Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party

 

Welcome! Thank you to Lucy at Attic 24 for the lovely introduction to the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party. If you haven’t seen Lucy’s blog post and her gorgeous Summertime Tins crochet design check it out here.

Gardens are special places, during recent lockdowns they have become so much more important. Many parties and gatherings have been held outside providing a place for socialising and wellbeing in all seasons. Even now when restrictions have lifted I enjoy afternoon tea with family and friends in the garden. 

The Blogstars have been busy designing a range of festive treats for knitters and crocheters. So, if you are planning a garden party this spring or summer, small or large, tea party for two or a Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration then checkout the designs. They will be revealed throughout the month of May, follow the link at the end of this post.

Inspired by garden trellis my design incorporates 9 pastel colours from the Stylecraft Special DK range which has a huge number of 100 fabulous colours to chose from. Keep reading to the end of this post to find out how to win the yarn used in this project.

Colours chosen (from left to right in the image below): 

Wisteria, Pale Rose, Spearmint, Duck Egg, Lincoln, Pistachio, Vintage Peach, Camel, Parchment.

The Trellis Tea Cosy is my contribution to the garden party. It’s knitted in the round using stranded colour work technique with added decorative tassels. Pastel colours punctuate the spearmint trellis. (The pattern is suitable for knitters with experience of stranded colour work and includes written instructions with a chart).

I think there's something a little bit retro about tea cosies as well as their practical use in the unreliable British summer weather. The dots of colour on this cosy remind me of those tiny biscuits with the swirls of coloured icing I loved so much as a child. Do you remember those biscuit treats?

There was ample yarn left over from the tea cosy to make some matching bunting. Adding some decorative bunting to a garden or outdoor area can make a familiar place feel festive.

A simple design, the bunting pattern is suitable for beginner knitters, a basic crochet stitch is used for joining the triangles, then finished off with a contrasting tassel. 

The Trellis Tea Cosy and Trellis Bunting 

are free to download from 

Ravelry 

(until the end of June 2022).

Trellis Tea Cosy

Trellis Bunting

Hoping you can enjoy an outside space for a party this spring and summer, whether it's a garden, a patio, a balcony or a local park.

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Win Some Yarn!

One lucky Stylecraft fan and their friend has the chance to win the yarn to make this project. Checkout the link to Stylecrafts Instagram account here to find out more. 

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Next to reveal her Garden Party design...

...is the lovely, talented Catherine Bligh.  Without giving too much away, Catherine's design is perfect for an afternoon tea in the garden. Her crochet pattern will walk you through the stages of how to make it with plenty of pictures throughout. 

Check out "Catherine's Crochet Corner" on Saturday 14th May for more garden party treats. 

Wee Houses

 

It's cast on day for the Wee Houses scarf and cowl in the Stylecraft Yarns Make Along Group. Both the scarf and cowl are knitted in the round and are suitable for knitters with some experience with stranded knitting where different colours of yarn are 'carried' across the back of the work.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry and lots more details about it. If you join the Make Along Group you will find a discount code valid for use on Ravelry from 1st November to 30th November 2021. The pattern is also available from Etsy (but no discount code).

The scarf and cowl both use Highland Heathers DK, which currently comes in a range of 19 rich, tweed effect shades.

The scarf pattern gives the opportunity to use up lots of small quantities of spare yarn...

...decorated with pom poms.

The cowl is a shorter wider version of the scarf. It slips on over the head and is worn snug to the neck. Thanks to the lovely Juliet Bernard for knitting and choosing the colours of this cowl. 

The lovely Fiona of Yarn Etc knitted this great cowl using her alternative colour choices which have an autumnal theme. Thank you Fiona.

The Wee House pattern is the latest and most colourful in a number of designs which have been inspired by a little red roof croft house on the Applecross Peninsular in north west Scotland. 

It seems a long time ago since the Red Roof Croft House was published in 2010.

Then followed the Mini Red Roof Croft House knitting pattern in 2011.

The Home Sweet Home Tea Cosy in 2012 featured a house motif which forms the basis for the scarf and cowl. This design is further developed in 2013 on a cushion cover (see further down). 

Wee House Key Ring and Brooch in 2013. 

'Home' Cushion September 2013. The house motif from the tea cosy in 2012 is repeated in rows of neutral shades of grey 'strips' across the cushion with dots of different colours added along the 'window lines'. More photos and different views of the cushion are on Flickr here.

The Wee Houses pattern combines elements of the Home Sweet Home Tea Cosy and the Home cushion striping effect. Some solid lines were included between the rows of houses to add more colour contrast. 

For more information about the Stylecraft Make Along check out this link here.

Transitions Shawlette Pattern update

 

There's an updated version of the Transitions Shawl pattern.  New instructions have been added for a Shawlette. It's a smaller version of the original asymmetric shawl but long enough to wrap around and secure with a loose knot.

Knitted with a new yarn called Charm, which I received from Stylecraft as a sample. It's a blend of acrylic, wool and mohair with colour swirl shade changes. I love the colours of this particular combination called 'Spring Dawn' and enjoyed seeing the changes as the knitting progressed. Charm is a 4ply, light and soft yarn perfect for knitting shawls and accessories. There are 5 more different shade combinations in the range.        

The main part of the shawl is knitted in garter stitch with a simple eyelet edging, finished with a picot cast off. The colour changes are most evident and effective on the edging detail, see the image below.

The edging detail is also featured on the original shawl, seen below. 

Ever tried a picot cast off? 

There's a tutorial for a knitted picot cast off, you can find it here on my blog. Alternatively, there's a short video on my Instagram account - @handknittedthings showing the technique in detail.

