Forest Imp, republished

Another thing I've not been doing is taking my camera out with me. The inspiration hasn't been there; it feels like too much work. The majority of the photos we took in Portugal were taken on our phones, because I didn't want to carry the camera around; the motivation simply wasn't there.

So saturday morning, knowing that I had to at least try, I made a deal with Aran to get up and get out early.

Getting decent shots meant I could republish Forest Imp!

We did well for our 10 minute photoshoot on a saturday morning. That's all it took, and it's restored a little confidence. I especially like this last photo - it's such a great shot of a happy boy. Aran too has been feeling the stress lately, even though he doesn't really understand it all. It cheers me to see him smile.

Forest Imp now has it's own webpage, and the PDF can be purchased right away. A newsletter will be going out shortly containing something extra for subscribers.

Introducing Pinion (the Great Adventures Hat)

While we've been on the road, a pattern of mine has been published with Simply Knitting this month!

© Future Publishing Limited

The Hat has been published as 'The Great Adventure Hat' in the magazine, and to avoid any confusion I'll explain that I named it 'Pinion' (and that's how it'll be republished), so it really does have two names!

This is a great Hat for trying out beginner colourwork techniques, especially as there's no shaping once you're into the two colour section to deal with. The earflaps are worked first, making it a bottom up design.

© Future Publishing Limited

Four sizes are included, from 14in (newborn) through to 19" (child/small adult), and is very easy to resize, too. The blanket stitch trim adds a bit of detail, but also helps neaten those edges. It's a warm, fun and practical Hat. It stays on and does the job and looks pretty good too.

We managed a few quick shots before sending the sample off - these were taken quickly before Aran went off to nursery (which will explain the lower winter light and the not so cheerful expression.. it's a wonder he cooperated, really). A proper photoshoot will be in order before it gets republished, methinks.

I've only just turned on my laptop this morning for the first time since arriving back at the bus, and there's a lot to catch up on. There's a few folk waiting for emails - please know that I will be getting all my replies out in the next few days! It's as busy on site now as it was back in July; I know many of you are wondering how things are, and we'll know much more after our appeal date (26th September).

Introducing Labyrinth

The 8th Playful Woolly Toppers design has been published today... meet Labyrinth

(yeah, that's Aran looking super cute)

Labyrinth is no ordinary striped beanie. The stripes are created with short rows, resulting in off centre stripes which are based on nested circles.

The pattern itself is deceptively simple. The only tricky factor is the short rows; they are stacked, in that they appear at the same place in each stripe, which does make them more noticeable so you will want to use a short row method that gives you the neatest result. I wouldn't rely on the old adage that short rows in garter stitch are invisible; they're not, and it might be worthwhile experimenting to see what works best for you. 

This shot shows a clearer view of the circles disappearing into the centre, and that point is not at the crown, as you'd expect in a regular striped beanie. We modelled this Hat with the wider part of the stripes at the front, yet it would look pretty interesting worn the other way around, to really emphasis it's structure.

And here's a quick shot of the Hat laid flat to give you another perspective on those stripes and the off centre crown.

I blocked my samples over a plastic ball to help the shaping settle; a balloon would do just as well. The maths of the Hat does work to give you the right shape yet a gentle blocking will help everything settle down and smooth out - there's quite a bit of shaping going on at the crown.

Labyrinth has been published in the new template, and currently costs £2.50. The plan in the near future is to include all the necessary tutorials, illustrated, in each pattern, and at that point the price will rise to £3. A link to all my PDF tutorials is still included, fear not :)

There's only 2 more PWT patterns to come!

Decisions have been made!

Hey folks - hope the weekend is treating you kindly?

Life's a little bonkers here, as TNNA gets closer (I'll be exhibiting again in June) and as I start to finalise Playful Woolly Toppers (yikes! Book 6 is almost done!). Amid all the mayhem I've been good and made a few decisions, namely which cover version (that was unanimous, then) and choosing the right names for those two Hats that were hurting my brain.

So yup, no-one tried to persuade me *at all* that cover choice no.3 wasn't the best one for the book. You all loved it. I'll get everything - the webpage, the Rav page etc - all updated once I've caught up on a bit of sleep (else I'll make it go all wonky)

I've spent much of this weekend organising and ordering all my promo printing for TNNA, and it includes a poster of this cover. It'll make me very happy to have my boy's face smiling down at me every day that I'm away.

We also have winners for the naming competitions!

This pinstripe little number...

... is now called 'Mercury', a suggestion made by Barb Foesch. I know this one was super tricky, and I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this! As I sat looking at the words, imagining them alongside the Hat, 'Mercury' really grew on me and it captures the elegance of the Hat pretty well, methinks. Thank you Barb!

And our structured design...

There were a lot of really good suggestions for this one, and thanks go to the folks at Lornas Laces for helping to promote the post and getting extra comments!

The idea that grabbed me the most was the relationship to bees.. I followed a trail of links about bee mythology and history and yet somehow the right name didn't quite jump out at me.. I learnt that my favourite suggestions had been used many other times, or had other meanings or were used frequently in different contexts. And then it struck me - 'Beelore'. Whilst there isn't a specific story behind it, 'bee lore' as a google search brings up everything relating to the myths and legends surrounding bees; it summarises it all. It also rolls off the tongue rather nicely, methinks.

For this one, as there isn't one winner exactly, I've decided to send out a bunch of coupon codes to all the commenters who helped me along the bee idea path - does that sound fair enough?

I won't be getting the winners' emails out until tomorrow now, as my brain needs a little rest this afternoon. Do keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow though! 

And now I'm going to switch off this machine and knit for a while. This week has been pretty testing as a whole number of things hiccupped and we've found ourselves running around and spending more money than we wanted to. The plan is all coming together nicely though, and it's all (finally) working out for the best. There's also been a lot of things to work through, including a new template for the Woolly Toppers books and lots of tech editing and test knitting feedback on the final few designs. I do have a habit of forgetting just how exhausting all of this can be... someone kick me next time I think it'll be a good idea to publish a new book AND prepare for a big show all at once, please?

And yes, there's another Hat in need of a name!

This is the last Playful Woolly Toppers Hat in need of a name!

Remembering that our naming theme is mythology/folklore/other-worldly type things, how does this pinstripe architectural Hat fit?

I really am stumped with this one.. I really can't think of a suitable name that describes the Hat AND fits with the naming theme.. and so dear friends, there's a competition for this one too. What does it say to you? The Hat comes with options for a 3-peak or 4-peak finish at the crown, and the vertical stripes are created through stranded knitting. The recommended yarn is Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport, which comes in the most amazing array of colours, and creates a wonderfuly warm and soft fabric.

As with our previous naming competitions, there's a copy of the Playful Woolly Toppers eBook on offer, or if you already have it, you can pick another of my eBooks or a selection of single patterns to the same value.

I'll leave this one open until the end of this week. Currently, the last naming competition is still open too, and I'll extend that to the end of the week too, so I can go through them together.

Fire away!

PS/ please leave your suggestion here, on this blog post, as this helps muchly with keeping track of comments. Thank you :)

ETA/ this competiion has now closed & the Hat has been named - thanks so much for your help!