Miriam McDonald Simply Knitting's Production Editor

I've blogged about doing swaps before, and about my yarn diet. Here's the dilemma - if I get sent yarn in a swap, is it breaking the yarn diet? Should I put it in a bag where I can't use it until I declare the yarn diet over? I suppose the aim of the exercise was to stop me buying more yarn in order to reduce my stash, and in that sense being posted yarn doesn't count, although it isn't helping reduce the quantity in the basket and box at all.

I must admit, I got sent a humdinger of a knit in my last swap. Setting aside all the other goodies in the box, my swap partner sent me a lace scarf, knitted in a gorgeous muted green that I love. I do themed swaps, and it's always great fun to see how other people interpret a theme, but this time I've been awestruck. We get professionally knitted items in the office all the time, and as The Knitter is devoted to more technically advanced knits we do see some exquisite lace knitting on their desks. Well, this scarf is every bit as good as something they'd feature. It really is amazing. I feel almost guilty for owning something so special!

None of that really answers the question of whether getting yarn in a swap counts as breaking the yarn diet. On balance, it probably doesn't count, given that I have not actually bought it. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

(On the sock front, but the way, I'm planning to do the Nutkin socks Sarah recommended last week, but as I didn't have the pattern to hand over the weekend I cast on a pair of 2x2 rib socks. It'll be Nutkins after that!)

You may already be familiar with the UFO (Unfinished Object) Project Administration Service  – Rachael Matthew introduced it in an article for Simply Knitting issue 55, and showed off some of the results in issue 59 – but if it's new to you, the gist is simple. The UFO Project is encouraging crafters to dig out their unfinished knitting projects and send these UFOs to the UFO PAS for redistribution.

Knitters are also encouraged to sign up to take on a UFO and embellish, complete or reimagine the item to create something new.

It's a really fun project, and the blog is a neat way to get the message out, as well as being fun to browse so it's great to see that it's ticking along into the new year. Each post features a new UFO with its own story and many still need adopting, so if you fancy stretching your creativity then click on through and have a look.

Delve into the archives and you'll see some of the fantastic creations which they've been turned into. As an example, own own Production Editor, Miriam turned part of a school jumper into a bag. She blogged about the experience, too.

Read a great blog? Write a great blog? Tell us what it is and why you like it, and you might see it here next Friday.

 

Miriam McDonald Simply Knitting's Production Editor

Well, I've made it through a month of the yarn diet. Okay, so there are a couple of things that make it easier. First, if I have to do anything for the magazine Kirstie gives me the yarn for it, so I don't have to rely on my stash for these things. (All unused balls get returned to the office.) Second, I bought some yarn for one particular project, a swap, just before Christmas, so I had knits planned and yarn already bought when 2010 began. The stash hasn't grown, but it's not shrinking much yet.

I should complete socks (Pamela Northrups' awesome Jack Sparrow's Favourite Socks) for a friend at today's knitting group meeting, then I have only a jumper (Evelyn, from Louisa Harding's Gathering Roses collection) on the needles and any new knits will have to be done from stash. Still, there's still a couple of boxes of yarn in the spare room, so February shouldn't be too tough, right?

I've got lots of sock yarn in the boxes, so if you know of a good sock design I'm ready for recommendations.

Subscribe to Simply Knitting before 30 April 2010 and quote the offer code below and as well as your favourite magazine we'll send you a bumper yarn bundle and pair of bamboo needles.

As a subscriber, you'll:

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Basket not included. Colours may vary from those shown.

Why we like it

This bumper yarn bundle from Abakhan is a great way to extend your stash as you'll get several different kinds of yarn to try.

The bundle includes two 100g balls of Baby Aran; two 100g balls of Baby 4ply; two 50g balls of Tiddly Pom and two 50g balls of Kool Cotton, so you can whip up a small project right away.

It's a great pack to help a new knitter kick-start their stash, too, and the set even includes a pair of 4mm bamboo needles.

As the yarns are standard weights, it's easy to use them for any project you like. When your pack arrives, you can pick up your latest Simply Knitting and cast on one of our Quick & Easy Knits straight away.

 Colours may vary from those shown but we know you'll have fun knitting with this yarn.

Due to a technical glitch, the prize sudoku online entry form for issue 64 didn't work last week. It's all sorted out now, and you can enter the prize sudoku or see all the competitions for this issue.

