The way to a knitters heart

It’s been a fun few weeks in social media terms. A glitch or some kind of random spanner in the works meant that I found myself locked out of my own Instagram account for a few days. That wouldn’t have been too bad in itself but I was trying to let people know about a flash sale I had going on - thanks Meta.

Luckily, my trusty email newsletter meant that most people were aware of it anyway - let’s face it - Instagram reach is so poor these days that we consider ourselves lucky if anyone sees our posts at all. This is a great reminder though, if you aren’t already, to sign up to my email newsletter (and that of other people you follow on social media for that matter).

We never know when the Instagram gods will decide to pull the marketing rug out from under us, so email is really the best way of ensuring that we can stay in touch and you don’t miss anything vital. And if you did miss the sale - huge apologies - I’ll do another one shortly so keep an eye on your inboxes.

I was grumping slightly that I wouldn’t be able to share my post yarn show haul online thanks to the IG ban but then it dawned on me that I have this - my very own if slightly neglected blog.

So with my Instagram grumpiness fresh in my mind you can expect to see a little more blog action from me moving forward and a little less reliance on the capriciousness of Meta.

East Anglia Yarn Festival 9-10 March 2024

If there is anything that brings a smile to a knitters face faster than the prospect of a yarn show, then I don’t know what it is. The thought of a few hours, happily squishing yarn, chatting with friends and generally being among people who ‘get it’ is one of the nicest ways I can think of to spend a few hours on a rainy afternoon in March.

This was my second visit to the East Anglia Yarn Festival and it’s definitely one of my favourite shows to attend. Masses of parking, lots of space to move around and really well organised. It’s a real treat to attend and I always end up spending far more money than I originally intended.

It’s always nice to attend a yarn show where the vendors are genuinely enthusiastic and happy to be there. Everyone was very relaxed and it just generally made for a lovely chilled out afternoon.

My husband came with me for a change and he commented that it was a long time since he had seen quite so many smiling faces in one place. He’s a non-knitter (but a very appreciative receiver of handknit socks) and even he enjoyed the yarn fume filled atmosphere.

So, without further ado let’s cut the chase.

The obligatory post yarn show, on-the-bed haul photo. Actually when I spread it out properly it doesn’t look as big as I thought. And there definitely seems to be a colour theme running through it.

Clockwise from left:

I also managed to score a skein of the beautiful Folk yarn - the special, limited edition yarn produced entirely within East Anglia. I’ve no idea what I will make with it (or any of my haul to be honest) but I’m going to have fun dreaming of it’s potential.

I intended to buy some more DK to balance out my stash but what can I say, I fell for all the pretty 4ply yarns. Always a weakness.

And of course, as we all know - sock yarn never really counts as stash anyway.

Why is my mitered square wonky? - And other questions

This question seems to come up a lot when people first start knitting mitered square blankets and a wonky square can cause a great deal of consternation if you are new to process.

By wonky, I mean a square that looks to be a little more diamond shaped than the nice, neat mitered square of fond imagination.

The simple solution is often the best one in knitting (and life) - just keep going. The first square often looks a bit weird but it gains structure and support from adjoining squares.

If that's not a metaphor for life I don't know what is. If in doubt just keep going and draw on those around you for support.

Seriously though, it's easy to give up at the first attempt, or to repeatedly try to produce a perfect square to start off what's going to be your wonderful magnus opus. But, even if the square looks a little lopsided it's generally best to just keep going.

As you are knitting garter stitch there will inevitably be some stretch and ‘give’ in your knitted piece and this will become more pronounced, the fewer stitches you have on the needles. Once you start to add squares on either side then stability will return and the stitches on either side will help to pull the recalcitrant square into shape.

If the problem is that you aren't happy with the fabric- too loose or too rigid, then obviously readjust your needle size and start again. But if it's just an issue of geometry, keep going and all will be well.


Other mitered square articles you might find helpful:

How much yarn do you need for a mitered square

How to knit a mitered square blanket

Winter Footstep Socks

This isn’t quite how I planned my triumphant return to blogging after something of a hiatus.

I had a lovely post all planned out celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Winter Footstep Socks, my oldest design and the first one that I ever listed for sale.

It was a fabulous piece, all about 10th birthdays and how far we’ve come.

Then I checked my notes and realised that the design is actually 11 years old - not 10. Ooops!

At the tail end of this year I decided that I would reknit these socks in a contemporary yarn - the original socks have long since vanished (I have no recollection of where to) and I fancied a new pair of socks for me.

I had some gorgeous sock yarn from Dystopic Fibre in his fabulous Teal Woodcap colourway which I knew would make for a perfect winter sock, and I’d forgotten how addictive and how quick this lace pattern is to knit up.

A lot has happened in 10 (11) years and my life looked very different in January 2013 when these socks were released. On the one hand it feels as though it has passed in the blink of an eye, but on the other hand so much has happened that when I sat down to write it, it honestly felt a little overwhelming.

