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06 February 2017
13 January 2017
12 January 2017
21 November 2016
Dear Intarsia
I am so, so sorry. My most heartfelt of humble apologies.
When we first met, I was a beginner knitter, and I had no idea how difficult my chosen project was. I wanted to make Martin Storey's Allotment Bag (that's the Ravelry page, and there's no photo and no projects...), so I bought all 8 shades of the required yarn (RYC Bamboo Soft), and off I headed. I was working my way through projects, and learning something new with each one. Intarsia, you were my first project in more than one colour, and I couldn't have chosen to make it harder for myself - lots of tiny motifs, a completely non-stretchy, and very slippery yarn. I had no experience of stripes, let alone Fair Isle, so jumping straight in to this intarsia project was (I now realise) a TERRIBLE idea. And it has taken me 10 years to understand that it wasn't your fault. I took grave offence at how impossible it was to make my knitting of that bag look anything approaching tidy. It was one massive uneven mess of yarn, and nothing I did made it better. With my (now well-informed eyes) I can see that even the very-experienced sample knitter struggled to make that bag look reasonable. How was I, with only 4 or 5 knitting projects under my belt, ever going to succeed? I wasn't. But I now realise that wasn't the fault of you, my dear intarsia, and for that I hope you will forgive me. I was young and inexperienced.
So why did things change?
Well, we have this wonderful friend in common, you and I do. She's called Bristol Ivy, and she is something of a knitting designer genius. She created a hap that I NEEDED to make. From the moment I saw the first swatch showing us her idea, I was besotted. I couldn't stop thinking about this clever, and beautiful concept - to use stripes, and a chevron pattern, with a smattering of intarsia to liven things up. I'll admit that when I saw your name, dear intarsia, my heart sank. I feared that my dream of making Bristol's hap would end in tears of frustration and the pieces of my broken heart, as I struggled to create something adequate, let alone as magnificent as Bristol's knitting.
Then everything changed.
I read the pattern, and realised that the work of the intarsia was relatively simple. A few stitches (always the same ones) worked in different colours, with the chevron pattern taking the strain of making interesting shapes. Added to that, my greater understanding of yarn, and I made choices that would help the stitches to behave - wool! It's stretchy, and forgiving! Who knew?? And I took a very deep breath.
Dearest intarsia, you are much-maligned, and I humbly apologise for my part in that. I now understand, that in the right design, and with the right yarn, you can spread the greatest pleasure! You may be slightly less portable than simple stripes or Fair Isle, but you are absolutely totally and utterly worth that small inconvenience. And who doesn't need a project that sits at home, to be enjoyed in front of the TV, or while chatting with friends?
See those stitches on my Harewood Hap? They, are even! And flat! And not a hint of tangling nightmare. Not so much as a rude word was uttered, even once, during the knitting of this beauty. In fact, I didn't want it to end. There's something I NEVER thought I would say. If you are faint of heart, you may wish to turn your head aside for the next photo, as I'm going to show you... gasp... the wrong side of my knitting!
EVEN THAT PART IS PRETTY NEAT! And it's not magic. Or particular talent on my part. It's just that the project, yarn and technique all worked together - pulling in the same direction - rather than being obstacles in each other's paths.
What more can I say? I apologise for all the hurtful things I've ever said about you. And I do hope you'll come and play again soon.
With all good wishes,
Jen (an older, and wiser knitter than when we first met)
P.S. If you would like to have a go at knitting the Harewood Hap from The Book of Haps, then you may find this tutorial video helpful:
07 November 2016
The state of the WIPs (or how it all got out of hand...)
Ahem. There seems to have been something of a proliferation of projects on the go at Arnall-Culliford Towers. It has nothing at all to do with the season. No, nothing at all.
Without further preamble, here's the first out of the massive bag of half-done-stuff:
A Theme and Variation Hap that I started in August and promptly forgot about. I think it's ready to start the first lot of stripe short rows, but I'd have to look more closely to be sure. The yarn is the same madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light that I used last time round, and it's still lovely!
