About the pattern

About the pattern

About the pattern

My mother, also known as Granny to her grandchildren and GG to her great-grandchildren, had a school friend whose mum was from Shetland. Many years ago, Granny’s friend gave her a pair of fairisle fingerless mitts of unknown provenance, which are now wearing out. We think they were knitted in Shetland by a contract knitter working without a pat...

This yoked jumper is inspired by the lovely colours of Whistlebare’s Cheviot Marsh DK yarn. This is shearling wool from Cheviot and Romney Marsh sheep reared in Northumberland, spun in Yorkshire and hand dyed at Whistlebare. This yarn is ideal for colourwork and gives excellent stitch definition.

Some years ago I designed a hat (Trees and Diamonds) based on my experiments playing with a stranded knit diamond with 9 stitches on each side. This started as an informal knitalong which was a lot of fun. The hat turned out to be my first paid pattern after some encouragement from Amy Singer of Knitty, who took the time, unasked, to look at it...

About the pattern

If I walk about a mile or two from my house, I can look out over the North Sea. The next land I would reach, if I set off in a boat and didn’t drown, would be Norway.

I went to Yarndale, a big yarn show in Skipton, North Yorkshire, for the first time in 2022. I had a lovely time because I was born and brought up in Skipton so I met a lot of people I knew or had connections with. At Yarndale I also met Ellie Stokeld, who has a flock of rare breed Border Leicester sheep literally in walking distance from my ho...

This cosy jumper is knitted in the round from the bottom up. After working a broken rib, stitches are created for the pocket lining which is worked using double-layered knitting. The pocket is completed and joined back into the body. The jumper is worked without shaping to the underarms then divided for front and back which are knitted flat and...

This pattern for a waistcoat or gilet was originally written for the lovely colours of Ram Jam Sport Dyeing Light Collection, which was a limited edition collaboration from Daughter of a Shepherd and Woollenflower. I was asked whether it would be possible to produce the same pattern for chunky yarn. I had a quantity of vintage lopi yarn deep in...

Some time ago I made a cardigan from lovely Birlinn Yarns from the Outer Hebrides, and called it my Hebrides Cardigan. My maternal forbears come from the Isle of Islay so that was my inspiration. I was astounded when I published the pattern for this cardigan and so many people liked it, so much so that the sales of the pattern paid for the yarn...

About the pattern

I have always liked the look of cable patterns but find using a cable needle a bit of a bother. I always lose my cable needle and find that searching for it breaks the rhythm of my knitting. So, anything that looks like cables but doesn’t need a cable needle is a win!

Styled on the traditional Fisherman’s Gansey, this cosy pullover is knitted in the round from the bottom up with only one tiny bit of sewing, and decorated with authentic knit and purl patterns on the yoke. The Sleeves are picked up and knit downwards, and an underarm gusset ensures freedom of movement and a good fit.

These socks were designed to use Whistlebare’s lovely St Cuthbert Sock yarn, which is nylon-free. The yarn is 80% mohair and 20% Wensleydale and it knits to a somewhat looser tension or gauge than most other sock yarn. This is great because you can get a pair of excellent socks more quickly!

We are fortunate to live near ancient woodland which is managed for biodiversity by the National Trust and is in the North York Moors national park. This hat is inspired by some of my favourite trees in the woodland in particular oak, elm and larch.

This is a pattern for a lined headband with sunflower and heart colourwork motifs knitted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. I knitted it from stash, and it took about 60m of yellow, 60m of blue and 70m of the lining yarn all in 4-ply/fingering weight.

Many years ago my mum bought a commercially made jacket when in Norway on holiday. She asked if I could make her something similar but different using Scottish yarn, and this is the result.

This pattern was an entry into the KDD “my place” design competition in 2020. My pattern was not selected but I had a lot of fun designing it and learnt a lot.

This all over colourwork cardigan is knitted with all 12 colours of Birlinn Yarns lovely 4-ply (fingering) weight yarn that were available in 2020. (Another colour has now been added to the range!) I couldn’t decide which colour I liked best so I got one of each and decided to use them all. I have tried to represent the landscape of the Hebride...

I knitted this hat for the November 2019 KDD “it’s on your heid” knitalong. I was asked for the pattern so here it is.

UPDATE 11 April 2024.

Fingerless gloves with fairly long fingers

Jumper made from two strands of leftover double knitting yarn worked together.