The Festival of Quilts 2012

The Festival of Quilts last weekend at the NEC Birmingham was a colourful and impressive show. The show took up two massive arena halls and had a presentation of over a thousand quilts.  The rooms were packed full of buttons, threads, fabric, sewing machines (some very impressive) and enthusiastic craft lovers.

This was the first show for Claire, Charlie and Harriet the new members of Team Toft.  It was a wonderful show and we all thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone who came to say hello to us.

As ever the Toft Stand was full of bulb bag kits, yarn and our softer than soft teddy bears (which people just had to stop and touch). We also took our 20% summer sale with us, ponchos, cross over dresses and snoods which proceeded to fly off the stand.  We did however, manage to get some time to have a wander and pick up a few treats for ourselves.

Claire was able to meet Kaffe Fassett, she brought his new autobiography and got it signed too which was a highlight for her.  The Cotton Patch stand was gorgeous, full of colour and patchwork kits including Kaffe Fasset and Amy Butler.

Magee was an exciting find of tweed patch work kits, they are Ireland based company but the colours of the tweed were beautiful.  Fabric Galore were selling Liberty Fabrics showing off there attractive designs and even had some Manolo Blahnik fabric for sale (not for long we’re sure).  The amount of fabric showcased was amazing!
 

The four days were very exciting for us at Toft we always enjoy meeting new and existing customers and helping them get on to the next Toft kit. As always it was a pleasure to meet some new customers who found us for the first time at this show.

We are looking forward to next year’s show already.  Look out for Toft coming to a venue near you, next stop Manchester 13^th to 16^th September.

Fleece Sorting: Olivia's report on her first experience in the sorting shed

Olivia is thrown in at the deep end in her first week of interning here at Toft:  


Within the first week of my internship with The Toft Alpaca Shop I got down to the nitty gritty of fleece sorting. 

Fleece sorting is the second step after shearing in the process of producing Toft yarn. It is the most important aspects of the whole manufacturing process as it guarantees quality and colour. 

Huacaya Fleece 

Grades:

Firsts - Fine yarn - Cria/Young alpacas

Seconds - Double knit yarn - Cria/Young alpacas

Thirds - Aran Yarn - Young adult alpacas

Fourths - Chunky Yarn - Adult alpacas

The rest would be suitable for interior stuffing

Alpaca fleece over eighteen years old wouldn't be used as it lacks quality.

Suri Fleece

There are only two grades when sorting Suri fleece

Grade one - Best quality fleece from the saddle area, blanket fibre.

Grade two -  Fleece from the neck and the legs of the alpaca.

Sorting the fleece into grades 

The alpaca fibre is painstakingly sorted into different colour coded and graded bags before being sent off to the mill to be spun into yarn. Each fleece that is sent to Toft from other alpaca owners and breeders has to be checked individually and thoroughly. The saddle is where the best fleece is grown on an alpaca, quite often the leg and neck is not used because it is too coarse or it isn't long enough (4-6") to be spun.

Whilst we are fleece sorting we look out for following;

Lustre
Brightness,
Softness
Fineness

Brightness is the term used to describe the degree to which a Huacaya fleece reflects light and luster is the term used to define whether the Suri fleece reflects light.

Light fawn Huacaya fleece

A Toft Huacaya Alpaca

A Toft Suri Alpaca

Grade 1 Suri fleece                        

 

Guard Hair 

Guard hair is thicker and a lot stiffer than the rest of the alpaca fleece which makes the yarn very itchy on the skin. We can spot guard hair from seeing and feeling the fleece, fleece with high levels of guard hair will not be made into yarns.

Shirley using some comedy spec's to search for guard hair!

Foliage 

Infestation in the fleece

The fleece has to be in a good clean condition to be sent off to be spun. If the fleece is contaminated with foliage we cannot use this as it can ruin the quality of the yarn.

Staple

The staple is the length measured of each fibre which has to be over 5 cm. If it is any less than this the fibre wouldn't be long enough to spin. The staple is defined by how long the fibre has grown from one shearing process to the next.

Crimp

Crimp is only  found in Huacaya fleece.  This is not an essential quality of good fibre for processing, but it is used as a indicator of quality and fineness, it is very important in the show ring when judging alpacas.

 Colour

The colour of the fleece is very important. 

The Toft Alpaca Shop only use 100% natural fibre to create their products. We do not use dyes or bleach when processing our yarns. The colours of yarn that Toft produce are cream, oatmeal, stone, camel, fudge, chestnut, mushroom, silver, steel and charcoal and black. 

