Last Round Up for 2014

Copyright Jay Mantri. Source http://www.jaymatri.com

The holidays are upon us and although I still have lots going on behind the scenes I am taking a little break from the blog.

I will be back in early January with a new website and lots of exciting news 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for coming along on this journey with me in 2014. It has been a fantastic year and I have met so many amazing knitty folk from all corners of the globe. I have really enjoyed watching you knit my patterns and have loved getting to know you through this space on the internet.

2015 is going to be an exciting year, there are lots of changes afoot here but some things will remain the same. I will be here blogging about all things fibre related, I will still be knitting and designing in all my spare time and Jo and I will be chatting every two weeks about my undying love of socks.

A few final bits and pieces before I sign off for the year

If you want to keep up with my holidays festivities you can follow me on Instagram (most likely to be filled with knitting and food) or on Twitter. 

I will be taking part in the TGS is one KAL. A celebration of one year of The Golden Skein where we are knitting my latest shawl pattern Kunye. If you have a single skein of fingering weight yarn and fancy a good knit-along pop over to this thread and join in. 

 Discount

If you want to buy this pattern or any of my other patterns you can take advantage of a special discount code I set up for Aplayfulday and her ‘me-along’ – use the code ‘playful’ and you will get 33% off anything in my Ravelry store until the 31st December. 

Workshops

If you want to book in for a 2015 workshop my schedules are now up on the relevant shop websites. I will be teaching in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow in January and February.

January and February slots at Ginger Twist Studio, Edinburgh teaching a range of workshops.

January and February slots at Queen of Purls, Glasgow teaching a range of workshops.

7th February at Fluph, Dundee teaching Magic Loop and Finishing School.

I also have an exciting slot at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. If you want to get to grips with socks this is the perfect opportunity to master the basics. It would also make a great christmas present for the knitter in your life.

Sock Surgery

Finally if you have some free time and want to listen to the first few episodes of the Sock Surgery segment on the Shinybees podcast this is a great time to catch up. We will be announcing the knit-along and lots of other exciting bits in the new year.

That is it from me for now folks. I hope you have a wonderful holiday break. With lots of time for knitting and relaxing.

Here’s to a fantastic 2015!

See you in a few weeks.

Happy knitting.

Clare

x

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Caught My Eye: Black Tea

I am all about cables at the moment (cables and pom poms). I stubbled across this hat recently when researching cables for my workshop on cables and instantly fell in love. This hat is certainly on my list of hats to knit this autumn.

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Stylish and sophisticated, as so many of Thea Colmans designs are, this hat is a stunner. Black Tea is knitted using two strands of The Plucky Knitter Bellow (a cashmere blend). It must be the softest and warmest hat imaginable. You could also knit it in worsted (or a heavier DK, if you are in the UK) as The Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted is also listed in the pattern.

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The pattern is written for one size (20″ head) and is available as a single pattern for $6 (about £3.80) or as part of the book “With a splash … ” that has seven beautiful designs for $21. I also highly recommend looking at Thea’s other work as she has a brilliant eye for design and some very beautiful pieces of knitwear to create.

Have you knitted a cable hat this winter? Do you like to knit your cables with or without a cable needle?

Keep an eye out for my new design “Earl Grey” that is being released next week. Perfect for getting to grips with cables. 

Did you know …

I have lots of big plans for Soctober, here is my first round up for the month

New pattern 

Last week I released Elgin. Knitted in gorgeous aran weight Alapca, Merino, nylon blend these make the warmest slipper socks. You can buy this as a single pattern for £3 or as part of the Head to Toe collection. 

Workshops

I also started my teaching programme for October at Ginger Twist Studio this past Sunday.

In the morning I taught some fabulous ladies how to knit two socks at once using magic loop. I love this class as it is very rewarding to see the ‘spaghetti junction’ style of knitting needles, cables and yarn gradually unfurl to become a pair of socks. I caught up with both knitters last night at our local knit night and they are coming along well, ready for next weeks class.

I also taught a beginner sock knitting workshop. This is perfect for those of you who have yet to knit your first pair of socks.

Lovely knitters learning about socks at Ginger Twist Studio, Edinburgh

 

In the workshop you create a mini sock and practice all the techniques you need to create your own larger sock

I have a jam packed teaching schedule coming up this month with sock workshops in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow. There are still a few spaces left at some workshops – if you want to try your hand at sock knitting, what are you waiting for?

Toe up socks and Heel Masterclass  at Ginger Twist Studio, Edinburgh (contact Jess to book or for more details). I also have some other exciting beginner classes and a special workshop on getting to grip with cables in November.

 

Heel Masterclass at Queen of Purls in Glasgow (contact Zoe to book or for more details) 

 

In November I will be at Fluph teaching my Beginner Sock workshop and Finishing School (finish those knitted beauties off in style). 

