Leap Year Challenge; My First hat

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Over on Pheonix Knitting forum they suggested trying something totally new for 29th February. For this challenge I decided to try making a hat. I’ve had success with the Cowl made from the Cowl’d and Frosty Morning pattern and had made alterations to it to create a short version for a neck warmer. So wondered if I could make a hat from it too. This is what happens when you bring a kid up on Blue Peter they develop a good ‘what if’ gene hehe.

I had a look through my Knitting for Dummies book and decided if I copied the decrease rows from the 60 stitches downwards from page 138 (Three way hat). Then I should be able to turn the cowl in to a hat. It worked!!!

The ‘What If’ Hat

My First Hat

I’m going to try to make some coordinating mittens soon too, then I’ll have a matching set.

Its turning quite spring like here, we have crocus and daffodils to keep the snowdrops company in the garden, and the wild birds are playing kiss chase. Even the collard doves have been attempting some token nest-building, well trying to stash large twigs in the conifers

Spring Crocus

Sorry I  didn’t get a post up for friday, the tutorial I had planned needed a photograph taken and there just hasn’t been good light for it. Have re-scheduled it for next month, so it won’t go to waste

Links

I mentioned the pattern I started from, here is a link to it and the book I took the info about decreasing from too.

• Cowl’d and Frosty Morning
• Knitting for Dummies

So, as leap years only come round occassionally, what will you be trying for a leap of faith? Would love to see some of your projects.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Birch Wood Cirular Needles

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Recently I shared a picture of the lovely new James Brett yarn I bought, today I’d like to share how I found the Birch wood circular needles.

Needles

Well that’s a whole story in itself. Regular readers will remember how much I adore my Brittany birch needles, this has not changed but I wanted to knit a cowl and possibly mittens later on, so I needed circular needles and sadly Brittany do not make them. Knit Pro are scorching the search engines and other than bamboo or VERY expensive Lantern Moon needles, are all that were around.

Thanks to Irlens syndrome which is what causes my dyslexia, I cannot focus on busy backgrounds, so found Knit Pro’s Symfonie needles far too bright. The only way to try their rosewood circular needles was in complete sets and the wood on those is very dark. The other thing that concerned me about the interchangeable needles was the very short amount of wood that was left visible in the larger diameter needles. The overall length of regular interchangeable needles is said to be 11cm, but this includes the metal attachment section at the rear of the needle. In the larger diameters by the time you take off the metal section and the pointed end of the needle where it tapers, there was precious little wood before your hand rests on metal. So although they do look like an excellent idea, my dexterity was not going to cope well with so little needle to get hold of, any more than my wonky eyes could cope with the patterning.

THEN, after a visit to the Knit Pro European website ,I discovered that the manufacturer also make an uncoloured fixed length circular needle. The name is Basix, in fact the Basix range also includes straight needles and like Symfonie the name is for the colour way. These are lovely, birch wood, light in colour, warm in the hand and a decent length at 15 cm long After searching online, I found they are stocked by Art of Yarn and I bought mine from their Ebay shop. I’m very pleased with them and will be writing a full review of them once I’ve had a good play with them.

Knit Pro: Basix; Fixed Length Cirular knitting needles

At last, nice quality needles, well made and no busy or dark patterning. I did email the company but at the time of writing they have no plans for producing the range as interchangeable needles. On the upside this has resulted in a better ‘in hand’ length of needle, so I’ll take the hit of having to buy lots to get the different sizes. Check out the links below for more details of the retailer and the sizes available from Knit Pro.

Links

• Knit Pro EU Basix needles
• Knit Pro Basix Birchwood needles at Art of Yarn
• Art of Yarn
• Art of Yarn on Ebay

Best wishes and thank for reading, see you soon

Billie

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James Brett Marble Chunky Yarn arrives

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Before Christmas I saw the most beautiful yarns by James C Brett, called Marble Chunky and I fell in love with them. The search for wooden circular needles began and now I’ve found Knit Pro Basix and got some in 6mm size, I treated myself to a ball of Marble Chunky in colour MC 6.

James Brett Marble Chunky Yarn

Personally I find actual wool itchy, however soft/fine etc people tell me it is, it still feels itchy to me when I’m wearing it. The sad thing is until now I hadn’t found any pure acrylic yarn in such nice colours as are available in wool. There are sooo many beautiful colour ways in this yarn that if I get on ok with it, I’ll be collecting lots more of them. Here’s a better picture of the colours in the ball I bought.

