Meet Squiggles

Isn't he (pos. she) cute? We're keeping this little one. Two and a half weeks old. I can't get over how big the kittens have grown in such a short time. They're trying to escape from the box and Honey's not too happy about that. The all black kitten is going to a good friend but the neighbour didn't want to take the little black and white one when she saw her and I fear I'm becoming more and more fond of her. Must.... remain... detached. So, if you know of anyone in the Berkshire area looking for a particularly gorgeous kitten - when she keeps still, I'll get a non-blurry photo for you.

The weather has been downright tropical here. After my spinning lesson, we had a go at washing an unidentified fleece using the method my spinning teacher, Linda, had shown us.

But it wasn't good news - the wool was like brillo pads when it dried. I mixed it with some white BFL and put it through the drum carder, but sadly I think it's going to be unspinnable.

Saturday night was an impromptu Britain's Got Talent party, BBQ and pool party with Skein Princess going back to a friend's for camping in the garden.

On Friday, we went to the Children's Art Festival in Reading organised by Jelly and then onto see Coraline - which, be warned, is not for children of even a slight sensitive nature unless you want nightmares.

Yesterday, me and Skein Princess got all my spinning fluff scraps and drum carded them into this little cloud of colour.

Then I decided that I didn't have enough knitting projects on the go, and because Linda had asked us to knit up our samples of kid mohair and angora, I decided to start another Zig and Zag pram blanket using all my handspun samples.

Other than that, still working on the Cloud Nine socks in Summer Pudding Plushness for my friend, Sandra. Not much progress there.

Have been dyeing today and the next update will be a large one and will include the long-awaited launch of Exquisite - merino, cashmere and nylon - and the equally long-awaited launch of SQ tops (roving) for spinning.

Friday 13th (and the week leading up to it!)

The best laid plans of mice and men... so much for my careful plans to have four days of dyeing this week to allow plenty of preparation for Unravel. Tis a sad tale of woe and misery:

There's a rather vital ingredient to the dyeing process called citric acid. I'd ordered several kilos well ahead of time but the delivery had been held up due to the snow last week. After phoning the delivery company on at least four increasingly shouty occasions, and waiting in for three whole days, it finally arrived mid-week, by which time I'd lost two days of dyeing. The irony is that I had ordered another batch from another company which actually arrived two hours before the original batch. Now I have kilos and kilos of the stuff! But at least I can dye again.


Then last night, around eleven o'clock, Skein Princess was violently ill - I think that's the most polite way to put it - and has the day off school today. Apparently half of her class are off with a stomach bug. Poor SP - she'll miss her school disco and Brownie promise tonight. She's doing a lot of sleeping today. But the upshot is... no dyeing today.

Which means my four days have shrunk into one measly day. I'm breathing deeply and reassuring myself that I already have quite a few skeins needing to be labelled and I got loads done yesterday, so all will be fine (please reassure me!)

I have a few skeins of Plump Plushness, normal Plushness, Blush and Desire for a small shop update tomorrow. And tomorrow is also the day that any spare Squee! Sock Club for Spring places will be released in the shop. There won't be many again as almost all existing members have resubscribed, but I have tried to expand the clubs to maximum capacity so there will be a few.

Click here for more details and the prices are here:

Spring Sock Clubs

Pudding Club - single helping - £42 or $69
Pudding Club - double helping - £79 or $130
Unfortunate Club - $38 or $62

And there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting going on due to the large amount of reskeining going on of an evening. I did complete one Saartje's bootee for my sister's forthcoming sprog-event in Plushness in Iceberg colourway but it came out more the size of a doll's shoe than one that would fit even the smallest baby, and she's having a BIG baby - oh yes, the consultant has reassured her it's big and will have to be delivered three weeks early. She's a midwife so she knows herself.

But I can show you some knitting from eleven years ago. I made a pram blanket for Skein Prince when he was born and found it the other day, much ravaged by cats, but still just about holding together. Apparently the pastel-coloured chenille (cringe) was too much of a temptation for their sharp little claws!

Next shop updates and a free pattern

I bring you news that I'm planning to trial a new system of shop updates by uploading a few items at a time over the next week (from 30th Jan.) at random times during the day and night. There's likely to be a little bit tomorrow or Saturday, and then more at the beginning of next week. Shall I post back on here when all the updating is complete?

It's not an ideal system, but I'm hoping I'll have a greater supply of hand-dyed to bring you from the summer onwards when my circumstances change and I can increase the numbers of days I can be in the workshop dyeing with the possibility of a helper! More skeins of the same colourway (though not so many as to detract from the unique feel of each skein), more colourways, more chance to project-plan...


This Plump Plushness will be included in the updates - it's as if the Plushness has over-indulged at Christmas-time and is bulging out of its yarn band! I know the feeling! The Pink Lady Apple makes an appearance in Issue 2 of The Knitter which is more than a little bit exciting...

Also, just a reminder for those of you in the S.E. of England, that I'll be bringing lots of hand-dyed yarn to the Unravel show at Farnham Maltings on 21st February. It's already looking like a bit of a SQ meet-up and it will be great to meet so many of you.

This looks interesting - UK DIY exhibition opens at the Turnpike Gallery (which I think is in Wigan?) on 14th February and includes a film on the Handmade Nation movement which "explores a burgeoning art community based on creativity, determination and networking." Their blog is interesting in itself - latest entry is on yarnbombing which has made it into the national newspapers recently.

