to create something with the striped fabric I bought last week, and take a break from the recent knitting surge,

K x

Beautiful Ceramics from Brighton

Smile! As promised, I present some images taken at Brighton Art Gallery. I was particularly attracted to their amazing ceramics displays. Ceramics of all types and from a wide range of dates were displayed together, to make cases which looked really exciting and enticing.

This fabulous pair of cats, dating to 1880, were displayed in the same case as delicate artist-designed mid-century pottery by Eric Ravilious, and the equally gorgeous Acapulco ware by Villeroy & Boch.

Acapulco cup and saucer by Villeroy & Boch (from chinasearch)

I have a particular soft spot for this ware, as my mum has a breakfast set in this pattern.

Another case displayed Hornsea pottery just below Clarice Cliff;

I loved how they put something as fetishised as Clarice Cliff with a more everyday, but equally iconic ware from Hornsea.

Another room showed the ceramics collection donated by a local man, and displayed as he had originally intended, being divided into categories such as Conviviality & Teetotalism and Domestic Incidents.

I'm such a fan of ceramics, and one day would love to have a collection with just some of the fantastic items I saw in Brighton. At the minute, I tend to buy things I like, rather than being as focused as a specific date range, style, pattern or maker. Of course this is very enjoyable, but perhaps I should be more focused. My purchases are also confined by what will fit within my flat too - I try not to go too overboard.

I do have a soft spot for Art Deco and 1950s styles, but equally, bright 1960s patterns are just as attractive to me. I'm not really a fan of flowery styles, but I love seeing hand-painted details.

That's all for now, but my next post will look at some of my recent knitting. And maybe, just maybe, another Sencha...

K x

Charity Shop Fabric

Oh happy days, when you find a charity shop with fabric in amounts worth buying. Today I bought this;


1.5 metres worth of striped medium weight cotton for £2.50. I think it would look really smart as a blouse, perchance the fabulous Sencha, of which I have already made 2. Not very imaginative I know, but practical! It's got a bit of nautical feel, which I like.

I also purchased 2.9 metres of this;


It's a lighter weight fabric, possibly a cotton mix in green with thin stripes of red and yellow. I think it would make a lovely dress, though it's really not the weather to think about making such a dress, out of light weight material! It was also £2.50, so a bit of a bargain, I think.

I was also excited to see that Colette Patterns have released a new dress, Crepe, a wrap dress aimed at beginner level sewers. I still have to tackle Beignet, which I've had for a good few months. I think I should make it my next project and not wimp out with another Sencha - I need a challenge!

On a different subject - when I started this blog I hinted that there may be some museum-related stuff. So I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from a Museum visit on holiday in Brighton. They have an AMAZING ceramic collection, and as vintage ceramics are a love of mine, I was in heaven!

Until then,

K x

What I've learned about knitting

I finally finished my Audrey In Unst cardigan, as mentioned in previous posts. Begun in April, it turned into a big of an epic knit, as after a burst of productivity I lost the thread (or yarn...?) with it and moved onto other knitting and sewing projects. Part of this was also due to the fact I was sure it would turn out too big.

After trying to impose deadlines on myself for completing it, it was only when a new project settled in my mind that I decided I must finish it before starting something new. I didn't have to spend long on it to complete it, after picking it up again this weekend. And you know what, it turned out ok. The fit isn't as snug as some I've seen and my wool choice was quite mediocre. I think I'll still get a lot of use out of it and may make the same cardigan again in the future. The pattern is so well written and very clear. Any time I went wrong with it, it was just a matter of re-reading the directions more carefully.

I've been knitting on a regular basis since about 2007-ish and after various projects, successful and unsuccessful I've learnt a few things. Sometimes I forget what I've learned but hey, mistakes are all part of learning, and knitting. Here's a few things which come to mind;

1. Use wool you love. Cheap yarn is a false economy.
2. Use decent needles. It's worth buying nice wooden needles rather than wincing every time you make a stitch because the coating has worn off the tips of your metal needles.
3. Knitting in the round is brilliant if you hate sewing the pieces of a project together.
4. Knitting in the round can be a b***** to learn but it's worth persevering with.
5. Don't skimp on buying the amount of wool you need, unless you want items with random stripes in.
6. Knitting makes you less likely to buy knitted items - you'll think "I can make that!"
   
7. A stash is inevitable.
8. You will get frustrated by badly written patterns.
9. Expect to have to rip out knitting, or even whole items.
   
10. Expect knitting to become an addiction. Well, there's worse addictions!

K x

Autumn Makes Me Want to Knit

There's something about the weather getting colder that makes me want to knit, knit, knit. There is definitely a connection with the temperature and my desire to pick up my needles and shop for lovely wool.

This is my recently completed and blocked beret, worn today for the first time. I'm really quite pleased with it and hope that it doesn't end up stretching too much over time.

And this is my completed baby hat, modelled by a helpful ashtray.


Sewing wise, I've got the material to make the toile for a dress but really, I could do with a new skirt rather than a sleeveless dress. And (back to the knitting) I've just ordered some wool to make Kim Hargreaves' Rosa. The wool was ordered online from Kemps, as it was about £10 cheaper than John Lewis. Just hope I like it when it arrives, and the colour is the shade I think it is! I do like to support independent wool shops but we don't have any in Glasgow, following the closure of K1 Yarns. I always try and shop at the K1 Yarns in Edinburgh though, and other wool shops as I find them.

And so to some finds.....

I bought 4 of these beautiful hand-sewn napkins for just 49p each. As a regular charity shop visitor, I see so many pretty pieces of hand-embroidered table linen that I resist buying because I have no use for them. I would love to use them in some crafty endeavour, but don't think I could bring myself to cut them up either.

However these were a bit different and so beautifully made with tiny stitches I would never have the patience to do. They are all different but are kind of in two pairs with matching edging. Just too pretty to pass up....

K x

Back from Holiday

I'm back, after a fantastic two week holiday - I feel like I've been away for much longer! We visited relatives in England (Liverpool, Worcestershire and Wiltshire) and then spent a week in Brighton. The above photo is from the beach at Bexhill, I'll post a few more photos of the trip later on but first and foremost, the holiday crafting....


All of the knitting was hat-based. Hats are an ideal travel project, being usually quite straightforward as well as easily portable and not heavy to carry around. The above photo is a hat for my Dad in progress. It's a two layer, super-warm one, that I failed to buy enough yarn for as I mis-read the instructions. I will be buying more yarn this week and hopefully get it finished asap.

Buying the yarn DID give me the chance to visit a fabulous wool shop in Malvern, The Knitting Parlour. I wish I lived closer to it as I could have spent a lot of time (and money) there on their wonderful selection of wools.


This beret is made from the camel/caramel wool in my last post. It's blocking at the minute but I will be interested to see what it's like when dry. It looks a bit bigger than some of my other berets, which I wanted, but as it's made in DK I hope it won't be too floppy.

The final hat is a baby hat in a beautiful deep pink DK from the Sirdar Sublime range. I don't believe in making baby clothes from pastel colours as I don't really like them and think they can look quite old-fashioned.

The pattern is kind of improvised and will be a simple beanie-type hat. The wool is from Purl in Brighton.