Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

Woah Woolfest!

Wowzers, what a Woolfest. It was the most fabulous weekend, but it has taken me a few days to catch up with sleep and work that were neglected while I was away. There will be a flurry of blog activity now, but then I am expecting to be pretty quiet again while I'm away in France for the show in Lot and some R&R in Marseille afterwards. I hope to get in a lot of knitting time though.

Woolfest was completely non-stop. We set up the Fyberspates stand on Thursday afternoon, and then sold all day Friday and Saturday before packing up and driving back down to Chester. We were so overwhelmed by the reaction to the book, that it's actually quite hard to describe it in words. Check out the slightly stunned look on my face as I open yet another package of books!

Selling on the Fyberspates stand at Woolfest (thanks to Nic for the pic).

We christened the new stand set-up arrangement, and it seemed to make it really easy to keep track of all the different shades of Scrumptious. I must say that it is incredibly hard work to be surrounded by such beautiful yarn and not buy it all for myself!!

Lots of lovely Fyberspates yarn to fondle.

I just end up telling myself that none of it is for sale - it's just for looking at like some type of modern art installation. However, in the little bit of time that I had wandering the other stands with Amanda and Lily (France from the book super-team), I succumbed to a few treats for myself. It wouldn't be a trip to a show if I didn't buy anything would it?

Knit by Numbers from Fibre Harvest.

First up is this irresistible 100% merino DK yarn from John and Juliet Arbon at Fibre Harvest. It's called Knit by Numbers and starting with solid dyed tops, the yarn is spun with increasing amounts of white fibre to give this beautiful graduated effect. I think there are more than 50 shades already, with more planned. I can't wait for the greens... I had to rein myself in from sticking with my usual teal. Everyone has assured me that this yellow palette really suits me, so it's a new dawn here at the A-C household, who knows what might be next. Tea drinking? Or eating sprouts? Eughh no thanks, just knitting with yellow for now.

A little fabric and some silk.

One of the stalls that really sucked me in for a good look was Cocoon. I adore my Japanese knitting pattern books, and love Habu yarns, so it was a great stand for me. I gave in and went back for my cheque book so that I could purchase some Habu silk and these pretty fat quarters. It's probably very good for the bank balance that they didn't take cheques or I might have really fallen down a Habu rabbit hole. I must have enough fabric for a house-sized quilt by now! Better get sewing.

Dazzle sock from The Natural Dye Studio.

Lastly for the photos is some squishy Dazzle Sock from The Natural Dye Studio. Along with a group of friends we are knitting a blanket for another friend. I'm quite certain she doesn't read the blog, but just in case I'm going to leave it pretty vague. I already had 6 hanks of this lovely Bluefaced Leicester yarn in my stash, so I just wanted to top it up with another couple of hanks to ensure we had enough for a lovely big, snuggly blanket. Hmmm, the yellow reminds me of trousers.

My final purchase was some handspun faux-cashmere from Daniela Klopmann. This is all wrapped and ready for a SnB friend. She wasn't at knitting on Tuesday, so I'm hoping I might bump into her at the pub tomorrow.

Phew - a long post. Congratulations on getting to the bottom. Tomorrow's won't be quite as long, but I have got a few lovelies stored up to share with you...

Finally Finished

I finally got pictures of the finished crochet scarf! The weather has been totally rubbish, so I've made do with a picture from our Saturday morning trip to La Strada (it's June and I'm wearing layers and layers of clothes!).

White chocolate mocha at La Strada with my new scarf.

For the detail lovers amongst us, the scarf is made following Lisa Richardson's Frances design, which is found in the Rowan Winter Kids pamphlet. You can purchase a copy from a local yarn shop or online here from Laughing Hens. The pattern was written for kids, but it's a scarf, so totally fine for adults too. If you have enough yarn (which I didn't), you could keep hooking and make as many squares as you like. The suggested yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed (which I actually have quite a lot of...), but I made mine from Koigu KPPPM, which I purchased from the Loop stand at Knit Nation last year. The shades are P100, P826, P214 and 1233. There are also a few rounds done in scraps from other projects (I have no idea what the shades are as they were given to me without tags). I really loved the yarn, and would definitely work with it again. I really like this type of high twist 2ply construction. It's bouncy to knit (or crochet) with, and forgiving of a bit of unevenness. I've ravelled the project here: JenACKnitwear's crochet scarf.

