Scandinavian Knitting

Last week, I ventured off to Baa Ram Ewe in Harrogate for a Scandinavian Knitting workshop with Mary Jane Mucklestone. After a scrummy lunch at Wagamama. I wandered down to the shop. I've been to the one at Leeds plenty of times but not yet had a chance to go to the Harrogate shop.

The shop was gorgeous. It was very light and a riot of colour. Details for the shops here. The workshop was held downstairs in the basement and it really was fantastic. Mary Jane was lovely and very knowledgeable. She'd brought all the samples from the book, 150 Scandinavian Knitting Designs and it was really interesting to see and feel what they were like.

The main parts of the workshop were learning No Purl Garter Stitch in the round and Norwegian Purl. I normally work stranded knitting with a yarn in each hand, but under Mary Jane's guidance had a go at trying both yarns in my left hand. I think it'll take some practice to get it right but it is always good to have another way of knitting in your skill set. There was lots of other information about the history, steeks, weaving etc. If you ever get a chance to do one of her workshops, I definitely recommend it - she knows her stuff!

I even got my book signed and a complementary badge!

I have plans to make a Scandinavian inspired hot water bottle cover using several of the designs from Mary Jane's book.

This is the before picture...

#yarndale

Yarndale....wow! I had a fantastic day. A bus load of us from A Good Yarn went on Sunday and it was amazing. First of all, I booked to do a workshop with Amy Singer, aka the editor of Knitty. The workshop was Making the Next Monkey and for anyone who is a designer or a fledgling like me, then it is fantastic. I learnt lots and lots, plus Amy was wonderful. My head was buzzing with ideas all the way home.

Even though, most of my time there was taken up by the workshop, I did managed a bit of time to supplement my stash. I bought Ply magazine, which had some gorgeous patterns in. Haven't got around to reading it yet, but looking forward to it.

There must be tons of photos of the bunting at Yarndale going around, but there were hundreds of them and the effect en masse was just incredible. Far more incredible in real life, compared to the photos.

Mostly, I bought Garnstudio Drops, 4 balls of Alpaca (in 2 shades of green and 2 balls of cream) and 2 balls of Delight. The top skein is sock yarn from The Knitting Goddess, and I loved the name - "Where There's Muck There's Brass". Mr's favourite colour combination is black/dark grey with burnt orange, so they should be perfect for a pair of socks for him. The grey yarn was the bargain of the day, it was £3 from Artisan Yarns; it was in a bargain bin with no label but it's definitely laceweight and most likely BFL.

I did make one non knitting purchase, which was a Yarndale Sheep kit from Hooked By Design. There was another kit that was stunning, this Reindeer Stocking but I just got one to see how I fair with it, as I've never done any latch hook rugs before. One of the lovely ladies from the knitting group at A Good Yarn, had done the Yarndale Sheep and made it into a bag, which looked so amazing, that it seems to have inspired several of us from A Good Yarn to give it a go ourselves. Here's my progress so far.

My first attempt, so perhaps not quite right but I'm enjoying it. Not sure what I'm going to do with the finished rug. Mr suggested turning it into a beanbag footstool. The rest would be made of leather (which we have plenty of). I like the idea but wonder about the logistics of putting it all together.

Freeform

What a fabulous day! I spent yesterday at A Good Yarn, Cleethorpes; being taught by the wonderful Heike Gittins. It was a Freeform Madness workshop and I spent it alongside my fellow knitters and crocheters, such as Faded Reverie. Here are some photos of the creativity going on. (Apologies for the not so great photos; taken on my mobile).

The bags at the top are Heike's creations and very inspiring indeed and the photos don't do them justice. I love all the lovely little details on it. Lots of buttons and ribbons....

I found it very creative and a fabulous idea to use up all my oddments.

I need a new swimming bag so I'm going to try and build it up quite a bit and make a large bag.

Below is what I have made so far: I got carried away with the crocheting. I love the contrast between the textures of the knitted and crochet fabrics.