Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you, my lovely readers! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and encouragement in 2014!!

I hope you are all having a happy, safe and peaceful holiday season.
I will be back soon with photos of Christmas knits!

Hugs!
Bekah

Deck the Halls...

Hello! Well we're getting ready here for the festive season!
I seem to be in the mood for festive making this year - mostly decorations, but some edibles as well!

Of course the holidays wouldn't be complete without traditional paper snowflakes...

Although I did get a little carried away with the papercraft and turned our fridge into a snowman as well!

I've had some jelly stickers adorning my mirror too :-)

It was our house Christmas dinner on Thursday, and I was in charge of the cake... I chose to do my mom's traditional Buche de Noel, and was quite pleased with the results.

These are my latest decorating obsession... Knitted baubles!
 

It makes me happy to see them on the tree...

I can tell that these are going to become a bit of a thing... I want to make some like these fair isle lovelies, and like these adorable stockings as well!

What about you? Have you been making anything for the holidays?

WIPs... (Or all the half projects that I've started!)

I figured it's been a while since I've actually posted any crafty content, mostly because all my projects are half-finished and I haven't really had a chance to work on any of them!
But I thought I would share what's in my knitting basket at the moment :-)

First up is a labour of love - I have finished the head, body and tail, and one of the legs for the dragon for my sister... This is a project I have to sit down and really focus on - ask any of my housemates and they'll tell you it's common to hear me say "Ssshhh! Don't talk to me! I'm COUNTING!" while working on it... not exactly the most sociable of projects! I need to really set some time aside to work on it though... with only 17 days until Christmas, I better get a move on!

Which has led to me starting this project! Little granny squares which are easy to work on during knit and knatter evenings with the girls! These are a little more sociable as they're easy and I don't really have to think about what I'm doing...

They are for a preemie blanket for the hospital... I love the pastel colours - so cute!

And of course my knitting basket wouldn't be complete without a) A knitting project - I seem to be crocheting an awful lot recently! And b) a pair of socks! I finished my last pair in the summer, so I thought it was high time I get another pair on the needles! They are just simple ribbed socks in self striping yarn - I'm thinking they'll be an easy project to work on during the holidays :-)

Hope you have a great week - it's the last week of term for me, and we have our Christmas knitting party tomorrow! Hoping I'll be able to get some pictures to show you!

Friday Link Love...

Hello!
I hope you've all had a fabulous week - mine's been busy busy busy! The end of term always seems to be hectic! However, in amongst the busy-ness I have managed to find you some weekend links - enjoy!

Some interesting notes on grammar...

I think the fashion world has stepped into a timewarp - I've seen some of these trends coming back!

I LOVE Gilmore Girls, don't you? Here's the story of the "thousand yellow daisies"...

This knitting snow sculpture is so cool!

British countryside is pretty...

Who doesn't love Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett? Love their performances here and here.

Some New Year's Resolutions inspiration.

The weather is getting colder - time to break out the hot chocolate! This recipe looks good :-)


Hope you all have a lovely weekend - I'm going to be alternating essay reading with Christmas knitting... although I'm sure Christmas knitting may be my main choice! :-P

Snapshots from November...

Wow... I can't believe it's December already! 2014 has flown by!
Things are pretty busy around here with end of term events, so I haven't had a chance to take any proper pictures of current projects... But instead I thought I would share some of my Instagram photos with you from the past month for those of you who haven't seen them already!

This November I enjoyed going out for hot chocolate and croissants for a brunch date...

I've woken up to double rainbows...

I've made paper snowflakes to decorate the house for Christmas (yes, I'm one of those people who starts decorating early!)

But there has also been some knitting too - I taught my boyfriend to knit! I think he's done quite well so far, don't you?

And lastly, I've started some simple pink socks to work on when Christmas knitting/crocheting gets too much!

How was your November? What are you looking forward to in December?

Fabric Fun...

As you know, I had a fabulous day out at Slaithwaite a couple of weeks ago... we went to a spinning mill, and a weaving company... here are the last few photos from what was a wonderful day!

