Oolong knits

I'm making an exception here by choosing this pattern for candy, because, honestly, I don't think this scarf is wearable. Still, I'm sure, plenty of people will disagree with me. However, even I must admit the final effect is striking. This is the Pincha shawl by Pinpilan Wangsai. And, yes, another free pattern.

Last week, when I described what I called the no-join join, I mentioned different methods to weave in the ends without going into any details about them. Today I'm writing a very short post just to give you a tip on one of those methods. Skimming is an alternative to the more traditional weave-in methods and TECHknitting has written a good post describing it. Note that this technique, as described in that post, is done in the wrong side of the work where it is quite visible. Therefore, as described, this method is only useful for pieces where the wrong side is never shown when in use (sweaters, hats, gloves, pillows, etc, etc.). Why do I keep saying as described, you wonder. Because I have seen a similar technique being used where the yarn is skimmed diagonally and in such a way as to be more invisible. I do not have a video or photo tutorial to show here, but, if you use your imagination and try it out on a swatch, it's pretty simple to figure out. In addition, I cannot ...

Patons's must have cardigan is a very traditional cable cardigan, but these timeless classics are timeless for a good reason. Moreover, this is a free pattern, so what's not to like.

It's hard to believe I've never written a post about joining new yarn to a project. Or to be precise, I wrote a post about the magic knot , but that is hardly a good post, because there are many more ways and arguably better ones to join yarn. As usual in knitting, that means there is no single way that is better than others. It depends on many factors. Some methods are discrete, but arduous and a project may not require the extra work, some methods work very well for certain situations and not at all for others, some people prefer one method, others hate it, etc, etc. What methods do I prefer? I'll describe the methods that are worth knowing in greater detail below, but let me give you an overview first. If working ribbing, because in this case it's so easy to weave in the yarn through the side of a column of knit stitches in a almost invisible way, I use the no-join method. I also, out of pure laziness, often use the overlap (when joining the same yarn) or the weave...

Risttee by Aleks Byrd. Wow! What an unusual stitch. According to the designer this is done combining twisted stitches and colourwork for a quilted effect. The yarn used, John Arbon Textiles Knit by Numbers , is so gorgeous. Just check out its maker's webpage . Amazing shades.

If you live in the UK (or in many other countries) and tasted the tasteless $&!t they sell in supermarkets by the name of kefir, you don't know what you've been missing. Real kefir is delicious and full of cheesy taste. It's a great drink for the hottest summer days, when you're feeling dehydrated. Cold and full of nutrients to bring you back to shape (you can add a bit of salt, in that case). I always loved kefir, but, since moving to England, I'd given up on drinking it after tasting store bought one. Then, while visiting a friend abroad, I learned that you can make it at home, it tastes much, much better that way, and it is really, really easy to make. Even easier than yoghurt. How does kefir compare to yoghurt? Like yoghurt, kefir results from the fermentation of milk by live culture. The difference is that they're different live cultures. Nutritionally, they are both made of milk and thus quite similar. In terms of taste, kefir has a stronger ...

Emmaline by Jennifer Wood. I saw this pattern and I thought: What a beautiful and original chest for a sweater. Then I looked at its projects' page on Ravelry and saw how those who knit were looking so good wearing it. This is more unusual than you would think, but Emmaline looks good on everyone, from the flat-chested to the busty. And it is free.

Where I live, yoghurt pots are not recycled. No, this is not the 3rd world, this is one of the richest towns in northern England. We eat a lot of yoghurt in my family. One way we have been reducing our own generated plastic trash is by buying the big tubs of 1kg of yoghurt. But, recently, I have had an even better idea: homemade yoghurt. It is super simple and quite fast to prepare. Because yoghurt lasts forever in the fridge, I can prepare a large amount each time. It is cheaper than store-bought and, more importantly, it is delicious . Here is my simple recipe. Homemade yoghurt Ingredients: 1l of whole milk 6 tablespoons of plain yoghurt Special equipment: a food thermometer Preparation: Heat the milk up to 85°C, stirring it as it gets hot (if you don't have a food thermometer, heat it up until it is just below boiling temperature, it should be smoking and foaming). Let it cool to about 46°C (it should be warm, not hot) and mix the yoghurt. Put it away in a warm plac...

Morse Code Sweater by Valentina Bogdanova. I know I'm being bad, but I have got to say it: I think the author of this pattern has never seen Morse code in her life. Still, beautiful lace work. I say it, even if I am usually not a big fan of lace. The green version was taken from this project and uses two yarns with slightly different shades of green and held together. One is hand-dyed and the other a luxurious combination of mohair and silk. Exquisite!

