Author archive

_that_ Pringle sweater

22 October 2009

I’ve been in love with Pringle of Scotland‘s chunky cashmere handknits ever since the A/W 06 collection, before I even learnt to knit. The cabled swing jumper pictured was a particular object of desire, and… Read more

One year on...

7 October 2009

It’s exactly a year since I published my first pattern, the Stash-buster Cushion, and It’s a Stitch Up was born. Over the past year it’s been amazing to see follow on Ravelry the many finished… Read more

New yarn for old

3 October 2009

It seems like many of my favourite yarns are now discontinued; Jaeger Extra Fine Merino, Rowan 4 Ply Soft and Noro Cash Iroha to name a few, not to mention the RYC line being shelved.… Read more

To dye for

4 September 2009

Broadcasts from Stitch Up land have been thin on the ground in recent months, not least because I’ve acquired not one, but two new bikes, and I’ve been out out enjoying the Great British summer… Read more

Seasonal inspiration

28 May 2009

I love the way everything bursts into life in late spring. The garden is full of inspiring colours, textures and shapes. Read more

Kool Aid experiments

10 May 2009

I’ve always been put off dyeing yarn because my experience of dyeing fabric is that it’s either expensive (with machine dyes) or messy (with immersion dyes). However, the temptation to dye my new silk tops… Read more

Progress report Jan-Apr 2009

6 May 2009

Inspired by Smashing Puffin’s Quarterly report, I decided that knowledge is power, and in order to keep the stash and UFOs under control, I need stats. Stash Back at the beginning of January when I… Read more

Spinning: what happened next

13 April 2009

A lot can happen in a few days in the business of spinning. I’ve been playing with the bits and bobs I bought following my spinning beginnings at The Handweavers Studio. The fibre is a… Read more

Spinning beginnings

7 April 2009

I’ve wanted to try my hand at spinning for some time – knitting a garment from scratch is pretty cool but knitting something from your own hand-spun yarn is a whole other level. There are… Read more

Design tools

25 March 2009

  I’ve started sketching out a few new garments with the help of Fashion Templates’ free technical templates. The female torso template is proportioned like an Olympic swimmer but it’s fine for sketching out ideas. They do paid ones… Read more

Design bytes

25 March 2009

Things I’ve been looking at on the web… Inspiration There’s just about time to catch the Tsars exhibition at V&A before it closes this weekend, worth a look for the fantastic military jackets. I’ve long been interested… Read more

Tried and tested: Super-chunky yarn

24 March 2009

Please note that article was published in 2009, and some of the yarns suggested as substitutes are now themselves discontinued. Read our updated review of Rowan Big Wool substitutes , dated November 2015. I love… Read more