Giant Crochet and a Giant Grandma

There's always something interesting happening in Liverpool, and more often as not it's something you can get involved in. Recently, in the company of the Happy Hookers, I was busy making a giant tree cosy for the Mark It, the Liverpool Street Art Festival.

I'm just going to take  moment to sing the praises of my new crochet hooks, KnitPro Waves, I did the whole thing with the 10mm and it was wonderful. I've got lots of the bigger sizes but need to stock up on the smaller ones now!

Back to business, whilst the rest of the Baltic Triangle was playing host to graffiti and paste-up artists, we took over an entire street and at 5am we covered all the trees in knit and crochet loveliness.

That was on June 27th, and they were still looking great when I passed them on Friday to go and see another great Liverpool event, the Giant Spectacular!

Isn't she fantastic? I particularly love her patterned dress and the detail of her hair, she has such a kindly face too. They were here all weekend, with a big finale on the Sunday as they sailed off onto the Mersey (I was stuck in work though, boo).

 All the crew were looking very dapper dressed in velvet frock coats and breeches but I definitely didn't envy them in this heat!

 I would like to have seen more of Xolo the dog but I ended up stuck behind a load of tall people on the Saturday and couldn't really see him, a shame as he's a real crowd pleaser!

Just look at that grin!

Handmade Home: Crochet Face Cloths

Last weekend I was at St Georges Hall for the second annual Summer Arts Market, and the few weeks running up to it were hectic to say the least (although I still managed to squeeze in a trip to see Caitlin Moran in Birmingham!) Once it was all over on Sunday evening I had a little bit of self-indulgent crafting time and got out a couple of unfinished projects. My EPP project is still on the go, with just a few hexagons to attach before I decide what to do with it (I'll be asking for your help with that). The other project is a set of crochet wash cloths.

I used Twilleys Freedom Sincere, an organic cotton yarn, and a 4.5mm hook. The patterns I got from Ball Hank n' Skein blog.

 The blue and white cloths are the Grit Stitch pattern.

 The purple is the HDC Shell pattern.

 The yarn is really soft and squooshy but makes for a good textured cloth, and the colours are great too.

Each cloth took just under one ball of yarn, and with the left overs I made a little hexagon medallion face scrubbie!

Knitting with Cables

Cable knitting is one of my favourite techniques, and it's also incredibly easy to learn. With just a few simple tricks you can make endless variations on basic cable designs and use them to add texture, warmth, and visual interest to almost anything. Here are a few of my top picks from Etsy that show just how versatile a technique it is.

 

Cable knits are still very popular for homewares, this cushion cover by jennilyons81 uses a very basic cable design to create a cosy looking piece.

This made-to-order throw by HanksAndNeedles combines cable patterns and lace knitting to achieve  a very sophisticated finish.

Cable knit headbands were everywhere this winter, and this pattern by CableCable is particularly fun, combining a five strand braid pattern (easier to do than it looks) and a simple two strand cable on the 'knot' band.

Cable knitting is probably best known in Aran sweaters, and this bag by KnuttinButYarn uses traditional Aran motifs, like travelling cables and moss stitch, to create a chunky, rustic looking piece.

Cable knits needn't be chunky; these button down legwarmers by gertiebaxter are knit in a lightweight yarn and are perfectly complemented by the delicate lace edging.

Even dogs love cables! This french bulldog is modelling a lovely basket weave sweater by bychancedesigns.

If you are in the Merseyside area and interested in learning how to knit cables you can book a place on my class with the Liverpool Happy Hookers on April 8th. We'll be at Hopscotch on Matthew Street from 7pm and I will teach you everything you need to know to create beautiful cable designs. Check out their Meetup page for more details!