Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

The Arnall-Cullifords are running again

Following in the family tradition, my brother-in-law, Ed Culliford is running the Brighton Marathon on 12th April 2015 in aid of NSPCC. Ed is a very knitworthy brother-in-law - and has been the recipient of a few pairs of hand-knitted socks.

Ed's siblings, Fiona, William and Jim have all run the London Marathon, as has Ed's wife, Charlie. This year Ed is taking up the challenge, and some have suggested that I'm next in the marathon-running-firing-line. Ahem. I don't think so!!

The NSPCC is an amazing charity. They are fighting to end child abuse in the UK, and as such they are a charity very near to our hearts. If you can spare a pound or two, please help Ed on his way. And maybe if I can keep persuading knitters to support runners, I won't need to run a marathon myself!

To donate, simply head over to Ed's Just Giving page.

FO: POP! cardigan

See?! I'm steaming through these projects, finishing things left, right and centre!!

This is a teeny tiny 3-6 month old baby cardi, which I've knitted for the first child of a very old friend. One of those friends we played in the road with as kids. We've not been in touch that much of late, but a little one arrived at just the right point in my knitting, and this cute little cardigan just sort of slipped off my needles!

The design is the POP! cardigan by Rachel Atkinson (aka Knittingtastic), and I've made mine using just two 50g balls of King Cole Merino Blend DK. The yarn is just lovely - affordable, soft, and pleasingly rounded. It is a great match to this pattern - the superwash-ness is perfect for a baby cardigan, and the stitch definition is fantastic in the garter stitch yoke and edgings. And did I mention before, it knitted up REALLY quickly?!

I had spotted these lovely red rocket buttons on the Textile Garden Instagram feed a few days before I finished the cardi, so I was delighted to realise that they were exhibiting at Unravel. I have visited Unravel 3 times now, and it's a really lovely yarn show. There was so much inspiration to be had! Not to mention all the lovely people I bumped into. But that's for another post...

As well as being super-cute, these buttons were particularly perfect for this cardigan, as the rockets remind me of the Tintin story, Destination Moon, a book I'm fairly sure my friend enjoyed as a kid. The rockets are perhaps more similar to the Wallace and Gromit rocket from A Grand Day Out, or maybe they are a hybrid between the two... My memory is going hazy...

If you know someone who's expecting, then I'd highly recommend this little cardigan. It's a fun knit!

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the POP! Cardigan for free, after I provided Rachel with a picture of my favourite Christmas bauble. I also work with Rachel from time to time. It's still a great pattern, and I would happily have paid for it.

FO: Wee Levenwick

This monogamy thing is magic!

I finished off my Wee Levenwick cardigan last week, and it sat for a few days without buttons, as I had a feeling that I would find the perfect match at Unravel. Wee Levenwick is a kids' version of Levenwick, both designs for Brooklyn Tweed by Gudrun Johnston. I've had the great pleasure of working for Gudrun a few times, and I love her pattern writing, and design aesthetic.

This cardigan was lovely to knit. It's worked from the top down, and I just flew through it (once I'd cast off the other bits I had been working on). The New Lanark Aran was just as lovely to knit with as ever - I've got a ball or two over, which I have a plan for as well...

I noticed as I sewed on the final buttons that I'd done the pocket the wrong way round. The main part of the pocket should be reverse stocking stitch, whereas I've done it in stocking stitch. Hey ho. One of those things that makes my project unique - the joy of handmade. :)

As I expected, the Textile Garden stand at Unravel was pure button heaven. I found buttons for this project, as well as for another little cardi, which I'll show you tomorrow. And I may also have stashed a few more button sets, while I was at it!

Granny George's Welsh Cakes

We had guests on Friday, so I grabbed a pot of cake mixture out of the freezer and baked up a batch of Welsh Cakes. Having batches ready for a quick and delicious treat is such a help on a busy day! As you can see, they don't last for very long!

A few people had asked about the recipe and I thought I had posted it to the blog before, but a search didn't uncover it, so I promised to write it up. And on a second look in the food and drink category... there it was! Granny George's Welsh Cake Recipe

Enjoy!

Giveaway winner

Thank you all for your entries into the alpaca shawl kit giveaway! It has been the half-term holiday here, hence the lull in posts. We've been busy having fun!

