Award-winning Scottish publishing and design
Recently Kate suggested that for my next project I could have a go at her iconic Owls sweater pattern. Now, as you will know if you have been following my learn to knit journey, it had only been three months since I had picked up the needles…
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Back in the spring, I knew my ten year owliversary was coming up, so I decided to knit myself a new owl sweater. These photographs were taken while we were in Berneray, back in May. It’s quite weird seeing myself with my ‘old’ hair – I suppose that must mean I’m now completely used to…
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I recently wrote about how I designed the owl sweater in my book Handywoman. As part of the sweater’s ten year owliversary, I thought I’d extract that part of the book here. “In the autumn of 2008, I’d knitted a sweater that lots of people seemed to really like. As my skills and technical acumen…
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In November it will be ten years since I knitted my owl sweater. A lot can happen in a decade, and that’s particularly so for me. In November 2008 I was an academic lecturer at Newcastle University, researching and teaching literary history. Knitting was one of several hobbies I enjoyed, and I’d begun documenting my…
Read MoreHooray! Hooray! Wowligan is here today! Apparently owl cardigans are much easier to dress a wee one in than owl jumpers and I’ve been asked about the possibility of such a pattern many times. . . one can never have too many owls, so I decided to make it. The Wowligan is basically a mini…
Read MoreMaybe it is the time of year or something – everything in the landscape seems so scoured out and colourless – but I find myself on a massive orange kick. And what better orange could there possibly be than this? The yarn is Bulky lopi in shade 1418 – “carrot tweed”. Such a rich, deep…
Read MoreOne of the most frequent requests I receive by email is to help knitters ‘translate’ my owls pullover design into a cardigan. This is not as straightforward as it sounds. The owls pullover was designed to be a tightly-fitting garment, with negative ease and back shaping (which would sit rather oddly as a cardigan). The…
Read MoreSometimes things just have to be done. Last year, the Scottish Owl Centre relocated to Polkemmet in West Lothian, a short drive away from Edinburgh. Boasting “one of the largest collections of owls in the world”, how could we not pay a visit? We met Hudson, the great horned owl. and this lovely wee feller,…
Read Morenew, purple o w l s . . . This was my first design, and it was in need of a little freshening up. The pattern now looks more professional and includes a few changes, the main one being the addition of extra sizes (the range now runs from a 30″to a 50″bust). And there…
Read MoreWell, you know Spring is here when the clocks go forward. And last night, my subconscious decided to mark the occasion with a series of strange dreams. In the most disturbing one, peculiar birds pecked holes in my knitting. Pecking beaks! Ruined knitting! Horrors! Then one particularly evil birdie flew off with this: I’ve been…
Read MoreYes, its time to announce the parliamentary victors, and give away some owlish prizes! There are 57 owls in the parliament. I excluded myself and my knitting comrades (Hannah, Kate B and Melanie) from the fun; put the remaining 53 names in a ‘hat’, and selected one at random. Congratulations, Elizabeth! You are officially the…
Read MoreHannah just sent me some great pictures of her o w l s enjoying themselves stateside. Here they are cavorting by the banks of the Mississippi . . . . . .and getting into the spirit of things in Memphis, Tennessee. o w l s have also been seen this week in New Zealand and…
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