As we were fleece sorting we came across a grey fleece. Grey alpaca fleece is very rare and hard to get hold of, so to produce our silver yarn we spin black and cream fleece together. Silver and Steel are our most popular yarn colours to sell.

Sorting fawn huacaya fleece into grades

Archie the Llama paid us a visit!

   

Knitting causing you tension??!

Knitters tend to approach tensions in several ways. Some knitters never knit a tension square - whispering with a giggle that belies the fact that they know how naughty they are, but "I just want to get on with my knitting, it seems such a waste of time". Other knitters can get slightly obsessive about tensions, worrying that anything they are knitting, from a scarf to complex jumper, something to be felted or a hat can't possibly be attempted without a tension square.

At Toft we like to think that we fall somewhere in between. Yes, giving tensions in patterns is very important and most if not all of our patterns now have them, but whilst we tend to knit tension squares for garments quite religiously, we don't tend to follow this rule when knitting scarves, snoods and other accessories.

Now you may call us reckless but if you have been knitting for a while you probably know whether you have a tight or loose tension and you adjust your needles accordingly and when knitting a scarf for instance it doesn't matter too much if it turns out a little smaller or bigger than the sample piece that we have. There again if you are a newbie knitter, as many Toft fans are, we want you to feel comfortable that the first pieces of knitting you attempt are quite easy; they grow nice and quickly on large needles giving you lots of confidence to continue knitting and you shouldn't have to worry about getting too technical with tensions. In fact our beginner patterns are designed with this in mind.

When talking about knitting, tension covers not only the amount of stitches and rows within a given measurement, it can also refer to the weight of the yarn and therefore a measurement of tension or gauge. We occasionally get calls from worried knitters querying which needle size to use for their pattern because the needle size given on the yarn band is different to that given in the pattern. Again call us reckless but who doesn't love a beautiful lacy snood knitted in fine yarn on huge needles? This effect is very different to that you would achieve by sticking to the guide needle size of 3mm for instance. Likewise when knitting for something that will be later felted, like the Bulb Bag you need to use large needles (bigger than the 8mm indicated on the yarn band) in order that your bag will then felt correctly in the washing machine once completed.

You will find lots of references to the amount of stitches and rows per 10cm that should be achieved when using a particular yarn with a particular needle size in patterns books, magazines and on the web. These are very useful and all Toft yarns do knit to their given weight, Lace or 2 ply, Fine (3-4ply), Double Knitting, Aran and Chunky, but they shouldn't be taken as the complete gospel. Knitting would look very boring if we didn't experiment, use huge needles to knit a rib snood for example or a moss stitch blanket with several strands of chunky yarn.

Toft Tip: Some references and patterns class Toft Aran as Chunky and Toft Chunky as Super Chunky, if the needle size recommended is around 5-5.5mm then you need Toft Aran and above around a 7or 8mm you would need Toft Chunky - of course this all goes out of the window depending on the effect you want to achieve and the stitch you are using. Toft's Herringbone Blanket for example is knitted on 12mm needles (10mm needles recommended) because we found after experimenting that this size gave the best stitch definition in our Chunky wool alpaca blend yarn, we did start off with an 8mm needle!

The tension of a yarn weight is actually a very subjective thing, two DK yarns made by the same producers, in the same fibres, will have a slight variation in their knitted tension depending on something as small as the different dye colour used. Therefore it stands to reason that DK yarns of different fibres, dyes and even natural colours will also have a variation in their tension. It took a couple of years of spinning with alpaca (not to mention the sweat and tears) to know just how to spin the perfect Toft Alpaca Shop yarn for you and this isn't necessarily the same way that other alpaca yarns are spun.

I guess what we are saying is, don't let knitting tensions get you down.

We would recommend as a rule that you should knit a tension square definately for garments, but if you don't want to, or think you know your own knitting tension quite well then don't worry so much for accessories.

Some Toft Tension Tips

* If you are knitting with Toft yarn to a non-Toft pattern then work a tension square. You might need a different yarn weight to the one given on the pattern, yarn weights vary between producers as does the meterage of yarn, so worry less about the weight in grams and more about the meterage within your ball of yarn.

* If you are a knitting newbie your tension is likely to be either really really tight or really quite loose. Don't panic, with practise this will sort itself out and you will discover your actual knitting tension. Just be aware that your first piece might not be perfect - but it's your first piece of knitting so be proud of your achievement! You could always book on one of our beginner knitting workshops to hone your skills

* When knitting intarsia and fairisle your tension and something called yarn-dominance will be very important. If you have a loose tension definitely use smaller needles than required when knitting intarsia, you will probably also have to compensate for your loose tension whilst you are knitting between colours by tightening the yarn as you go, and fairisle, that a whole other story! Why not book a place on our colour workshop to learn more- we guarentee you'll love colour work.

