Happy May everyone. To those of you living in same hemisphere as this Magpie you will know that in true UK fashion summer has arrived bringing with it hail, frost and a little sleet. However we’ve had a couple of bright cold days and on one of them toddled off to Batsford Arboretum in the Cotswolds. There were two main reasons for this ( bear with me, there is a knitting connection ). One being there is a stunning Japanese garden and the blossom is in bloom. The second ( and to my mind much more important reason) being the chance to show off my finished Mabel’s Sister cardigan- I adore it. It was a delight to knit, the pattern was by Fiona Alice for Loop and as regular readers know I got my wings on some of Emily Foden’s ( Viola Emily ) organic merino, this yarn is sumptuous. The cover pic shows a ladybird helping with blocking. This shows me & the blossom 😊

Other knitty news see’s me still in splinting post hand surgery in January, my surgeon reminds me that ‘I know ‘ it’s a twelve month rehab to hopefully get to a good 70% function, I however am not renowned for my patience ( especially as we’ve yet to do it all over again on the other hand and wrist – what joy ). However my hand therapist is very agreeable to physio the knitting magpie way and I’m skipping along with a couple of projects. What I found with Mabel is that I cope well with slip n slide knitting but less so with rib for some reason. Therefore a couple of projects are in hibernation and I’m currently working on the Ninilchik Swoncho by Catlain Turner ( boylandknitworks ) which is fab. I’ve decided instead of beating myself up over acquiring a dress size due to surgery & steroids ( plus a little cheese & olives ) I’m going to chill out my look to a less structured one to prevent constantly breathing in! Caitlin’s Swoncho is in a heavier dk yarn than I’ve used but as it was a US yarn not available in the UK off I went hunting for substitutes. I loved her colour palate and found an excellent alternative from Rowan in their felted tweed dk. It’s about 25% finer so I played about with needles and it’s working up a treat:

The second pic shows Caitlin’s version plus the cake I made for Easter ( hence the need for a Swoncho 😁).

The other project I’ve started is from the new edition of Making Magazine and is a sweater called Shifting Sands. Due to the cable I can only work on it in short bursts but am so far pleased with it. I’d been looking for an excuse to try out the new Devonia yarn from John Arbon textiles based in Devon and this was it. I ordered it in the Broken Flower colourway and it is stunning. It’s a lighter dk so perfect for cooler summer evenings. The delightful stitch markers I’m currently obsessed with on the pic are from Fripperies and Bibelots and called ringO’s, the join is covered by the beads so no snagging ( any companies/ items mentioned are none affiliated, just things I’ve bought, like and want to share with you ).

RingO’s in the battenburg colourway cos it’s important to match your project colours plus the star ball bauble row markers also from frip n bib.

Shifting sands, the lovely yarn and my new splint….

Broken Flower in Devonia dk from John Arbon textiles.

Well that’s probably enough waffle from me so I’m off to do a little more on my Shifting Sands. Wishing you all a happy crafty May.

Love Magpie 😘

Hello again Magpies. Well in the true spirit of British weather we had summer for a few days in February (20° !!!) and as a couple of days ago British summertime began we are besieged by rain, sleet & hail. I suggest you come and sit by the fire with a hot chocolate and we can talk lovely knitty things.

So, I’m still splinted post surgery with a list of instructions but I am allowed to pick up needles for a couple of hours divided throughout the day – hurrah. My dexterity is quite rubbish as even without said splint my hand works in a different way now ( full recovery is expected to take a year so it’s very early days ). I tried a couple of items from my awaiting stash, the Brioche Buddies scarf and also Quince & Co’s pretty Azealia cami but both require a little more dexterity than I currently have. What was a Magpie to do? 🤔  Now March happened to contain two marvellous events: Edinburgh Yarn Festival and the Magpie’s birthday. As I couldn’t go to eyf I was following it with much interest ( envy ) and my eye spotted the wonderful new pattern for Loop London from Fiona Alice called Mabels Sister. It is a gloriously vintage style swing cardigan and for eyf Loop put together a kit using some of Emily Foden’s ( Viola Emily ) rare as hens teeth organic merino yarn ( they are also going to make some kits  available with Eden yarn this month ). I managed to snag one of the Viola kits after the festival as they had a handful left. The yarn arrived and is beyond lovely. I am doing it in Silver Birch as the primary with the smock style yoke in Bronte. The silver birch is a cool cream base with overtones of pink, grey blue and cool yellow with bronte a cool heather plum. The pics show the Loop pattern ( in a different colourway plus the yarn in my chosen colours ). I cannot wait to start this, as it is on a 4mm circular and a simple knit I’m hoping it will make a good return project.

