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Excited for Sock Knitting this Socktober?

For many knitters October is sock knitting month – Socktober!

I love knitting socks, and the cooler cosier autumn vibe that comes with the advent of October goes so well with sock knitting. Warm drinks, blankets, comforting television shows. And your knitting.

I am excited for Socktober, and I have brilliant sock knitting plans!

Sock Knitting Plans for You!

I am discounting all my sock patterns from now and throughout October! They are all 15% off and will be until the end of the month. No code is needed, you can just head to Ravelry or Payhip, select your sock patterns, and the discount will be automatically applied. Easy peasy, and your sock knitting is sorted for the month!

Have you met my sock patterns? There are three, and I’m pretty sure one of them will be a good match for you.

A single sock on a background of fabric and stones.
Warm Milk Socks
Munstead Socks
A foot wearing a cabled sock.
Oberon Socks

The Warm Milk socks come in 7 sizes, so there is an option for all the family. They are super intuitive and simple, and are one of my most popular patterns!

The Munstead socks are super pretty and feature a simple but beautiful motif on the leg of a sprig of lavender.

The Oberon socks feature an amazing cable that looks very impressive, but is easy to work. It is an incredibly moreish design and hard to put down once you start!

Plans for Me!

I want to get some socks off the needles. I have a few part finished pairs – including a pair that will be a design. The three pairs of socks I want to finish knitting are that design sample (they will be called the Sandbox socks and are inspired by Minecraft!), a pair of vanilla socks in beautiful rainbow yarn, and a pair of Munstead socks that I started ages ago!

Are you joining in? Let me know!

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5 Things to Know about the Artemis Hat Knitting Pattern

This picture is to illustrate a hat knitting pattern. A white woman stands outside. She is wearing a pink knitted hat with a cable design.

When you’re picking your next knitting project it can be so hard to know whether or not a particular pattern is the right one for you. So, here are 5 facts about the Artemis knitting pattern to help you decide whether this is the hat you want to knit next!

After all, it’s one thing to be able to see that a hat is cute, but I know you also want to have actual information to help you choose!

With this in mind:

5 Important Facts About the Artemis Hat Knitting Pattern

  • All my patterns are test knit and professionally tech edited, so everything should behave properly!
  • The hat pattern comes in four sizes ranging from 50.5 cm / 20 inches to 66 cm / 26 inches.
  • The ribbing around the hat gives it a really flexible fit. This makes Artemis brilliant for gift knitting or if (gasp!) you decide not to swatch and just hope for the best.
  • The cable motif is very intuitive and uses basic cables. There is no need to be worried about these cables, you can do it!
  • The DK weight yarn makes it a very quick knit. Brilliant if the weather changes suddenly or you need a quick present!

If these 5 facts have helped and you’re excited to make your own Artemis hat then:

Head to Ravelry or Payhip to get your copy. Or to the Artemis page if you want to see all the pattern information!

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5 Fun Knitting Patterns for the Summer Holiday Juggle

What are you knitting on while your kids are off school?

You see, right now I am sitting on my sofa, with my laptop on my knee. My six year old son is next to me playing Minecraft. Periodically he asks “What does that say?” or “Can you look up how to make a water elevator?”

I’ll be honest, this is not my favourite way to work, but like a lot of parents during school holidays, we are juggling. Some days my husband has to work. Some days I have to work. And of course, some days we both have to work. And every day our son needs parenting. You know the drill!

So, I am approaching everything strategically. What has to happen in the school holidays? Can this wait until September? What can I work on while providing a Minecraft Helpline? What has to keep for the times I can work quietly?

And of course, the same is true of my knitting, whether it is design knitting or “fun” knitting.

I’m finding that I am working exclusively on simple and/or intuitive knitting patterns. Vanilla socks. A design with a repetitive stitch pattern. A stocking stitch shawl that only requires thought on the border.

In case you’re in the same boat as I am, and you need some pattern ideas that let you knit during the holidays without losing your patience with both knitting and children, here are 5 of my knitting patterns that would work brilliantly for you! Have a look at these photos and the info below them – which is your first choice?

A single sock on a background of fabric and stones.
Warm Milk Socks
A woman faces away from the camera. She is wearing a pale blue shawl with a delicate texture pattern.
Fée Marraine
A foot wearing a cabled sock.
Oberon Socks
A white woman faces away from the camera beside some greenery. She is wearing a dark red textured shawl.
Goodnight Sweetheart
A purple shawl with spikey edging hands against a cupboard door.
Carabosse Shawl

Warm Milk Socks: Not quite vanilla, but intuitive and simple.

