In the Making...

I bought (among many other things) a kit from Sue Stratford at Yarndale. She has many gorgeous and sweet kits. I got the Chunky Holly kit. I quickly got started and after only a couple of nights work. I have a fabulous chunky holly. And if you can see her hiding behind the berries, a wee little mouse. All the materials are included in the kit. The little mouse is made from angora, so she is lovely and fluffy. One interesting surprise was because of the sewing down the centre of the stuffed leaf, it’s mouldable. The leaves stay in the position that you put them in. There’s a range of other Christmas based kits too. Including a chunky robin and a Christmas tree tea cosy . If you’re based around Cleethorpes, then you can get your own kit from A Good Yarn or if you are elsewhere in the world, then you can get them directly from Sue Stratford at the Knitting Hut It has quite an interesting construction that makes them look so good with the cent...

I’m very sorry for the radio silence over the summer but my workload was very high and something had to give. Unfortunately for you guys, it was the blog. I’m going to try and get back into the groove of blogging. I want to try and blog weekly like I’ve done for the past few years but have a feeling that it may not happen as often as I like. I’ve done lots of knitting and even a bit of crochet. The camera has been out lots and I’ve been sharing a few bits on Instagram . I’m @hardybarn on there and please follow me, if you’d like to. I meant to do this blog last week but there was a bit of procastinating going on. Some friends and I hired a cottage near Skipton for Yarndale weekend. I must say it was rather fab having a knitting weekend. Yarndale was as good as ever. The sun was shining and I’ve been saving up all year, so I had plenty of pennies to spend. There was too much fun and chatting going on for me to remember to take photos, but here’s my haul. I bought ...

When working ribbing, ever had that loose knit stitch before you change to purl? It’s a common problem. The reason it does it this is because the way a purl stitch is worked, it uses a little bit more yarn than a knit stitch and the excess moves into the last knit stitch and makes it loose. It’s the same reason why rowing out can happen for some – when you’re working stocking stitch and your purl rows look bigger than your knit rows. Rowing out doesn’t always happen, it’s often a combination of yarn fibre, tension and knitting technique. There is a way around this and there are quite a few tutorials out there on how to fix this. I’ll show you how in a minute but the basic idea is that if you combination purl that first purl stitch after your knit stitch, it will tighten things up. A normal purl involves wrapping the yarn anti-clockwise around the needle and a combination is wrapping the yarn clockwise. This uses less yarn though it does mean the stitch sits on the needle backw...

While on holiday I made a Wee Envelope by Ysolda Teague . I really, really loved making this pattern. It’s really clever but quite easy. I ended up working it on magic loop, that way I didn’t have to worry about using stitch holders and it made it easy to pick up the stitches again. I used Malabrigo Arroyo and I absolutely loved the yarn too. It was soft and squishy, it’s a semi solid so the colour has great depth too. I definitely want to make myself something in this yarn. I enjoyed it that much I made another one in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino . Malabrigo Wee Envelope Project Page Baby Cashmerino Wee Envelope Project Page

So 2nd instalment…. One day, we had a day trip to the Isle of Skye. The journey there is just so picturesque. We’d heard about a coral beach right at the top of the Isle of Skye. It was so pretty and the sea was turquoise. And it really was made of coral. Those mitts came in handy when we were up a mountain. How about this for extreme knitting? Mr has got some wear out of a vest I made him. I made it quite some time ago but it was one of those projects that went a bit wrong. It recently went under some sweater surgery and it’s now a firm favourite. Pattern: Laredo Ravelry project page . There’s more detail on the surgery on the project page. Mr has a thing about balancing rocks. I think it’s to occupy him while I take numerous photos. Pretty cool though. Oh and another yarn shop trip. On the way down, we went to Stirling Castle and happened to drop into McAree Brothers in Stirling.

We’ve just got back from a wonderful holiday in the Scottish Highlands. We were quite lucky with the weather and my new camera has been given a good work out – I’ve taken over a 1000 photos. On the way up,  we stopped in at New Lanark Mills. It’s really beautiful and as the sun came out, we walked down towards the Falls of the Clyde. We made it up to Corra Linn, which was really beautiful. I helped support them by buying lots of wool. In the photo below, I have 10 balls of the blue at the bottom to make myself a cardigan. One of the best bits of the holiday was the trip of the Jacobite Steam Train. The photo of the viaduct (bit blurry through the window) was used in the Harry Potter films. I really enjoyed the train ride with lots of knitting and beautiful scenery. The train goes to Mallaig. I bought some yarn on the way up at Beckside Yarns – a ball of Noro Kureyon and 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I started th...