Eight-by-Six

Do you love knitting well this is for you.  A really easy knitting project using 1 ball of Sirdar Jewelspun and only 2 ends to sew in. What’s not to love! I found this easy pattern over at Purl Soho web site called the mistake rib scarf It’s a great pattern for watching tv because there’s only one row to remember and one ball of yarn to sit next to you on the sofa - perfect!  You can pick up the Sirdar Jewelspun yarn at WoolBox and lots of knitting accessories too! There are 8 colours to chose from and lots of other yarn too! Pop over to my Instagram account for more knitting inspiration and to see the finished scarf this weekend, with pom poms 

Have you ever knitted a jumper/cardigan and then put it into the naughty corner because you can't bring yourself to stitch it all together? I used to be like that, spending money on good yarn, spending hours knitting it following a pattern only to shove it into a project bag (and hide it in the loft)! It really isn't that difficult once you get the hang of it. Mattress stitch is one of those techniques that once you master it you think how on earth did I ever get by without it! It's basically verticle seaming, creating an invisible join between the the front and back of your jumper (the two pieces of your knitting). You can use this technique for stocking stitch or ribbing, most jumpers have both so this is perfect. Honestly, a little practice and a lot of patience it will be a lightbulb moment so it really is worth the effort learning how to do it. The reason for my blog post today is because I posted a little video clip to show my Instagram followers the ma...

After knitting my latest hat I noticed that a few of the colours reminded me of Earl Grey and Marmalade. Chatting away to my insta buddy (aka sewhappycreative ) she said oh that's lovely and off she went to produce just this colour! She then sent me the first dye batch on Saturday and I decided to knit another blackberry stitch beanie (my all time favourite knitting pattern). I love the colour and the texture its just right for this beautiful yarm. Earl grey and Marmalade blackberry beanie I knit mine on 5mm KnitPro symfonie short tips, these are so lovely and its a quick knit. Don't let those blackberries fool you into thinking its difficult. Once you get into the rhythm they are easy and knit up in no time at all. You can find the Blackberry Stitch pattern here  My normal yarn for this pattern would be Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and you can buy it here  (its on special) But why not contact Fiona and try her gorgeous hand dye yarn. Happy Knitting!

I've been having a cosy week surrounded by gorgeous yarn and knitting another cable hat. I really do love this pattern and I've now lost count of how many I've knitted since October! I'm even planning another one in a new colourway from Sew Happy Creative (Fiona has gone and dye me a special colour and I can't wait to see it tonight when I get home) first rows of stag cables The latest colour is called Winters Plum and I was lucky to receive this as my Christmas present from Fiona, and I love the way the colours pool in each of the cables. Some people don't like colour pooling but I like to see how each individual skein knits up without any intervention.  I hope you manage to have time to knit or crochet, I can't go a day without it. hat stack is growing

There's nothing more satisfying than knitting the last cable decrease on a Christmas gift. I mainly use Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for winter hats, and this baby pink is just beautiful and has a vintage vibe to it. I buy mine from Love Crafts and they have good offers on throughout the year. The pattern I use is one designed by Debbie herself, it was free on her web site a few years ago and is so easy to follow with horn cable stitch (or antler cables). Its the perfect choice for hand made Christmas gifts. I'm currently knitting three for my nieces (Meg, Beth and Grace) as they are spending Christmas day with their mum and new dad (my husbands twin brother) You may remember we attended their beautiful wedding in Lake Como in September. The colours I've chosen are Baby Pink (603), Oatmeal (27) and Biege (102) they look so gorgeous when paired with the pom poms I buy from the lovely CraftyFriendsUK . I buy from Catherine because her pom poms are consistently exc...