So I’m going to save you the emotional part and just wish my Winter Footstep socks a happy 11th birthday. There’s a link below in case you’d like to knit a pair of your very own.

How to knit a mitered square blanket - updated for 2023

If your list of autumn/winter knitting plans includes a Mitered Square blanket then you might be interested to hear about my e-book: How to Knit a Mitered Square.

Re-written and expanded for 2023, this 10-page e-book takes you through how to start and build a Mitered Square blanket of your very own.

It includes written directions and photos to help you on your way as well as the approximate yarn amounts needed for squares of various sizes - and in different weights (sock weight, DK, and sock yarn held double).

Not all mitered square blankets need to be knit with sock yarn of course, but it isn't always easy to judge the size of squares and the amount of yarn needed to knit them.

This e-book aims to remove some the guesswork and provide you with a solid set of suggestions on how to create a truly unique mitered square blanket.

Three reasons not to share AI images

I can think of many reasons why the sharing of AI "Art" in online knitting and crochet groups is not a good idea. 

But after the amazing comments and feedback on my recent Instagram post it was clear that I had touched a bit of a nerve. My post seemed to have summed up what many were thinking but didn't know how to say it.

Part of the feedback involved people who asked for something short and snappy - a few words or an image that they could use to help them when commenting on such fake images.

Please note, the intention is not to 'cause trouble' here or to 'spoil people's fun'. Instead the aim is to draw attention to the existence of such AI images, for people who may not even be aware what it is, how it's created or why it's a huge potential problem for our industry.

And if people know that these images are fake, then hopefully they will be less inclined to share them. After all, I'm sure they wouldn't share fake news.

Please feel free to screenshot and use this image as you wish - or just feel free to drop people a link to this blog post.

Anything that raises awareness of these AI images has to be a good thing at this point.

What can Substack do for you?

I get it. If you’ve come across Substack recently on your internet travels and dismissed it as something that’s not for you. I understand, I really do. Last year I was equally sceptical. In fact I rolled my eyes and declared that I had better things to do with my time and that I certainly didn’t need another internet place.

But then I was curious, I created an account to have a browse and slowly but surely I was hooked. It’s now, hands-down my favourite place to hang out on the web. It’s free of adverts, there are no promoted posts and you get to see posts from only those people that you are interested in - sounds good? Why not grab a coffee and let me try to convince you with a few basics.

Full disclosure: I enjoy Substack as both a creator and a consumer. The former takes the form of my Everyday Knitter Substack. Obviously I’d be thrilled if you took a look there and maybe even subscribed, but today I’m focusing on what Substack can do for you - the curious and creative reader

  1. First of all, it’s not just a place for authors. In a brilliant analogy Sarah Raad of the Gather & Grow substack compared Substack to a library full of books and interesting things. Not everyone who uses a library is an author, or a writer. In fact most people who set foot in a library don’t want to write anything, they just want to read. They want to explore, they want to stay curious. Let’s face it, we all love a good mooch around the bookshelves. Substack is like that - a place to have a good mooch with no one bothering you.

  2. Think of it less as a social media platform (it isn’t) and more of a blog aggregator. Remember the golden days of Blog Reader? When you could not only follow all your favourite blogs in one place, but you could also see via their blog roll all of the other blogs that they read. You could happily while away half an hour hopping from one blog to another. You could leave comments, have chats and make new blog friends. Substack is like that - a place to gather blogs you want to read in one place.

  3. You can have real conversations, with real people - just like you. I mentioned that you can comment on blog posts, but as well as that other people can comment on your thoughts too. Real life conversations can happen, sparking connections that just don’t seem to happen anywhere else. If you’ve ever tried to carry on a conversation in the comments on an Instagram post you’ll know what I mean. Often you end up resorting to DM which is great but then no one else can join in with your juicy insights.

  4. You are in control. You can have new blog posts emailed to you or you can read them on the app or website. Some people read everything in their inbox and rarely venture onto Substack. Some opt out of the emails and read everything on the app. The choice is yours to use it how you want it. Some people save them up and pop in once a week on a Sunday morning - the Substack equivalent of having a coffee in bed with the Sunday papers. Just much more enjoyable and inspirational.

  5. Did I mention you can chat? As well as conversations that happen on blog posts there’s also a section called Notes. People can post anything here - snippets of their day, a view of their workspace, a favourite recipe or a book they’ve just finished. It’s a bit like the best bits of Twitter - with nicer photos and more words.

And best of all, it’s entirely free to use with no adverts or pop’s up. It’s a clean, simple interface that lets the words and images do the talking. Speaking if which, I’m going to stop waxing lyrical now and let the words (links) do the talking.

Why not pop across to Substack and have a little look around - just tap on the link below to explore. You’ll be taken to my Substack page. The first tab towards the bottom of the page will show you my recent posts or check out the third tab where you can see other blogs that I read and recommend.

You have nothing to lose and you might just see something that catches your eye.




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