flowers

Here is my latest print, which was semi-inspired by my collection of floral embroideries.

This one was carved from vinyl and printed in a couple of different colour ways - blue & pink. My intention is to list some of my prints in my etsy shop in the very near future. Watch this space.

For now, I have booked in another printing session, so I must get carving...

blackberry stitch

This cardigan took me a total of 12 days to complete. Aran wool & size 7 needles are the way forward.

The pattern can be found over here at Drops design - I changed it slightly and used moss stitch instead of garter stitch following a recommendation from Yumi. Much better. I also think blackberry stitch might be my new favourite technique.

In an effort to wean myself off the knitting (and to use up some of my enormous pile of wool) I am now sticking to crochet squares. The plan is to make a blanket using a different pattern on each square. Good skills training.

ps. Thanks to my mum for sending me the buttons for my cardigan!

further adventures in sock making

I made these lacy lilac socks on my travels to Ireland and back.

They were from a pattern found in this book and were knitted on two needles instead of four, so I didn't have any of the tension problems of my previous sock-making attempt.

Much better.

My favourite feature is the use of a different colour on the cast-on edge - I'll make sure to try and re-use this idea again soon.

jardin flambeau

This event blew me away. The best evening I've spent in a park for a long time.
Photos: Barney Livingston | Melita Dennett | Katariina Järvinen | Martin Thomas

wisteria

On Easter Monday I took a trip to Nymans on my way back to Brighton. There were many different flowers and trees in the gardens and white doves nesting in the dovecotes.

Inside the house, there were sprigs of holly on all the old seats to stop people sitting on them. I'm not sure whether this is better than having a sign though...

dusty rose

My Aran inspired cardigan is finally finished and what a treat it is. I followed the same basic pattern as I did for this blue cardigan but changed the pattern panels so that they incorporate some irish moss stitch and some cable stitch - very easy & a lovely finished result.

I also used a cotton-mix wool on this one (old rose) for a more summery feel. It's lovely and soft, but also quite warm, which has been handy over the windy bank holiday.

My intention was to have a break from knitting after finishing this project and I did try...but it turns out I have lost the ability to sit on a sofa without feeling the need to pick up some needles. Is this addiction?

Either way, it has led to a productive weekend of knitting and I have almost finished the back of my next summer cardigan:



This one uses blackberry stitch - which is ever so easy. At first I was worried it was going to be a tricky lace pattern which would need all my concentration, but it's the complete opposite, so hopefully I'll be wearing this one soon too. I've gone for short sleeves this time which will be a pleasure rather than a chore.

In other news, I bought 3 loaves of malt loaf today. This is an addiction I can not control.