today

I have been so so tired.
A combination of late nights, too much work and an overload of pressure.

I tried to have an afternoon nap, which I never do, but Toby would not let me. He thought I was lying down so he could jump on me and cuddle me. Sweet boy!

Today I forced the kids down to the park for some photos of them in their Griffin and Gwendolyn together. They were complete ratbags and I gave up on Toby after awhile, thinking the photos were going to be crap. He kept squinting and putting his hand up to his eyes like a pirate.

But perhaps I should have persisted as the photos were really pretty good.

WARNING: Photo overload coming!!

new pattern: Griffin

You know, the excitement of releasing a new pattern never goes away. The nervous anticipation. The relief. The just crazy feeling of excitement. It doesn't matter that this is my 47th pattern release, I'm still pretty stoked about it.

I'm particularly pretty stoked because this is a special pattern that I wrote for a special friend of mine to knit. I wrote this especially for a special yarn, Noro Kureyon. O how I love thee, Noro! It is without a doubt the crack of the yarn world. Terribly addictive. Terribly.

Have you knit with Noro before?
How addictive are the colour changes!

So this is Griffin. 

I blogged about Griffin and the whole process of the design development back in September, and it's pretty exciting to see it come to final fruition.

Griffin is a fun and relatively easy knit, but it's one that's definitely not boring. It has some unusual and fun techniques, that many of my test knitters learnt something new from. 

The most quirky aspect about this design is how it starts. It starts from a saddle shoulder construction, but it is a wee bit different and I haven't seen another garment constructed like this. It makes for good knitting though as there are less ends  to sew in and less stopping and starting. 

I have no idea how I came up with it now, but gosh, I am sooo glad I did!  I really like to challenge myself by mixing the usual construction up a bit and subverting it. You might have noticed that ;) I love little moments of amazing insight like those, when something spectacular comes to you in an otherwise mundane day!

Griffin is all seamless and knit topdown.  The pocket is knit in as you go, with again minimal finishing. It has a cute split seam hemline and you can knit it with a hood...

or without.

You can even choose which yarn weight to knit it in; aran weight(heavy worsted) or dk(8ply).

I really love the mitred neckline that finishes both versions.
For me, that is probably the key to the design. There's something about it that reminds of classic 70s styling; particularly in the Noro. And I really like the shaping in the collar that works in an opposing way to the mitred part of the neckline.

My testers have knit this up in many many different colours and yarns, and they all look sensational; variegateds, self-striping, solids and semi-solids. The pocket and neckline looks great in a contrast.

There's a sister pattern to Griffin, that will be released next week.

Meanwhile, if you want to know a bit more about Griffin or even purchase the pattern, you can do so over here in my Ravelry store. You don't need to be a member to access it.

P.S. I'll introduce another KAL sponsor tomorrow!!

some knitting books

Would it surprise you if I said I'm quite fond of knitting books?

Today, I thought I might review a few of my favourites, but with a little twist.
These are knitting books that we share as a family, that we read together. We are big readers here in this household and we do like knitting books!

(I should point out here that it is not unknown for my kids to take one of Barbara Walker's stitch dictionaries to bed to look at. )

But you guessed it, I am talking about our favourite knitting picture books.

I'm sure I'm not alone and quite like it when I find a portrayal of someone knitting in a kid's book. Just tonight, Lily was reading Roald Dahl's 'Danny the Champion of the World' and she very excitedly read me a passage about his mother knitting.

Have you read any of the books above?

We've had 'Milo Armadillo' the longest. I was quite excited to find a picture book about knitting with the name Milo in the title, I have to say.  I bought this for Toby for perhaps his first birthday.

I love the illustrations in this. I love the way the illustrator captures the fabric of both knits but also other textiles.  Have a look at the clothes and the backgrounds, it almost feels like you can touch and feel them!

'Milo Armadillo' tells the story of a little girl who desperately wants a pink rabbit. Unable to find one anywhere, her grandmother franitically knits her one.  It doesn't quite turn out right as you might expect...it's more of an armadillo than a rabbit.

It's a beautiful story about learning to appreciate what you have, and that sometimes being a bit different is a bit better.