Our last few stops were to a couple of companies housed on different floors of an old mill... I loved the sign on the front - you wouldn't see that much now!

We visited McNair Shirts to start off with - they are a producer of luxury skiing and snowboarding shirts in Slaithwaite, and all their materials are sourced within the village. I got to see some of the shirts first hand, and they really are quite something. (I've not been given anything to say this - I'm just saying how impressed I was!)
Each shirt has a little bit about the company written in them...

What was really interesting was hearing the design process that went into the shirts, and about the materials that they are made of. Here is a before and after picture of what the fabric looks like to start with (on the left) and after felting (on the right)... This is what creates their unique fabric.

I'm sure their studio space is part of what really makes the shirts too - look at it! It's my dream space to work in! Big windows, wooden floors... One day... :-)

Our very last stop of the day was to visit another part of the Very English Weaving Company... It was dressmaker's heaven, with bolts and bolts of fabric on the shelves...

My last photo is this one - which is simply of a few bolts of fabric, which summed up all the processes I saw during the day. I had seen where the yarn that went into it came from, I had seen how it was made, and there it was, sitting on the shelf, looking very pretty. It was really cool to be able to see those few bolts of fabric, knowing exactly where they came from, and I know it will definitely make me think more about where other things around me come from :-)

Well thank you if you've managed to follow what was a very tiring, but very lovely day! I know many of you are similarly interested in textiles, so I thought I would share! :-)

Christmas is coming...

Are you ready for Christmas?? Luckily there isn't much for me to knit present-wise this year, however I had one very special request from my sister...

Can you guess what she's asked for?
I am going attempting to crochet her a dragon! I looked on Ravelry for a knitted one, but it was this rather cute crocheted one that caught my eye... I'm not very experienced with crochet though... wish me luck!

The Very English Weaving Company...

As if the trip to the spinning mill wasn't exciting enough, our next stop was the Very English Weaving Company...

Seeing behind the scenes here was cool, as it felt like stepping back in time - traditional materials, traditional machines...

Although this newer machine for creating the warp was quite impressive!

The weaving machines themselves were complicated - it obviously takes a very skilled worker. We were told that the people working the machines have to be a machine technician, and a weaver, as well as having other skills necessary for the job.

We could see some works in progress while we were there... Isn't this colourway beautiful??

Or this one? (I thought this red, green and beige combo was quite Christmassy!)

Even the colour cards were beautiful...

It was so nice to see such wonderful work being made in the UK - it is called the Very English Weaving Company for a reason! Unfortunately I didn't buy any fabric (although I was very tempted!), but my professor did, and it's nice to see the company being supported :-)

A Trip to Slaithwaite...

This past Friday I was lucky enough to visit the beautiful village of Slaithwaite (or "Slawit" as it's known to the locals) for a fabulous day of exploring the processes behind some of their local textile production. It was AMAZING - a whole day of talking about yarn and fabric? Yes please!
I was one of two students who decided to attend the trip... all I can say is that those who didn't go missed out on a treat!

Our first stop of the day was to a spinning mill...

On our way up to Slaithwaite I had had a discussion with my professor about how yarn gets from a sheep to being usable yarn - I mentioned about how it gets shorn off the sheep, sorted by quality, washed, and then carded before being spun into yarn. Sure enough, when we got to the factory, the owner described the very same process - I was quite pleased that I definitely had my facts straight! :-)
Their work begins after the carding process... and with these large balls of roving! (Apologies for the bad quality photos... I only had my phone with me on the day...)

There were containers FULL of balls like this - all I could think is all the yarn that could be made from it!
There were all sorts of interesting machines... like this one that takes all the "neps" or impurities out of the roving...

And spinning machines all working simultaneously to create the plies later to be twisted into yarn...

I had been told that all the yarn made there was for weaving into fabric... but the best part of seeing the factory was seeing this on the front of the building as we walked in...

It was the STYLECRAFT factory! I have some of their yarn in my stash, so I was so excited to see how my yarn came into being, and knowing that this is where it came from!
This was exciting enough, but we still had a few stops to visit... I'll share my experiences of them in some upcoming posts :-)

Winter Warmer!

