Some time early last year, probably about a year ago now, I started swatching and developing an idea that felt fresh and clean and made me feel, well, as if my brain was fully functioning again. The concept made me feel like I'd broken through the fog, and working out the technical side made me feel clever.

Strong words, huh?

grafted. I can't begin to explain how excited I am about this swatch & how clever it makes me feel. #circles #garterstitchftw #sidewaysknitsftw

A photo posted by Woolly (@woollywormhead) on Jan 26, 2016 at 8:04am PST

What I was aiming for was a perfect marriage between my love of circles, and my love of sideways knitting and grafting. And I achieved it.

Then the need to work on some other things kicked in, and Painted Woolly Toppers for Kids became a thing and then the trapped nerve and frozen shoulder was a thing, and I wasn't able to work and develop this is much as I wanted to. This is what happens when what you do isn't just about the creativity, but also about keeping the roof over your head and food on the table. And sometimes it's hard, not having the luxury to follow your creative dreams.

Towards the end of last year, once PWT4K was safely published, I finally had some time and brain-space and switched this project on fully. And it's been keeping me busy ever since. (my shoulder hasn't fully appreciated working at such fine gauge....). As I travelled around for my teaching tours during October and November, these swatches and Hats kept me company. It felt so good to be able to focus all of my attention on them again.

Naturally, having developed the grafting method 8 months previously without any practice since, it took a few swatches to get the method right. If I was going to see this through I needed to be absolutely certain that I knew exactly what I was talking about.

And it wasn't just the lack of practice that made me rusty, either. As time went on, and as the project felt further away, my confidence dropped with it. Every opportunity I had to talk to another knitter or designer, I managed to squeeze this into the conversation. I'd talked it up so much that I was at risk of abandoning it and having my failure complex tell me it was right all along.

completed graft - slipped stitches over garter stitch

But I didn't let myself down.

Circled Hat #1, the first to be released from the collection

And so, the Circled collection is a thing. The photo above was one of my favourites from our photoshoot last week. It's unedited and straight off the camera; I'm still unable to manage much photography, so I styled and directed and Tom took the photographs. We don't make a bad team, huh?

Now that I've broken the ice and spoken out loud about this collection, I feel free to talk about it more. I'd gotten myself so anxious about the risk of getting all excited and blogging about it only to have my confidence/health/lack of time let me down that I'd decided not to say all that much publicly until I knew I could pull it off.

The photoshoot is done. The single patterns are through their first round of tech editing. The photos and content are with the layout designer. Circled is very much a thing, and it's coming very soon!

(bonus: all 4 patterns use 4ply/sock/fingering. And they'll be perfect for your handpaints)

PostedJanuary 17, 2017

AuthorTom Paterson

CategoriesCircles, Hats, Knitting, Design

6 CommentsPost a comment

Another year, another dozen Hats or so?

2016 was a strange year, in that health (yet again) knocked me sideways and stopped me from doing a whole bunch of work. Thankfully I'd almost reached an even keel and the set back wasn't too catasrophic. (thank you, frozen shoulder)

collage of Hats designed and published in 2016

On the single pattern front things were *busy*. From top left we have:

Cannetella, Aerial, Armley Beanie, Armley Slouch, Fabales, Pinua, Muratura, Armley Beret, Caterpiller Slouch, Scrapalong, Aileron, Dutrieu, and Adiantum.

And of course, we have Painted Woolly Toppers for Kids!

From top left:

Swinton, Wychavon, Modbury, Mobberley, Chesser, Kelvinside, Hadleigh, Kilbride, Gorton and Allerton.

So, 2016 saw 23 Hats in all - a busy year indeed compared to the previous few! Most of these had been designed the previous year ready to go, or at least written and knitted before my frozen shoulder kicked in.

