30 September 2020

Reversible Knitting Stitches – New Edition!

Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Long-time readers to this blog will know that I am somewhat obsessed about reversible knitting stitches, as you can see herehere and here! And I am not alone, because reversible stitches can open up a whole new area of creative possibilities for both beginners and more experienced knitters. 

If you've never really thought about using reversible stitches in your knitting projects before, then they are definitely worth exploring. 
Patterns photos from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
You know, I still find it amazing that reversible stitches look good from both sides. I know that's their definition, but it still seems somehow magical that there isn't  a "right side" or a "wrong side” to the stitches.  So many patterns can leave you feeling disappointed when you see that all your hard work only shows on one side.

However, this is not the case with a reversible knitting stitch – you can quickly wrap a winter scarf around your neck or throw a blanket over your knee and not have to worry about the messy wrong side showing.
Samples using stitches from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
And there are other benefits too, not least of which is that reversible stitches tend to lie perfectly flat. I wrote more about that here, but the basis is that purl stitches tend to force themselves outwards while knit stitches recede. So a pattern that has more purl stitches on one side than the other will curl. A prime example is Stocking Stitch/Stockinette Stitch. This has one face which only has knits while the other has just purls, so often wants to roll itself into a tight tube!

However, reversible stitches tend to have a similar number of knits and purls on both sides, so these opposing forces are balanced out. This makes them the perfect choice for blankets, rugs and placemats. In fact, you can even use a reversible stitch at the border of other stitches to stabilise them.

Anna’s samples in the photos above show this to perfection. The top pattern shows one of her Trellis Coasters which has been worked in Quilted Rib Pattern from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book, and it is shown paired with her Breakwater Placemats which use the Cornish Diamonds pattern from the book.

Reversible stitches can also provide texture, insulation, warmth and cushioning, so you can probably see why I am so enthusiastic about them!
Cushioned Rib from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs

So at the start of this year, I decided to challenge myself to see if I could add 20 more stitches in 2020. Anna joined me in the quest and in the end we managed to design, find or adapt more than 50 stitches to add to the collection! 

So we are delighted to now be able to introduce the brand-new edition of our E-book: Reversible Knitting Stitches – A Sourcebook of 250 Double-Sided Stitch Patterns.

The new stitches are scattered throughout the book, with some lovely new examples for beginner knitters as well as stitches worked in two or more colours. This includes the one shown in the photo above. This is Cushioned Rib, which is a wonderfully padded stitch. This is beautiful when worked in a single shade but really comes into its own when worked in a combination of colours. 

We have also included lots of new reversible lace stitches and reversible cables to expand the final two chapters in the book as it is so hard to find good examples of these types of stitches.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In addition to adding stitches into the collection, we have also added a brand new section at the start of the book with notes on materials & equipment for working reversible knitting stitches. This is followed by suggestions for yarn choices and the use of colour in reversible knitting plus the creative ways in which you can use tension and gauge in your work.

The new edition also includes all new stitch charts to take advantage of the wonderful changes in chart drafting software over the last few years. The stitch charts are now beautifully crisp and clear even when you zoom right in or print them out.
Frost Fighter Mitts by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
We have also added many new project examples, including Anna's lovely Frost Fighter Mitts shown here. The E-book now contains over 80 project examples to inspire you in your own design work.

​If you would like to read more about reversible stitches and how you can use them in your knitting projects, then please click here, and to see a gallery of sample pages from this new edition, then please click here. To purchase a copy of the book, then please click here. The book is available for instant download from the site and can be read on computers, tablets, phones and other mobile devices.

We  hope you enjoy the new edition and that it gives you lots of new ideas for your autumn knitting! 

Until next time – Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches, 
stitches, knitting stitches, reversible stitches, reversible knitting, Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway,

25 September 2020

Room for one more....

Waffle Stitch and Lace Squares, both from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Yay! The new edition of our Reversible Knitting Stitches E-book has now been published and we are so pleased to be able to bring this to you after so many months of working on it!

You may recall that since January we have been adding new stitches to the book ready for a new expanded 2nd edition. So don't laugh, but can you guess what we were doing in the last few days before publishing this...?

Well, that would be adding one new stitch, two more versions of existing stitches and two more project examples! 
Golden Days Baby Dress Set by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
And here's one of the extra projects we have just squeezed in – isn't this adorable? This is the Golden Days Baby Dress Set which Anna has just finished. Anna is producing some wonderful baby items right now. Clearly impending motherhood is giving her a wonderful creative burst. If you haven't had a chance to see her recent work, then do pop over to her website to have a look.

Both the dress and the nappy cover/diaper cover are worked in Waffle Stitch from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. This is a lovely textural stitch and is perfect for this set. You can see Anna's sample for this stitch in the photo at the top of the page, along with another new stitch in the collection, Lace Squares.

