Cosmos

I love the wild Cosmos flowers that grow along the roadside in our little corner of the world. They usually start flowering in March, so you can imagine our suprise and delight when my friend, Carle' and I found some driving home on the R23. Cosmos was the inspiration for the little girls cardigan in my book.

Carle' was up from Philadelphia in the Cape for a little retail therapy and to present a dyeing workshop in my studio yesterday. We all had an awesome time and I can't wait to see the results. Most of the girls who were there are Ravellers and whilst chatting at tea time, they convinced me that I should have a Ravelry group for ColourSpun - you can find it here. I hope that members of the group will be inspired by my yarn and each other and that through it we will all grow and develop and find happiness in our craft.

Carle has a lovely group on Ravelry too. It's called Nurturing Fibres and if you love yarn, you should really check it out.

Rosy Cotton Top

I have been trying for days to post here and the block where I need to write my post just wouldn't open. I finally realised that it was opening on "Edit HTML" and not on "Compose"?! Anyway here I am again.

We have finally settled on the name for my book, which should be on the shelves in May, it is - "A Knitting Aventure - with South African Yarn" and the Afrikaans one will be " 'n Brei Advontuur - met Suid Afrikaanse Wol". The original title was unfortunately too long :(  I will be getting the 2nd draft from the layout artist today or tomorrow and am looking very forward to seeing it with all the changes done. As soon as the cover is finalised I'll post it here.

In the meantime, I have a lovely pattern for a cool summer top to share with you. It can also be knitted in wool for a warmer winter version.

for a downloadable pdf - visit my Craftsy pattern store here

Cotton Top

The instructions given are for bust size 96 – 102 cm (38 – 40”) but if you want your garment bigger or smaller, alter the number of stitches and rows to obtain your required size. Remember that this top is meant to fit loosely.

Materials Required
300g ColourSpun 100% cotton DK in main colour available from ColourSpun Natural Designer Yarn
Other cotton yarn or ribbon for embellishment
4.5mm knitting needles
4.5mm crochet hook

Abbreviations
c/on = cast on
c/off = cast off
ch = chain stitch
K = knit
K2tog = knit 2 together
Sc = single crochet
St/s = stitch/es
Stst = stocking stitch
Yo = yarn over needle (each yo counts as 1 stitch)
On knit rows bring yarn to front of work and then over needle to knit next stitch

Tension
16 stitches and 22 rows = 10cm over stst

Instructions
Sides and Sleeves – work 2 identical pieces
Pattern – (over 10 rows) starting with a k row work 9 rows stst, k 10th row. Repeat.

C/on 155 sts and work 45 rows in pattern as set above
Next row: c/off 29; p 97; c/off 29. End and break off yarn.
Rejoin yarn to sts left on needle and continue in pattern as set; work 34 rows
Next row: c/off.

Back
C/on 36 sts and work 5 rows stst.
Next row : k5 (yo; k2tog; k4)x5; k1
Next 5 rows: stst
Repeat last 6 rows 16 more times
C/off.

Front
C/on 36 sts and work 5 rows stst.
Next row : k5 (yo; k2tog; k4)x5; k1
Next 5 rows: stst
Repeat last 6 rows 12 more times
C/off.

Assembly
Stitch back and front pieces to side pieces (see photos for reference).
Fold garment in half along shoulder line and complete sleeve and side seams.

Edging
Work edging around neck, sleeves and bottom.
Using either main or contrasting colour, work 2 rounds of sc around edge
Next round – [2sc; (1sc,2ch,1sc)into next st] to end.
Remember to decrease in each neck corner by skipping 1 or 2 sts on rounds 2 and 3 to keep your work flat.

Finish your garment by lacing contrasting yarn or ribbon through the holes in the back and front and winding the ends into a rose. Stitch to hold in place.

Enjoy!

HAPPY 2011



I have friends and family that right now are living in a different decade to me - how weird does that sound! By this time tomorrow we'll all have joined them there :)  Generally at this time of the year, everyone makes some kind of resolution for the new year and I've been thinking about what I'll be doing next year.

I'll definately be dyeing, felting, making yarn, knitting and crocheting. I'll be playing with "hot fabric", embroidering and beading. I hope to start painting again and have another go at making metal jewellery. There are a couple of exhibitions I want to be part of and some shows I'd like to see. I think I might teach a few workshops too.

In May 2011 my book will be published, I'm looking forward to that, and in the first few weeks of 2011 I'll still be involoved with the final touches for it.

Not really resolutions, I know but I do know that 2011 is going to be a wonderful year and I'm looking very forward to the begining of a new decade filled with a new energy of love and hope and a better life for everyone!

Photo Shoot

I had an awesome week last week - we did the photo shoot for my book, "From Fibre to Fabulous - a South African Knitting Adventure". The photo's were done over 3 days at the most spectacular location with a wonderful team of people. It is so great to work with professionals, my publisher and her assistant, the photographer, the makeup artist and stylist, all the models - everyone just did their bit, perfectly, on cue and the photo's are beautiful. I can't wait to see them in print. All that remains to be done are a few close up shots and then it's all off to the layout artists.

I can't believe that all the writing and knitting is done but I certainly haven't had time to wonder what next. I'm busy making a pair of flap top mittens for Jo, for her holiday in London in December and I'm plying some karakul yarn to make it stronger before I knit it up into a carpet runner for our passage. I'm also working on the February issue of Stitches :) and getting my listings together for the SA Silly Sale on Etsy (more about that tomorrow)

Love Dana