2015 saw 20 new designs, 2014 saw 14 new designs, 2013 saw 17 new designs, 2012 saw 27 new designs;. 2011 saw 35, 2010 saw 34, 2009 saw 14, 2008 saw 24 and 2007 also saw 35, with 2006 at 30. (2005 saw 4 which was the first year... almost 12 years ago now)

Despite not being able to knit or work at the computer much, I was able to get out and teach, and there was an increase in workshops taught compared to previous years. It's still only a very small percentage of my turnover (less than 10%; closer to 5% methinks.. I'll know for sure when I've finished my 2016/17 accounts ;) and honestly, I don't want to increase the amount I teach by too much. I enjoy it as it is, and if teaching becomes a major part of my income then I know I'm on the path to burnout again (or rather, I'll be accelerating along that path) and that'd be a bad move.

I also wrote several articles about Hats - construction and design - although they haven't all been published yet. The first of those was the Crown Shaping Masterclass.

I didn't attend any trade shows this last year, and since exhibiting at TNNA in 2015 solo, I've taken a long hard look at wholesale. I'm still keeping that door open, and print wholesale is still available, but that side of business isn't what it was. I don't think it is for anyone, and I'm not convinced that it's worth throwing £2,000 upwards to attend & exhibit at TNNA any more... I'd sooner pay that money to Tom to develop more tutorial videos, or invest it in translations.

2016 also saw me delve further in getting patterns translated, although once the frozen shoulder kicked in, it also became the year I pressed the pause button on this side of things. Once I'm back to usual computer work flow, I'll be straight back on it.

2017 sees me entering my 12th year of designing Hats, and that feels somehow like quite a milestone, although I couldn't say why! We sat and worked out last week that I'd passed my 10,000 hours of Hat design a few years ago and now I feel all grown up but also a little older. Meh.

This year will be the year when I hope I finally get to put into place the last of the changes I started to make way back when. Back-end things are smoother, and I've out-sourced a lot of the things I can't do, and that has eased the pressure a lot. I'm starting to feel more in control now and freer headwise, which is most welcome.

Onwards and upwards, right?

PostedJanuary 13, 2017

AuthorTom Paterson

CategoriesHats, Indie Biz, Patterns

1 CommentPost a comment

You fantastic bearded Hat model, you.

I'll be having a day off today too, and will be back in the studio tomorrow. Today we might have lunch plans and then pizza plans later. A chilled day.

From top left:

Geko Beanie, Northend, Ribbed Beanie, Slipped Ridge, Ledger Beanie, Noma, Chevron, Dylan's Beanie.

PostedJanuary 10, 2017

AuthorTom Paterson

CategoriesTom, Hats

3 CommentsPost a comment

All of the free patterns and tutorials on this website are supported by my amazing Patreons! If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be able to continue to produce or host freebies. We'd love to have you join us and in return, you get exclusive behind-the-scenes material, member-only discounts and early access to new free content. Membership starts at $1 per month. You can also say thanks for the freebie via the Tip Jar.

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This tutorial is an extract from my first book, 'Going Straight – A New Generation of Knitted Hats', a book which contains kitchener/grafting instructions for 8 different combinations including reverse stocking stitch, garter stitch, reverse garter stitch, combining St.St and garter in one graft and much more!

Further information about this book can be found here: http://www.woollywormhead.com/going-straight/

Below are the four steps for kitchener stitch for garter stitch. To prepare for grafting, we need to ensure that our stitches are held together and parallel on the needles, with right sides of the work facing out.

To ensure your graft works correctly, you need to set your stitches up correctly. Unlike grafting stocking stitch, you cannot just bring the edges together, they need to be set up in a particular way. As you look at the needles from the top as shown in step 1, one side should have the ridges right up to the needle and the other should have the ridges sitting away from the needle. If your ridges are the other way around then you'll want to reverse the instructions (this would be known as 'ridge low' grafting). If both needles are the same, you'll want to unpick one side – this is especially important to remember if you're folding a piece in half to graft – in this case, knit half the row before folding.

When we graft, we work first on the front needle and then on the back needle. It's quite important to remember to stop after step 4 should you need to have a break or tighten up the slack, so that you can start again at a convenient point. Whenever I teach this technique, the most common problem that occurs is stopping mid way through the 4 step process which causes confusion for the knitter.

