Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

FO: Rosa's Quilt & London Marathon stuff

I simply can't believe that this has taken me so long to complete. But it's done now, hurrah! I had completed the top and basted it together with the backing and wadding back in January. I knew that quilting and binding wasn't going to be a big job, but I've had a bit of a block about getting my machine out and just doing it. I really don't know why - I love sewing, and was really looking forward to getting on with a few half-finished quilt projects. Somehow there have just been too many other things to do.

On Friday afternoon, once I had finished our packing for London, I finally sat down and quilted. It took me all of about an hour and a half to do shadow lines around each of the main blocks, and then to attach the binding. I then set to slip-stitching the other side of the binding in the car.

We are staying with lovely Belinda this weekend, and Immy has been keeping careful watch over the quilt. She came for a sniff, to investigate what it was all about, but didn't seem too impressed with it!

We headed out and about yesterday - first stop was the ExCel centre to pick up Jim's race number. He's number 45699 and if you want to track his progress, you can do so at this link: London Marathon Tracking

I also want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who has donated or bought a Ready, Steady Go! pattern. Jim's fundraising has been more successful than we ever dared to imagine, and he is now flying past his £3,000 goal. As it stands just now, the totaliser says: £3,108.48 which is flipping incredible. Refuge does amazing work with people experiencing domestic violence and every penny of that money will be put to good use. We will continue to add pattern sales to the total as they sell. I also can't believe that there are still a few skeins of the GORGEOUS Go! Green for Refuge Semi Precious yarn by BabyLongLegs. It's £14 for a 100g skein and all proceeds from sales of this yarn are going to Refuge. Do treat yourself (or I'm going to have all the remaining skeins, as it's just my colour!!). Once again a huge thank you to everyone who has helped with any of the fundraising. You are all BRILLIANT!

Once we had picked up Jim's race number, we took the cable car over to the O2, and then walked along the river to Cutty Sark. It was such a beautiful day yesterday. And it was the first time in ages that I've been outside and done some exercise. Thanks Belinda & Neil for a lovely day!

When we got back, I collapsed on the sofa and set to finishing the binding of the quilt. And before I knew it, I was fastening off the last thread. I'm really pleased with this little quilt - it's got lots of lovely pictures and colours and things, and I hope that Rosa will enjoy snuggling under it as she gets bigger.

I really enjoyed making it for her. (It's a Riley Blake layer cake, backed with a simple blue and white spot fabric and plain cream binding in case you're interested.)

So that pretty much brings us up to date, I think. I should now get out of bed, as Jim is about to head off to run the furthest he has ever run. I am too proud for words of his acievements already. He more than deserves every single one of these cakes that his students made for him last week:

Legendary!

I hope to be back later with a marathon report, but I might not manage it as we have to drive home tonight, and tomorrow is a very big day for us. If nothing appears here, then head over to TrueBrit Knits, as Belinda has said that she will pop something up for us. :)

FO: Go! Scarf

Don't faint, but I've cast off a project. In fact, I've cast off two projects, so I'm going to blog tomorrow as well. Wowzers!

First up is my finished Go! Scarf. This is the final pattern in Jim's Ready, Steady, Go! eBook, which he is selling in aid of Refuge, the UK Domestic Violence charity. You can find out more about it, over on his blog here: Go! Scarf

I knitted the sample scarf for Jim, from his pattern. He's more than capable of knitting this himself, but it would have taken longer than we had available in time at the moment, so I whipped it up for him.

It's a straightforward pattern, and he's given both written and charted instructions in the pattern, which you can buy individually from Ravelry for £2.50 here: 

I found myself knitting just one more repeat before going to bed rather more often than I expected. It definitely had a potato chip quality to it. I shall be wearing my Go! Scarf with pride in 3 1/2 weeks time when Jim runs the London Marathon in aid of Refuge. I couldn't be more proud of him just now.

If you want to buy the whole eBook of 3 patterns (Ready Fingerless Mitts, Steady Hat and Go! Scarf), it's available for £5.00 here: 

All proceeds after Ravelry and Paypal fees goes straight to Refuge, and you can keep an eye on Jim's fundraising progress on his Just Giving page here: Jim's running the London Marathon for Refuge.

This was my favourite scarf photo... it's just a pity that I'm looking totally gormless! The yarn is beautiful - it's Babylonglegs Semi~Precious in a special Go! Green for Refuge colourway, which you will be able to purchase on Wednesday next week in a limited edition with all profit going to Refuge too. Keep an eye on her website for more information (sadly, I am not for sale myself, despite my picture being over there!! :D). I will definitely be keen to knit with this lovely yarn again. Happy knitting!

Chilly

The weather here has been so chilly for the last few days. But it hasn't been quite as cold as it was on the day we were on location in Lyme Regis the other week!

© Jesse Wild

This is a test shot from the location shoot that I did with Rachel Coopey (for her fabulous upcoming book) and Fyberspates (for the next Scrumptious Collection). We were delighted to be working with photographer Jesse Wild again - he really is a superstar!

I think I'm wearing nearly every possible piece of wool that I own! I'm certainly way over my normal 5-item limit. When it's that cold, anything goes!

© Jesse Wild

Here I am later in the afternoon, wearing slightly less wool... ready to model! Yes, I modelled a couple of designs for Rachel's book, so I can't wait to share those once the book is released. I also seem to have stolen Rachel's Puffin Apple hat, which is a great shade of yellow Shetland Aran from J&S.