James Brett Marble Chunky Yarn

What are you making?

Well I really liked the Delores Cowl found on the Sixoneseven blog, so I’m having a go at modifying the number of stitches to see if I can make it in the James Brett Yarn.

Links

• James C Brett
•  RKM Yarns Check out the glorius colours in the James Brett Yarn
• Knit Pro EU Basix needles
• Dolores Park Cowl on Sixoneseven blog.

Best wishes and thanks for reading

Billie

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Holiday Gifts; Knitted Wrist Warmers

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Today I’d like to share a picture of the wrist warmers I knitted for Christmas for my MIL. The pattern was Sirdar Knitting Pattern 9135 I knitted a short version as an  alternative to regular gloves as my MIL uses a stick and finds gloves difficult to use with it.

Short wrist warmers. Handmade Christmas Gift

With these, MIL can tuck them up her sleeve and just have the ends covering her hands but still have a clear palm for her stick.

Hope she likes them. The yarn I used was Sirdar Click; colour 181

Thank goodness for Brittany birch knitting needles, they are much kinder to my stiff hands.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Product Review; Brittany Birchwood Knitting Needles

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In today’s post I will be reviewing;

Brittany; Birch knitting needles

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Brittany
• Item number
• RRP at time of writing: Around £5 depending on needle length and size number.

I’m reviewing; 4mm/ UK size 8/ USA size 6. The needle length is 10″ long.

Reason For Buying

I’ve heard that wooden needles are kinder to stiff sore hands. I have RSI and wanted to compare these needles to bamboo ones. Although I like the warm touch of the bamboo, the yarn drag was making life difficult. Also because the turned ‘art deco’ ends made them look very beautiful.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Light weight; 1 gram as opposed to 9 grams for a metal needle the same dimensions
• Warm to the touch
• Smooth finish
• Beautifully turned ends
• Made from birch from sustainable source
• Yarn glides across them like it does with metal needles

Cons

• Haven’t got any personally.

Not a con but something to consider; Wooden needles need to be treated gently and stored carefully to prevent damage as they are more delicate than plastic or metal. That is a general rule though not specific to this brand.

Build Quality

Brittany; Birch knitting needles. Detail of the turned ends

Superb build quality, the wood is smooth and beautifully finished. No rough edges anywhere.

Value for Money

Excellent. Not the cheapest material to buy your needles in, but for the quality of production and finish they are well worth it. You will invest a lot of time in your knitting, why not invest a little in some quality needles too.

Would I buy it Again?

Totally. I’ll be collecting more of these beautiful needles over the years. You need to try them!

Summing up

I adore these knitting needles! These birch needles won’t cure my RSI or the issues it causes, but they sure make knitting more comfortable than any other material I’ve tried. They are beautiful, the lightweight aspect and the warm to the touch feeling as you use them does indeed make them more comfortable to use. The super smooth finish means the yarn glides effortlessly across them without dragging or catching. It’s not hype; lightweight wooden needles really are more comfortable to use if you have stiff sore hands.

If you need more convincing here’s what to do next.

1. Find in your knitting bag or buy one pair of needles in each of the following materials; plastic, metal, bamboo and a pair of Brittany birch ones. Choose a size you will use a lot, so the extra needles won’t be a waste.

Make sure you get all these needles in the same dimensions for a fair comparison

2. select a yarn you like to use (which will help you choose a needle size).

3. Don’t try anything fancy, just your favorite stitch pattern for about ten stitches and knit up a square.

4. Repeat this process for each of your needle types and you will find what works for you.

A lot of knitting is personal preference, if you like the slick of metal but find your hands lock up on you try the birch needles. If on the other hand you prefer plastic needles that hold onto the yarn more, then try bamboo.

The manufacturer’s website recommends these needles if you have dexterity problems, my issue is RSI and I definitely recommend others to try them too. They are a joy to use.

Links

Manufacturer:

• Brittany Makers of  natural birch wood needles for knitting and crochet. Look at the turned ends, aren’t they just stunning. The single point needles are available in 10″ and 14″ in a variety of sizes. Brittany also make double-pointed needles, cable needles and crochet hooks too. Find out more about them from their website.

Retailers;

I’ve purchased my Brittany needles from; Norfolk Knits and also Yarnia Needle Crafts.

Here are some more online sellers of Brittany needles.