As it was my birthday my husband spoilt me with knitty goodies amongst my treats. I love hand winding yarn with my nostepinne but it is becoming problematic especially with finer yarns. My right hand also has it’s own issues and with the left out of action is working very hard and tiring. Enter this lovely yarn winder from Knitpro.

Along with that came this beautiful yarn bowl from Scheepjes in the Aboriginal design:

I was most spoilt even receiving knitty treats like a brioche leather bracelet and a yarn dye kit from hey_mama_wolf from parents and in laws.

I was full of marvellous plans for all I would achieve while recovering from surgery ( sorting out forgotten drawers, decluttering the study of no longer required paperwork and the like. I am used to running around at a zillion miles an hour, leaving for work by 06:00 each day and returning some twelve hours later than starting on cooking, knitting, socialising so I thought I’ve got so much time to fill. What have I achieved? Nada, zilch. My immune system really doesn’t like any interference and made it’s displeasure known resulting in my needing a lie down after a shower! In fact this week was the first time I even ventured out socially. Hubby dropped me off in Leamington Spa where I met a friend for a long lazy lunch which was a total treat – thank you Carol.  Other than that I have pretty much bought yarn. Oh and my birthday treat to me was a very cheerful raincoat from Stutterheim. I’ve had my beady eye on this for a couple of years and it hit the sale in my size. It makes me smile and I regress to a six year old when wearing it. ( The cover pic this month shows me on my first birthday having taken control of the cake knife – I was a horrid child).

The other useful thing I did this month was try out the new wool wash from the young company Knit IQ.  A few months ago I purchased their knitting blocks ( which incidentally I really like ) and joined their VIP programme. They contacted me asking if I would like to try out their about to be launched wash ( it’s currently available on Amazon.com but will hit the UK / Europe via Amazon co.uk in a few weeks so it’s worth hanging on to avoid duty / shipping ). I did receive the product for a nominal cost but the review is completely unbiased.

I usually use Soak in fig so in order to gain an accurate feel for this new product I washed my mitts ( knitted in Birlynn yarn so quite a rustic texture ) one in each solution in exactly the same way. The price point is similar but you get 500mls of knit IQ compared to 375mls Soak for a similar outlay.

The wash: This is lightly fragranced with lavender and citrus bases and apparently has some moth repellent properties as a result of this. It is a natural product and the scent is light and pleasant. A similar residual fragrance level remains once dry to the level from Soak. The wash plumped up the yarn well and I feel the mitt ( on the left ) washed in this was a tad softer because of this ( it may be due to the lanolin content which I appreciate may mean the product may not be suitable for some folk). When asked to try this I emailed Oliver ( founder ) re the cruelty free status of the product and he confirmed it is cruelty free, this needs to be better advertised as if I hadn’t been asked to try the product, and being happy with my usual wash I may have passed it by. If I’m completely honest I prefer the fig fragrance of Soak to lavender but that is just a perfume preference and the residual fragrance is too light in both cases for it to influence future purchases. I’m certainly happy with this wash and as it gives 25% more product for the same price I would happily recommend and repurchase.

The company: As I said this is a young company with currently just a couple of products. Oliver tells me that he has a lot of knitters in his life who chatted about products they would like to see or products they would like to see improved versions of. As his background is in research he went off to investigate and thus his new product line has begun. Each new product is developed with input from the folk who will be using the end result so if you have a wish list or a product idea drop him a line via fb or Instagram – Knit IQ. I’m certainly excited to see what appears next.

