HRYC

When Spud & Chloe Fine arrived in the shop, I was more than a little taken by one of their colours: Glow Worm. You could go so far as to say I was quite enamoured with it. The only thing I didn't like was that, sadly, it doesn't glow in the dark. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD.

Spud & Chloe Fine in Glow Worm

And you know what else I can't help myself with? Stripes. Why oh why do I do this to myself? Every time!

Spud & Chloe Fine in Wildberries, Lipstick, Glow Worm and Sidewalk

A conversation followed about how great these four colours looked together. And then I stumbled across the Nova Dress pattern. Fate? I'd like to think so.

It was a great, quick and straight forward knit - I made the size 4, and cut the yarn at each stripe change rather than carry four colours up the side (I felt that would be messy, and don't mind the weaving in). 

Hooray! Finished!

The problem when the dress was all done though - the leftovers! Oh noes! They sat forlornly on the stash shelf for weeks. Solution: kid sized version of the Leftovers Cowl.

Instead of doing 70 stitches as with the adult version, provisionally cast on 50sts on 3.25mm needles, and follow the instructions for the bigger size. Easy peasy!

If you're one of the many many people now addicted to Pinterest - I've pinned a whole bunch of awesome Nova dress projects found on Ravelry. Great way to pick up ideas on colour combos and peek at cute kids!

PS - we're out of stock of lots of Spud & Chloe Fine colours at the moment, but a bumper order will be with us in about 2 weeks. Yay! Let us know (shop@hollandroadyarn.co.nz) if you'd like us to pop any aside for you when it arrives.

 Okay, so I kept looking at colourwork patterns...I couldn't help it! Here are more to get excited over. I really am my own worst enemy when it comes to mentally queuing up things to knit. With all the spare I (really, really don't) have.

Kirkwall by Mary Jane Mucklestone

Wallflower by Stephanie van der Linden

Bumblebee by The Needle Lady

I'm done now. I think. Maybe...

 There are some seriously amazing colourwork sock patterns around at the moment. 

I really, really don't need to add new projects to my 'desperate to knit' list, but all of these have me hunting around in my stash and dreaming up colour combinations...

Hot Crossbone Socks by Camille Chang

Fireweeds by Rose Hiver

Garden Gate Socks by Emily Johnson (i've wanted to knit these since forever)

Butterflies are Free by Rose Hiver

Zirkel. by Stephanie van der Linden

I  really am never going to run out of things I want to knit. It's a little bit crazy! I know lots of people find stranded knitting a little bit scary - but it's worth a go. As long as you start with something that has no more than 2 - 3 stitches of a colour before changing to the next colour, you'll be fine. It's all about practice, after all.

 I've never been a lover of crochet. Perhaps because when I grew up there was the same problem with crochet as there was with knitting: epic ugliness.

Lately, though...i'm getting a little obsessed. That doesn't mean i've actually picked up a crochet hook yet, but it's really only a matter of time. 

Before I get into sharing a whole load of crochet inspiration, I had better let you know about our crochet classes!

We're lucky to have Sofia back on board with another round of her beginner crochet class - hooray! The next set is Sunday 7 & 14 October from 12.30pm - 3pm. You can book online - just be sure to add the code crochetSHIP at the checkout to remove the shipping component.

For those who have a few crochet skills sorted, we've added a new class: Next Steps. Learn new tricks and techniques to take your crochet further - again, you can book online. Hooray!

Ready to drool over some crochet amazingness? Yeah, me too!

Flowers in the Snow blanket by Solveig Grimstad

Hexagon How-To by Lucy of Attic-24 - I am OBSESSED with this blanket!

Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket by Celeste Young

African Flower Hexagon (image from Tangled Yarns) by Lounette Fourie and Anita Rossouw

Yep, definitely need to work on my crochet skills!

Our first ever Twitter Knit Chat was a huge success - thanks so much to everyone who took part! You helped make #twitknit the top trending hashtag in New Zealand! Now that's pretty awesome. I think we should try for the same every week...

Number one!

I thought a quick round up and links to some of the great patterns mentioned would be useful - so here you go!

Pathways Blanket by Frankie Brown

I Heart Aran sweater

Flying Without Wings

I'm already looking forward to next Monday! Join us at 8pm NZ time for a whole lot of fun knitting chatter. There's a also a growing list of special guests being lined up for future sessions...hooray!