Inner Wild wilderness wear for dearhearts: hand knitted

from raw potential to finished pretty; pure silk

A plump, pink skein of soft silk yarn turns into a pair of pretty Inner Wild Peony Mitts. A skein with potential like a peony flower bud is unfurled. Its silk yarn is first wrapped around my fingers to make a soft ball of silk. Now it is wrapped around a needle and knitted. Soon it blossoms into a piece of clothing. Yes, feeling flowery and satisfied today.

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, by Flora

on my pins today - fluffy mohair sweater

I bought this mohair yarn a few months ago thinking to knit a huge mohair blanket on my new Lykke circular needles. I had visions of wrapping myself in it in the morning like you see people doing in Scandinavian crime dramas. However, a sudden drop in temperature and our first snow has me reaching for it to make myself a fluffy sweater instead. Honey Honey approves.

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, by Flora

In hand knitted, handmade

over my shoulder

Working on the flip-side, or 'wrong side', or even 'reverse-side' or possibly even 'inside-out', of these Inner Wild Hushinish Mitts I thought you might enjoy a work-in-progress peek over my shoulder.

Sewing up the seam to create thumbhole

Making sure the thumbholes of each mitt are equally placed

Fastening off

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, by Flora

In celtic, celtic mitts

flashback friday, don't you go changin'

flashback to 2011

I thought I'd do a little 'Flashback Friday' thing on my blog with the intention of making it regular. I thought of this because every day this week someone has reminded me of something I made years ago.

It's been really lovely. For instance, a dearheart, Debra, found these pretty lace cuffs I made back in 2013 via the "sales" link in my etsy shop and asked me to make her a pair:

I made one pair, they sold, I forgot all about them and that was that. But I think I might make them a new listing now. {I'm making Debra's in lilac or rose shade, she's choosing now from the shade card.}

However, my official Flashback Friday this week is showing my 2011 Inner Wild tags {above} and some other lace cuffs and picot edge and cord ties cuffs I made using Rowan bamboo tape, {a yarn that's been discontinued, but which I love}.

fast forward to 2017

And a fast forward to now and my 2017 tags seen above on some Celtic Mitts in Shetland wool, organic cotton and also a pure wool & silk mix I made in the Spring for the wonderful Glenview Gallery in Culnacnoc on the Isle of Skye.

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, by Flora

In craft, creativity

handmade home: pure wool knitted market bags

We seem to be on a bit of a home decor sort of rampage this week so I'll just carry on with a post about my carrier bags.

Now, some may call them string bags for granny. That's fine. Laugh all you want because I can fit a truck load of groceries in each of these things.

I like the idea of only possessing items that bring beauty into your world. So the hideous but practical bags I used for my grocery shopping became increasingly irritating for their ugliness. I looked around for some lovely natural bags, nothing really appealed.

I first thought to sew several rectangles of my Sanderson fabric stash together, and I still like this idea, then I saw string {polyester} bags and wondered could I knit a bag? A search online and ta-da! zillions of free patterns for knitted and crochet market bags.

My favourite, and the one I based my bags on, is Laura Spradling's Grrlfriend Market Bag which is knitted, not crocheted, and absolutely addictive. Laura's free pattern design is super-easy, knits up fast and uses a pleasingly rhythmic lace stitch to work.

I cheated and used knitted swatches I already had for the bottoms {hence the fancy knotwork panel on one of them}. I picked up stitches on all sides using DPS needles and then switched to a circular needle as soon as I could. I think I also fudged to the tops.

One of the most satisfying things about making Laura's completely adaptable bag design - any wool, any size needles, any size - was the wool I used. I can't believe how strong these bags are, how much they expand and how much weight they can take.

They are knitted in Uist Wool - the creamy ones are pure Black Face wool which is a traditional sheep of the Hebrides, very hardy and the wool is too. The one in the middle is the gorgeous {I love ombre} Reothart. {I also knitted someone who benefited from a bit of comforting a pair of slippers in Reothart recently - absolutely gorgeous.}

Carry on.

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, by Flora

In animal companions, animals

hello, meow, meet the beloved cats & dog of Inner Wild

Writing about faux fur yesterday got me thinking about real fur darlings featured in Inner Wild photos.

So I thought it'd be fun to curate a little collection of my cats and dog who've helped me model some Inner Wild pieces over the years.

Let me introduce you to ...

Twinkle Star:

Seen here as a kitten modelling Inner Wild Lovey Warmers with me. And below, a little older, modelling the Inner Wild Moonshine Cowl.

Minkie MyLove, her mama, looking gorgeous with Inner Wild Woodcutter Warmers:

Tom, bringing out the 'Firestar' gold of Inner Wild Stag Warmers:

Indi, who felt her own inner wildness was being impinged upon by modelling Inner Wild Sandy Bluff Warmers:

and the big fella, my Malamute Bubba, who just made everything in my world more magnificent, including Inner Wild Wanderer Warmers and Inner Wild Wolfkin Capelet: