New on Strikk

For a while I've been toying with the idea of knitting more home-related items (other than cushions) - every time I'm in a room I'm always thinking about what knitted things can be added (I know, I do have a life, I promise) and dining rooms are deifnitely one of them.  

So in celebration of, err, summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought I would play around with a placemat pattern I spotted, but using different yarn (thicker) and obviously bigger needles - and here is the result. 

The aran weight yarn definitely does the trick as it makes for a more substantial mat rather than just a flimsy material feel and of course, it's all machine washable (is there any other way?).

So there, we go, bring on the summer, the alfresco dining, the picnics, or simple everyday living.  Will be adding some more colour combinations soon, although maybe you have some ideas that might work, my colour-combining is lacking a little bit of inspiration at the moment.

And on a different note, keep a lookout during next week, we're starting a little column on all things craft / small business and legal (I know, riveting combination, but someone has to do it) - so drawing from my experience as a small business, crafting type, together with my legal knowledge and hopefully there'll be something for everyone.

Oh, and our placemats are available here, here and here.

Happy weekend :-)

All my best friends are illustrators

One thing I cannot do is draw.  Alas, try as I might, the best I can do is a stick man and loads and loads of palm trees with yachts (I know, not sure where that comes from either), but I have some talented friends who are talented illustrators, one of whom is my dear friend Tanja Wilmot.   Tanja has a gorgeous blog over here with some beautiful, beautiful work.

 In fact, I'm sure Tanja won't mind me saying so, but she recently got married and the below illustration was the one she used for her wedding invitation.  There's a lovely story as to how it all came about here

So we had a little celebration for the newly weds and I thought I would rather give a handmade wedding present - and knowing Tanja's love of all things white, decided on a large, chunky cable knit all in white.

I used the Elle Pure Gold Yarn as I usually do, this time in chunky, although I hear through the grapevine that Elle will no longer be producing their chunky yarn which is a pity as it's a great yarn to knit huge projects with - and the fact that it's completely machine wash, well, can't argue with that.

So in case you wanted one of these cushions for yourself, they're available in the usual spots here, here and here.

New on Strikk

We've been fiddling with our settings and updating the look over at our shop and have to admit we like it.  Always thought that websites should be white and pale, but it seems a kind of gunmetal grey is the online look of the moment, so there we go.  Any comments, ideas, thoughts (good or bad) most welcome.

But back to the post at hand, and I was asked to do a custom order moss stitch cushion with some interesting requirements, the first of which being "we have a big family room which means we need cushions to withstand much family-ness" - challenge indeed.

Those of you who knit know how yarn can "fluff", especially not a good look for a cushion, so after much thought and online trawling, decided on using a lovely silky yarn, but doubling it up.

Not sure how you feel about knitting with two strands, but I've never been a fan.  I know there are some knitters who use three strands and more, but not for me.  But having said all that, the end result was actually very pleasing.  The cushion is definitely a lot heavier though (not used to that), but I think it will withstand a hectic family room.

We've liked it so much, we've put it up in our shop here and here.

New on Strikk

We've been raiding our yarn stock (and trust me, there's a lot of yarn in my house....) and came up with a few striped cushions which we rather fancy.  We've used the usual Elle Pure Gold yarn that we always use, although if anyone has any tips on how to weave in yarn ends, that would be most welcome.  End up spending half my time weaving in all the different colours. Surely there must be an easier way.

So from this....

To this....

And then from this.....

To this.....

And there we go. Available here, here and here.
There'll be more striped cushions, there's so much yarn to get through!

Colour of the Year

According to those in the know, tangerine is the 2012 colour of the year, not just tangerine, mind, but Tango Tangerine.  And what with being so "bang on trend" here, we just happened to have some tangerine yarn in our massive stash of yarn.  

Initially wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with the yarn (it can be a difficult colour - it's in between an adult and a kid colour - if that makes sense) - anyway, settled on another version of the cable knot cushion I knitted previously in pepper grey - this time, knitting in a slightly smaller size (50 x 30cm which has now become my new favourite size - perfect really, it's not too big and not too small to get lost amongst the masses of other cushions plonked on the sofa!).

So there we have it, Strikk Handknit's homage to 2012 Colour of the Year available at our online shops here, here and here.

Oh, and remember that mess we had trying to photograph cushions previously - um, here ? Well, we've moved it all inside, ironed the vinyl and made a makeshift studio in the bedroom - now, that's rock 'n roll photography for ya!

Winter's covered....so we're giving it away.

In case you are not aware of this (and why should you be) but I am not a huge fan of the winter - not  for me the dark, the cold, the miserableness (ok, bit of overkill going on here, but you get my disdain) .... so, in my quest to pretend winter is not really a season, I might have gone a little overboard with my hotwater bottles this year, but no less, here they are in all their glory, ready for winter.

Aaaaaand, we're giving one away....all you need to do is leave a winter survival tip in the comments section.  The winner will be determined the old fashioned way (all names in a hat) on Friday, 2 December, and you get to choose your style.

