Becoming bicraftual

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Natasja in Knitting, My knitting

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Ever heard of bicraftual? Probably not. It’s a word I invented to describe someone who crochet and knits. Bicraftual – she who partakes in two yarn crafts: crochet and knitting.

As of Sunday afternoon, I am bicraftual. I’m knitting a v-neck sweater for myself! I was looking at all the interesting things on the LoveKnitting.com website and this Stylecraft pattern caught my eye. It’s so totally my type of sweater. It’s loose, v-neck, not too flashy yet with a bit of detailing to make it interesting. The Stylecraft Stars yarn suggested for the pattern has the exact gauge as my Vinnis Nikkim so I didn’t even have to buy any yarn. I’m making my first knitted sweater in the beautiful soft avocado green. It really is very, very pretty.

At the moment I’m still doing the detailing at the bottom of the back panel and I’m really enjoying myself. Counting stitches, concentrating, yarn overs, ribbing – the stuff that keep things interesting. Once the detailing is done (just 18 rows to go) I have to tackle the hundreds of stocking stitch rows that make up the rest of the back. Memories of knitting a scarf and getting REALLY bored are coming back to me, but I’m refusing to let those memories dampen my spirit. This isn’t a scarf – it’s a beautiful soft cotton v-neck sweater that will be a staple item in my wardrobe.

Eye on the prize Natasja. Eye on the prize.

Stylecraft Yarns won and to be won

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by Natasja in Crochet For Kidneys, Part 1

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Loveknitting, yarn

The title of this post sounds like a Chines take-away doesn’t it? “Chow mein and wonandtobewon please. No chopsticks, I need a fork” Hahaha

Moving on….

I won Stylecraft Espresso yarn in a giveaway through Twitter. Yeah! Free yarn! Stylecraft tweeted that the next person to like their Facebook page, would win five balls of Espresso yarn. My timing was perfect and the Gods of Crochet were on my side again: I won! When they tweeted my name as the winner and asked that I get in contact, I told them that I would not keep the winnings for myself, but rather give it away as a raffle prize at the Kidney Research UK event on 9 November. Paying it forward, sharing the yarn loving and all that 😉

Espresso yarn

But wait, there’s more. When Stylecraft heard that I will be giving away my winnings they said they would send me a little something extra for the event!

What they sent was Stylecraft Special DK in pinks, oranges and white. You know I’m not a huge fan of pink, but the combination of pink and orange really does look scrummy *quoting Mary Berry*. Stylecraft asked that I “be creative” and use the yarn to create something for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I kept half of the yarn for that (I will show you what I made for Breast Cancer Awareness in a follow-up blogpost) and the other half is a second prize for the raffle. Score!!

Thank you Stylecraft for being so generous. I’ve always loved using Stylecraft yarns – my Identity Crisis blanket was made using only Stylecraft Special DK, and their Cotton Classique is a brilliant DK cotton at a very good price. Now that I know how generous the Stylecraft Yarns people are, I’m an even bigger fan.

If you want to get your hooks into these prizes, you would have to buy a £1 raffle ticket at the Crochet for Kidney Research UK event in Thames Ditton on the 9th of November. 15 Days to go to the big day!!!

If you can’t come to Thames Ditton, Loveknitting.com sells a huge selection of Stylecraft yarns here and until midnight 27 October they are giving 10% discount on all DK yarns if you use the code DOUBLEORKNITS. And remember, if you put in my name (Natasja King) in the “Referred By A Friend” box at checkout, you will get 15% off on your first order at Loveknitting.com!

Vote for your favourite

07 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

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Loveknitting

One of my favourite online yarn shops is up for two awards in the British Knitting Awards. Knitting! On a crochet blog! How very dare you!

Now, now. Play nice. We’re all yarn loving crafters, finding immense pleasure in our chosen yarny activities. (Attic24 is up for best blog so eventhough it’s the Knitting Awards, crochet is obviously welcome.) It is in this spirit of inclusiveness that I was hoping you would cast your vote here.

I’ve placed my vote for Loveknitting as the Best Online Store and the Best Website. (There’s that “knitting” on a crochet blog thing again. Share the love.)

I honestly do love Loveknitting. They have a super easy website to use, regular newsletter with great discounts (at the moment all Cotton, Silk and Bamboo is discounted by 10% with discount code 10CSB), purchases are lovingly wrapped which make you feel like you’ve bought from a small Indie yarn seller and they’re just generally a nice bunch of people.

Of course you can vote for whomever you want and even add a designer / blog / website under the “other” option for each category.

Voting closes on 20 September and you stand the chance to win a UK mini break worth £500 sponsored by Great Little Breaks. Wouldn’t it be nice if one of my blog readers win the mini break!

Go on, get voting.

The start of a (mainly) grey sweater

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet

≈ 11 Comments

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crochet, Lionbrand, Loveknitting, yarn

It seems that Autumn has well and truly arrived in the UK. That means only one thing: time to start making those wooly sweaters and cardigans. Yeah!!!

I actually started planning the sweater I’m currently (inbetween the projects with my Aida crochet thread) working on, way back in May. If I say “plan” I mean, find a pattern and buy the yarn. The dark grey Garnstudio Drops Merino Extra Fine was bought on Mastercard Morning. Two of those Mastercard Mording projects are completed, this one is the only one left to go.

I’ve since changed my mind about the pattern though. I really tried to get my head around Doris Chan’s Talle Latte but I just couldn’t do it. It was causing me so much stress to figure out what she wanted me to do, that I just gave up and looked for something that I would enjoy making – enter Lionbrand’s Driftwood Pullover. I will only refer to it as Driftwood this once though… Watch this clip from Meet the Fockers, and you’ll know why. Until I find a more suitable name for the sweater, I’ll just call it The (mainly) Grey Sweater.

“Mainly” because I’ll be adding Redcurrent red to the grey. Surely you’ll know by now that I would be incapable of doing a whole sweater in a solid charcoal grey. No Sirree. I’m going to use the Sublime Extra Fine Merino for the neck, wrist and bottom edging. Right? Can you see it? The tiny lines of red just to add a pop of colour to the dull grey? Yes Sirree!!

The Sublime was bought at a online haberdashery store I stumbled upon called LoveKnitting. Now you crocheters shouldn’t be putt off by the reference to knitting. As can be seen from the photo below, they also sell crochet hooks so it’s not all knitting. I bought the 12mm KnitPro Symfonie hook to take along to the Granny Square Workshop I’ll be attending at Toft Alpaca Farm on Saturday. (Can Not Wait!) I’ve never used Symfonie crochet hooks, but they look so pretty and colourful how could it not be a great crochet hook?

I was so impressed by Loveknitting’s packaging that I just had to take a photo to show you. Can you believe that this is the way a big online store would package their items? It looks like I bought the yarn and crochet hook from an Etsy or Folksy seller. Huge thumbs up to Loveknitting for adding a personal touch!

Another great thing about Loveknitting is the 10% discount you receive on your first order and they also do free postage if you spend more than £25 in one go. I also like the way they sort the yarns on their site: you can search according to weight, brand, colour and/or fibre and the whole site has a clean and modern feel. For an online store only operating since April 2012, I think they’re great!

Before I spend more money at Loveknitting, I have to finish 42 of the 58 squares for The (mainly) Grey Sweater. The sooner I get through the grey, the sooner I can get my hook into that Sublime Redcurrent and then on to the gazillion other crochet projects on my To Hook List.

Oooo, I see that Loveknitting gives you 10% off all yarn bought before midnight 2 November with code 10SPOOKS…. as if I need any more encouragement to buy more yarn!