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Beautiful Sock Yarn & Wool for Your Next Project

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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]

A Shetland Colour Story – Crofthoose Hat & Fingerless Gloves

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When we visited Shetland in September 2015 we both took a huge number of photos. Since then I’ve been using my photos as colour inspiration for fair isle projects. Normally, I show photos of the finished items when I’m wearing them but the series A Shetland Colour Story will explore how I use my photos to help create a colour palette for the project I want to knit.

Shetland Colour Inspiration 1

I always start by creating a collage of photos that create a sense of place, colour and bring back memories of our visit.[Read More]

Baa-ble Hat Number 2

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The first Baa-ble Hat was for my husband Neil and he didn’t want a pompom which mean’t I still had some of this gorgeous Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn leftover…

Baable Hat 2

and having finished knitting his hat, I knew that I really really wanted a Baa-ble Hat for myself! So it wasn’t long until I was casting on Baa-ble Hat Number 2. This gorgeous hat designed by Donna Smith for Shetland Wool Week 2015 is an addictive knit![Read More]

Buachaille Cochal & Colour Block Hat

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The gorgeous book “Buachaille – At home in the Highlands” by Kate Davies was part of my Christmas present from Neil. This book is an absolute delight. I love the patterns. The photography mainly taken by her husband Tom Barr is utterly inspiring. As though the lovely choice of accessories knitting patterns isn’t enough, you’ll find a selection of traditional Scottish recipes, and enjoy an amazing walk through the highlands (without leaving the comfort of your armchair)!

Buachaille Cochal Cowl & Colour Block Hat

The patterns in the book are designed for her new range of Scottish Wool – Buachaille, which is a DK weight yarn. I had to wait for a little while to order the yarn, mainly because it kept selling out almost as quickly as she updated her online shop every Sunday, but when it did arrive I loved it. It is a slightly rustic feeling wool but once it was hand washed and blocked it felt considerably softer and developed a slight bloom.[Read More]

Sockhead Slouch Hat No4

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One of the great things about the Sockhead Slouch Hat is that it is a unisex hat. I decided to test this out and knit one for Neil. Sockhead Slouch Hat No4 is the fourth outing for this great free pattern that is ideal for beginners as a first project.

Sockhead Hat 3 7

Unisex is a tricky thing. I’ve come across other patterns over the years that were unisex some were more successful in this than others. What I’ve found is that the important thing is the colour that is chosen. Many men really don’t want to wear very bright or neon colours in their hats although I think this is gradually changing.[Read More]

Opal Schafpate Hat & Fingerless Mitts

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The Opal Schafpate Hat & Fingerless Mitts were knit for my mother-in-law as part of her Christmas present. My mother-in-law loves walking and belongs to a couple of walking groups so I thought this would be a useful present for her. She loves to wear subtle colours so I opted for the Opal Schafpate VII Alpine Flower 8903. Choose your favourite opal Schafpate sock yarn in the yarn shop.

Schafepate Hat & Fingerless Mitts

This is my Sock Head Slouch Hat No2. It was knit using the shorter length of the Sock Head Slouch Hat designed by Kelly McClure.[Read More]

Winter Moon Hat & Cochal Cowl

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Hot on the heels of knitting my Sockhead Slouch Hats using 4ply sock yarn, I decided that I’d like a thicker DK weight hat for the cold morning walks on the beach with Bene. Even though we’re into March, the morning walks are seldom above 2 degrees celsius and often in driving rain.

Opal Winter Moon Hat & Cochal Cowl

I love all the colours in the Opal Winter Moon 8ply sock yarn collection but decided that I’d like to use 8925 Jingle Bells. When I first cast on, I thought it was a straightforward colour combination of tones of blue and red.[Read More]