Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

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!

Letting Go and a Giveaway

I think this is all part of my winter need to clear the decks, but I've said goodbye to a few things recently. I gave away a juicer that had been gathering dust in the kitchen. I sent off a bag of 4ply yarn leftovers to someone who would make better use of them. And today I'm posting away the yellow jumper.

 

Perhaps it's the colour, or maybe something else, but I fell out of love with this project. And I'm not going to force myself to finish it just because. So instead it's winging its way to a friend who will both finish and wear it. That makes me happy.

I'm also looking to get rid of a knitting kit that's been in my stash for more than 5 years. It's a beautiful kit of 4 balls of 100% brushed suri alpaca from Frog Tree yarn, along with a pattern for the Lingering Doubts Shawl. The yarn is 4ply weight, and a deep pink/red colour. There's no good reason why I've not made it. I have just not got round to it, and now 4ply projects (apart from socks) just seem like too much of an undertaking.

If you would like this knitting kit (as pictured), just leave me a comment to make me smile, and I will choose from the replies I get when the comments close, two weeks from today. Please only enter once per person. I'm happy to send the kit anywhere in the world. No alternative prize is available.

That's all for now. I hope you're all enjoying your knitting. I can't wait to show you what's next up on my needles...

P.S. Apologies if I've left you with a Frozen earworm. It's a common one in our house. "Let it go, let it go, can't hold me back any more..."

Vivacious Giveaway Winner!

The comments on the Vivacious post are now closed, and a winner has been chosen:

Comment 13 was from Robyn:

London fields is a cute boxy cardigan and I like the collar. It would look great with jeans, skirt, dress, shorts etc...

A copy of the eBook is now winging its way to you.

London Fields cardigan designed by Belinda Boaden. Image © Fyberspates

If you're sad that you missed out, then don't forget that you can purchase the eBook for $16.00 from Ravelry here: Vivacious Volume 1

Alternatively, all of the patterns are available as single downloads: London Fields is $7.50 for example.

And finally, you can purchase a print copy of Vivacious Volume 1 from your local Fyberspates retailer.

Happy knitting!

The Vivacious Collection Volume 1: Giveaway!

Happy New Year!

I was absolutely delighted to be asked to assist with some of the technical editing for Fyberspates' latest collection - a book of ten patterns for the DK and 4ply Vivacious yarns.

The book is now published and you can purchase the print book from your local Fyberspates retailer (£10.50), or download the eBook from Ravelry ($16.00 / approx £10.86).

This is a brilliant mixture of accessories and garments from two of my favourite designers - Belinda Boaden and Rachel Coopey (and yes, of course I'm completely biased!).

I'm going to be mean though... I am not going to show you a pile of beautiful photos of the lovely designs. Instead, I'm going to just give you a teaser photo, and send you over to Ravelry to browse all of the patterns in full technicolour!

Jeni at Fyberspates has been kind enough to give me an eBook copy to give away to one lucky blog reader. Just head to Ravelry and favourite the design you like the most, then pop back here and leave a blog comment telling me why you like that design. Please don't forget to tell me your Ravelry username as well (so that I can send over the eBook pdf). No alternative prizes are available. The competition will remain open for 2 weeks from the time this blog post is published. Only one entry per person.

You can see the patterns here: Vivacious Collection Volume 1

Happy knitting!

Winner! The Scrumptious Collection volume 3

And comments have closed...

The random number generator has spoken, and I can reveal that the winner of the book is Anna who left this comment: 

Numerous times I have knitted two right hand mittens instead of one right and one left...

A common and very irritating mistake! I've emailed you already Anna, so check your inbox. :)

If you haven't already, please do head back to the Giveaway post and read the comments - there are some completely classic knitting mistakes in there. It was also interesting from a technical editing point of view - some of the mistakes people make are so easily avoided if the instructions are more explicit...

If you missed out this time, then do head over to Fyberspates and purchase your own copy of the book, or just download the eBook from Ravelry for £12.00 by clicking here: 

The Scrumptious Collection Volume 3: Giveaway!

It's no secret that I love working with Fyberspates - both the yarn and the lovely Jeni herself - so I was delighted to be asked to take part in the blog tour for the new Scrumptious Collection.

For the first time since Jeni started to publish pattern collections, I wasn't involved with the technical editing and actual book preparation. That all happened after I went on adoption leave last year. So it was really exciting to finally see the ebook when it landed in my inbox last week.

