Portholes Log Cabin Blanket - a new pattern

Ta Daa!! I have designed a new blanket pattern!
This has been soooo long in the designing stage and quite a while in the making stage too! Although once I actually knuckled down and worked on it properly, it only took about a week to make - and that includes all the fastidious note taking, note checking, weighing of yarn, doing the maths and checking the maths........all the little things that if you forget to do whilst making the sample, you end up making another sample!!

This really is a very simple blanket to knit. It is worked entirely in garter stitch and the blocks or squares are modular, which means you join sections as you go. This does mean you have to pick up stitches, which I know some people don't like doing, but its pretty straightforward and by the end of a few squares you'll be an expert!

I thought about calling this post "When Knitting Met Quilting" as the quilters amongst you will know that this is a variation on a traditional log cabin block.

I have given instructions and yarn amounts for 3 sizes in the pattern:
Baby size: 32" x 32" (81 x 81 cm)
Throw size: 60" x 46" (152 x 117 cm)
Bed size: 74" x 60" (188 x 152 cm)

Its really easy to make it any size you want though!

I originally hadn't intended to give it a border, but I'm so pleased I did! It really frames the design so nicely.

I picked 12 colours of Stylecraft Special DK for my version (11 colours and a white for the background) - a deliberately chosen colour palette.

The shade numbers are all listed in the pattern if you want to replicate it.

When knitting the squares though, I just randomly picked colours from those 11, being mindful to try and not overload on my favourites!

If you were knitting this entirely scrappy, I think a mixture of neutral low volume shades for the background would look awesome!

If you start the plan the colours though, a whole new design appears!

If every square is knit to the same colour plan then you get a pinwheel effect.

Or maybe try knitting 2 adjacent sections the same colour:

Or having a dark background:

Maybe knit all the sections in one square the same colour. I love pastels!

If you're feeling like starting a longer project the throw size might be for you.

Or maybe, just maybe you're so adventurous you want to start a bed size version!

You know, in my head I want to knit ALL these versions! And my family would say I have enough of a yarn stash to do so!! But maybe I'll start with a pastel colour blocked version.....its kinda my favourite right now.

You can find the pattern for sale on: Ravelry    Etsy  or  Craftsy

Make sure you post a photo of you blanket progress on Instagram or Facebook and use the hashtag #lovefibrespattern I love to see what you're making !

Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton - A Review

                           

A few years ago I became very interested in trying to use organic cotton whenever I could. At the time there were several yarn companies producing a fairly impressive range of organic cotton yarns, but very few fabric companies had taken the plunge at that time and their range of designs was very limited. 

Over the last few years the tide seems to have changed completely. You can now easily buy organic cotton fabric in a wide range of types and a mulitide of designs, but several of the yarn manufacturers that initially started an organic line have discontinued them. 

To the best of my knowledge Debbie Bliss Eco Baby is the only one remaining from those early days.

I can't even begin to guess at the reasons for this, but it has meant that whilst my stash of organic cotton yardage continues to grow and be used, my yarn organic yarn stash is now almost totally used up.

So a few months ago I tried really hard to find some new organic cotton yarn supplies. 

I purchased a few and today I shall review the first one that I found - Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton

Knit on 3.75mm needles I achieved a double knit tension of 22sts to a 4" square 

It comes as a 65 gram skein and is hand wash only. 

At £12.25 a skein it is definitely a luxury yarn.

There are 22 colours to choose from, and the shades are modern.

I chose to use Squash (shade no. 306)

Both the cost and the hand wash criteria made me hesitate for a while, but I'm glad I took the plunge and tested this yarn.

I can honestly say is a dream to knit with - and I don't think I've ever said that about a yarn before! It is so, so soft and did not make my hands ache, which some cotton yarns do. It did not split at all, gave brilliant stitch definition, and held it's shape well

I think that the hand wash only factor would be a deterrent for some knitters if they wanted to use this yarn for baby items. Babies are prone to a lot of unpredictable spewing, after all!

In my experience, however, mothers who want to avoid traditionally grown cotton close to their baby's skin are quite prepared to trade a little hand washing for the knowledge that their baby is not being exposed to unnecessary chemicals.

The pattern is Sirdar 1238 from the booklet Cosy Little Knits.
The model in the top photo is my grandson!

Would I use this yarn again?  Yes! Most definitely - provided I knew the recipient appreciated organic cotton and was prepared to hand wash their garment.
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New Website

I've been busy over the last couple of weeks, but in a tech way, rather than a creative way.

I now have a website specifically for my knitting patterns and pattern related tutorials.

You can find it here    www.lovefibres.com

It still needs a lot of tweeking and the banner is only temporary until I can make a better one, but it serves the purpose I wanted it for - to have all my patterns in one place, both the freebies and the paid for ones. The tutorials will be added gradually. I'm hoping they will become a sort of reference library where you can check out any techniques used in my patterns. I know some people like to have the tutorial right on the page in the pattern, but other customers find this makes the pattern unnecessarily long, so hopefully this will be a good compromise.

If you have any suggestions as to what to include in the tutorials, please let me know. 

At present the photos of the patterns link to my Etsy website, but I could easily change the links to other platforms that I sell on if I wanted or needed to.

After wrestling with all that technology, I'm really looking forward to a bit of time relaxing with my knitting!

