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 a world-leading and diverse contemporary creative scene.

I love the space-age architecture of the TV tower, which dominates the skyline.

Berlin TV tower

I saw a mind-blowing installation at Hamburger Bahnhof gallery.

TOMÁS SARACENO - Cloud Cities at Hamburger Bahnhof Gallerie, Berlin

I marvelled at an incredible miniature Berlin with trains, moving traffic, day and night and thunderstorms.

LOXX - Miniatur Welten Berlin

I stood on the runway at the eerie former airport, Tempelhof park.

Tempelhof runway

I scoured Berlin’s great-value vintage shops for interesting finds.

Vinatge sweaters at Humana, Alexanderplatz

I sampled delicious food and many excellent German beers with friends.

Transit, Friedrichshain

And no trip would be complete without something knit related… I discovered an industrial carding machine at the German Museum of Technology.

Carding machine at Deutsches Technikmuseum

A great trip and the new camera isn’t bad either!

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!

This pair were knitted from the Fyberspates sparkle fibre, they are ridiculously soft.

Handspun cabled fingerless mittens

And this pair from the Colinette fibre.

Handspun ribbed mittens

I’m particularly pleased with the Colinette pair – the merino fibre didn’t feel especially fine but the fabric is very soft against the skin. I love the colours too.

I didn’t have a pattern for either pair, it’s easy to wing it with fingerless mittens as they’re basically just a tube. They’re roughly DK gauge on 4mm needles. The thumb is formed by knitting 8 stitches on scrap yarn at the desired point so it can be unpicked and the thumb tube worked afterwards. This method is described in full in this pattern.

It’s the finishing that makes or break a simple project; I used the Italian tubular cast on and tubular bind off for stretchy, attractive edges on the ribbed edges, and Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off on the thumb. These are well worth the extra effort.

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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 garden. Holly berries are abundant this year!

Festive greenery

I love wrapping gifts (even more than I like opening them) and giving them a personal touch. This year I made gift tags from MOO MiniCards and matching stickers with my own photos. I think they look great!

MOO MiniCards and stickers

If you’d like to make your own, the star photos have a Creative Commons licence, that means you’re welcome to use them for personal use. The MiniCards and stickers are from moo.com. Yes – I work for MOO, so I am biased but I love their products. As a little Christmas present to you, use ’SB0770′ for 15% off

Merry Christmas!

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!

The bad Christmas jumper is as much a seasonal staple as dry turkey and brussel sprouts. However Andrew Salomone and his hacked knitting machine are here to change all that.

Oh Come All Ye Hackers exhibition at KK Outlet

My personal favourite:

"DO YOU HATE IT? NO, I LOVE IT!"

KK Outlet also have cute, stitch-inspired Christmas cards and gifts.

Cross-stitch Christmas

Merry stitchmas!

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!

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 to vintage fabrics and trimmings, with the emphasis on one-off pieces.

For the moment, postage is a flat rate of £3.00 anywhere in the world, no matter what you order.

I hope you like all the things in the shop as much as I loved making them. Please let me know what you think!

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!

It did not disappoint, I have already spun one lot.

Handspun from Fyberspates Sparkleroving in teal and grey

As usual, I hit no particular gauge, it’s something like a light DK. This is not my best spinning by a long way, in fact it was quite difficult. I don’t know whether it was the slipperiness of the silk or the short staple of the ridiculously soft merino but it turned out very uneven. I don’t think it matters, it will make a lovely pair of cabled hand warmers.

The other batch is still to spin.

Fyberspates Sparkle roving in purple, mauve and grey

Nothing hangs around for long on the Fyberspates website, they have a few shades of Sparkle Fibre left but they’ve already sold out of both these colours – be quick!

www.fyberspates.co.uk

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Knitting blankets in 4 ply yarn is slow going, but when that yarn is Kureyon Sock it’s so worth it.

Mitred squares blanket in Noro Kureyon Sock shade 253

This one took me about six weeks, but I didn’t notice the hours as it was so enjoyable to make. The method was the same as the last mitred squares blanket except that this time I made squares at three different sizes; starting with 25, 49 and 72 stitches.

Random squares

What do you think? Worth writing up the pattern?

For a good price on Kureyon Sock, head over to Hejhog.

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Both skeins started out as undyed top from British sheep, both spun the same way and home dyed but with different results.

New handspun: Purple BFL worsted-ish, red Wensleydale DK

The purple skein is BFL, dyed as fibre. Different shades of blue and purple were poured in while it was in a tray before boiling, in order to achieve graduated colour effect from one end to the other. The dying process lead to very compressed fibre, which had to be teased out before spinning. The finished result is too subtle to be worth the effort, I probably wont vat-dye fibre again. However, the finished yarn is a pretty, bouncy, light aran.

