a year in yarn

It's been exactly a year since I picked up my knitting needles again and tentatively made a few swatches. I taught myself to crochet in May which for me was the major breakthrough. Something I always wanted to do, but never thought I could. Now there is no stopping me. Here are some of the snippets of my year in yarn! (Click on the image to zoom in)


1. starstitchscarf, 2. swatches, 3. brioche stitch, 4. toast, 5. Untitled, 6. Noro Taiyo Dizzy Lizzy, 7. Noro Striped Scarf, 8. Noro Striped Scarf, 9. habitat hat, 10. h e x a g o n s, 11. h o o k e d, 12. s t r i n g b a g, 13. s h o p p e r, 14. f i l i g r e e b o w l, 15. d o i l y, 16. 8 point star, 17. p i n c u s h i o n, 18. ***, 19. c u s h i o n, 20. s h a w l, 21. experiment in colour, 22. t w i z z l e r, 23. p i n c u s h i o n, 24. s c a r f, 25. Untitled

it's crochet Jim... but not as we know it

I'm just not an enthusiastic knitter anymore. Crochet is my thing in an obsessive and passionate kind of way. Knitting just has way too many sticks involved, and don't even get me started on DPNs! But I do hanker after the texture of knitted items sometimes, especially the chunkier kind... a simple stocking stitch in a lovely bulky yarn can't be beaten. And for me, the queen of knitting stitches has to be brioche. But it seems you need a PhD in rocket science to understand how to do it! Ah, if only there was a kind of crochet that in someway resembled this type of knitting, and was really easy to boot. What a perfect world it would be then... But wait, there IS!!! It's called Tunisian (or Afghan or Tricot) crochet. I nearly wet my pants with excitement the other day when I discovered this. Immediately I grabbed my stubby little crochet hook and worked up this teeny swatch in the three basic Tunisian stitches. My Tunisian hooks are on order and I can't wait to get started on my full-size beauties. My world has just got a little brighter!

my first pattern

I have just published my first ever pattern... my little hexagon pincushion. It retails for 3 euros, but in celebration of this momentous occasion, the first five of you to leave a comment will get a copy for free!

Thanks girls - patterns are on their way!


Or you can buy the pattern directly here

it's been a while!

Well, I've been away for a while. Lost my mojo as you know, but I think it's coming back slowly. One thing that's really helped me is starting a knitting group with the Ravelrers of Athens. I had an idea to meet a couple of like-minded knitting addicts over a coffee every now and then. Twenty turned up to the first meeting! We even had a lady from Salt Lake City joining us, while holidaying here in Greece!


I really couldn't have been more delighted with the turn out or to have met a nicer bunch of girls. I think we all got really inspired talking to each other and fondling each other's stash ;) We really all had a wonderful time at central Athens alternative cafe Pure Bliss, right in the heart of LYS land.


And we're going to do it all over again next month. So if you happen to be in town, why don't you join us! We'd love to see you!


Alexandra, in between Eve and Maria here, has also started a knitting group up in Thessaloniki. Get in touch with her here if you are going to be in that neck of the woods!

Many thanks to Eve for the photos!

Hurry to get this!

A free pattern for this lovely throw landed in my inbox this morning from Crochet Me. I think it's only available to those registered, so maybe you'll receive this too if you hurry and join today!

Flickr Galleries

Wow... Flickr now have a great new tool (well, I only just found it) called Galleries! Now you can collate your own collection of other peoples images within your stream. One way to keep your favourites organised! Sadly, you can only put up to 18 images in one gallery... so I made two for my first subject! Below are a small selection from 'For The Love of Cotton Reels'. Get curating!


1. Spools, 2. Four spool clover, 3. pile of spools, 4. Untitled, 5. spun, 6. notions IV, 7. Pinks, 8. ., 9. YIP Day 251 - Cotton Reels

spotlight on... Emma Lamb

One of my most favourite of blog friends and goddess of granny chic is the one and only Emma Lamb. I'm sure many of you are getting to know her name as she is deservedly appearing everywhere lately and slowly taking the yarn world by storm with her cushions and potholders. Which all have fantastic granny names like Audrey and Doris by the way!



Her sense of colour is outstanding and her work is so exquisitely executed... just get a load of those granny squares!!



And I just love all the beautiful little details too...




Emma runs some amazingly inspirational groups on Flickr too including .knit.solid.yarn., granny chic... and all colours in... which are definately worth a look over a cuppa. All this along with a day job as a textile designer - I really don't know how she fits it all in! But I'm glad she does. Here's to you Emma!