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Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2017 – Part 2

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One of my Scottish friends, on hearing that I was visiting a yarn fest in Edinburgh said “well I suppose they have festivals for all sorts these days.”

Well, yes they do. Especially Edinburgh, which seems to be a bit of a festival Mecca. But the Edinburgh Yarn Festival (EYF) is not just any old festival, as far as Nicolette and I are concerned.

Edinburgh Corn Exchange with queue

Although this is only the fourth EYF, it is already a huge event by most standards. There are about 100 contributors, with only the top talent given space for their displays. From Kate Davies, Brooklyn Tweed, Eden Cottage Yarns, John Arbon Textiles, The Threshing Barn, Ysolda – the list goes on. Not to mention Blacker Yarns, KnitBritish, Knitmastery and The Teapot Trust in the side rooms. Then there are the classes too…[Read More]

Time…

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Wolf-Refuge-6

So this is a slightly different post to my usual knitting posts as I don’t really go into my personal life very much on the Knitting Squirrel. I prefer to keep to knitting projects, yarn and a little bit of travel to interesting places.[Read More]

Norwegian Star Hat

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I love giving useful Christmas presents that I know the recipient with enjoy. This is particularly nice when it is a hand knit gift.

In September when we were visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Britanny, I happened to ask if there was something my brother-in-law would like for Christmas, other than the usual socks.[Read More]

Box O Sox KAL 2016

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Box O Sox KAL 2016 – Early in 2016 I was watching one of my favourite podcasts, Voolenvine. Kristin of Voolenvine Yarns who does this fun podcast mentioned her new KAL.

BOX O SOX KAL 2016…

My ears pricked up. Literally.

I don’t often join KAL’s, well, this isn’t completely true, I join but other projects I’m working on for the Knitting Squirrel to show how beautiful the new yarns look when knitted up, normally take precedence, so I normally don’t finish the KAL in time.

Box O Sox KAL 2016

But, I mean, a box of a minimum of 12 pairs of socks by the 1st January 2017… This sounded like a huge amount of fun. You’ll all know if you visit the Knitting Squirrel regularly, I do love knitting socks. This gave me the perfect opportunity to start 2017 with 12 lovely new pairs of socks just for me… positively decadent! I finished with 14 pairs of socks.[Read More]

Christmas Letters

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Christmas Letters is the fourth in the Blossom Street series by Debbie Macomber. Katherine O’Connor likes Christmas and writing Christmas letters for colleagues in a Blossom Street cafe. She is faced with a dilemma, therefore, when she meets a man who has fundamentally opposite views but whom she also finds irresistible.

Christmas Letters Debbie Macomber

Katherine O’Connor (or K.O. to her friends) leads a busy life at Christmas time in Seattle. Not only does she transcribe medical texts, but she also has a holiday sideline writing Christmas letters for people who are too busy to write their own. K.O. spends her mornings in the French Cafe on Blossom Street using her laptop to create a more exciting and interesting story out of people’s lives.[Read More]

Fleece Navidad

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Although Kelly Flynn is a relatively new knitter, she is keen to join her friends with a charity knitting project, in Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton. Kelly also must solve the unexpected death of one of her knitting companions, in the sixth of the Knitting Mystery series.

Caffeine addict, Kelly Flynn lives adjacent to the House of Lambspun in Fort Connor, Colorado knitting shop. This Christmas, Kelly and her fellow knitters are working on charity knitting projects. The local librarian, Juliet Renfrow, is organising the season’s good will venture to create knitted gifts and all of the regulars are helping out.

Fleece Navidad By Maggie Sefton

Juliet Renfrow is a quiet “little brown wren” of a woman who is known for her stunning handmade capes. Her creations have been in great demand in the lead up to Christmas. But Juliet also has another reason to be happy; she is in love! Juliet’s beau is Jeremy Cunningham, a retired university professor. The couple are the perfect match and are so sweet together.[Read More]

Purple Ripples Hat

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Hand dyed sock yarn is truly beautiful and we’ve all fallen in love with that perfect skein and brought it home with us. I love to use up all of my left over hand dyed sock yarn. Small quantities of less than 10g are destined to become mitred squares.

Rippling Purples Hat

Regular visitors to the Knitting Squirrel will have noticed that I love knitting socks. When I knit a pair of socks for my mum, my sister or myself, I normally have between 30-35g of yarn leftover. This isn’t enough for a pair of fingerless mitts as they take about 50g of sock yarn.[Read More]

Touch of Elegance Socks

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Touch of Elegance Socks were designed as an elegant choice for using a skein of my hand dyed Merino Cashmere Nylon sock yarn in a rich Old Gold colour. For this luxurious yarn I wanted to add a touch of texture to the sock.

There is nothing quite as beautiful as a skein of hand dyed yarn. I love hand dyeing sock yarn. There is a touch of alchemy about the dyeing process. Part of the joy is that the depth and richness of the colours will still surprise you even if you have an understanding of colour theory.

Touch of Elegance Socks

The Merino Cashmere Nylon sock yarn takes the dye amazingly well. Hand Dyed Merino Cashmere Nylon Sock Yarn is a wonderful squishy soft yarn perfect for knitting socks, scarves, shawls, gloves and many other projects. The nylon content adds strength while the cashmere adds an element of luxury. [Read More]

Noro Dotted Rays Shawl

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Dotted Rays Shawl is designed by Stephen West of WestKnits. I just love Stephen West’s gorgeous shawl designs. I’ve watched his Craftsy class Shawlscapes several times. I’ve bought several of his patterns although I haven’t knit all of them yet. Oh, I do love to have a few patterns on hand that I’m dreaming about casting on!

Noro Dotted Ray Shawl

Dotted Rays Shawl is a curved asymmetrical shawl. The garter stitch short row wedges gradually increase in size. While the yarn overs create beautiful rays between the wedges.[Read More]