I know, I know... I've not posted in a while... but it's totally worth the wait (or at least I think so!)
Whilst I've been quiet, and in between reading for my dissertation, I've been sneaking in a few rows on this...

I finally got around to knitting myself a hat! You'll recall I've knit this pattern not once, but twice, before (one was gifted, but you can see the other one here)... I love how simple and yet so pretty it is...

I am really looking forward to wearing this to keep me warm in the next few months as the weather turns colder. I'm not usually a hat person, but I think now I've made this one, I may change my mind!
The only modification made is an extra row or two more of the ribbing, and an extra pattern repeat, as I was looking for a slightly slouchier look...

Overall, very happy! I have more of this yarn in red... would it be bad to knit this pattern yet again??

Ravelry Project Details Here

Friday Link Love...

Happy Halloween! 

Well, the pumpkin is carved, the candy is ready by the door, and I'm sporting some rather fabulous bright orange Halloween tights!
All that's left is to enjoy these Friday links :-)

I've made some of these this morning... yum!

This would look really pretty...

If you could facepaint as well as this, who would you dress up as?

As a fan of colour, I thought these charts were really cool!

These rooms... can I put them together in one big house to live in?

As if autumn leaves weren't beautiful enough... here's a way to decorate them...

So. Pretty. Anne and Gilbert forever.

I'm so glad I learnt how to crochet - now I can make these!

And finally, some inspiring words...


Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!

Preemie Project...

So this has been my view this afternoon...

Buttons...

 Sewing them onto a button band...

... and a finished preemie jumper! 

This was knit from a pattern provided by our knitting group, which I only realised later was loosely based on this one. If I was to do this again, I think I would follow the original pattern (the variation where the button band is knit at the same time as the fronts...). As the edges of the fronts were uneven due to increases and decreases right on the edge, it made it very difficult to pick up the button band stitches neatly. I'm thinking I would get a nicer result if the button band was knit as part of the fronts... and if all the edging was either ribbing or garter stitch... I'm not a fan of it being mixed...

Ah well! All a learning experience, right?? Not to mention it gives me an excuse to make another one - it was so fun!

Besides, I think it's quite darling anyway :-)

Snapshots...

I've been having fun with taking photos this past week, as I have discovered Instagram! (Click to find me - thetangledknitter).
I'm quite enjoying it, as it's encouraging me to look for the pretty things in life so I can take photos to share with you all! Here are just a few things which have made me smile... not all were taken with Instagram, some have just been taken with my phone camera :-)

Found this pretty flower growing on my spider plant... 

I love that it's the time of year for Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

An interesting book found in the library...

 Aren't granny squares pretty?? They've been sitting waiting for inspiration, think I may have to make a few more just to be sure...

I love that I get to read this book for schoolwork... such an interesting read!

Cookies and Hot Chocolate to help with studying...

Afternoon knitting...

Really looking forward to using Instagram more - combined with blogging, it's so nice to have so many ways to connect with my blogging friends!

Friday Link Love...

I'm so happy it's Friday, are you?
It feels like I've not done a Friday Link Love post in a while so thought I would share with you just a few things that I've found interesting or pretty :-)

These are cool... linking two of my favourites - clothes and books!

Some lovely words.

I adore following this pinner - eye candy for any knitter/crocheter!

Clever crafty ideas... corks as needle point protecters? Who knew?

Wishing I could spend my autumn evenings here or here...

Speaking of autumn... it's so nice to be pinning on this board again! I love this time of year!

Have a lovely weekend!! :-)

Not another granny blanket!

I could never get sick of crocheting granny squares... seeing the piles of them grow, knowing they are going to be turned into a lovely snuggly blanket makes me very happy!
For this blanket, I'm trying to make every square different, which means when I'm working on it, my floor gets covered with crocheted squares while I try not to duplicate any!! :-P

One thing I am unsure about is the setting... I quite like them when they are all next to each other, like this...

But to me a whole blanket in that setting could look too busy, considering how small they are. So I have thought about checkerboarding them with white squares, like this...

I think it could make the blanket quite light and fresh looking... but I can't decide!!

What do you think would work best?