Cables, cables, cables

Its been a really busy week in Etsyland, and its all been the same thing - my cabled aviators.
I had meant to make these last winter, but I held off for some reason, but I got a few done for this season and they really are proving very popular.
They are good fun to make too. I would get very bored making the same thing over and over, but you are constantly counting the rows, checking when the next cable row is coming up, and before you know it the little hat is finished.
It is pouring of rain here today, it has never properly got light! That said, I  think its the sort of day for curling up on the sofa with my knitting needles and making another one of these. I am so close to the £750.00 mark in my money raising quest for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. A few more sales of these and I think I may reach it, so do I feel guilty about spending the afternoon knitting - definitely not!!

New hat designs

I love finding time to knit some new designs and I'm really pleased with this one that I shall be listing on Etsy in a few days time. I've used a technique called Fair Isle to create the pattern which has a total of three colours, but never more than two colours in the same row.
It is named after a tiny island in the north of  Scotland called Fair Isle, which is part of the Shetland Islands. There was a strong tradition of knitting on these remote islands, where people worked mainly on the land or as fishermen and warm sweaters were essential to everyday living.
Fair Isle patterns are believed to have gained a wider popularity when King Edward VIII wore sleeveless sweaters (or tank tops as they were known).
It is funny to think that, just as the celebrities of today have an influence on what many people choose to wear, the same thing was happening, almost 100 years ago!!
I have lots of lovely colour combination ideas, so make sure you check out the shop to see what is available in the next few days

Thinking outside the box

These are the little boxes that I now use to gift wrap all my first size knitted items. The idea came to me when I was desperately trying to find a way to store my fabric so that I knew where everything was. I was feeling frustrated about the amount of room that my ex-demonstration card and paper was still taking up in my workroom. There is far too much of it, and it is far too good to just give away, but it was taking up prime space that was needed to house fabric. So the LoveFibres gift box was born. 

  Hopefully, I've found the perfect solution. I get to gradually use up a lot of my old card and paper, and so free up more storage space, and my customers get a free gift box and card. You can request a box for larger sizes too, and if the gift is for Christmas - just let me know. I've plenty of Christmas themed card to use up too!





Old habits and new machinery

I can remember learning to sew as a young child. First the embroidered felt coasters, then clothes for my dolls and then clothes for myself. I remember helping my mum by blind stitch hemming the clothes she made for us whilst I was still too young to be trusted with a sewing machine. I took dressmaking classes at school and still remember the teacher telling us that the iron was as important a tool as the sewing machine. We had to tack (baste) all our seams by hand before machine sewing them and we weren't allowed to do gathers on the machine. They too had to be done by hand, and the stitches had to be really tiny and even. The teacher pulled them out if they weren't!

Some of these methods have obviously stayed with me for life as I still work with the iron permanently on and I do prefer to hand baste, even though it does take a lot longer to do.

I love the rhythm of hand sewing. I stitch away, listening to the radio or just quietly sew, dreaming away of all the new projects I'l make next.

That said, I love my machinery too! I have a Bernina sewing machine that was most definitely a luxury buy and three years on I'm still finding new things that it can do! I also have an overlocker (serger) to give seams a professional finish and which enables me to sew stretch fabrics beautifully.

I am lucky enough to have the space to set them up side by side so that I can switch from one to the other as I sew. My laptop sits by my side and I can watch for emails, listen to music and feel totally connected to the world whilst at the same time being in my own little stitching reverie!

Back on Track

Hi, I'm back blogging again.
I have been absent for quite a few months! Sadly, my Dad was ill and then passed away, and between looking after him and then sorting out everything I just didn't get the time to blog, but I'm back now and I'm really looking forward to telling you all my ideas for my ever expanding Etsy shop.
I'm using organic fabric now, as well as organic yarn, and I'm really enjoying sewing again.
I was sorting out all my dad's stuff and I came across the sewing basket that my Mum had when I was a kid. I opened it up, and the chilhood memories came flooding back. There were patterns I remembered sewing when I was about 10! The same little plastic knitting needles I learned on, the half finished dolls clothes and zips unpicked from worn out clothing. (yes, I've kept them! My mum was a brilliant recycler, she would be proud of me!). There were tins of pins and spools of thread and I was hooked once more.
So began a spending spree in the fabric shops. I made some summer dresses for the children of KidsCo (I'll tell you more about them in another post) and the idea of adding organic clothing to Lovefibres was born.

I just love those little knot embellishments on the pockets.
I'll be back soon to show you what I've made next - I promise!