LESS YAWNS MORE YARNS

ALL NIGHT KNIT FOR BLISS BABY CHARITY

Purl wool shop, near Seven Dials, Brighton, will be hosting an ‘All Night Knit’ on Saturday 6th February in support of Bliss – the national charity for babies born too soon, too small, too sick.

Casting on at 11pm and casting off at 7am on Sunday morning, up to 15 knitters of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, from Brighton and Hove will be purling round the clock, to make a blanket which will then be entered as a prize in a raffle.

Knitters are hoping to raise up to £1,000 in sponsorship from family, friends, work colleagues and work matching schemes. Anyone wishing to support the event can make a donation HERE

The ‘All Night Knit’ looks set to become a community event; a local choir has offered to serenade the knitters in the early hours and they have been inundated with offers of hot food and drinks from local residents in Upper Hamilton Road.

Debbie Smith, owner of Purl, who has organised the event said: “One of the mums at our Thursday evening knitting group came up with the initial idea. We wanted to find a fun way to raise money for Bliss which does such great work.

“We might need to be counting balls of wool, rather than sheep, to keep us awake through the early hours. Knitting is a very relaxing process, so the key to staying awake all night will be to knit a pattern that requires a certain amount of concentration but isn’t overly complicated” said Debbie.

Purl hosts regular knitting and felting classes, craft days and ‘make do and mend’ workshops for adults and after school art and craft classes for children. For more information about activities at Purl visit www.purl-brighton.co.uk or call Debbie on 01273 248642.

For more information please contact:

Debbie Smith
16 Upper Hamilton Road
Brighton
BN1 5DF
Tel: 01273 248642
E mail: purl.brighton@gmail.com
Website:www.purl-brighton.co.uk

You can sponsor Debbie on the knit by clicking here

Cocoon...

I just bought this wool for a third jumper I feel the urge to make. Its so soft and lovely I can't wait to get started on it, I'm sure it'll knit up pretty quickly as well as its quite chunky...

Hat Update

So the hat seems to be going well.. However I've not designed any intarsia before so I'm hoping the pattern is going to fit on the hat! I might have to fiddle with it slightly as I think its going to be too tall. It's really good fun to see it coming together though!

Birthday Frock

I decided on Fri (22nd) that as I was going out that night I had better make myself a new dress! I found this lovely Paul Smith fabric and some yellow silk and spent the whole day up in my room throwing around pieces of fabric and paper.



By 6.15pm on Friday I finally gave up and realised it wasn't going to happen that night. So Saturday, complete with monster hangover, I put the rest of the dress together. This is the result, a classic style dress (that looks lovely on, but unfortunately no professional photographer was around today to take a picture of me in it!) with a silk lining and big bow at the front.

I think I actually love it.

Rowan "Lichen" Aran

I love this cardigan. Its fun to knit and looks really impressive, but its really time consuming and I just want it now!



I've discovered that knitting on circulars is definately the way forward for big stuff like this. It makes it 10 times easier to carry around and it means the weight is in the middle and not on each arm when it starts getting big. Also, my tip for cable - use a hairgrip rather than a cable needle - it stays there easier without slipping out and you're much less likely to drop a stitch :-)

This pattern is from Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine Issue 40

Broad Street Mittens

I thought I'd have a go at making these. I've made gloves before and swore never to do it again, but that was before I'd discovered 4" double points needles, which makes knitting in the round less like handling a porcupine and more like fun :-)

I'm loving making these as I can take them anywhere, and the wool is exciting as you never know what colour it's going to come out next!



The only problem is I started them at the same time as a my new cardigan, and I want to finish that first.. which means these might be on hold til next year :-(

Summer Dresses

Remember back in May I posted a photo of a model in a magazine and said I was going to copy the dress? Looky here to recap. Well here's the dress, I finally got around to posting up the photograph (courtesy of Helen Tinner Photography)



Also Helen shot a better photo of me in the floral dress I blogged about last May



And the tulip dress I was in the middle of making in June

Wrap around skirt

I designed this skirt for my pattern cutting class last year. It was loosely based on a few pictures I'd seen in vogue (which I should upload but they're in the attic). I think I mainly designed it because I wanted this skirt, rather than challenging myself by making something more difficult! None the less, I love it, wear it all the time, and often get compliments on it. It looks great with cowboy boots!

Kangaroo Beanie

So this is what I'm doing right now, amongst other things. I've been asked to make a beanie hat for an electrician with his logo on the front, so I'm quite excited about designing this.

This is what I've been given to work with



And this is the chart I've made so far. (I don't have the right colour pens but I know where I'm at!) I've changed the pattern around the kangaroo slightly as it's going to be a wiggly stripe that goes right around the hat.



I gotta go out now and buy some new needles!

Hot Pants for Winter

I made these in September? October? 2009. I've given up trying to post in chronological order now. These were from a burda pattern for my dressmaking class. I'm really pleased with them, they're so comfortable I'm making another pair in corderoy.

Last Year's Other Aran Cardigan

I must have finished this in February as it practically saved my life in Poland, yet I also never gor around to uploading photos of this cardigan either. The wool is Rowan, I bought it cheap about 5 years ago as it was discontinued (I don't even remember what it was called). This cardi I based on the shape of the first aran I made, but basically made it up as I went along (and no, I didn't think to write any of it down.) I wanted a high neck so I could wear it under a coat and avoid having to wear a scarf, but I also wanted something that would look slightly like a jacket top when it was half open. So this neckine design was born, buttoned up to the top it is snuggly and warm, or half open is smart and a little bit different. I looked everywhere for the chunky buttons, and eventually found them at the Stitches and Crafts show at the Brighton Centre.

Last Years Aran Cardigan

So.. It was October 2008 when I blogged about the aran hoodie I was making, out of the old dress I found in a charity shop and unravelled. I actually finished it within 3 months and was wearing it at christmas (2008), yet failed to post any pictures of the finished result. Its a shame as I've had so many compliments on it (though unfortunately my photography is never that great when I'm taking pictures of myself, hence the reason I've cropped out my gormless face.)

My New Year's Resolution....

Is to actually update this blog more often! Its been ages since I wrote anything.. and I've made so much stuff! So now I have a huge backlog of things I want to put up. Which is nice in a way as I didn't realise I'd been so busy!