Beaker Button Blog

  Beginners Fingerless Mittens  www.beakerbutton.co.uk ©Jen Best 2022   These mittens are worked from side to side. The length is approximately 22cm, but this will depend on your tension. To adjust the length, change the cast on stitches or wet block them longer if they’re too short once they’re made. Soak them in water for an hour then pin them to shape on a mat/ironing board with rust free pins until dry. Once they’re dry they will retain their pinned shape. You can then sew up the sides, leaving a hole for your thumb.   The amounts in the chart below are an estimate and may change depending on your tension. I’ve rounded measurements up so you may have yarn left over. You can gather the leftovers and make them into stripy mittens, following the 2 colour stripe stitch pattern below. Yarn W eight Needle size Cast on Stitches Yarn amount 2 colour stripes yarn amount Lace 2mm 70 ...

No Sew Mitred Square Blanket This was one of those projects that made me consider why I knit. I don't need a blanket. I spend most of my time overheating, especially at night so actually a blanket is probably the last thing I need. I did have a huge amount of fibre from my Mum's stash, which prompted the idea.  A small selection from mine and Mum's stash! I'm finding spinning very soothing at the moment, with all the crazy going on. But why a blanket? I love to knit mitred squares. They way they get smaller as you make them, the look of the stripes as they form that distinctive V. I made a jacket a couple of years ago, well more of a coat really, with the huge amount of 4ply yarns I have. That started life as a blanket, but morphed into a coat as I was working it.  Me in my Mitred Square Coat I wanted something simple to work, and no sewing, and mindless, hence the blanket. Who knows, maybe next year it will be cold enough to use it. This project did it's job though...

Rainbow neck pillow www.beakerbutton.co.uk   ©Jen Best 2017 Patterns are for personal use only. We are happy for you to sell things you make from them but please credit Beaker Button. Abbreviations Kfb - knit into the front and back of the stitch, one stitch increased.   P2tog - purl 2 together (insert the needle in the next 2 stitches as if to purl, purl the two together) pm -   place marker sm -   slip marker sts - stitches  [....] repeat section as directed Tension: 20 sts x 24 rows over 10cm x 10cm square in stocking stitch using 4.5mm needles, 5 x 50m dk Beaker Button mini skeins (or similar dk yarn), yarn needle for sewing up, 2 stitch markers, 125g of stuffing. This pattern is knitted in the flat but is easier to work with circular needles.  Finished neck pillow measures about 30cm across from farthest points and 23cm from top to bottom. It is 11cm across. This can change depending on how firmly you stuff it. Co...

Some of you will know that I've always wanted my own sheep, which I can produce a yarn from to sell in the shop. Unfortunately I'm mildly allergic to lanolin, which makes owning sheep tricky as you can imagine. However, I had to great fortune to get to know Elizabeth of Warrenfield Farm, which is just down the road from Beaker Button, in the Clatfords. Elizabeth has a delightful flock of Hampshire Down sheep and I've been using her fleece for years to teach spinning with. It's soft, springy and wonderful to work with. This year we've gone into partnership to produce Beaker Button Warrenfield Sock yarn. It's going to be a soft and springy sock yarn in 100g skeins spun at the Natural Fibre Co. in Launceston. Cornwall. I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the factory on Monday when we delivered the fleece so I thought I'd share some of the photos with you. For those of you who are wondering part 2 is going to be all about dyeing the skeins when they'r...

Some of you will know that Beaker Button has hosted two fabulous Felted Fairies workshops with Erica from Arts, Rush and Cane .  As this week is an F week I thought I'd share a little about the felting fairies experience. First I want to make clear this is not a felting tutorial.  It's merely me showing off our fairies. Erica is a brilliant teacher.  She has a knack for making you feel like things are going well, even when she's telling you what you've done wrong.  The fairies we've made are needle felted, and what's great about the class is that you learn several techniques which can be used for all sorts of felting projects.  Erica makes fantastic kits for felting your own fairies as well.  They're £14 and have everything you need including needles and foam.  We have 3 in stock at the moment.  Have a look below at the models for them. Your chart for this week is at the bottom of the blog.  Full instructions are here. We start with th...

 Yesterday we took Short Round to Milestones Museum in Basingstoke.  If you haven't been I'd highly recommend it.  It's full of very well presented stuff, from old tools to childhood toys to pristine vehicles.  The history is brilliantly presented, with boards and audio tours.  They run a lot of events as well, which is why we were there yesterday.  The Legomania event has been running for a few years now.  Last year Short Round had one of his models on display (so proud!).  This year we got to make one of the panels in a giant picture of Lightening McQueen, and had a fascinating look around the hundreds of Lego models.  Short Round got to make a mini figure.  We got to spend time with my Mum, brother, sister in law and their kids too, which was lovely. The higlight of my day though had to be the Womble puppets and the knitted jumpers on the footballers in the penny arcade! I've added some photos to give you a flavour of our day. ...