It seems like a very long time ago (actually it was 20 months ago...), that I sat on Jeni's sofa as we sorted through all of the submissions for Collections 2 & 3. Commissioning a collection is a tricky task, and we had such a wealth of beautiful designs from which to choose. Finding a balance of garments, accessories, yarns, designers, colours and complexity, all whilst only commissioning 13 designs is like a massive logic puzzle. Luckily, it's exactly the sort of thing that I love doing! You have to try to put aside your own preferences and think about the wider knitting market. If it were down to me, everything would be knitted in Jen's Green and there would currently be a massive bias towards socks and hats! I'm not sure that's a collection that would have particularly wide appeal...

Fast-forward a few months, and I helped out on the photo shoot as my last task in the book's journey from idea to publication.

We managed to persuade Jeni to model some of the designs herself for the first time - I absolutely love this picture of her wearing Kyoko's Iwerne Cardigan. Our photographer, Jesse Wild, is completely brilliant at making you feel comfortable in front of the camera - not always an easy task with non-professional models! I've worked with him many times before, at The Knitter and then on my own projects, and he's fantastic!

Our other model was Caroline White, the daughter of a knitting friend, and you would never have guessed that she wasn't a professional model. She had that brilliant knack of adjusting her poses ever so slightly, and always having new ideas of things to do. Caroline was also completely uncomplaining in the face of extreme cold in Lyme Regis last February when we did the outdoor shots. What a star! Above, she is modelling Amanda Crawford's sumptuous Larigan Jumper - knitted in Scrumptious Chunky and perfect for cold February days on the beach!

We also shot on location in Frome - basing ourselves at my great friend Pepita's house (she's moving - what will we do?!). I love my town. There are so many little lanes and nooks for taking great pictures. The photo above is Shepherd's Barton, a lovely little lane just off Catherine Hill. This pretty Rosemorran cardigan in Scrumptious 4ply is by Belinda Boaden - if you haven't read her post about this collection, do head over there right now. Belinda is one of the funniest bloggers I know. Her posts always teach me something and make me giggle, which is a great combination!

These ace Lerryn Mittens were all set to be my first project from the collection, until I realised that I had cast on with Scrumptious Aran instead of Scrumptious DK and they were coming out rather too large. Doh! The design is lovely though, as you would expect from Rachel Coopey. She has contributed 5 of the 13 designs in the collection, and I'd be happy to be casting on any of them. Although, I would of course read the pattern more carefully this time...

I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings about the collection - I'm looking forward to casting something on now. I just need to do a bit of stash diving to find the right yarn and pattern combination...

To buy your copy of The Scrumptious Collection Volume 3, head over to the Fyberspates website (it's had a facelift and is all new and shiny!!), where you can get a print copy for £12, and if you leave your Ravelry username in the comments, Jeni will gift you the ebook as well.

Alternatively, if you can't wait to start knitting, you can purchase the ebook only from Ravelry for £12.00: 

Or you can check out the collection and yarn at your local Fyberspates retailer.

Jeni has kindly donated a copy of the book for one of my lucky blog readers, so to be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment on this post telling me about your most embarrasing knitting mistake. Only 1 entry per person. Jeni is happy to post the book anywhere in the world. No alternative prize is available. Comments will close exactly 2 weeks from time of publishing this blog post. Comments that do not fulfill these criteria may be deleted. Good luck!

And the winner is...

Many thanks for all the entries into the Knitting Masterclass book giveaway! I really enjoyed reading all of your recommendations. I appear to have made a little birthday wishlist based on your suggestions (although I was surprised by how many of the books I already owned!).

Congratulations to commenter number 43 - Lindaran on Ravelry, who said this:

Knitting in America by Melanie Falick. I love the background and the history of the designers in the book.

I've sent you an email Lindaran, so keep an eye out for it!

I'm still knitting away on my Thorn shawl, which doesn't look much different from when I last photographed it. But I'm now on step C4, and it only goes up to C6 and then border, so I must be nearly getting there...

Knitting Masterclass Giveaway!

I heard back in January that my Golden Wheat Shawl design had been chosen as the cover project for a new knitting book, and I was absolutely chuffed to bits! I now have a copy of the book in question in my hands, and what's more, the kind folks at Collins & Brown have given me a copy of Knitting Masterclass to giveaway to one of you!