I am pleased that this one arrived just in time to be added into the new edition. Many people have said to us that they find it useful to browse the projects because they show how the stitches can be used. I hope you find that too and that they spark lots of ideas for you as well.

I'll be back next time with more details about the E-book. In the meantime, you can see a gallery of sample pages from the new edition here, and you can purchase a copy of the book here.

Until next time – Happy Knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Last Blogpost: New pattern – Kassiopi Scarf
Next Up: Reversible Knitting Stitches – New Edition!

Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com

Many thanks to Anna for her lovely photos! For more details about her designs for babies and little ones, please see her website: www.annaalway.com
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches, Patterns/Baby,
Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway, baby dress, Lace Squares, Waffle Stitch, reversible stitches, reversible knitting, knitting stitches,


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26 August 2020

New pattern – Kassiopi Scarf

Kassiopi Scarf by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I love knitting in cotton at this time of year. Florida is just way too sticky for working on wool projects, especially if you are trying to knit outside! Plus, I always feel the need for some new cotton knits for the end of summer. And have you noticed that the evenings are getting cooler? Even the hottest of days can feel slightly chilly when the sun dips below the horizon. Autumn is clearly just around the corner. 

So here are three cotton scarves to help bridge that transition – perfect for days down at the beach or meeting up with friends for an afternoon picnic in the park. 

And perfect, too, if you are unable to wear wool. There used to be such poor options for non-wool yarn but things are much easier these days, with a wider range of options and on-the-dot fashion colours.
Kassiopi Scarf by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
This is the Kassiopi Scarf and it features a wonderfully textured reversible pattern from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. The stitch is called Seeded Chevron and is one of my favourite stitch patterns in the book.

Kassiopi is a lovely fishing village in the island of Corfu and indeed, these scarves are reminiscent of the scents and sounds of that beautiful part of the world – the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, lazy summer days and evening cocktails by the pool.... 

There are three scarves in the collection. The slim scarf has been worked in a lovely fresh lime-green colour using a Sportweight cotton/Modal yarn. This gives a lovely draping fabric for a long, slim-line scarf. The medium scarf, meanwhile, is in a delicate aqua shade and has been worked in a 100% cotton Aran/heavy worsted-weight yarn. This is so soft and cozy! I made this version a little shorter and love the way it drapes around your shoulders to keep away the evening chills.

Both of these feature deeply-incised chevrons interlaced along the length of the scarf to give a wonderfully dynamic design. ​
Kassiopi Scarf by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The third scarf uses the same 100% cotton yarn but this time in a gorgeous soft apricot colour. I absolutely love this shade. It's a colour that was featured strongly in a number of the fashion shows for Autumn 2020 and it's easy to understand why it has become so popular. It's not a colour I have worn much in the past, but I can see some fun shopping ahead for some new items to go with this.

This wide version has two repeats of the chevron design which gives a beautiful sense of balance, symmetry and calm. The result is a wide statement scarf with just the right degree of coverage for bare shoulders in a cool restaurant. 

And of course, all the scarves are fully reversible which makes them easy to drape, wrap or tie in place.  
Kassiopi Scarf by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
For more details about the Kassiopi Scarf, please click here. The pattern is available for immediate download from the website.

Also, to read more about our Reversible Knitting Stitches book, please click here. In addition to the Seeded Chevron pattern featured in the Kassiopi Scarf there are more than 250 other double-sided stitches to explore.

Until next time – Keep smiling and keep knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Last Blogpost: In with the new, updating the old...
Next Up: Room for one more...

Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com

Many thanks again to my husband Tim for his great photos! To see more of his work, please click here.
Keywords: Patterns/Women's Scarves & Wraps,
Summer knitting, #summerknitting, cotton, reversible scarf, reversible stitches, reversible knitting,

12 August 2020

In with the new, updating the old ...

Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
A quick update on the new edition of our Reversible Knitting Stitches E-book! Thank you so much to everyone for your great comments and e-mails after my last blogpost announcing the new edition of the book. I am so pleased that everyone is as excited as we are to have more than 50 new reversible knitting stitches in the collection, so there will now over 250 stitches in total!

Anna and I have been on the look-out for exciting new reversible stitches since the start of the year as you can read here, and it's great that we have been able to add so many new examples to the book.  We never expected to get to such a grand total and hope you will enjoy these new additions. The photo above shows one of these, Granite Stitch, and I have really enjoyed working on some winter knits using this pattern.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Editing for the new edition is progressing at a pace and we have just completed another major task, which was to update every one of the stitch charts in the book! As you can imagine, that was quite a big job. However, there has been such an improvement in the software we use for drawing up stitch charts over the last few years, so we wanted to incorporate that into the E-book. 