Apologies for the delay in sorting this out – I was out of the office all last week.

The March issue of Simply Knitting is hits shop shelves across the UK today! We've got 24 fabulous knits tucked between the covers. With Mother's Day coming up, we've got some great ways for you to treat your mum, and we've also got a brilliant set of free bag handles and four patterns to use them with.


Click for a larger image.

Spring is on the way but it's still pretty chilly. Wrap up warm with our chunky coat shown on the cover or try a gorgeous textured tunic. We've also got great knits to keep the kids warm with a pretty girl's hoodie, a smart but casual boy's jumper and a sweet hat and wristwarmers set which is sure to appeal to teens and grown women alike.

We've got a fab cover gift for you this month: a set of brilliant bamboo bag handles. They're easy to attach, practical and sturdy – and we've got four fab bags for you to knit.


Click for a larger image.

Emma King designed these three stunners, and you'll find another way to use your handles in our Quick & Easy Knits section.


Click for a larger image.

If you've got a celebration coming up, we've got some great gifts – and some lovely treats for yourself, too. Our cute ankle socks are quick and simple, and easy bibs make a great gift for a new parent. If you're feeling the cold, wrap up warm with a funky neckwarmer or smart scarf. And there's lots more!

This month, Alan Dart has drawn his inspiration from In Stitches, our monthly comic strip drawn by Malcolm Bird and created a super cute Sox the cat for you to knit.



If you've got a cat at home, it's easy to change the colours to match your own kitty and he's a great gift for any animal lover.

Other great things to look out for in issue 64 include: 

• New spring yarns!
  
• Rachael Matthews welcomes Japanese textile artists.
  
• We find out about the Handknit Heroes knitting comic.
  

And don't miss any of your usual favourites: we're testing the best British wool yarns, we've got great books and patterns for you to try and our experts have lots of great tips.

The sudoku competition is currently not available to enter online owing to a technical glitch. Thank you to everyone who's let us know. Unfortunately the person who sets up the online competitions is on holiday, and so we will not be able to get it running until next week. All other competitions that should be active right now appear to be, and the phone lines appear to be working for all competitions, sudoku included. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but once it's working you'll be able to enter the sudoku online for several more weeks, so you will still have lots of time to enter.

See the magazine for full competition terms and conditions.

In the last fifty years knitting has typically been cast as women's work or, more lately, a strictly female hobby.

This is hard on the guys who knit (and we love our guys who knit) and it's not a coincidence that it's not taken that seriously and that knitting is often used as a metaphor to mean something dull, easy or old-fashioned while at the same time people often suggest that it's too difficult to learn, or that if you knit you must have a lot of time on your hands.

Well, we know what knitting is really like – it can be dull (remember the third foot of that first garter stitch scarf?), easy (when you know how!) or old-fashioned (like this beautiful book) but it's also a vibrant, changing hobby with lots of exciting designers and yarn-makers creating things that make you go 'ooh!' – and which you can make all over again, in your own way, in your own time, in your own home.

It's brilliant, really.

And as March 2010 plays host to both Mother's Day (14 March in the UK) and World Women's Day (8 March) we'd love to turn this stereotype on its head and celebrate the wonderful women who taught us to knit and helped us on our way. We'll be posting some of our stories, but you can help us get started by emailing us (if you'd like to share a photo, perhaps) or leaving a comment below.

Simply Knitting is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of women – more women than men, funnily enough – over the years and you can see two of them at the top of this entry: editor Debora Bradley and her mum, Audrey. "Mum taught me to knit and without that I'd never have found myself working on Simply Knitting," says Debora, "but she has also always encouraged me to try new things and to go as far as I can, both personally and professionally. It's important to remember, even if it's just once a year on World Women's Day, that we are standing on the shoulders of the generations which came before, the suffragettes who won the right to vote, the feminists who fought for equal pay as well as our own personal heroes."

If you fancy knitting one of these beautiful bags by Amanda Jones, then you'll need a pair of funky bamboo handles to finish the look – and we've got just the thing for you as your free gift with issue 64 is a pair of bamboo bag handles!

Issue 64 is on sale on Thursday 28 January 2010 and each issue comes with one pair of bamboo bag handles, as well as four more patterns to use them with, giving you eight bag patterns in total.

