It all goes by so quickly

I was just sent this link which may interest some of you. It includes the electric sheep podcast to listen to while sipping a cuppa and knitting away. http://www.hoxtonhandmade.com

Progress on the cloak has slowed down somewhat as I am in the middle of producing 400 pieces of glass for a commission. I must be into a numbers phase at the moment, 6in squares, 4in glass.....anyway. The knitters at the Blue House have all come up trumps as usual and given me at least a dozen more woadie squares. I still marvel over the nuances of the shades produced by such an ordinary leaf. Sadly, I have had to give up dyeing for the season as I have run out of leaves for now. Next year I would like to be a little more methodical and perhaps write down what I do to produce the different shades and see if I can produce a larger quantity of one colour, thankfully I will have all winter to think about it.
There is of course a lot of other knitting going on and Diane has made a beautiful triangular blue scarf in a mix of mohair, silk or something similar anyway lovely, soft and glam. I tried to take a picture last week but ended up with lots of blurry photos so sorry, may have to try again. Sylvia mentioned that her husband is trying to find out more about Molly of the Woad, hopefully he will be more successful than I have been. More teddies have been collected and Wendy will contact Wendy at some point to arrange to have them picked up. Below is a picture of a baby jacket knitted by Sara and some toys by Gwen

Progress on the Cloak of Invisibility

As it is national wool week, I thought I should just mention that the Cloak of Invisibility is 100% wool, should be very warm and provide wonderful insulation for anyone who would like to wear it, although it won't be ready before the winter. I have just about finished the hood and will start sewing together the hundreds of wonderful squares which are being knitted by the ladies of the Blue House Knit and Natter group in Frome. (and my Mother). I am presenting ideas to the charity group on Monday for the fundraiser, which we hope will take place in March. I will keep you posted as it progresses, so far it looks like there will be storytelling of course, face painting, spinning and lots more besides so I hope you will join in and support us.

Variations on the Linen Stitch

As requested, here are the instructions for linen stitch and variations which we are using for the cloak.

Linen stitch version 1

This knits up densely so it's a good choice where warmth is needed.
Any odd number
Row 1 (RS): k1, *sl1 wyif, k1; rep from *
Row 2: k1, p1, *sl1 wyib, p1; rep from *, end k1
Contributed by Oma Englund

My version was a mistake on the above, instead of knitting from the * I just kept going back to the beginning on the second row, but as everyone said it does make a lovely design. Carolyn


Linen stitch version 2

Cast on an odd number of stitches for your project with any cast on method you prefer.
Step2
Purl all the stitches for row one. This is the wrong side of the project.
Step3
Knit row 2 in the following pattern: knit the first stitch, then slip one stitch and knit one stitch. Repeat the pattern of slipping a stitch and knitting a stitch until you come to the end of the row. If you know knitting abbreviations row 2 is: k1, *sl1, k1* repeat ** until the end of the row. This is the right side of the project.
Step4
Purl all the stitches in row 3.
Step5
Knit the first 2 stitches in row 4 then begin the repeat of slipping one stitch and knitting one stitch. End the row by knitting the last stitch. The knitting abbreviation for this row is: K2, *sl1, k1* repeat ** until one stitch remains, k1.
Step6
Purl all the stitches in row 5.
Step7
Repeat steps 3 through 6 until your project is the length that you want it then bind off all your stitches.

Linen stitch Version 3
Instructions:
1.    Cast on 12 stitches.
Linen Stitch:
Row 1: *Knit 1, slip 1 with yarn in front. Repeat from * across, ending with a knit 1.
Row 2: *Purl 1, slip 1 with yarn in back. Repeat from * across, ending with a purl 1.
Repeat these two rows for pattern. When slipping stitches, always slip as if to purl.

I will post some pictures as soon as I have samples of each one.

Time flies

'Our Club 'Knit and Natter' completed 136 hats for the Innocent smoothie bottles which Sainsbury's will be showing in their store from November 3rd. Frome were asked to knit 500 hats in the 'BIG KNIT UK 2010' and are pleased to let you know that they have more than doubled this number by knitting 1000+! A big thank you to all the ladies from 'Knit and Natter' who helped towards this marvellous total! Age Concern UK will receive 25p from each bottle sold - 'Knit and Natter's' hats will therefore raise £34 which is a great help towards the final amount. So thank you so much again to all who completed these hats!' Wendy