Next up is this year's Woolly Wormhead Mystery Hat KAL. I'm making the beanie version (I think - the recipient hasn't stood still long enough for me to check with her...). I've chosen a new-to-me yarn: Findley DK from Juniper Moon in the delightful orange, Tiger Lily shade. Right out of my colour comfort zone, but strangely coordinating with my project bags and the season! The mystery hat knitalong is always brilliant and I love seeing how the clues unfold. This year I even did the alternate cable cast-on method, which was new to me. As long as I paid attention to what I'd just done (surprisingly hard when tired!), it was a cinch! Thanks for the great directions Woolly!
Having already cast off a Baa-ble Hat (I shall revisit the finished projects in a few days time - there are many to catch up with!), I almost immediately cast on a pair of Baa-ble Mittens. I think that these may well end up being for one of the monkeys as they are fairly small - that may change as the sheep appear and I get too attached to them to give them up. I fully intend to knit the cowl too. In fact I will probably keep making Baa-ble things until there's no more yarn...
Next out of the bag of unfinished stuff, is my Golden Wheat Shawl. Don't laugh. I know I cast this on 5 years ago and it seems like it's never going to get done. But I really have been working on it. I've completed the centre lace. Totally completed it. That's a lot of knitting! And I'm now on the few rounds of garter stitch, before I start the wheat border. There is still a LOT of knitting to do, but if I keep plugging away at it, then one day it might be finished. Perhaps. To celebrate the progress, I've even taken a new photo of it. I'm sure that the progress will blow your minds!
I've done some work on my Puerto Montt shawl from the 2016 Strickmich Club, but not that much, as I managed to leave it at my parents-in-law's house for a few weeks. Still all progress is good, right?
In a fit of impatience, I cast on Alonzo from Rachel Coopey's new book, Socks Yeah Volume 1. These were my favourites from editing the patterns over the summer, and I couldn't wait to get them on my needles. I've gone for an, unusual for me, yellow shade called Sphene, and I'm really enjoying the twisted stitch patterning. I'm working on both socks at the same time, although not on the same needles. I just work one section on the first sock and then do the same on the second. It seems to work well, and although progress seems slow, I shall suddenly be finished and wearing a new pair of socks! (If I don't get too distracted by all these other projects!!)
Thanks to an evening chatting with friends over dinner last week, I got quite a lot of the second of my Dave socks done. I almost always have a plain pair of socks on the go, as they make the best "handbag project" - something that can be whipped out and worked on wherever I am. Although I am feeling rather in need of a project bag that says something like, "NO! I'm not going to knit anything for you." Sigh. I know I knit quite a lot, but I really have limited time to knit, and many more potential recipients than I can possibly knit for, without picking up random re-knitting of much loved jumpers belonging to people I don't know terribly well. Sorry. (I'm sure many of you know what I mean.)
I have a project bag with the yarn wound ready to knit an Extra Warm Men's Scarf by Kyoko Nakayoshi for my brother-in-lawfor that gift-giving opportunity on the horizon that I'm not yet ready to talk about. I've not cast on yet, but it won't be too long. It can't be too long... I'm using some really beautifully soft Juniper Moon Herriot in a deep dark charcoal black colourway. Another new-to-me-yarn that I touched by accident at my local yarn shop, and then couldn't resist!
Finally, at the very bottom of the seemingly-bottomless-bag-of-craft-in-progress is my PINGLEWIN! Which is odd, since this is what I spent most of yesterday working on while I accompanied a kid to a thing. I managed to make legs and join them into body, and it's looking a bit penguin-y, which is pleasing. I am slightly daunted by the many instructions still to come for the wings, beak and tuxedo hoody, but one step at a time, and I'm sure I will get there. It is super-adorable, and is sure to be stolen if I put the project down for too long.
Wow! What a lot of knitting projects! It seems even more now that I've laid them all bare for you to see. Particularly since I'm also committed to making a tree decoration for my knitting group annual swap, as well as an Emma the Bunny which is CROCHET. Yes, me doing crochet, it really is the end of times. I need to get on with that before November is out, as it was one of the things I've always wanted to make. Better get back to making...
21 October 2016
I've Always Wanted To Make A.......
Is there something you’ve always wanted to make, or perhaps a technique you’ve always wanted to try, but have never had the courage to give it a go? What if there was someone else doing the same thing at the same time so you could muddle through together?
Jen has always wanted to make a Pinglewin.
