Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

Spinning!

Way back in the mists of time, when this blog was all shiny and brand new, I did a little bit of spinning. It was a short-lived interest, as I didn't have the desire to practise enough to actually get good at it. Fast-forward to December, and the friend who lent me the wheel returned from her travels, and I spent a crazy week spinning up the other half of that lovely BabyLongLegs fibre.

The results sat on the side for a couple of months as I wasn't that happy with some of the thicker, less-twisted parts of the two skeins. Finally, I soaked and banged them around a bit on the recomendation of a friend, and they look much better! They are nowhere near to how lovely they would be if spun by someone who really knew what they were doing, but I'm happy enough to knit them up for my own use. I'm thinking about using the Lava cowl from the latest issue of The Knitter as inspiration. It's a lovely simple design by Eline Oftedal, and uses bands of reverse stocking stitch, so there's nothing to distract from the yarn.

Here's a close-up to give you more of an idea of its texture.

The fibre was lovely to work with, and I have about 200m of worsted weight yarn to play with.

I don't think that I'll be a proper spinner any time soon, as the wheel I borrowed just sat in the corner for most of the year that I had it. I would rather be knitting or sewing and at the moment, there isn't time for everything.

Yet another quilt top

So, I really need to get on and baste the quilt tops that are already finished... But that hasn't stopped me from starting a new one... or two!

While I was staying with Susan a fortnight ago, we spent some time sewing as a break from making all-singing, all-dancing spreadsheets. Or rather, I sewed, and she pinned and organised for me. It was brilliant, and I whizzed up 12 nine-patch squares in a very short space of time.

On my return home, I chopped up the nine-patches ready to make yet another disappearing nine-patch quilt. This pair of tops will be for some of the new arrivals that are due any day now. The fabrics are all from Millie Moon, with the exception of the blue and red hearts fabric which came from the V&A when they were holding the quilts exhibition (Oh look! This very fabric is on offer...).

I promised Susan that I would document what I did with them. So here are the cut pieces all rearranged:

They were then sewed back together to make blocks that are just slightly smaller than the original nine-patches.

At this point I sewed 10 sets before realising that the bobbin thread had run out. D'oh!

But I still ploughed ahead, and having made the blocks, put them together to make two 2x3 arrangements for two good sized cot quilts.

Now all that remains is to add some borders, baste and bind. All the B's that I don't seem to be so keen to do...

I'll just end with another pic of a heap of squares in progress. I love how they look when you're chain piecing.

I hope to get at least one quilt finished over the weekend, so watch out for finished shots some time next week!

Working my way through Plenty

I just can't seem to stop making recipes from Plenty... Belinda, you've got a lot to answer for!

The Sunday before I went on my travels we had a friend from church over for lunch, and the Fried Leeks seemed like an ideal starter.

The title doesn't sound that appealing, but they were completely delicious! You make a crème fraîche sauce with spring onions, capers and some other bits, as well as red peppers in a sweet vinegar marinade, and then serve them with leeks that you've egged and crumbed before frying. This starter was just mouthfuls of flavour. Absolutely wonderful! I'm not very good at the egg and breadcrumbs thing - it never seems to stick and my breadcrumbs aren't "crumby" enough, but it didn't in any way spoil this dish.

Last Sunday we had another friend over for dinner and Jim and I ran a tag-team for baking the Broccoli and Gorgonzola Pie. Oh my goodness! It was so scrumptious that we ate it all before I could take a half-way decent picture of it, so you'll just have to imagine it!

Before I do any more pie cooking, I need to get myself a proper pie dish and perhaps some of those loose-based tart tins too. I made this pie in a springform cake tin and while it worked, it wasn't really ideal. I feel a trip to the massive kitchen shop in Bath coming on... Uh oh!

FO: Kai-Mei Socks

I haven't been knitting socks at quite the rate I used to, so I've paired up 6 designs I want to try, along with 6 sock yarns from my stash, and I'm hoping to work my way through at least 6 pairs this year (there are actually 8 pairs in my sock queue, but I'd like to make 6 of them this year!).

This is the first pair to be finished. The design is called Kai-Mei by Cookie A, and it's found in her lovely book, Sock Innovation (be sure to download the errata from Interweave as there are a few that might catch you out).