Fée Marraine: This shawl is ridiculously simple but takes one skein of sock yarn and makes it a beautiful and wearable addition to your wardrobe!

Oberon Socks: Super more-ish cabled socks, a brilliant pattern to step up your sock knitting game, but still really intuitive and fun to work!

Goodnight Sweetheart: A deliberately soothing shawl pattern. Simple techniques and a beautiful yarn make for a meditative and relaxing knit.

Carabosse: An unusual shawl that is actually easy and fun to make.

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On the Matter of Test Knitting

A basket of pretty yarn in soft summery colours.

I’ve spoken about test knitting before on the blog. As I sent out a call for testers recently I was thinking about how actually not everyone knows much about it. So I am sharing a blog series about test knitting: what they are, what is involved, and about how I run them.

Today I’m going to focus on:

What is a Test Knit?

A test knit is a process that some designers (including me!) go through before releasing a pattern to help us make sure that the pattern is easy to use and correct.

I run mine after the pattern I have had the pattern tech edited (a topic for another day!), so I know before recruiting testers that there shouldn’t be any major issues in the pattern.

What is a Test Knit For?

When it comes to the testing, I am looking for all kinds of information:

  1. Is the pattern easy to understand for knitters of different experience levels?
  2. Do the instructions for each size work (since I will usually only have made one size in the design process)?
  3. Do the different sizes come out with the right measurements?
  4. Have I given all the information the knitter needs?
  5. Are there things I could express more clearly?
  6. If there is a chart, is it easy to follow?

Basically, I want as much information as possible so that I can make the pattern as clear, accurate, and lovely to follow as possible before I start asking people to pay actual money for it.

Do you have any questions about what a test knit is? Would you like to join my testing pool? Anyone can, sign up here!

Coming up: What a tester needs to do; How I select my testers.

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Let’s Get Organised with Christmas Gift Knitting!

Okay. Somehow it is the middle of October. The leaves are falling. The shops are full of Halloween costumes. It’s all go on the pumpkins.

But, for those of us who like to knit (or crochet or sew or <insert craft here> presents or the holidays in December, it is time to get organised. Unless you’re super organised and already have everything planned. And I’m usually one of the last minute panic crew. So, I have put together something to help.

It is a Gift Knitting planner to help you make realistic plans for your gift knitting. Because we have all had those “I bet I could knit a colourwork sweater for Joanne by the 15th…” moments and found ourselves frustrated and stressed. Which isn’t want I want to feel in the run up to Christmas and the holidays. I’m guessing you don’t either.

Even better, the planner comes with a 3 for 2 offer on my patterns, so if you want to make any of them as presents (or for yourself, that works too!) then you get a little help on the financial side of things. I think we could all use that right now!

To get yours, head over to this page and sign up for the newsletter. Once you’ve confirmed that you want to join then the planner link and offer information will appear magically in your inbox!

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Make the Munstead Socks Your Own

So, you know that I have released the Munstead sock pattern, and you know it’s raising money for an awesome cause. (If you’ve missed this, check our my earlier post here!)

Munstead Socks

But, maybe you’re thinking about how you like a shorter sock leg. Or that you have longer than average feet. Or you want to use a less variegated yarn?

One of the wonderful things about the Munstead sock pattern is that it is very adaptable in terms of the size you want to make.

On the leg, you simply decide how many repeats of the leaves you want haver the lavender flower. It’s a six round repeat, so you can add more or fewer depending on you preferences for the leg of your sock.

If you need to adjust the length of the foot? Even easier! After the gusset decreases, every row is the same. So you can simply knit as instructed for as long as you want the foot – minus the toe. The pattern gives measurements for the toe, so, as long as you’re working to the same gauge as I did, it’s super easy.

And if you’re thinking “How will it look in a more solid yarn?” Well, my test knitters have your back! Head over to Instagram to see the photos I’ve shared here and here.

And if you now feel ready to start your own pair, please head over to Payhip or Ravelry and buy your copy! If you buy it in October 2022 then £4.80 of what you pay goes straight to Treasure Chest!

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Beautiful and Simple Munstead Socks – Raising Money for Treasure Chest

If you’ve been following me on Instagram and Facebook this week, you will know that I have a new pattern out, the Munstead socks.

Munstead Socks

You see, I was asked to design a pair of socks to raise money for Treasure Chest. This is an awesome charity that supports people who are having or have had surgery for breast cancer at Glan Clwyd hospital in north Wales.

I think most of us know someone who has had breast cancer, and I know I won’t be alone in having lost someone to it. So, when I was asked to be involved, it was really an obvious thing to say yes.

