Mini KTOG...

Here are some pictures taken over the shoulders of the children at Hartsfield School who are learning to knit. I'm so pleased with their progress and evidence of individuality and flair! They're all making unique scarves for themselves and are doing so very well. I'm immensley proud and could not resist publishing some pictures of their work on here.
Well done Abbie, Abi, Hannah, Georgia, Callum, Maggie, Ellie, Isabelle and Cameron.

London's Knitting & Stitching Show 2009

Here's the full sized knitted boat in the entrance to Alexandra Palace at the Knit and Stitch show this year. I particularly loved the 'House of Hemp' stall.

Caronne's Socks

Caronne has made (almost) these gorgeous socks in a clever self-patterning yarn. There seems to be no end to this lady's talents. KTOG has made rather a lot of socks this past yr, I'm thinking I should get on with some so we can all laugh in the face of chilly-toed-folk come Winter. ;-)

Fame! Again? yes ;-)

So here we are in this months current issue of 'Simply Knitting' magazine. An entire page spread no less (pg 93). A humungus thank you from me though, to everyone in the group who make it work.

This is now the 3rd time we've been featured in a magazine in the the 2yrs 10 mnths we've been running. I'll go now, for fear of welling-up!

Citrussy & Fluffy! ;-)

Lemon Merringue Pie! Gorgeous refreshingly zingy centre on a firm base and with a fluffy topping of....... 'chenille'?..... beautifully hand-made by Caronne. Looks good enough to eat.

Some of the group in action Summer 2009

It's been a while since there's been any pictures of some of KTOG in action so here's a snippet.
I love the way the evening sunshine bursts into our vaulted ceiling'd room.

Stunning crochet blanket

Paula has made this beautiful blanket made up of crochet'd squares using 3 colourways and an aditional one for the edging. I particularly adore this item!!!

Anna, or is it? ;-)

Anna made this sumptuously soft warm shawl. Using Adriafil Llama yarn for the edging and Sublime organic merino for the main part.

Annette's first crochet project

Wow, an ambitious and beautifully made first crochet project here by knitter Annette; she then embellished it with little flowers.

I never knew aliens were so bright...

The bright green one at the back has a flip top lid for countertop retreival of chewing-gum. Note the vampire at the bottom left of the collection and 'YES' that IS a crochet'd chocolate swiss roll you can see bottom right. whatever else? Thanks Caronne for a superb selection as ever. ;-)

Mixed Mitts.

A selection of fingerless gloves here made and modelled by Caronne (grey ones) and Mandy (blue ones) respectively.

Sunflower Socks

Judi has just made these lovely socks in a mix of yellows. The yarn is Old Maiden Aunt Yarns handpainted merino sock yarn and the pattern is called 'Diamond Geezer' by designer Jon Dunn who can be found within Ravelry.com.

Mandys groovy socks.

Mandy made these gorgeously bright coloured socks for her daughter.

Fabulous patterned socks by Anna

Anna made these great socks which look to me, a little tricky to do. The pattern is called 'Fancie' and is from 'Bowerbird Knits' website. Yarn used: Cygnet Truly Wool Rich 4 Ply.

Gorgeous multicoloured cushion cover

Mandy went on a 'Learn to Crochet' course and this is the outcome of her experience! Stunning and fun colours make up this shabby-chic cushion cover. Yarn used: Rowan Cotton Glace' in various shades.

Completed fairisle bag by Annette

Annette made this cute & colourful little fair isle bag after not having worked any fair isle for 20 years or more so thought it would be fun to do a small project, and agrees it was!

The bag was embellished with a little flower and leaves and is intended as a Christmas gift for a friend in America.

The pattern was called Fair Isle Bag! - from Simply Knitting, with 4 designs to choose from. Annette used the free bamboo handles that came with the magazine. Yarn used = Sirdar Country Style DK, of which she had plenty of colours already to choose from.