This is the perfect time to start knitting Christmas decorations, if you haven't yet done so. They are fun, quick knits and you still have time to finish before it's too late. Today I have a cute little pattern for you. Needles and yarn: Drops Big Merino and 4mm/8UK/6US needles. Gauge: 20 sts = 10 cm, 4 inches. Note: this yarn's recommended needle size is 5mm, but by using 2 sizes below I obtain a stiffer fabric that hangs flat. If using another yarn, use a smaller needle than recommended as well. It is easy to adapt the pattern by continuing to increase until the tree is the desired size and binding off a proportional number of stitches in each section. Abbreviations: CO: cast-on (long-tail or your favourite). st(s): stitch(es). kfb: knit front and back, 1 st increase. k: knit. slkwyf: slip knitwise with yarn in the front. BO: bind-off (loosely, your favourite one). Note: this pattern includes a selvage stitch (slkwyf). This is optional and I think the tr...

Just like last week, here is combination of cream, brown and blue. I do love these colours together. Ambershore by Inese Sang is a triangle scarf. I really like the simple colour work of this project and, as you can see in its project's page, there are many colour combinations that work beautifully with it.

Ages ago I wrote a post about knitting books for beginners. In it I reviewed (quite negatively) the most well-known books written for the absolute beginner. I have just read it again and I was a bit shocked by how nasty I was. I must have been having a really bad day. Although, I must admit that I haven't changed my mind, that nothing that I wrote then is not still my opinion, I could have put it less bluntly. Still there was a reason I was so angry after reading those books. They really are a waste of time. If you are thinking about learning to knit, learn the very basic from videos and then buy a good reference book (that is what this post is all about). Here are a few posts I wrote while I was learning and that are still, in my humble opinion, really useful if you want to learn to knit: how to choose yarn and needles that are appropriate for learning, the videos I used to learn the basic stitches (I'm sure there are much better videos out there, but these ones are good ...

Fossveien by Inga Semmingsen has (almost) everything: colour, cables and texture. If I am going to be honest, I chose this pattern for this week's candy because I love the colours of this sweater. The pattern itself is still quite beautiful. And with so many different feaures, you are sure to avoid the boredom of miles of stockinette that knitting a sweater usually entails.

As promised, in this post we will convert the Embellished Microplastic Ban Pattern that we created last week in a pattern better suited for Portuguese-style knitting. We will follow the same procedure as explained in the first part of this tutorial (published two weeks ago). First, we will use a stitch dictionary. That is pretty trivial. Then, we can follow two routes. The straight-forward one: invert the order of each stitch. The clever one: deconstruct the pattern and alter the order of its parts in order to obtain an easier pattern. This last route is pretty similar to designing a new pattern like we did last week and you will see that we will follow the same steps as we did then. Let's start by analysing a typical increase row on last week's pattern: k2, yo, k3, (yo, k2tog) x 3, garter stitch, (yo, k2tog) x 3, k2, k3. As explained then, the first and last 3 stitches, namely k2, yo and k3, form a sort of eyelet selvage. Inside those stitches there is a 3-stitch garter band...

Bohus was a Swedish knitting cooperative working in the mid 20th century and famous for producing beautiful hand knit sweaters with a very specific type of design. The sweaters were made of high quality fibres with a blend of wool and angora and had a circular yoke with beautiful stranded knitting geometric motifs that included purl stitches. The beautiful Lunenburg Pullover by Amy Christoffers is a beautiful example of a pattern made in the Bohus style.

As promised last week, here is a brief tutorial on how to add a lace enhancement to the microplastic ban pattern . We are going to add a band of lace to it. To be more precise, we will do a outer garter band of 3 stitches and an inner band of lace, with the centre of the pattern in plain garter. It sounds more complicated than it is, so just bare with me. There is a simple pattern at the end of this post, I promise. First, let us choose the simple lace stitch pattern we will use. Inspired by this pattern , I have chosen a modified version of the Lace Trellis stitch pattern (see A Treasury of Knitting Patterns , by Barbara G. Walker, p. 190). Here it is: Garter Lace Trellis (right slant) On an even number of stitches Odd rows (WS): * yo, k2tog, repeat from * Even rows: knit. Note: the right and wrong sides of this stitch look very different. Before, we continue, let me mention that the lace trellis pattern has a bias, which results from the slant of the k2tog stitch (which pu...

Today's candy is a project, not a pattern. It is a brilliant example of how with a little extra work and a bit of imagination one can greatly improve a pattern. This is Lucy's green variatsioon . I am not a big fan of lace, but the delicate open mohair fabric is the perfect match for it. And I love the colour.

