Watch this space

Attempting a couple of competition entries ...

2026

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Not long now!

Advent calendars posted off. Evidently the pigs i

n blankets were found amusing.

Made two last minute washcloths and folded them as bears. the museum requested stockings gor a display, so went a bit mad. forgot about loosening tension for Shetland, and the white was much thicker than normal as well, so the pink one came out rather small.

All things tweedy

Getting ahead for Advent

When I'm not knitting ...

I may be crocheting. Or doing sonething with all the corks I accumulate.

One in, one out, one missed!

They say things come in threes - not necessarily all having the same effecf. On Monday bought a Griswold On Tuesday saw a Golden Fleece which was then apparently "not available" On Thursday sold a Cymbal So in the house I have precisely the same number of machines as I did this time last week. And now the exciterent should die down! The Griswold turned out to be good looking, with a slightly unusual four inch diameter, making for tighter socks. The Cymbal was initially rusty with fairly non-essential parts missing which could be garnered from elswhere. The Golden Feece had evidence it knitted rib, but the ribber must have been hiding under the lady's piles and piles of papers and other junk in her tiny bungalow. If she ever finds it....

It's in the bag

I need to design a label for the Japanese Knot Bag with unequal handles. May call it a Knit Knot Bag instead, when soneine said it was ideal as a project bag for packing over one arm with yarn. the same person also requested I made some peg bags again, as she missed out on the first batch. of course, tbe price of the hangers has gone uo now! The photo above may look irrelevant, being a tissue box cover. i was amused to learn that a visitor to the museum asked if she coukd take the tissues out as she just wanted a small bag. Of course, madam, but it will be a very odd shape without its "filling".

Itsy bitsy

Izzy doll, bear with poorly shaped head, Skip the Bunny, and a Japanese Knot Bag. two of these items I am pleased with, two I am not. Two were from proper (i.e. other people's) pattern - work out which!

A quiet May

Due to illness, knitting production has slowed somewhat, and fresh ideas have ceased altogether. I need to make soemthing new for the museum shop, but all I keep coming across are toys. I don't make these for sale because of all the regulations, so have a top shelf stuffed (!) with dolls, some reversible, giant snails, flowers in pots, bears, rabbits, draught excluders with rabbit heads, wine bottle cover with rabbit ears, clowns, and the odd unrecognisable creature. Plus the odd failed pegbag (can't get my hand in), the tea cosy made from a pair of lightly stuffed socks (what was I thinking?), the I-cord Christmas tree with sharp wire.......

Where there are socks ....

...there are leftovers. Photo is of twelve teacosies on their way to teapots in Sweden. And I still have 5 or 6 cones of Russian joined yarn.

After the event

Annual event in Kegworth just as good as ever. had commissioned specially knitted socks from Rob of Expedito with the old logo on. us a load of sockformers.. i had "dressed one as "shoddy goods".

January warm up

To ginger up the new year, on a very frosty morning. Knitted on my latest .machine, AKMC 72 slot compound cylinder.

All gone!

All 25 machine's of Bill's that I was entrusted with have been duspersed. 22 sold, 2 rare ones ( Home & Colonial and the litte rapid) dobated to the musem, and I was given one for myself. In addition, 3 of TP's sold. 24 hours after the last one went out of the house I was brought another and offered yet another one! what a year of helping other people it has been.

Blog gaps don't mean I'm not knitting!

Handwarmers and socks are always on the go. Still refurbushung machi es and passing them on.

The advent of Advent has meant some small fiddly items have been on the needles as well.

A machination of machines

Okay, so I missed writing in August! It's been full of macine sales. Since the beginning of March, I have helped M and J sell 3 V-beds and 15 circular machines, most of them in working order. What a whirlwind it has been. The Framework Knitters Museum has also benefited, of course, and I have learnt a lot along the way. My reward has been an AKMC amchine, the one whose cylinders are on little legs. Now that new needles have arrived, I will be thinking of items to knit on it. possibly starting with a long hot water bottle cover now that autumn is truly here. Had the bottle itself since m March, and have a pattern written out, just not got round to it.

Sometimes, you don't get it right

Handspun, hand-dyed, handknit. When I gave up spinning a couple of years ago, I hung on to my last lot of stuff, wool spun with silk. notcall that wasy. so e was dyed with madder and two-plied, some plied as o e strand natural, one strand madder, and the rest left undyed. the plan was for a "last fling" cardigan in fan and feather stitch.. calculations wete made, progress was slow. today I slipped one quarter of the stitches onto a thread to measure it. Big enough to drown an elephant. back to the computer and a re-wind.

No hempen rope for me

today I was sworn in as a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters. this is the first stepping stone to gettingvthe Frredom of the City of London. That would then mean I could be hanged with a silk rope insread of a hempen one, could walk through the City with an unsheathed sword, and druve sheep over London Bridge without paying a toll. And, if found drink and disorderly would only be bundled into a taxi instead of being arrested ...

That Garden Party

40 minute queue to get in under shady London plane trees. 8,000 guests, hundreds of staff, sunny weather, stupendous gardens, dozens of soaring floral arrangements in terrificly long tea tent, exquisite tea. That pohoto is only the half of it as I had eaten the rest before finding somewhere to place it for the photo. The eclair is coffee, with coffee flavoured confectioners cream in side. On my! The whole afternoon was really lovely.

Thank Saturday it's Scrunchie day

Some of my older reader may remember the Cadburys ads from 1988 for teh chocolate crunchie bar. I've hijacked this - on Saturday at the museum I was asked if I could make a hair scrunchie on a sock machine. It was a quiet morning, so I did. One of the machines was set up with only half the needles (so half the work!). The girls in the cafe thought it pretty good, so I went on to make more