The second skein is Wensleydale, dyed as yarn. It was spun the same thickness as the BFL but I’ve ended up with DK because it hasn’t fluffed up as much. I’ve never spun Wensleydale before, it’s incredibly long staple and lustrous texture would make it perfect for beginners. The resulting yarn is silky and dense, and works perfectly with the intense, saturated shade.

What I’m most impressed each skein was spun and plied in around 2 hours. It’s not so long ago that spinning 100 g would be a project that spanned a couple of weeks.

Now I just have to decide on suitable projects for these. Any recommendations for 85 m of DK or 100 m of worsted?

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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 or no collar. The cocoon shape emerged in the early 1900s as a cape alternative and was popularised again by Balenciaga in the 50s. It is definitely making a come back; current interpretations feature rolled cuffs or structured hems. The 80s inspired, double-breasted version sharpens up the silhouette.

Unfitted styles

Clockwise from top left; Egg Coat by Maison Scotch, Loose Check Jacket by Marios for TopShop, Textured Sleeve Cocoon Coat by Vila, Dacry Ombré Coat by Tory Birch.

This is not an easy style to carry off, neither in the wearing nor the designing. But, a fun departure from previous seasons’ trends.

Another look I really like is the long, lean, tailored jacket. This style updates borrows the understated collar, straight lines and longer cut of the boyfriend jacket but gives it a feminine touch with narrow, defined shoulders.

Long, tailored styles

Left: Tailored Coat by Maison Scotch. Right: Long Line Wool Blazer by Selected.

I fear that the lack of waist accentuation makes this another style best suited to the non-curvy. But with the right detailing – like the slightly puffed shoulder on the Maison Scotch coat above – it could flatter most shapes.

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Needle gauge prototypes

My needle gauge is credit card sized, has all metric sizes from 2-12mm, a 5cm rule and a 2 inch rule. I think I will add a WPI gauge to the final design as well. They will most likely be available in 2mm clear acrylic but I may get a thicker version

I’d appreciate some help with my market research if you wouldn’t mind!

• Would you buy one?
• How much would you pay?
• Am I missing anything?

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!

While I was unable to stitch, I was on the lookout for things with that hand-made touch and found this cheery fellow. It is exactly the type of thing I would have made, had I been able to make things.

Owl from Angel at my Table

It’s from a little shop called Angel at my Table that sells all kinds of loveliness that is less of the shabby and more of the chic. Just watch out for your credit card bill! It’s easy to get carried away.

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Look familiar? Here are a few tips to deal with moth holes in knitted fabrics:

• Don’t panic! If a hole looks big it’s just because the fabric has lost it’s tension and stretched. The hole is probably two rows deep at most.
• Deal with it! It will be much easier to fix as soon as you find it than after it’s been worn or washed.
• Check the garment thoroughly, if there’s one hole there are probably more.
• Match the yarn as closely as possible in weight, colour and fibre composition. If you can’t get a perfect match, a darker shade will show less then a lighter one. For fine gauge commercial knits I un-ply sock yarn.
• Start on the reverse by shoring up the surrounding stitches  by threading through diagonally, as if weaving in ends.
• Fix the hole with right side facing. Work one row at a time, following the path of broken and weakened threads, catching loose loops as you go.
• If the hole runs horizontally and is small, you can simply thread the loops from the rows above and below together as if working Kitchener stitch. It takes some concentration but your mend will be invisible.
• If the damage is more uneven (more likely with hand-knits), darn diagonally in both directions, through the middle of the yarn forming the existing stitches.

Diagonal reinforcement

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Being stuck at home, ill, is never the most fun. Knitting normally cheers me up through the nastiest of illnesses, but while I’m one-handed this is impossible. It’s all the more frustrating because I was working on a beautiful project that I hope will be my next pattern. Since it won’t be ready for a while, I’ll give you a sneak preview.

Hexagon cushion or stool cover

Hexagon cushion / stool cover

IKEA SOLSTA PÄLLBO

This is a cover for an IKEA SOLSTA PÄLLBO footstool, but the pattern would also work as a square cushion cover. It is designed to turn a low cost piece of furniture into luxury item.

It is worked in modular hexagons (and partial hexagons) in Noro Silk Garden yarn, I’ve used shade 204.

I was really enjoying developing this pattern, Noro yarns are so much fun to work with. I’m leaving it unpacked to give me something to look forward to when I get better.

