27 November 2016

Brrrr - that's a cold draught!

Rothay Draught Excluder by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I've written about my flat in Beckenham, Kent before. I don't think I've ever felt so cold and been inside at the time! It wasn't just that the floor was icy, the chairs felt damp and the window rattled with the bitter wind that blew incessantly. It was the draught that came under the door.

It whistled across the floor taking out every last degree of temperature the coin meter had just put in. I would sit down in the evening with my knitting and feel first cold, then colder, then frozen.
Rothay Draught Excluder by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
It was at that point that I started knitting a draught excluder. My fingers worked stiffly to complete the item, but on the first evening after it was finished I felt warmer! It was remarkable that something so small could make such a big difference! My heating bills were much lower afterwards, too.

I have been wanting to make a new version of that one for some time, and when I felt the first cool draughts of winter creeping under the door in Massachusetts, I decided that the time had come. So here is the next suggestion for my "Winter Knits" blogpost series: make your very own draught excluder.

​The Rothay Draught Excluder shown here is quick and easy to knit, so you might be only a short time away away from making your world feel warmer!
Olive Stitch from Reversible Knitting Stitches, Wyndlestraw Designs
​The pattern features Olive Stitch, another stitch from our new Reversible Knitting Stitches bookThis is an easy stitch to work but the results look quite complex, with waving undulations running down the length of the fabric.
Inset & Flush Doors, diagram for Rothay Draught Excluder by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The Rothay Draught Excluder can be worked for both inset doors and flush doors so that every cold draught is kept at bay. Tailor one to fit your draughty door and you will be cozy in no time!

For see more details about the Rothay Draught Excluder pattern, please click here, and for more details about our Reversible Knitting Stitches book, please click here.

I'll be back next time with some more ideas in the Winter Knits series, and will be turning my attention towards Christmas knitting! Yes – Christmas is less than a month away and posting deadlines are coming up fast...

Until then – Happy Knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs

Last Time: A big thank you!
Winter Knits Introduction: What time is it?
​Next Up: 
Tick, tick, tick . . .

​​Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com
Keywords: Series/Winter Knits, Patterns/Home Extras,
winter knitting, reversible stitches, reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible knitting stitches, draught excluder, draught stopper, wind stopper,

23 November 2016

A big thank you!

Momiji, Kobe Arboretum – photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Perhaps it's because I'm a Sagittarius, but I love transition times in the year – trying to catch the last of the previous season before it slips into the next.

In the woodlands right now, the autumn leaves are ablaze with colour and a riot of red, yellow and orange is carpeting the forest floor.
Momiji, Japan – photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Soon, the last of the leaves will drift down to join the others on the path, then perhaps the first few flakes of snow will arrive shortly afterwards.
Autumn leaves on a stone basin tsukubai, Koto-in, Kyoto Japan – photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I suppose it could feel a sad time, but to me there is always a lot of excitement surrounding this change to winter.

For a start, there are so many events lined up for the next few weeks. It was our anniversary two days ago, and then in only a few days it will be my birthday. And in‐between those two dates there are major holidays in both the USA and Japan.

​In Japan, today is Labor Thanksgiving Day which replaced the earlier Harvest festivals held at this time. Then in the USA tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. Both celebrate the harvest, the work of the last year and peaceful times. These festivals give all of us a great opportunity to say thank you to the people who matter – those who have worked hard to make our last year happy and healthy.
Ohara-me Matsuri – photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So may I take this opportunity to thank all of you! To everyone who has read this blog, connected with me on Twitter, Instagram or elsewhere, to all the lovely folk who have purchased or downloaded a pattern and to the many, many people who have sent both Anna and I such great messages about our new book, Reversible Knitting Stitches  a most heart‐felt "Thank you” to you all.

You have made 2016 such a memorable year.

And I need to add one last thank you – and that is to my husband Tim for his wonderful photos. I know many of you enjoy his photos too and I am always happy to be able to share them with everyone here.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Moira
Keywords: Notes & Travels,
Japan, Thanksgiving, autumn, fall, autumn colour, fall color,

18 November 2016

Keep them warm this winter

Hebden Gilet Jacket by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
It's a funny thing but when you feel cold, you tend to grab a scarf or a thick pair of socks to protect your extremities. However, most country folk know that what you really need to do is think about your core temperature – keeping your body, heart and lungs warm.

As children, we would all be firmly layered up with a warm wool vest, shirt, sweater and gilet jacket as we set out to play in the snow. The hat and scarf added as an after‐thought might end up on the snowman but the other items did the job of keeping us the right temperature.
Hebden Gilet Jacket by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
A gilet jacket is great for this as it protects the shoulders and mid‐section while leaving your arms free to move – essential for a decent snow‐ball fight!

So here's the latest idea in my "Winter Knits" series – a gilet jacket that you could make now to keep little boys and girls warm during their winter play‐time. This is the Hebden Gilet Jacket and is sized for kiddies aged 2‐8.
Imitation Lattice, from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The essential of a good bodywarmer or gilet is that the fabric should trap pockets of air. These air pockets insulate the body, keeping the warm air inside and the cold where it belongs. In this gilet jacket, this is accomplished by using a lovely double-sided stitch called Imitation Lattice from our Reversible Knitting Stitches bookThe stitch produces an almost quilted effect, with rugged diamond motifs standing out against a purl background.