I hope you are all having a lovely creative time and will chat again next month. I’m off to have a play with my lovely Viola yarn and may do a little winding by the fireside.

Love Magpie 😘

Hello and welcome to the March musings of the ( non )knitting magpie. I hope the year is treating you well so far and that you can glimpse spring on the horizon.

As regular readers know I had some surgery to my left hand ( wing ) a month ago, although I am right handed I learnt to become left hand dominant/ reliant after a spinal injury a few years ago. I am currently spending a lot of time dropping things…… Once my physio starts I shall need to learn to use my left hand in a slightly different way as the thumb is now placed slightly in front and curves in a little – think a slightly more manicured lobster claw so I shall need to find some patience – not one of my virtues.

Anyway enough of that, I’m even boring myself. I managed to get Humulus finished, in fact it was drying on blocks as I toddled off to theatre. I love the result ( please excuse the non pressed pic, I’m not allowed to iron yet, hubby offered and I think I let out a little whimper of fear). I used one of my favourite yarns – Erika knight’s British Blue 100 and it has worked beautifully.

Now as I’m out of knitty action for quite a few weeks I’ve amused myself by supporting the yarn industry, I may have gone slightly overboard but have justified it as being unable to drive means I’ve saved on fuel.

My planned projects are many and varied but there are some ‘ must does ‘ among them. Firstly I have had a real live commission for one of my blankets, a word of mouth recommendation and they don’t mind that they won’t get it for some months.

From a personal perspective I treated myself to two delicious books: Emily Fodens Knits about Winter and Laine 7. From Emily’s I fell headlong in love with the Eastwind Jacket and spent an inordinate amount of time picking the perfect yarns ( Emily’s were not available but I think these will do it justice ). I am using The Fibre Co’s Lore in Gentle overlaid with Artyarns silk mohair in Rose Ombre – this is one of the most beautiful yarns I have ever seen. For the contrast trim and exposed pocket linings am using some of the British Blue in Cymbeline left over from Humulus as the contrast is perfect. This is a true investment knit and I cannot wait to start it.

In Laine I came across the Brioche Buddies shawl designed by Nancy Marchant and Stephen West. Now I’ve never tried brioche and decided this is the perfect place to start. The yarn is lovely and I’ve picked a very muted contrast. I’ll let you know how my foray into the world of brioche goes.

I’m also planning to do Whitehorse by Boyland knitworks and was musing over what to use. I then tripped over Daughter of a Shepherd ( virtually ) and have just ordered some of her rare breed dk so will show you that & the pattern next time.

My non new year resolution is to be slightly more organised re the blog so I’m planning on a new post the first week of each month rather than my usual scatty ‘ really must get on with it ‘approach – we shall see.

In other news my having surgery has coincided with hubby taking v early retirement. It has been planned since a rather great opportunity presented itself last summer, however he is here, with me ( and my visiting friends the wool delivery folk – there is no where to hide) ……. Now in all honesty it’s been great as I have been thoroughly spoilt. Coffee on tap, homemade breads and soups for lunch and a different extravaganza for dinner each night. I am going to turn into a whale by the time I get back to work. It will be self limiting though as his new life plans are starting so he will be too busy to notice the deliveries or to feed me.

I hope you all have a lovely crafty March and I’ll catch up with you all soon. Off for coffee and a rose shortbread now.

Lots of love

Magpie 😘

Hello knitty folk.

I hope 2019 is treating you well so far.

It’s a little strange here as I’m currently playing a waiting game. As some of you know I was due to have fairly intricate hand surgery just before Christmas which for a variety of tedious reasons couldn’t go ahead. It’s now planned for a couple of days time – gulp.

