Links Galore!
Member Mary provided all of our knitters with printouts of tons of resources, including lots of internet links, wool gauge system chart, needle/hook size conversions, and local knitting shops.

For everyone here are her links with her comments. Enjoy. (sorry I haven't linked all the URLS but Blogger's link command is very wibbly and throws code in the wrong place)

Online Retailers
http://www.ukalpaca.com - Reasonably priced alpaca wool
http://www.celticove.com
http://getknitted.com
http://www.theknittin.co.uk
http://www.kangaroo.uk.com - free postage on orders over £5
http://www.loop.gb.com [My comment: Islington area wool shop, online sales too]
http://www.laughinghens.com
http://www.woollyworkshop.co.uk
http://www.paviyarns.co.uk
http://www.stashyarns.co.uk - knitting shop based in Putney
http://www.mcadirect.com/shop/ - good for basic knitting wools
http://www.mavis-crafts.com - good for basic knitting wools
http://www.cpu-enterprises.com - good for basic knitting wools
http://www.jamiesonshetland.co.uk/jamiesons/
http://www.colinette.com
http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk - Ex-Rowan designer who sells design kits that include patterns and wool
http://www.sewessential.co.uk - website selling sewing and cross stitch supplies
http://www.willowfabrics/acatalog/ - website selling sewing and cross stitch supplies
http://www.texere.co.uk - good for yarn and other supplies
http://www.houseofhemp.co.uk/hempfp.html - knitting with an alternative type of yarn!

To Mary's I'd like to add:
http://www.iknit.org.uk/ - lovely yarn shop in Vauxhall, also have online shop
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ColourMartUK - good prices on cashmere in cones
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Natural-Dye-Studio - very nice hand-dyed sock wool

Pattern Sites
http://www.garnstudio.com - Brilliant website for free patterns, also wools at sewing shop in Putney and online
http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com - Free patterns

Info and Help
http://www.knittinghelp.com - Website offering help for knitting problems
http://www.twistedthread.com/community.asp - info and tickets for forthcoming craft and knitting shows

To which I'd add:
http://hipknitism.com/ - a couple good sock lessons
http://www.crafthings.com/ - very good prices on bag handles and the like, I've not ordered from them but found them through Etsy.com
http://www.learntoknit.com/ - self explanatory!
http://knitting.about.com/ - lots of patterns, lessons, and stitches. There used to be a little 'library' list of stitch patterns that let to visuals (cable, wave, chevrons, seed stitch) I'd bookmarked but it seems to be gone. If anyone find it let me know!

At last, we're up to date! Here's some photos from last week's knitting. Oona is now working on a 'beginners' kit scarf. We were all pretty unanimous that this kit is ridiculous with very fine wool and huge needles! Not at all easy for a beginner. Mary took on the challenge of the tiny Innocent hats and needless to say was very productive. Aaaaaw, aren't they cute?



Tool of the week: This week I show the girls the good ol' American way of making pompoms. Why you all use plastic circles and have to weave in through the centre all the time is beyond me, you just need two cardboard half-circles! (with hole in the 'middle') Easy peasy. With the two halves placed together just whip lots of loops of yarn around (just as you would with the whole circle version but this way it's MUCH faster!); then thread yard from one side to another between the cards (so inside all your loops); pull this threaded yard down to the 'middle' and tie tightly, making the centre of your pompom; use scissors to cut the yarn along the top of the half-circles, you can just put the blades between the 2 pieces of card to guide you. Very badly made example pompom pictured above our two half-circle bits of cardboard, made conveniently out of a You Don't Bring Me Flowers postcard.

A couple weeks ago we migrated to the upstairs of the cafe. A few new members including Oona (hope I spelled that right) and Linda. Linda is learning to crochet and Oona is making tiny little 'hats' for Innocent smoothies to raise money for Help the Aged.

6 months later....
We ARE still meeting in You Don't Bring Me Flowers, every Tuesday at 4pm. (4-6pm, changed over the summer as the cafe isn't staying open until 7pm anymore)

Some piccies from a few weeks ago:
Knitting, or just chatting?


Our current projects:


And the tool of the week, Mary's cool stitch holders, old and new:

Well this time I had lots of goodies to show, including my cashmere swatches (need a larger hook), the hyperbolic sphere, and my finished shawl which I ended up finishing moebius strip style after seeing a pattern like this. I'd already done most of the shawl and it seemed a good way to finish it off (and save myself making more length).

Wendy worked on some crochet, just practising basic stitch. Mostly everyone carried on with projects. Annette's working on her jumper, as is Mary, and Brenda gave us a little modelling of her sari silk cardigan so far.

Mary and Brenda were very kind and sorted out winding my very messed up skein of the light cashmere, I have no idea what happened to it! So thanks!!!

Hyperbolic Crochet!

Interrupting midweek because this site http://theiff.org/lectures/13.html was mentioned on a crochet group and it's FANTASTIC! So now I combine crochet, physics and art. At long last. Haha! Look through the galleries, there's great images there and you can see the progression from a simple curved space to more complex structures - and of course tips on how often you need to increase to knit/crochet them.

Here's my very first one made this morning. I tied it to a little kilt pin so I could wear it for the day.

More from Brenda's bag! A baby blanket made with little rectangles and a crochetted edge - this was a surprise because she was making a completely different blanket recently... Now she's working on a cotton baby hat but I didn't get a picture. She did happily model Annette's finished curly scarf though! Annette started it with about 280 stitches cast on rather large needles and her mum asked her to cut it in half, so now she has 2 scarves.

Annette is making herself persevere with crochet. She's actually very good at it but worries about her edges not being even. Today she just knocked out a quick square of trebles. Easy peasy.






Mary carries on with the knit chick farming...the angora ones are in demand for Easter. But she picked up 6 balls of nice yellow mohair yarn at the charity shop for only 30p. Having just bought £36 of cashmere on eBay I'm very jealous.


Wendy missed a couple weeks but was back this week with a long-ways knit striped top. She's decided it might be too tricky to do the arms, etc, so is going to make it a tube top style with wide straps at the top.

I'm still plugging away at the crochetted socks and trying to write down the pattern as I make it. Cashmere arrived for the skull and crosses pattern in the 'Happy Hooker' crochet book so I'm very excited about starting that next! But must finish the socks first. And I'm getting tempted into trying some freeform by the UK Handknitters group.

At long last! We're live! Here's a nice shot of a few of the group on our first meeting after the clocks changed... we decided to sit in the 'other' spot in the nice sunshine.


Brenda was working on a sweater made with sari silk and a thin wool, to help keep the shape. Brenda always has something exciting in her bag!


Mary has been working the most adorable knit chicks! These are also selling like mad at the cafe. Awwwww, aren't they cute?


Annette has finished this curly scarf that she was making for her mum for Mother's Day, but we didn't get to see the finished article! She tells me that is was very curly though.


And I'm actually crocheting socks. Determined to make them look knitted they're actually worked around the foot rather than top to toe or vice versa. All single crochet into the back of the stitches (that's all slip stich for the americans).


More next week when we play 'What's in Brenda's bag?'

Welcome to the new blog by the Lee Green/Hither Green knitters! We have a weekly casual meet-up at You Don't Bring Me Flowers cafe just outside Hither Green rail station on Tuesday evenings from 5-7pm. Everyone welcome!