Basket

Blog

Home/Knitting
A table in front of a leaded bay window. An open pattern book is surrounded by balls of Shetland wool and knitted colour work samples. There is a tray with a mug of tea and a teapot.

Fair Isle

I have three different types of knitting: a small portable project for travelling; knitting for work, we always need samples and there’s usually a time limit so these are the ones I work on most and finally something I’m making …
read more
Lewes mittens

Lewes

The plan was to publish this pattern at the beginning of December; a perfect last minute gift that used scraps of yarn – then the website went wrong.  Really, really wrong.

read more

Howling

Howling: a fictional Sussex village in Stella Gibbons’ classic novel, Cold Comfort Farm.  A place where gumboots are essential and the wind comes in “snarling cries”.  Also the name for this easy to memorise, mock rib cowl that’ll keep the …

read more
A woman standing under a tree wearing a linen knitted jumper

Utility: Worn and Wearable

Sadly my life is not dressy and glamorous.  T-shirts and jeans are my normal workwear, I only have to put on a skirt for comments to be made on my appearance – not always a good thing!  Occasionally I’ll buy …

read more

Utility Cowl

  I’ve been obsessing about vintage linens.  Not historic textiles but the sort of linen your Granny had in the kitchen drawer.  The sort that might have a few darns but still has plenty of wear and didn’t smear the glasses.  Miss …

read more
selborne sock

Selborne

Selborne is a small village in Hampshire close to where our grandparents lived when we were children.  Famous to most for the home of Gilbert White, the naturalist and for us the zig-zag path and violets.

read more

Sampler

Sampler, a warm woolly scarf to keep out the winter draughts and just what you need to knit when the temperatures hit 30°C. We had this scarf as a sample at Woolfest and we also meant to have the pattern …

read more

Provisional crochet cast on

When I taught myself to knit in the early 1980’s life was simple when a pattern said cast on you did just that, a simple cable cast on and off you went.  There was only one way to cast on, …

read more

Wiveton

I live with a bird watcher and our holidays are spent where the birds are sometimes this has added benefits, the bird observatory on Fair Isle is fantastic, luxury rooms, amazing scenery and a museum with knitting, what more could …

read more

Hot Water Bottle Cover

  Our house is old and over the years it’s been pulled about, the floors have been taken up and the windows were replaced when a neighbouring house was bombed and now nothing fits.

read more
  • By
  • 26th January 2016

Ainsworth & Prin Kits

I spend hours travelling to my day job. About three and a half hours a day driving in and out of London, sat in traffic contemplating the rear bumper of the car in front and day dreaming. I’ve been on …

read more
  • By
  • 13th January 2016

When pear shaped is good

When Louise said that I was to come up with a few lines of inspiration for our first blog post my mind went blank.  It does the same when I’m trying to remember a song or book or even more …

read more