Tiny Knitted Bunting - a Free Pattern

 I am taking part in the 100 Day Challenge over on my LoveFibres Instagram page. I have challenged myself to knit something very small, or part of something very small every day for 100 days.

I shall have to cheat a little on this as today is Day 1 and it goes right on up to 27th July. I shall be on holiday and have family staying before it ends so I intend to stockpile my progress reports so I can post them in groups when I can't commit to a daily routine.
My necessity these have to be very small items. Im thinking tiny toys, finger puppets, egg cup cozy etc (if you have any ideas, let me know!). I shall probably also knit some squares for a little blanket.
For today which was Day 1 I started on a high and knit some tiny bunting. I have put the instructions in a PDF which you can download from Dropbox HERE

The pennants are about 2" wide,  2.5" deep and take just 4 metres of yarn each.

I think the best thing about them is that they have eyelets at the top and are threaded onto bakers twine. This way, if you want a different size bunting, or a different colour combination, then you just re-thread them to suit the new location.

The next 99 days will not be so adventurous, but if you want to follow my progress, it's on my @LoveFibres Instagram page.

Some Liberty Scrap Busting

Hello! I hope you've had a very happy Easter break.
Despite the wet and windy weather, I spent as much time as I could digging my new allotment. I've only just taken it on and its thrown all my plans haywire. I didn't expect to reach the top of the waiting list this year, and when I got it,  it was in a serious state of neglect!
It's probably a good thing that it rained as much as it did. Otherwise I would be incredibly sore from digging by now.
When I wasn't busy digging I was having a really rather lovely play with some Liberty fabrics and paper mache shapes in my craft room.
I keep even the tiniest scraps of fabric and they were the perfect choice for these Easter eggs and bunny.
The papier mache shapes were bought from my local Hobbycraft store and I used regular PVA glue to attach the scraps. They were all odd sized pieces, and very small.  I cut down larger fabric scraps to about 1" (2.5cm). Around the top and base of the eggs they were even much smaller than that.

Once completely covered I let the eggs and bunny dry for a while and then checked them over, applying more glue if any little edges had escaped the glue treatment.
The correct name for this type of craft is decoupage.
It was lovely to work so closely with the small squares of Liberty prints, seeing all the tiny details which you sometimes miss when sewing something larger.

I also love how, quite by chance, the rabbit appears to have an eye! He hasn't,  it's just how the pattern  of the fabric falls. But it's quite uncanny that it was totally unplanned and yet happened on both sides of the rabbit!

Of course, this beautiful way of using up those small scraps of fabric isn't just restricted to Easter. You can buy all sorts of different papier mache shapes to cover - hearts, small trinket boxes, initials and a whole host of other animal shapes, both large and small.

I may end up with some Liberty print in every room at this rate!

I hope you had a Happy Easter too!

Quick and Easy Bobble Hat - A Free Pattern

As often happens, this week didn't turn out the way I planned!

I arrived back from a month in Toronto just a week ago. What a wonderful month that was! I was there to visit my new grandson and his very proud mum and dad. Oh dear! I am missing all those baby cuddles right now!

On arriving home I dived into my yarn stash with the idea of knitting something for the baby. I pulled it all out and decided that it definitely needed to be culled and organised.

My son  and his wife follow my beliefs in using natural, organic yarns where possible and in order to buy more yarn, I needed to use up some of the old stuff first.

I decided to use a bag of super chunky weight yarn to make some charity hats.

These are just a few of the ones I've made so far.

I'm going to send them to Knit For Peace. Although it's almost Spring I'm sure they will be welcomed  for refugees.

As usual I made up the pattern to suit my needs. 

I've written up the pattern to share with you. It gives instructions for three sizes:

3 - 6 yrs

6 yrs - teen

Adult

I've given instructions for both knitting in the round and knitting flat. Choose whichever is your preferred method. 

You can get the Dropbox link HERE

I was working on the pattern yesterday over a cup of tea when an interesting conversation with my adult son ensued.

He asked what I was making and I said "A hat with a pompom". He said "Oh, you mean a bobble hat" 

"Yes, I suppose I do" I replied.

So I started to wonder which name I should give to the pattern. Hat with Pompom or Bobble Hat?

In the end I decided that he was probably right, but I would love to know which term you would use. Pleased let me know. I might end up changing it!

So, a week ago I thought I was knitting baby clothes. About 7 charity hats and plenty of pattern writing later, I now have a smaller stash, and yes, I think I can justify a little baby yarn purchase, don't you!

All Snuggled Up

Here is my new grandson, Oscar at 3 1/2 weeks old, all snuggled up in the entrelac baby blanket that I knitted.

Entrelac is a really easy technique that creates a textured diamond pattern. The basketweave effect is actually created by knitting squares facing in opposite directions. Once you've got the base row of triangles sorted, you only work on a few stitches at any one time (in this case, just 10 stitches) and it is nicely repetitive, in a good sort of way, so you don't have to keep referring back to the pattern. It makes an ideal project to knit whilst watching TV.

The pattern is available from Love Knitting as well as my Etsy and Craftsy shops. (links in the sidebar)

Oscar's blanket was knit in an organic double knit cotton, which sadly is no longer available, but if you want to make it using similar colours try Sublime Baby Cashmerino in Pebble, Cuddle, Gooseberry and Vanilla.

You could also go completely scrappy of course, and use up some stash!