What are you planning for Socktober? I would love to hear what you have on your needles.

Happy knitting

Clare

x

PS: Before I go, I have a new pattern coming tomorrow. Perfect for solid or variegated yarn and oh such a soothing pattern repeat … watch this space for details.

I’m going on tour ….

Okay that might be stretching the truth just a little bit. In July I will be popping up to Dundee for a day of workshops in the fabulous knitting shop, Fluph! It’s like a mini tour, okay maybe we should call it a day trip. I am very excited and wanted to share the news with you all here.

I have been teaching for the wonderful Jess at Ginger Twist In Edinburgh since October last year but this will be my first adventure further north. Leona who owns Fluph is a fab gal and I am sure it is going to be great fun.

If you are in or around Dundee on the 26th July 2014 and want to know more about knitting socks please join us. For details contact Leona on fluphshop (at) gmail (dot) com or me on yarnandpointysticks (at) gmail (dot) com.

Find out more about Fluph by visiting the blog http://fluphshop.blogspot.ca

 

A glance back, and looking forward …

I missed the end of the blog week, I knew it was a possibility. I had a hectic work schedule and spent all day Saturday at a conference. I am not going to go back and do the post for day 6 just yet. I am going to turn into into a feature instead. Coming up over the next few months I will be revisiting my interview series and chatting to some inspirational souls in the knitting world. I already have some fabulous people lined up to chat with and would welcome your input on anyone you would like to see featured here on the blog. I can’t wait to get started. It will probably be a monthly feature, though we will see how we go. Watch this space for more details.

In the spirit of 5KCBWDay7 I thought I would stop for a second and take stock of where I have ended up. This is my post from last year and looking back I can’t believe how much has changed.

We moved across the world, instead of the Australia plan we ended up in Edinburgh! Who would have thought. Since we arrived 8 months ago we have moved twice and are still trying to find out feet. I have learnt that knitwear is very useful for the Scottish winter months but blocking knitwear is almost impossible. This is in direct contrast to South Africa where I could block anything in a matter of hours but never had the chances to wear all my lovely knitted items.

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I achieved some of my knitting goals and others fell by the wayside. I finished the Rock Island shawl and knitting one more pair of Cookie A socks, then my personal knitting ground to a halt as my knitting adventure took me on a new and exciting journey.

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Inspired and encouraged by my friend Heidi I decided to start designing some baby socks. These became Sock Anatomy, published at the end of last year. Since then I have written for The Knitter and taught at Ginger Twist Studio in Edinburgh.

What does the rest of 2014 have in store? I have more workshops coming up in Edinburgh and I will be venturing further afield and will be teaching in Dundee and hopefully Newcastle. I have some designs coming out in knitting magazines you will know (and hopefully love) and have a very special collaboration due to be launched in July.

Then there are the plans for 2015, they are glorious and bold. I am in the planning phase for some exciting new projects and I promise to update you as soon as I can.

Thank you for sticking around this year. I know it has been haphazard at times. I enjoy your company though and hope you choose to stay with me for another year of adventures.

Happy knitting

Clare

x

 

 

Workshops at Ginger Twist Studio, Edinburgh

I am very excited to announce that I have some new workshops booked in at Ginger Twist Studio in Edinburgh. 

All the information can be found on the Workshops page on my blog – http://yarnandpointysticks.com/workshops/

You can also find information on the Ginger Twist Studio blog – http://www.gingertwiststudios.com/workshops/

This weekend we have two spots left on the heel turn workshop. Over two weeks you will explore many different ways of turning a sock heel. Toe up, top down, heel flaps, short rows, textured stitch patterns … It is great fun. The class is from 11.30am to 1pm on Saturday 15th February and Saturday 22nd February. To book contact Jess at the shop.

 

Knitters are lovely

Hope you are having a great weekend.

This morning I taught a lovely class at Ginger Twist Studio. It was a great fun, we worked on knitting two socks at the same time on one circular need. I really love teaching knitting, it is great meeting new people and teaching them new knitting skills. I always enjoy watching the workshop participants help each other. I have some more workshops coming up so keep an eye on my blog and the Ginger Twist blog for details. 

In other news, knitters are lovely. Yesterday a parcel arrived for me. It contained a pair of hand knit socks! I was overwhelmed by the kindness of a fellow Raveler who hardly knows me. There was a ROAK swap on one of the boards, she offered up a ball of yarn and I was going to snap it up, but decided against it as I already have too much yarn and not enough time to knit it all. I felt it was greedy to take the yarn and then just stick it in my stash. When I told Tracy that I was going to let someone else claim the yarn as I wanted it to be knitted with, she said she would knit a pair of socks for me and post them to me! Those socks arrived yesterday – what a wonderfully kind gesture. The are cosy and warm and fit perfectly. Thank you Tracy. You made my day!