Barn Door Cowl

Barn Door Cowl

Heavens, the last few weeks have been a bit full-on haven’t they?

I have to confess that I have been off line a little more than usual, trying to dissolve my anxieties with hot drinks, warm baths and my knitting. I’ve also been reading at a pace I don’t think I’ve managed since my teenage years. There’s something therapeutic about losing yourself in a good book - I’d quite forgotten how it can take you out of yourself and your worries and put you in a whole different mindset.

This cowl has been patiently awaiting publication for a few weeks now - it flew off the needles back in October and I’ve been wearing it pretty much constantly ever since.

It’s knit in DK yarn (the sample is Eden Cottage Yarns, Hayton DK) and 1 x 100g skein is sufficient for a single loop cowl.

It is knit in the round using a fun textured stitch - which is surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. I have included links to two short videos in the pattern though just so you can see where the yarn is supposed to go, when you get to the tricky bit.

In line with my policy of transitioning all pattern sales away from Ravelry, this pattern is available for purchase on Payhip. There is a pattern page up on Ravelry for this design but the purchasing link will take you across to Payhip. If you buy the pattern and would like a copy for your Ravelry library please do let me know and I can gift a copy to you.

Time for a Socktober Sale

It seems like as good a time as any to have a Socktober sock sale. I haven’t managed to transfer all of my sock designs over onto Payhip yet, but all of those that are there are available with a 25% discount from now until the end of the month.

Just use code SOCKTOBER (don’t laugh, I don’t have the energy to come up with a cunning code today) and it applies to as many designs as you would like.

Thank you and happy sock knitting

xx

Socially Distant Socks

Socially Distant socks - on Payhip

I cast on for these wonderfully vivid socks a while ago using some fabulously named Pineapple Pyre yarn from Gamercrafting.

I had in mind a simple pattern, with no counting and no fuss but one that made the most of the brilliant variations in colour tone.

All the way through the knitting of these socks I knew they reminded me of something and my brain kept focusing on train tracks or tram rails. Then just as I was finishing them off it hit me - they reminded me of social distancing. Specifically the 2m distanced queues that we have become so used to seeing and being part of. Everyone together - but yet apart. Together but separate.

Talk about a metaphor for our times.

So here we have the Socially Distant socks - for your knitting pleasure. Toe-up, minimal counting and low stress. I don’t know about you but that’s been all I can manage in the knitting department of late.

If you subscribe to my newsletter please do check it out for a discount code, alternatively there’s the code SD25 which will get you a 25% early bird discount until Sunday 13 Sep.

The pattern is available on Payhip as well as on Ravelry.

Ravelry and me

Wearing the PPS Shawl.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks. The sudden upgrade of Ravelry and the attendant concern and dismay over it’s continued inaccessibility to many have continued apace, and despite some blog posts and half-apologies from Jess and the team there has been very little meaningful progress.

Many people can no longer use the site and this is, put simply not acceptable.

I have talked about this a lot on Twitter and in other social media but I realised that I haven’t stated my position plainly here, in black and white, for posterity.

As things stand at the moment I cannot support Ravelry, nor the decisions taken by the management team. Repeated attempts to engage with them at all levels have failed and it is clear at this point that no amount of ‘people expressing disappointment’ will shake their firm conviction to proceed with their new look.

With this in mind the only option left to me is not to support them financially. I can’t afford to close my pro account - my pattern sales are still significant there and I am a business at the end of the day. As soon as there is a viable alternative I will move but for now I will continue to push sales on my Payhip platform as hard as I can and to continue to pay the (hopefully small) Ravelry sales invoice.

In addition I will not purchase any patterns from the site. If I find a pattern I like and the designer doesn’t appear to have an alternative platform available then I will ask them if they will sell it to me via Paypal.

I haven’t advertised on the site for several years now so this bit isn’t relevant to me but I notice that many designers have withheld their advertising budget - and also the coveted September slots which used to sell out in record time are still currently showing as half-filled. Advertising revenue accounts for 50% of Ravelry’s income so this is the most effective way of attracting their attention.

If you haven’t tried Payhip before, please don’t be put off. It’s a simple Paypal transaction just like you would do with Ravelry. The only difference is that the pattern PDF is emailed to you rather than going into your Ravelry library. But in any case, in order to be sure you can access your purchases it’s always good practice to keep a copy of your PDF - either paper or digitally - after all, if Ravelry were to be unavailable to you then you wouldn’t be able to access the patterns you have paid for. If having the pattern in your library is important to you however, please do let me know after your purchase and I’ll happily gift it to you.

In order to tempt you to try it out I am having a Payhip sale from now until the end of August. Please just use the code PAYHIP50 on any of my patterns for 50% off

What's in a name?

Toe Beans - toe-up shortie socks with a hint of lace

Sometimes a design starts with a name and grows from there. Sometimes you knit something because you like it and the name comes later. Sometimes you rack your brains for a name and end up asking your husband.

This time the name came in the form of ‘feline intervention’.

I knit these super-short trainer socks with a cute lace panel up the front of the foot. It was only after I was trying them on - and Ebony decided to help with the photo that I realised that they look a little like cat paw prints through snow. Toe Beans seemed the obvious name - although I couldn’t persuade Ebony to show his for the camera.

After trying a few different styles of shortie socks I have realised that I don’t like anything around my ankle, it’s a strange sensory thing. Socks need to either be a decent mid-calf length or to stop straight after the heel - I can’t be doing with cuffs flapping around my ankle.

So I knit these how I like them. Toe up, short row heel, tiny bit of lace for interest.

Of course, if you wanted to make them longer you could absolutely just carry on knitting and have a conventional pair of socks with the pattern just up the front of the leg. But as they stand, each sock takes a fraction under 20g yarn, so they are ideal for stashbusting opportunities.

As will be my new policy going forward, the Toe Beans pattern will be available on both my Payhip platform and on Ravelry, but the only links I will be embedding in my social media posts will be Payhip ones until I can be sure that the issues with Ravelry accessibility are resolved.

There is an early bird discount - TOEBEANSEB - which gets you 25% off the purchase price until 24th July 2020, and that will work on either sales platform.

Toe Beans

A Payhip pattern sale

As I've talked previously I now have an alternative platform for pattern sales - on Payhip

All of my popular patterns are there now and by way of a road test I thought I would have a summer sale over there. If you use the code SUMMER50 you will get 50% off any pattern of your choice.

The checkout process is super quick and easy with no registration needed - and if you do want to add the pattern to your Ravelry library you can do so at a later date.

You can't upload the actual PDF, obviously but you can record in your library that you own it and - more importantly - where you stored it.

Anyway, if you do decide to try it out please do let me know what you think of the platform - constructive feedback is always welcome