A few years ago I wrote a post about converting increases and decreases from German or English-style knitting to Portuguese-style knitting. Do you need to do that? Not really, there is nothing to stop you from just going ahead and knit a pattern exactly as it's written. Then, why would you want to do that? Because most patterns written for German or English-style knitting include as much knit stitches and as little purl stitches as possible, since the former are much easier to work than the latter when you keep your yarn behind the needles. On the other hand, when working in Portuguese-style, you keep your yarn in front of the needles and thus you would like to purl as much as possible. The best example of this is, of course, garter stitch, as used in the microplastic ban pattern . There are two ways of converting this pattern to Portuguese-style: Straight-forward conversion: use the stitch dictionary and invert the order of stitches . Then, Increase row: k2, yo, knit to end. D...

Elorie by Elizabeth Doherty. I love the unusual idea of using slipped stitches, instead of the more traditional purl ones, to obtain texture. Lovely. And the boxy shape is all the rage this year.

My last post was all about banning microplastics from our lives by using our own hand knit dishcloths. What I did not mention is that garter stitch is surprisingly good at removing dirt and even scrubbing tough burnt food from pans. You would think the soft cotton would be rubbish for that, but those purl bumps are magical. They are also really good for cleaning glass windows. If you get tired of boring bias garter squares, round garter dishcloths are fun to knit and very pretty. The idea is to use short-rows to achieve a round shape using garter stitch. There are several ways of achieving this. Here I will start with some notes and then finish with a few patterns. Notes On cast-on and bind-off A provisional cast-on and a Kitchener bind-off allow a perfect finish. Otherwise, standard cast-on and bind-off can be used, but require seaming (the seam can be quite invisible too, check link to video tutorials on the basic circle pattern below. If using provisional cast-on and a ...

If you have been paying any attention to the news, you should know that there is a huge environmental problem resulting from plastic. This problem has two different sides to it, which are related to each other. One is plastic that is not properly taken care off and ends up everywhere, but specially at sea. These plastic pieces that range all sizes and shapes, originate from everything we use, toys, plastic bags, bottles, coffee cups, drinking straws... You name it, you'll find it floating in our oceans and slowly replacing the sand in our beaches. These plastic pieces cause all kinds of problems to our environment and scientists constantly find animals that are killed by either mistakenly ingesting or getting trapped in plastic. The other problem are microplastics. These are tiny pieces of plastic that are so small they are invisible to the naked eye and they are everywhere: in the water we drink, the air we breathe and even inside our bodies. Scientists believe that the tiniest...

I had a bit of a problem finding a photo that made full justice to Marin by Ysolda Teague, but you can follow the link to see more photos and get a better idea. Marin is a simple shawl that uses texture (simple garter and stockinette stitches) and easy cables to obtain a very original and beautiful result.

Rhapsody in Cables is a gorgeous sweater by Joji Locatelli. If you get bored easily, this is the sweater pattern for you. It's got everything: cables, lace and an unusual construction (the front and the top are knitted sideways from the middle outwards, then the sleeves are knitted as usual, while the back is knitted top-down). So, this is not an easy pattern, but definitely a fun one and the result, as I said, is gorgeous (it is rare to see a pattern where all the projects look so good).

Scapegoating If I was asked for a single reason for the bad reputation of the EU in the UK, I would answer: decades of scapegoating. To put it briefly: (i) every time the EU does something good for the UK (for example, money from the EU builds a new hospital or EU regulation forces the UK government to provide more nursery places), UK politicians (from the prime minister, to ministers, MPs and the local council members) will take the credit for it, (ii) when some bad or unpopular laws or regulations are passed (whether by incompetence or to protect some shadowy interests) the blame is put entirely in the EU. UK politicians constantly blame the EU for any unpopular measures, most often than not blatantly lying. And nobody corrects them or, if they do, these corrections hardly ever make headlines. The most serious example of these lies or omissions is the problem of freedom of movement in the EU. Most UK politicians agree that this is the main reason behind the Brexit vote (whether...

This cute raglan sweater is a vintage pattern published in 1965 by Vogue Knitting. It is probably next to impossible to find the original pattern, but you actually do not need to. Just find a nice standard raglan sweater recipe and adapt it. Getting the ribbing pattern right should be very easy (it is k3p2) and getting the funnel neckline cannot be much harder. Be brave.

Land & Sea by Andrea Yetman is a simple pattern for a cardigan knitted top-down and seamlessly. The collar and front bands are knitted after picking up stitches at the edge. This standard pattern is free and can be a good resource for knitting a cardigan. Unfortunately, the beautiful yarn used in the photo is both very expensive and difficult to obtain except if you live in the US. Their webpage explains it is shipped from Canada and I could not find any international delivery information (paradoxically they do not even mention delivery to Canada, only the US, prices are in USD only too).