Finally she lined it with some floral fabric I had in my stash for patchwork, so it didn't cost her a thing, even the circular needle was a free gift in a magazine!

My first ever socks

I knitted these socks for my son for use over normal socks in wellington boots. When faced with a selection of multi-coloured yarns to choose his socks from he opted for these mad brights! That's children for you. He loves them and they work just aswell for around the house socks and never cease to be a 'talking point' when seen by the public. I'd like to master socks and enjoy making more but making this pair using 4 dpn's felt abit like combining a 'French-knitting-doll' with the old fashioned board game 'Kerplunk'!

Finally, One year later.... IT'S FINISHED!

See the original picture here that inspired me to copy this design. It's a cath kidston stripey crochet throw made in 100% acrylic I saw 2yrs ago on her website. Mine is made in same crochet stitch (half-trebble) and with same colour sequence but 100% cotton which I beleive feels much softer and luxurious. I'm very pleased with the end result as well as the shell shaped edgings taught to me by another ktog member. My greens are considerably brighter than that in the original design but I think it's all the more cheerful for it! ;-) I now look forward to enjoying many years use from this. It's been aptly renamed 'The Magic Blanket' in our house as offers a boost when anyone feels poorly or run down!

Baldock's K.I.P

We were very lucky with the weather today when we had our Knit In Public event on the lawn outside Zeus in Baldocks town. It was a blissful 2hrs of knitting and chatting with such wonderful company. Thank you and well done to all who came. I reckon we shall have to do it again late summer.

Fame for KTOG

We have been chosen as Knit Club of the Month in May 2009 'Knit Today' magazine! (Pages 74 & 75). As well as have an entire page spread we shall be given two great books, one is '200 crochet blocks' and the other is '200 knitted blocks'.

A completed Christmas Shawl by Dianne

A Wollklabauter pattern made here by Dianne, started at Christmas and finished already (mid Jan!) wow. so beautiful. Knitted in ColourMart 3/15NM 100% Baby Merino Fingering Weight x 1 skein.

Anna's completed shawl

Stunning is Anna's River Forest Shawl she's just made, from the book Knitting Lace Triangles. Made in RYC Silk Wool DK, 6.5 balls used in all.

Fairisle childs sweater by Mandy

Mandy had a clever thought: why not use the self fairisle patterning sock yarn to make a childs smart sweater? Clearly it's worked brilliantly.

Sirdar mock dual-layer sweater

I made this sweater last week for my son. Using Sirdar Click Chunky yarn, it's a great yarn for this cold season - very warm but durable too. I loved the mock double layering in the cuffs and hem giving it the appearance of a jumper over a jumper.

zimmermann baby jacket and blanket.

Mandy made the famous Baby Surprise Jacket from Elizabeth Zimmermann's design and created a beautiful co-ordinating blanket. The colours are amazing! They feel so soft too.

Okay, we don't get it very often down here ...

... So I just had to publish a photo of the white stuff here in Baldock last week. My son and dog were overjoyed with it.

Completed baby cardigan

I made this little newborn baby cardigan from the Debbie Bliss book of Easy baby knits for beginners. To make it more fun I added little bumble-bee buttons and some simple cross stitching around the bottom once we knew group member Charlie was having a boy. Congratulations Charlie on birth of your new baby. Well done and enjoy!

Scarf and collection of flowers by Paula

Paula's been busy making all these felted flowers in bright cheerful colours and a scarf to match. She'd also kindly made one flower into a brooch for another group member who modelled for a photo.

Innocent smoothie hats

Caronne has made 'all' these hats herself, for the Innocent smoothie bottles on her recent holiday in Saudi. Well done!

Caronne's illuminous Sleeveez

Caronne has made these illuminous groovy gauntlets she's naming 'sleeveez'. The green is soooo bright, anyone would sure to be seen in the dark with these on.

Giant knitting!

