When is a hook not a hook?

I've been trying hard to get back into crochet and my star blanket has been seeing a fair bit of work. A potential disaster has actually been the making of it. It turns out that losing the old fashioned Aero hook I was using was actually the best thing I could have done because when I was last in Purl City Yarns I came across Clover ergonomic hooks. They're the only kind that Purl City do, and at the time I was sceptical to say the least, but I needed a hook and they weren't particularly dear so I thought I'd take the risk. Well I'm hooked (groan). Who knew that the shape of the handle and the angle of the hook bit itself could make such a difference? It turns out there's a whole spectrum of angles/lengths and handle styles, with a useful guide here. Some of the hooks in the guide are only really available in the US, but the general principles apply to ones available here. The limiting factor for my crocheting had always been cramp in my hands but I'm delighted to report that I haven't had to stop because my hand hurt once since using this hook. This means that the blanket is know very much lap-sized which has come in handy recently on cold knit nights in the Oakwood where there is very little heating.

This, among several other reasons is why we have been looking for a new venue for Knit1Sip2 and I'm so excited to tell you that we've found one. The group is moving to The Craft Barn in Hadfield from 10th April. We'll be there from 8-10pm and it's £2 to cover the room hire; we've had some tea and coffee donated so they'll be free until supplies run out! I shall be blogging more about upcoming workshops that I'm doing there too, so watch this space.

L'Adder

I'm thrilled to say I've got a pattern in the new Issue 32 of Knit Now. All the patterns in this one use 100% British wool and I'm so delighted to be included in such wonderful company. My design is L'Adder, a pair of fingerless mitts in Blacker Yarns  Romney Guernsey 5-ply. It's a traditional gansey weight yarn and is worsted spun - this means that the fibres are really locked in together and results in a very hardwearing yarn.
The sample was photographed on the wintry Cumbrian coast by Dan Walmsley and I think he's captured the essence of the design perfectly. Hard-working hands clad in hard-working yarn with more than a nod to our maritime past. I chose to use a stitch pattern known as Snake and Ladder which was used in Cornish and Isles of Scilly ganseys. The name was the obvious pun! Working gansey patterns on a smaller scale is great fun and good practice before you embark on a full-blown garment.
The magazine is in the shops now (WH Smith and the major supermarkets seem to be the best bet) or you can buy both print and digital editions at moremags.com. There's also a really super supplement to the print issue this time - a guide to those 'beyond the basics' techniques you keep seeing in mags but aren't really sure how to do.

Resurrection and Ravellenics

Since giving up the regular desk job and taking up freelance work I've got out of the habit of blogging because sitting at the computer has meant work, work and more work. This is a very good thing for me but not so good for developing a readership and blog presence. (Let's face it I was never really in the habit in the first place but it's high time that changed.)
So to kick things off I'm going to write about my entry in the Winter Ravellenics. Knitters (and crocheters, spinners and other fibrey folk) challenge themselves to do something a bit different for the duration of the sporting games and plot their progress on Ravelry. There are even medals, but not quite yet because of the sheer volume of entrants this year.
I had recently come by a lucky find in the New Year sales - eight balls of lovely Wendy Roam in a pale greenish blue colour. This, I felt, would make an ideal cardigan. Light, neutral enough to go with most of my clothes and the nylon content would ensure durability. The only slight issue was that it's 4-ply and so a cardigan for me takes a rather eye-watering 1500m or so.
This got me wondering whether it would actually be possible to knit this in just over two weeks. Friends said it was 'barking' and 'impossible' and so of course I had to do it.
I cast on during the opening ceremony, having 'trained' by swatching beforehand and things went well. The pattern I chose was Tivoli by Cecily Glowik MacDonald which is worked in one piece top down, with the sleeves worked down from the armholes afterwards. This meant in theory I could work on straight needles for much of the knit which are much faster for me than a circular worked flat. The only problem being whether all the stitches would fit on.

It turned out that they did (just) and all went off speedily. I did slow down towards the end and I took the precaution of putting the body on hold while I knitted the sleeves and then returning to the body to maximise the length I could finish in the time. Since I'm quite tall I added about 3 inches to the body length but I didn't do any other modifications. With hindsight and more time I think I'd have knit a smaller size with some bust darts as although it fits beautifully on the bust it's a little big at the neck.
The buttons I chose are small clear plastic that look just like ice - a lovely reminder of the Winter Games. I've loved seeing what others have entered, there have been a lot of rainbow projects this time around. The virtual medal procedures are apparently chugging along so with any luck I'll have one soon (assuming I filled in all the forms properly!)