It's so much fun getting out and spending time with fellow knitters. These are both going to be brilliant collections, so I'll be sure to shout about them once they are out.

Jim has poached all my knitting time, as I'm making the final sample for the Ready, Steady, Go! collection. It should be off my needles fairly soon, so keep your eyes peeled for the pattern release. His fundraising is going brilliantly - safely over half way to his target with 6 weeks still to go. Do purchase the pattern collection, or make a donation over on his Just Giving page: Jim's Running for Refuge.

Are you Steady?

Jim's next Ready, Steady, Go! pattern is now available! You can read the full details over on his blog here: New Pattern: Steady Hat

All pattern proceeds after fees are going to support the brilliant work of Refuge with women and children experiencing domestic violence.

The Steady Hat is £2.50 here: 

And the whole Ready, Steady, Go! eBook is available for £5.00 here (the final pattern will be added automatically when it's released in March): 

Please do tweet, favourite, queue and generally spread the word about this collection as Jim has worked super-hard on it! Or why not gift a copy to a friend too? You can purchase as a gift through the Ravelry page for the eBook here: Ready, Steady, Go! eBook

Many, many thanks for all your support!

Are you Ready?

Ready, Steady, Go! is an eBook of 3 knitting patterns, designed by my lovely husband Veuf Tricot, and being sold in aid of Refuge. We are delighted to announce the launch of the first pattern this evening...

The Ready Fingerless Mitts

Veuf Tricot has written more about his design ideas over on his blog here: Ready Fingerless Mitts 

The single Ready Fingerless Mitts pattern is available for download for £2.50 or you can sign up for the whole eBook for £5.00. The remaining 2 patterns will automatically be available for download as they are released. All proceeds after Ravelry and PayPal fees are going to Refuge to support their fantastic work with women and children experiencing domestic violence.

Ready, Steady, Go! eBook £5.00: 

Ready Fingerless Mitts £2.50: 

But that's not all... Veuf Tricot has also hooked up with a crack team of UK hand-dyers to offer exclusive Refuge colourways to go with the designs. First up is Fyberspates who have dyed this excellent shade of Ready Red for Refuge in their MCN Sport yarn (80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon; 265m/100g hanks; £16.00). One hank is enough to make 2 pairs of Ready fingerless mitts, and £10.80 from the sale of each hank will go to Refuge to support their work. The Fyberspates Refuge yarn goes on sale on Monday 4th February in the evening as part of the monthly update. Check out the new arrivals page on Monday evening to be sure of getting a hank!

The next design in the series will be available at the end of February, and uses gorgeous Skein Queen yarn - can't wait to share pictures with you... And the final instalment will go live at the end of March and uses Babylonglegs' wonderful yarn. We are particularly grateful to Babylonglegs for inspiring the whole project. Thank you!

Many thanks also to Andy Robinson at Bluefaced.com for kindly donating base yarn to the hand-dyers, thus enabling more of the money from yarn sales to go to support the work of Refuge! Grateful thanks as well to the ever-brilliant Nic Blackmore for kindly donating her formidable layout and design skills to the project. You're both fabulous - thank you!

Happy birthday VT!

It's Veuf Tricot's birthday today. Happy Birthday Jim!

I shan't make this post too cheesy (well, I'll try not to, anyway!), but I would like to take this opportunity to share a few things you need to know about him...

First up, I'm very lucky to be married to a man who makes me laugh. Jim doesn't just make me laugh, he makes my sides ache and my eyes weep on a pretty regular basis. He has a wicked eye for the potential humour in my behaviour, and is generous in sharing it with the world. My favourite recent post of his is this one: Knitting The Queue - written before reality hit me and my aims for the year became a bit more realistic. If you don't already follow him on Twitter, or read his blog, then I recommend checking him out.

Secondly, he is generous and kind. Whether it's helping on the cake stall at Andyfest (aka the Bluefaced Open Weekender), or running the London Marathon for Refuge (a UK domestic violence charity), if Jim can help, then he does. If you haven't already, then please do consider making a small donation to the funds for this really worthwhile cause. You can find Jim's Just Giving page here: Jim Culliford Just Giving

And finally for now, Jim is talented. More talented than he'll ever admit to. You may not realise this, but Jim already has 2 knitting designs published in magazines (Simply Knitting and what was Knitting Today! in the US). You can see his designs on his Ravelry page here: James Arnall-Culliford deisgns. And there are more to come... I can't wait to share pictures of what he's come up with! To give his Refuge fund-raising a bit of a boost, Jim is collaborating with three of his favourite UK hand-dyers. (Yes, for all his protesting, he actually knows a LOT about knitting and yarn!) The wonderful Jeni at Fyberspates, awesome Debbie at Skein Queen, and fabulous Sarah at BabyLongLegs are all dyeing up a limited run of special Refuge colourways to complement his designs. Thanks also to the generosity of Andy at Bluefaced.com, who has donated the base yarns, a large proportion of the money from sales of these yarns will be going to Refuge. So what has Jim designed? Well, you'll have to wait a bit longer to see the specifics (and don't worry - I'll be shouting about it when it's all set!), but I can tell you that it will be a series of 3 designs around the theme of Ready, Steady, Go! And they will be available to buy individually, or as an eBook, with all proceeds (after Ravelry and PayPal fees) going to Refuge. We can't wait to get on the starting blocks.

Happy birthday VT!