Tardy Ta - Dah !!!

 I'm only about two months late with this post.... You may have seen it already but I designed a hat based around a previous love - Patchwork & Quilting.

Several years ago I was a slave to the cutting board and sewing machine and would spend many, many hours creating quilts and quilted items. Eventually, it started to play havoc with my back and I had to look for something else to do, and ended up with a new passion of crochet!!

Time has moved on again and now I have a passion for fairisle hats. While chatting with someone about my last hat, Boanny Starns, I mentioned that one of the stars on it looked like a quilting block - and that was a light-bulb moment!! A fairisle hat based on my favourite quilting blocks and before you knew it, I had designed 'Quilters Delight'!

In true patchwork style, it's a real stash buster as most of the colours used take just two grams of yarn or less. And there are quite a lot of colours!!

Rather than have just one star as the main motif, I devised eight different centres - and it's surprisingly easy to work those different centres following the simple instructions in the pattern.

As I made each sample with different colours, I kept changing the pattern on the crown until - finally - I was happy with the result. This one -

I tried to use all my favourite quilt blocks - flying geese, stars, pinwheels. And the corrugated rib is a play on a colourwash/bargello quilt. Although I must admit to never having made the Dresden plate that features on the crown...

As you can see from my samples, you really can use whatever colours you have to hand for a truly one-of-a-kind hat.

If you don't like sewing in the ends, I explain how to weave them in as you go!

Click on any of the photos to take you to the pattern.

I'm already working on the next design and the pattern is being written as we speak!! To be honest, I've been working on it on and off for over a year now and finally reached a point where I was (almost) happy with it. 

This one will also feature lots of different colours, although there's no reason why you couldn't make it with a more limited palette if you prefer.

I'll try and make sure to pop back and show you when it's published, rather than two months later!! For now, here's a little sneak peak.

Happy Knitting!!

Introducing Boanny Starns

 May I introduce Boanny Starns, my latest fairisle style hat design? (Although I haven't had time to make it in several colours rather than just two yet! 🤦‍♀️)

I had barely finished adding a project to Ravelry, with all the relevant details so I didn't lose them, when Lorraine, a lady in the Shetland Islands who has tested for me, saw it and sent a message. 

I think I had called it Unnamed and she wanted to know why there wasn't a name yet but it looked very interesting. I said I had only just finished designing it and would she like to name it? She came straight back with Boanny Starns! She said it's Shetlandic for Pretty Stars -  a very pretty name that I liked very much! 

Only it had a flower motif in the middle row... How could I call it Pretty Stars if there was a Flower?!

So when I came to make it again in the reverse colours, I swapped the flower for a different star - as you can see in the photo above. The ivory background is all stars. 

This is the original  -

I put pictures of both on Instagram and asked opinions and there were several people who liked the original. And several who liked the 'all star' version. 

So I decided to do two separate patterns, one with the original flower included which I called Boanny Flooers, and the Boanny Starns version. A proper 2-for-1 offer! (Also known as a BOGOF!)

You'll find it in my Ravelry Store, along with my other hats, blankets, shawls, scarves and poncho. 

Click HERE to go straight to it, or click any of the photos.

It has a very pretty crown too!

My next design is already well underway - I just need to start the actual writing! 😄

Have you made one of my designs? I'd love to see a picture if you have. Even better, if you're a Ravelry member, perhaps you could create a project and link it to the pattern so everyone can see it? 

Happy Knitting!    T   xXx

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 I do hope you managed to celebrate together, either in person or virtually. 

We had a quiet day at home, which was actually quite nice. 

We had had the bad news from the government that we would be entering 'Tier 4' on the south coast today, so I made my Hope Springs Hat free for Christmas  - well it had been free during the first lockdown, so it felt like the right thing to do. 

It proved very popular again and I was delighted to see this today  - 

Woo Hoo! I had seen it gradually climbing up during Christmas day but at some point during the night it got to the top! It isn't there anymore but it got there and I managed to grab a screenshot!!

If you would like a free copy too, click the link in the sidebar to pop across to Ravelry and use the code Hope at checkout. 

Be quick though, it's only valid until midnight tonight, UK time. 

And please consider linking a project of your version so we can all see it 👀 . If you would prefer to buy a ready made hat, there's also a link to my Folksy Shop in the sidebar too - there's a pink version of Hope Springs Hat still available. 😊🎅

Here's to a MUCH BETTER 2021! Stay safe everyone ❤❤❤

New Design - Finding Balance Hat

 I have just published a new hat design!!! Really happy with this design at last, although it was a long time in the making...

I started out wanting to make another fairisle style hat with several colours but kept getting stuck with my colour choices... I wanted to use Shetland Sprindthrift again but with only online ordering available, some of the colours I chose didn't go together as well as I had hoped... There was a lot of re-jigging and eventually I gave up!

I decided to concentrate on getting the balance of the motifs right first, working with just two colours - and then re-introduce more colours. But once I had the motifs just right I really liked the look with just two colours. Really really liked it! So I wrote the pattern with just two colours and called it 'Finding Balance', as the name seemed to fit not only with stripping it back to the basics to 'find the balance' between the motifs but also trying to find a way to balance all the crap this year is throwing at me and everyone else... I'm sure crafting helps us all find a way to find balance.

I made my first sample using Drops Nord, a gorgeously soft and squishy alpaca/wool/polyamide mix. A 50g ball in each of two highly contrasting colours is enough to make two hats.

It's available on Ravelry here - Finding Balance Hat 

It's available on Ravelry here - Finding Balance Hat 

I have decided to support the Shetland MRI Scanner Appeal, so until the end of 2020, I will be donating 20% of my sales of the pattern to them.

Although they have raised enough to buy the MRI Scanner, they still need a building for it, train the staff and all the associated running costs. It's a massive project for a small community.