• Artesano; Proud to be the exclusive European distributor for Brittany Birch Knitting Needles and Crochet hooks.
• Celtic Cove
• Consider the Lily
• Crafty Yarn
• Fiddlesticks
• Laughing Hens
• Pavi Yarns
• Yarn Box

Check out my Yarns tab for links to more knitting related information.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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My First Socks

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Today I’d like to share a picture of the first pair of socks I have knitted.

My First hand made socks

The pattern was from ‘The Art of Knitting’ this is one of those installment magazines, but I bought a set of these on Ebay I modified the pattern a little as in the original there was a chart for a pattern. I loved the pattern but my skill level isn’t up to that yet. My wonderful neighbour showed me how to continue the project without the patterned effect.

The heel is a bit narrow for me, and with the RSI they took forever to make as I can only do a couple of rows and then have to leave it for some time to let my hands recover. I get really cold feet and these will make superb bed socks.

If you want to have a go at knitting socks but can’t get on with circular needles or double-pointed needles (count me out of the DPs) then do have a rummage online. There are lots of sites with patterns free or other wise and can make socks on two straight needles if you want to and get the right pattern. Etsy is a good place to find unique patterns and the good thing about getting patterns on there, is that you are dealing with the person who wrote the pattern. If you get stuck you can message the seller and they can often walk you through the part you are struggling with.

There are still wool shops around for you to check out yarns and patterns in person. If you are lucky enough to have one near you, do shop there if you can. Knowledgeable staff are worth their weight in gold, especially for newbies who might need help choosing yarns, needles etc. If you find a yarn you love in there, you might be able to ask if there is a pattern to knit a particular project and they will save you a lot of time foraging. Same thing in reverse if you find a pattern they will be able to point you at suitable yarns for it.

Patterns and ball bands are bewildering at first, after a while they start to make sense but having someone to ask in the early days is very helpful. Last month I reviewed Bamboo knitting needles and next month I’ll be talking about how I got on with Birch needles. Check out the Yarns tab at the top of the blog for some online links to stores/tutorials and blogs. The internet is a fantastic place to learn a new skill from the comfort of your own home and with sites like You Tube with video demonstrations its like taking a class.

DO check out Knitting Tips by Judy on You Tube she has lots of fantastic tutorials that get you started knitting and also help you resolve you knitting problems. Judy is fantastic and if you don’t have a friend or relative on hand to get you knitting, make Judy your knitting buddy!

Have fun!

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Pom Pom Scarf

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Today I’d like to share a picture of the Pom pom scarf I made for my friend for Christmas. Lucky, I knitted it early in the year before I dislocated my hand!

Scarf using Grundl Pom Pom Yarn

The yarn is by Grundle and is their Pom Pom yarn in Black. It’s a great project if you like to knit but your hands aren’t that dextrous. You use lovely big fat needles and I held on to the pom poms, so no fiddling with narrow yarn. It knits  up quite quickly.

As I know my friend drives everywhere, I figured she wouldn’t want anything too long or bulky, just something for inside a jacket to keep her neck warm. I cast on 9 stitches and kept it short. This scarf took two balls of yarn, hope she likes it.

There’s a lot of fun n funky yarns on the market these days, some come with thier knitting patterns printed on the back of the ball bands, handy! If you hate trailing round the shops near Christmas, get some of this yarn and make your best friend a gift from the heart. Snuggled up in the warm, perhaps with your favorite film on the box much nicer than freezing and getting ratting in the queues in the shops

Try handmade Christmas presents, sure they take a bit of time but if you start REAL early, you can enjoy the process and spend December just writing the cards n wrapping, much less stress, much more fun! I blame Kirsty’s Handmade Home for getting me into this, but I wouldn’t look back now. Christmas ‘shopping’ is now a year round process, pick up a nice yarn here and there as you see it, (put a post it on the label so you know who or what you had in mind at the time ) and gather your gifts gradually in a box or bag in the bottom of the wardrobe. It’s also nice to get gifts for people while you are on holiday, as there are often unique shops in out-of-the-way places with lovely things in them. So much nicer than the inevitable smellies or chocolates dilemma

Links

• Grundl Yarns Manufacturers website. Check out the downloadable patterns on there too.
• Pom Pom Yarn Scarf Knitting Pattern PDF Download from Grundl

Reclaim the fun in the holiday season, make a list, make a plan, get others involved and delegate where you can. You need fun too!!!

Best wishes

Billie

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