Oxford Yarn Store

Yesterday I visited Oxford Yarn Store for the first time.  It is a lovely shop stuffed full of yarns of every colour and thickness. I had come across an advert for the store in one of the knitting magazines and I have been meaning to make the effort to travel to Oxford.  If you are visiting Oxford and love yarn – it is well work a walk along the Banbury Road to the store.

 

I had seen pictures of the outside of the store (there is one in the latest edition of Simply Knitting magazine), but I wanted to show you the inside.  The photo above shows what it looks like.  The owner, Karen, was apologising because she thought it looks untidy – but I thought it looked wonderful.  You can buy Rowan, Colinette, Artesano and Noro as well as lots of brands of yarn that I had not heard of.

What I have so far avoided mentioning is how much yarn I bought!  It was a good thing I took my birthday money with me.  I actually bought enough for two projects which you will hear more about in the coming weeks when I start working on them.

If you are interested in visiting Oxford Yarn Store it is located at 3 North Parade Avenue, Oxford, OX2 6LX or you can have a look at the website: www.oxfordyarnstore.co.uk

Modular Knitted Jumper – Third Progress Report

 

I have been away visiting my mother, but I took my L-shaped jumper with me and I have now done most of the modules.  I have only got to do the second half of one of the sleeves. 

I like to shape the under-arms and the top of the front by using small triangles – I need to do 6 of these – 2 for each under-arm and one each side of the neck-opening.

After that I need to do the button-hole and button bands at the front, neaten the neck-line, and adjust the length and sleeve length so they fit.  The last bit of knitting will be adding some ribs.

I would like to think that I might finish this jumper this week as I have another week off work, but I also have a long list of other things to do around the house.

Tea Cosy with Domino Square Trim Version 2

As I suggested in my previous post, I have now completed a version of this tea cosy in red and cream.

 

I may now try some other colours!

Tea Cosy with Domino Square Trim

I have been trying to come up with some new designs for tea cosies.  I decided to combine my love of tea cosy knitting with my love of modular knitting and produce a tea cosy that included modular knitting. 

 

I am always trying to think of new ideas for using up odd bits of yarn.   I have bags full of golf ball sized balls that I don’t want to throw away.  I suppose I could eventually use them for a patchwork quilt with very small squares, but at the moment I wanted to come up with something smaller.

Actually this design uses about 2 golf ball sized balls of blue yarn.  I think I will knit it again using red yarn. 

I haven’t forgotten about the jumper I am knitting, but it will take a few more weeks to finish it, especially if I get distracted by other things!

Domino Knitting and Knit to be Square by Vivian Høxbro

Both of these books concentrate on knitting basic square modules and contain clear instructions on how to produce them.

In the first book there are a lot of simple designs mainly using garter stitch modules, whereas the second book contains more ambitious projects including producing holes by not completing squares.  It also contains some very attractive designs for throws and stoles.

In Knit to be Square, knitters are encouraged to use wool so that they can felt their work.  This seems a good technique to use if you are making a bag and want it to be stronger.  It also creates an interesting effect when the modules appear to blend together.

Vivian has a website which can be found at www.viv.dk   I have tried to read it using Google translation but the result is rather odd.  However, I do recommend looking at the pictures!

Modular Knitted Jumper – Progress Report

It has been a very busy week but I have managed to knit several more L-shapes.  I have done most of the front.  I intend to knit this jumper in 2 pieces – a front including the front of the sleeves, and a back including the back of the sleeves.   I know some people like to avoid seams but I like to keep things simple.

I also sew the ends in as I go along – not on the edges, but as soon as a shape has been surrounded by others - if you see what I mean.  Again I know some people like to knit ends in but I find that this makes the fabric bulky or lumpy.  I can also use the ends to darn any holes that have appeared when I was picking up stitches!

I started with a big pile of yarn but I have gradually thrown out yarns that were too thin or did not look quite right with the other colours.  Generally I am going for a dull look with the odd highlight.

 

This photo shows the current state of this project.  

Modular Knitted Glasses Case

A few years ago I wrote a pattern for a modular knitted glasses case which consisted of 4 modular knitted squares which were used to cover a commercially bought sheathe style case.  Last week, a work colleague asked me to make her a glasses case which would protect her glasses because the case she had was very flimsy.

I produced the case shown below from 5 modular knitted squares – 2 each side and one for the flap.  I even managed to make a button hole in the middle of the last square.

 

I lined the case with a small piece of fleece fabric which I had left over from another project.   I was pleased with the result.   I probably don’t need to say but I used Colinette Fandango!