Hello folks. I hope you are enjoying the start to summer ( or winter depending on your location).

I’ve dipped in and out of my current projects over the last couple of weeks having been side tracked by sewing a tote in the most gorgeous Llama fabric and crocheting my first ever piece of clothing.

Firstly my tote which I am thrilled with. I noticed the fabric on bagclaspsltd and fell in love with it, I then saw that they also did some really cute bag kits that included nice leather handles & clasps plus interfacing and hardware – right down to the bag feet. I also had some red ticking stripe linen perfect for lining. The finished bag just makes me smile, it is so cheerful.

Now to my crocheting. I’ve always been a knitter and dipped my toe into crochet earlier this year with a bag & hat raffia kit. I decided to try my hand at the Verë Tee from We are Knitters in their hand painted sprinkle prima cotton and am pleased with the results, it was also really quick to do.

I don’t know about you guys but sometimes I want a small project. With this in mind I have the Cedar Shake Mitts pattern from Loop London which I am doing in Happy Glamper from Plucky Knitter. The first one is shown here on my lovely heart glove blockers from Alexworkshopdesigns on Etsy:

Happy Glamper from Pluck Knitter

Blockers from Alexworkshopdesigns

Back to knitting now methinks before withdrawal sets in. I’m planning a lighter weight glazed cotton dk sweater in ice cream shades for summer.

Have a good week and enjoy whatever project(s) you are currently working on.

Love

Magpie

Hello and a Happy Sunny (!!! )May Day holiday weekend.

Now those of you not used to the UK weather may not realise that to have blue sky and sunshine on a bank holiday is as rare as hens teeth. Usually we are wrapped up in sweaters and log burners are stoked up. Instead 0830 today found us in the car, roof off and The Eagles playing on the way to have breakfast at a gorgeous farm shop, nursery & cafe. We are lucky enough to live in stunning countryside and our route took us out through the Blossom Trail. It also gave me chance to wear my amore tee which I’d knitted freestyle earlier in the year which I am really pleased with. I used Wool and the Gangs Shiny Happy Cotton in Bluewater for the body and it seemed suitably cheerful. I had been under house arrest as not feeling brilliant this week so this was a great treat.

Now the cardigan of doom. Strictly speaking it is the twinset of doom but I only have the cardigan to finish. My mum had asked for a vintage style twinset for Christmas. Unable to find anything that fitted the bill I volunteered to order yarn and make her one. I love the fine ply yarn from Lichen & Lace so ordered some in faded rose. Then I realised that a twinset in single ply on 3.25 & 4mm pins wasn’t going to be a quick knit. To say I have fallen out of love with it is an understatement, if it was a marriage I’d be filing for divorce! A couple of weeks should see it complete. I will show the completed items with probably balloons and a brass band – hurrah.

I am a project floozie and have always got numerous things on the go. Currently I am trying out a daisy chain dress, again in shiny happy cotton in vitamin c. I am hoping it will end up as a 60’s style shift and treated myself to some tulip needle point protectors after seeing them in a post from littleblackdogsa.wordpress.com , they are so cute.

Thanks for reading ( to find out more about the knitting magpie click here: About the knitting magpie ). I hope you all have a glorious weekend whatever craftiness you are up to.

Love

Magpie. X

Hello knitting folks & welcome to the Knitting Magpie ( to find out more about the knitting magpie click here: About the knitting magpie.

I hope you have managed to take your needles into the sunshine on at least a couple of occasions ( if you are not based in the UK you may not realise what an event 🌞 😎 is).

I managed to finish my COCO Sweater purchased from the lovely Wool and the Gang this week although I have not quite finished sewing it up. I chose to knit it in magic mint & white and the colours just make me long for a holiday where the sea sparkles turquoise hues – sigh. The yarn is their lovely Shiney Happy Cotton which knits up beautifully. One note of caution it is a very fluid cotton so if you knit loosely you may wish to go up a garment size and down a needle size. I also drop at least 1mm in needle size when completing rib areas as well as using twisted rib as I find it holds the shape better.

I use Flatter spray by SOAK on all of my projects and find I rarely need to fully block. It comes in a couple of fragrances but I stay with the fig, reminiscent of Italian gardens – back to holidays again! A light spray and then a steam press evens up cotton and linen fibres and on wool ( steam only, don’t press) it reduces static and flyaway fibres. I get mine from Loop London as I’ve not come across many UK stockists.

Invisible seaming on stripes is a breeze and I always use my heavy solid silver barley twist needle for sewing up which was a gift many years ago from my mother – thanks mum.

Now to the Gangstas. Those of you familiar with Wool and the Gang will know that their gang includes everyone from the HQ team to their global manufacturing team to those of us who spend more of our salary that we should on their lovely products. Gangsta chat happens on their Facebook #MAKEALONG group page and it is a friendly international forum for the sharing of projects and ideas. Also being international there is always someone around for a woolly chat at stupid o’clock in the morning 😊

I’m off to finish sewing up COCO and will post a pic when complete.

The finished COCO which I love ( although sadly we appear to have returned to winter today – brrrrr.

Next time I’ll tell you a little about the cardigan of doom!

Stay warm and woolly

Love Magpie

XXX

Thanks for joining me and to learn more read: About the knitting magpie.!

“The only difference between an experienced knitter and new knitter is that the experienced knitter makes bigger mistakes faster. Be bold; there are no terrible consequences in knitting”.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee