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Knitting news from p2tog.com for August 2013 Welcome to this month's collection of knittingrelated news. As usual we walk the line between ridiculous and genius, from miniature to monstrous, the short and the record-breaking long. If you want sublime or silly, cute or practical, they're all covered in this month's free pattern picks.

Contents News and articles from around the web Royal baby gift From the Blogosphere from New Zealand Tips and techniques Free patterns - a selection of free knit and crochet patterns that I've bookmarked this month. Events - 2013 dates for your diary

News and articles from around the web Journey under the sea The New York Lion Brand studio, store and education centre has a regularly-changing front window. Over the summer they featured this amazing undersea scene, created by fibre artists Juliet Hone, Nathan Vincent, and Samantha Smith. Click through to see individual pictures and more details about some of the stars (and starfish) of this show from Octavius the knitting Octopus through to the felted sea anemones. http://www.lionbrandyarnstudio.com/index.php/journey-under-the-sea-with-ournew-summer-window/

New Zealand congratulates royal couple Just in case you've missed it, there has been a recent addition to our royal family. New Zealand's official gift to the royal couple was a handspun, hand knitted lace shawl designed by Margaret Stove and there has been much speculation about whether this was the shawl in which baby George left the hospital. It seems that the shawl that we first saw the baby wrapped in was a merino christening shawl made by G. H. Hurt & Son (with thanks to Spinning Daily for the information).

News

My link goes to more information about the handspun gift from New Zealand. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8951841/PM-congratulates-royalcouple-on-birth

New world record - knitted bunting measures over 3km This picture shows a small amount of a 3km knitted bunting that has just been entered into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest bunting in the world. 926 Women's Weekly readers from around the world knitted 13,428 triangles. Congratulations to all involved. You'll find more pictures and details on this page of The Knitter's blog. http://theknitter.themakingspot.com/blog/new-world-record-womens-weeklyreaders-knitted-bunting-measures-over-3km

Child's sock 200-400AD This archaeological find is a fascinating insight into the past. It was excavated in Egypt and dates from 200-400AD. It's made from several colours of wool using "a single needle looping technique sometimes called naalebinding". It's for a child's left foot and has separation between the big toe and the other four toes. Or maybe people had two toes then, I don't know. Thanks to Knithacker for sharing the British Museum's object. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx? objectId=155676&partId=1

Extreme knitting Dalston House is a Victorian terrace in London that allows you to defy gravity. Here's the fun that Wool and the Gang had when they paid a visit. http://blog.woolandthegang.com/post/55511384118/extreme-knitting

Sponsored story - Stitchville knitting holiday Stitchville holidays are an excellent opportunity to spend quality time away with your knitting in the company of women with similar interests and an experienced tutor. Beautiful walks, wild nature and beautiful architecture, exciting cultural experiences, nourishing and delicious food and spectacular venues are our winning formula. The next Stitchville holiday will be on Monday 9th - Friday 13th September in Bath, Somerset. The remarkable town house, in the centre of the World Heritage city, is a handsome and spacious Georgian building. If you book, please mention Purl Two Together. http://stitchville.co.uk/Stitchville/holidays.html

Sale page Don't forget the sale page here at p2tog. Besides some end-of-line needles and buttons I've just added what I have left of my Ashford Tekapo (100% New Zealand wool DK) with more yarn to follow. http://p2tog.com/sale.html

Knitted model village The thumbnail here is just a part of a knitted model village, complete with residents, spotted by werntmeguv at Gloucestershire Steam Extravaganza. Click to enlarge the photo and see delightful details such as rows of cabbages, headstones in the churchyard and a pen of sheep. http://www.flickr.com/photos/werntmeguv/9425338908/in/set72157634906310988/

Embrace Octopus sweater pattern Also filed under cephalopod news this month is another great Knithacker find, this octopus sweater. This one was made by Maia E. Sirnes who wanted a warm embrace of tentacles - the pattern wraps around the back and one sleeve. Follow the link for more pictures and the pattern. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/embrace-octopus-sweater-pattern

