IN-GER-LUUUUND! First of the Folksy Friday's...

OK OK, I know I've been rubbish after I specifically promised I wouldn't be... In my defence, I've got a new job keeping me good and busy, a gala to help organise (details of which can be found here), and to top it all off the England team are playing in some kind of sporting event or something. :) So to make amends, I thought it was about time I did my first Folksy Friday blog, and what better way to support our boys with the Three Lions on their shirts?

I consider myself one of those rare things - a girl who likes football, understands the offside rule, but still likes to feel like a girl when cheering on ma boys. And let's face it, football shirts are not designed to flatter the more, erm, voluptuous figures. So how do you stay chic and patriotic at the same time? I give you:

England for Girls by The Jewellery Angel

A feminine and delicate way to show your national pride!

Of course, if you're not looking for pearls and butterflies, you might want to take a gander at the fantastic Wife of Brian's shop - you should anyway - where you can become the proud wearer of the Knitted Loopy England Beard and make Brian Blessed look like Billy Bunter. AWESOME.

Last but not least is one of those gorgeous and subtle items that shows off simple ideas executed with very skilled handiwork (if you've ever wrestled with unruly tendrils of ribbon you'll know what I mean) - this is the St George's Cross Corsage from Lottie Loves.

Well, I hope I've inspired you all to root for our boys - drop us a comment and show us what you've been up to too! More news and items coming up over the weekend - watch this space :)

love and knitties as ever

KD x

The Best of British

Hi again! After taking so long to do the last post I've given myself a sharp rap on the knuckles - and having the last week off has given me a chance to give Knitted Duck a proper spring clean, which was long overdue. The other thing I've been able to finally do (she says, BURSTING with excitement) is get KD's own little piece of cyber real estate up and running - and here it is!

http://www.theknittedduck.co.uk/

Isn't it beautiful? I keep gazing over it like a newborn baby and fretting everytime it coughs...

The package I got was a surprisingly cheap and easy to use one from Mr Site - http://www.mrsite.co.uk/ - one among the many recommendations I got after asking around (thanks everyone for your suggestions!). The package is all inclusive (i.e. domain name, hosting, templates etc all in one) rather than forcing you to buy all the elements separately, and I've got to say the selection of templates is pretty respectable, rather than your standard cringeworthy outdated clip art riddled affairs. I have to say I'm also pretty pleased with the amount of freedom it gives you without blinding you with science - I myself am pretty computer literate and know my HTML from my hexadecimal, but I would have lost interest pretty quickly if I'd had to build the whole thing from scratch. If a website is something you're looking into, but you're not so interested in controlling evert 'bit' of data, then I recommend it - the basic option which I have is only £19.99 for the year with no hidden extras. Bargain.

With that finally up and running and no commissions lined up, I also managed to finish a long outstanding knit just yesterday - as part of my celebration of our sceptred isle, I give you my trilogy of Blighty themed mini-cushions!



I decided to invert the Union Jack to give it a bit of a twist and also to make the darker blue and red stand out more vibrantly against a white background - which incidentally, I think we should do to the real flag, but that's just me :) - and although I had a go at doing it intarsia first, it just lacked a sort of charm, so the crosses are knitted in red and crocheted in blue, and sewn on. The two smaller cushions have a quintessentially English houndstooth pattern knitted into them, which is my little nod to my design hero, the most groundbreaking and important designer Britain has ever had, Dame Vivienne Westwood. The cushions themselves are 24cm x 18cm (Union Jack) and 20cm x 14cm (Houndstooth) and come as a set for £25/$36. You can find them on Folksy for £ and Etsy for $ as usual!

All this patriotism is not just about cushions though - with the World Cup on the horizon, everything that isn't red white and blue is out of the wardrobe until the end of July, and I for one will be praying more for the robust health of Wayne Rooney than I ever have for my own. I was actually pretty chuffed to be tagged for the first time in a fellow Folksy-er's blog recently - that of offbeat greetings card makers Konnie Kapow which was on the very subject of the beautiful game. If you're stuck for something spesh for Father's Day on 20th June I recommend you look up their rather fab Folksy shop.

