at last!

At long last the boxing day jumper is done! I started this on Boxing Day 2007, but did not pick it up again until Boxing Day 2008. I then really gave it some welly on the knitting front as I was not too busy with other projects, but then it got relegated again...until today! I have sewn it up and tried it on, and it is very warm....just in time for an unusually mild snap! I even have my washing out today and it doesn't look like the towels are about to snap in half any time soon. Ah, well, such is life, back it goes in the cupboard until Boxing Day 2009...

On a brighter note, I think I shall write up the pattern to sell alongside my other Monty patterns which are coming along very nicely. BD jumper was designed with a very 50s theme in mind, with bracelet length sleeves and a little v-neck collar, all in all, not very far from the original drawing. I think I possibly should have been braver and made the sleeves even shorter, however, while the aesthetic may have been better, it would have been far less practical!

my new favourite colour....

...is orange! I have such a penchant for this beautiful reddish orange shade at the moment - a perfect name for it is blood orange - that when I spied these lovely snuggly Chloe tights on sale this weekend I had to have them. They have inspired me to knit something in this colour, maybe some socks...if I ever get round to it! watch this space...

loop-de-loop!

Imagine my delight this weekend when working in loop, two gorgeous children walked in with their lovely mother, Jane, sporting matching coats from Easy Baby Knits! Ellie and Emily looked so sweet; Jane had styled them beautifully in knit, with Ellie's wellies completing the look. I now have a gallery section for the makes from my patterns on my website, so check it out here and feel free to send me any pictures of your wonderful knits from any of my patterns.
The website is still undergoing some changes so keep checking back, I shall have lots of new single Monty patterns to sell on there soon...hopefully!

make do and mend

You would think that as a textiles designer, I would be on top of all those annoying little holes which appear in my favourite knits. However, I had let my gloves and mittens get into a terrible state, the holes were so massive the gloves had stopped keeping my fingers warm! So, with all this talk of economic meltdown, I made a resolution to become more thrifty and dug out my darning wool. I thought it would make more sense to make a feature of the mend than try to hide it, so this was the result, and I love it! I have definitely got the bug, and am worried I may start attacking my jumpers just so i have something to sew up....

wedding belles....

As promised, here is a photo of all the lovely bridesmaids wearing the shrugs lovingly knitted by me. I am hoping there will be some beautiful professional pictures of them too, so I will post them when I get some, and will let you know when I have got the patterns finished and on sale, possibly on Ravelry.

west dean chilly weekend

This weekend I taught a knitted accessories course at a very crisp, chilly and stunningly beautiful West Dean College.

But while it was sub zero cold outside, it was definitely warm and fuzzy indoors as I had a really relaxing and fun time with the lovely ladies in my class, who produced some gorgeous and inventive accessories......

among them the most perfect teeny tiny pom pom I have ever seen......!

Check out the work in progress, final textiles and more striking shots of the grounds here

happy new year!

A very happy new year to all! I had a lovely relaxed Christmas, and even managed to finish the shrugs the evening before the wedding last weekend, and they looked gorgeous. Photos to follow, and hopefully a pattern will be available shortly after that. Until then, here is a photo of the ribbon name tags I sewed into each shrug - would you believe I didn't have a chance to try out my new sewing machine until now? I think it has felt unloved for the past two months, but now i know how to embroider letters, I feel sure I shall be using it all the time....I hope!