Keren bought these huge needles and yarn at the Knitting show at Alexandra Palace last week. The needles are 60mm round and heavy! The yarn is strips of blanket edgings and when knitted across a mere 40 stitches - makes for a quick home made rug thats both strong and comfy. Definitley the biggest knitting needles I've ever held.

Rowan 'Montrose' cape made by Anna

Anna has made the 'montrose' cape from the Rowan Tweed pattern book here and opted for 100% wool in a burgundy colour with pewter effect silvery buttons. Fantastic! But then I would say that since I've made two already as adore this cape. Seeing this colour is making me want to make a third one!

Basic Winter Warmers

I have made these for my sons first winter in school. They're basic patterns so I opted for sumptously soft yarns for snuggle factor when that wind gets blustery.
Thinking about how small children easily loose a scarf when its merely draped around them, I knitted in a 'hole' / giant button hole - and then picked up and re-inforced it in green strong wool for couple of rows; the extra bonus being its easy for him to see the big colourful gap to thread the scarf through. Hurrah, means hopefully no trodden on cashmere mix scarf on playground!
The hat has large fixed button either side to hold up the cosy thick ribbed edge. Hat made in ever so soft Sirdar Denim aran Sport. Both patterns made up. Scarves and hats are so very quick to make, great first time projects.

Surely the bees knees....

This morning I could have hugged the Posty! He delivered my order to me, being, a skein of Hand Maiden CamelSpin (30% camel & 70% silk) and let me tell you, it is droolingly, sumptuously soft to touch!!! I opted for colour shade 'Lilypond' in which the colours and varied shades within are seemingly endless. Pricey yarn at £23.50 a skein but since only need one to make a simple lacey shawl it's more than justified. Purchased from 'Soctopus' online and very impressed at the service and personal touch, not to mention the gorgeous pink and cream tissue paper it was perfectly wrapped in. I'm quite sure, yarn doesn't get better than this...

Mandy's denim posh cardigan

Mandy has made this stunning denim yarn cardigan and decorated it with knitted bunches of grapes. It's the second one of these cardigans she has made. Her modelling skills display the sleeves very well too.

My cabled sweater

I made this Sirdar cabled sweater using 'Sirdar Denim Sport' yarn which is superbly soft and cosy but machine washable. Beautifully modelled too! The pattern comes from 'Chino Knits' book.

Sheryl's first knitted socks

Sheryl has made these gorgeous socks in 'opal' sock yarn which cleverly self patterns giving the appearance of fairisle.

Charlie's new mittens

Charlie has made these gorgeously cosy mittens just in time for the turn of the season. The deep cuffs are a super idea too.

Caronnes oriental hot water bottle cover

Caronne has knitted this cosy hot water bottle cover and created the chinese symbol for the Dragon which is her zodiac sign, also a great pun with it also meaning 'hot and feisty water bottle cover'.

Sharons cowl neck sweater

Sharon made & modelled this vibrant cowl neck chunky sweater designed by Elle. Super snug and bright for Autumnal days.

Christines Mirasol cardigan

Christine has made this cosy moss-stitch cardigan called 'Lima' from Mirasol Book One, she used the Mirasol yarn called Sulka in cream.

Best shawl I've ever seen! and made by Dianne

Wow!!!! This is a Dem Fischer Sin Fru design by Wollklabauter. Dianne has used Handpaintedyarn.com's Merino Lace. It looks intricate and beautiful and feels divine.

A completed tank top by me.

I've made this moss stitch tank top {'Marcus' - Slipover} from the new Rowan 'milk cotton book' and used their yarn which is made from part milk protein and part cotton; it has been lovely to knit with, smooth and almost waxy in feel. Washes up super and retains its shape. I particularly love moss stitch as its reversible (perfect for food/drink mess after restaurant trips, just whip it off and turn it inside out! tadaaah = clean smart boy!) I'd definitley make another one.