 UPDATE:   Finding Balance proved to be quite popular and I sold a few of my first hat design Hope Springs as well. I was able to make a donation of £51 to the Appeal. 

If YOU  bought the pattern, then THANK YOU!  

Please pop across to Ravelry and take a look -  Finding Balance Hat 

Happy knitting!!!!  Tina xXx

Special offer for September

 Thank you to everyone who bought Looks Like Rain Scarf during last month's offer! 

The end of August was considerably cooler than the start and I even wore my scarf indoors a couple of times! 🤪 I didn't go as far as wearing a hat - but I did look at my hats.... 

So I figured maybe it would be nice to have an offer on my Hope Springs Hat. So for the rest of September, you can save 20% on Ravelry, with code Autumn. 

Click HERE to pop across to the pattern page. Don't forget to use the code Autumn at checkout,  and share your version with #hopespringshat . 

And if you've been popping in regularly to check on the launch of The Allsorts Blanket - the fully written version of the Tooty Stripey Blanket, then I'm pleased to say it's nearly ready and I hope to publish by the end of the month! 

Woo hoo!

Foray into Fairisle Part III Cont'd...

So, what did I do with that hat?? Well, in the end, nothing!
I bought a ball of silver grey and started another hat with the rest of the mustard, knowing that at some point I would run out and would then unpick the first hat to re-use the yarn.
I made the rib and got half way up the snowflake but wasn't convinced it looked better. The mustard certainly looked a lot brighter. A lot!! But not better with the silvergrey... There just wasn't enough contrast I think.
I had posted this pic on instgram, asking what people thought -

Someone suggested taking a photo in b&w as the contrast would show up clearly.

The difference is remarkable isn't it?? I would never have thought of doing that.

So yes, the mustard looked much brighter but just didn't work with the silver grey...

Back to the shop I went and bought a ball of cerise pink instead to use with the silvergrey. And I made sure I took a pic in b&w in the shop to check the contrast!!
I also decided to make another Baa-ble Hat, rather than the snowflake.

Much better!!!! Just wait til you see what I did next though!

Foray into Fairisle part III

If you've already seen my Foray into Fairisle parts I & II, you won't be surprised to hear that my 3rd project was a) another hat and b) featured the snowflake that featured on the cowl.
The snowflake had a 24 stitch pattern repeat, which would fit perfectly into the 120 stitches required for a DK hat. I also happened to have a ball of mustard yellow merino yarn that I had been itching to use. (I was hoping for a bright golden mustard when I ordered it online but it's actually more f an english mustard.)
I teamed it with a mid grey for the ribbing, although it might have worked better with a silver grey.

The pattern worked well as a hat but I now know that I held the dominant colour in the wrong position so it could have been better.... So I'm considering unpicking it either back to the rib and just reworking the snowflake (and adding 3 or 4 rows of plain grey before the snowflake starts), or I might unpick the whole thing and start again with silver grey! And I'm considering a long turn up brim too.

I haven't quite decided what to do - but I'm very tempted to completely unpick it and start again with the ball of silver grey that I have now bought! Decisions decisions!

Foray into Fairisle

Is there something you always wished you'd learned how to do but every time you try you're just rubbish? Well, for me it's knitting fairisle.
Not big patterned jumpers and cardigans, just little things like hats. (I don't have the patience for big knitting anymore..)

I fancied doing a spot of knitting back in January, so decided now was the time to try again. 4 or 5 years ago I came across the Baa-ble hat but hadn't actually dared make it. I hunted through my files until I found it (it's still available on Ravelry) and went through my stash looking for some nice merino in colours that worked well together.  It didn't help that the pattern was written for aran and I only had DK!

I also looked through some of the 10k projects that had been added to Ravelry, to see what other people thought etc. (It's always worth looking through other people's projects for their comments before you buy a pattern - sometimes you find a pattern sounds like it's badly written and you think twice before buying. Sometimes it's opposite and it's an amazing pattern.)
There were a couple who added extra animals to their version - a sheepdog and a llama! I thought I'd add both to mine.

I've read instructions on how to work fairisle in the past, so (gently) jumped straight in! I tried very hard to keep my tension loose when carrying the non-working yarn across the back. But, silly me, I was working with 3 colours per row at times. Those rows were rather tight...
But you know what? My hat came out reasonably ok. Not fabulous but ok.
I like a deep rib to help keep my ears warm, although that does mean my sheep sit further back when I'm wearing it.

These pics were taken after it had been washed and dried. That has the effect of evening out the tight and loose stitches, especially the vertical ridges you get by carrying your floats on the back. Can you see the grey llama in the second pic? And the black sheepdog in the 3rd? There are ewes, lambs and even a ram with curly horns! And you can see all my floats carried inside. See the section in the middle? That's where I had more than 3 colours working, and is tighter than the rest...

A friend saw my pics on Instagram and liked it,  so I made a second hat for her. This was actually an opportunity to practice my fairisle again!
She wanted a dark grey rib and silver grey top. I also tried to be good and follow the pattern properly by only using 2 colours per row. Not surprisingly, that helped my tension no end!
My friend has a Westie, so I swapped the llama for a little dog. I placed him one stitch out though, or he would look better...
The first pic is unblocked -

And this is the effect blocking has -

The faux fur pompoms really finishes them off!

Before I'd even finished my second hat I'd chosen my next, and more complicated, pattern. A snowflake cowl. More of that next time though.

Before I go for now, I'll just mention the Three golden rules of fairisle (in my humble opinion). I have learned these from Julie of Little Cotton Rabbits -

1  only use 2 colours per row
2  keeping the dominant colour in same position
3  carrying floats

But more on them - and links - and my mistakes... - next time too. 😊🧶🧶