Devon Cream - Folksy Friday / Mystery Make 2

Today's blog theme is cream as part 2 of the mystery make is knitting a cream triangle:


You can download the mystery make as a PDF from the free patterns page
and there is a help board for anyone having problems on my Facebook page

Mystery Make

What is the mystery make all about? It’s an opportunity for beginner / improver knitters, who have mastered the basic knitting stitches of knit, purl, increase and decrease to really put their skills to the test.......and make one small, manageable and decorative item for their home. Some weeks there will be one part to knit, others there will be several copies of a part. At the end of the series, instructions will be posted as to how to put the parts together and make a beautiful patchwork item for your home.

The Cream Triangle

Materials

·         3 x50g balls of yarn in 3 colours A, B, C

·         4mm needles

For the purposes of this series, A is lilac, B is Blue and C is cream.

You will not use complete balls so this project is suitable for using up oddments of yarn. If you want to, you can use more than one colour for the sections made in colour B.

Abbreviations

K – Knit     P-purl   Inc – Increase 1 stitch        Dec – Decrease 1 stitch

Increasing – knit in the front and back of the stitch

Decreasing – knit / purl 2 stitches together

Pattern

 Cast on 30sts in colour C and follow the instructions below to create a stocking stitch triangle:

Row 1	K to last 2 sts Dec 1
Row 2	Dec 1 purlwise  Pto end

These 4 rows set the pattern, continue until you have 1 st left, pull the yarn through and fasten off.

Unravellings of a knitting teacher....

One of my pupils is buying the latest series of how to knit magazines available in the UK. Its bright, cheerful and has some great project ideas. But it strikes me as odd that if you are teaching someone to knit and are expecting them to use certain stitches to complete the projects in week 1, that you don't include a how to guide.  For example week 1 was featuring stocking stitch but the only stitch lesson was garter stitch. it was not until week 2 that purl was taught... and mention was made that a tutorial could also be found on the DVD. Another concern with these magazines is that learners are given the impression that they can knit a square straight from the off. Have taught many people over the years and one thing I've noticed is that it takes alot of practice to feel comfortable enough with garter stitch and to complete a sample swatch without holes, dropped stitches etc. I'd be really interested to find out how many people following that series will actually complete it. What do other's think?

And now for the Folksy Friday.......... celebrating all things cream 

Bits and bobs Crafts - Navy and Cream Wrap

And the following are stunning offerings from the talented people over at Folksy. Today we have everything from earrings to bears :-)

1. Kokelli                     2. Lily's Night Garden                  3. Inspiral Silver
4. Nofkants Curios        5. Pud Bears and Friends              6. Floral Gifts 4 U