An update - the Comme Ca top

Things are going well on the Comme Ca crossover top, my most recent knitwear design. I’ve finished all the different elements – the back, the two fronts and the two cap sleeves. Everything is blocked apart from the sleeves.

So now I have a decision to make. Normally when I do a collar I sew one shoulder edge together and then pick up stitches around the whole neckline, creating a single collar with no join. To do this with the crossover top, I would have to pick up stitches all the way up one front, around the neckline of the back and all the down the second front. That’s a heck of a lot of stitches. Doing each piece separately, however, means joins in the collar.

My usual way of dealing with this would be to take my preferred option and just see how it goes. But in this case my preferred option is to do the collar in one go, and picking up all those stitches is going to be somewhat labour intensive. If it doesn’t work, and I suspect it won’t, that’s an awful lot of time wasted. Maybe a compromise would be to join one front to the back and do the collar as one piece then edge the second front and join it all together.

The edging still needs to be added to this.

Review: Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

This was an intriguing book rather than an engaging one. It’s not the most original story – all the elements of a haunted house story are there. An old, exclusive apartment block in Kensington. A mysterious apartment that remains locked but from which strange sounds emanate. An evil presence that tortures the residents in both life and death. The ageing residents themselves, who guard a terrible secret that binds them together as it tears them apart.

It’s the treatment of these tropes that lifts the book. Art becomes both catalyst and reason for the ghostly (or even ghastly) goings-on in apartment 16. And there are enough twists and turns to keep you reading on. One character in particular seems to be innocuous but turns out to have a dark secret of their own.

Into this charged situation come Apryl, an American who has just inherited an apartment in the Barrington House and everything inside from her great aunt Lillian, whom she never knew, and Seth, an artist who has moved to London to pursue his dream of painting but ended up working the graveyard shift as night watchman at the block.

Apryl discovers the mystery of apartment 16 when reading her aunt’s increasingly confused journals and is determined to find out what happened. Seth is drawn to the rooms on his nightly rounds of the building and finds himself in deep over his head.

But it was these two characters that didn’t work for me. I found neither at all sympathetic. Apryl comes across as rather self-obsessed, while Seth is pathetic and self-pitying. I found myself not caring what happened to them, not caring whether they lived or died. What I did care about, though, was the mystery. I wanted to know what happened in apartment 16 and what still happening. I was intrigued about the real identity of the evil presence.

So, not a perfect book, but certainly a readable one.

The inaugural new Sunday Best

So here it is. The new-style Sunday Best. Enjoy.

Best photo
This was a difficult one. I follow a few accounts on Twitter that post the most amazing photos from around the world and it was hard choosing just one great image. This one of the Blue Dragon Odeleite river in Portugal, from @earthposts, won out because I love dragons. I’ve even got a Japanese one tattooed on my shoulder blade.

Best Pin
A four-layer cake with vanilla, caramel, chocolate-caramel and chocolate, complete with chocolate ganache topping. What’s not to like?

Best pattern
This Shimmering Shoulders shawl in Kidsilk Haze Glamour is gorgeous. The perfect summer evening cover-up for a posh garden party. The pattern is available free; just fill in the form for a copy.

Best product
The Utopa sofa. I suspect this is way, way out of my price range, but I love it anyway. It just looks so cosy. Who wouldn’t want to curl up right at the back with knitting and nice glass of wine?

Inventing a new kind of sleeve

One of the best things about design is figuring out how to do new things. The crossover top I’m making has got cap sleeves, something I’ve never knitted before. This meant some experimentation.

The sleeves have to be wide enough to cover my shoulders and the tops of my arms, but also shorter than the length of the armhole, otherwise they’re just short set-in sleeves. They also have to decrease properly so they can be sewn into the armholes. I had to work out how many stitches I’d need to make the sleeves the right width and length with the right amount of decreasing so that it would all fit together.

First attempt. The straight edge (right) was to
be sewn into the armhole; the curved edge (left)
wouldthen form the sleeve. It doesn't look
like much, but with a ribbed cuff on the curved
edge it did look good. Just not right for this project.

My first attempt was completely wrong. I tried doing them sideways. So I cast on two stitches and increased along one edge until I was about halfway across and then decreased back down to two stitches. The idea being that I would sew the straight edge into the armhole. But the finished piece wasn’t long enough. It looks nice, just not right for this item of clothing. It’s certainly something I can try to incorporate into another design.

So my second attempt I did in the more traditional manner – starting at the cuff. For this I went back to the original item and measured the width of the sleeve. Then I cast on the right number of stitches to achieve that width and started knitting. Again this took a bit of experimenting with how long to knit in straight stocking stitch before starting the decreases, how many decreases to do and where to do them and so on, but I soon managed to create a cap sleeve that looks to be the perfect size and shape. Now I just have to make the other one.