The updated knitting pattern for the Transitions Shawl and Shawlette can be found in my Ravelry and Etsy shops.

Knitted Toys and Smaller Needle Size

There's a lot written about gauge and tension in relation to knitting which can be quite intimidating to the beginner knitter. Where toys are concerned, the good news is, you don't have to worry too much about gauge and tension except where you want something to be a specific size.

Generally, for toys the most important consideration is to prevent the stuffing from coming out or showing through the knitting. Using a needle size smaller than the one recommended for the size of yarn is the most popular way to achieve a closer knit fabric. There are other factors which can influence the end result of a piece of knitted fabric, for example, how tightly a person holds the yarn, how a person holds their needles and the type of material the needles are made from eg. metal, bamboo, wood, plastic.  

For this experiment I used Naturals Organic Cotton double knitting by Stylecraft who kindly sent me samples. The cotton is washable, has a lovely bounce to it when knitted up and there are 38 gorgeous shades. I particularly love the pretty sample colours and how they worked together: Rosewood (purple), Sage (pale blue) and Bone (white). (The embroidery on the houses is the same yarn and gives a hint of the other lovely shades in the range).

I used my pattern Mini Red Roof Croft House and chose three smaller size needles than the 4mm recommended on the yarn ball band. 

For each main house colour (seen on the walls) a swatch was made in stocking stitch and the number of stitches and rows were counted.

 

House Number One...

Even though I'd used a 3.25mm needle the gauge was very similar to the one recommended on the ball band. So the way I knit was influencing the end result. That said the fabric created was great for my toy. I could see a tiny bit of the filling through the garter stitch roof but none through the stocking stitch sections. (Gauge was 22st and 34 rows over 10 cm). House approximately 13 cm wide x 10 cm high.

House number Two...

This was knitted with 3mm needles and turned out slightly smaller than the first (purple) house. (Gauge was 23 stitches and 36 rows). House size approximately 11.5 cm wide x 9 cm high.

House Number 3...

The third house was completed with 2.75mm needles, the result being definitely smaller than my first (purple) house. The white house has the tightest fabric and had the best surface for sewing the embroidered flowers on the front. Finished house size 10 cm x 8 cm.

The size of each house reduced by about 1cm in hight and width each time the needle went down a size.

In summary, a tight fabric is good for toy making. Experiment yourself with a smaller needle size to see how that affects the end result.

Enjoy your knitted toy making!

 

 

Make Along and a Competition

Would you like to join a knitting Make Along for this blanket? It’s the Special Stripy Blanket in a new colour way called ‘Sea Breeze’ made with 7 shades of Stylecraft Special Chunky yarn.

The Make Along begins on 13th August in the Stylecraft Yarns Make Along Group on Facebook where you’ll be able to find the link to the pattern with a special discount code.

The original colour way 'Beach Huts' (on the left in the image above) and the new 'Sea Breeze' were inspired by the seaside.

There’s a competition to design a new colour way based on a 'Deck Chair' theme. You can find the entry template on the Stylecraft website by clicking on the image below and downloading. To enter the competition choose a 7 colour combination from the Special Chunky shade range. List your colours on the template chart (with your contrast colour first). Scan or take a photo of your finished chart and email to bronagh.miskelly@stylecraftltd.co.uk

I’ll be selecting my favourite colour way and the winner will receive the yarn courtesy of Stylecraft to make their own version of the blanket.

Good Luck!

Ripples Shawl Knitting Pattern

Keeping busy and a positive mind set is something to be aimed for and never more than during this time of Covid-19. Knitting is something which helps me to stay occupied and focused generally but especially so now. 

This latest pattern is a shawl which uses a variegated cotton blend yarn with contrast stitches creating ripple effects. It's a wrap to use as a cover up when sitting outside (hopefully) enjoying the unpredictable summer weather. 

The yarn is from Stylecraft and inspired by the artist Monet. This shade of blue called Giverny gives an hint of the artists work and reminiscent of his painting the Water Lilies. A definite summery  blue vibe with hints of soft pink. The ripple effects are created using two solid colour shades of Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK.

Ripples Shawl knitting pattern is available to download from Ravelry. 

Read on if you'd like further details about the pattern.

Skills required

Cast on, cast off, knit, purl, knit 2 stitches together, slip stitches, knit into the front and back of a stitch.

Yarn

(A) Main colour, x4 Stylecraft Monet aran 100g 183m/200yds shade, Giverney #3971

(B) Contrast colour, x1 Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK, 50g 92m/100yds, shade Grey Blue #3965

(C) Contrast colour, x1 Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK, 50g 92m/100yds, shade Ivory #3665

Needles

5.5mm circular knitting needle 60cm long to accommodate number of stitches

Notions 

Blunt tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Size

190cm (74inches) long x 35cm (14 inches) wide

Ripples Shawl is available to download from Ravelry.

Bambino Awesome Avocado

Awesome Avocado is the name of this warm yellow yarn. It's a new colour addition to the Bambino DK baby yarn from Stylecraft. 

Super soft and lovely to work with this premium 100% acrylic is machine washable and perfect for baby garments.

A selection of new baby knitting patterns launched with the Awesome Avocado (there's also All at Sea, a lovely teal shade added too). 

There are two hat patterns which are suitable for boys/girls and both have pompom finishing touches. (Stylecraft pattern numbers 9761 and 9757). I made a hat combining elements of both designs. I particularly enjoyed knitting the Irish Moss stitch which is a simple four row repeat and creates a lovely textured surface.

My yarn sample Awesome Avocado looks great with Purple Passion, Bellisima DK.

This was a quick and easy knitting project, loved the super soft yarn and the colours together.