new on strikk

in between selvedge magazine shop launch and stopping off at the boogaloo pub for a few, i still managed to somehow finish a colourblock cushion.

i must say that i'm quite liking the colour combination on this one - really does remind me of seashores and breezy places.

on etsy shop here.

knit inspirations

i know its generally supposed to be a winter thing, but i love knitted slippers - you can never have enough knitted slippers ......so i thought a little personal knitted-slipper-treasury of my own would be in order.

first, i treated myself to these the other day from derin mavi's etsy shop here - very pretty patterns if i must say so myself.

and some more knitted slippers i've found.
moocowhandknits on the left and scarfmaker on the right
and organic wools from TheCrocodileRock

and talking about knitted luxuries, i'm in the middle of making my first pair of kid mohair leg warmers in prepartion for my "teachingpeopletoknit" thing i'm doing. i'll be putting up pictures and providing information soon.

new on strikk

more colour cross cushions which i've uploaded to etsy using again the elle gold double knit which i'm really loving.

else, a bit rubbish really - didn't make the 4am project - slept through everything.....

and the cambridge handmade fair was great fun - met some lovely lovely crafting people (bought some things too) - i'll be posting on these talented people during the week.

new on strikk

and a busy knitting weekend was had by all.....
some new colours of the ruched cushions have been updated on my etsy shop - the first of these being a very pretty mandarin - using again the elle gold double knit (such fabulous non-wool wool).more to come in time for this weekend's handmade fair in cambridge.

works in progress

the handmade cambridge fair is next weekend (4 april - click here for details) - not long to go. i had a look at all the wool that i have bought in my two recent trips to cape town and realised there's a lot (a lot!) to do - basically all the wool pictured needs to be turned into creations and all of a sudden i'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

in the meantime though, i've just done a ruched cushion (still to be finished off) in a beautiful grey - a south african wool called elle gold double knit. much softer than what i'm used to working with and the colours (you can see in the top basket) are absolutely fabulous.

more creations to be posted soon - way too much to do in the meantime....

ha! i've just seen a post over at skinny laminx on the knitting group i managed to say hello to in cape town on my way back to london on saturday!

and we're back with more inspirations

been away for a short break home to cape town - new wools, new ideas and a little bit of sunshine.
before i left though i came across debbie new, the author of unexpected knitting - her creations are truly works of art and totally inspiring. i believe she'll be in london (or something like that) soon - have a look at the iknit london site for info.

in the meantime, i'm still trying to orientate myself after arriving back in london yesterday - beautiful spring day and lovely to wake to the sound of twittering birds (i know the car is probably covered in their presents this morning....) - new posts soon.

fooling around with colour

i knitted up a variation on the star hotwater bottle covers that i have listed on my etsy and notonthehighstreet shops - this was for a dear friend M in hamburg - apparently its still a little chilly out there....

i'm off to cape town tomorrow for a wedding. i'll be taking lots of photos and knitting up a storm in preparation for cambridge craft fair coming up.
see you soon...

interview : dolly knits

one of the things i wanted to do with this blog is connect with other knitters - i'm always interested to find out how those that knit do things (probably because i'm nosey more than anything else) - and one of the ways i thought of doing this was by interviewing - so, i nervously approached Jo of dollyknits (i love her work) and she agreed.....

have you always been a knitter?

I have knitted on and off since I was in the Sixth Form at school, but started seriously knitting when at University studying Textile Design, specialising in Knit.

how did dollyknits come about?

Dolly Knits started up properly in August 2008, when I was well and truly unemployed after graduating from University. I never expected to sell anything and it was more of an experiment but now I am concentrating on it more and more and would love to make Dolly Knits bigger and better as it is something I love doing.

describe a typical dollyknits day.

I usually wake up earlyish and the first thing I do is have a cup of tea, then check out Etsy to see if I've been lucky enough to have a sale, do a bit of online shopping at the same time (more looking than buying!) and then get on with either freshly knitting up orders or knitting something new. Some days, I go hunting for vintage treasures for my vintage shop I run on Etsy with my boyfriend Jon - RummageInTheJumble.I currently have a part-time job in retail but am soon to start a full-time trends prediction internship in London, so will work on Dolly Knits in the evenings and on train journeys.

how do you come up with ideas - do you knit what you fancy or are you more structured?

I don't have any sort of structure to how I come up with ideas...I should do really! So far, I have knitted what i fancy and what I would like to wear. I like to keep up with the fashion trends so hopefully my Spring/Summer collection will be more styled, more fashionable and have a running theme.

are there particular yarns you prefer to work with?