We first printed the patterns for these four beautiful bags in issue 54 but we thought they'd be perfect for our new set of handles. Cast on today and you'll be ready to add the handles when you pop to the shops next week!



Download your FREE pattern for Amanda Jones' four knitted bags (PDF)

As the new handles are a U rather than an O shape, we asked technical editor Kirstie McLeod for the best way to attach them to Amanda's bags. "Instead of leaving the hem at the top open, as for the O-shaped handles, place some ribbon or stiff fabric between the two layers to make it firmer and sew it shut," she recommends. "You can then sew the handles on easily, attaching each leg of the U to one end of the ribbon."

If you'd like to see the handles in action, you can get a sneak preview of the three bag patterns by Emma King we'll be featuring in issue 64 now.

This pattern is available to download as a PDF document. It won’t open unless you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download this program from the Adobe website for free. If you have Acrobat Reader and it’s still not working, try right-clicking the link and clicking “save as”. Save the document onto your computer – make sure you can find it again! – and try opening it from there.

Miriam McDonald Simply Knitting's Production Editor

I love a lot of early 20th century stuff, from the 1920s to the 1950s in particular. Films, fabrics, shoes... even perfume. Kirstie has a stash of vintage magazines and pattern books, from an amazing crochet sample book done by a distant ancestor of hers to patterns from the 1970s and 1980s. We were looking through them on Wednesday. I loved the 1930s needlework magazines in particular, which cover all sorts of techniques as well as knitting and crochet. Embroidery's not my strong point, but the pretty table mats and cushion covers are so lovely!

It's interesting to see how knitting patterns haven't changed much over the decades. We sometimes hear from people who think charts are a modern innovation, but I've got a 1930s pattern that uses charts (for a very natty man's Fair Isle scarf, glove and sock set, which my husband would refuse point-blank to wear). There are more words and fewer abbreviations in the early 20th century patterns, but the terms are all virtually the same, and most knitters should be able to follow them. In fact, when we get enquiries about vintage patterns in the Simply Knitting office, it's not usually about the patterns themselves but about finding a substitute yarn.

I feel a spell of vintage knitting coming on, once I've finished a few of my current projects... Have you made anything from a vintage pattern? Do you simply enjoy looking at them? Maybe I shall make the Fair Isle set anyway and wear it myself!

Simply Knitting issue 64 hits the shops on Thursday 28 January 2010. Enter our great giveaways and competitions by using the links below.

Rowan yarn giveaway, page 6
Sharpie goody bag giveaway, page 10
Stitch & Craft show tickets giveaway, page 12
Prize crossword, page 94
Prize sudoku, page 94

We would like to apologise for any confusion as a result of a mistake in Issue 14 of The Knitter, regarding the delightful lace-weight Heirloom Gossamer yarn from Artist’s Palette Yarns. We showed yarns dyed by Juliet at Artist's Palette Yarns, but the base yarn was actually designed by and custom-spun for Fleegle, not Juliet as we incorrectly stated. Fleegle’s beautiful yarn is also available, directly from her at The Gossamer Web.

Errata for Issue 11 of The Knitter including Osborne. ...

Traveller's Yarn is a knitting blog which really lives up to its name. Keen knitter and owner of an online shop, Yarn Workshop, Ingrid is currently blogging from Paris – but back home, she's still settling in after moving from Hong Kong to Sydney.

With plenty of finished objects, pictures of yarn, dyeing talk, yarn gossip and natter about notions to satisfy our yarn cravings and updates on her travels, Ingrid has created a fun blog with a wide outlook and it's a great way to do a bit of virtual travelling to somewhere warm on a wet British winter day.

Read a great blog? Write a great blog? Tell us what it is and why you like it, and you might see it here next Friday.

We've found proof that if you find out what your family want, the answers – and the resulting stash aquisitions – might surprise you. If you haven't seen it already, check out this Mail Online article: Thanks to Granny's Christmas jumpers, it's Britain's most colourful clan.

According to the article, Norma Bousfield knitted a brightly coloured jumper for her grandson last year, and it was such a hit that she's knit eight more for the rest of her family.

The Mail Online is treating it as a light, festive story – which it is, of course – but knitters, we know that there's a lot of work – and a lot of yarn – in nine adult-size sweaters, so we appreciate how much effort Norma has put in.