To start the graft and create the beginning selvedge edge, work steps 1 & 2 as shown in the Grafting the Selvedges section below. Then work steps 3 to 6 as shown in the main Grafting Garter Stitch section below until all stitches have been grafted, then finish with steps 3 & 5. In a general grafting mantra, where we work 4 steps throughout, the opening selvedge is usually steps 1 & 3 and the closing selvedge is steps 2 & 4.

1) For this graft known as 'ridge high', the front needle (shown here as the bottom needle) has the ridges high, the back needle (shown here as the top needle) has them low - right sides of work showing.

2) In most cases when you come to graft garter stitch, the released stitches will be on the back needle, and the yarn will be attached to the front needle.

3) Insert your needle into an inside ridge very close to the first stitch on the back needle

4) Pull your yarn through, and the yarn is now ready to come to the front needle to start the graft.

Grafting The Opening Selvedge Stitches

5) Selvedge stitch 1, front needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through then leave the stitch on the needle.

6) Selvedge stitch 2, back needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through then leave the stitch on the needle.

Grafting Garter Stitch

7) Stitch 1, front needle – insert the needle knitwise, pull the yarn through then slip the stitch off the needle.

8) Stitch 2, front needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through but leave the stitch on the needle.

9) Stitch 3, back needle – insert the needle knitwise, pull the yarn through then slip the stitch off the needle.

10) Stitch 4, back needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through but leave the stitch on the needle. Repeat steps 3 to 6 for the grafting method. You'll also notice that what you do on the front needle you also do on the back needle.

Grafting the Closing Selvedge Stitches

To close the graft, work steps 7 & 9 – this creates the final selvedge. Break your yarn and pull the yarn tail through to finish.

Other helpful tips to ensure your graft goes smoothly

Try to take up the slack (i.e. tighten your stitches) every 5 ot 10 stitches. Leaving this until the end will likely cause problems with your tension and cause the graft to look uneven. When taking up the slack, do it slowly, stitch by stitch – don't try pulling from the end as this will tighten some stitches and not others and may even cause your yarn to break!

Always remember to start on the front needle first. If your working yarn is on the front needle, slip it through the base of the first stitch on the back needle, to ensure it connects correctly when starting the graft.

A quick way to remember the garter stitch grafting method is this:

(front): knit off, purl on; (back) knit off, purl on

Support

As always, if you have a question about this technique or need some help with it, leave a comment below! I’m afraid I’m unable to offer help via email or private message but you’re welcome to post in our forums.

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PostedJanuary 6, 2017

AuthorWoolly Wormhead

2 CommentsPost a comment

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This tutorial has been written specifically for the Circled Hats collection, but can also be used in any situation where you may be wanting to graft slipped stitches, in particular slipped stitches on garter stitch.

Having successfully prepared our stitches for grafting, as outlined in pt1, we're ready to graft the slipped stitches. The patterns that this tutorial and grafting method are designed for has garter stitch between the columns of slipped stitches, and you will need to refer to the tutorial for grafting garter stitch for those sections.

1) Work as per the garter stitch graft until you reach this point – there will be two stitches on the front needle before the slipped stitch, and one stitch on the back needle before the slipped stitch legs. (remembering that the back needle, which contains the released stitches, will have one less stitch in the garter section, and two legs in place of the slipped stitch)

2) Stitch 1, front needle – insert the needle knitwise, pull the yarn through then slip the stitch off the needle.

3) Stitch 2, front needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through but leave the stitch on the needle.

4) Stitch 3, back needle – insert the needle knitwise, pull the yarn through then slip the stitch off the needle.

5) Stitch 4, back needle – insert the needle knitwise, pull the yarn through but leave the stitch on the needle.

6) Stitch 5, front needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through then slip the stitch off the needle.

7) Stitch 6, front needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through but leave the stitch on the needle.

8) Stitch 7, back needle – insert the needle purlwise, pull the yarn through then slip the stitch off the needle.

9) Stitch 8, back needle – insert the needle knitwise, pull the yarn through but leave the stitch on the needle.

10) After working the combined graft for the slipped stitches, continue working a garter stitch graft until you meet the next slipped stitch point, as indicated above. Repeat the process until all stitches have been grafted.

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