Through November, we’re challenging you to dig out the discarded, the never started, or the vague notion that never materialised into a plan and make something. It doesn’t have to be knitted (whisper that bit quietly), nor should you feel the pressure to finish a project inside a month. The aim is to get you going, even if you end up discarding the project again, although I hope you won’t. There will be a randomly selected prizewinner at the beginning of December.
If I've piqued your interest, there's a Ravelry thread set up for this MAL (it's for making, not just knitting) so you can let everyone know what you'd like to do before the start of November. The idea is that you're not working on your own, but that you'll find someone else with a desire to do something similar so that you can buddy up and cheerlead each other.
So if you’ve never tried stranded colourwork, but always wanted to, or if you have an unopened sewing pattern bought in a fit of optimism, now is the time to say so. I’m sure you won’t be alone.
Please tag your projects #alwayswantedtomake and post to the thread what you’ve always wanted to make. Obviously you shouldn’t set up a Ravelry project page for things that aren’t yarn related, but do post lots of photos on the thread.
17 October 2016
What's in a Number?
Last week, somebody on Twitter posted a link to this table from positiveintegers.org (I really apologise for not making a note of who it was). It was billed as a useful resource for designers because it lists all of the factors of the numbers between 101 and 200 so you know at a glance which numbers of stitches will fit to a particular stitch pattern.
But then it really got me thinking. What if you're working on something with a change in the number of stitches in a repeat. Let's say you have a sweater with a 2x2 rib at the bottom and a 7 stitch body pattern, you can find the number closest to the size you want that will give you both. Similarly if you want to decrease evenly, you can see how many decreases you can make and cross reference against the resulting number of stitches to check whether a second decrease of similar size is possible.
I should have been doing other things, so of course I looked through for the really useful numbers - those with a large number of factors. This was when I discovered something that probably everyone else knows: 168 is a really, really useful number. OK, so it doesn't have 5 or 10 as factors, nor does it have the largest number of factors in the range, but, if we can get over our having 5 fingers on each hand for a minute, it does have plenty to work with (16 in total) and it isn't a number that springs immediately to mind.
So will I be changing how I work out stitch counts? Well, in all honesty, probably not. I'm still firmly wedded to using a spreadsheet for grading as exact numbers of pattern repeats (particularly for larger numbers of stitches) don't always give the right interval between sizes and cross referencing is much quicker. I will however bookmark it as a starting point when looking to combine two stitch patterns.
Geeky mind dump over.
15 October 2016
PictureThisKAL Prizes
We are into the final weekend of the PictureThisKAL.
Get your photos of your finished objects onto the FO thread before midnight on Monday night and you could be in with the chance of winning one of these brilliant prizes.
Will you be lucky and win a Funyin kit from Kate Davies?
This graphic hat was inspired by John Clappison's 'onion' cruet design for Hornsea pottery (1963). Combining colourwork with cables, it is also a fun knit. During the design process, onion became fun-ion, which in turn morphed into funyin, which translates from Scots as one-that-is-fun or that-fun-thing.
The kit includes two skeins of Buachaille yarn, a digital download of the patterns and a project bag to keep everything in.
The other prize is a digital download of the KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook. This is perhaps perfectly matched with the inspiration behind this KAL. Whereas we asked you to knit something based upon a photo, this book takes you through a process to produce your own colourwork motifs from everyday objects or views.
Containing twelve case studies and three accessory patterns, the KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook offers a wealth of tips, tricks and inspiration for you to take your stranded colourwork knitting to the next level. Beautifully photographed and clearly illustrated throughout, this book reveals how everything from factories to fruitcake can be used to inspire knitting projects based on the things, places and plants that you love.
We are hugely grateful to Kate and Felix for donating the prizes and to all of the knitters who have shared their inspirations and projects from start to finish. The lucky winners will be announced on the Prizes thread next week, so if you want to be in with a chance, get your needles going!
14 October 2016
A Shetlander's Fair Isle Graph Book
A few weeks ago, the postman delivered a book from Shetland. Jen remarked, "The Wool Week Annual is bigger this year - that's a bit of a surprise," then opened the package. It wasn't the Shetland Wool Week Annual, but something a little different (the Wool Week Annual arrived a couple of days later and more on that another time!).
A Shetlander's Fair Isle Graph Book in Colour consists of reproductions of two notebooks from the second quarter of the 20th Century. These originally belonged to Bill Henry who was in charge of the Hosiery (Knitwear) Department at Anderson & Co. of Lerwick through the middle of the last century.