As someone who doesn't usually pick variegated yarns, this worked really well for me. I usually struggle with too much variation in colour, but in this project it just works. The fact that the rounds in each colour are short really helps I think.

I love how the finished scarf looks, but I won't be doing any more crochet for a while. I found that my wrist got sore quite quickly while I was working, and I really loathe sewing ends in. I'm sure that there are plenty of projects where neither of these things would be problematic, but I craft to enjoy myself, and I just didn't enjoy most of this project. You live and learn, I guess.

Where has summer gone?

All it has done is rain here for more than a fortnight. The winter duvet is back on the bed and we have had the fire on more than I would like. It's June for goodness sake!

I'm pleased that the garden still thinks it's summer, even if I don't. These asiatic lilies survived the lily beetle infestation, and are now looking glorious.

Come back sunshine! We miss you.

Saturdays in Frome

There's nothing more pleasing to me than a relaxing Saturday pottering around Frome. Last weekend Nora joined me for a visit, and we hooked up with Jen and Cathy for some knitting at La Strada...

We swung by the Black Swan Arts and were taken with some lovely knitted items including this amazing dress (Inferno knitted dress made in lambswool by Elisabeth Hamlyn).

And after lunch (with yummy bits from the Farmer's Market), we headed off for a walk round Stourhead - truly one of my favourite places. We were lucky enough to avoid the rain and the hoards of visitors as we didn't arrive until late in the afternoon. It was blissful.

I love the look of the uncut grass on this side of the house. It's just pretty. Today it's pouring with rain, so I think that the sewing machine is calling me for an afternoon of finishing the wedding present quilt.

The thrill of the new project

I've been oh so very, very good that I finally rewarded myself last night with a knitting treat.

I'm loving knitting soothing garter stitch in beautiful Shilasdair Luxury 4ply (cashmere, angora, lambswool - what's not to love?!). It's a blanket for my recently arrived nephew, and I'm planning something interesting for the edging. But in the meantime, it's a lot of garter stitch. The project is on Ravelry here.

Baby blanket in Shilasdair 4ply.

Since finishing the crochet shawl (it keeps raining, photos will come eventually!), I also needed something a little more interesting on my needles. Some months back (April?) I was slow off the mark with a friend's birthday, so I offered her pictures of some skeins from my stash and an IOU of knitting her a scarf or shawl. She chose a delicious skein of Twinkle from Easyknits and requested a small shawl to keep her neck warm under the violent air conditioning at work.

Caricia by Anne Hanson.

It has take a while for me to plough through the other works in progress, but now that this is on my needles, I think it will be finished pretty quickly! It's completely addictive (my project is on Ravelry here). I've chosen the Caricia shawl by Anne Hanson. It seemed appropriate, since I purchased it after the same friend did a class with her at Knit Nation last year, and have been meaning to knit it for ages. I haven't done any proper lace for a while, so this is a real treat. I've also told myself that once this is done, the next WIP to get some concerted effort (though probably not true fidelity!) will be my Golden Wheat Shawl. I know I've said that before and still no progress has been made, but this time is different...

Show travels

I've got a busy few weeks ahead...

I'm heading up to Woolfest from Wednesday next week to help Jeni with the Fyberspates stand. If you are coming to the show, please do come and say hello! I went to Woolfest 2 years ago, in my early days on The Knitter, and I absolutely loved it. It's a proper "sheepy" show with loads of goodies for knitters, weavers, dyers, spinners and more. Lily, Amanda and Nic are all coming too, so it will be a proper book reunion. I anticipate some giggling...

Then I'm home for a few days before Jeni and I head off to Lot in France for a new show called Le Lot et La Laine.

I haven't had the opportunity to speak much knitting French, so I'm really looking forward to this trip. Ysolda's going to be there, as well as Rowena from Nova Steel (follow that link at your peril - she makes beautiful shawl pins), and I'm sure that there will be many new friends to be made.

As if that wasn't enough, we are then straight back to London for some Knit Nation action. Jeni and I will both be there as punters, so we're really looking forward to having time to chat and catch up with people without worrying about work. Can't wait! There's even a charity bingo night in aid of Refuge - I've never tried bingo before, but everything is fun with a healthy dose of knitters, right?

