i went into a wool shop yesterday and met debbie bliss

[jayjaybaby]

oh my god she is such a nice lady she was giving a chat to the local knitters i have just got started and had popped in to pick up some yarn i d ordered
she's so lovely and very clever and very understated she even signed my book for me
would love to chat to any one else that has been bitten by the knitting bug

Hello, i have just learnt to knit from a Debbie Bliss book.... the baby knit one. Have just knitted the little hat for ds (bit wonky) and started on another for a friend.... practise makes perfect so they say!? Am surprised at how addictive it is!

I knitted the collarless cardigan and the jacket with the bunny ears for DS before he was born. I'm really bad at sewing them up strongly though and when washed they tend to come apart.

I think these books make a good gift for a Grandmas who's threatening to knit. I got given lots of items after the birth that were styled in the Victorian era. Still feel bad that none ever got worn.

I don't really use pattern books. And hadn't realised Debbie Bliss was a real person!

But there are quite a few knitters on here. I have a knitting \link{http://knitonepurlonefrogone.blogger.com\blog} although I haven't updated for a little while.

(Current projects: doing proof-of-concept on a tie for DH, using tubular knitting, two-colour, some sort of colour pattern, not sure. Nearly done a sweater for DS2, no pattern, roll cuffs, texture/colour work near edges, seamfree.)

I like Debbie Bliss's patterns a lot. There are quite a few UK knitting designers who have helped promote the revival of knitting here.

DB patterns are on my 'to do' list, but even if I live to be 120 I don't think I will ever manage to do all the designs I want to do.
'To do' list is in my head, BTW.....

Can't see your blog, NQC....won't connect.

Whoops, tiktok, wrong blogger company. It's actually \link{http://knitonepurlonefrogone.blogspot.com\here}.

I do have a Debbie Bliss book somewhere, and tried to make a sweater from it for DS1. Followed the pattern strictly, and then couldn't get the sleeves to fit into the armholes (too small). Probably my fault, though, it was my second project.

Her yarns are good. And her patterns do seem nice and modern.

Her stuff is a touch boxy for the build of my kids (long bodied and quite thin), but I agree totally about Debbie (and Kim Hargreaves and some other designers) helping make knitting trendy again! Do have some nice patterns of hers for babies, and ds looks gorgeous in his fab (boxy) cream cotton guernsey :)
Lucky you jayjaybaby :)

Oh, and a great hat pattern I found today: \link{http://www.poormojo.org/cgi-bin/gennie.pl?Squid+232+bi\here}. Look at the bottom for the actual pattern.

Very very very cute hat. And I say this as someone who has made a lot of hats. This pattern has got my interested to get back into hats, which is probably a bad thing as I'm actually quite busy with the tie and the sweater (oh, and the new volunteer job, DS2 joining the co-op nursery, and my house being a terrifying mess with builders etc, and so on).

Hello jayjaybaby (and the usual suspects!). I am pondering Debbie Bliss's new silk book at the moment. I think she can be a bit hit and miss with the specifics, but I still like her books (lol at NQC not realising she was a real person :o)

I am attempting to knit the Rockstar Cardigan

Really like Debbie Bliss patterns too, the wee hat out of "baby knits for beginners" is lovely, although i did knit 2 before i got it right

My mum knitted dd several of the old fashioned style of baby cardigans while I was pregnant, they have been fantastic as bed jackets over her grobags at night when its cold!

Sirdar do a fab pattern for a hooded funky fur cardigan too if you're interested!

think she's great on technique and for bits and bobs. Made dd some lovely beaded mocasins before she was born. Completely impractical and didn't actually fit, and I shrank them by accident, but still , they were lovely to look at.

Think that once you're a bit competant though, for the money and yarn, Erika Knight is much nicer. Though maybe becuase my kids are long and thin too, so boxy doesn't suit them.

I'm also a big fan of joelle haverson, she does lovely creative things.

I was wrong, I have no Debbie Bliss books, I have instead a Rowan book. I think.

I'm trying to work my way through my extremely wanky bagels knitting book, and finding it's geared towards machine knitting, whoops. It's still interesting, anyway.

Also, have properly started the tie for DH.

NQC, amy pics of the tie you are making? My dh normally looks at what I am knitting and needs to be reassured it's not for him, whatever it is, but I am determined to make something for him soon :)

tiktok, still way too early for pics, but will tell you when I put any up.

I'm worried tubular knitting (double knitting) will be too thick for a tie. Am thinking maybe I should just do one in single thickness, but not sure.

Tubular knitting does let me do colour work without intarsia or fair isle. And one side of the tie will have grey as background, red as foreground, other side will have the same picture, but red as background, grey as foreground. Which is a cute trick.

Oh, and a Parent and Child knitting weekend sounds fun. Maybe a bit too much, though - do they do shorter events, too?

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=2280&threadid=169036\Link} to a relevant thread, particularly for the SE London crew.

Ah, I only have boys, and DS1 is only 4.5 now. I know he's not really ready to knit yet.

SueW, I have knitted two pairs of socks in the spirit of learning new skills, and the first pair was slightly worse than the second pair so I suppose I have improved ;)

I am wearing the second pair now and they are a bit baggy.

I think I need to try again with a needle size somewhere between the first two.

Socks are hard to justify, as even the expensivves ones are cheaper to buy, and handmades don't look hugely nicer than expensive shop ones...the only reason for doing them would be to make something unique and lovely, and while my socks are certainly unique they are far from lovely ;)

I do want to try again, though.

It wasn't the sizing but the shaping, SueW.....it was all over the place. Are you supposed to move the marker up a row each time, I wonder? Also, I should have done the cuff on much smaller needles - I only went down a size.

what was Debbie wearing?

SueW, I react the same way to normal wool, but merino is fine. I don't wear non-merino wool, and I don't knit with it, either. (A small percentage of normal wool seems ok, maybe - like 10% wool, 90% polyester. But then who wants to use yarn like that?)