Hello!

I’m sorry, I haven’t abandoned you! My last post was over a month ago and there have been some big changes for me since then.

For those of you that don’t know, I have started a new job working as a Tech Editor for The Knitter, Simply Knitting and Simply Crochet magazines. (No this doesn’t mean you can email me here when you’re stuck!) So far the job is awesome and I can’t really believe my luck 🙂

The job involves looking through patterns to go in upcoming issues of the magazine and checking through them to make sure they are going to work, and that they are consistent to house style. Being a geek for all things knitty, but also having a thing for working with layouts in InDesign and correcting things for spelling errors, this is quite obviously the job for me!

So recently I’ve been concentrating on getting into the job, knitting little things for myself in my spare time and taking a bit of time out from designing. I’m sure that will return sooner or later – looking at other designer’s patterns all day every day is already filling my head with ideas and inspiration!

I thought today I might share with you a few photos I have taken over the last month.

This is a typical desk shot.  As I am still taking part in the 365 project this year be sure to see a few more of these!  The hat was something I was making up for my boyfriend before he went off on tour with his theatre company, The Paper Cinema, to Yorkshire and Scotland in January.  The yarn was all Erika Knight’s Vintage Wool and I received not one but three text messages letting me know how warm it was, so I think I did good there 🙂

This is Great British Yarns in Bath – We went to the showroom here on a field trip from work last week to talk about new yarns and have a fondle. GBY is the only supplier of Knit Picks yarn to the UK which is very exciting! They also hold workshops on lace, steeking, colourwork and finishing techniques and host a knitting group.

Above is a second version I knitted recently of my Edith Mittens.  I wanted a pair for myself, it was freezing back in January and I wanted to be able to wear them every day without worrying about ruining the samples I knitted with A Stash Addict’s BFL aran.  This pair were made with Cascade 220 worsted, which is available in just about any colour you can think of.  The yarn knits up really neatly without much pilling, which is nice.  I love the stitch definition, even after wearing these and having them shoved in my pockets for weeks.  The yarn is also really affordable, at just £5.50 per 100g skein, which makes it a great option for those of you on a budget.

I also knitted myself another version of my Constantine hat, for the same reasons above.  Please excuse the rubbish kitchen photo, I have been meaning to go and take nice ones for a while but it’s just delaying me from making blog posts.  My mum bought me some Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted for Christmas (see previous post) and this was the perfect thing to make with it.  I also wanted to be able to suggest a nice yarn to use for those of you in the States, given that the pattern was written with Erika Knight’s Vintage Wool – a 100% British yarn.  Although this is now distributed in the US, a lot of folk on Ravelry seem to like the Lamb’s Pride and I know it is more readily available.

I actually found the yarn a lot like Rowan Cocoon; it’s really soft and knits up nicely – maybe slightly splitty – but the over all result is similar and it makes a great hat yarn.  I also used bigger needles this time as I wanted a really slouchy hat, but in hindsight I should have compensated for the ribbing as it’s now a little too loose.

I’ve also started making myself a pair of socks! I enjoyed the Strings socks I posted about last month so much that I just had to cast on another pair.  The pattern is Circle Socks by Fnugg and I’m using King Cole Merino blend 4py.

My new yarn bowl, below, was a birthday present from my boyfriend from Red Hot Pottery. I had put this on my Pinterest Vision board in the hope that somehow it would find it’s way into my life, and low and behold it did! Handmade in Arizona this was packaged beyond packaging and is now very loved in it’s new home.

And this is Cleo! We are looking after her for the next couple of days and she is very lovely indeed 🙂

January So Far..

How has your year been so far? I decided I’d take a bit of time out of designing for a couple of weeks and have been finishing the socks I posted last week and knitting a hat for myself.  There will be pictures soon!

I thought for now I’d share what I’ve been up to so far this year, I have decided to do the 365 project again in 2013 which you can follow here, if you are interested.  I won’t be making a habit of posting photos to the blog as I’d like to try and stick to the knitting and making theme, but as a lot of my pictures seem to feature this I’m sure they will creep in now and again!


Day One – A walk around Blaise Castle was a lovely way to welcome the first day of the year.

002/265: Goodbye Christmas
Day Two – Putting away the Christmas decorations.

003/365 Tax Return
Day Three – Doing the dreaded tax return

004/365: Yarnporn
Day Four – Just some yarnporn!

005/365: Giving in to Procrastination
Day Five – Giving in to procrastination and starting my Christmas jigsaw.

006/365: Backgammon
Day Six – A cheeky game of backgammon with my buddy Steph.

007/365: Knit Night
Day Seven – Knit Night

008/365: Le Supermarché
Day Eight – Shopping

009/365: My Bookshelf
Day Nine – My Bookshelf. I was sock knitting today but I liked these colours calling from the other side of the room!

What have you been up to this week? Do you have any exciting plans for January or resolutions for the year ahead?

