Scottish Inspired WATG

I was loving the idea of knitting the Tartan hula loops when I was first asked about knitting for WATG The Wool and the Gang. I just wanted to find out how they made the tartan stripes, it really intrigued me and they did look fantastic. I was a little taken aback by the price of them though, but now I know what work goes in to them I am not surprised!

I chose to knit both colour combination's, the red, white and black and the blue, purple, red and white.  Or in the official WATG colours, the Lipstick Red, Ivory White and Space Black and the Midnight Blue, Margaux Red, Lipstick Red and Ivory White (Gosh I know those colours off by heart now).

I so wish this video was available when I knit these, it really explains the tartan knitting process really well - http://www.woolandthegang.com/videos/tartan-knitting

I also learnt a new technique to invisibly join two pieces of garter stitch work together. When joining this work you are creating an extra purl row. For selling items on line I had to make sure that the finished seam was basically un-noticeable. 

Here its is :-

• Take your two knitted pieces and place them end to end, right side up on a flat surface. Make sure the edges of the pieces line up correctly 
• Thread a tapestry needle with the same yarn used to knit the project and join the yarn to the work at one of the edges.
• Begin one stitch row in from the cast-off/cast-on edge of one of your pieces.
• Find the first purl bump on one of your pieces. With the tip of your needle follow the line of the bump to where it ducks under another purl bump and insert your needle following that path.
• Now cross the gap to the other piece and find the first purl bump and do the same as above.
• Then go back to the first side and put your needle back under the same purl bump you went under before but going the opposite direction.
• Follow the next purl bump to where it ducks under it's neighbour and repeat from repeat the process working back and forth across the gap.
• Don't pull the yarn tight as you go. You want the row you are creating to look like a normal row of knit stitches. Your seam will be nearly invisible and lay completely flat.

If you are new to knitting or want to improve some of your skills then the video WATG have on their web site are ace! - http://www.woolandthegang.com/videos

And here are the finished items 

My Knitty life - lessons learnt so far

I’ve been knitting, creating and designing now, sort of full time since giving up my full time job in June 2014. 

I was thinking about the things I had learnt, not just knitting skills but what life skills had I learnt / improved upon.

1. Making friends:

I met 2 other on-line yarny friends back in summer last year and we have stayed friends on-line every since. They both have helped me with my confidence, tested out my patterns, helped me with my knitting problems and with my challenges (see below). I now feel quietly confident to join in knitting forums on sites such as Ravelry, ask silly questions and give others advice.

I feel like now is the time to find a local knitting chatty group, see people in real life, show off my knitting to others. I can’t wait.

2. Challenging yourself:

Challenging yourself is all about picking something out of your range of abilities or something totally new. Every week I seem to pick something new to knit ,something out of my comfort zone,some new technique,some new stitch and yes its a little challenging , but I think that's just a way of improving my knitting skills.The main challenge for me recently was deciding that I was going to get some of my documented knitting patterns properly tested and published on world wide knitting pattern sites. I learnt loads about the process,about how to think like a knitter whilst writing the patterns ,how other knitters will literally pull your pattern apart before your very eyes if you let them.

3. Working out and sticking to deadlines.

I was always the one at work, that left things to the last minute, enjoying the pressure, but now in the knitting world you can’t really afford to leave things til the last minute. If you are working to publishing timescales then you need to ensure that the knitting garment is finished , blocked , photographed and out of the door in good time. And well knitting something is always unpredictable , how can you estimate how many times you need to redo a piece because it doesn’t quite fit like you wanted and if you try and knit under pressure well you are bound to loose a stitch or two on the 1st few rows.

So for me, when I knew that my pattern submissions to the Knit Now magazine had been approved I set aside a whole week alone where I would work on the knitting and writing up the patterns. My family were great about this, they knew how much it meant to me, and they knew how grumpy I would get if I was stressing out as the deadline approached.

I hope to continue learning more of these vital life skills.  If you are a crafty person, what life skills are you learning whilst your are crafting, I would live to hear.

Do Something Creative Every Day

I just thought the title to this post and my creative item was rather appropriate now that I seem to be crafting every single day , yes even on holidays!

They do say that crafting has all sorts of healing properties / is good for the soul and of the mind. 

• Craft to Heal by Nancy Monson 
• Brain Crafting benefits

And I must say , that I do seem to get rather involved in my crafting work; it does take over the mind (and the hands) and stop me thinking too much about any worries I have. 

Anyway it was holiday time, off to Newcastle to visit my daughter Michelle and her fella Paul.

Me and Michelle set to and learnt something completely new on Saturday. We went to a little crafty workshop in the heart of Whitley Bay, called Made Cafe. 

We learnt how to alter pretty vintage plates; make them into something we would treasure and show off.

Now I have the secret ingredients ( a little ink jet water slide decals , royalty free clip art , paper , acrylic spray paint, water and a plate) and the knowledge I may be applying this technique on EVERYTHING ! , watch out house and garden!