In no particular order:
Ann's first sock!!!!! Ann is Toni's grandma and has knitted forever (I think??) but Toni's new found enthusiasm has fired her up. I know there were problems in these socks, extra stitches I think, but with Toni's calm guidance she has smashed it out. Aren't they great!?!?!? They actually almost make me like this brown yarn... ;) She's since started a beautiful cardi that I had a sneaky peak of the other day and I can't wait for it to be done. OOOOOOHWEEE!
King Cole Zig Zag 4ply in Mocha and the free pattern that comes with it.
King Cole Zig Zag 4ply in Mocha and the free pattern that comes with it.
LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK! It's Totoro! I have no idea what that is. Some sort of Japanese cartoon character that I should know more about but apparently makes a really good knitting and crochet motif. Isn't it just the cutest!?!!?!!?! This is by 'ByRobin' I guess that's not her name, I guess it's a business name.... maybe just Robin? Hi Robin or ByRobin! It's made in lots of balls of the Cygnet Chunky and Robin's one of our internet customers and has been busy stashing this yarn over months and months and now I get to see this amazing thing! Isn't the internet great??? She has a blog and her photos are amazing. Once I get this, the vlog and the pile of patterns sorted then that's what I'll be catching up on. Gorgeous.
Claire appeared in our last customer photo blog too - she's bloody amazing, especially for keeping her head up over a difficult few weeks (and in that massive biker jacket she was wearing last time she was in. Haha). It's the first time I've seen this pattern (King Cole 4143 if you must know) knitted up - first in this photo and secondly in the flesh. This yarn really is perfect. Amy Blackwell described it as feeling 'like love' earlier on. (The King Cole Recycled Cotton Aran if you must know). It is lovely! Soft and drapy. Claire's had a little difficulty with the seaming, to make it neat she felt like she had to pull it tight but then it was a completely different tension so the softness of the knitted fabric. I guess you'd counter this by doing tiny sewing up stitches but I don't know yet. I'm doing a cardi in this yarn and from the same selection of patterns but I keep putting off doing the second sleeve. Yes, sss has struck. So I ought to get on with this so I can give you some actual advice. However, Claire's jumper was just perfect - the balance between neatness and tightness was near spot on and it looks good on, I tell you that for free. :)
Heather also appeared in our last customer projects blog too!Last time she made an amazingly cute bolero/shruggy thing and this time it's an oversized tee. Heather's a little concerned about the size and I see where she's coming from but it takes me back to when I was a kid and playing in the sun all day and mum used to put us in big oversized tee shirts and it was heavenly. This is the sort of top to wear with a nice denim skirt in the evening in the summer when you have to look reasonably put together but don't want to have to have things touching you. Does that make sense? She used the Bamboo Cotton DK and the Bamboo Cotton Prints DK for the top bit but before you all go mad and want to knit it - King Cole have just discontinued the prints. The buggers. To be fair, I don't think the chose the right colours - each one was lovely within itself but there weren't enough and I also think there may have been too many colours in each print. Oh well. That's life. It looks great on Heather though doesn't it?! :)
Ahhhhhhh. This is Sharon and Alice who were both on my lesson LAST SUNDAY and this photo was taken LAST SUNDAY EVENING! Can you believe that?!?! Lessons are such a lovely thing to do with you mum or your daughter and Alice is going to be a knitting superstar, I can tell. She already sews and plays the French horn (I think??) so she has many many talents and her mother must do too for bringing her up. Lovely ladies. :)
Susie's blanket. Susie's blood blanket. Susie did not crochet before she started this blanket. Just stop for a minute and think about that.
Amazing.