FO Friday – Autumn Gold Slouch Hat

Finally! My slouch hat is finished and now just needs to be written up.  Stupidly, I didn’t write everything down too clearly so it might take a while to get this one ready for testing.  This isn’t the sharpest photo but you get the idea!  You can see a close up pic of the pattern here from a previous post.

Fyberspates Rural Charm Slouch Hat
The yarn is Fyberspates Rural Charm, 4ply Blue Faced Leicester, Cashmere and Silk in Gold. Yum 🙂

I have decided that this will be my first leftie friendly pattern, as I feel bad for all the left-handers out there that have to read patterns backwards!  I will be enlisting help from my good friend Lucy on getting everything multi-lingual so everyone can enjoy knitting it, before I start on working on my previous patterns.

On another note, here are some pretty poppies and wild flowers I spotted on my way to the post office this morning 🙂

© Buttons and Beeswax

© Buttons and Beeswax

© Buttons and Beeswax
I figure there is no point in doing a 366 project if I don’t use the photos not included for blog content! I love this last one, the flower looks super-imposed (but its not!) I’m not sure what this flower is..

And lastly, yesterday I came across these fab tutorials for creating knitting charts using Adobe Illustrator.  Previously I’ve used Excel, but being a Photshop/InDesign kind of laydee, I thought it might be nice to get my head around some of the Illustrator basics.  There is a lot more control to be had in how your chart looks, and you can easily create your own symbols.  It’s strangely addictive too!

 

366 Photography Project Update

366 Photography Project Update

I just wanted to say a quick hello and say I haven’t given up on the 366 photography project yet!   If you don’t know what I’m on about then click on the 366 Project Page at the top of the screen, which is filling up nicely! I must update more often.

A lot of the photographs recently have been indoors, the weather in Bristol has been miserable out and I’ve felt uninspired.  Although seeing them all together I’m actually quite pleased with the results!

chilli and herb garden © Buttons and Beeswax Knitting Blog
On Monday we went out and bought some bits to make a herb garden to cheer ourselves up a bit.  But the basil is really unhappy! This photo was taken shortly after planting, but by Tuesday night it was withered and sad.  Could it be too cold perhaps? I’ve never been the most green-fingered of people.

Greville Smyth Park, Bristol © Buttons and Beeswax Knitting Blog
Today’s photo was going to be of my WIP – a lace shrug knitted in aran to keep off that May chill that’s still in the air here.  It’ll be finished within a few days at this rate hopefully – however I’ve spent so long since I got back from work playing with the all the photos I have uploaded to the 366 Project Page, it’s now too dark to take one.

Trees in May © Buttons and Beeswax Knitting Blog
So instead I have posted couple of photos from today – May in Bristol – still raining, though the trees we look down on from our kitchen window are green and lush.

I am also logging my 366 project photos on my Flickr photography page, so add me as a contact to follow me!

Some things..

Hello!

So, some of you might have noticed a few things up with the website recently – sorry about that! I’ve decided to change everything a bit, but I got a bit ahead of myself and as a result everything was down for a couple of days.

So we’re back here now, for the meantime, however things will be changing soon hopefully!

It’s been a busy week for me, what with sorting out the new site, designing a new hat, hanging out at Bath Spa and filing the dreaded tax return.

So here are a few photo’s from the last week…

Erika Knight Vintage Wool

I am loving working with this yarn at the moment! This is Erika Knight’s new ‘Vintage Yarn’, which is 100% pure british wool.  I’m using it on slightly smaller needles than suggested and it is knitting up a treat! Keep an eye out for a hat and cowl pattern coming very soon 🙂

And here are some updates for the 365 days project, which is still going well..

16_01_12 17_01_12 18_01_12 19_01_12 20_01_12 21_01_12 22_01_12 23_01_12 24_01_12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooh, and I found this today, which made me laugh out loud! Instructions on washing woolen knits are often described as ‘how you would wash a baby”.  In case you don’t
know, here’s a handy guide!

How to wash a baby

365 Days…

So far the 365 days project is going well, although I’ve realised it’s going to get challenging over the next couple of months before it’s light after work. I’m quite happy with this set of photos though, it’s interesting not knowing what is coming next!

I’m enjoying the project because it’s forcing me to get out, get some air and have a look around, when otherwise I’d probably have my head in some knitting indoors somewhere.

Here are days 2 to 10, for anyone interested!

Two Magpies - 366 Days Photography Project Coffee and Knitting - 366 Days Photography Project Fallen Tree January Storms - 366 Days Photography Project Bristol Underpass  - 366 Days Photography Project Sad Christmas Tree - 366 Days Photography Project Totterdown Coloured Houses - 366 Days Photography Project Colourful Turkey! 366 Days Photography Project London Plane Trees - 366 Days Photography Project Ashton Vale Road Railway Worker - 366 Days Photography Project