The Hebden Gilet Jacket is worked in a soft and cozy merino wool yarn, Lang Merino 120, and features large snap‐ fasteners for an authentic gilet look.

If you would like to see more information about this new pattern, then please click here. It is available for immediate download from the site.

Until next time ‐ Keep warm!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs

Last Time: Lazy summer days now just a memory
Winter Knits Introduction: What time is it?
Next Up: A big thank you!

​​Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com
Keywords: Series/Winter Knits, Patterns/For Little Ones,
winter knitting, reversible stitches, reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible knitting stitches, gilet, jacket, bodywarmer, wool, winter jacket, child’s gilet jacket,

10 November 2016

Lazy summer days are now just a memory

Old Vicarage Grantchester, photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
We were in Cambridge a couple of months ago. It was one of those lazy summer days when the most energetic thing we wanted to do was walk down from the restaurant through the Grantchester Meadows to the river below.

The sun was shining and the punts were meandering slowly along the river, picnickers were feeding the ducks, or just sitting with their feet dabbling in the slowly‐moving stream.
Grantchester Meadows, photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Ah, if only one could bottle days like that... The gentle breeze rhythmically blowing the tops of the grasses into waves of movement, the buzzing insects busily visiting the nodding purple heads of clover. 

Pink Floyd wrote a song about this very place:
See the splashing of the kingfisher flashing to the water.
And a river of green is sliding unseen beneath the trees,
Laughing as it passes through the endless summer
making for the sea.
Picture
and before them, Rupert Brooke wrote his poem, The Old Vicarage, Grantchester in nostalgic mood from his sick bed in Berlin. It ends:
Yet stands the clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea?
Autumn colour, photo by Tim Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
But, no. Summer has gone and a chill east wind has been bringing down the last of the autumn leaves. The snow that has been in the north this week hasn't arrived in Grantchester yet, but it certainly looks as though it might arrive soon.
Grantchester Scarf by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
About this time last year, I was knitting a stitch pattern from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book and made what proved to be a super‐cozy scarf. As soon as I put it on, I felt warmer and my mind immediately went to the cold, swirling winds of Cambridgeshire that I wrote about in a previous blogpost here. So I named it the Grantchester Scarf.

The stitch pattern is called Ribbon Basket Pattern and I love the way the rib and garter patterning forms into deep rugged folds. If you would like to see more details about the Grantchester Scarf, then please click here. The pattern is available for immediate download from the site.

This is the latest knitting idea in my "Winter Knits" blogpost series. Over the next few weeks, I will be looking at lots of ideas for items you can make either for yourself or as a gift for some lucky recipientIf you would like to read the introduction to the series, then please click here

Many thanks once again to my husband Tim for his photos. I wouldn't get half as much knitting done without being able to sit and knit while he is taking his great photos! If you'd like to see some more of his work, then please have a look at his Flickr site.

Until next time – Happy Autumn Knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs

Last Blogpost: Vera calling
Winter Knits Introduction: What time is it?
​Next Up: Keep them warm this winter

​​Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com
Keywords: Series/Winter Knits, Patterns/Mens Patterns,
winter knitting, reversible stitches, reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible knitting stitches, scarf, scarves, texture, reversible scarf, Cambridge, UK, poem, poetry, Grantchester Meadows,

04 November 2016

Vera calling

Vera Hooded Scarf by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
This time of year is all about layering – adding an extra something to keep you warm when it is a little chilly outside. This is especially important now that the clocks are going back and your journeys home seem suddenly darker and colder than they were before.

So here's a great idea to brighten those gloomy waits at the train station while the November winds swirl around – a scarf with a hood attached! Pull the hood over your ears when you are out in the cold, then drop it neatly back onto your shoulders when you get to somewhere marginally warmer.

This is Anna's Vera Hooded Scarf – a quick and easy pattern that will have you wrapped up in no time at all and the latest idea in my "Winter Knits" blogpost series. The scarf was inspired by a most fortunate swap shop find some years ago and has been keeping both Anna and myself warm ever since
Vera Hooded Scarf by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
​The pattern is worked in a lightweight yet chunky yarn which really highlights the texture of the stitch. There are some wonderful bulky yarns around right now and each year sees new ones being featured in the shops, so it would be easy to find something in your local yarn store to get knitting straight away.
Irish Moss Stitch, from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The great thing about this scarf is the way it sits so comfortably around the neck. That's partly down to the reversible stitch that Anna has used for the design, Irish Moss Stitch, taken from our new E‐ Book, Reversible Knitting Stitches.

This is an old and well‐loved stitch pattern but it works especially well for the Vera Hooded Scarf because it gives such a pleasing weight and texture. The scarf just nestles around the neck and keeps out every last puff of breeze.
Vera Hooded Scarf by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
If you would like to find out more about Anna's Vera Hooded Scarf knitting pattern, then please click here, and for information about our new Reversible Knitting Stitches book, please click here. You can also see a gallery of sample pages from the book here.

Next time, I will be continuing this series of ideas for Winter Knits and will be looking at a boy's gilet jacket worked in a super diamond‐patterned stitch.

Until then – Happy Autumn Knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs

Last Blogpost: Time to wrap up
Winter Knits Introduction: What time is it?
​Next Up: 
Lazy summer days are now just a memory

Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com
Keywords: Series/Winter Knits, Notes & Travels,
autumn knitting, fall knitting, winter knitting, eversible stitches, reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible knitting stitches, scarf, scarves, hooded scarf, reversible scarf,

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