The pattern is the Munstead Socks. If you know your lavender, you might know that Munstead is a variety of English lavender. There is a whole lavender theme going on here, you see. The panel down the outside of the sock depicts a sprig of lavender using simple cables and twisted stitches. And the yarn I used is lavender themed too. Siobhan of Siobhan’s Crafts dyed this gorgeous yarn, also to support Treasure Chest.

The pattern comes in four adult sizes, and is incredibly easy to adapt either the leg length or the foot length.

And how does it raise money for Treasure Chest? 80% of the income from sales throughout October 2022 from this sock pattern will be donated to Treasure Chest. Using the price in GBP, this means that £4.80 of the money you pay for the pattern will go to this wonderful cause.

If you love this pattern as much as I do, and if you want to support this wonderful charity, then head over to Ravelry or Payhip and get your copy now.

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Really Useful Books for Knitters

Some knitting with the words "Really Useful Books for Knitters"

When I was doing some research the other day, I found myself compiling a list in my head of super useful books for knitters. And as that list might be helpful for others, I thought I would share it!

You can have a look at the whole list on the Bookshop.org website. Disclosure: If you buy books using the link in this post, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

I have only included books I have used and loved myself, or have been highly recommended by knitting friends. The list is a work in progress, new books come out all the time, or I find out about a one that is new to me, so I might need to come back to this list at some point!

So, here are three of my favourite Really Useful Books for Knitters:

First, Cast on, Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor.

This book is just so useful. It is so easy to default to using the same cast on and bind off that we can pull out of our brains quickly. But there are times where using something different can make your finished item look so much more polished, and that is awesome!

Second on my list is one I have used very successfully for son, and that is Kate Atherley’s Knit Mitts.

I honestly cannot express how much I love this book. It guided me through the process of measuring my son for his new mittens and then what that meant I had to do to knit them. And the mittens fit beautifully. Much better than I ever achieved by myself. And this one will be getting used again soon, because my son has grown and will need new mittens soon!

The next book I want to tell you about is Lara Neel’s Sock Architecture.

This is such a brilliant book for learning new sock techniques and to help you explore what makes the best fitting sock for you – and the other feet you knit for. I love trying new sock techniques, and this book is amazing for that!

Which knitting books are the most useful in your collection? I’d love to hear so I can explore more lovely knitting books!

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How the Glorious Lotus Lace Came to Be…

One of the most interesting parts of designing the Lantern Walk shawl was how we got to that Lotus lace motif.

A woman stands outside wearing a shawl. She holds one wing of the shawl out, showing the stitch patterns on it.

Once Ellen (from Mrs Lam Yarns, if you’ve read the previous post you will already know this!) and I decided that the shawl should include a lotus flower in some form, I started to hunt for a stitch pattern I could use. And there were quite a few out there. But none of them were really what I wanted.

And this left me with two options. I could move on to another idea, or I could do the brave thing. Something I had done before, but not on this scale. Designing my own stitch pattern. And since I didn’t want to abandon this part of our idea, I did indeed design my own stitch pattern. Which makes it seem like a quick task, but it isn’t particularly.

It’s one thing to decide what shape you want to make, it’s a whole other thing to get the decreases and the yarn overs to behave in such a way to make the picture you’re trying to “draw”. And then it needed swatching repeatedly to make sure it worked in yarn the way it did in my head. And then to change bits that didn’t work or didn’t look right.

This motif was probably the part of this shawl design that took the most time because so much work and time went into it.

But honestly, I do think it was worth every minute. And now I even have plans for a follow up design that will also use the motif, so watch this space!

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Introducing the Stunning Lantern Walk Shawl

If you follow me on Instagram lately you will have seen me talking a lot about my most recent project, the Lantern Walk shawl. As usual, the pattern can be bought on Ravelry or Payhip.

This was a collaboration with Ellen of Mrs Lam Yarns, and the idea was to create a shawl inspired by the Mid Autumn festival that is celebrated in Chinese and other east Asian cultures. Ellen came up with the inspiration and the beautiful yarn, and I created the shawl.

It has honestly been so much fun working together on this and the end result is so beautiful!

The Lantern Walk shawl has a lovely cable down the spine of the shawl alongside eyelets. This is the section that is all about the lanterns that people go out with at night. Sparkling lights and beautiful shapes.

The second part of the shawl is inspired by the moon cakes that are exchanged and eaten. These are filled with lotus paste and that is why we chose a lotus flower motif.

Ellen has been at Perth Festival of Yarn this weekend, but soon you will be able to get lovely yarn bundles on her website, so go and check her out. She also has the most beautiful project bags.

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