Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

We're celebrating with a 50% off sale on all our self-published patterns in our Ravelry store - use coupon code HAPPY2018 for half price patterns!

I really love welcoming the new year as a time to look back, take stock and make goals for the year to come. I've got into a bit of a habit of a new year blogpost, I think it's good for me to publicly make a statement about what I hope to achieve.

2017 was a year of a lot of ups and downs personally as well as globally. I started a new job back in the classroom teaching at a new school, finished my first year as an associate lecturer with the Open University, and got a crazy but very, very lovable rescue dog - all of which made 2017 a year of very low knitting productivity. Seriously, I only released two patterns last year which is my lowest ever in the 6 years or so I've been designing.

She's a very good girl, but there's not much time left for knitting!

But this year should hopefully be much calmer. I'm settled into my new jobs, and have three designs already knitted and at various stages of writing up. I would really, really love to go part time at my "real" job in 2019 and after crunching some numbers it's not too unrealistic. Even based on last year's numbers where I basically did nothing with my knitting business things are looking positive.

Some sneak peeks of 2018 patterns!

So basically, my new year's resolution is to knit more, design more and write lots more patterns!

It would be great to hear about everyone's crafting resolutions in the comments - and I hope a 50% pattern discount will help!
 

Summer Travels Inspiration Part Three - Russula Shawl

 So it's been a long time since Part Two of this series was released, and certainly a long time since last summer! I had planned on releasing one new pattern a month between the summer and Christmas but life got in the way a bit.

Things have been pretty much non-stop hectic here - I've started tutoring a Maths course with the Open University, which has eaten up pretty much all of my spare time and I was doing a lot of evening work as part of my day job. However, the OU course is nearly finished now and I've just started a new job which is much closer to home and should hopefully leave me with much more free time for designing. Moving one step closer to the dream of going part time in my "real" job and having more time to knit and write patterns.

Anyway, better late than never, this is the third in a series of patterns inspired by my travels last Summer. The first was Abriachan Cowl, inspired by the beautiful colours in the forest at Abriachan. The second was Fiacaill Cardigan, inspired by the Fiacaill Ridge in the Cairngorms. The third pattern is inspired by bright red Russula mushrooms, which were just starting to appear in the forests in late Summer:

You often find them in shady pine woods. At this time of year they look like something from a fairy tale, an eyecatching flash of colour in dark, gloomy surroundings. There's something a bit magical about mushrooms, especially unusual ones, and the Scottish climate seems to really suit them. Here's a few we've spotted through the years:

This shawl was designed to have the same effect as the bright red russulas, a flash of cheery colour that will stand out against Scotland's often dull and dreary weather. Russula is a pretty, crescent shawl with a stunning diamond pattern and pointed edging. It begins with a wide crescent in garter stitch, then work a zig-zag edging of diamond lace. The lace pattern is very simple, and looks much more complex than it really is.  

Available to purchase on:

Ravelry

Craftsy

Etsy

Loveknitting

20% discount on Ravelry with coupon code SUMMERTRAVELS3 until end of December 2017

Details are as follows:

Yarn: Cloudborn Wool Fingering Twist
Colourway Scarlet Heather (100% Fine Highland Wool, 368m/402yds per 100g)
Two 100g skeins (you won’t need much of the second skein) = 384m/ 420yds

Dimensions: 150cm (60”) wide and 40cm (16”) deep at widest point.

Needles: 4.5mm/US 7 40”/100cm circular needle (for working flat) 6.5mm / US 10.5 needles for bind off only.

Gauge: 17sts and 32 rows in garter stitch after blocking.

Extras: Tapestry needle for weaving in loose ends, mat and t-pins for blocking.

 

 

Pattern Writing

It's the February long weekend for schools in Glasgow, so I've got the next two days off and I've got big plans! I've got two sweater patterns that need writing and I'm going to try to blitz them over the next two days. Hopefully I should be able to get them to a stage where I can send them to be tech-edited and with a bit of luck release the final patterns in the next few weeks.

Both are lovely Spring sweaters, not too heavy but just enough to keep the chill off!

Moseley in Spring is a lightweight version of my Moseley Cardigan, with cute stripes.

I love drape front cardigans, they're so flattering. (I'm actually wearing my Moseley Cardigan as I write this, it's one of my absolute favourites.) They're surprisingly quick to knit too, even in 4 ply yarn!

The yarn is Titus 4ply from Baa Ram Ewe, a British yarn that's a gorgeous blend of Wensleydale, Bluefaced Leicester and Alpaca yarn. Really lovely stuff!

The second pattern (carrying on with the stripy theme!) is my Mountain Everlasting sweater. This one really is lovely, and I've already got a lot of wear out of it!

It's a classic fitted sweater knitted with stripes of mohair silk laceweight yarn, and the laceweight yarn held together with merino and silk 4 ply yarn. 

The yarns are Shibui Silk Cloud and Shibui Staccato - they're designed to go together and come in the most gorgeous colourways. And they're so, so soft. This sweater really is like wearing a lovely fluffy cloud. Loving it!

So fingers crossed that both patterns will be released soon, so you can knit these two up in time for Spring! 

2016 Ambitions

I have decided, 2016 is going to be the year when I become an adult. I've hit 30 now and it really is time I started cleaning my room and organising my life. And I'm serious, I've tidied out my yarn stash and my emails, my workspace is looking shockingly organised, and I've purchased a shower cleaning spray that promises I'll never have to scrub it again.

Here's why: I have a seriously stressful full time job on top of my knitting design work and it is starting to take its toll on my health. I teach Maths in one of the most deprived areas in the country, and whilst I absolutely love the time I spend with the kids and love seeing the difference a devoted teacher can make, the amount of rubbish that comes with teaching these days is almost unbearable. I love teaching, absolutely love it, but I've spent the last six weeks with a virus and am getting dizzy spells from stress. Enough is enough. I need more balance in my life. 

So my plan is to sort out the knitting business properly, to the extent where I can go part time with the teaching - best of both worlds! My business model so far has been largely based on knitting what I want and writing up patterns for around half of what I knit. I'm a real Maths nerd and love the challenge of grading a pattern, working out colourwork and lace patterns for different sizes, and making the image of a garment in my head into a reality. It's a happy-go-lucky business model, publishing this and that as I go. For 2016 I'm going to need to be more serious and organised about it if I want to make it a real success. 

So I've been reading all the "New Year, New You" articles that abound at this time of year a bit more seriously and I've come up with some aims:

1. Get more patterns published by third parties. All my patterns so far have been self published, but I feel it's time to get my name out there a bit more, and (maybe, just maybe) make a bit more cash in the process!
2. Be more proactive on social media. I can be a bit of a social media hermit, and only post when I've got a new pattern out or a sale on. I'm really going to try to be a bit more consistent with the blogging, tweeting etc.
3. Start up a Ravelry group. I really should have done this by now, but better late than never! I'm going to try running a few knit-alongs and run my test knitting from there too.

So fingers crossed this will all work out and I won't be posting the exact same thing this time next year!