We had lots of discussions about how to put the blanket together, sewing, crocheting as-you-go. In the end she chose the latter option and used the Silver colour to do so. However, she'd laid the squares out so that they went from light to dark, can you see that? But once the Silver was in place that was lost a little bit so Susie came in and she was all like 'ooooooooh, it's not good, I hate it' and so on and so on. No. No. No. It's AMAZING! Amazing! I love it! You may not be able see this here but there are six squares with 3d flowers on, they're white with black middles, can you see? Just the whole thing is lovely. Neither of us were convinced about the colours when she first started - white, black, brown and grey but I'm definiteley convinced now and I kinda want to start one this very minute (but I have gay socks to finish, stop Eleanor, stop). In case you want to make it, and allow me to live vicariously, it's done in the Bamboo Cotton DK.
Now, given that Susie has only just started crocheting with that blanket, what was her next thing? Only the last crochet thing that make me want to rip my hair out. haha. LOOK! She's using the rest of the Black Bamboo Cotton DK but I think she might end up using the Bamboo Cotton 4ply after she's had a good old practice. Can you believe this woman????
Ahhhhh. Moira's cardigan. Moira's lovely cardigan. Moira is one of our very experienced knitters but put it down for a long while and now every so often gets the bug to make something for herself or her daughter. This is one of those times. It's pattern number 4014 and it's knitted in the Moods DK which, if you're not willing/able to splash out on the Masham DK, is a lovely woolly subsitute. We had a few problems gauge wise which resulted in a few inches of the back being ripped down but now it's done it's spot on and I can see her wearing it an awful lot. Lovely. Can't wait for the next one which is even more spectacular but requires Patons to pull their finger out and get some yarn sent to me.
Ahhh. I think I did share this one. Did I tell you that Vezza's gone a bit sock mad? Well, she's made like more socks than me now, more often that not in her lovely hand dyed but of course she's still got a soft spot for King Cole Zig Zag like we all have. This is the Marine colourway. :)
I can't do this one justice. I've tried many a time. It is Davina's Navia Uno shawl, covered in many many coloured beads and it's absolutely delightful. She used the Charcoal colourway so it's a little bit more subtle than the black but it's still beautiful with an every day outfit to jazz it up. I must admit I was shocked when she was wearing it for work but why keep special things under wraps? You need to get them out and love them and appreciate them and (hopefully) wear them out which means you get to wear them more and you also get the memories of having used them. Perfect. I'm sure she'll let me know what the pattern was when she reads this because I can't remember....
This was Lindsey's beautiful wreath inspried by Attic 24 and crocheted in many colours of the Patons Diploma Gold and the King Cole Merino Blend DK for her mother for mother's day. I love how jolly it is and how I saw it in all the stages. We initially weren't sure about the colour scheme for the ring bit in the background but I think it's a lovely balance between that and the flowers. Her mum rearranged the flowers because a daughter can never do anything right can she? Haha. I think Lindsey did a bloody brill job, I'd have left her flowers where they were.
I couldn't not show this off even though it's totally cheating. Izzy came on our Learn To Fairisle course just before Christmas last year (I'm running it again because I loved it so much but we're nearly booked out so.... chop chop) and bought the yarn to make this, King Cole Merino Blend DK, on the day I think or soon after anyway. She was tickled by a tropical theme knitted in double thickness pure wool and I must admit, I think everybody that sees it is too. She totally cheated by having more than two colours in a row but I think I'll let her off. Would you?
Haha. You couldn't escape a customer blog without a nod to Toni could you? She sent me this photo of her newest creation sat on top of one of her oldest creations. Same needle, same size, same yarn - whooooooooooooole different gauge. Haha. It happens folks. It happens. This is made in her favourite, the King Cole Chunky Tweed with 6mm needles.
And lastly but not leastly, Lindsey (again... haha), was inspired by the crochet elephant in the shop and has made herself a bunny from the Toft Alpaca book in the King Cole Cottonsoft. I feel like I love him/her but neither of us can work out what colour the eye should be - she's tried a range of greys, browns, black, cream and white and buttons, but nah. Doesn't work. What do you think?
AREN'T MY CUSTOMERS WONDERFUL??!?!!?
Love,
Eleanor. xxxxxxxxx
AREN'T MY CUSTOMERS WONDERFUL??!?!!?
Love,
Eleanor. xxxxxxxxx
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