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 🙂