Making a knitted scarf look different.

Here are two simple ways of making a plain scarf look different.
Turn back the bottom to make pockets. Crochet a decorative seam or just top sew the edge.
Make a cosy hood by folding the scarf in half and joining the two edges at the centre.

The ball of yarn / wool.

Start the ball of wool by pulling the end from the center. Not only does this stop the ball of wool bouncing around the floor, it also keeps the wool clean. You can also put it in a bag at this stage.

Joining in a new ball of yarn.

Measure the amount of yarn that is left. To complete a a row of knitting, without a join in the centre, you will need four times the width of your knitting. If the yarn does run out in the middle of a row, more than often it really is worth taking the stitches back to the start of the row

How to read a chart.

A chart may look like a difficult crossword puzzle, but its a very simple way of reading a fair isle or multi stitch pattern. Each square on the chart represents one stitch. Each horizontal row equals one row of knitting.
Always begin a pattern reading the chart from right to left, bottom to top.
So the right side of your knitting is row 1 of the chart and every following odd row 3, 5.7 etc.
The wrong side of your knitting is row 2 of the chart and every following even row 2, 4, 6 etc. and read left to right.

Purchasing yarn

Purchasing yarn
When purchasing yarn it is always best to buy all the yarn you will need to finish that particular garment and check that the dye lots are all the same. Dye lots change, and even though the dye number is the same the shade of the colour can vary hugely. This can show up badly on a completed garment. If you have to knit a sweater in different dye lots, a good way to avoid seeing the shade difference is to knit the back in one shade lot and the front and sleeves in the other.

Teddy Bear Accessory

The teddy bear aran sweater is an ideal gift for someone who likes to collect teddy bear accessories or a perfect gift for that special bear that needs a new sweater.These teddy bear sweaters are knitted to my own original traditional designs. At the moment I have three different patterns. If you find it hard to choose one just treat your teddy bear to all three! There are different colours to choose from and I will be introducing more. The teddy bear aran sweaters are knitted in Bunmahon,Co Waterford, Ireland, a small village overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The aran’s are knitted by local people in their own homes which supports a more ecologically sound way of life. So give your teddy bear a treat, a new aran sweater, he’s worth it !

Buy this pattern on www.thewoolshop.ie or buy the finished article on www.thewoolshop.ie

Handmade Tea Cosy

Buy a unique tea cosy from our range of Irish handmade crafts. This tea cosy pattern is an old pattern I found in my grandmothers knitting bag along with her rusting knitting needles and odd pieces of yarn. In her day new yarn or wool was costly and unaffordable so wool sweaters or jumpers were never discarded, no matter what the condition. Any knitted garments were undone, stitches ripped out and then re knitted. It was a tedious job and there was a certain amount of skill involved to insure that as much of the ripped yarn could be saved as possible. So I am following in her tradition for some of the way. The yarn used is new but none of my tea cosy’s are the same! This pattern dates back to the 1940,s or so. These tea cosy’s are very practical as they are made with yarn that has a wool content. This means they are washable, hardwearing and long lasting and most importantly they keep the tea in your tea pot hot! I have chosen demure colour contrasts and some mad ones. Hope you like our exclusive tea cosy range.