Banbury Sewing Centre

I hadn’t been to Banbury Sewing Centre for ages – but I have been in there a couple of times this week.   Despite the name – the shop sells quite a lot of yarn and I went in to see what they had at the moment.

I was looking for something suitable for a shell-shaped modular stole or scarf.  I fancied having a go at a new shape rather than doing squares and other rectangles all the time.

I decided to buy some Sirdar Divine.  It is 100% man-made – being 72% polyester and 28% acrylic.  That will sound nasty to those of you who only like natural fibres – but it is an attractive fashion yarn and it is very soft.

There was a choice of several colours and I found it hard to decide as I liked several of them.  I have a tendency to like mauve – and this one was the most mauve!

Banbury Sewing Centre mainly sells Sirdar and Stylecraft, but it has some other yarns as well.  I saw Patons and Regia yarn and they have just started stocking Red Heart.  This looks interesting – but they only have a very small amount in stock at the moment.  I may look at this later in the year – if they get some more.

They also sell fabric and a wide range of haberdashery including buttons (which can be bought individually so you can have the number you want.)  I sometimes spend ages in there trying to find the best match for a cardigan I have knitted.  One day I will take my own advice and buy the buttons first and find yarn to go with them!

I have forgotten to mention contact details for Banbury Sewing Centre.  These are as follows:

Banbury Sewing Centre
57 Parsons Street
Banbury
OX16 5NB

01295 262344

www.banburysewingcentre.co.uk

Pattern for Odd Ball Throw

Yesterday I finished my odd ball throw by adding a border.

For those of you who would like to knit your own version of it – I am including a pattern below. 

The design consists of 7 strips of 7 squares.  Each square is made up of 5 small squares and 1 large one.  As I was using up odd balls – it is difficult for me to say how much yarn is needed.  As I said in my previous post – you need golf ball size amounts for the small squares and tennis ball size for the large ones. 

You could do a completely random colour sequence.  I didn’t.  For the first strip I did Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Pink, Mauve and Turquoise.  For the next strip I started 2 colours along – so I started with Yellow, and then Red, Pink, Mauve, Turquoise, Blue and Green.  I continued in a similar way across the throw with the result that there is large square of each colour in each row and in each strip.

Materials

Approximately 1200g of DK yarn in various colours.
5 mm needles

Size of Throw:

Size of one square (made from the 5 small squares and one large one): approximately 21cm across and 22cm down.  The exact side of the throw will depend on your tension.  You can adjust the size of your throw by adding more squares or adding a wider border.

You can knit 49 squares and then sew them together, or you can knit 7 strips of 7 squares and sew these together.  I did not do any sewing.  My throw was knitted as one piece from left to right casting on or picking up stitches as necessary.   

Small Square

Row 1: Using 5mm needles and Yarn D, cast on 23sts.
Row 2: K11, P1, K11.
Row 3: K10, S2K1PSSO (Slip 2sts, K1, pass the 2 slipped stitches over – decreasing by 2sts), K10.
Row 4: K10, P1, K10.
Row 5: K9, S2K1PSSO, K9.
Row 6: K9, P1, K9.
Row 7: K8, S2K1PSSO, K8.
Row 8: K8 P1, K8.
Row 9 K7, S2K1PSSO, K7.
Row 10: K7, P1, K7.
Row 11: K6, S2K1PSSO, K6.
Row 12: K6, P1, K6.
Row 13: K5, S2K1PSSO, K5.
Row 14: K5, P1, K5.
Row 15: K4, S2K1PSSO, K4.
Row 16: K4, P1, K4.
Row 17: K3, S2K1PSSO, K3.
Row 18: K3, P1, K3.
Row 19: K2, S2K1PSSO, K2.
Row 20: K2, P1, K2.
Row 21: K1, S2K1PPO, K1
Row 22: P3tog and fasten off.

 For the second small square - cast on 11sts and then pick up 12sts from the right-hand edge of the first square.  Work as for first square.

For the third small square - cast on 11sts and then pick up 12sts from the right-hand edge of the second square. Work as for first square.

For the fourth small square – pick up 11sts from the top of the first square and then cast on 12sts. Work as for first square.

For the fifth small square – pick up 11sts from the top of the fourth square and then cast on 12 sts. Work as for first square.

