episode 105 | princess polka dot

EPISODE 105 SHOW NOTES

I’ve had a great few weeks of cooler weather summer holidays, discovered some new yarn and the prettiest new colour but also found time to put a new design on the books created for me by my Betsy, aged 8yrs! I’m SO proud *big beaming smile on this old mama’s face :)

FINISHED OBJECTS

I finished my second Zig Zag Sock sample and will be launching the pattern sometime this week. Yahoo! I now only give launch discounts to my newsletter subscribers so if you want to buy the pattern with a discount then you can sign up for my newsletter using the form below. I’m not particularly intense with my newsletters, perhaps once every two weeks and you can cancel anytime.

For this sample I used a solid colour yarn; Scheepjes Metropolis in the Bangalore (052) colourway for the main body of the sock and Bogota (050) for the contrast. I’ve made two samples and the solid version makes the pattern pop out so much more clearly, I love it.

PATTERN NEWS

This week I re-launched one of my oldest and dearest of patterns, the Bon Bon Blanket. The pattern was old and tatty and needed re-formatting into my new PDF style plus I needed to make a new sample because I had given the old one away. You can buy the pattern for £2.00 on Ravelry or Etsy and/or find out more here.

WIPS

I’ve finished another round of my Granny Advent Blanket and it is looking super pretty but still no bigger than a large cushion cover! Ha!

Amazingly, despite its size, I’m loving making this blanket and enjoying the time it takes to make each tiny square. I’ve decided not to stress about it, or be desperate for results and instead to just enjoy the ride and the experience of making it.

The pattern is free and you can find it here together with a video tutorial. I’m using my 2019 yarn advent calendar from Biffsugar Yarns together with Cascade Heritage in the colour Snow.

I’m also almost finished with my current car socks using Downtown sock yarn from Scheepjes in the Baker’s Corner colourway (413). I should think that they will be finished next time I see you.

MAKE NINE UPDATE

I’m taking part in Amy’s (@noblecharactercrafts) year-long make along this year, the #makenine2021mal and I’ve completed three of my nine planned projects for this year; apidae socks, spiral socks and the underwing mitts.

I have three projects in progress: vintage cardigan, viajante and the sirdar poncho.

This week I decided to plan and buy the yarn for my remaining three projects. I already have the yarn for the vintage crochet blanket, I’m going to use Cascade Heritage in the snow colourway and so wound a skein up to get ready.

I also decided to use Sirdar Saltaire for the Stockholm Slipcover, I bought it in the Mole (307) colourway and had hoped it would be a bit darker (it looks it in the pictures), but I still think it will look nice and I’m sure it will be a quick knit.

And I bought some Drops Alpaca in a really pretty new green colourway for the Pixel Mittens. The colour is Pickle Green (9029) and I think its fabulous even though I’m not entirely sure if its the right weight yarn for the mitts!

NEW, NOTABLE & CHRISTMAS (I KNOW!)

I found a lovely sock set that I bought ages ago from a Belgian dyer called Studiomeez. She has some lovely sock sets, this one is called Storm and I’m going to be making Darren’s Christmas socks from it. I had seen how the yarn knits up in one of Carmen’s podcasts (absolutely ages ago), she is the designer behind New Leaf Designs @newleafdesigns.nl.

I also got enabled by Sam of @betsymakes when she posted this picture of her amazing holiday socks using the new Footsie sock yarn from King Cole.

Isn’t it GORGEOUS!

So I went immediately to Deramores and purchased the Watermelon and Strawberry plus I got myself all prepped for Christmas with the Christmas Fruits version too. You can buy it here.

A huge thank you to Charlotte for my lovely package of vintage goodies from New Zealand, she is @charlotteolivia on instagram.

And finally, The Princess of Polka Dots story. I’ll let you watch the video for all the happy details and I will share updates, notes and yarn purchases as I go along.

Enjoy the podcast folks and remember to love one another, don’t let the government or the media tell you who to love, adore and hug. We are all in this together and we mustn’t let ourselves become divided.

Peace, love and happy knitting or crocheting to you all.