Carol Meldrum's Blog

spring clean tidy up

The burst of sunshine over the last few days inspired me to attempt a tidy up. I diligently gathered and grouped together, working a room at a time , amazed at the amount of oddments of yarn and projects I’d managed to scattered about the place. The bag of tangles has been given a purpose it's going to be transformed into a hexagon crochet motif modular blanket as big as the tangles will allow! The main idea is to re purpose the tangles into something use able. To keep me from going off in a tangent I’m going to try and stick to a colour theme….but can’t promise, hexagon pattern and update coming soon on word.beatknit.com

Travels with my knitting

As workshop tutor I find myself most weekends on my travels heading towards a workshop venue, bags packed full of samples and my knitting tucked away ready to be pulled out at the earliest opportunity. Sometimes it’s a day trip and others it’s over night or long weekend, with a few longer visits to foreign locations dotted in between. This year’s workshop calendar has been up and running since the beginning of February and it’s been quite an adventure so far with unexpected stay overs and catching up with knitting friends from years back. I've a new blog which I've promised myself I'll up date regularly! Looking forward to sharing all my textile tales and travels with my knitting!

Textiles in Art

I'm loving San Francisco based artist Sarah Applebaum new-psych pieces especially the giant knitted chain. Her work is all about bridging the gap between the psychological and the
psychedelic. The article I came across on designboom prompted me to have a look at other works on Sarah's website and boy was I blown away. Above - Blanket head Below - Anchor It's an interesting mix of knit / crochet - just going to show what a versatile medium textile can be. Now I know what to do with all those Granny Squares and swatches.

Town & Country knit style

I came across the most amazing textile inspired knitted town at the Stitch & Craft show. Folk had really let their imaginations run wild, no detail of village life was left out. Laid out on a huge raised platform, you had an Ariel view of life in Knit Town. Reminded me a bit of a model railway except it's was a town.........and knitted, but you get the idea! On a similar vein how about these rugs from 3D farmville Carpet A series of designs inspired by Ariel views made up from 3D cut out wool shapes. And to finish off the look these tree inspired shelving units, Bringing the outdoors, indoors with your decor!

Where did the sunshine go?

The sunshine might have gone for the moment, but I'm sure it will be back soon. But just to remind myself here is some of my sunshine inspired makes and pics from over the past few days. The beaded ring(above) is a nod to the daffodils gently bobbing about in the breeze. The ring is made from a mix of 4ply lurex yarn and silver craft wire worked together throughout using an extremely fine needle, this helps the ring to keep it's shape and have a slight bit of stretch making sure it sits snug and secure. Any excuse for me to play about with green - the necklace was inspired by the fresh new shoots, leaves and buds bursting out into the sunshine. For more details and pictures of the designs visit my Etsy shop

New designs from beatknit

Well, it's been a busy few days of making, writing up & taking pictures, but that's quiet a few new designs and patterns listed in the Etsy & Misi shops! On the left - layered Up crochet necklace, this is such a simple yet effective pattern, works well with a 4ply mercerized cotton I've used Rowan siena, but Glace works just as well. On the right - Ivy crochet necklace, it's worked as a continuous length so it doesn't really matter what size you need to make, just keep repeating the pattern until you've reached the right length. Bottom - I've been playing around with this type of ring idea for quite a while now, I just love the way you can take a few random buttons & a wee bit of imagination to create a real show stopper. Pattern to follow very soon! Both necklace designs are available as PDF downloads - great for using up all those little bit's n pieces of yarn that we just can't part with........... ..... or is that just me!

New things for Spring

It's been a few days of new things - lots of new projects soon to be listed on Etsy. All the sunshine has shifted my focus from the winter woollies and towards summery accessories. Necklaces to make and buy - perfect gift Knitted rings with more than a touch of vintage about them. Hidden gems - packed away in a box hibernating, just waiting for the sunshine!

When knitting makes you smile!

Isn't it great when you come across something that just makes you smile. While flicking through the I on Saturday this picture caught my eye. Being the author of Knitlympics and all the press it's being getting recently I was chuffed to bit's to see a fellow knitter full of the Olympic spirit. I know how long it took me to knit all the dolls for the book and am full of admiration for the Saltburn Yarnbomber. I can really appreciate the amount of work and skill to create such a fantastic piece!

Echo's of vintage lace

New listings on Etsy - from beatknit A collection of vintage and lace inspired accessories Top - vintage inspired crochet necklaces and chokers. I've had fun raiding my jewellery box for old beads to incorporate into the designs. Bottom left - This idea has been buzzing around in my mind for quiet a while now, I wasn't sure whether it wanted to be in knit or crochet - so I've used a mix of both Bottom right - This design is in Rowan Kid Silk Haze, the idea was based on a polo neck but given a slight twist with the fanned out crochet picot trim.

knit graffiti

Call it knit / crochet graffiti or yarn bombing - the perfect way to add a splash of colour into the grey winter days. For more inspirational images check out the green crafts website.