Nicky Epstein is one of the most popular knitwear designers to have ever graced the planet.
Check out her website: Nicky Epstein
If you are already a fan of Nicky Epstein,
you are going to be thrilled with
Knitting a Kiss In Every  Stitch:
Creating Gifts for the People You Love
And, if you weren’t a fan before,
you most certainly will be
after you see this lovely,
delight filled treasure of a book.
This is a book that is
all about love:
The love of knitting,
the love of great, and inspiring
designs, and the pleasures of  putting love into action by making wonderful gifts.
It’s a beautiful book, built on an excellent …read more

Prepare yourself to enter into a world of intoxicating color and texture!

Are you familiar with Kristin Nicolas’s work?
Check out her website: Kristin
And, now, prepare yourself for a treat!
Color by Kristin: How to design your own beautiful knits
by Kristin Nicholas has just been released and it is gorgeous beyond belief!
It’s a gloriously, deliciously inspiring book by master knitter and designer, Kristin Nicholas.
Do yourself a favour and buy yourself a copy of this book- call it a holiday present for yourself, because you’ll be transported by the beauty of the photographs. That’s a very inexpensive holiday, isn’t it? Open the book, …read more

A friend of mine has just started exploring the delights of working with a knitting machine.
I hopped up and down,
pointing at this totally
awesome book that I
bought more than 15 years ago.
Luckily,
Hand Manipulated Stitches
for Machine Knitters
by Susan Guagliumi,
published by Taunton Press,
in 1990, is still available.
This book is stuffed full of
useful ways of maximizing
the creative possibilities of working with knitting machines.
It’s one of those ‘foundation’ books that you just have to have if you are going to be using the knitting machine as a tool in your fiber arts.
I am soooooooooo glad that it is still in print, and I hope that …read more

We have several Dr Who fans in the family. And, now, our small dog has joined the ranks of being a devotee of Dr ?
How did
Small Dog
come to be
a Fan of Dr Who?
It’s the scarf.
Definitely the
lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng
and oh so cosy
scarf.
From Season 16.
You see,
Beloved daughter in law
schmucked up her ankle
royally.
I mentioned that I
was volutold by the Dr
(Not Dr Who, Dr V)
that I was going to help put
on the cast.
Pardon the pun, but
that’s no mean feat!
See: Casting Call
Anyhow, since Beloved daughter in law has to stay off Mean Foot schmucked ankle, she’s taking the opportunity to knit like there’s no tomorrow.
A friend of …read more

How odd.
Even though the weather absolutely gorgeous today, I felt out of synch with the beauty of the day.
Today was a day of melancholy for me.
Perhaps it’s because it’s close to the anniversary of the death of one of my husband’s sisters.
Perhaps it’s because the other sisters have been here visiting and now they’ve gone  home and I miss them.
Perhaps it’s because the project that I have been wrestling with for days is refusing to set itself to rights and is a disappointment.
Perhaps it’s because I always feel sad when I cut down the glorious hollyhocks and sunflowers and put …read more

Yarn can be very good medicine.
We use yarn as a blessing.
Is there a baby on the way?
Get out the knitting needles
and crochet hooks to
celebrate!
Is someone ill?
Knit or crochet or weave
them a prayer or blessing
shawl.
Is there a rite of passage or significant spiritual event? Chances are good that textiles will enter into it, somehow, somewhere.
We swaddle our babies and wrap them in soft cloths. And, when the time comes, and we leave this life and are born into the next, someone will wrap our bodies in cloth again.
Cloth, and the ways we create it, whether we knit, crochet, weave or make …read more

In June, I found a wonderful vintage knitting book that probably came off Noah’s ark. It’s full of class and timeless designs with enchantingly bizarre captions under the photos.
I have been working
on knitting
leggings for
our soon to be
grandbaby.
The pattern
is written for
2 needles, but
I thought…
oh really…
these leggings
are just a bi-furcated sock!
I can knit them in the round.
It was slightly odd to translate the pattern, as there was a very different way of constructing a knitting pattern in the 40’s, when I assume this book was written.  It took a bit of neuron crunching to shift the pattern from 2 needles to dpn’s. …read more

In June and July, I wove a length of fabric for placemats.
I blogged about
weaving the placemats and
some of the techniques I was using-
Tambour chain stitch embroidery
and
Inlay and embroidery
and
when it was all woven,
it took me a while
to be able
to cut it
into the placemats.
I thought about the edges and decided to try different ways of finishing them.
I thought….
why not  knit the edging
on the knitting machine?
So, I picked up stitches
all along the edge.
And then I knitted 11 rows.
Then, I folded the placemat
up, picked up and plunked
stitches along the edge,
and cast the whole shebang off.
And of course, wove in the ends.
It worked just fine.
And, …read more

If you live a yarn-centric or yarn centered life, chances are good that you enjoy working with more than one yarnie technique.
Crocheters often weave.
Weavers often knit.
Knitters often embroider.
Embroiderers often crochet.
Tatters often crochet.
Spinners use their yarns in
all kinds of ways….
Some of us love to
explore all of the above.
And why not bring all  these strands together  in one piece? This is often called free form work.
I call it  a ‘Cross- Currents’ approach to the fiber arts.
This photo is the back of  a Cross Currents Jacket
in which I used handspun yarns,
with crochet, weaving, knitting,
embroidery, spool knitting  and tatting.
How do you pull together all …read more

Yesterday,  I posted the pattern for a knitted skirt for the Fanciful Flat Fiber Friends Dolls.
Today, I am posting the pattern
for a knitted pullover sweater for the FFFF Dolls.
The yarn that I used for the sweater
has been discontinued,
but a sportweight yarn
will work just fine.
With 5 mm needles,
Gauge: 4 st and 8 rows garter stitch= 1 inch/2.5 cm
Here’s the pattern:
Back of sweater:  Cast on 10 stitches and knit 18 rows.
Front: First shoulder: Row 19: Knit  3 stitches, turn,
Row 20:Knit  3 stitches, turn,
Row 21: Knit  3 stitches, cast off 4 stitches,
Start second shoulder: knit  remaining 2 stitches, turn, knit 3 stitches, turn, …read more