My version of Cath Kidston's stripey throw

I fell in love with Cath Kidston's Stripey throw on her website a while ago but didn't want to pay the high price for what is 100% acrylic, so... I'm making my own, inspired by her colour sequence (except a brighter green) and opting for 'half-trebble' crochet stitch. It's now finished & a good size,I've woven in all those ends & am currently 80% through making the bright green scalloped edging like the Cath Kidston one. I'm using Rowan Handknit Cotton & a 6mm hook. I'M LOVING THE BLANKET!!!!

A completed floor cushion by me

I made this cabled floor cushion from Debbie Bliss 'Simple Living' book, using Merino Aran yarn in a pale gold shade. When stretched it will measure about 3/4metre squared and be backed with this Mulberry 'Pear' design fabric. A doddle and fast to knit up. Just have to sew it up now. ;-(

A Noni designed felted bag by Karen

This is the Cherry Blossom bag designed by Noni and made by karen. Knitted in Cascade 220 yarn, double stranded. Karen chose some funky bamboo round handles to fit. The bag closes with a magnetic clasp.

The worlds most stunning cardigan! By Sue.

How can I merely call this beautiful piece of work a 'cardigan'? well, I use the term loosely of course because this garment is an incredibly beautiful example of a journey of confidence, colour and flare! It works perfectly and it's just divine to touch, no row is like another. If this were mine I would wear it everyday and travel everywhere giving each human being the opportunity to purr and drool at the pure demonstration of skill and style I wore. What's more: its unique and therefore priceless in more ways than one. The zoomed in image is a close up bit of one sleeve, I especially adore the carefully threaded ribbon through the purple part half way down towards the cuff. What patience Sue must have to make this whole garment.

Sumptuous Hemlock Ring shawl by Charlie

Charlie has made this stunning Hemlock ring blanket . It's perfectly soft and drapey and can be worn in a multitude of ways; my favourite being folded in half and draped over the shoulders. Extreme luxurious comfort for a chilly evening. This really is a 'wow project'. See Jared's blogsite (brooklyn tweed) for his version and yet more inspiring projects.

As requested by me to the weather gods, it didn't rain until 3.15pm!

Some of us at the pic-knit we did at Wimpole Hall Parkland in Cambridgeshire today. Never again will I disbeleive people who say you can sun burn in the shade! If I were speaking booze-ometre then I'd say my face is a deep ruby Merlot! hohum... Thank you everybody for coming and making it fun, interesting and a hoot. Thanks also to the lovely lady painter/artist who stopped by to meet us, good luck with your big move to Saudi, we LOVED meeting you.
Eve's mum: WE LOVE YOU! ;-)

My SECOND Rowan Cape...

You'll see from earlier post on here that I made the 'Montrose' cape from the Rowan Tweed book; (see picture far left taken from the pattern book) well I made a second one in a different colour (brown with fleck) as a gift to my fabulous sister-in-law for her recent special birthday. Couple months on, I'm strangley drawn to the idea of making a THIRD!

Gorgeous & tactile bag by Caronne

I adore this crotche'd bag Caronne has made. Its covered with balls that are cleverly crotche'd into the main part of the bag. It has also been lined with the most divine fabric that picks up almost every colour in the yarn. Yarn looks very Noro but in fact is from stall on Market in Biggleswade its called James C. Brett Marble Chunky 100% acrylic.

A happy poo...

But not of the 'Winnie' variety. No, this is actually a curled up crochet'd poo that is ... HAPPY! Another unique project by Caronne.

Aliens have landed!

Caronne has crotchet'd these cute little aliens which look fun. The small white one even glows in the dark!

Comfort Shawl by Anna

Anna made this beautiful comfort shawl/bed jacket from Interweave using Rowan Wool DK. Perfect garment for chilly evenings relaxing around the home.

Divine felted bag by Karen

Karen made this felted bag from a Nicky Epstein's 'Fabulous Felted Bags' book. It looks incredible and has beaded embellishments inside each dangling flower. It's also been exquisitely lined in light blue sturdy fabric.