In the meantime, I guess I ought to get a bit more work done, and spend some time with Jim. He won't remember what I look like by the end of July if I'm not careful!

I want to help you...

I'm not just an IAMS cat, I'm good at charts too...

I seem to have developed a constant companion. He wants to help with every aspect of work this week, and if I don't pay him enough attention, he gets grumpy. Sadly when Scooter gets grumpy he expresses it with claws and teeth.

Must go and find the water spray...

On the cover!

It doesn't seem like 4 weeks since I blogged about my designs in last month's Simply Knitting (it probably isn't... nearly though!). I was very, very, very excited to learn that my Murcott design for The Scrumptious Collection volume 1 (Fyberspates) had been chosen for the main cover design. Having worked on magazines, I know how much time and care is taken in choosing the cover, so it really means a lot to me to have my design chosen. I love the dress that they have teamed it with - nice work guys!

Simply Knitting Issue 82, July 2011 (on sale 14th June).

The gift this month is another really nice one - a pouch containing everything you need to make a flower brooch - either knitted or crochet. Kirstie McLeod has done a lovely skirt design that's perfect for wearing over leggings. I never thought I would wear leggings again, but I must admit to having a few pairs for wearing under dresses and skirts like this. The Refuge Comfort Blanket campaign launches too. I will blog more about that in coming weeks, never fear! And then there's another little bonus design from me too...

Slouchy beret with matching crochet flower.

Don't all fall off your stools and spray your drinks everywhere, that last sentence did indeed include the word crochet. I designed this little button beret with a matching crochet flower brooch earlier in the year (before the crochet scarf killed me off!). It's just a little Quick and Easy design using Sirdar Snuggly Smiley Stripes (2 balls is enough for hat and brooch), but I think Nicola makes it look lovely, don't you (she works on CrossStitcher - they're a talented bunch too!)?

As soon as Jim and I are in the same place with a little bit of spare time, when it's not raining, we will take some pictures of the finished crochet scarf. I'm now madly garter stitching on the baby blanket for nephew James...

It might be boring but it works

Well, I know I moaned about the boredom of fidelity earlier this week... And apologies to friends at knitting on Tuesday, as I moaned there in person too. However, it does work!

 Progress has been made.

I've now got a 3x9 strip of squares for my crochet scarf, so I'm only 9 squares from being finished. Can I have a whoop, whoop please?

I'm going to keep working in 3s across the end now, so that if the yarn runs short, I can just stop. I've been weighing the yarn as I go, and it should hold out, but it's going to be tight. I'm not planning to work this weekend (first time in a month), so I should finish up. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Needles out for Age UK

Tomorrow is World-Wide Knit in Public day (WWKIP). Most of the time it feels like every day is WWKIP day for me. I've never been shy about getting my needles out - public transport, cafés, restaurants, pubs, gardens and even in church. Not everyone shares my need to knit anywhere and everywhere though, so it's nice to have a day when we can all come out and do it together. There will be knitting at the library in Frome, as well as outside Marmalade Yarns, and I will probably have needles on show at the farmer's market and La Strada as well. So the question is, what to knit?

The perfect project for knitting in public.

Well, tomorrow is the launch day for the annual Age UK fundraiser - the innocent big knit. It's a simple idea. Just knit as many little hats as you can, and send them to innocent. Innocent then gives 25p for each hat to Age UK, thus helping to combat fuel poverty amongst the elderly. They have a target of £160,000 to raise this year, and every little hat helps. The hats then get sold on smoothie bottles in November.

Striped hat for Age UK.

The hats can be plain, striped like this one, or you can go as wild as you like! There are patterns available online from Ravelry, and later there will be all sorts of interesting patterns available from innocent's website here: Innocent big knit.

This is one of my favourite patterns - a fabulous pineapple!

Pineapple hat.

The pattern for this hat can be downloaded from Ravelry here: Innocent Big Knit Pineapple.

Whatever you do tomorrow - have fun! And if you have a little bit of DK yarn hanging around, why not knit a hat? I might just try to finish my crochet before casting on... I'm nearly there!