Thursday, March 18, 2010

Knitting Inspirations

Helen & I are the founders of Knitting Inspirations & for the past 5 years, we have been promoting knitting in Perth with all the various groups in the libraries & in the city. The groups have grown rapidly in the last couple of years & there are also many other groups that have sprung up in various suburbs.

To facilitate the groups, Helen & I have been bringing in hand dyed yarn & accessories from overseas. We mainly sell the yarn to our members in the groups & now decided to extend our services to other knitters in Australia. Helen had worked very hard in the last few months in designing & creating an online store & now it's up & running. Helen did a great job with the store & it looks great. Take a look & also visit Helen's blog as she did a fantastic write up of the products we have in store.

We are so pleased that knitting has grown in popularity here in Perth & knitters are able to meet & share their passion. We hope we can continue to inspire more people to take up this wonderful craft of knitting !

Happy Knitting

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sea Socks




This is the 3rd of my designs for Knitting Inspirations Seasonal Sock Club - "a design that reflects summer and the days spent outdoors, especially by the sea ..... sitting by the beach and watching the waves. "

These socks are knitted with Fleece Artist Sea Wool (70% wool & 30% seacell), a nice yarn for socks as I think it will wear well. The colorway is Blue Lagoon & it's gorgeous.

That's my model (Lydia) posing with the teddy bear that she had made in school. She loves the bear & insisted that he must be in the picture.

I have been enjoying creating all these designs but it takes quite a lot of time - looking at stitch patterns, swatching the various patterns, charting them, more swatching, writing out the pattern - before finalising on a design. As the club is seasonal, I try to match the stitch pattern with the season & the color of the yarn. By this stage, I would have knitted 1 sock to confirm the stitch pattern. Then I would use the yarn for the club to knit the actual pair of socks & at the same time test the pattern.

I have just completed the 4th design for Autumn & now I have officially been diagnosed with SSS (Single Sock Syndrome). For my collection of 4 designs, I had knitted 4 pairs of socks & 4 single socks - a total of 12 socks. Now I have to finish off the partner for each design & I will have 8 pairs ! That will be quite a collection.

Unfortunately, my single socks will have to stay single for a while as I am back to designing - I have just entered this competition so I am back to the drawing board.

For my blog readers who want to knit the Sea Socks, just leave a comment with your email address & I will send you a free copy !






Friday, March 12, 2010

Argus Shawl



I love this pattern. Wendy did a fabulous job in writing the pattern as it's so well written. The pattern is easy & flexible as you can increase or decrease any of the sections to make the shawl to your desired size. This shawl was knitted in a week in between other projects. The only part that slows me down is adding the beads.

The shawl is knitted in Socks That Rock Silkie (Jasper colorway) - this is one of my favorite yarn & it really knits up so beautifully.

I love the shawl & the color but it's not for me ..... will be gone next week as it's my aunt's birthday & this is her favorite color. Hope she likes it !