Beautiful Sock Yarn & Wool for Your Next Project
I’ve been reading Julie Williams excellent blog Little Cotton Rabbits for several years. When I read that she was writing a knitting pattern for her bunny girl and bunny boy I couldn’t wait to buy them. I had long hoped to be able to buy one of her delightful knitted animals. I particularly love her badger girl and I am keeping my fingers crossed for the badger girl to become a pattern some day![Read More]
I love how intricate the beautiful fair isle motifs look and yet I’m only ever knitting with 2 colours in a row. I think the darker colours really stand out against the paler background. This is shown wonderfully well in the photograph that I used to name the Moodboard – The Colours of Scotland.
I also noticed that a repeating motif on these moodboards was the agapanthus flower in several different colours. When I was a child my mum used to buy me colouring books which I coloured in and would create kaleidoscopic patterns. I always remember these when I am creating patterns on squared paper. I think it is why I enjoy playing with fair isle motifs so much.
It amazes me how different the swatches and patterns can look using the same set of pale and dark colours. In the Moodboard – A Little Breathing Space I noticed that the pale blue looked quite purple beside the camel and turquoise colours. I was thinking about this when I was choosing the images that I wanted to work from.
In the Moodboard – Discover Life’s Pleasures I was interested to see how the swatches would look if they only used the paler coloured Alpaca 4ply yarns. In the larger swatch I wanted see the colours in graded stripes and then used the lightest colour for knitting the fair isle motif.
The Moodboard – Dream Catching inspired the swatch that became the pair of Fair Isle Alpaca Fingerless Mittens that were gifted to my sister. I always find that the more I play with and experiment with a set of colours the more ideas that I get for new swatches.
The Fair Isle Alpaca Fingerless Mitts were really beautiful when they were finished. I love this combination of colours.
With this Moodboard – Now Don’t Miss Out, I was interested in the quality of light juxtaposed against the darker colours. With the dark berries I loved how the light made them look bluer. I also loved the exploding star shapes in the thistle and the white agapanthus flowers. I explored both of these elements in these knitted swatches.
This week is all about my moodboards. These ones all used the same colours of Artesano 4ply Alpaca. I did this series of moodboards some time ago. The first Moodboard – Iconic Treasures shows the 5 pale colours and 5 dark colours of 4ply Alpaca that I used for all the samples knitted for these moodboards…
I collect images from magazines that inspire me. Whether it is because of the beautiful details such as the intricate cutout paper sculptures in the jewellery advert. The vibrant colours of the ocean in the seascape photograph. Or the subtle pastel colours in the photograph of the beach huts and the pebble beach.
I use paint colour strips from the hardware store as I find them great for picking out the colours I want to use.
There is nothing quite as beautiful as moorland heather in bloom in a myriad of shades of purples and mauves. The flowers are a heathery mist across the landscape. Broad painterly sweeps of blue sky, green fields and heather carpeted moorland. Lichen encrusted rocks to sit on and enjoy a cup of tea together.
It’s great how effective a simple overall fair isle pattern can be in a pair of socks. The Fair Isle Zig Zag Socks are made using two contrasting sock yarns Seed Stitch Chart a dark purple Opal sock yarn and a lovely mottled purple/mauve sock yarn from my stash.[Read More]
When Susannah Nelson returns to Colville, Washington to look after her ageing mother, she renews old friendships, digs up past memories and contemplates reviving an old romance. However, Susannah soon discovers more about her family, her friends and herself than she could ever have imagined.
Susannah finds herself wondering what her life could have been like if she had taken another path. Her life is in a bit of a rut. [Read More]
I’ve always loved beach combing for sea glass. For years I searched on every beach that I visited and seldom found a piece of the elusive blue sea glass. Then after Bene came to live with us, we started visiting the tidal beach at Hazelbank. Bene loves the seaside. He loves to paddle and swim in the sea. He loves chasing his ball on the sand. He loves it on sunny days, overcast days, wet days, in hailstones, in snow. He just adores the beach. So walking on the beach has become a daily event every morning for us.
It was while we were walking on this beach that I spotted the first tiny piece of blue sea glass in amongst the pieces of mussel shell. It glinted in the light like a tiny sapphire gleaming in the sand.[Read More]
Hello, I'm Nicolette Kernohan. I love sharing unique knitting projects, exploring colour & inspiring your creativity. Knitting Squirrel sells knitting wool & sock yarn in glorious colours & fibres.