I so love that there is even a link to the pattern to knit your own Milo Armadillo.

I love this picture of the grandmother knitting.

'Knitting Nell' reminds me a bit of our Lily.

Not that Lily can knit that well though.

'Knitting Nell' tells the story of a wee girl, who at the start of the book is perhaps a bit shy, doesn't like to speak up too much in front of others. Through her talent, which happens to be knitting, she learns to do her own thing and also develops a sense of herself and her confidence in who she is. This is something we've really watched Lily come to terms with over the last year or so.

I love the juxtaposition of these two images from the near the start and end of the book.

The final book, is, I think my favourite.

It's just stunningly beautiful.

I love the fairy tale nature of this story about a young girl who finds a box of yarn and starts knitting from it. and knitting. and knitting. and knitting.  It's bottomless. Of course, a bad man comes to steal her box of yarn but it is worthless to him and so he throws it away. It finds its way back home to her.

I think what I really like though, is that the little girl runs out of people to knit jumpers for so she yarn bombs the whole town. Ok, they don't call it yarn bombing in the story, but that's what she's doing.

Do you have a favourite knitting picture story book?

I'd love to hear about it if you do. 

Christmas is not far away and traditionally my children always get a couple of books each. If I can sneak in a knitting related one, all the better!

ANNNNND, before I finish up. I'd like to introduce you to my second sponsor for my Spring has Sprung KAL.

Yay! for yarn is an Australian based on-line store that stocks some fabulous yarns that you don't find in your normal LYS. Ella Rae, Cascade, Noro and Dream in Colour are just a few.  Kiri also stocks the Knit Pro range of interchangable needles.  

Yay! for yarn has generously donated a $40AUD gift voucher to her store.

I asked Kiri what Spring meant to her and this is what she had to say:

Hmmmm, Spring nights, there is something special about those warm evenings when the days start to get a bit longer and you linger in the gardern a bit longer than you should before starting dinner/baths/dishes/stories (all those joyful chores before that wonderful moment when the kids are in bed!). What else, I'm looking out my window and even though it's actually raining today (yay!) everything is various shades of yellow, brown and yellowy-brown greens; dusty, dirty and dry. 

Spring in Brisbane is hot and dry.

Spring has Sprung KAL

If you know me well, you know organisation is NOT one of my strongest points.
I am easily overwhelmed by everything.
I take on too much.
I get snowed under.
I procrastinate.
I am unbelievably easily distracted and am very very very forgetful.
I live in a chaotic state masquerading under some semblance of order.
And sometimes, it's all just a bit too much.
Well, perhaps I'm not really fooling anyone.

ANNNNNy way, that's a long winded way of saying, here it is halfway through September October and OMG, while I was pondering what to blog about tonight, I realised I actually haven't even blogged the KAL I am hosting on my Ravelry Group!

Do you know about my Ravelry Group?
My dear BKFF (that means Best-Kntting-Friend-Forever) the very very talented Shannon Passmore of Crafty Desires Fame set it up for me many moons ago.
I think she knew I was too dis-organised to do it!  

Here's a link to it.  Go and check it out. There's loads of chatter and you get to see what everyone is knitting from my patterns. I quite like that, it's a bit spesh.

Soooo basically, I'm hosting a Spring has Sprung KAL to celebrate the gloriousness that is Spring and well, you know, knitting.

There are a few basic guidelines, which you can read here.  pssst: if you read through that you'll find a discount code you can use for my patterns for the duration of the KAL.

The KAL runs for all of Spring, so will finish at the end of November. yippeee!

The idea is to be inspired by Spring, and knit something Spring worthy.

Ask yourself the question:

 What does Spring mean to me?

To me, it's all about the Sunshine and wattle blossoms. My husband proposed in Spring in a volcanic crater rimmed with Blackwood blossoms (if you've ever knit my Buninyong pattern you may know the story).  The colour yellow and love feature pretty strongly in what Spring means to me.

And there are prizes!

I'm donating some random patterns here and there, but I have some real true sponsors, which is all very exciting!

I'm going to introduce one of my sponsors tonight.

