Follow your arrow !

 Here is my very colourful, stash basting , follow the arrow Shawl ! I went for sunset colours with a splash of turquoise and a dash of bright yellow- let the spring arrive please !
My lovely young models were just having a girlie party in which lots of crisps and assorted chocs were consumed until 3 am last night . Those faces are still as fresh as a daisy the next morning- aah teenagers..

 

Focus- the double knot !

I am a knitter and been knitting over thirty years . I think my learning curve has been at its most in last few years thanking to the Internet social media. Couple of days ago my good friend Elseline who have been coming to the Southampton stitch and bitch demonstrated an excellent piece of knowledge that she herself learnt from listening to the knitting pod cast 'knitting pipeline'. This has really made my day and I'd like to share that with you.

I was always taught not to knit with knots because mainly they are weak and in time might unravel. I think all of us  encountered annoying awkward knot in the middle of complicated row and then had the dilemma of how to deal with it. I usually choose to tink back to the beginning of the row and start it with a new knotless thread of yarn. But imagine this scenario - you are almost completed 350 sts of complicated lace row and there comes the dreaded knot- would it be wonderful to know that you can just continue?? and hey, no threads to weave after !

well just have a good look at this you tube tutorial by Jane Richmond. If you do it right you'll end up with two knots (hence the name double knot) which you glide towards each other until they join. Then pull together.. the yarn will break before the knot.. This is so exciting for me ..

I've just completed my Ysolda's follow your arrow shawl and had chosen to use the double knot method-
here is a sneak preview-

Good knitting !

Manchuria Jacket

Here is the photo of the Manchuria jacket , one of the beautiful designs in the 'map' collection by Amimono /Helga Isager.
The design immediately drew my attention. Those patchy blocks of colour assembled in an attractive way, the choice of colours, and of course the shawl collar.

 
 
 

 

I ordered the kit on line directly from Amimono website, and after a month when nothing arrived had to send a polite reminder which seem to do the trick .. I loved the design so much that I ordered the kit without the booklet in English. There are 5 colours in the kit of Isager Spinni, a three ply weight of what seems to be a twisted single spun ply. I would never have thought to put those 5 colours together- medium grey, dark brown, black, peach and light yellow but those colours are knitted together all the way through with a fine strand of peachy silk mohair which acts as mediator -quiets down the tone of the other colours. The result looks like high end fashion- just exquisite.

 

 I'm lucky to have a wonderful friend who knows Danish and translated the pattern for me. We knitters understand each others passions..

The designer chose to construct this jacket in stripes of which are to be sewn together.

Precision is key here so I've blocked the front and put lock markers to help with the sewing..

 

The sewing becomes part of the design as there are accentuated V's of slip stitches along those seams.

 

 

I hope the length of the jacket won't become an issue for me, as it looks slightly short for my liking.

I'll keep you updated of course..

Good knitting ! x