How I Knit Britain

S&B London got as many groups and individual knitters accross the Uk to knit a square for the Uk S&B Blanket. We wanted it to represent the UK groups in all their diversity. With a map of the UK in the middle, individual knitters made blue squares for the sea and groups made squares that represented their group, which made the edging of the blanket. And what a fabulous result!

I knew that knitting England would not be an easy task, but it took much longer than I thought it would. I also ended up re-doing it until it looked perfect! I started by taking a map of the UK and blowing it up to the size I wanted to knit it. I then used this as a stencil for the knitting. In plain knitting, I knitted, increasing adn decreasing to make the bumpy shapes that make up the island.

Knitted Hair Band

Here's a very simple pattern I designed for the Alexandra Palace Knitting & Stitch Show. This is a pattern for beginners, as it is plain knitted and there's just a little increasing and decreasing at each end to make the ties.

I have also made a moss stitch design as well, so if you know your knits from your purls, it's a good one to try out. I actually prefer the finish on the moss stitch band, though it takes a little longer to make thatn the plain knitted. The Moss Stitch Hair Band also has ribbing at each end, which allows for a stretchy snug fitting band.

Plain Knitted Hair Band

Materials: 4mm needles & double knit yarn, your choice of colour.

Directions:

Cast on 6 stitches
Rows 1-40: garter stitch
Row 41: K1, m1, k4, m1, k1 = 8 stitches
Row 42: knit
Row 43: K1, m1, k6, m1, k1 = 10 stitches
Row 44: knit
Row 45: K1, m1, k8, m1, k1 = 12 stitchesContinue in garter stitch until the piece measures 55cm or desired length
Now decrease to finish.
Row 1: K1, K2tog, K8, K2tog, K1 = 10 stitches
Row 2: knit
Row 3: K1, K2tog, K6, K2tog, K1 = 8 stitches
Row 4: knit
Row 5: K1, K2tog, K4, K2tog, K1 = 6 stitches
Rows 6-46: garter stitch
Cast off.

Moss Stitch Hair Band

Materials: 4mm needles & double knit yarn, your choice of colour.

Directions:

Cast on 6 stitches
Rows 1-38: Moss stitch
Row 39 & 40: knit
Row 41: p1, m1, p4, m1, p1 = 8 stitches
Row 42: Purl
Row 43: K1, m1, k6, m1, k1 = 10 stitches
Row 44: knit
Row 45: p1, m1, p8, m1, p1 = 12 stitches
Row 46: Purl
Rows 47 & 48: knit
Rows 49 & 50: Purl
Rows 51 & 52: knit
Rows 53 & 54: PurlContinue in Moss stitch until the entire piece measures 55cm or desired length.
Now decrease to finish.
Rows 1 & 2: Knit
Rows 3 & 4: Purl
Rows 5 & 6: Knit
Rows 7 & 8: Purl
Row 9: K1, K2tog, K8, K2tog, K1 = 10 stitches
Row 10: knit
Row 11: p1, p2tog, p6, p2tog, p1 = 8 stitches
Row 12: Purl
Row 13: K1, K2tog, K4, K2tog, K1 = 6 stitches
Row 14: knit
Rows 15-52: Moss stitch
Cast off.

Live Hip-Hop in Japan

I was fortunate enough to see a side of Japan many tourists don't get to see. My friends took part in a charity event at a community centre in Yokohama. Performances included break dancing, body popping, rapping, tap dancing and loads more. Unfortunately this was near the end of my stay and I ran out of memory on my camera. But I did manage to get these...

Tap Dancer VS Beatboxer....



Beatboxing....



More....



Check out how fast this guy is!



Last one...

Knitted Tea Cosy

I have just invested in a new tea pot and it couldn't be better timing either. As you may or may not know, St. John's Ambulance are asking for knitters to send in their knitted tea cosies to help raise vital funds for their life saving work. The Big Tea Cosy event will be on the 30th November. Their target is 5,000 knitted cosies! Which will then be sold to raise money for the charity's crucial work. Laughing Hens have provided a cosy pattern to get you started.

I have used the 'Coffee, Tea or Me?' pattern from 'Stitch and Bitch Nation' pictured below, as a basis to get me started. Unfortunately, it was a bit too small for my tea pot, as you can see. So, i adapted the pattern to make it bigger.

Tea cosies are really easy to knit and you can be creative as you like when designing your own. I already have plans for grassy cosies covered in ladybirds....