* If you are going to knit a tension square, knit more than just the amount of stitches and rows stated in the pattern's tension square. Never be tempted to measure from edge to edge of your knitting. You should also, if you are being serious about this tension malarky, block (i.e. wash and press your little square) just as would do the final item. Knitting will relax and settle once blocked and this will affect your tension measurement. (A blocking blog post will be coming soon).

* Don't sweat it - to paraphrase knitting guru Elizabeth Zimmerman be the master of your knitting and don't let it cause you tension!

What’s in your knitting bag?

Are you a neat tidy knitter with a bag to match, a ‘several-projects-in-my-bag’ kind of knitter, or perhaps you have a bag that resembles something akin to a black hole of unravelled yarn and unlabelled needle tips? Whatever kind of knitter you are (or are thinking of becoming) your knitting bag says a lot about you. Of course if you are going to take your knitting out and about it’s also essential to have, well, the essentials but what are they? Let’s take a look at the contents of two knitting bags and what they say about these knitters.

Knitter One – A knitting addict, often suffers with acute and enthusiastic start-itus. Loves simple patterns for garments and accessories, tends to have at least 4 projects on the go at any one time.

Contents of Bag:
Two projects currently still on needles. The first is two half knitted sleeves of striped deck jumper – this knitter always knits two sleeves at the same time, or two legwarmers, gloves - you get the idea. (Toft Tip: Whilst this method doesn’t exactly save on time it does mean that you are less likely to suffer with second sock/sleeve/legwarmer syndrome and therefore never complete a project) Don’t mention her 1 and only 2 ply cable honeymoon sock (the yarn for the second is buried under a pile of ufo's!). This method allows you to ensure the length of each piece is perfectly even and using circular needles is a must in order that you have enough room for both items. They can also easily be put down without risk of losing either piece.

The second project is a small knitted and felted bag that a crocheting but non-knitting friend has asked this knitter to work up in 100% wool – she found this at Unravel and in return she is crocheting a chain scarf (who got the best deal there?!).

1 deluxe set of KnitPro Symphonie Interchangeable knitting needles with extra size tips, 3.75mm 12mm and 15mm – practically every needle you will ever need in one handy case with different length cords (also added a 30cm cord to the collection), plus stoppers for the easy change between projects. Perfect for knitting anything whether circular or straight, lots of stitches or just a few! Since this set is several years old she’s labelled the needle sizes – newer sets have the sizes printed on the needle tips.
2 pairs of fixed circular needles
1 pairs of rosewood and mother of pearl tipped knitting needles size 4mm (brought on a whim at Unravel)
1 crochet hook (4mm) – useful for picking up dropped stitches and crocheting of course.
Scraps of yarn to use as markers etc
The e-mails and telephone numbers of her knitting group ladies
Handcream and lip balm

1 small zipped case holding the following;

Tape measure

1 pair of sewing scissors
1 cable needle (5mm)
1 DPN (lost it’s set)
Needle size gauge
1 row counter
2 metallic stitch holders
Pins
Various stitch markers
Pen for making notes on a pattern

Knitter Two: A meticulous Toft knitter, a perfectionist when it comes to working out a pattern, she's integral in working up samples for Toft’s beginner knitting kits. Recently discovered a love of sock knitting and can sometimes be heard to cry – ‘not garter stitch again!’

Two projects currently on needles, one baby jacket in cashmere and a child’s sock (the second is yet to be cast on) in a wool nylon mix. Like our first knitter this knitter likes to have several projects on the go and this is in addition to her Toft knitting!
One ball of Toft sock yarn in Oatmeal ready to knit another pair of socks whenever the fancy takes her, in fact this is the second of two balls and the lace knee high socks are currently on DPNs at home (in her stay at home knitting bag!)
1 pair of chunky knitting needles often used by her children with scraps of yarn as practice pieces (Toft Tip – chunky alpaca yarn is great to learn to knit with as it knits up quickly and it’s nice and robust for tight tension newbies)
1 notepad and a pen for pattern notes
Set of 4 DPNs for sock knitting
2 pairs of scissors
Small zipped case containing the following;
Tape measure
1 mint
Needle size conversion gauge
Lipstick
1 cable needle
Leftover fine yarn
2 stitch holders
1 crochet hook
Sheephead stitch counter
Various stitch markers

So there you have it an anthropological look into two knitters bags and perhaps a little insight into their personalities too, or are we just reading too much into this?! Let's face it, it’s just an excuse to talk knitting and be nosey! Share your knitting bag photos here on via Twitter or our Facebook page.