Knitting Masterclass is a beautiful book. It's a sturdy hardcover, and contains a selection of the best Masterclass articles from The Knitter magazine. Topics are covered in lots of detail by some of the best names in the industry - there's an article on grafting by Woolly Wormhead, correcting mistakes in lace by Judy Furlong, adding waist shaping to garments by Belinda Boaden, Judy's magic cast on by Judy Becker herself, heaps of tips from Jane Crowfoot, and Annie Modesitt on combination knitting, among many, many more!

Alongside the informative articles (many of which feature pictures of my hands, as they are from my days as Technical Editor on The Knitter), there are a series of patterns chosen to illustrate the techniques in the articles. My Golden Wheat Shawl is obviously included, as are my Scooter socks - using both jogless and helical stripes.

There are so many lovely patterns that I really can't list them all, but I think there's something for everyone - socks by Jon Dunn-Ballam (Nexus and Climbing Mistletoe), a gorgeous short-sleeved cabled caridgan by Amanda Crawford and a men's tank top by Todd Gocken, among many!

Of all my designs, Golden Wheat will always have a special place in my heart, and I'm forever grateful to Lilith at Old Maiden Aunt for her amazing dyeing, and to Kim Hobley for incredible knitting skills, for helping me to realise the shawl that was trying to break out of my head!

The Knitter Knitting Masterclass with over 20 technical workshops and 15 beautiful patterns, edited by Juliet Bernard
Published by Collins & Brown
ISBN: 978-1908449023
RRP: £20.00 

So here are the giveaway details: One entry per person please. Leave a comment on this blog post, telling me which is your favourite knitting book, and why (patterns, techniques, history, anything!). Comments will remain open for exactly 2 weeks from the time I post this. Entries are open worldwide and the prize is one copy of The Knitter Knitting Masterclass with over 20 technical workshops and 15 beautiful patterns, edited by Juliet Bernard. One winner will be chosen at random & I will announce the lucky person shortly after the contest closes.

Good luck!

And the winner is...

I had such a great time reading through all of the comments on the Colours of Shetland giveaway post. So many practical ideas for knitting on a desert island! And plenty of things to make me giggle too - perfect!

 
The first winner is Anette Raith with comment number 29:

I love the Puffin sweater so much. I have been on Staffa twice (West coast of Scotland) and both times seen puffins. I was there during the birds breeding season, therefore I could see them on land and get very close to the birds. They are so beautiful. Anette / Denmark

And the second winner is Sheila with comment number 117:

I'd take lace weight silk yarn to knit a shawl with. And tear out and reknit if rescue is slow in coming. A large silk shawl is practical too - it can provide shade during the day and keep me warm at night.

Well done to both winners! I've emailed you, so please check your inboxes.

I've finished my Chapeau! And seem to have cast on Thorn... Pictures will be forthcoming...

Colours of Shetland Giveaway!

How the last few weeks have flown! It seems like only yesterday that we sent Kate Davies' book, Colours of Shetland, to press. I was completely chuffed to be the Technical Editor for this project, not least because I was working in my favourite publishing double-act with Nic Blackmore (we did the Fyberspates pattern collections together). Kate is always a delight to work with, but I just knew from the start that this book would be special. And boy, was I right!

To try to capture something of the laughter that we shared while working on the book, I've asked Kate and Nic a few questions...

Jen: You chose to self-publish Colours of Shetland rather than going to an established publisher - what was the biggest challenge of taking this route?

Kate: Starting out, I suppose the biggest challenge was understanding the areas in which I had no prior experience -- I've worked with many different publishers in several different fields, but as a writer you are generally separated from the actual, physical nitty-gritty of preparing a book for publication. One of the best decisions I made (of course prompted by you, Jen) was to work with Nic on layout and production. It made a massive difference to have someone with Nic's skills, expertise, and general good humour handling that side of things. I have learnt masses from Nic, and now have an added respect for those who work in the production side of the publishing business. I suppose my advice to anyone thinking about self-publishing is that all aspects of the process should be professional - otherwise what's the point?

 

Jen: There are so many inspiring aspects of Shetland and its knitting, how did you manage to narrow it down into just 5 themes? And are there other themes waiting for a next book (She asks with fingers crossed that there will be another...)?

Kate: The landscape, history and culture of Shetland is indeed endlessly inspiring and there were so many themes I might have chosen! At the beginning, I had a large pool of vague essay ideas, and I began by creating distinct palettes that worked with these themes. After that I began to narrow the ideas down in terms of the designs that seemed to work with them . . . and then had to combine the combined design & essay concepts into what pleased me as a balanced collection -- so yes -- several themes were set to one side during this process. I have a notebook filled with these combined essay/design concepts and have no doubt that some will be making an appearance in the future!