The bonus was I thought at least I could finish my top down cardigan from Purl Soho which I duly have. I used a UK indie yarn from Skein Queen in Fairy Dust. This has knitted up finer than the PS pattern which I expected as it is for spring / summer and travelling as it’s so light. The yarn is ridiculously beautiful. I could have gone down a size ( or two ) but am happy with this one being totally oversized. Sadly buttons have not yet arrived but this gives an idea of it finished ( still to be blocked ). It has lots of detailing not immediately obvious that I love such as I-cord edges, rolled hems and saddle shoulders. I’m planning a second one, more fitted in one of Qing fibres jewelled shades.

I also managed to whip up Andrea Mowry’s Mae tunic in Malabrigo Rios in Water Green. This is a really quick knit and I like the result. I’m already imagining a cotton version.

Because after finishing up the cardigan I had a week left to D day I thought I’ll just plan projects for this year once I’m rebuilt – yeah right. What I actually did was cast on the wonderful Humulus sweater by Isabell kraemer which I am knitting in Erika Knight’s British blue 100. The yarn is lovely, it’s like a very very soft shetland wool. I have a couple of days to do two sleeves – wish me luck 🙄

Short and sweet post today, I’m off to frantically carry on knitting.

Happy crafting Magpie’s and I’ll catch up with you after my surgery.

Love

Magpie 😘

Hello Magpies

I hope you are all well and keeping either warm or cool depending on where you are geographically.

Apologies for the radio silence and thank you to those of you who have been in touch. I’ve remained less than my usual sparkling magpie self and my writing was just all blugh! Also from a time factor when I’ve not been at work in the health service I’ve been there as a patient – little knitting time was the result.

However I have finished off a couple of projects, the Kykuit Sweater from the very talented Michelle Wang for The Yarn Collective which I knitted in their Hudson Worsted / ochre. I absolutely adored everything about this knit and the wool is a delight to work with. It’s a time consuming knit but worth it. I shall seriously consider a second for next winter as love wearing it.

Like an awful lot of us I suspect I also got carried away knitting up scarves and hats for gifts. Probable one of my favourites is this little Bear hat with attached pompom scarf that I made up for our four year old niece using some Take Care Mohair from my stash – modelled here by a childhood bear of my own:

I also knitted up the Reversible Rivulet Scarf from Purl Soho for a ‘just because ‘ gift for my husband. Being unable to get their yarns in the UK I substituted a fantastic yarn from Fyberspates which worked beautifully. The scarf is knitted throughout in twisted rib with alternating cable placement. The end result is lovely.

I have also treated myself to a couple of sets of UK yarns farmed and dyed on site. Some aptly named Christmas Red for the Stasis sweater. This yarn is from The Little Grey Sheep and is their Gotland 4 ply.

The other on my list was some of Erika Knights British Blue yarn in cymbeline which is a dark grey plus Mrs Dalloway which is an old gold- these are for the Humulus sweater which is knitted yoke down and depicits a traditional hop design.

 All that remains is for me to wish you all a happy holiday season and I will catch up with you in the New Year.

Love Magpie 😘

Hello all magpies who like me are looking forward to the arrival of Autumn 🍊 and Winter ☃️ ( & apologies to those about to herald the arrival of Summer 🌞)

I do like summer and this year the UK had had approximately ten years of its usual sunshine quota, I am now officially over summer.

I am however totally over excited about the arrival of cooler & ideally cold weather. I adore hunkering down in front of the log burner with winter projects. Beautiful though lightweight summer yarns are I never get the same feeling of comfort that I do from gorgeous winter wool.

Earlier in the year I treated myself to the Canal Sweater kit from We are Knitters in grey spot. Throughout summer my gaze kept drifting to this beautiful Meri Wool but it did not lend itself to 30° temperatures. Now however it is time to commence this lovely sweater..

I mentioned previously that we would investigate my kit & yarn stash, however I’m saving that for a another time. I will be having some surgery later this year on my hand(s) so this Magpie will not be knitting for a while. This will be the time to do some sorting of projects so we will pick this up later.

Until my most excellent hand surgeon gets stuck in I am trying to fit in as many projects as possible so when not at work I am attached to my needles.

