It's a Stitch Up

I escaped the cold, grey, rainy British January for a few days to an even colder, greyer, rainier, but amazing and inspiring city, armed with brand new camera. Berlin is maybe my favourite city (apart from the fine city in which I live); it’s turbulent and significant history is apparent everywhere, but it’s also overflowing with [...]

The Christmas break has given me a chance to finally sort through the vast collection of vintage buttons I inherited. I posses more buttons that I will ever need and I would prefer them to be put to good use, so I’ve been busy cleaning and photographing them in order to put them in the [...]

Gifts have been gifted and I can now reveal what became of my recently spun yarn. Fingerless mittens turn out to be perfect for accommodating the unevenness of handspun. This pair were knitted from the , they are ridiculously soft. And this pair from the . I’m particularly pleased with the Colinette pair – the [...]

Work is over for 2011, time to relax! I don’t have a Christmas tree, but the pagan tradition of decorating the house with greenery is one that I follow. I created a display for my fireplace with holly, yew, ivy and dried seed heads sprayed gold, all picked from inside the M25, from Epping Forest and my [...]

If you happen to be passing through East London for your Christmas shopping, why not pop in to KK Outlet gallery on Hoxton Square and marvel at their exhibition of alternative Christmas sweaters, Oh Come all Ye Hackers, created by artist Andrew Salomone. The bad Christmas jumper is as much a seasonal staple as dry [...]

It’s been a while in the making (and not helped along by the broken arm) but we now have a proper shop, just on time for Christmas! For now, there are a few handmade goodies and a small quantity of hand-dyed yarn. In the coming months you’ll be able to find everything from hand-knitted accessories [...]

When I saw Fyberspates tweet last week about adding new Sparkle fibre to their shop I was unable to resist. Pretty colours, glitter, merino & silk? Obviously I ordered two batches. It did not disappoint, I have already spun one lot. As usual, I hit no particular gauge, it’s something like a light DK. This is not my best [...]

A little project from earlier in the year I thought I’d share… Knitting blankets in 4 ply yarn is slow going, but when that yarn is Kureyon Sock it’s so worth it. This one took me about six weeks, but I didn’t notice the hours as it was so enjoyable to make. The method was [...]

I’ve had the spinning wheel out again, attempting to spin chunkier yarn. Exactly as I was warned when I , once you can spin fine, it’s near impossible to spin thickly. I’m not even talking particularly thick – aran weight would be great, I’ve got lots of uses for that. I didn’t quite manage it [...]

I’ve started thinking about what my next tailoring project will be and I’m feeling inspired by two very different trends I’ve spotted this season. The cocoon coat is a loose but structured shape that narrows at the hem. It has wide sleeves, often gathering at the cuff, drop shoulders or raglans and a funnel collar [...]