Monday 23 June 2014

The Knitting & Crochet Guild London Group Meeting

Members of the Knitting & Crochet Guild London Group spent a beautiful afternoon learning all about entrelac knitting in the garden of Grosvenor Chapel. Such a lovely spot to learn, knit and chat with a very colourful end result!

Entrelac Knitting Samples by London Group Members
Our excellent tutor for the afternoon, Linde Merrick, explained the technique and showed us some examples including these lovely accessories from the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.

Entrelac socks from the K&C Guild Collection.
I love the change in scale in this entrelac hat from the Guild Collection.
Entrelac Mitts from the K&C Guild Collection.
Linde lead us gently through the many steps involved in entrelac knitting. Beginning with a foundation row, we were all delighted to see our samples grow one triangle or rectangle at a time. Here is my sample growing one section at a time. Most of my photos below show only the Right Side of the work, but entrelac sections are knitted on the Wrong Side too.

Foundation Row






Cast off row completed.

I love the 3D effect on the Wrong Side of the work!

We discussed the pros and cons of this technique, including the many ends of yarn left over for sewing in, the difficulties of picking up stitches evenly and the bias pull of the stitch pattern. The pros of this interesting technique were illustrated in a stunning book brought along by Tricia, called Entrlac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting by Rosemary Drysdale. The amazing diagonals, beautiful colour changes and interesting textures featured in the book all looked fantastic. The entrelac stitch dictionary in the book inspired us all!


Thank you to the group organisers for a lovely afternoon. Looking forward to the next meeting in early September already!

The Knitter Magazine Issue 73

Part 2 of my Hampton Court Tote Bag and Device Covers subscriber pattern is in this month's issue of The Knitter Magazine!

Hampton Court Tote Bag, Kindle Cover and Phone Cosy
Copyright Emma Vining
Image from the Knitter Magazine
My phone cosy and Kindle cover patterns are on pages 28 and 29 of the subscriber issue. Last month's Tote Bag was worked in Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton Chunky Yarn for a large scale version of the criss cross pattern. In this month's patterns, the Kindle cover is knitted in Luxury Cotton DK and the phone cosy in 4ply. These small projects are quick to knit up and only have the side seams to sew to finish off.

Hampton Court Phone Cosy and Kindle Cover
by Emma Vining for the Knitter Magazine
A big thank you to the family and friends who let me test cover and cosy sizes on their kindles and smart phones!

City and Guilds Diploma in Hand Knit Textiles

I am extremely proud to have received my City and Guilds Hand Knit Textiles Diploma Certificate!!!

My tutor, Loraine Maclean of Knit Design Online, presented me with the certificate on Friday. The Diploma course has been the perfect balance of teaching and independent work and I have learned such a lot over the time of the course. Thank you so much to Loraine for all the outstanding teaching and mentoring. 

Sunday 8 June 2014

Knit Today Magazine, Issue 100

This month's Knit Today Magazine is full of bright summer knits and I am very excited as the "Designer Chat" is with me! The Knit Today team asked me all about my design inspirations.
First part of the "Designer Chat"!
My colourful Chevron Cushion Covers are also in this Issue. There are two versions: the Purple Cushion is worked in King Cole Merino Blend Aran and the Rainbow Cushion is in King Cole Merino Blend DK.

Purple Chevron Cushion Cover for Knit Today Magazine
copyright Emma Vining
Rainbow Chevron Cushion Cover for Knit Today Magazine
copyright Emma Vining
The stitch pattern is a garter stitch ridge chevron that is separated by stocking stitch sections. Worked in one piece, the covers knit up quickly with only the side seams to sew up. The opening on the back is made by slightly overlapping the borders when sewing up.

Purple Chevron Cushion Cover Opening
copyright Emma Vining


Rainbow Chevron Cushion Cover Opening
copyright Emma Vining
There are lots of lovely patterns and great articles in this issue.