I love working with pure wool mainly, especially Rowan. I have just bought some alpaca yarn which I'm saving for a special project that must be knitted soon. I also love working in Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino blends. The colours are amazing and they are lovely weights. I have recently started working in Rowan's Handknit Cotton which is more rigid than wool and works well for my Rose Alice Bands. Ideally I would like to have my own mini flock of sheep and spin and dye my own yars....I will keep dreaming!

i see you studied textile design, specialising in knitted textiles - from your studies, did you notice any particular trends emerging in knitted textiles?

Towards the end of my course there were a lot more structural and 3D knits being produced similar to Sandra Backland and Simone Shailes

what's the best knitting advice anyone has given you?

If you go wrong, always go back and correct it immediately, if you leave it and its not perfect, it will annoy you forever more!

thank you so much Jo for taking the time to answer my questions - i'm looking forward to seeing your new spring/summer collection...roll on halcyon days!

iceland in the news

funny, the last couple of days i seem to have come across much icelandic inspired knitting - this month's monocle magazine features iceland and makes mention of icelandic knitting. and then yesterday reading designsponge's sneak peak feature, i came across a feature on farmers market (well, their home was featured) and boy am i glad i did! the knitwear they make is inspiring, absolutely beautiful. i have yet to learn to knit like that (my grandmother used to knit traditional norwegian jerseys but unfortunately never taught me) - one day i will, i know i will.

in the meantime, i'm just drooling over these...(can you tell i love the colour grey?!)

even their reykavik shop looks gorgeous!

custom cushions

i received a custom order from a lovely lady here in london - this is the second custom order (lucky me...) and both the orders have been for bright, lovely cushions - these ones i'm particularly proud of as they are the first stripe cushions i've done that have actually worked out and......i put in a zip (major achievement trust me!)

the colours are just so bright and gorgeous - like sunshine in the home - and now i can't wait for summer!

i have put these on my notonthehighstreet.com shop as well.

ruched fancy

my handknit ruched cushions (the green ones) seem to have made quite a few etsy front page shots over the last couple of weeks.

i remember when i took the photos for the cushion ole kitty had to make sure he wasn't going to miss a photo opportunity - and of all the pics i took, this is one of my favourites.....

(front page photos via flickr etsy frontpages group)

.....and we're back

back from a glorious week in cape town - new ideas, new yarns and even a little bit of a tan. whilst i sort out all the things i am working on to show, i decided to knit up a quick hottie in time for valentine's day (although for me, valentine's is r's birthday, so no spoiling for me only him). these are now in my etsy shop and made with organic cotton i picked up in cape town.

colourcross cushions

variation on a theme - this time with orange and ecru colourcross cushions in my etsy and notonthehighstreet.com shops.

sale

its sale time for me - excess stock to make place for 2009 creations - have a look at my etsy shop and bag yourself one of these bargains.

new cushions

new cushions made over an evening this weekend on my etsy shop. i'm always looking for new colour combination ideas and i think these turned out not too bad (if i must say so myself) - now need to think of some more colour combinations to use....

new knits

things have really gotten cold in london lately, even the cat has taken to sleeping in the blankets! to keep warm, made a new design for a hottie cover - going all hearts and chocolate in lovely bambi cotton from south africa....in etsy shop and also notonthehighstreet

cushions

managed to finish off a new cushion this weekend - again with the ruched design, this time in a very pretty aqua (if i say so myself) - no kitty intervention in photographing this time, a first really!

can be found at etsy and at notonthehighstreet.com

knit inspirations

how incredible is this! theresa honeywell is incredibly talented and clearly has a great sense of humour (her motivation being the juxtaposition between macho items with feminine crafts like knitting)....who would have thought covering a motorbike with pretty pink knitting!

post via my daily email from design milk.

hotties

its been a busy weekend, must admit with the creations. two new things on my sites, one of them being my hottie cover - i loved making this and i cannot tell you how pretty it looks. it is made in 100% organic cotton - the cotton comes from south africa and is hand-dyed and spun by women in job creation projects - and its gorgeous (if i must say so myself) - i've got them on my etsy and notonthehighstreet.com shops.

creations

whilst on a weekend away in puycelci, france recently for a dear friend's 40th, a trip to a market resulted in a purchase of more wool (as if i didn't have enough), but this one was a little different. its in the form of a tape which you knit over seven stitches - something a little like the pic. have to admit, this is possibly the most difficult thing i've knitted in a while. in fact, if anyone has any ideas how to join the wool, please let me know.....i'm a little stuck!