The Finished Cushion

So here's the final version of Blaze, now available in kit form or as a finished cushion.

It's available in natural undyed greys, natural browns, and two other schemes - a rich mix of russet, autumn brown and ochre, and a mix of a cool green (copper blue), deep green (forest) and cobalt blue.

My one finished prototype is up at New Lanark, so I spent as much time as I could on the stall at Brampton knitting up the next demo cushion in rich browns (kept my fingers warm!), and my friend Jacqui is working on the green / blue version.

Had a lovely time at the market today - it was so nice to meet some of my previous customers and hear how they had got on with the stripy cushion. I'm now selling "refill" packs so people can knit a matching or contrasting pair, without having to buy the pattern or needles over again. Visit the website for details...

I also popped into The Rusty Button whilst I was in Brampton. It's looking fantastic - I loved the vintage jewelry! Dropped heavy hints to him indoors tonight... Julie has sold several of my cushion kits in the last few days, so I dropped off some more stock whilst I was there.

So my task over the next couple of days is to put the new design up on the website, and finish the demo cushions ready for another photo shoot with Thomas. And then it's on to the next idea, and hopefully a bit of course work in between...

New Cushion Design - "Blaze"

My aim is to produce a new cushion design or product every month, and the idea for the "Blaze" cushion has been bubbling along for some time now.
Basically I see the same view every morning on my way back from the school run - it's of the Eastern flank of Blaze Fell, the nearest high ground to Armathwaite. It's one of those views that immediately puts me in a good mood, whatever the weather, and in every season. I think I particularly love it in winter when the colours are much more muted.
I've made several attempts to photograph the view, but as with all things like this, my mental image is miles better than the photo!

But you get the idea - lots of crisscrossing fields and clumps of woodland stretching into the distance.
I've done lots of sketching, trying to reduce the image to a series of intersecting lines, before translating it into knitting using blocks of different colour and texture.
This was my first attempt

All in natural colours, and with a bit of a 1980s stripy vibe!

However it's a bit too busy to work well as a kit, and also too expensive as it uses 4 different colours. So design 2 is much more pared down, with 3 colours and a simplified structure.

Still a little lumpy as I've not blocked it yet, but you get the idea...

Now all that's left to do is write up the pattern in a user-friendly style. This is a more complex knit than the textured stripe design, but hopefully I can introduce novice knitters to the intarsia technique gently!

Somewhat excitingly New Lanark have put in an order for the new design cushion kits, for delivery this Thursday! I then hope to have the kits available online by the weekend, tying in with my stall at Brampton Market on Saturday.

I'm also contemplating different colour schemes for the cushion. The scheme above is using Pebble, Limestone and Gritstone, so is sticking to the natural greys, but with a fair degree of warmth from the blends (Pebble in particular has quite a brownish tone). I wanted to do a combination of wintry green, ochre and rich brown, to mimic the colours out there at the moment, but I'm struggling to get a good mix, so may well end up with a cushion in rich earth tones (Ochre, Autumn and Russet?) and one sticking with the natural greens. Watch this space, or come and see what I've come up with on Saturday....

New outlet in Brampton!

This evening I met Julie Kemp, owner of The Rusty Button - a vintage/retro/fairtrade/recycled retailer about to open a shop in Brampton.
She has agreed to stock my cushions and kits, along with a small haberdashery section.
The Rusty Button, 3 Shepherds Lane, Brampton will open this Friday, 10th February.
Well worth a visit, for a chat and a glass of wine, and to see Julie's fantastic stock.
I love vintage clothes so no doubt will be there to have a good look around.
Find it just off the Main Street in Brampton, down a lane next to Travel Team travel agents.

Website goes Live! I go to Bed!

Yay! Finished! My lovely website is now out there and available for public scrutiny.
Find me at www.calknits.co.uk.
And as it's now 3 minutes to 1 in the morning, and I've been up since 6am yesterday, I'm going to bed.
Night Night.