On the Needles

Heirloom Matinee Jacket with bonnet and Bootees [Started 19th May: :Completed 29th May]

I was looking among my vintage "silver" P&B patterns for a frilly baby item for the planned "heritage weekend" in September - but no luck - I think in those days when you were knitting for real as it were then you needed nice practical baby wear. So I ended up using Patons 1211 from 1975. I knitted the items in a vintage 3ply acrylic - and they really are so impossibly small that they knitted up very quickly.

Giardino [Started 14th February: :Completed 3rd June]

I've started this as a Knitalong with Alison. It's another design by Isabell Kraemer and I'm using a vintage yarn that I'd like to say is from my "stash" but it's from Kate's stash which she is rapidly organising into mine...
It is Rowanspun 4ply [100% wool : 25g = 148m/162yds] in colours Midnight (708) and Stone (702).
[I do have some of this yarn of my own - in black - but this is not it!].

Bubble Stitch Baby Hats [Started 29th January: :Completed 28th March]

The hats from Lovecraft's Bobo Bubble Stitch Blanket & Beanie again knitted in Stylecraft Double Knitting.
Two (and more) different sizes matching the blanket and then in a variety of sizes and colours.

Bubble Stitch Baby Blanket [Started 12th December 2025: :Completed 31st January]

This is Lovecraft's Bobo Bubble Stitch Blanket & Beanie intended to be knitted in Paintbox yarns but I am trying to diminish my vast stocks of Stylecraft Double Knitting. The pattern is quite satisfying, although I now notice I'm not actually following the striped sequence as given in the pattern (by accident); however it's looking very pretty so far...

Weaving: Summer and Winter blanket [Started 7th October 2025: :Completed 5th May 2026]

My class project for the new term is a summer and winter pair from the Anne Dixon's "Handweaver's Pattern Directory". This is the second time I have woven this pattern - it was my first project as a multicoloured table runner in cotton - but this one has fewer colours and will hopefully show off more of the weave design.
I am using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran [55% Merino / 33% Acrylic / 12% Cashmere : 50g = 90m / 98yds], in colours 56 Mallard, 613 Teal, 612 Royal, and 25 White, and I'll be using the 4 shaft floor loom for the project.

Chloe Thurlow's Rhythmic Knitalong [Started 4th July 2025: :Completed 9th June 2026]

Rowan have started a new knitalong blanket (or cushion) in Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted [100% wool : 100g = 200m/219yds] in colours 101 Ivory, 111 Granite, 112 Moonstone, 193 Fern, 190 Raisin, 191 Mauve Mist, and 199 Sage. Again they have a choice of projects but I am doing the blanket. Needless to say the yarn I am using is not Rowan but Stylecraft DK (I'm hoping it will be ok for a baby blanket).

Tweed Blanket [Started 3rd November 2024]

I wanted to make this Marie Wallin throw design from Rowan Purelife Home (2011) a long time ago - but using my own handspun. It has taken me a very long time to complete the spinning so I'm not saying when I really started this project - just that I've recently begun to knit it.
The prepared fibre is from John Arbon - a heady melange of their Devonia and Harvest Hues, chosen on the basis of their colours.

Benyons [Started 26th October 2024]

A Martin Storey design from the latest Rowan Magazine 76. The yarn is Rowan Alpaca Soft DK [70% wool / 30% alpaca; 50g=125m/137yds] and it's lovely - but again the colours are not the most flattering for me - however I've now bought some trousers to match so I'm committed!
It's proving to be very satisfying to knit and very effective for such a simple combination of stitches.

Birdie [Started 22nd August 2024]

Another (more recent) Martin Storey design, which can be purchased separately or as part of the booklet Woodland. The Rowan Pebble Island yarn was on sale [100% wool; 50g=108m] and I love the pattern but in reality the colours are a bit too mellow and on the Autumn side for me. Unfortunately - although it's fair isle - it's a lofty worsted weight which is too thick for my trusty old machine to tension it for me so it will be hand knitting all the way.

