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Getting Organised

January 29, 2017

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Knit, Crochet, Create with Lynne Rowe

Lynne Rowe: Hi and welcome to my blog. I'm Lynne and I love to knit and crochet here in The Woolnest (some would say I'm obsessed!!). I'm a knitting and crochet designer as well as an author, tutor, technical editor and podcaster. Contact me at LPP10@sky.com if you have any knit or crochet questions.

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"Bracken" Men's Scarf - free knitting pattern and colour change tutorial

I had great plans last year to make lots of handmade Christmas presents. I didn't make lots, but the few I did make were lovely and really well received, especially this stylish men's scarf that's super easy to make.

All you need is 100g of chunky yarn in a solid colour plus 100g of variegated chunky yarn (so that's 200g in total). You can use either 5.5 or 6mm needles. I used 5.5mm needles.

I only had 200g of yarn in my stash, but it was the perfect length - great for tucking into a coat. Of course you could make it longer if you have more yarn.

The houndstooth check appearance is made by knitting a broken rib pattern and working 2 rows in the variegated yarn followed by 2 rows in the solid colour. So it's really simple and great to work on whilst your watching the TV or listening to the radio. Plus, the great thing about ribbed patterns is that the back looks just as good as the front.

I found 4 x 50g balls of yarn in my stash:
2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Chun…

Friendship Flowers Bunting - A crochet gift along

Last weekend, I confess I worked on a quick commission. Something I've 'banned' myself from doing, but I'd been asked if I could design up something really quickly in time for a photoshoot that was just a few days away, and so I said yes.

In truth, I really enjoyed this quick commission. It was very therapeutic and calming, especially given the worrying circumstances of the recent horrific attacks and events in London and the previous events in Manchester. My heart goes out to all those caught in the these traumatic and life-changing incidents.

Whilst my knitting and crochet doesn't solve the world's problems, it certainly helps me to focus my mind, meditate and improve my wellbeing. Here's how it works for me.

A Mindful Knitting/Crochet Exercise:
The repetitive movements of your hook or needles can really help to calm the mind and shut out the stresses and strains of daily life, just for a short time. I breathe in and out with the rhythm of the stitch and …

Book Review - Mrs Moon Simple Chic Crochet

I wasn't surprised at all when I read that at a recent yarn festival, Karen and Susan from Mrs. Moon had completely sold out of their latest book "Simple Chic Crochet". As soon as I received my review copy of this gorgeous book, I knew from the cover that I was going to love it. It's so fresh and inviting that I couldn't wait to dive straight in. "Simple Chic Crochet" proves without doubt that crochet is just as versatile and stylish as knitting.

The book was sent to me by the lovely ladies at CICO books because I'm on their list of craft book reviewers. This means that CICO send me a copy of their latest knitting or crochet titles, and in return I read it through them and post my views (which are all my own). It takes me a couple of hours in total, as I like to look through the projects fully, see how the patterns are written and assess the book in terms of variety of projects, range of difficulty, ease of reading etc. Sometimes I pass the books ar…

Explaining Crochet Tension

In Episode 3 of The Crochet Circle Podcast (link is here), we chat about Crochet Tension, so I thought it would be helpful to follow this up with a dedicated blog post, as it's something that I'm often asked about when I'm teaching crochet. Crochet tension, (sometimes referred to as gauge) is the number of stitches and rows using a particular stitch or stitch pattern in a defined square of crochet fabric, usually 10cm (4in). It is determined by the size of hook and yarn you are using, and can even be influenced by the way you are sitting, or by your mood. So if you're feeling stressed for example, you're more likely to crochet tightly which can affect the size of your stitches. The tension required for a pattern will be listed at the beginning of the pattern, and you need to match it to get the correct size. It's important to remember that every crocheter works to their own tension, so there's no guarantee that yours will match that of the pattern. It's …

Yarn Review - DMC Natura XL Just Cotton

Good Morning All. I hope you're keeping well and enjoying the lovely sunshine. I love the warmer weather as it means I can work outside and hopefully brown up my milky white legs and arms.
This week I've bee hooking with DMC's new yarn - Natura XL so I thought I'd share my thoughts just in case you'd seen this yarn and wondered what it's like to work with.
Please note - this isn't a sponsored post, or something I've been asked to do - it's just my own thoughts.
I first came across Natura XL at a recent Trade Show where I was invited to the launch of this new yarn. I was really excited as I've used DMC's Natura Just Cotton and Woolly (Merino) yarns in my crochet book and they've become some of my favourite yarns. At the show I received a little goodie bag with a couple of balls of Natura XL, a couple of free patterns, knitting needles and crochet hook (the one in the photo below). We spent a fun hour hooking up and knitting some quick pr…