I posted this back in 2013 and its been such a popular post but the link was broken, here it is  again because I'm sure my readers would love to knit this up for gifts over Christmas. I'm currently knitting one in King Cole Twirly Tweed Chunky and the colourway is called Raspberry Ripple. I'm using 7mm knitting kneedles althought the pattern states 6mm. I bought the yarn in Brighton back in May. Its going to look great with my grey coat or a grey jumper, perfect accessory for the chilly weather. I have cast on 33 stitches for this yarn but the Rico yarn uses larges needles and only 19 stitches. I've knitted this for friends and family for Christmas presents and it looks great. Happy Knitting Amanda

Autumn has arrived and all the colours change, yarn included. I'm just loving these mustards and orange tones. I'm currently torn between diving into this new yarn (maybe I'll wait until Sunday when hubby is at work and can have an afternoon of indulgent knitting) knitting pumpkins to re-stock my Etsy shop and finishing my mustard granny I started back in May at the same time as my Sweetheart blanket (which is almost finished just 2 rows to go, woop woop) Too many projects and just not enough time. If you want to purchase new yarn for a new project please visit Lusciously Loopy Yarn for  15% off your first order, win win. My mustard granny in progress Fyberspates Vivacious DK 832 Burnished Here's some photos of all my current Autumn projects (I've hidden all the others away!) Here is the pattern link for the cute knitted pumpkins by Amanda Berry over on Ravelry I add a crochet stalk in green. Here's the link to my Mustard Granny Pattern ...

I finished my hitchhikershawl in time to take to Lake Como with me. I made it using my gorgeous mini skiens (Christmas present) from the fabulous Sew Happy Creative  and I love the stellina glittery threads, so pretty but hard to capture. I used 8 mini skeins in total and Fiona was fabulous and hand dyed another batch when I requested an urgent suppyl! . . Pattern: Hitchhiker shawl (with eyelet rows added on row 8) Yarn: mini skeins @sewhappycreativ  Needles: KnitPro symfonie size 3.75mm leave a little glitter wherever you go  I've started another (like you do) this time using Sirdar Snuggly Pattercake in colourway 0761 its beautiful to knit with and feels like cotton wool. Very reasonably priced too for 150g you get 498m/545 yards of 70% acrylic 30% nylon that is machine washable at 40 degrees. I actually purchased mine to knit a baby blanket but so glad I didn't, its perfect for a Hitchhiker shawl because the colour changes are very soft and I lov...

A new month, new yarn and a new jumper in candy pink with stripes. Another of my late night eBay bargains (I do love a bargain) This time I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and I have lots of colours in my yarn stash. I do love knitting and after finishing my Dill Tee I hatched a plan to knit another in Aran weight yarn ready for the Autumn, its going to be bright! I've been collecting the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn for ages, its my favourite yarn for knitting hats. I started this on Thursday night and by Sunday afternoon I'd reached the seed stitch panel on the top. I'm not the quickest of knitters but knitting in stripes makes me knit faster. I knit and purl into the back loops for the 2x2 rib, it gives it a very neat look. Saturday morning The colours I'm using are: pink, duck egg, ecru, lilac, stone, grey and MUSTARD. Had to have a big splash of mustard and I'm thinking the little sleeves can be a combination of the stripes. Lets see wh...

June must be a month for me making tees the knitted and crochet kind. I started my denim daisy tee about a week ago, a re-worked version of what was going to be another blanket when I had the brain wave to turn it into something to wear. The denim colour really does make the colours pop don't you think? the back of one jumper meets the front of another tea time in my garden on Sunday morning And I also started my Dill Tee from the lovely We Are Knitters, its my first purchase and won't be my last. I love how you can take the cardboard bag with you that doubles as yarn holder and I managed to find 15 mins to add a few rows whilst waiting for my manicurist on Saturday morning. The instructions and kit are just perfect for beginners and more advanced/experienced knitters, everything is in the bag ready for you to cast on. I'm now a #wakambassador so if you fancy a peek at their range (they have a sale on this week) you can use my link here just a...

I'm whizzing along the long rows and I've just finished the 5th colour. I really love how the colours I've chosen work so well together. Sometimes you choose colours and then when you knit them together they don't work as you had expected. On this occasion it has worked just as I wanted it to and the back is just as pretty. Last night I started to add the final colour and then its finished! I don't want to finish it because its been so much fun to knit but I have my next Gryer shawl already planned, I just need to purchase the yarn this week. When this is finished it will be perfect for our holiday on the Broads later this month along with my rectangular granny blanket that I'm finishing next week. More about that in a separate post soon and don't forget you can follow my progress on my Instagram account. Gryer shawl knitted in Scheepjes Stonewashed Smokey Quartz, Amazonite, yellow Jasper, Crystal Quartz and Rose Quartz pretty pink tulips from...