A set of 'Mr Men' by Margaret

How stunning and fun! I adore the expressions and personality of these gorgeous little knitted Mr Men that Margaret has made. How I would have loved these when I was little.

Alternative to a sew-in label...

A gorgeous little alternative to using sew-in labels on your completed projects, especially useful if for a gift.
Perhaps thread a small thin peice of ribbon through the loop and use as an ornate hanging loop to a garment?
Purchase from Athena Crafts online shop. Come in packs of 10, either gold or silver coloured. Plus 10% off everything for KTog members!

Baby Alpaca scarf by Anna

WOW! Baby Alpaca yarn is sublimely soft. So luxurious to wear, but that aside, what a fabulous design and patience needed for this very long, wide scarf made by new group member Anna. Was very hard to pass it back after taking this photo! I want this item!
...

Hat and mitten set by Charlie

Wonderfully trendy hat and mitten set using a mixture of a Rowan yarn in milk chocolate brown and Britania ......... Very smart.

Felted Noro bag by Judi

Wow! The depth of colour here in this self striping gorgeous Noro yarn called Kuyreon has been knitted and felted by group member Judi; then a cute felted flower applied for bling-factor. So soft to the touch aswell as fabulous looking.

Completed Rowan tweed Cape by me

I have 'loved' making this cape. It took approx 4 months. Particularly like the varied angles of the stocking stitch as helps give the garment more interest and a better drape. Used RYC wool tweed in 'Reed' (green with multi fleck) pattern from Rowan Classic Tweed book.
Hard to get a great photo of the completed cape so pinched one from the book as well as my own picture.

A festive outfit by Karen

Fabulously cute santa outfit made by Karen here.

Silk yarn sweater by Judi

Judi made this wonderfully soft and stretchy sweater in a self patterning luxurious silk yarn (Mobair by Victoria Smedley, Baby Alpaca and Silk) the colours in it conjures up images of cosy fires with candles, lamps and glasses of red wine as it has all the warm tones of Autumn. It's impossible to experience the sheer softness of this drapey yarn in a photo but it's sure to be a joy to wear.

Fabulous little dress by Dani

Dani has made this wonderful cotton dress for a little girl. I adore the perfect and pretty flowers. Wow.

Yarntide Greetings at the Christmas tree festival

I'm so proud of all our hard work shown here on the KTog Christmas Tree. Huge thank you to everyone who made these wonderful ornaments and to Karen for helping me dress the tree. 56 trees this year taking part; Sunday 8th December has the evenings 'Christmas in the Forest' service at 6pm.

My sheer delight at returning home from holiday to a parcel!

Excellent, parcel arrived while I was away and is ready for my next project. I'm overjoyed with the yarn, Debbie Bliss 'alpaca silk aran' in 'Teal' to make the felted bag in her book 'Home'. The squishability and softness to this yarn is droolingly good!!!

My first holiday in 3.5yrs!!! phew....

Just had a divine week of fun and relaxation in North Devon, spoilt each day with glorious bright warm weather to enjoy the golden shades of Autumn throughout the County.

Another completed beanie by Mandy

Well done Mandy on another gorgeous and funky beanie hat.

Innocent smoothie hats by entire group:-

Wow, try and see if you can find any hats you made amongst this picture I took of the whole lot before sending off the total 159 of them! Well done everyone and thank you.

Remember throughout December this year in all Sainsbury stores - for each hat-wearing smoothie sold, Innocent will donate 50p to Age Concern.

A completed Rowan sweater

Made by myself, here is the 'Robin' sweater from the new book called 'Rowan Story book of little knits'
It was fun and easy to make, fun because no part of the garment was the same, the sleeves were different to the front and the front was different to the back. I decided to not put the large stitches into the collar area like the one in the book as I felt it looked better without them. Very pleased with the item and it's getting lots of use...

A completed lion!