Carole Christiansen's introduction gives a great insight into the knitting industry in Shetland and really sets the scene for why what follows is a little special. Usually, if charts were drawn, their purpose was to give the knitter an idea of how the colours should change, rather than which colours to use. What sets these notebooks apart is that they have been fully coloured in, that is directing the knitter to colour choice as well as pattern.
What fascinates me about this book is the air of mystery over who actually drew the charts and what the purpose of the charts was. Is this a record of Fair Isle motifs that Bill had seen coming in from the local knitters, or were they produced by him, or someone for him, to direct knitters to a particular pattern, or a combination of both? Whatever the truth this is an important record of how external influences affected design through the period of the books, from the inclusion in the earliest pages, and thereafter absence, of swastikas to the appearance of Norwegian styles through the 1940s.
The big draw of this book is obviously the huge number of Shetland colourwork patterns to use within your own knitwear, but I think it is more than just that, so if you have an interest in the development of knitting, or are looking for a reference for colourwork, then this is a must-have book.
A Shetland's Fair Isle Graph Book was produced by the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers and is published by The Shetland times. It is available from The Shetland Times bookshop and is priced at £20.
Disclaimer: We received a review copy of the Shetlander's Fair Isle Graph Book free of charge from The Shetland Times. We have not received any other payment for this review, and are sharing it because we think it's a great book!
29 September 2016
New Design: East Woodlands
I just couldn't stop thinking about those tucks. The delight of them flowing from ribbing to tuck! The satisfaction of the stitches working in just the right ways. And then it occurred to me that they could work from ribbing to stocking stitch... Or indeed from stocking stitch to ribbing...
Which lead me on to thinking about garments.
My mind pondered the options, and I mused on yokes. The incredible palette of Felted Tweed shades was still firmly imprinted on my mind, following working on my Nut-Hap for The Book of Haps. This time the colours wandered on from birds, to their habitats. We adore muddy woodland walks! There are some fantastic places for a good Sunday afternoon leg-stretch around here: Alfred's Tower, Vallis Vale and out at East Woodlands.
On my way home from an inspiring stay with Kate in Scotland, I sketched up the sweater I wanted. I don't often draw my ideas, as I'm a bit rubbish at it, but on this occasion not only did I sketch it, but I even coloured it in. It helped me to crystallise the look I was aiming for: A long-line sweater to keep my hips warm on damp autumn days. Bands of colourful tucks around the yoke, and some short-row shaping to raise the back neck.
Having rifled through my stash of Rowan Felted Tweed, I settled on a combination of watery blue for cuffs, neck and hem, with greens and a purple which spoke of leaves and the peeping out of woodland flowers. The background colour is Pine - a gorgeous deep green that sits brilliantly with the other shades, thanks to the multitude of tweed flecks of different colours.
My incredibly brilliant friend and sample knitter, Kim helped out with the knitting as I was swamped with other projects, and before we knew it, the sweater was complete. We chose to photograph it out in the picturesque village of East Woodlands, just outside Frome. There is some wonderful deciduous woodland, just adjacent to the village church of St Katharine's, and despite the pouring rain, Jesse Wild captured exactly the woody feel I was hoping for!
We've already published a series of video tutorials over on our YouTube channel, that will assist you in working the tubular cast on, and various tuck techniques, and they are explained in full in the pattern instructions. The pattern has also been tech edited by Jim (VeufTricot).
You can purchase the pattern over on Ravelry for £5.50, and as a thank you for your loyalty, if you have previously purchased at least one of my patterns, you will automatically receive a 25% discount on the pattern price (this should show up in the pattern basket, no code required). The loyalty offer ends two weeks today, on Thursday 13th October 2016.
For full sizing specifications (it goes from 81.5-127cm [32-50in] bust), yarn quantities and all sorts of other useful information, please visit Ravelry: East Woodlands
Or you can just click the buy now button East Woodlands, £5.50: 
It wouldn't be a photoshoot without an amusing out-take, so here's what happened when Jim gave me a nice big stick to hold...
I'm not sure that it really added anything to the shot! :D
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All photos © Jesse Wild; Sketch © Jen Arnall-Culliford
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