Second attempt. This one seems to fit perfectly in the armhole
gap and appears to be the right size and shape.
I'm going to add a 1x1 ribbed cuff and then it's done.

A Scottish Sojourn

No 'proper' blog post today as I spent the weekend in Scotland. This was my first-ever visit to the country, which is shocking really as I used to go up to Northumberland two or three times a year when I was younger. You'd think at one point our parents would have taken us across the border.

I travelled up with my mum. We stayed in the village of Tomintoul in the Glenavon Hotel. The point of the visit was to see Black Grouse and Osprey, and we got both, so we were very happy. There were also bonus Red Grouse, Eurasian Curlew, Oystercatcher and tiny Northern Lapwing chicks. Mammals seen were Red and Roe Deer and Red Squirrel.

I'll be writing up a full report for the Birdwatch website and post a link on here.

Sunday Best - a new direction

Just a short post today. When I first started doing Sunday Best posts the idea was to find cool stuff from around the interwebz, but I’ve realised it’s very quickly turned into a list of stuff that you can buy from Folksy or Etsy, which isn’t the point at all.

To fix this I’m introducing a new, more structured approach. Each week I’ll have a series of ‘Bests’ which I’ll have found over the internet, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. These will be Best Picture, Best Pattern, Best Pin and Best Product. Hopefully this will make these posts altogether more interesting and useful.

The new approach will begin a week on Sunday, as this weekend I shall be in Scotland looking for Black Grouse and Osprey.

New crochet design

In progress. Single rounds of treble crochet form
the thin rounds and double rounds of the same
stitch make up the thick rounds.

I’ve just embarked on a new crochet blanket design. The pattern was inspired by the print on a duvet cover glimpsed on TV show Murderland. It’s a series of concentric circles of differing thicknesses in white, pink and red.

I’ve figured out how to make the circle, working the right number of increases to create a flat piece that won’t curl up. I tried out several versions to get the right look. First using a quadruple crochet stitch combined with double crochet to make the different thicknesses, but finally deciding on using just treble crochet, but one row in a single colour for the thin circles and two rows for the thick ones.

Working out the increases proved problematic. I searched for advice, which said to increase by the number of stitches in the first round, so if you crochet 12 stitches into the foundation circle, then you increase by 12 on every other round. But I decided to ignore this and try random numbers of increases. Turns out that I should have just followed that formula. You live and learn.

The plan now is to make lots of circles, alternating the pink and red rounds, and then crochet them into squares and join the squares to make a blanket. I might then border the whole thing with smaller circles in squares, again alternating the pink and red.

Two finished circles. Now I just have to figure out how to
make them into squares so they can be joined.

Making money from your knitting

Last week I concluded that it’s probably best to not try to make money by selling your knitted products. But of course that isn’t the full story. So how might you go about making your knitting pay?

1 Sell your patterns
The best way to make money is to design and sell your own patterns. There are lots of knitting and crochet magazines in the UK and more across Europe and in the US. There are also online magazines, but beware of these as a lot of websites don’t pay.

You’ll need to be able to write your patterns in a clear and concise way, so you’ll need to be very familiar with the standard abbreviations and knitting ‘language’. Different magazines will probably have different conventions so it’s worth getting style guides from them all. Email commissioning or technical editors and find out what each magazine looks for in a pattern and then try to match your skills to that.

The growth of self-publishing means that you can even publish your own pattern books for a fraction of the cost of a traditional book. eBooks are great – a whole pattern book that is conveniently stored on your phone or tablet. But keep quality in mind. If you can’t provide decent, colour photos and well-written copy then this might be one to avoid.

2 Knit small things
The big problem with selling knitted items is the time it takes to make anything. This isn’t the case with, for example, baby booties and hats. Make a matching set, put them all in a tissue-paper-filled box and, hey presto, you’ve got a saleable item! If you then manage to build a reputation for high-quality knitted babywear, you’ll soon be able to charge more for bigger or more complicated items like blankets or clothing.

This cute hat and bootie set hardly took
any time at all to make.

3 Knit for other people
Designers need pattern testers. You’ll need to be fast and highly skilled, but if you think you fit the bill then try contacting some designers to see how much they pay and how much knitting is expected of you.

4 Write about knitting
If you can write, you can make money by providing copy for knitting or crochet magazines. I work on a birding magazine and we get unsolicited feature ideas all the time. Good ones make it into the magazine. You’ve got nothing to lose, so why not jot down some ideas and email all the relevant publications.

How to get free patterns

If you’re anything like me, your pattern book/magazine stash takes up at least as much room as your yarn stash. The cost of all those books and magazines soon adds up. I’ve stopped buying magazines and I generally only get books as presents these days. But there are some ways to source great free patterns.

1 Ravelry
Ravelry is a fantastic site for free patterns. The search facility is excellent, really easy to use and with lots of search terms so you can find exactly what you want. You can also request that only free patterns are displayed, so you don’t have to wade through lots of paid-for ones. This is the search function that every pattern site’s search facility should be judged by. Ravelry should be your go-to place for freebies.