The Zig and Zag Sock Yarn pram blanket is finished, bar sewing in all the ends, which won't be quite as bad as it looks, as I worked half of them into the knitting but it's Off the Needles which I have mixed feelings about. I designed it to be a blanket I wouldn't get bored with, and it worked!


The pattern was fairly simple and I've detailed it below. I'm sure it could be written more elegantly, but it's what worked for me. You could use a more limited palette and switch between fewer colours or knit more pattern rows in the same colour for wider chevrons. It could be easily adapted to become a scarf.


Zig and Zig Sock Yarn pram blanket (now available as a pdf - here)

Needles: 4.5mm US size 7 circular needle
Yarns: I used a selection of sock weight yarn including Skein Queen, Posh Yarn, Koigu, Socks That Rock, Hipknits and Sunshine Yarns in merino, cashmere/silk, handspun cashmere and BFL

I only used a very small amount of each, enough for four rows, though you will need a larger quantity of the colour which forms the border and is knitted in garter stitch.

Choose your border colour and wind off a good handful of it into a separate ball. This will be used for your left-hand border.

Cast on 127 stitches
K 6 rows (garter stitch) in border colour.

Continue in same colour for next four rows:

Pattern row 1: K5 *KFB, K4, sl1 knitwise K2 tog psso, K4, KFB* repeat nine times to last 5 stitches;K5
Pattern row 2: K5, P117, K5
Pattern row 3: As row 1
Pattern row 4: As row 2

(Note: this is new, improved pattern for row 1 - if you need the original, it's at the end of this post.)

Knit first 5 stitches in border colour, change colour, incorporating one end of the new colour into the first four or five stitches of the work whilst maintaining pattern. Knit the last 5 stitches using the small ball of border colour.

After knitting the four rows of pattern, switch to another colour if desired, remembering to knit the first and last five stitches in border colour.

Knit to desired length. I used 42 repeats of the 4-row pattern.

Make last 4-row pattern in border colour.
Knit 6 rows.
Cast off.

Sew in ends.
Enjoy!

Abbreviations:
KFB - Knit a stitch, leaving stitch on left needle; knit into the back loop of this stitch
Sl 1 - Slip a stitch knitwise
PSSO - pass slipped stitch over
M1 - make one by picking up loop between stitches and knitting into the back of it

(Original pattern row 1: K5 *KFB, K4, sl1 knitwise K2 tog psso, K4, KFB* to last 16 stitches; KFB, K4, sl1 knitwise K2 tog psso, K3, M1, K5)

First shop update of the year

I hope you all had a relaxing festive season and are ready and raring to meet whatever 2009 has in store for us all. We had a lovely Christmas in the SQ household - really relaxing with plenty of time to spend building jigsaws, eating way too much, going to the Panto and watching Christmas telly.

And Hogmanay was spent at our friends in the New Forest where they held a big party. Guests ranged from age 3 to 83 and most of the children were thrilled that they were allowed to stay up til midnight. The guests in their twenties indulged in Havana cigars and Veuve Clicquot champagne while us older ones sipped on the Cava and tried to remember what it was like to be that young and foolish enough to let off a rocket whilst still holding onto it! (I was never that foolish!)

As for knitting, I had a pretty frustrating couple of weeks. This is normally my biggest Christmas luxury - getting proper knitting time, but this year was one-stitch-forward-two-stitches-back. I did finish the Boy Gloves which are a perfect fit and don't come too far up his wrist because he doesn't like them catching in his watch strap:

They came ice-skating with us this morning and were perfect for keeping his hands warm.

I knitted a sleeve of the Debbie Bliss bolero on my new Knit Picks metal interchangeable needles and then realised I'd done the whole thing on 3.5mm instead of 4mm. It took about three evenings of knitting. Big sigh.

So I decided it was time for a new project. My sister's second baby is due in April, and she expressed a wish for a baby blanket, so I decided to make up my own pattern for this pram blanket.
It was inspired by Missoni-style knits and also I'm a closet Kaffe Fassett fan from the first time round and I know I won't get bored because of all the colour changes. I have started and restarted this several times, but I think this is the pattern I'm going to go with. I'm using a mixture of sock weight yarns in Skein Queen, Koigu, STR, Posh and Hipknits and it was my sister who gave me the cute Cath Kidston knitting project bag used to store it all.

And now, enough with the blether, and on with the sale. Everything in the shop will be reduced by 15% including this small amount of hand-dyed which I hope to load up by 5pm GMT when the sale starts.

Bronzed Dewberry in Elegance - 1 skein

Rajasthan in Elegance - 1 skein

Three Kings in Elegance - 1 skein

Chocolate Cherries in Plushness - 1 skein

Hyacinth in Plump Plushness - 1 skein

Figgy Pudding in Encore - 2 skeins

Mossy Oak in Blush - 1 skein

Midori in Wisp - 1 skein

Old Roses in Wisp - 1 skein

Faded Bunting - 2 skeins
(colour not as strong as intended - extra price reduction)

There's a couple of extra skeins I've not photographed on here - some Mellow and a guest yarn - to go on too and all the pre-dyed cashmere and bamboo is on offer too.