Over the next few weeks my plan is to complete my sweater, complete a blanket as a host / hostess gift for some friends in Venice in some Crazy Sexy Wool in an lovely Olive colour and numerous hats & scarves as gifts.

As we are down on the beautiful North Devon coast for a week I’ve managed to complete a couple of smaller projects. A freestyle crochet shoulder shrug for my mum ( who is tiny & always cold). I wanted something she could layer under a jacket for extra warmth without the bulk of a scarf and am pleased with the result. I used some Lil Heal the Wool from my stash which worked well.

For me I commenced the Sea Pink hat & mitts from the Birlinn Yarn Company. I love the finished hat ( not yet blocked) and am about to start the mitts. I love their seafaring sheep 🐑🐑🐑

Also completed is Thea Coleman’s wonderful charity hat pattern called water. This formed part of my husband’s birthday gifts and the result is lovely.

I used light Aranmore from The Fibre Co which is a mix of cashmere, silk and merino. A yarn I will use again.

I think I shall go and download an audiobook and cast on the mittens to my Sea Pink set while himself is off tramping over the Noth Devon coast path. I had to agree to  this week being one of R & R (with for me the onus being on recuperation) so I feel no guilt about my enforced laziness.

Do let me know what you are all looking forward to project wise in the cooler months as I love hearing from you.

Until next time have a great crafty autumn.

Love

Magpie. X

Hello to all Magpies who like me cannot resist a shiny new project, no matter how many WIP are currently taking up space in your brain / home ( you can read more about my tendency to collect here: About the knitting magpie. )

I had decided I really really needed to finish off some of my numerous WIP before starting anything new. Now in my defence I do have some mitigation for having a few projects on the go at any one time.

I like to have a ‘TV ‘ knit available, my viewing of choice tends to be subtitled BBC4 drama, the darker the better so at this point I want a relatively clean knit – currently the Judako bag is fitting the bill for this. I’m using BC Garn Alba in coastal colours of seafoam, coral and dune gold for this beach / festival bag:

Next I like something with a little more attention required that I can complete whist listening to Audio books either in my garden arbour hideaway or by the French doors watching the birds feed. The Eternal Optomist Scarf by Mindy Ross fitted the bill perfectly for this. I used one skein of the lovely cashmere I bought last month in Venice along with some rose quartz beads. The finished scarf forms the featured image this week and it was an enjoyable knit. The was one slight hiccup when I realised I had failed to insert a yarn over but a little faffing with a minature crochet hook allowed correction without completely undoing numerous rows of pattern.

It is rare that I can just knit but when I really want to turn my brain noise down I will pick either a complex pattern or cable. I have in my stash a 75% completed sweater – the Kykuit by Michelle Wang for The Yarn Collective. I am working this in Yarn Collective Hudson Worsted in the Olana Ochre colour. I absolutely love this pattern which I started early January but had to put aside come March. I plan to pick it up again in the next few weeks ready for Autumn.

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed that my left hand is in a functional splint ( as is my right) and whilst it is a great place to store your cable needle it does mean I can only work on some projects for a very short amount of time, hence having a choice of options on the go. I cannot however blame my complete overabundance of yarn, kits & fabrics on my unstable joints – just a lack of willpower ( and not enough hours in the day) 😘

Next time I may tell you a little more about the stash and my plans to tackle it, below is a snapshot of some of the loveliness plonked on the day bed in what I laughingly call my dressing room ( I have plans for decorating this but first I need to be able to get into it!)

Now, shiny new projects. I really really didn’t need to start anything new but – the very naughty We are Knitters had an offer on which included the Goa Tee, a kit that had been on my wishlist. Ok I told myself sternly, you can order it and put it away for the spring. As you can see that worked………..

I am trying to organise my thoughts (again) into getting ready for Christmas, all the time being conscious that real life doesn’t stop so I can knit 😕 I updated my gifting accessories from the lovely MOO. As I have care labels that I attach to finished gifts by ribbon to the tags I decided on sticky gift tags to secure wrapping and also some fab postcards. One side can be written on for personal messages.

