The Blue Winter hat is gathering pace as it approaches the finishing post.  Despite being a nice, simple hat, this project represents a few minor firsts for me.  For a start, I never knit with, or wear, blue.  So, why did I buy this yarn?  It was really cheap in a local closing down sale [...]

Emergency yarn from the Bay of E has arrived.
I couldn’t source a ball from the same dye-lot as the two I was originally knitting the hat with, and this salvage skein is significantly different in tone, hue and saturation from the original, and even the sheen of the yarn is different.  The blue of the [...]

One of the uncertainties about making socks is the matter of fit. Compared to a shop-bought pair of cotton socks, hand knitted socks of wool and nylon can sometimes feel a bit restrictive if not made to exact foot measurements. A sock cuff that is just that tiny bit too tight might not [...]

Behold the Harlequilt Socks, in as highly saturated a combination of colours as Kaffe Fasett ever did conceive.
I am extremely happy with how these entrelac socks have turned out, but I am glad that they are finally complete.  I did feel the project started to drag on a bit after about the fifth entrelac row [...]

I thought I would take a few minutes today to answer a question that cropped up after my last blog post about working with Rowan bamboo tape and working out a way to join the yarns without having to weave the ends in after the event, namely, would the two ends pull apart if you [...]

I am trying to have a good think about what I can make with some Rowan Bamboo Tape yarn. I have a full skein weighing 50g, plus a few remnants which weigh just over 50g when combined, so the equivalent of two full skeins.
I have never worked with a tape or ribbon yarn before, [...]

I really enjoy winding balls of wool from a hank draped over a chair or suspended between my own two feet. I think it helps a knitter understand several aspects of the yarn – how springy it is, whether it is slightly rough or tickly in texture, how smoothly it runs through the fingers. [...]

I have my first ever hand-dyed yarn.
I have bought, been given, used some gorgeous and varied yarns since I started knitting, but I have never before been lucky enough to own a skein of yarn that somebody has taken the time and effort to deliberate and select some beautiful colours for before applying them with [...]

I have blocked a few things before. In fact, I block most things, from socks to cushion covers, just because I like them in their perfect flat form, but I have never used the process of blocking to fundamentally alter the structure and appearance of a piece of knitting beyond tidying and refining my [...]

During what will go down in my personal history the ‘yarn drought’ of Late September 2009 I found myself slowly working towards my last ball of yarn.  It was always going to be the very last ball of yarn I tackled, because I had made up my mind that it was decidedly unlovely, and something [...]

Those interested in the fibre arts are finding it easier to source ever more exotic fibres to run through their fingers and weave around needles and hooks, especially with the advent of the internet and the spread of knowledge about the beautiful yarns available to crafty folks.  There are some real luxury yarns on the [...]

Felting is an inexact science at the best of times. Add to that the fact that I cannot really crochet (I have tried to teach myself a few times, but I always forget how to do it as soon as I put the crochet hook down) and what emerged from my washing machine today [...]

Not long after learning to knit I decided that I fancied making a pair of socks for Craig, my other half.  They seemed to symbolise something old fashioned and intimate by way of affection.  Nothing showy that I’d hope that others would see on him and remark on, but rather just something that he would [...]

I am now an exhausted Mimi in London.  Today I went for a picnic in a nature (not naturist) reserve with my cousin, nephew/2nd cousin type person of a grand 2 years old, and grandmother, where we ate (unintentionally) warm sandwiches and melted Kit-Kats.  With my first face-full of sunshine for about a month I [...]

The Federal Trade Commission in America has this month issued a consumer alert regarding bamboo fabrics. Under the pun-filled title ‘Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?’ the article seems to be anything but a laughing matter. A lengthy discussion on the Ravelry Yarn forums gives some indication of the confusing nature of the recent [...]