We love this story because it showcases knits that many people would disparage but which are clearly being enjoyed and because it shows off Norma's skills. While most Mail Online readers will probably focus on the colours, we've been focusing on the colourwork trying to figure out how many different techniques she used – she's clearly a very talented knitter!

It's also a great lesson to take to Knit Night – whatever your personal tastes, there's always something to admire in a well-knit sweater.

Miriam McDonald Simply Knitting's Production Editor

When I first started knitting, I had a basket, the sort you store logs in. The idea was that all the yarn I needed was going to fit in the basket. For a while, that was true, but discovering bargains online and at shows, learning to knit socks (and telling myself that one skein of sock yarn couldn't possibly count as 'more yarn') and even getting given the odd ball of discontinued yarn from work has expanded the stash massively. Now it takes up the basket, a box and a couple of plastic bags, so my new year's resolution is to go on a yarn diet. I am not buying any more yarn for six months.

I have plenty of sock yarn in the stash that I'm really keen on, and that's going to be easy to use, as are the three bags, each containing enough yarn to knit a specific garment. (All sale purchases – who can resist a bargain?) The garment designs are all still ones I like, so that yarn will get used. However, I learned to knit during the big 'novelty yarn' craze a few years back, though, and my tastes have shifted a little so that when I look at some of the stash I wonder how I'll use it now. Likewise, some of the limited amounts of unusual yarns might prove tricky to use, such as the three balls of Louisa Harding Castello. If you have any ideas what to do with that, please share them! Currently a lacy scarf looks the most likely option.

Have you tried a yarn diet? Did it work? Did you learn to love the strange oddments at the bottom of your yarn basket? It's going to be an interesting six months...

Elizabeth Bagwell Simply Knitting's Reviews Editor

It's snowing again and Bath looks beautiful. And while the snow is causing its share of problems for people around the country, one small thing is cheering me up as I slog through the drifts to work (it's uphill both ways, of course!) – my handknits are getting a lot of wear.

My mum, brother & boyfriend have been wearing things I made them, and so have I. I've been wearing my oops-that's-way-too-big super cosy cardi around the house, woolly socks (handknit, of course) and a hat I crocheted when I leave it.

However, I've noticed a real gap in my collection: MITTENS and A HUGE SCARF.  I've been alternating between a scarf my grandma made me and one from H&M and my gloves were – yep – store bought too. I've got plenty of dainty, lacy efforts for warmer winter days but I need to dig out my 20mm needles, double strand some yarn and cast on something like a duvet to wear around my neck!

I'm also on a quest for the perfect mitten pattern – flip top would be ideal, but it needs to have no colourwork or fancy bits – otherwise I won't have it finished by the next once-in-a-lifetime cold snap – so suggestions are really welcome!

Are your handknits enjoying the snow?
 

Enter the Arthritis Care Knimble Knitters Competition and you could win £200!

All you have to do is knit a hat, gloves or scarf and send the team at Arthritis Care four photographs of it. If you're shortlisted, they'll want to see the item in person, but for now you don't even need to walk to the post office! You'll find all the information you need, including the rules, on the Arthritis Care website.

As the competition is raising funds Arthritis Care, there's an entry fee of £2 per item. The competition closes on 15 February 2010 so it's time to start stitching – or have a photo shoot with your favourite knit from 2009!

After the hurly burly of the winter holidays, the new year feels like a fresh fall of snow, smoothing out the lumps and bumps into a blank white slate, ready to be written on.

If you're feeling as comtemplative as we are, then the gorgeous photographs and thoughtful words over at Raining Sheep are a great place to settle for a while.

Browsing backwards through the archives is like flicking through a colour palette of the seasons – for a foretaste of spring freshness, visit last year's posts from April or May, or if you're happy to stay with the present, enjoy the muted stillness a snowy January brings.

Read a great blog? Write a great blog? Tell us what it is and why you like it, and you might see it here next Friday.

We've unfortunately missed off the explanation for how to crochet a bobble on this pattern.

To make a bobble: work 3 dc into next space until 1 loop from each dc remains on the hook, yo and pull through all 4 loops on the hook.

Appolgogies for any delays to your project – we hope you'll enjoy this pattern!