 

Jen: Nic, you previously worked in publishing on a variety of subjects including aerospace - what's been the best thing about moving into knitting pattern publishing?

Nic: You're right, I worked for an aerospace magazine publisher before I branched out on my own, and even after I left, I still did a lot of work for them for another 5 years. The subject matter never interested me and, in fact, some of the defence publications made me fairly uncomfortable, despite working on them for nearly 20 years. Two years ago I heard that Jeni Hewlett of Fyberspates was planning to publish her first book of knitting patterns, and since I love her gorgeous Scrumptious yarn and had met her a couple of times at knitting shows and workshops, I took the bold (for me!) step of speaking to her about it. I'm so happy I did, as working on The Scrumptious Collection Volume 1 was an absolute joy, and I've been happily working on various lovely knitting publications ever since. Of course, the absolute *best* thing about moving into knitting pattern publishing has been that I get to work with you in our virtual Skype 'office' that lets us share a coffee and giggles every day!

 

Jen: Lots of people have commented on the clear layout of Colours of Shetland. Do you think that being a knitter changes how you work on a book like this?

Nic: I am pleased that people find the Colours of Shetland pages easy to read and clearly laid out - when I design any new publication I do try to be very mindful of who will be reading it and what its purpose is. Being a knitter means that I don't have to imagine who is going to be reading and why, because it's me! I have to admit that while working on Colours of Shetland my main thought through the whole design process was "I want to KNIT ALL THE THINGS". :D

Puffin Sweater © Kate Davies 

Jen: If you were stranded on a desert island with no sheep and only one design from the book, which would it be and why?

Kate: Definitely the Puffin Sweater! I would dig myself a burrow and wear it every day.

Nic: Errr, see above answer - KNIT ALL THE THINGS. Hee. Please don't make me choose just one... Really? Are you going to get that haddock out to slap me with again?! OK, OK. Well, considering that I have already started knitting the gorgeous Northmavine Hoody, I shall assume that by the time I'm stranded on a desert island I might have finished it (stop laughing!). So, something else... umm, I think it would probably be the Ursula Cardigan. Mainly because I so enjoyed reading Kate's words about Ursula Venables, the woman who inspired the pattern. I couldn't resist getting the Life in Shetland and Tempestuous Eden books while I was working on Colours of Shetland and both books really are an enjoyable, informative read. So, yes, the Ursula Cardigan, but you are mean for making me choose just one!

 

Ursula Cardigan © Kate Davies

Jen: What has surprised you most about people's reaction to Colours of Shetland?

Kate: As there aren't many precedents for knitting books with a similar structure, I wasn't totally sure if knitters would really be interested in the whole 'package' - by which I mean the book's photographs and essays as well as its designs. Happily it seems that people seem to like the "colour stories" and probably the best feedback I've had is that someone's non-knitting friend/dad/aunt/partner has picked up the book and really enjoyed its photographs or words.

 

Jen: I think it's fair to say that we giggled our way through the process of working on the book - can you pick out a particular moment that made you laugh the most?

Nic: I think I particularly enjoyed watching your face when I got you to properly study the sheepy photo that we used on page 4 - Kate had pointed out the laughing sheep to me before I used the photo, but seeing you suddenly spot the happiest sheep living in Shetland was very funny.

Kate: Honestly, the best thing about working on 'Colours of Shetland' was that the whole process was truly collaborative, and genuinely FUN. I feel that the book is what it is because of our combined positive input, and am pretty sure that the reader will be able to tell that that everyone involved in making it was having a bloody good time. My favourite moment was probably our joint discovery of the laughing sheep (readers should be able to easily spot her!).

For the record, my favourite moment was also spotting the laughing sheep (oh and also giggling each time we met on Skype and discovered we were wearing the same hat!).

 

Kate's kindly given me 2 copies of Colours of Shetland for a giveaway prize. To enter, please leave a comment on this blog post, telling me which hand-knitted item (not necessarily one of Kate's designs) you would take to a desert island, and why. Comments will remain open for exactly 2 weeks from the time of posting, and will close automatically. Two comments will be chosen at random from the entries, and each chosen commenter will receive one copy of Colours of Shetland. Please ensure that you leave your email address in the required field when you post your comment, so that I can contact you to arrange postage of your prize. I am happy to post worldwide. Only one entry per person please. Your comment may be deleted if it doesn't comply with the above instructions.

Good luck, and Happy Knitting!