On that note, as I listen to my compilation of late 70s/early 80s UK scene punk and new wave for inspiration and drink my pot-brewed tea, I bid you ta-ra. IN-GER-LUUUUUND!

KD x

The Importance of Being Crafty

As the old adage goes, you don't know what you've got till it's gone. Well, not old - pretty sure Janet Jackson sang about it, but still... The week that went by waiting for my wool to arrive is fading into a hazy fevered memory now, but it made me realise just how much knitting means to me. No, this isn't a corny eulogy - more a reflective appreciation of something I now realise has been keeping me anchored when life's choppy seas threaten to hurl me adrift.

My job as a production manager (albeit an assistant at the mo) in a theatre - while having more of a creative element than most jobs - is primarily a technical and logistical one, so my knitting is the perfect creative release. Generally speaking, theatre people are one of two kinds; the Brahmas who create the show, building the sets, finding and making props, designing the lighting and sound, sewing the costumes, bringing it all together for the opening night; and the Vishnus who keep it running for anything between 4 weeks and 40 years. (Not to mention of course the Shivas: the crews who come in at the end and pull the whole damn thing apart.) I am most definitely the former; my patience lasts fine getting all the elements in place but as soon as it's done so am I and I'm looking for the next project to keep me occupied. The longest I've ever lasted as an operator on a show was a five week run playing video, and I was so bored I wrote a novella between my cues. So after a production week, 60+ hours of technical rehearsal, running for last minute set and props and painstakingly picking apart every line of text to fit the cues to it, there really is only one thing that brings me back to earth. And it's Knitted Duck.

I don't imagine I'm alone; everyone has their own little refuge, their own little piece of heaven to retreat to after a day at the office. Some people play 5-a-side; others the XBox; my little skin and blister is a dab hand with pretty much any craft you throw at her. I guess the important thing is to appreciate the little things that make a big difference.

KD x

From strength to strength

I've been a bit quiet this couple of weeks, and there are two reasons for this: the first is that my real job has had a good deal of my attention, what with a new show opening and last minute dashes to find props; the second is that I've had three new commissions but been unable to start them due to a wool order that never arrived (if you had heard from me in the last week, in would have been little more than strangled nonsense and filthy expletives). But no more; thanks to another wool company stepping up at last minute, and the curtains well and truly up at work, I can get clacking again, with much relief. HAPPY PLACE.

I have however managed to deliver Claire's baby blanket in the meantime - and here it is!

Great difficulty parting with that in these chilly climes, I can tell you...

As much as I am now and will always be a knitter, I do find a crochet break very therapeutic, and I'm getting pretty quick at it now. (Not to mention dextrous - rewind to two weekends ago: gin in one hand, crochet in the other and a card game all on the go at once! Skillage...) I feel I need to learn a few more stitches though, and to learn how to read crochet patterns properly - I suspect the humble granny square's uses are finite. Given that I learnt to crochet from YouTube, I will happily hold up my hands and admit I am no expert on the subject. Anyone who thinks they can teach me something more complex, I am at your mercy :)

I haven't been entirely honest with you actually; there is one more recipient of my attention at the moment. For those of you who have never experienced the joy of a notepad with your picture on it, a set of return address stickers or a personalised stamp, I give you... Vistaprint. Seriously. I've gone stationery crazy. Most of the items are free or as good as, and if you are self employed or just like to write your shopping lists on your own face, you need to check out www.vistaprint.co.uk. Don't worry, I'm not being sponsored by them or anything, I just wanted to share the love.

Well that's all from me for now, I've got a whole heap of knitting to keep me occupied, and I'm hoping to have some semblance of a website up within the month - needles and fingers crossed!