So now that Spring seems to have sprung what projects are on your needles? For us we feel it’s time to get some lighter knitting on the needles like a pair of socks, a lacy scarf or our new easy tunic vest all of which can be worn year round.

Crochet is also great for summer especially if you are new to this craft, beacuse what could be better than using up oddments in your stash to practise and hone your technique with small test squares that could be made into a blanket for example. If you haven’t got the foggiest where to start with crochet though why not book yourself on our Introduction to Crochet workshop on Saturday 7th April, spaces are filling fast but we can squeeze a few more in! Another popular summer workshop and passtime is felting (it's so lovely to be able to take this outside in the spring weather) and we have some spaces on our alpaca felt workshop on Saturday 14th April .

Our workshops are proving to be even more popular than usual this year, which is fantastic since we will soon be able to run them in the nearly completed Toft studio. We’ve added to the subjects too, this year we’re also offering alpaca fleece processing, a must for alpaca owners and handspinners alike and a quilted patchwork workshop both of which are available to book online now for September.

To celebrate the opening of the new studio in the coming weeks, we are planning a Craft Open Day on Saturday 4th August. If you came to our 5th birthday party last year you'll have some idea of what to expect, come and join us for craft taster sessions like knitting, crochet and felting, plus tours of the farm and lots more. No need to book, just turn up at Toft Manor, CV22 6NR from 10am!

Toft at Unravel 2012

Last weekend (has it been a week already?!) Carrie and Mr P went to their old home town of Farnham Surrey with a truck load of alpaca yarn and knitted goodies for a weekend of Unravel and the prospect of meeting up with lots of old friends.

This was Unravel's 4th year and in that time the show has grown from just two or three rooms of local traders to filling every nook and cranny of the Farnham Maltings even down to the cafe - resplendent with Farnham Knitwit's creations, to the bridge across the river decorated with crocheted balloons. Every corner you turned there was a fabulous artistic knit related creation to behold and to greet people outside the Maltings were four very cute sheep (breed unknown) one of whom made a heroic escape for freedom on Saturday morning. It was a very funny sight from Toft's first floor vantage point - to see a gorgeous fluffy sheep dashing as fast as she could down the car park closely followed by passers by doing their best sheep dog herding impressions.

This year we were situated in a great corner of the Barley Room that could quite honestly have be built for us. Carrie & Mr P didn't have too huge a row whilst setting up (that blinking wood!) and had a chance to catch up with Ingrid Wagner and her Extreme Knitting as she was situated just opposite, before heading out into Farnham to meet with friends for supper.

Saturday morning saw a long queue outside The Maltings, Carrie spotted lots of familiar faces who all popped by to say hello and satiate their alpaca yarn cravings with the five weights of yarn that we had with us. She also took along a few exclusives from the S/S 12 collection (available online now!) including the Clematis Beret and new two colour bobble hottie.

Firm favourite such as the striped deck jumper and round neck jumper were the most popular, so much so that Carrie sold out of mushroom fine alpaca yarn that first afternoon. The sale lace cardigans were also a hit as we knew they would be with the chic inhabitants of Farnham and surrounds!

Lots of pom poms were also purchased - many as inexpensive and easy to care for pets we suspect, but also quite a few to adorn pom pom beanies and the beginner pom pom scarf. It was also the first outing for our new selection of KnitPro needles, available online now in various fixed chunky sizes as well as two different sets, the feedback on us now selling these needles was fantastic so we're glad we took the plunge.

Sunday was another busy day with more familiar faces and some who decided to come back after having such a good time on Saturday. The fashion show took place in the afternoon and Carrie managed to recruit a keen camera woman (!) to take some pics for her of our outfit - those to follow. We dressed our lucky model in a cross-over dress, a pom pom beanie, the new and exclusive S/S 12 chunky cable cape, some cable wristwarmers and bobble legwarmers - do you think she was cosy enough?!

This little fella was one of three knitted moles and molehills to be found outside The Maltings - we just couldn't resist him! Well we are looking forward to Unravel 2013 already - it's certainly a show not to miss, especially if it's anything like this year!