In the meantime, my hotties are in my etsy.com shop and also at notonthehighstreet.com.

champagne and craft

i have a very clever friend, Joanne, who sews and documents her sewing over at the hilariously written stitch and witter - yesterday we thought we'd do a mini-crafting afternoon (well, its an excuse to drink champagne if you ask me) in preparation for her upcoming crafting afternoon next weekend (more to follow on that).  turned out to be a great afternoon (and a very sore head this morning!).
i was happy to see my first ever etsy purchase was being put to good use.

um, about that champagne.

i love the little tops Joanne made from her original zara purchase (she speaks about the whole behind the scenes process here - and now you wonder why i don't sew then) - but i think it looks gorgeous. very clever.

and this is me in action - its nice to knit with larger needles for a change - get to knit a little faster than usual.

and the end result.  cute little basketweave baby blankets.

available at strikk big cartel and notonthehighstreet.com

now that's a lot of knitting

a lovely customer based in san francisco contacted me - she was in the process of fitting out her daughter's new flat and thought knitted hangers would be great for the wardrobe - so, i got a large order for handknit hangers.  and here's what a cupboard full of hangers would look like (and i didn't include a further three sets....).

of course, the resident quality controller was on hand to cast his expert eye over proceedings.

right, off to go and fill my own wardrobe with handknit hangers.  in case you want to fill yours, you can find them in my notonthehighstreet and etsy shops.

new on strikk....and we fade to grey

ok, i'm going to give away my age here, but there was a song in the (um) 80s - fade to grey, visage - not sure if anyone remembers it.  unfortunately i do.  but everytime i work with grey yarn for some reason that tune spins around my head (yes. i don't know either).  but having said that, my favourite colour happens to be grey (again. i don't know either).

and soon it will be winter and in celebration (no really) we've knitted a new hotwater bottle cover in a bobble effect pattern using our favourite elle pure gold yarn.

keeping with the grey theme of this post, we also finished off a new plaited cable cushion - loving the massive 50 x 50 cm size of these cushions even if they take ages to knit.

both the hottie and the cushion are available in my etsy and notonthehighstreet shops.

more new on strikk

after a bit of a fail to begin with - very annoying when the dyelot is just noticeably different as what happened when i was three-quarters of the way through my new weave effect cushion - so we unravelled it (much to King Cat's delight, he got caught up in all the yarn) and finally have the end result.

also, a larger cushion this time - 50 x 50 cm is a lot of knitting let me tell you, especially on 4.5mm needles, but i think it turned out well - larger cushions are definitely more comfy and the eggplant / aubergine, although not starting out as a favourite colour, is actually pretty cool.

and looks cute with an old favourite moss stitch cushion in rose pink.

available on strikk big cartel shop, etsy and notonthehighstreet.

(and yes, the house is still covered in peonies......)

new on strikk

i have a confession, i think this might be my favourite colourblock cushion that i've knitted so far....i almost didn't want to put it in my shops, but that would just be selfish.

in addition, i have used different yarn than i usually do, choosing an incredibly soft 100% merino double knit - lovely to knit with and resulting in a very soft and snuggly cushion.

the cushion is on sale (with other colourblock cushion) in my etsy shop and listed in my notonthehighstreet shop and i thought it looked really pretty with one of my moss stitch cushions in rose.

and in other news, i can report that peonies are now officially my favourite flower.

more new on strikk

been a bit busy knitting over here - a few new custom orders at the moment which i am so impatient to finish as i know these are going to look fabulous - but in the meantime i've been experimenting with lace and eyelet patterns for a new trio of vase cosies for 2011 (i actually can never quite decide if vase cosy is actually the right description but will have to do for the meantime).

i had great fun knitting these - always like to try something new pattern-wise.  i used cotton double knit (tricky for me as the cotton "slips" when knitted - not sure if anyone else has the same problem with slinky cotton).

i've used this pattern for the white cover before - in fact, it was my first pattern i used to cover a vase, but i think it came out much better in the white.

the next was much more of a lace pattern - which means a bit more concentrating and not so much tv-watching.  but happy with the results of the mustard vase - in fact this may be my favourite.

the last one i did was in actually a very beautiful shade of green but i fear the photographs may not have done it justice.  again, a new pattern learnt although i have a confession to make, i couldn't remember what ST st was (i kept knitting a rib pattern and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working out - and then "doh" i remembered what stocking stitch was.......yes, it happens to the best of us).

the cosies are available in both my etsy and notonthehighstreet shops - to purchase singly or as a trio.

(and if you're wondering why we're all at an angle - couldn't fit the whole vase in the frame, so decided on a bit of artistic licence....no, i hadn't been drinking too much wine!)

new on strikk

i really debated as to whether or not i would knit some new hanger sets for this season - firstly they're quite finnicky to knit (i'm used to knitting large items for cushions) and then there's always the colour combinations - but then i couldn't resist (besides i thought it was time i made some for myself).

this was the first set i did - the avocado and purple yarns happen to be stacked next to each other and it really seemed to work as combination.

the grey and terracotta is lifted from the latest living etc magazine cover - the lettering using grey and orange.

blue and red - can't get more nautical than that.

and finally fuschia pink (love this colour) offset with a more neutral ecru.

and there we go - we should have wardrobes all covered for 2011.

available from my etsy and notonthehighstreet.com shops.

and keep an eye out - we're working on our first ever give-away for next week..... (yikes, i'm nervous).

new sizes on strikk

our handknitted cable cushions are now available in a longer, larger size - 40 x 70 cm (16 x 28 inches) and i think they turned out pretty cool too.

so, means the cables look great as a stand alone cushion, or as a perfect backdrop to existing cushions on the couch (or in the case below....chair!)

available in my etsy shop here or on my notonthighstreet.com shop here. 

and the inners are available from the fabulous h&m online store here.

new on strikk

i've been knitting a lot lately - been finding though that my hands really do have a hard time if i've been knitting very fine projects (like on 4mm needles) - so to counter the pain, started doing some large knit cable cushions again. 

using my favourite south african courtelle yarn - elle pure gold (which is becoming increasingly difficult to source here in the uk - elle are you listening!) i made up some new cable cushions in terracotta.

so now, we have an assortment of cable cushions on the go. 

available from strikk handknit shop, etsy and notonthehighstreet.
and if anyone has any tips on how to care for knitters hands, would be most grateful.  at the moment, the arnica oil is my NBF!