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Socks in Fyberspates Sheila's Sock merino 4 ply in 'Berries'

Here is the updated recipe (assumes familiarity with sock techniques):

1. Using a standard 4 ply weight yarn (I used Fyberspates Sheila’s Sock), with 2.25mm needles, loosely CO 72 st.
2. Work a 2×2 ribbed cuff to desired length (about 1 inch).
3. Work stocking stitch until total cuff measures 7 inches.
4. Work heel extension on half the stitches, slipping alternate stitches on the knit side, until heel measures 2 1/2 inches.
5. Heel shaping: Start with ws row, work until 15 sts on needle, p2tog, p1, turn, sl first st on next row. Do the reverse on the knit sides (sl1, k1, psso, k1) and continue until edge stitches are reached.
6. Pick up and knit 1 st for every edge st of sides of extension and M1 at corners (I didn’t bother counting).
7. Decrease on alternate rows to 70 sts.
8. Start decreasing for toe 1 1/2 inches before the end, decrease 1 st from the end on each side on alternate rows until 14 sts.
9. Kitchener ends together.

My heel extension is considerably longer than any pattern instructions I’ve seen, making a deeper gusset also. Try this if your sock heels slip down or you struggle to pull your socks over your heel. I don’t have a chunky heel, quite the opposite, so I can’t be the only person who has this problem. You may notice that the foot is narrower than the cuff – this makes perfect sense to me but I’ve not seen it done in other patterns.

I like a tight gauge for socks, hence 2.25mm needles. I discovered the hard way (while hiking) that a larger gauge makes socks that rub. My favourite needles for socks are KnitPro Nova metal fixed circs available from p2tog and Get Knitted.

Got your own sock recipe and tips? Please share!

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My MOO MiniCards

MOO have just launched a range of sticky products and I decided to make some mailing labels to make my yarn parcels extra special.

My MOO mailing labels

The lovely people I work with spotted my labels and liked them so much they featured me in their newsletter.

MOOsLetter

Thanks MOO!

ETA: If you would like 15% off at MOO please comment or dm me on twitter @itsastitchup.

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With unusually poor judgement of pigments I ended up with light teal (colouring was challenging because the yarn was not white to start off with). Luckily Jessica liked the colour and accepted the yarn.

I didn’t think any more about it, but I was super-excited to discover when I next saw Jessica that it had been turned into an actual thing. And not just any thing, a beautiful Ishbel, one of my favourite patterns.

Jessica's Ishbel

Jessica's Ishbel

I’m surprised how well the bouclé yarn works with the lace pattern. The finished garment is exceptionally light and warm.

I’m already planning my own!

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Donna Wilson lambswool cloud cushion

And to truly represent the British summer, a rain cloud.

Donna Wilson rain cloud cushion

Donna Wilson’s website is a world of knitterly inspiration, from quirky creatures to perfect pouffes.

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!

I don’t know what spurred me to give it another go but I’m really glad I did. Far from forgetting how to spin, I seem to be better (and faster) at it than ever!

Fyberspates merino in 'Plum'

I’d had half of this batch sitting on a bobbin for a very long time, I span up the other half in an afternoon. For some bizarre reason I’d spun one half clockwise and the other anti-clockwise, so I had to chain ply them separately. They don’t look that different but one came out a DK and the other a heavy 4ply, bit of a shame but I’m sure I’ll find a use for them. The Fyberspates merino top was fabulous quality and very nice to spin and the yarn is very squishy.

My return to spinning fortunately coincided with Colinette launching roving in their amazing hand-dyed colourways. Obviously I picked up a batch for research purposes. The colour is called ‘Kingfisher’ which is odd because it’s mostly purple and pink. It’s good quality merino, not as fine as the Fyberspates batch but nice and bouncy. It’s £7 for 140g, in fact mine weighed in at nearly 170g, making it excellent value.

Colinette roving in 'Kingfisher'

I spun dark and bright sections separately so I could ply them to give a two-tone yarn.

Dark coloured singles on the bobbin

The resulting yarn is a heavy 4 ply (I seem unable to spin thicker than that now, I was aiming for DK). It’s under-plied in places. I normally have the opposite problem so not sure what happened there! I think it will look great knitted up as a shawl or maybe arm-warmers, the colour transitions are quite subtle.

Finished yarn from Colinette fibre

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Fitted a-line skirt in British wool suiting.

The skirt construction is a bit unusual but it’s one that I use a lot. The self-facing (with interfacing) acts as an internal waist band, with the lining attached to it. This adds a bit of structure to the garment and gives a very neat finish. The pattern for facing is created by tracing the skirt block, pivoting at the darts to create a single pattern piece for each half.

Self facing with lining attached

A concealed zip will go in the side, opening from the hip line. The lining and facing will be hand-stitched around the zip.

British wool suiting

Feeling environmentally concious about my clothing and crafting choices lately, I’ve used British wool suiting for the main fabric. It’s dark navy herringbone with a subtle mid blue check. Marvellous quality too, it hangs beautifully. I have a bit of an addiction to tweed and suiting, much of it acquired from British Fabric eBay shop. The lining is a fine cotton print, second hand, also from eBay.

I’m going to decorate the hem with military gold braiding, exact design to be decided. I’m looking to the inimitable Jimi Hendrix for inspiration!

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A selection of one-offs, handmade by Suzie are available in the shop!