I already have some great sew in labels that I order from Bags of Love

and am currently perusing various external tags in either wood or leather for bags and hats – ahhh etsy 💓

You can keep in touch with me on Instagram  @knittingmagpie and also the Facebook group which you can find by clicking this link: The Knitting Magpie

Well I must go and pretend to at least catch up on some chores as back at work tomorrow. Have a happy, healthy creative time whatever you may be working on.

Love

Magpie X

Hello everyone. I hope you are enjoying a crafty warm summer ( or a crafty keeping warm winter) depending on where you are.

Himself and I have just returned from a trip to Italy where food, wine and wool were the order of the day with a side helping of audio books. I’ve only discovered the joy of these fairly recently. I started listening to help switch off on my 1.5 hour daily commute home from work and then found they were the perfect accompaniment to knitting. The return from work calls usually for a thriller(!) where as currently I am working my way through the marvellous M C Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series read by Penelope Keith whilst knitting.

We started our jaunt in Venice where we were very spoilt by our friends. I also found time to pop to Lellabella for some of their sumptuous ethical cashmere. I picked a very pale pink and a dark crimson. As I hasn’t planned to shop that day my credit card was back at the house so himself paid – a bargain 😘

If you visit Venice do call in to this tiny Aladdin’s cave of wonderful woolly treats.

Venice always allows me time to craft as K likes to cook. Early mornings find us haunting the Rialto market for the best fish and in the evening after chicetti at our favourite bar I settle on the tiny balcony with a glass of wine and my project whilst he cooks. One evening this time he had just served a lovely crab and fennel linguine when on turning to fetch his own wine a large gull dived in and helped himself.

Our second week was spent further north just outside of Bardolino on the shores of Lake Garda. We were high up residing in a beautiful cream stone 15th century farmhouse which consisted of 8 suites and a pool with lovely staff on hand who provided lazy breakfasts on the terrace.

As you can see there was little inclination to leave, the hammock in the top left and the feature pic for this post show my knitting spots for the week. The bottom right shows the first outing of my Le Chic dress competed in time for the trip.

My holiday project needed to be fairly compact as I have never mastered the art of travelling light, therefore I decided on socks. I don’t know why but even though I learnt to knit 300 years ago ( you can read a little more about me and how I learnt here: About the knitting magpie. ) I’ve never knitted socks. I picked a pattern from Loop London, ( toe up socks with afterthought heel) and added a frilled cuff to peek over ankle boots. I picked some South African Nuturing Fibres sock yarn ( I do like how they even use the waste dye water to irrigate their groves) in Humbug and had some leftover Rialto Lace, which used double was perfect for toes, heels and frill. As the World Cup was on ( football – yawn)  a couple of evenings  post dinner found us in a very nice bar in town where he could watch the match and I could hunker down with a negroni or two,  Agatha Raisin through my earphones and socks clicking away. He was amused to see how many folk found themselves watching my needles rather than the screen. I’m really pleased with the finished result and also mastered the Kitchener stitch for the heels. A further bonus is that there is enough yarn to make another pair in a reversed colourway.

Now we are home and back to work and reality although the weather here remains unbroken. As usual I have far far too many projects on the go but I haven’t been able to resist casting on the pink cashmere. I am using this for the beautiful Eternal Optimist scarf from Mindy Ross, I am also part beading it with rose quartz. The pattern really appeals as it is made up of distinct sections from ‘seed pods’ through to ‘reap what you sow’ in different panels charting what happens in the garden, from propagating & planting to picking. I will keep you updated as it progresses. Currently I have just started on ‘Furrowing’.

I guess I better go and continue the unpacking before picking up my needles again – boo hiss.

For those of you who have been visiting The Knitting Magpie Facebook group page       https://www.facebook.com/groups/580224245691140/  I do hope you are enjoying it. Since creating it a little over six weeks ago it has grown to just over 200 members from all over the world. I love reading your posts and seeing your  projects.

Until next time I wish you happy crafting.

Love

Magpie X