A Knitting Sampler

I grew up in a house full of sewing, I was taught to sew at a young age and my Mum is a fantastic sewer, so our house was full of her (and sometimes my) work. She had a tapestry sampler at the top of the stairs which I used to stare at, study, and admire, it was such an amount of work which had gone into it, but I never really  thought much about why she'd done it.

I've been increasingly developing my knitting skills over the last few months and so had the idea to make a small knitting sampler, a good way to test out some new knitting patterns, as I've only really knitted in garter or stockinette stitch before.

The definition of a sampler is:

A (needlework) sampler is a piece of embroidery produced as a demonstration or test of skill in needlework. It often includes the alphabet, figures, motifs, decorative borders and sometimes the name of the person who embroidered it and the date. The word sampler is derived from the Latin ‘exemplum’ - an example.

Ok so my knitting sampler isn't really as above, but it was a good way to try out some new patterns.

 1. Moss Stitch
I started simple with Moss stitch. The pattern for this is very straightforward, just involves a lot of counting (which I love!) and I also love the texture of this stitch.

2. Chevron

So then I wanted to go onto more of a pattern so went onto a chevron pattern. I love this and would love to change the colour of the zig zag on this, that would be an amazing jumper!

3. King Charles Brocade

I tried the King Charles Brocade next as I love the delicacy of this knit. I'm not sure that I would want it all over a garment, but I love it as an edging, around the neckline or cuffs. 

4.  Purled Ladder

Next a geometric pattern. Quite fun to count, but I'm not entirely sure where you'd use this?

5. Seed Stitch

And finally, another small textured knit, similar in fact to the Moss stitch at the start. Again I love this stitch, it is very simple and satisfying to do, and I would love a scarf or jumper in this pattern. 

1. Moss Stitch

Any odd number

Rows 1 and 4: *k1, p1; rep from *, end k1

Rows 2 and 3: *p1, k1; rep from *, end p1

2. Chevron

Multiple of 8 sts + 1

Row 1: k1, *p7, k1; rep from *

Row 2: p1, *k7, p1; rep from *
Row 3: k2, *p5, k3; rep from *, end p5, k2
Row 4: p2, *k5, p3; rep from *, end k5, p2
Row 5: k3, *p3, k5; rep from *, end p3, k3
Row 6: p3, *k3, p5; rep from *, end k3, p3
Row 7: k4, *p1, k7; rep from *, end p1, k4
Row 8: p4, *k1, p7; rep from *, end k1, p4
Row 9: Rep Row 2
Row 10: Rep Row 1
Row 11: Rep Row 4
Row 12: Rep Row 3
Row 13: Rep Row 6
Row 14: Rep Row 5
Row 15: Rep Row 8
Row 16: Rep Row 7

3. King Charles Brocade

Multiple of 12 + 1

Row 1 (RS): k1, *p1, k9, p1, k1; rep from *
Row 2: k1, *p1, k1, p7, k1, p1, k1; rep from *
Row 3: k1, *p1, k1, p1, k5 (p1, k1) twice; rep from * 
Row 4: p1, * (p1, k1) twice, p3, k1, p1, k1, p2; rep from *
Row 5: k1, *k2, (p1, k1) 3 times, p1, k3; rep from *
Row 6: p1, *p3, (k1, p1) twice, k1, p4; rep from *
Row 7: k1, *k4, p1, k1, p1, k5; rep from *
Row 8: Rep Row 6
Row 9: Rep Row 5
Row 10: Rep Row 4
Row 11: Rep Row 3
Row 12: Rep Row 2

4. Purled Ladder

Rows 1 and 2: knit
Row 3 (RS): p2, *k2, p2; rep from *
Row 4: k2, *p2, k2; rep from *
Rows 5 and 6: knit
Row 7: Rep Row 4
Row 8: Rep Row 3

5. Seed Stitch
Any odd number

Row 1: k1, * p1, k1; rep from *

It Started With A Stool...

One of my favourite films is Juno, I had in on my ipod when I went travelling so watched it many many times.  I love that it begins with the line 'It started with a chair' and so when I was thinking about all my milking stool conversions over the last year or so, I thought it was a very good way to start a post.

1.

So it started with a stool. A milking stool to be precise, bought from ebay, plain and simple in a lovely varnished wood. There were plans for this simple stool, and soon it was given a lovely textured, knitted cover just for a Baby Photoshoot.

Covered in a lovely textured cream chunky wool in simple stockinette stitch, this stool first featured in the Baby Boden Autumn 2012 catalogue, as modelled by the very cute baby above!

Incredibly versatile, and so easily transformable, I then painted the legs in a lovely Farrow and Ball soft grey, and knitted a new grey/purple cover for the top. 

And finally, covered in a lovely jersey top print fabric from the Autumn 2013 Baby Boden range which can currently be seen on the preview website www.bodenpreview.co.uk

2.

Stool number 2, with slightly plainer legs also started life as the above with a simple cream knitted cover, leaving the legs natural. It was quickly then transformed with paint and grey wool to give the lovely new soft appearance as below. This one was knitted in a french knitted effect yarn, Bergere de France Bergereine in Rotin colour and I lovely the double knitted effect you get from this.

This stool was then transformed again for the Baby Boden Autumn 2013 catalogue, as seen on the preview website, with a lovely checkerboard knitting effect. 

3. 

Finally this slightly larger milking stool, bought from ebay, has also been transformed for various shoots, finishing in its current state a with pale grey frame, and a bright stripy yellow and white knitted cover, just waiting to be sat on!

And very finally, and it doesn't really go, apart from the fact that it's a stool, but I love this tall thin three legged stool covered in a light printed cotton fabric - gorgeous!

The Wool House

I love wool. I love knitting, felting and just the texture and colours you can get even in natural wool. So I was very excited when in March, a friend sent me a link to an exhibition in Somerset House called ‘The Wool House’.

 

In the exhibition, each room had a completely different theme all centred around the use of wool. One was really sumptuous and ornate with tapestries and Persian rugs, another was a child’s playroom, full of bright colours, and bold graphic shapes, another was completely natural, using sheepskin rugs and hand knitted throws, all in lovely muted creams and greys and another had a really Scandinavian feel to it, with layers and layers of block coloured felt, all cut away to show the colours underneath.

Finally they had a room with a weaving loom and a knitting class where everyone was sitting around, at different levels of knitting, all with plenty of people around to give advice and teach new skills. The whole place was mesmerising. I could have wondered around it for hours, and I think the photos help to give a much better idea of the exhibition that my descriptions could.