This is, of course, doubly important since tablet and phone resolution has improved markedly over the years, so we wanted to make sure that all the charts were really crisp and easy to read.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So all being well, we will be on target to release the new edition of the E-book in September. We will, of course, send this out as an update to everyone who already has the first edition so you can start using it as soon as it is ready. I’ll post more details here when we have some better idea of dates. 

To purchase a copy of the book, then please click here, and to see a gallery of example pages, then please click here.

Hoping everyone is keeping safe and healthy. I’ll be back soon with news of some cotton scarves I have been knitting!

Until next time – Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Last Blogpost: It started with a placemat
Next Up: New pattern – Kassiopi Scarf

Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com

Many thanks again to my husband Tim for his great photos! If you would like to see more of his work, then please click here.
Keywords: Reversible Stitches
reversible, reversibleknitting, knittingstitches, stitches, GraniteStitch

26 June 2020

It started with a placemat...

Trevarren Placemat Set by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I'm back with news about an update to our Reversible Knitting Stitches E-book! You may recall that back in January, I set myself the challenge of adding 20 new stitches to our E-book for 2020, and Anna happily joined in the quest.

The idea had come to me when I was making a new set of placemats as I had been playing around with different stitch variations and loved the new stitch that I ended up with. 
Textured Rib from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
It was only a minor change in the stitch chart from one of the stitches in the book but the final result looked so different! The front face had a strong cellular pattern while the reverse side showed smooth undulating ribs – just perfect for placemats and coasters.

I e-mailed Anna and said how I'd love to add this to a new updated E-book, and we got to wondering if we could find some others. We chatted about getting together to work on lots of new ideas and made our travel plans accordingly. Of course, what we didn't know at the time was that the Coronavirus lockdown was about to happen and that full program of travelling was going to be cancelled... 

At first, there was a tremendous disappointment at so many plans being abandoned and that awful feeling of helplessness watching the news unfold around the world. However, in the end I was grateful to have such a fun project to focus on during the extra time at home.
Two-Colour Rug Stitch from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So I got my knitting pins out and made sure I had a large basket of wool by my side and Anna did the same over in Sweden. Then we had a chat about what we wanted to achieve with the new additions. 

We decided to focus on 4 areas: Firstly, we wanted to add some more easy stitches so beginner knitters could extend their range and produce great knitted projects without having to concentrate too hard. 

Then secondly, we wanted to add some more examples of colourful reversible stitches. These are, of course, the Holy Grail of knitters since it is so hard to make multi-colour items that really look good on both sides. We did have some examples in the 1st Edition but we wanted to make sure we had a few extra ones to add to the new update.
Darlington Lace from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Then thirdly, we had received a number of requests for more reversible lace patterns. It is easy to understand why, since lace is so often used for shawls where both sides are on show. The 1st Edition had quite a good selection of lace and mesh designs, but there's always room for more! 

Then lastly, we thought the reversible cable chapter was a bit 'thin' before, so we wanted to add a good number of additional cable samples. We are very pleased with the new ones and I am excited to try some of them out for warm winter scarves and sweaters.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So, ... drumroll ... the 2nd Edition now has more than 250 stitches!! Yey!

​We are so pleased to have been able to add so many new stitches, and hope that everyone enjoys the extra examples we have included. We were only hoping for an extra 20 stitches but the ideas really started to flow once we got down to it.
Nadine Scarf by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
We have also added lots of new project ideas, so that there are now over 80 project photos scattered through the book. Most of the new photos are of Anna’s recent patterns, and I love having more of her playful colourful designs in the book. We are hoping they will help show the amazing range of projects that can be worked with reversible stitches.

We already have all the photographs taken and the pages formatted so the book is now going through its final editing. We hope to complete that in perhaps another month or so, all being well. So we are currently on target to have the new edition up and ready by the autumn.
Trevarren Placemat Set by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In the meantime, I will leave you with the pattern I was mentioning at the top of the blogpost. This is the Trevarren Placemat Set and you can find the pattern here.

Until next time – Happy Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Reversible Knitting Stitches
E-book, book, knitting stitches, reversible knitting, reversible stitches, placemats

07 February 2020

Faded Denim – a timeless colour for some new placemats

Quince & Co Chickadee Yarn, photo by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Denim fans have been delighted to see that "Faded Denim" is one of the key colours in Pantone's colour collection for this year and indeed we are seeing some wonderful denim shades in the yarn stores right now. The colour palette also includes a lovely soft dusky yellow and a gentle coral, together with richer shades such as the Colour of the Year, Classic Blue.

Pantone themselves described the colour palette as having "a timeless quality" and it certainly feels very evocative, like sitting on a harbour wall watching the twilight gentle settle at the end of the day.