Skipness [Started 30th June 2024]

At last decided on how to use a sale impulse buy with another Martin Storey design.- now available free from various sources. My Rowan Cashmere Tweed [80% wool / 20% cashmere; 25g=88m/95yds] is in colour Cinder Rose, some purchased in John Aloes sale, and topped up for the project by Wool Warehouse.

Shell [Started 8th March 2023]

Another Lisa Richardson design that caught my eye, from Rowan Magazine 72. The yarn is Moordale [70% wool / 30% Alpaca; 100g=230m/251yds] in colours: Bronzed 006, Feather 001, Turmeric 003, Nutmeg 011, Pepper 002- and in a break with tradition I purchased the correct yarn. However the pattern is far more complex than I imagined being a mixture of fair isle and intarsia, plus they are not really "my" colours, so all in all, my enthusiasm is somewhat tempered.

"Surrey Thrift" Cardigan [Started 21st October 2022]

This is a "thrift" cardigan because I've had a pack of 10 balls of Patons Moorland (a brown tweed fleck) in my possession for about 40 years, waiting for the right project. Over that time there have been at least 2 attempts to make something from it, but it's a dense pure wool DK and fundamentally it's not enough for a sweater. However: enter Bellmans 1542 (an "unusual" vintage pattern) which seems to be perfect. I'm adding 2 contrasts in Rowan Felted Tweed DK, which is finer and lighter, but the tension works OK as the pattern uses slip stitches, and only comes into play on the sleeves.

Weaving: "Two Crabs" scarf [Started 28th August 2022]

This is another design from Janet Phillips' book Designing Woven Fabrics. I've always wanted to make this - mostly attracted by the pretentious title as it's based on a Picasso painting - but I am using laceweight wools rather than silk and my colour and texture variations are much simpler than Janet designed.
The warp is mainly Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace colour 520 Azure [55% Wool / 45% Silk: 100g=1000m]; the weft is mainly Fyberspates Gleem Lace colour 706 Sea Green [55% Wool / 45% Silk: 100g=800m] - both from Wool Warehouse. There are also highly coloured narrow stripes of other colours in both warp and weft, which are from an 800m skein of Laughing Hens Undyed 2 Ply Merino/Silk Lace which I hand-dyed.

Hooked Sheep [Started 2nd January 2021]

Weaving: Cotton Towels [Started 23rd March 2019]

I was inspired to try this project by the newsletters from Gist Yarn and Fiber. I would have bought their cotton but the shipping cost from the US meant I needed to be more cost-conscious for a simple rigid heddle project to do in the evenings. I settled on a real budget option which was impossibly low cost and astonishingly fast delivery despite shipping from Hobii in Copenhagen.

Little Bottles Quilt [Restarted 9th February 2019]

This is a patchwork quilt I started to make in about 2003 and in truth had done most of the hard work in appliqué. I was undecided as to what technique to use for the striped "curtains" - but have set off now with renewed vigour and decisiveness.
The design is Little Bottles by Kaffe Fassett from the fourth Westminster Quilting book (usually available from eBay).

Bella Blouse [Started 9th June 2011]

This is the Bella Blouse by Norah Gaughan from the Knitting Daily Pattern Library. I am using a few balls of Rowan Damask - a yarn I love but now discontinued - for the contrast and I found an ecru cotton blend (Patons Washed Haze) which tones with it quite well for the main shade. As my supply of Damask is limited I am omitting the contrast band at the bottom of the sweater.

Two [Started 22nd August 2010]

This is Two - not another cardigan! But it is, like Puzzle, from Queen of Hearts - in fact, the cover design. The yarn is Patons Misty [25g; 150m], 70% mohair, 30% polyamide. It knits to a double knitting tension of about 22sts to 4 inches, but I am knitting it much looser on 6mm needles. I chose this yarn also at Ally Pally in 2009; being a dress I thought it would take for ever but it seems to be knitting up very quickly so I have every expectation of finishing it soon...