2 Yarn suppliers
These will often provide free patterns to support their yarns. Red Heart is particularly good, with 2,005 free knitting and crochet pattens at the time of writing. Red Heart yarns aren’t available in the UK, but you can usually substitute with something suitable. Designer Yarns (stockists of Debbie Bliss, Noro, Louisa Harding and more) also offers lots of free patterns.

Red Heart's Octagons & Squares Crochet Throw
is a gorgeous free pattern.

3 Craft blogs
Bloggers can be a great resource for free patterns. Established designers will often publicise a new range by offering a free pattern, and you can get hold of patterns by such well-known names as Debbie Bliss. It’s worth following budding designers too, as these will offer free patterns to help get their name out there.

4 Vintage
In the UK, copyright expires after 70 years, so any patterns from before 1943 are copyright free. It’s worth searching for old patterns to see what you can find. This doesn’t mean that all vintage patterns you find on the internet will be free. People can charge what they want for vintage patterns they’re offering on their websites. It does mean, however, that you should always check whether you can download a pattern for free before you part with any cash.

Keep an eye out for pattern books in charity shops too. These won’t be free, obviously, but you can pick up some great bargains.

5 Design your own
This is by far the most fun way of getting free patterns, in my opinion. You also learn lots of new techniques, improve your knitting and end up with a garment that’s totally unique, totally your style and fits perfectly.

This Union Jack iPhone cover is one of several covers I've designed.

Sunday Best - Pretty and practical

"Never have anything in your house that you do not know to useful or believe to be beautiful," said William Morris. Well, this Sunday Best is all about things that are both.

Pink Polka Dot passport cover
Passports are such dull things. They should all be given a makeover with one of these.

Fabric-covered boxes
This is a great idea - a tutorial on how to cover boring cardboard boxes with gorgeous fabrics.

Madeline handmade bag
This is ultra-cute and would make a great evening bag.

Applique Pastel Rainbow on Linen purse
A lovely little coin purse that would surely match perfectly with the Madeline bag!

Just a short one this month. The photos all remain the property of the original photographers; please click the links for more information. And if anyone attempts the box-covering tutorial, do let me know!

How to charge for hand-knitted items

This is something I’ve been thinking about ever since agreeing to knit a baby cardie for a friend to give to a colleague of hers. At the time we agreed she would pay for the materials and buy me dinner, and we’re both happy with that. But I'm not sure if I'll knit any more requests. This doesn’t mean no presents, of course, I love knitting presents.

The bad news is that there is no tried and tested way of setting a fair price for your knitted items. It depends on the materials used, the time taken and how much value you put on your skills, and all of these things can vary by knitter and project. In fact an internet search revealed that discussions on this can get rather heated, with some knitters accusing others of devaluing all knitters by not charging enough.

What are others charging?
So how to arrive at a fair price for your knitted goods? First, a trip to Folksy. A search for ‘hand knitted blanket’ results in two pages of blankets. One of the cheapest I could find was a crib blanket at £11.50. Even in acrylic and quite small – it measures 64x70cm – that can barely have covered the cost of the yarn. This knitter, it would seem, places no value on her or his time and skills. That’s their choice, but it does make difficult for anyone trying to make money from their knits.

At the other end of the scale is the Glen Nevis blanket. Measuring 132x137cm and made from 70% acrylic, 20% alpaca and 10% wool, it costs £160. This blanket is around twice the size of the former, but it costs nearly 14 times as much. This is a knitter who values her time! But do people really pay that much for a blanket?

The method
One easy formula is add up the cost of materials, labour (ie your time), overheads and any profit you want to make. This is the wholesale cost. Multiply by two to get your retail price.

Let’s pretend I was going to sell the baby cardie. Please note that you’re not actually allowed to make a profit using someone else’s pattern; you can only charge for your time and the materials. I’m just using this as an example.

It's a nice cardie, but how much is it really worth?

The materials came to £20, there were no overheads, but this could include things like postage stamps and envelopes, rent, machinery and so on. Time was 25 hours. The only advice I could find on what to charge for your time was to ensure you don’t go below minimum wage, which is £6.19 in the UK. That works out at £154.75. So even without adding in any profit, the retail price (ie the materials and labour multiplied by two) is nearly £350. That’s somewhat overpriced for a cardie, especially when you can get one from Next for £8.

Another method is to ask for three or four times the cost of the materials, but even so this would be £60 or £80. Is that a fair price for something so small that will probably only be used for three months? Probably not. On the other hand, if we take a price of £80, subtracting £20 for the materials, this gives an hourly rate of £2.40. Is that a fair price for someone’s time and effort? Again, probably not.

It would seem that the best advice I could give to someone who wants to start knitting for a living would be: don’t do it!