The Wool Shack is one of my favourite online yarn stores to drool over. Jemma stocks some awesome stuff. Did you know she also stocks my patterns?

Jemma has generously donated a Namaste Better Buddy case and a circular needle case in colour of choice. Don't you just love the yellow one? I do, I reaaaaaally do!!!

I asked Jemma what Spring means to her, and this is what she said:

Definitely colour!  I love colour, so as the weather starts to change I get excited about the possibilities of Spring shades - love, love, love the sorbet shades and the retro feel they evoke.  I look forward to knitting some light weight, drapey cardies for the tran-seasonal weather.

Sooo... are you keen to join in?
Have you already joined in?
What are you knitting?

Come and join in and share your FO and your chatter over here in this thread....

See you there!!

swatching in the round

When it comes to swatching, I'm pretty much like any other designer, and I'm going to tell you, that it is indeed, important. 

Sorry to sound like the Knitting Police, but if you want a garment that fits properly, you need to swatch (that and knit the right size for your child, but we might save that topic for another post!). 

I'm going to be honest and tell you, I don't swatch every time. *Gasp!*  

There are certain yarns that I knit with all the time at the same tension and same stitch pattern. If I'm knitting with one of those yarns I don't often bother to swatch if I've knit with it in the past three months. Any longer than that and I will. 

Why? 

Because your tension does change over time. It can even change depending on your mood, your state on mind, or how relaxed you are. I used to be quite a tight knitter but as I've gotten older, my tension has changed.

I've just finished knitting quite a lot of projects in Red Riding Hood Yarns 'Belle' 8ply. I didn't bother swatching this yarn after the first garment, because quite frankly I was pretty sure what my tension would be and like any other knitter, I will take shortcuts if necessary. The Knitting Police will tell you I should have swatched for each project, but nah....

Recently, I've added the following note in my patterns in relation to swatching;

It is advisable to swatch both flat and in the round, and adjust your needles accordingly to ensure you maintain a consistent tension throughout this project.

I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before to be specific. To point out that a flat swatch isn't enough, or is even irrelevant if you're knitting the garment in the round.

 Let me show you why. 

This is a dress I knit in 2005.  It was knit all on 4mm needles. 

Can you see how in the top part of the photo the tension is tighter? That's where the knitting has gone from knitting flat to knitting in the round.  Obviously, I used to knit tighter in the round than I did flat, which is not unusual for many knitters, but it's not something that we as knitters often consider, or take into account when we swatch.

Had I swatched for this dress, both flat and in the round, I would have discovered that I needed to use a needle sizes smaller on the bodice, the flat section to obtain a consistent tension. The difference in tension is only one stitch over 4 inches, and it's not really that noticeable at a distance. If this was an adult garment, that one stitch difference could make a big difference in the finished size as opposed to the size you're expecting. Even with children's garments, a one stitch difference in tension can mean your finished garment will be at least a size out.

So how do you swatch in the round?

The first thing to remember is to swatch in the manner that you are going to knit. It sounds pretty obvious, but most links on the internet for swatching in the round use circular needles.  It's pretty pointless to swatch on circulars if you're going to be knitting using magic loop or dpns. If you're anything like me, your tension may be tighter when you use magic loop or dpns.

If, however, you're swatching for something like my Rainbow dress pattern, you can swatch using circulars like this:

you tube video from knittinghelp

or quite simply you can swatch on a 40cm circular. Seriously, it's not a great deal of stitches that you need to fill a 40cm circular and knit 5 inches.  I really like the idea of turning your swatch into a hat. I am contemplating including a matching hat pattern for every pattern I write from now on to be used as  the swatch!

If you're knitting something like a sleeve for a cardie and you're using my favourite needle length, a 30cm, there's no reason why you can't just swatch using your 30cm circular. You mightn't be able to accurately measure 4 inches, but if you can measure 2 inches that will be close enough.

As you become more experienced with your knitting, there are things that you learn about yourself as a knitter that you can apply to your swatching.  You may know that you knit tighter in the round than you do flat, so you might start off your swatch with a needle size larger than suggested for the tension. I magic loop tighter and have generally found if I'm magic looping using 4ply yarn I usually need to go up a needle size or two to get tension. 

illustration from Monste Stanley's 'Knitters Handbook'

It is important to knit a good size generous swatch, not one that measures just 4 inches or even a couple of inches! 