Crocheted chess set Sharon of Ablet is selling this crocheted chess set as well as the pattern for the pieces, board and bag. http://www.etsy.com/listing/82297621/chess-set-pattern? ref=related-3

Washable British wool This is the second of two articles from KnitBritish. There's a link to the first which discusses the issue of washing wool and wool blends and explains terms such as 'superwash'. Louise then knits some samples and adds some stains. In this second article she examines the results and names the successful and the not-so-successful. http://www.knitbritish.net/washable-british-wool-part-2/

From the blogosphere

LED-laden cape Last month in Hand Spinning News we saw some handspun which incorporates LED lights and to follow that, in this Knithacker find Cherry Bomb Knits has made a top down button front capelet by Bernat Design Studio, with liberal application of LED Christmas lights "to keep me safe when biking at night." http://knithacker.com/2013/07/22/brilliant-led-laden-cape-by-cherry-bomb-knits/

Cathedral rose window afghan This beautiful cathedral rose window blanket, 78 ins in diameter, was crocheted by Sherry Seymour. It caught my eye as I have stained glass in my background and I've added it to my (very long) queue. There's a link to the pattern in case you're tempted too. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php? fbid=625841030767590&set=a.450057215012640.103573.428420293842999&type=1&theater

Behind the design of DNA covers Last month I featured Rebecca's DNA helix Kindle cover as a free pattern. Rebecca says that "there was a bit more that went into the design than just knitting" and she's written a blog post explaining the process of designing her beer bottle cozy as well as the Kindle cover. http://www.chemknits.com/2013/08/behind-design-of-dna-covers.html

Finished project: Alpaca Baby Shawl Also in baby blanket news, one of my favourite finished projects this month is Rebecca's baby blanket shawl. She comments on the practicality. She has blocked it for the first time but is pleased that it looks "super cute when unblocked" because she can't see herself blocking it properly every time that it needs a wash. http://www.chemknits.com/2013/07/baby-baby-baby-shawl.html

Tips and techniques Understanding yarn dominance In this image, the pattern is the same but in the top example the brown looks dominant and in the bottom example the white dominates. The difference is in the way the strands lie at the back. In this post, Mary Jane Mucklestone explains what's going on so that you can use the technique to get the look that you want in your stranded knitting. http://nls.interweave.com/t/bfibbFCDvQATAsETYjBVfaIO...

Yarn bombing: warming up our world Yarnbombing (or yarnstorming to the more politicallycorrect) has been done again and again and in increasingly spectacular ways. If you fancy carrying out 'knit-graffiti' in your town or just covering some objects in your home, these tips and ideas from Lion Brand will help. http://www.lionbrand.com/yarnBombing.html

Knitting socks that fit If your legs are of the curvier variety then here are three tips for knitting socks that fit from Lorilee Beltman, designer of the stretchy Azurea Socks.

http://nls.interweave.com/t/bfjbbFK17QATPxE0ShBVfaEHWeaaaBVfEHWe...

Knitting jogless stripes in the round If you're knitting stripes in the round, the point that you change colour will leave the colours staggered like this. Andrea Sanchez of craftsy.com suggests a technique for fixing this problem. http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/knitting-jogless-stripes-in-the-round/

Invisible finish Usually when finishing off we make our final stitch and pull the tail through. Liz of Playin' Hooky shares a previously-super-secret crochet trick which will avoid that knot. With thanks to Make magazine for sharing. http://playinhookydesigns.blogspot.com.es/p/tips-tricks.html

Use tights to tame slippery yarn I've been meaning to make a ballsack for a long time but somehow not got around to it. Here's an easy way to keep your centre-pull ball neat and tangle-free. http://blog.yarn.com/tuesdays-tip-how-to-use-tights-to-tame-slippery-yarn/

Four Tips for Thread Crochet Crocheted jewellery in cotton thread makes a lovely yearround project. Here are four tips from Toni of Crochet Me for working with fine thread. For the larger-handled hooks that Toni mentions, take a look at Clover SoftTouch or the new Clover Amour

http://nls.interweave.com/t/bfbbbFXDnQAUBmFFEnBYmaC13...