The design features this lovely stitch pattern that works its way across your foot. I think it looks a little like foxes heads, doesn't it?

The yarn I used is a Cascade sock yarn that I purchased on a trip to Boston a couple of years ago. I bought it specifically for this pattern, so it hasn't taken me *that* long to get them knitted up!

I made a small modification to the stitch pattern, which I found made it slightly neater for me - following the instructions exactly I was finding that the decreases at each end of the yo 4 times row were getting baggy due to all the excess yarn from the 4 yarnovers. So I swapped a yo 3 times instead in that last row, and it just kept it all a bit neater for me.

I also cast on 72 sts rather than the recommended 66 sts. I generally find that one-sized sock patterns are too tight on my ample ankles, so I always need to tweak them a little. This was particularly easy to tweak. I just worked the extra sts in the 3 by 3 rib, did the heel flap as written (leaving all the extra sts on the instep) and then followed the remaining instructions as written to the toe - working extra decreases at the toe. Simples!

If you look closely, you can see that I'm already getting lots of wear out of these socks, and I might need to make another pair...

You will find all other details about these socks on my Ravelry page: JenACKnitwear's Green Socks

Travels: A pair of yarn shops

I'm back from my journeying, and have news of two lovely yarn shops that I visited. First up is Yarn in Chilwell, Nottingham. We were staying with friends not far from this well-stocked shop, and following a delicious lunch at the Victoria Pub in Beeston (this pub is worth a journey - the food and beer are amazing), I persuaded Jim that it would be rude not to go and check it out.

The lady working behind the counter was just the right combination of friendly and helpful, while leaving us to browse. I had a good old look through the yarn - they stock a very wide range of Rowan yarns, and I was able to fondle some of their newer ranges that I hadn't previously met in person. I hesitate to say that they stock the full range, but they must come pretty close. I was quite restrained though, and only picked up City Retreat - a pattern collection by Martin Storey all using their new Creative Focus Worsted yarn. I love the colours in this range, as well as the wearable shapes of many of the designs in the book. I think I know what I will knit from it, but it might have to wait a few months as I work my way through my queue!

The second shop that we visited was one that we stumbled on completely by accident. I know that this seems unlikely, but it really is true. We were visiting my godmother in Stone, Staffs, and arrived a bit earlier than we had expected. So we parked up in the middle of town and wandered towards some shops, thinking that we would pass a half-hour with a cup of coffee. What should we see as we turned the corner though?

Yes! A small but perfectly formed yarn shop - Yarn Gathering of Stone. Jim's heart must have sunk as he hopefully suggested that perhaps it was shut! Happily it wasn't and we passed the time looking round and chatting to Jeanette, the shop's owner.

Here I gave in and had to purchase some yarn (I had to, really I did!).

I picked up a copy of Ysolda's new book, Saturday Treat, which uses her special colours of Fyberspates Scrumptious Yarns. It's a lovely collection, and there are a few patterns which will make it onto my queue in the coming weeks, I feel sure. As well as the book, I also picked up a ball of sock yarn for socks for Jim. I have a fair amount of sock yarn in my stash, but most of it really isn't suitable for boy socks, so I asked Jim to choose his own. He went for this Regia 4ply which will knit up mostly in blue with little flashes of green every so often. I think it will make some great socks (but maybe not untile Christmas! :-D). Yarn Gathering has a lovely selection to choose from. She has quite a few more unusual yarns, with plenty of Natural Dye Studio, some Artist's Palette, and a good selection of basics from Rico as well. A particular highlight was the wide range of independent designers' patterns. Jeanette has all of Ysolda's books, but also single patterns from the likes of Gudrun Johnston and Alana Dakos. Again, if you are in the area, then this is a shop that's well worth finding.

So, that's it for me little treats from my travels. Have you been to any nice yarn shops recently?

Curiouser QAL: Twelfth Block Diagonals

If you are following this quiltalong, you will have noticed that last week didn't see the publication of a block design. Sadly, Mélanie is going through some major life upheaval, and for a while at least, won't be posting to the quiltalong. I'm a bit in two minds about how to proceed, so I would appreciate some input from those of you who are still sewing...

