Let’s Twist Again!

Hello!

One of the best bits of being a knitwear designer is seeing your designs through the eyes of other knitters. I released the Brioche Twister scarf pattern as a free pattern for subscribers to the EastLondonKnit newsletter in January and it has been wonderful to see the finished objects and work-in-progress popping up on Ravelry and Instagram.

Bogga, aka Knitting in France, has made a fantastic version of her own hand-dyed yarn.

Maryl has made a beautiful version in West Yorkshire Spinners natural undyed brown Bluefaced Leicester yarn and Artesano Alpaca in the lightest blue, what a wonderful colour combo!

Rachel of a Tangled Yarn worked the pattern up in beautiful Blacker Yarns Swan Falkland Islands DK; Grellow forever!!

If you would like to keep up with the latest ELK news, please do sign up for the newsletter. You will receive the Brioche Twister pattern for free as a thank you!

Happy knitting,

R.

Love knitting

Hello!

How’s things?

I have been planting seeds of the knitting variety in anticipation of an Autumnal harvest. Work on the newest collection is coming along every so slowly. I keep getting side tracked by shiny new projects and beautiful yarns, but the designs are always there, reminding me to get a move on…

One of the shiny, exciting things that has my attention just now is a new KAL!

The wonderful Helen of Curious Handmade is hosting a knit-along for the Angelus Novus cardigan in the Curious Handmade Ravelry group. Please do join us on over there to take part in the knitting, cheer each other on and enjoy the making.

 

I also recently did a little interview with LoveKnitting.com, in which I express my wish for knitting Oompa Loompas. Enjoy.

Happy knitting,

R.

Angelus Novus in Lace

Hello!

I recently updated the Angelus Novus Shawl pattern with a new version in lace-weight yarn:

Linda knit the shawl in her new Kettle Yarn Co. Beyul Lace base, which has turned out beautifully!

I really did try to steal the shawl, but she was having none of it. 

The pattern now comes with added instructions for the lace-weight version and the original worsted/DK weight.

Happy knitting!

R.

Morning creativity

Hello!

For the last two years, one of my resolutions has been to draw everyday. The thing about being a designer is that I have entire days in which I don’t actually do anything creative. I sit in front of the computer screen, doing the things that need to be done for my business to be a business. So when I heard about Crystal Moody‘s #yearofcreativehabits challenge to herself, I was smitten. I decided to get up a little earlier and I have, with more or less frequency, made a drawing every (weekday) morning. It’s a great way for me to feel like I am doing something daily, however small, for myself and my creativity. This is not to say that the drawings are always good or even that they improve in a consistent way. Sometimes they are really terrible. Like even worse than when I began. But it still feels like a worthwhile activity, even when it is frustrating. Part of the original challenge was to post a photo of the drawing on Instagram as a way of creating accountability.

And I did for quite a while. But recently I decided to change that. It was pointed out to me that I had a knitting Instagram feed that was mostly composed of drawings. And I thought, yeah, good point. I really should spend some more time showing people my knitting work on the feed. So I have stopped posting the photos, but I haven’t stopped doing the drawings! I thought I would just share a few of the new ones here and say that I haven’t given up, the good work continues!

It is sometimes hard to remember that creativity is a discipline, and not always a romantic one. Do you have a creative anchor? What is it and how do you maintain it?

Happy creating!

R.