New Etsy Items: Blue Scarf Collection

Fresh new batch of textured infinity scarves/snoods. Personally I find infinity scarf a bit of a mouth full but I still haven't worked out how to pronounce snood…snoooood?….snud? Help me out :/

Mood Boards/New Collection/Trend Prediction

Spring/Summer knitwear! Yay! It's my favourite kind of knit because (apart from crochet) its hard to make a spring knit look "crafty" and well… Unfashionable. Sounds mean but sometimes I just want to see a floaty gorgeous knit that uses so much technique and beautiful colours and yarn textures. There are so many talented knitters out there the have amazing skills and yet stick to using baby colour 4ply and following patterns down to the letter. BE FREE. Anyway I digress, I have put together some mood boards of what I'm planning to do for my new collections obviously I going to try and make this a bit more commercial for my online shop but I still want to be creative. Enjoy!

How To Quick Knit Socks

This is a quick tutorial on how to knit a quick pair of socks, I know most people will want to hand knit them with circular knitting needles but if I tried that they would never be finished. These take me about an hour from casting on the sewing in the ends. I use a knitting machine because thats my style but you could easily use this pattern hand knitting as long as you understand shaping and short row.

 I started with a soft wool and some matching grey elastic, the elastic is obviously optional as you can just sew a little in after knitting or rely solely on the ribbing to hold the sock up. Personally I find knitting it in is a nicer finish because I'm crap at hand sewing!

 I cast on using a mock 2x1 rib using from 30 to 30 and knit 20 rows. You can pick up the dropped stitches to make a true rib or use a double bed machine or hand knit it but I find this technique works and looks just fine plus is quickest for me.

 Bring all your needles forward and do 40 rows of plain knitting.

 Select hold and bring forward half the needles opposite to the carriage. This is when you turn the heel, which I'm hoping you already know because it is hard to explain! You bring one needle forward at a time opposite to the carriage for each row. You need to wrap the needle on the carriage side each time to prevent getting holes in the heel.

 This is a picture of the needles fully out and you should be able to see how each needle is wrapped this is to stop the holes. It is really important to weight your work whilst turning the heel or doing any short row technique else it will fall off! You now bring each needle back into working position for every row on the side opposite to the carriage each time.

 You should now be able to see your heel shape make sure to keep that side more weighted than the other because it now has more fabric to weigh down.

 Do another 40 rows in plain knitting before we get to the turning of the toe. This next part is optional the reason I turn toe even though there is a seam is so that the seam is on top of the toe and therefore will not irritate the wearer as much as if the seam was under or in line with the toes.

 Cast off half the stitches in the plain side of the sock this is the top of the sock.

 With the remaining needles do the same technique as with the heel but only go in 5 needles each side and back again. Once finished do not knit any more just cast off.

 This is the finished sock shape before being pressed.

 Excuse the gross legs! These are the finished socks after being sewn along the toe and the side seam. You knit the second sock exactly the same but the opposite way round to have the seams facing inward.

 I use a Hague Linker to sew all my clothing and items up I feel it is quicker and gives a more professional seam. It is barely visible on this sock!

SO there you go! A quick and well fitted sock pattern that can be done in all sorts of yarns and colours either on the machine or by hand knitting. Taking just an hour you can make a pair of socks for each day of the week!

New Etsy Item Knitting With Chiffon

A recent experiment with weaving led me to try some weaving on my knitting machine with chiffon. I chose a variated floral print chiffon and paired it with a plain cream wool to have a nice contrast. It worked really well and i also really enjoyed the boxy clothing silhouette I used. I love a technique like this that takes minimal effort but has massive payoff in terms of the finished result. Its now a live listing of my Etsy page as part of my new affordable collection. I can't wait to come up with some new home furnishing ideas for this technique. I'm thinking textured rugs and cushions!

Knit Inspiration

A recent trip to Birmingham has opened my eyes to this spring's new knitwear, I took a trip to forever 21 and topshop just for a quick look and was quite surprised by the range of techniques and all the colours were beautiful.

 This knitted skirt by Topshop reminded me of how simple a knitting project can be but how effective and rewarding. A knitted skirt is a weirder choice but I think they are versatile and unique. And extremely easy to make! This skirt was around £38 and you could make a simple acrylic version for half the price!

 This is the cutest jumper I've seen this year! My boyfriend actually spotted this and called me over! The mint green looks lovely in this photo, in real life it was a bit on the tacky side but it reminded me that hidden in my stash of yarn was some mint baby 4ply that my grandma gave me when i first started knitting. I have never had a use for it because it just isn't really for me, but I can imagine this pattern idea as a crop jumper or bag, maybe even some cute socks!

 This ombre cardigan from forever 21 really caught my eye, the colours are lovely. I would love to knit this in a more waterfall front version.

 This lovely fairisle knit jumper by forever 21 reminded me of my punch card heart pattern I used to create an infinity scarf for my etsy shop. This is a really nice idea of graduating colours.

New Etsy Additions

Following a spurt of new ideas for my Etsy shop I have decided to create a range of more affordable clothing and accessories. I have recently added 2 new scarves and a convertible top/cardigan. The scarves wee completely random from anything i had done before I just picked up a yarn and ran it through the machine hoping for the best and the results were quite pleasing! Take a look:

 I used a cotton and acrylic slub yarn so that when I overdyed the yarn would only partially take the dye and create a mottled and textured effect.

 This can be worn as a simple waterfall cardigan over a long sleeve top.

 Or you can twist the straps and panels to create halter neck and other unusual top designs. Become you're own stylist!

Next up is my grey marled yarn ladder and tassel infinity scarf/ snood.

This snood was knitted with about 4 different types of grey yarn that give it it's really unusual texture and sheen and also keeps the scarf warm and bulks up the tassels!

This piece was a pattern a made for valentines, I wanted to have some more unusual pieces for valentines that aren't the typical red and dark pink colours. As someone that works in retail the "valentines magic" slowly fades for me and this is a way of creating something for valentines that is still sweet but just a bit different!

 I used a high shine grey acrylic to pair the peachy pink chenille effect yarn with. Im not usually a fan of chenille yarns but i really like how it make the hearts raised and also gives the snood a nice soft lining.

The last top is another Mark Fast inspired piece. I had some black merino elastane left over and desided to make a cute little top marled with gold lurex and large lace holes this crop top is a lovely basic but unusual piece for anyones wardrobe.

So that is all my latest additions to my Etsy shop! I hopefully will be creating more this week as I have loads of new ideas and yarns to try out! I'm happy to say that both the scarves have sold since listing but they are still available to have made to order! All these pieces are available here at my shop!