I intend to make a quilt that is 35 blocks in size, and I've still got a couple of designs up my sleeve. But on my own, I don't think I have enough knowledge, time or creativity to complete the quilt with 35 original blocks. I was given a copy of Modern Blocks for Christmas, so I was wondering about using some of the designs from this excellent book to complete my quilt. In this way, I'm still learning new techniques, but won't have to come up with all of the ideas. This will mean that there aren't pdf tutorial files for each block, but the purchase of the book would get you everything you need if you would like to sew with me. Alternatively, I've considered completing the quilt by making more of the blocks that we've already published.

Over to you for your input! And in the meantime, here is the scheduled post.

This week's design makes two blocks at the same time. Bargain!

You can download the pdf file with full instructions here:  Download 12 Diagonals Tutorial

Or read on for a photo walk-through.

 Materials needed:

• 2 Squares (11 7/8" x 11 7/8") in two contrasting fabrics
• 2 rectangles (2.5" x 10") deliberately larger than needed
• 2 rectangles (2.5" x 13") deliberately larger than needed

Piecing instructions:

Mark the edges of one of the squares to give diagonal lines (see pdf for details of how wide each strip should be - don't look at my ruler below as I had a maths failure when I first sewed mine up!).

Place the second square under the first, and cut through both fabrics together to give 8 diagonal pieces in each fabric.

Carefully pair them up so that each new square will be made from alternating fabrics. Sew the strips together into pairs. Press the seams to one side. Following a recommendation on my quilting weekend, I find that adding a liberal spray of starch before ironing really helps to crispen the pieces and keep them from stretching.

Then sew all the pairs together to make two blocks that will be square once trimmed.

Carefully trim each block to 9.5" square.

Add borders to both blocks, and there you have 2 finished Curiouser blocks!

Please do add pictures of your blocks to our Flickr group, and add a link to the collection below.

FO: Flukra Shawl

I'm slightly in mourning. I finished my Flukra shawl, and I miss knitting on it!

We had some slightly lame snow this afternoon, so took the opportunity to get some apt pictures of this lovely shawl. (Flukra means snow falling in large flakes.)

This was such a satisfying project. It was the perfect combination of great pattern and great yarn.

I worked on the central garter stitch triangle over the Christmas break. It was my mindless knitting in between 1x1 rib while I was chatting with family over the holidays. The garter stitch grew fairly slowly, but I was working on other things at the same time, so it never got to the point where I was bored.

Then came the excitement of the lace pattern. It's a design with lace stitches on both RS and WS rows, and many people put off trying this type of design over fear that it's too difficult, and certainly more difficult than designs where you have a plain knit or purl row between lace rows. I must argue that the reverse is actually true!

Although you can't switch off with a plain row, the rhythm generated by staying in pattern on every row helps to build momentum. On top of that, if you do make an error, you can almost instantly see that the pattern isn't lining up as it should. Thus you only need to tink back part of a row to fix the error (and sometimes no tinking's needed at all - if you've just missed a yarnover, you can pick up the thread between sts to replace it). In the same situation on a lace knitting design (one with patterning on alternate rows), you would need to unpick the whole plain row as well as the partial lace rows.

Flukra's construction kept me interested as I worked. The garter stitch triangle was over before I got bored, and then the lace border was just the perfect length (it only took 4 or 5 evenings to complete), followed by the edging which was just 2 evening's work. I'm sad that it's complete. I need to find a new project that will be just as fulfilling! Maybe I'll head over to The Shetland Trader and check out some more of Gudrun's gorgeous designs...

The lace yarn was also particularly lovely to work with. It's a 100% Blue-Faced Leicester Wool laceweight from Yarnscape, and the shawl used just 55g of yarn. The dyeing is in just my colours, with a tiny bit of variation between blues and teals. It's just enough to add depth, but not enough to distract from the lace pattern. Really, really pretty!

If I wasn't on a stash-down, then I would definitely be buying up some more of Alison's lovely yarns. Sigh. I must stay strong, but you don't need to... :-)

Sewing days

On Wednesday, I took a little break from pattern-editing work, and spent the day sewing with a friend. We had a fabulous day, and it has left me all fired up for more sewing plans!