Picking up the right number of stitches I hate picking up stitches and that's because of the difficulty of catching the right number of stitches. Mine never look completely neat. Barbara Breiter's tips will help. Note that when she says (for vertical edges) "pick up one stitch every four spaces... skip the next" I think she means "pick up one stitch in each of four spaces and skip the next" http://blog.lionbrand.com/2013/08/11/picking-up-the-right-number-of-stitchestips-tricks/

Gauge & Why It Matters Yes, another article about gauge. Most people ignore it but there are other risks besides your garment not fitting, including running out of yarn too soon and patterns that don't lay flat. Barbara Breiter explains what it means, how to knit your swatch, how to take the measurements and what to do if it's not right. http://blog.lionbrand.com/2013/07/14/gauge-why-it-matters/

Powertool braiding This made me laugh and laugh. The device in the picture is a french knitting machine that can easily be found on your favourite online auction website. You turn a handle to convert a strand of wool into a braid. Lorraine discovered that the right sized drill bit fitted into the square hole that the handle usually fits into. Press the button on the cordless drill and wheeeeeee..... very quick braiding. This probably breaks health and safety rules and so I can't recommend that you try it, but if you do, have fun! see larger image

Patterns A selection of free knit and crochet patterns that I've bookmarked this month

Oranje Inspired by Dutch athletic uniforms and the Netherlands' footballing success against Brazil in a World Cup, this cardigan has "graphic patterns that create both vertical and horizontal movement around the yoke". It has a five-star rating and medium difficulty. With thanks to Knit Nottingham for sharing. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/oranje

Running gag socks Found in the new Knitty, these socks have a wonderful drop-stitch pattern. The running joke in the pattern's name has to do with a faux pas by the designer over a drop-stitch pattern in her friend's knitting. These socks have a left and right version for comfort and the pattern contains four sizes. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff13/PATTrunninggag.php

Crochet Shawl with love knots Thanks to Drops Designs for so many beautiful free patterns. This one not only looks amazing, the love knots are intriguing. It's ideal for a hazy mohair-type yarn. http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/pattern.php?id=2114&lang=en

Whale shark phone cover This very cute whale shark can be a phone cover or just a soft toy. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/whale-sharkiphone-cover

Ice cream cosy This quick and easy project will keep your fingers warm and ice-cream cold. It's made from very small amounts of yarn, knit in the round and then felted. http://store.cocoknits.com/products/pint-cozy.html

Baby socks tutorial Hand-knitted baby socks are quick to make, a wonderful gift, use up oddments and are very cute. This item from Craftsy is both a pattern and a tutorial with some tips. It's a great place to start if you're thinking of knitting your first sock. http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/07/knitting-baby-socks-tutorial/

Corylus iPad cover There are many iPad covers out there but this one had me clicking to bookmark. The large wooden button looks perfect with the chunky mock cable and lace pattern.

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/knitting/other/corylus/53928

Events 2013 Glastonbury Wool Fair 24 & 25 August, Glastonbury, Somerset A weekend of sheep related entertainment! The sheep and alpaca run is on Saturday and everyone is invited to make woollen hats to wear on Sunday - the more outrageous the better. They would also appreciate volunteers. glastonburywoolfestival.co.uk

Yarndale 28 and 29 September Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire For you if you love yarn and are passionate about all things woolly. It aims to celebrate the beauty and diversity of wool, cotton, linen and silk fibres in all their forms yarndale.co.uk

Shetland Wool Week 7 - 13 October 2013 A busy weekend dedicated to celebrating Shetland wool and textile heritage. The full events list includes workshops, demonstrations, open studios, spinning, knitting, weaving and Britain's most northerly sheep. www.shetlandwoolweek.com

Fibre Flurry - 26 and 27 October, Bournville, Birmingham The third year promises to be the best year yet. Workshops and exhibitors over two days http://www.fibreflurry.co.uk

And finally If you like this newsletter and you're also interested in spinning your own yarn, you will enjoy hand-spinning-news.com. I compile and send out Purl Two Together every month. If you'd like to jump on board and sign up for the free monthly email, then please use the form below. Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator shiela@p2tog.com

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