Skeinspotting

New Beanie Patterns

I made these baby beanies ages ago. They are knitted in Noro Kureyon and hand fulled (felted). It didn't occur to me at the time to write the pattern up because of it's simplicity but some people who wish to have a go at fulling for the first time or who are beginners at knitting on dpns have asked for it.

So, I will be adding it to this site as a free pdf, including my slightly unorthodox way of getting a tumble dryer to help with the felting. When it has been checked for errors it will go up straight away, but if anyone wanted it immediately, then do email me.

I have had a funny sort of day, on the one hand I have been elated by people who have come forward to help me with my yarns for my 'special' project, and they have done this without asking too many questions and responded quickly too so I am ever so grateful for that. Also, I have had another book offer, for a one off pattern, which means by next year my work will be in 5 books that I can remember which is good.

I haven't really published a pattern that is very complicated or what I would call advanced. Although I am capable of knitting one, I tend to stick to designing things to make people's lives easier and something obviously that my hands can cope with. However, I do feel myself itching to get into some more complicated pattern writing but I reckon I would need a year off to experiment. I could never decide on a particular technique being the best one with so much on offer in the advanced range, so sticking to the classics and the basics make that easier. Also, if I needed to design advanced patterns and have them knit up, there is only me and one other knitter here. I did recently invent my own stitch pattern and that felt good and I want to do that more. However there are so many good traditional stitches that are lost in the archives of 1950's knitting books they should be revived too.



So, on the downside I am down to one knitter and finding the amount of work I need to do quite overwhelming. I am torn between just doing all my own work with my one good knitter and just getting on with it or beginning a search again for someone to add to the team of two who can work as professionally as we do. I do still have to do a tremendous amount of preparation in pattern writing to avoid errors occuring and as an insurance against disasters when I hand things out to knitters to do, as well as having to be on line a lot for queries. Perhaps this time could be best spent just knitting the things I need rather than being on line all day, typing up patterns, sending emails and trawling for information to help the knitting run smoothly if farmed out. The maths can be a nightmare,it is all theory until that first knit, how many of us design with every single number intact?, We don't know until we get there what we would do, but obviously, if I do something for another knitter all that has to be done in advance and sometimes when I sit here all day with a calculator doing maths on a baby sweater, I think darn it I should have just knit it straight off and be done with it!


Cable Hoodie from Vogue Knit-1 Spring