I worked on a couple of disappearing nine-patch quilt tops. I think that I might be a bit addicted to the simplicity of this design. I've got another pair of quilts planned around it after these...

I started the day with all my fabrics cut into the required 5" squares, and I made 24 of these blocks.

We had all of the things needed for a lovely day spent with a friend - namely cake and plenty of tea/drinks! For lunch we cooked a bean, chorizo and butternut stew, which was so delicious that I finished it off for my dinner!

And by the time Sarah left at 5, I had completed two matching centre panels.

They just need borders, basting and binding now. I'm hoping to have some time to put them together over the weekend, before I get on the road. One of them is promised to an old friend, and the other will be for one of the many new arrivals that are expected over the coming months.

In the evening I made my way around half of the edging on my Flukra shawl, so the end of this lovely pattern is sadly imminent.

Curiouser QAL: Tenth Block Flying Geese Zigzags

This week's block uses another traditional quilting piece - the Flying Geese block. These are then arranged to give a zigzag shape when made up in the right combination of fabrics. Here's the finished block:

The full directions on how to piece this block can be downloaded here:  Download 10 Flying Geese ZigZags Read on for photos of how the block is created.

Materials list:

• 2 squares (5.75" x 5.75") in two contrasting fabrics - can be print or plain
• 8 squares (3 1/8" x 3 1/8") of which there are 4 in each of the same two prints as before (I found that as I was using FQs, I could naturally cut 6 small squares of each fabric from a strip. If you do this, then the 4 spare squares - 2 in each colour - will be used in my block 14 design, so put them to one side...)
• 2 border rectangles (2.5" x 10") deliberately larger than needed
• 2 border rectangles (2.5" x 13") deliberately larger than needed

Piecing instructions:

Draw a diagonal across the wrong side of each of the small squares.

Place two small squares on top of one larger square, in the opposite fabric, with right sides together as shown in the following picture. Trim the corner of the two small squares where they overlap. Pin them down securely.

Sew a quarter inch seam along each side of the diagonal line.

Fold the small squares up against the sewn seams and pin them out of the way. Then place another two small squares on top of the large piece, trim the corners as before, and make sure that the diagonal goes from the top to the bottom corner of the larger square.

Pin securely, and sew a quarter inch seam on each side of the second diagonal line. Then carefully cut along the diagonal line.

Remove the pins and then cut along the original diagonal line to make 4 pieces from the large square.

Now open up the pieces to reveal the Flying Geese blocks.

Repeat the process with the remaining fabric and press all of the blocks open.

Trim off the "dog ears" and any wonkiness, and arrange the blocks according to the following picture, to create the zigzag shape:

Sew the blocks into two strips of 4, and then sew these two rectangles together to create the finished centre of the block.

Add borders as before, and there you have another finished block for the pile!

Please do upload your pictures of your blocks to our Flickr group, and add a link to the collection below.

Cooking...

Last week I received a wonderful parcel from Belinda. She sent me a copy of Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. I had a weekend of over-eating very rich food, and this has been the perfect antidote.

On Monday we had a meeting of team Fyberspates, and I cooked the Soba Noodles with Aubergine and Mango. I added some firm tofu to make it a main dish rather than a starter, and I can't begin to tell you how delicious it was!

Hopefully the picture will convey some of its deliciousness! I made one other modification from the recipe as written. Rather than frying all of the aubergine in a lake of oil, I chopped it and put it under the grill for 10 min or so, and then finished it off in the pan with the tofu (and much less oil!). It was a real delight to eat.

Then yesterday, I whipped up Warm Glass Noodles and Edemame Beans for our dinner. It took me 25 minutes from start to finish, and I hustled out of the door to Stitch n Bitch with a tub of noodle-dinner warm in my hands!

The crummy iPhone picture really isn't doing this any justice, but it was honestly wonderful! I can see that we are going to be eating much more vegetarian food over the coming months, and I'm really excited about it!

In knitting news I have very nearly finished my Flukra shawl. It has been a complete delight to knit from start to finish, and I'm hoping to have some pictures to share at the weekend.

I'll be on the road with work from Monday next week, so blogging might be a bit thin on the ground. I will aim to have a post of two up my sleeve before I leave. Fingers crossed!