The tubular cast-on is without a doubt the best cast-on method for ribbing (specifically for 1x1 and 2x2 ribbing). That is, if you consider the absolute perfection of the end result. It provides an edge that is invisible, in the sense that it blends seamless with the fabric, and is perfectly elastic. However, if you consider the work done in order to obtain such perfection, you may feel that this cast-on is too much trouble and other elastic cast-ons are good enough and much easier and faster to execute. This is the reason I have not so far bothered to learn it. Quite paradoxically, considering how common ribbed edges are, it is not a cast-on that I have found much use for. This is because I usually like knitting hats top-down, socks toe-up and sweaters top-down. For the latter, this is the perfect cast-on for the collar, but I find that collars that have been worked in one piece with the rest of the sweater tend to stretch too much and deform the sweater. Hence, for best results, I...

Sunday Tee by PetiteKnit, a very simple and very cute sweater.

In gardening bolting is a bad word. it happens to green leaves: lettuce, spinach, rocket, chard, cabbages, etc. A plant bolts when it starts to produce seeds. First, it generally grows a longer stalk, which is may be hard and hence inedible, with smaller leaves that are often bitter or at least more bitter than normal leaves. At the end of this stalk blooms will start to grow and eventually turn to seed pods. The real problem with bolting is that the plant will stop producing new leaves and at the end of the process it will simply die. We are talking about plants that are not perennial. Here is what I have learned from my very little experience at the allotment: contrary to what most people will tell you, once a plant bolts, you can still harvest and eat the leaves that are left. If you find them too bitter and hard for salad, cook them. All of the aforementioned plants are really tasty cooked. In many countries, for example in the Mediterranean and Far East, bolted plants are consi...

I absolutely love the texture and shape of Pàs by Sari Nordlund. A sweater that is both sophisticated and understated despite its complex texture.

I read this somewhere, but no longer remember where. My vague memory tells me that one investment expert, Nobel prize in economy or something like that, once claimed that all anyone needs to know about investing can be written in an index card. And here is (with some minor changes) the list that index card contained: Maximize employee pension contributions; Buy inexpensive, well-diversified mutual funds (ex: Vanguard Target 20xx); Never buy or sell individual security (i.e. stocks and shares); Save 20% of your income; Pay your credit card balance in full every month; Maximize ISA accounts; Pay attention to fees and thus avoid actively managed funds; Make your financial advisor commit to a fiduciary standard; Promote social insurance programs. I actually have a couple of advice I would add to the top of this list: If you have any debt, pay it before investing. The exception to this rule is a house mortgage. Make sure you have some money easily and quickly available for an...

Most of Lisa Hannes designs are triangle shawls knitted sideways, like Terzetto . One thing I like about her shawls is that they always look good on. There are too many designs out there that are a lot of fun to knit and look amazing when spread, but once you put them on all the main details disappear and you get a pretty boring look. A lot of designers do not even provide a photo of how the shawl looks around the neck, because they are trying to fool you into buying. But I am ranting, when I should be praising Terzetto. Don't you just love the way the colour work and the lace complete each other?

Sorry, no photo for this recipe, which is most unblog like. A true crime against blog etiquette! Quite unpardonable, I know. This is my go to recipe for chicken. I like the result so much I hardly ever cook chicken any other way. It is both light and tasty. It is also very easy to prepare. It is not exactly quick, but only because I thoroughly skin the chicken before cooking it. This is not absolutely necessary, but if you do not at least remove most of the chicken's fat, the dish will be a lot less light. As I cook it, the sauce has almost no fat and I like its flavour much better. However, if you do like the flavour of chicken's fat, you may avoid the nasty work of skinning and cleaning the chicken. Ingredients One chicken 4 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped finely 1 teaspoon of herb mix 1 laurel leaf 1 cup of red wine 1 cup of water a pinch of salt a pinch of chilli powder Recipe Skin and remove the fat of the chicken. In a pressure cooker, add the water an...

Hello you! It's been a long time! Here I am again to tell you about the book I have just read this morning. This post is about a short novella — I think I read it in one hour — written in 1939 by a Jewish Austrian writer exiled in Paris. Joseph Roth died of alcoholism very shortly after writing it. It is generally considered a masterpiece. It is also a very strange novel. It tells an extremely sad story in such a light way, and with such humour, that one cannot help smiling through it all. Even its tragic ending leaves the reader with a sense of almost joy. The story itself can be told in one single short paragraph, but I will refrain to do that and tell you to read it instead. It is very much worth it. Such a strange and precious thing. Michael Hofmann, the translator of my book, explains the lightness of this story in a single sentence: "A drinker's blackouts, confusions and carelessness — or liberality — are a way of experiencing the world." Roth, a heavy...

This is one of this patterns that has a very lovely stitch that is difficult to photograph. I really could not find a picture I liked, even though I really like Pörkenäs by Julie Knits In Paris. I ended up choosing Tuva's photo, because I love the long sleeves she added to the pattern. The sweater is worked in two-colour brioche, except for the hem which is worked in twisted rib(?), with increases and decreases used in order to obtain beautiful nature-like effects. You must click on the pattern in order to see other pictures that show the stitch better.