Large Square

Row 1: Pick up 22sts along the top edge of the third and second squares, 1 st from the top corner of the first square, and then pick up 22sts from the side edge of squares four and five. (45sts)

Row 2: K22, P1, K22.
Row 3: K21 S2K1PSSO (Slip 2sts, K1, pass the 2 slipped stitches over – decreasing by 2sts), K21.
Row 4: K21, P1, K21.
Row 5: K20, S2K1PSSO, K20.
Row 6: K20, P1, K20.
Row 5: K19, S2K1PSSO, K19.
Row 6: K19, P1, K19.
Row 7: K18 S2K1PSSO, K18.
Row 8: K18, P1, K18.
Row 9: K17, S2K1PSSO, K17.
Row 10: K17, P1, K17.
Row 11: K16, S2K1PSSO, K16.
Row 12: K16, P1, K16.
Row 13: K15 S2K1PSSO, K15.
Row 14: K15, P1, K15.
Row 15: K14, S2K1PSSO, K14.
Row 16: K14, P1, K14.
Row 17: K13, S2K1PSSO, K13.
Row 18: K13, P1, K13.
Row 19: K12, S2K1PSSO, K12.
Row 20: K12, P1, K12.
Row 21: K11, S2K1PSSO, K11.
Row 22: K11, P1, K11.
Row 23: K10, S2K1PSSO, K10.
Row 24: K10, P1, K10.
Row 25: K9, S2K1PSSO, K9..
Row 26: K9, P1, K9.
Row 27: K8, S2K1PSSO, K8.
Row 28: K8 P1, K8.
Row 29 K7, S2K1PSSO, K7.
Row 30: K7, P1, K7.
Row 31: K6, S2K1PSSO, K6.
Row 32: K6, P1, K6.
Row 33: K5, S2K1PSSO, K5.
Row 34: K5, P1, K5.
Row 35: K4, S2K1PSSO, K4.
Row 36: K4, P1, K4.
Row 37: K3, S2K1PSSO, K3.
Row 38: K3, P1, K3.
Row 39: K2, S2K1PSSO, K2.
Row 40: K2, P1, K2.
Row 41: K1, S2K1PPO, K1
Row 42: P3tog and fasten off.

You should have now completed one square made from 6  squares.  If you want to knit strips or the throw as one piece, you will need to continue repeating the shapes – but you should pick up stitches where possible instead of casting them on.

Finishing

Sew in any ends darning any holes between the squares.

Borders

For the top and bottom of the throw: using 5mm and DK; pick up 231sts from the edge and work in garter stitch for 4 rows.  Cast off.

For the side edges: using 5 mm needles and DK, pick up 237sts from the edge (231 as before and then 3 more on the edge of the top and bottom), and work in garter stitch for 4 rows.  Cast off.

Knitting in Public

As it was “Knitting in Public” day on Saturday – I decided that I ought to make an effort to go out and knit in public.  I forgot to take my camera – so the photos were taken when I got home!

The Reading Branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild had a stall at the Waterfest by the canal, and so I spent a bit of time knitting my odd-ball throw outside.

A few people asked about the pattern so I had better make more effort to finish the throw and publish the pattern on this blog.    I should be able to finish it this week if I don’t get too side-tracked by other things.

It certainly is a good pattern for using up golf-ball size balls of yarn.  The larger squares only need about a tennis-ball size or less.

I hadn’t been to Reading for a couple of years and it has changed quite a lot in that time.  I was very disappointed with the choice of yarn available for sale in the town centre.  It used to be much better.   Although John Lewis still has a yarn department – it has much less yarn.  I remember when they used to produce their own label yarn – Jonelle.  It was very good quality. 

I have read an article recently which encouraged us to use our local yarn store or lose it – so I am planning to visit a few during the summer.  Buying on-line is OK if you know what you want – but you can’t beat actually touching the yarn – and finding something you didn’t know you wanted!

Colinette Arizona Dreams – Yosemite – Jabba Juice

I have now finished the other Yosemite throw that I was knitting.  I have taken a few photos of it. 

I think this colourway – Jabba Juice is my favourite of the Arizona Dreams kits that I have knitted so far.  You would not think the photos were all of the same throw.  I think this last one shows the most realistic image.

What shall I knit next?  I think I will go back to the odd ball throw that I was knitting at the beginning of April.  I would like to get that finished before it gets too hot.