Dani has made this cute lion which has a cute tufty tail, it was Dani's birthday and she came along to KTog and so we had chocolate cake with coloured flame candles and some tipples; woohoo.

A completed hat by Mandy

Gorgeous little brightly coloured hat made here by Mandy. She's also making a denim yarn jacket, I cannot wait to see that finished.

A completed pair of gloves by Charlie

Charlie has just made these gorgeous gloves in Rowan Tapestry. A beautiful self-striping yarn and extremely soft to touch.

Field picnic and bonus

I just had to publish couple of photos I took last weekend at nearby field to me; sat with a picnic and my family in middle of the field and watched the balloon team setup and take off. I'm especially wow'd by the picture taken directly beneath them.

A completed toddler sweater

This is a diamond pattern sweater with square set sleeves I made from Debbie Bliss book 'Baby knits for beginners' I follwed her inspiration and made mine also in her Cotton DK 'Cream'. This item is so very soft to touch and hangs well on babys or toddlers.

Some of the KTOG group in action

Taken at last nights group (19th July 07') Here are some of the group in action:-
Collection of latest knitting magazines in middle of room.
A huge big smiley welcome to our two newest members Mandy and Jane.

A completed Rowan felted bag

Karen has made this beautiful felted bag from Rowans Felted Collection book. Being well used and maintaining its shape and rustic style too. Gorgeous!

A completed Debbie Bliss Denim Sweater

This pattern is called 'Child's Denim Sweater' and is taken from Debbie Bliss book 'Home' and made by me using Debbie Bliss cotton denim aran in Light-Blue. Never have I come across a pattern that is so easy to do, no side shaping; a definite project for doing while watching TV.
Yarn used is superbly soft to the touch and easy-care too great practicality for my little boy.

A completed crochet project.

New group member Charlie has made this stunning peice of crochet work; gorgeously decorative lacey cardigan and in a gorgeous warm rosey pink. What an inspiration to crochet-hood; Charlie is now learning to knit too, I wonder what her first knitted item will be?....

A completed pair of socks

Group member, Dianne has created this marvellous pair of socks using a pattern by Monika Steinbauer (look down the right hand bar to download a copy of this pattern). They were made with a Sock Yarn called 'Treking XXL colour #10'. The blocks in the sock are called Mitred Squares and are very effective. Dianne doesn't like the jojo heel that was recommended so used a reverse flap heel; also increasing the size of the socks as for larger feet/ankles. The socks were relatively easy to make and a joy. See more of Dianne's work on her own blogspot on RandomKnitters.

A completed Rooster bag-knit-kit

Fabulous and fun to make here is this super soft (Almerino Aran) 'Rooster' bag kit, I purchased from my favourite supplier Consider The Lily. The kit was fun, luxurious and portable and very easy to make. Ironically, the most time consuming part was to plait the chord to make the draw-string. I would deffinitley make this again! I'm using it for hanging in the bathroom to poshly display all my loofas/sponges, etc.
Knitted flowers dangling from the drawstring? I'd never made these before but what a doddle thanks to the foolproof instructions.

My First Felted Project:-

Using 'Lambs Pride' {Brown sheep yarn} in Bulky. The pattern requires double strand knitting so I mixed a strand of two colours to give a multi-toned effect. Pattern taken from book called Mason-Dixon Knitting. Very easy project and requires 'NO SEWING UP' much to my delight! The Corners are merely 'double-crocheted' to join the sides together.

Our full colour poster advertisement.

A completed Debbie Bliss Funky Tank Top

This Debbie Bliss pattern uses Cotton DK:
This was a doddle to make and took only about 4 days to make what with it having no sleeves and all. washes up wonderfully and wears beautifully, ideal garment for toddlers, looking forward to making several more of these in various other tones as the seasons change...

• See www.Debbieblissonline.com for patterns, books and yarns of this designer top quality range. She's an inspiration to modern knits.