lots of lace

This friday I attended the IKnit Mini Weekender, which was basically a bunch of classes hosted by the store. Mine was a lace class taught by Maggie Peake. Maggie showed us a lot of things she's knit with lace; mostly vintage patterns, adapted to include lace. She really encouraged us to not feel like lace was only for shawls and scarves.
The class had people of all skill levels, and Maggie was great at speaking to everyone's level and being very encouraging to everyone. The only bad part was that we all spent so much time discussing, I don't think we got very much knitting done. But it would have been boring otherwise, as it's quite difficult to keep track of where you are in lace and have a conversation at the same time.

I decided to make a chunky belt. I went for a dark, rusty red, and plan to add some sort of fringe or lacing. I'm hoping a cowboy/mexican/western trend will catch on for the fall.

I'm also working on finishing the seams for my Leafy Glen Shell from The Knitter's Book of Wool: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Using, and Loving this Most Fabulous Fiber



I'm really digging the Darwin Deez tune "Radar Detector" they've been playing on 6Music lately. Turns out they're playing at Pure Groove, a record shop here in London in a few weeks.

fire flowers

While a friend of mine was making breakfast for his girlfriend for Valentine's Day, he also managed to set alight his gift for her. Luckily, the wrapping paper took most of the heat, but it left her with a scorched hat.

She asked me to make her a few flower brooches to cover the mark. She picked out a some colors from my wool, and I got to work needle felting!




I hadn't needle felted in a long time. But the great thing about this craft is that it doesn't take long to create something beautiful out of a lump of wool.

Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener

I came across Kitchener one afternoon while perusing the National Portrait Gallery. I was looking for someone interesting to sketch. I actually wanted to sketch some people from the Elizabethan area, but it seemed to be taken up by some kind of class. Every bench I came across had other students sketching. I couldn't seem to find a bench anywhere.

So I ended up down by a load of Earls, and there was Kitchener with his famous mustache. I didn't even look at his name plate before standing in the middle of the gallery and attempting to sketch his face. It wasn't until I was done that I looked. And then there was the plaque explaining how this was the same Kitchener that invented the Kitchener stitch.

I couldn't believe it! I have been finishing any knitted object I could with Kitchener stitch. I absolutely hate seaming bound off stitches, so it is perfection for me.

Since then, I have learned a lot more about the man (although mostly from wikipedia...). But I had no idea at the time that his was the famous mustache that spawned the British recruitment poster, which in turn inspired the famous Uncle Sam "I Want You!" poster. He seems a controversial character, first rescuing farmers from debt (he received an island for that), then court martialing and signing the death warrant for a man who sounds like he was carrying out Kitchener's orders.

I haven't decided whether to like Kitchener or not, but I sure like the seam he created for women knitting socks for soldiers. So I created this pattern in his honor. I can just see him casting on in a tent somewhere in the Sudan...

Kitchener's Army Socks


"The gentle waves represent the undulating sand dunes he must’ve become accustomed to in his Sudanese campaigns. This simple pattern lends itself to both solid and variegated colorways. It also features the famous Kitchener Stitch in both the toe and heel."

They're here!

I finally have my first pattern up for sale! I'm very excited about it.


Om Yoga Socks
You can buy the pdf pattern now by clicking the button.