*Carrie apologises to all the fantastic 'knit' artists of whose work she took photos of however she didn't take down names and feels very naughty.*

Ponderings of a Toft Knitter

This time on the Toft blog we bring you the first in our series of Toft knitter interviews. Kerry and I would have no chance to run the shop and office, send out your orders and go to shows if we had to hand knit all the lovely alpaca goodies we sell by ourselves. So of course we have a team of amazing ladies who do this job for us. They range from knitters who love skinny pins, to chunky yarn and big needle knitters, pattern designer knitters and all those in between. We're very lucky that they seem to love knitting for us and as such throughout the year we'll run a little series of these interviews to get their side of the story.

Cheryl is first up. She's been knitting for Toft for about 2 years or so. She will try her hand to anything and is often first in line to help us out of emergency knitting situations.

Firstly Cheryl, what are your top five things to knit?

C: Aran Sweaters are my very favourite, I love all the detail, I'm just finishing one for my husband actually. Closely followed by any kind of sweater or cardigan with patterns and shaping, as I get bored knitting just stocking stitch. I'm currently knitting baby clothes for my first grandchild (due anytime). Of the Toft staples that I knit, probably wristwarmers and leg warmers with their interesting but easy to memorise cable pattern are my favourites, although anything knitted in Toft Alpaca yarn is fine with me - it handles so well and is superb to knit with.

Where can you usually be found knitting?
C: I knit at home, usually in a comfy chair looking out at the garden during winter and then I like to get outside, in a sheltered spot, as soon as there is a bit of sunshine.

When do you usually knit?
C: I knit most evenings, and always when watching TV. I don't like to sit idle. If the pattern is simple I have also been known to read at the same time!

What is your favourite Toft yarn?
C: All the Toft yarns are fabulous - I love the soft Suri lace yarn for fine knitting but I think the Aran is the most versatile and gives such a good definition to cable patterns.

What is your favourite Toft yarn colour?
C: It is difficult to pick a favourite, though I do love Silver or Steel, they both have a lovely depth to them.


What is your favourite knitting or crochet stitch and why?

C: Tongue in cheek I'd have to say Hyacinth Stitch!! [Cheryl is responsible for two beautiful hyacinth snood samples which took her many hours to complete, we did only need one but Rob accidentally sold that one in the shop so we had to have another made quickly - she's a star!]. No seriously, I really enjoy cable patterns because they can be very simple or varied to give very complex designs.

Thank you Cheryl!

[N.B. We didn't pay Cheryl for any of her generous answers!]

Dissecting a cable stitch.

Cables are a great way to add texture and interest to your knitting, they might seem scary at first but they are the perfect 'next step' for beginnners.

Cable are often written C2F or C2B, for example.

Broken down C2F means, using a Cable needle slip 2 stitches and hold them to the Front, knit two stitches from your left hand needle and then knit the 2 stitches on your Cable needle. Of course the 2 stitches could be 3, 4 etc etc. In C2B, B means hold the stitches on the cable needle to the back of the work. Your cable stitches are the 2 (or more) stitches you slip, plus the 2 (or more) you knit before going back to you the slipped stitches on your cable needle, i.e a total of 4 stitches wide in this example.

Subscribers to the Toft newsletter will today receive a free cable wristwarmers pattern since they are one of Cheryl's favourite Toft knits. If you would like to receive our exclusive free patterns and news about Toft click here and sign up.

Some extra curricular knitting...off piste with a Pom Pom hat!!

Take one Toft beginner Pom Pom Beanie knitting pattern and eight old friends... Add lots of snow, a few mountains and a couple of hours embroidery time.

Team Toft hats are born...

This is a really easy and super quick knitting pattern and is unisex one size fits all- the lovely chunky garter stitch is very stretchy and a perfect head hugging shape.

We can now without hesitation assure with certainty that this hat is great for the slopes. Our survey confirms that they are incredibly warm, and due to the weightless Pom Pom they stay on your head at high speed.

Sewing the initials was a bit of a challenge initially- as you can see!

Maintaining the flexibility in the fabric was essential, so keep the stitches loose. Following several experiments the final letters were sewn using four strands of an Aran weight yarn. We chose to use a bright red Merino wool yarn- but any yarn including our Aran alpaca yarn would be fine.

Now we've cracked it there's no stopping us. A steel hat with a cream Pom Pom and letter for example will look fantastic.

The knitting kit for the hat can be bought here. The pattern is also contained in our Pattern Book.

For subscribers to the Toft Mailing List (sign up here) the knitting pattern for this easy beanie will be coming out to you FREE a bonus. You're welcome! Thanks for staying up to date with us.

Finally...send us your photos or share them with us on Facebook- we'd love to see them.