Love and knitties

KD x

The customer is always right... :)

Today, knitties, I am grinning from ear to ear. No, not because of the £64 I won on the lottery, thank you very much. Not because QPR finished this season in a respectable mid-table position despite 'relegation battles' a couple of months ago. Not even because after locking myself away all bank holiday I managed to finish both of my latest commissions. Because of a lovely bit of feedback I got within minutes of the first of said commissions being delivered, which, if I'm honest, makes the whole process worthwhile!

And here it is: *cheeky grin*

"Just a quicky to say THANK YOU!! I absolutely LOVE IT !! (I am already thinking of getting a couple more made in other colours)... I have showed it off to the girls in the other office and they love it as well :) I am very happy, you're very clever."


I'm not usually one to show off but I couldn't resist!



So bragging aside, here's a photo of the item in question - this was one of those projects I quite enjoy, being given a brief and a photo for comparison but relatively free reign. It's a continuous loop scarf, which can be doubled and tripled over to make a hood or just a nice thick neckwarmer.





If you would like something similar just give me a shout - I quoted this one at £25 including the cost of the wool, as a guideline.

I'm afraid that's all from me for now - thank you to Carly for making my day and to everyone else, love and knitties...

KD xx

New promo - this week only!

Hi knitfans! Just a quick missive this week, as I've just been commissioned to do two projects, rather excitingly! There aren't any pictures as yet but I promise, you'll be the first to know when there are...

The first is a snood of the long loose sort that you can double up, and it's just the sort of project I really enjoy - the customer had a picture of the sort of thing she wanted and a specific colour, but other than that she's letting me loose on it... bold, no? :) It's pretty straightforward actually, but I do get to do it with lovely alpaca yarn, which I AM very pleased about. The second is a traditional baby blanket, which I've decided to crochet, and which again is being made up in lovely soft yarn - a merino mix this time. Between the pair of them they should keep me out of trouble for the meantime anyway... ;)

Even more excitingly however (as if I could deal with more excitement!) is the new Knitted Duck promo - every day this week, I'll be selling a different item in the KD shop for HALF PRICE! The promo only lasts for the day, and I won't be revealing them in advance so you either have to follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/charminglass - or become a fan of us on Facebook - here - to get the most up to date info. It's only for this week though, and each offer only lasts for the day, so get involved!

That's all for now my knitties; I'm waiting (im)patiently for Mr Postman to deliver my wool so I can get started, and the doorstep ain't gonna collar him by itself...

love and cake
KD xxx

The calm after the storm...

I have neglected you this week my knitties, for which I must apologise; the real world called, as it invariably and inconveniently does... It's been all change again, at work this time; bidding farewell to Ghost Stories and its phenomenal run, which has resulted it being picked up for a residency in the West End! V exciting in the world of theatre. I won't bore you if you're not already into your theatre but if you are, it'll open at the Duke of York's theatre in London on the 25th of June ;)

So there it is, and I'm back to the world of knitting now, albeit briefly. It feels like business has settled somewhat, what with the novelty factor wearing off and the backlog of commissions completed, so I need to get my marketing head on good and proper to shake things up again - trouble is I'm terrible at marketing! My next big goal is to get a proper website for KD, although that's some way off yet - my accounts are getting healthier, if not quite yet to the tune of my own little piece of cyberspace realty :) Nonetheless I'm hoping to have it up in the next few months, hopefully with the help of my lovely partner Andy who is a bit of a computer whizz (he has a degree in Artifical Intelligence - I still think that's damn cool). Watch this space!

Meanwhile, I must admit I could do with some feedback on what knitted things attract people and what don't - I've been getting so carried away with all the new designs that pop into my head and what things I'd like to see in the shop that the logical business part of my brain has been drowned out somewhat - apparently the point of this whole lark is to make stuff for other people, who knew... With that in mind, please feel free to add any comments below - you can see what I've currently got on offer in the two shops: Folksy in £ at http://theknittedduck.folksy.com, Etsy in $ at http://theknittedduck.etsy.com. I'd love to hear what you think!

That's it from me for now - short and sweet this time! I'll be back soon enough, probably with more photos and knittynoms for your delectation. For now, adieu!

KD x