I so enjoyed reading the comments on the giveaway post. In the end, I couldn't pick a winner (so many made me smile!), so I used the trusty random number generator...

And the generator picked Vivianne, who said:

Love that yellow sweater, such a burst of sunshine in this weather; I'm sure your friend will love it :)

Check your inbox Vivianne... There's a message on its way.

I've been on a finishing spree, so look out for more posts this week! In the meantime, happy knitting!

FO: Alva Sweater

So far this monogamous thing is really working for me! In the space of just 4 days, I knitted a kids sweater. From start to finish. In just 4 days! Here I am having cast on on Thursday evening...

A kind friend sent me two balls of the lovely deep blue Alafoss Lopi, as well as a ball of Orange in the same yarn. I had been skimming through Ravelry looking for projects using just a small amount of this yarn. I wasn't too keen to make a hat (I have far more of those than I need!), and I stumbled upon this beautiful project: Purpurschnecke's Justus I loved the colours she had used and could quickly see that all I would need was a ball of cream Alafoss Lopi. I downloaded the free pattern (Alva by Maria Vangen), ordered the extra ball of yarn from Meadow Yarn (great service) and set straight to work.

By Saturday morning, I had a body, and I was well on the way to two sleeves!

Lopi knits up far more quickly than sock yarn... who knew?! Well I did of course! But it's been such a long time since I knitted anything more chunky than socks, that it was a lovely surprise. When I started knitting, I quickly learned that knitting would be a very expensive hobby if I didn't switch to finer yarns. So for many years I have mostly knitted with 4ply. But since the kids arrived, my knitting time has been drastically cut, so I can now indulge in some chunkier knits without bankrupting myself, and it's proving very satisfying!

Here's the sweater blocking on Sunday evening, after a pleasant day of knitting at a chess tournament! 

And last night I finished it off with a "Hand knitted with love" label. I embarked on this project without a definite recipient in mind. The pattern was only in one size - for a 3 year old - and thus too small for any of our kids. It was just something I had to make. It was the perfect project and yarn combination and I was powerless to resist! I think I've found its owner, but we need to try it on.

In the meantime, I'm working hard on the next kids jumper. I'm still surprised at how quickly it's going!

FOs: Snawheid and Dave socks (and notes on knitworthiness)

When you just knit on one thing, it's amazing how much more quickly you finish it! I managed to churn out the plain socks in just over 3 weeks. That's far more impressive than the 6 months it took me to make my Betula socks - simply down to polygamy of projects...

Here they are, blocking on my steel sock blockers (I got mine from Loop), and hanging on the curtain rail in the living room. I used the Dave sock pattern from Rachel Coopey's new book, Coop Knits Socks vol 2. I will tell you more about the book in a future post, as I had the pleasure of editing it, hence the head start on knitting from the pattern.

You may remember that I was knitting these for a very special teacher. And actually, they aren't the only thing I've knitted for this teacher. Just before Christmas I knitted up a Snawheid (by Kate Davies) for her as well. Here's a picture of it blocking, before I added a fluffy TOFT alpaca pompom to it:

I regularly get asked to knit things for people, and I almost always say no. I tend to explain that knitting is like sex - if I love you it's free, but if I don't there's no amount you could pay me to do it!

So how is it that this teacher has ended up with two lovely projects in such a short space of time? Well, she has gone above and beyond, and repeatedly proved herself to be thoroughly knitworthy. How did she do that? First up, she didn't ask. I wanted to make something for her, and we chatted about what she might like (I threatened to knit something hideous if she didn't provide some pointers!!). She was very respectful of the amount of time it takes to knit a gift. Many people assume that it's quick. It really isn't (as I'm sure most of you know!). She has been a very important person to our family. She helped me to grow in confidence as a parent, and she goes above and beyond to ensure that our kids are as happy as possible at school. We really couldn't have asked for a better teacher, and as such I wanted to thank her in the most meaningful way I could. I don't know of a better way that this. As a knit recipient she has also aced it on all levels - I see her wearing them. Daft I know, but I get a sense of loss when I give away a project I've enjoyed making. I don't expect people to wear things I've made when we're meeting up, just to prove they wear them, but it is lovely to see those projects again, and to know they are being enjoyed (and not languishing in a drawer waiting for BEST).

So there we go. Two projects in just a few months for a really special teacher. Who do you knit for? And why?