The photo above shows some lovely yarns from Quince and Co. in just this Faded Denim shade. This is their Chickadee 100% wool yarn and I haven't quite decided what to do with that yet but I am excited by the possibilities. The colours shown are their Delft Blue together with Clay, Carrie's Yellow and the deep blue Fjord. I love the way they go together. I haven't used this yarn before but I hear only good things about it, so am looking forward to trying that out.
Trevarren Placemat Set by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Another yarn I purchased recently is Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in their Dolphin Blue colour and I have been using that for a set of placemats. I love the way they have come out. The yarn has really brought out the texture of the design.
Textured Rib from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I worked these in Textured Rib which is a pattern we are going to include in an expanded version of our Reversible Knitting Stitches E-Book in the autumn. The stitch has a strong, cellular pattern with vertical ribs crossed by a line of purls to create a series of small air pockets. This is great for placemats, of course, because it holds the hot items clear of the table surface to protect them.

The other side has a completely different look with a wonderfully undulating surface like a ridge and furrow field, giving a really interesting contour to the otherwise smooth surface. I love patterns that have two very definite “sides”. It always feels like a bit of a bonus to have extra options, doesn't it!
Trevarren Placemat Set by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I have just uploaded the Trevarren Placemat Set pattern to my pattern store, so please click here to see more photos and detailsThe set includes two sizes of placemats, a central tablemat, hot pads and a set of coasters to finish the set off. The colour is just perfect and I am looking forward to using this set lots this summer.

Well, it's turned into a lovely sunny afternoon after a grey start today, so I think I'm going to make a cup of tea and try out some ideas for the Chickadee yarn in the top photo. I'll let you know what I come up with!

Until next time – Happy Knitting,

Moira
Keywords: Reversible Stitches, Patterns/Home
blue, colour of the year, Pantone, reversible knitting, reversible stitches, knitting stitches, placemats, coasters, tablemats, hotpads,

10 January 2020

20 for 2020

Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
There's always a tremendous feeling of a "new start" at the beginning of a new decade, isn't there. A time for new explorations and new challenges. So it was that on 1st Jan 2010, I opened my brand new notebook and wrote:

   "AIM: Find or design knitting stitches that look good on both sides. 
   Question: Can I get to a total of 100 stitches?"

I had made a start on this a few years earlier as I had either collected or designed quite a number of reversible stitches over the previous years. I knitted the samples one after another in a long ribbon of stitches and ended up with something that looked a bit like a Doctor Who scarf!

This had a grand total of 73 stitches and although I used it as a reference for quite a while, it was quite unwieldy and all the labels got quite tangled up after a while.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So I decided to reknit those samples and see if I could add a few more to get to 100 in total. I went through all the books I had on my bookshelves and found another 12 samples, so now I had 85 samples. However, this was still far short of the challenge to find 100 that I had set myself.

It was about this time that Anna saw the increasing numbers of samples piling up everywhere and joined in the hunt. We started with graph paper and knitting needles and designed some new ones to join the gathering collection. Soon we had another 20 or so stitches to get to the 100 stitch mark and just beyond.

At which point she said to me, "We should gather these into a book!"
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So we decided to see just how many reversible stitches we could either find or design. We scoured libraries and on-line sites, we took promising stitches and designed new variations to make them reversible, we played around with stitch charts and sampled, sampled, sampled.

Then suddenly we saw we had 150 different stitches… then 175… then gosh – more than 200 reversible stitches! Amazing!

And that's how our Reversible Knitting Stitches book came into being. First as a challenge for the new decade in 2010, then with a fresh pair of eyes and a second pair of hands knitting away over on the other side of the Atlantic.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
However, that was ten years ago and now here we are at the start of yet another new decade! Time to set a new challenge… So can you guess what my new 2020 Notebook has started with? Well here’s the entry:

   "AIM: Find or design more stitches to add to our Reversible Knitting Stitches collection.
   Question: Can I add 20 new stitches in 2020? "

So that's what I'm going to try to do this year and I'm going to post here with news as I try them out. It might sound a modest number, but I think it will be a fun challenge!

If they look like they'll be good additions to the collection, then we'll add them to the E-book and publish this as a new edition by the end of the year. I've been wanting to get a new version out for a while anyway, as Anna has lots of new patterns which I think would be good as project examples for the book. I love having lots of projects to show how the stitches can be used, so I’d love to incorporate all those new ideas.

Next time, I'll show you the first of the stitches I've been working on. It's a nice easy stitch and I am currently using it for some placemats and coasters. I'm very excited about these but I'll save news of them until next time.
Caspersen Beach, Florida – Photo by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I'll leave you with a photo I took a few days ago at one of our lovely beaches, Caspersen Beach in South Venice, Florida – and yes, the sea really was that gorgeous turquoise colour that day! 

I hope your New Year has started well and that it will be a happy and successful year for you all. 

Until next time – Happy Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Reversible Stitches
knitting stitches, stitches, reversible, reversible stitches

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