I've been searching for ages for a simple yet stunning knitted shawl. I came across the Gryer shawl on an Instagram account last week and immediately bought the pattern. You can find the pattern link here  on Ravelry - I'm not advertising, I paid for my pattern but thought I'd share it because its great for all your knitters out there. love these speckles It all started with the yarn I purchased on Instagram from someone's yarn de-stash, oops. The colour is called Waterlilly. So I ordered the Evergreen colourway on Saturday and it arrived on Wednesday and I started using it last night. I decided on the Evergreen because after knitting the first section I noticed lots of flecks of green and purchased it hoping it would work. I shouldn't have been worried because it has worked beautifully. Evergreen

Wow I'm just loving this new pattern, isn't it fabulous? The first 9 rows set the pattern then its quite easy to follow without the need for a pattern. It looks so cool in mustard and I plan to make more. You can find the pattern on Etsy under Ivy and Mabel (Angie) And some of my mustard makes on my Instagram account Pinwheel cushion my mustard makes

Yeah my new cactus tea cosy pattern is now live you can buy it here at  Love Knitting . I've knitted mine in Debbie Bliss yarn but you can use any DK weight held double. This weekend I'll be adding my Cactus giveaway over on my Instagram account. Happy Knitting. Amanda x

Try try again. Not one to usually listen to my own advice (seriously) last night I decided to revisit an old UFO/WIP that I started last April (I think). OK so I was supposed to be pattern testing and I've apologised to the lovely design many many times but I just couldn't get past a 31 row zig zag lace panel decrease. I know what I was doing wrong but late night knitting was proving a stumbling block so it went back into its bag ready to re surface when I was ready. One night last week I was ready and it came out and guess what? Yes, I conquered my fear of the 31 row lace panel and managed to knit 20 rows, yeah! Not only am I in love with this pattern again Follow Your Dream Shawl but I'm also head over heels in love with the Scheepjes Whirl Yarn again that I bought from Lynn at Lusciously Loopy Here is my shawl in progress last week, just a few more evenings and it will be ready to block then wear. About to start the lace panel again lace panel completed ...

Yeah for the long Easter weekend full of tea drinking, chocolate eating and lots of knitting and crochet. The weather is going to be awful but I don't mind as I'll be surrounded by colour and warmth and a big granny blanket. I've just released my second pattern this month for the tea cosy, there is no stopping me! It combines my love of knitting and crochet together with a retro look! The inspiration for my tea cosy came from growing up as a kid in the 1970’s, surrounded by a colour palette of browns, orange and mustard that I didn’t appreciate at the time. We always visited my gran on a Sunday for tea and home made cake. She always had a knitted tea cosy and taught me to knit at an early age. I wasn’t that taken with knitting and my skills didn’t further develop until my son was born in 1992, a few garments frogged along the way (ask my husband about the first green jumper I knitted!!). Since then I’ve knitted lots of accessories as gifts for family and friends and ...

I finished my second Hitchhiker shawl on Saturday evening and I have to say I just love it in this Ocean Blue colour. I decided to add the eyelet row to row 8 of the pattern and I wasn't disappointed, just look at that drape! You can find my first Hitchhiker shawl in Batik Swirl  HERE Ocean Blue shawl If you are in need of a hug in a shawl then pop over to my Etsy account, its now listed and needs a new home. In the meantime I've started a new project for me, a Stashbuster jumper using the fabulous Debbie Bliss Rialto DK and Heathers range. Pure luxury just for me. This is the main colour Denim in the Debbie Bliss Rialto Heathers range, isn't it lovely?  (now discontinued but I managed to gran the last 7 skiens in C&H Canterbury) oh happy days.