The Knitting Police will also tell you you need to wash, possibly hang and pin out your swatch to measure your tension.  Honestly, I'm not always that accurate when I 'm just personal knitting, even though I know I should be.  And I know that most knitters aren't either, particularly busy mums who knit for their kids. 

If I've been a bit lazy with my swatch, I do try to think about the behaviour characteristics of the yarn I'm knitting with and take that into account. For example, if it's a superwash yarn, I know I can expect a bit of growth, possibly both ways, upon washing and blocking.  Some of this can be counteracted with a quick trip to the dryer. 

What about you?

Are you a good swatcher?

Do you swatch, wash, pin and measure religiously?

Or do you take a more laissez-faire approach?

a tale of anouk

A very long time ago I knit Lily a dress. This was way before I was designing my own kids' designs.  In fact, this was when Lily was still a wee little baby, and it was the only dress I knit her as a baby! Hard to believe, but yep that's true!

This was knit way before the time of Ravelry, way before knitting became the new yoga.
I found the pattern online on a site called Knitty, the pattern was Anouk.

Lily is just four months old in this photo. She was an alert little thing, hey! Look at that cheeky grin!

I knit this in Cleckheaton Country, subbing the aran weight yarn for a dk. I also modified the pattern to knit it circularly. 

This dress has done some hard yards since it was knit in 2005. Lily wore it heaps and for many years.  I have a photo of her in it at 29 months of age, but suspect she wore it way past then. In fact, I once blogged about the longevity of this wee garment.  It's been passed on to cousin Sage, who is now about 3 and a half and Anouk has found her way back to us.

This morning I gave Anouk a de-pill and debated whether my other sister would like it for her wee girl when Lily found it and oohed and aahed over it.  The temptation to try it on was just too much!

It's no longer a dress, and to be honest, it's barely just a top but she's taken it back and declares it hers and she'll wear it. Obviously, the poor child is so short on knitted clothes she can't give this one up!

The microphone.. DK gave each of the kids an old microphone each today. They have been constant companions. We have had a rock-star cafe in the cubby house and an odd sort of game of charades. I had to pry it out of Lily's hand after she'd fallen asleep.

I'm going to try and wrestle Anouk from her tomorrow to pass on to another baby girl.  And who knows, in three or so years time when it returns home she can try it on again! 

my creative space: retrospective

Yesterday was my creative space day; another blog-hop, meme, link-up thingamajig.
I took some photos yesterday, which I completely forgot about when it came to blogging last night.
As it's never too late for creativity, here's what my creative space has entailed over the last 24 hours:

 Some pattern editing.
(I'm working on Gwendolyn.)

Some blocking.
(This is a new pattern and this garment is something for meeeee!!)

 Some baking.
(These are chia and linseed spelt cheese and vegemite scrolls whipped up in the TMX. The thermos has hot chocolate in it. These are the kids post swimming snacks on a Thursday night.)

 And because it seems that 12 swimming lessons over the past two weeks (thanks to the school's intensive swimming sessions as well as her regular weekly one) is not enough swimming for Miss Lily, my creative space had a lovely outdoor vista today.
By the way, this wee lass really rocks that board!!!

 This boy is just damn cute!

It's a tough place to have to spend your time sitting and knitting. The view really is shocking.

Today I finished off a sweet little cardie for our Blythe dolls. Once I've weaved in ends, added buttons and blocked, I'll share some photos.

I've been having so much fun playing with the panorama setting on my new iPhone5.  I love the fisheye look you get.

I've taken some awesome photos but also had some rather interesting results. I'm not sure what the blob in the middle is. And the weird black bits at the top is from where I haven't quite stayed in a straight line and perhaps moved around a bit quickly. Look to the left of the photo. There are two Tobys, but one has no head!!!


I am so glad the weekend is here!
I'm hoping to get stuck into a new pattern.
What have you got planned?

more creative spaces can be found over here!