it's been a while...

gosh, i realised i haven't posted for almost three months! life has been busy and wonderful and i am knitting more than ever but the official launch of figs and roses will have to wait a while as i am tied up with other things at the moment - mainly my PhD!

but i have been knitting every day and love it more than ever. i am very pleased to share the latest three cowls i have been working on. the first one is currently winging its way to an excited customer (the first in fact)!

 

each of the cowls are designed by madeline tosh and i aslo use madeline tosh yarn. the colours are antler, french grey and winter wheat (mustard). madeline tosh has very kindly giveb me permission to sell cowls knitted using her design so i am thrilled.

i will be sure to update you with more knitting news before the next three months is up!

a belated happy new year to you all from figs and roses HQ x

inspiration

i have been finding pinterest and flickr increasingly useful in organising my virtual mood boards of inspiration for figs and roses products.

this is my favourite 'pin' of the week. yarn in colours which remind me of figs. from the fabulous quince and co. image via this stunning blog.

knit club

so, here i am blogging on a friday night. but my lastest chapter for my PhD is finally taking shape so i'm harnessing this spell of clarity and will work on into the night. but first, i wanted to tell you about knit club. this one is on a tuesday not friday - in case the photo is misleading. i started this book on holiday and have barely read any of it but i liked all the knitting references.

the inaugural knit club was so lovely. i really wasn't sure if i'd get anything done other than chat but i managed to seam up a baby dress and most others knitted quite a bit so that was pleasing. see for yourselves - 

 

we met two weeks ago at the folk house cafe at the bottom of park street. i'm really looking forward to the next one which will be at papaji's this coming tuesday from 5.30-7.30pm. if you are bristol based and knit or would like to learn, do come along! the lovely bianca organised the club and i was disappointed to discover she's leaving soon to go and live in melbourne for a year. we'll have to have some virtual blog link up with her so we can keep sharing our crafty antics. to find out more about the club, see the hash tag #knitclub on twitter for updates or follow @bian_cek on twitter.

photos - bianca teaching jo how to do a slip knot and reminding her how to cast on, fritha and her first ever project (a scarf), becky starting a hat, fritha and finally abigail's *gorgeous* boy theo.

click on people's names to visit their blogs. there are quite a few more joining us next tuesday and it's definitely a nice way to make some progress on figs and roses stock in a sociable atmosphere.

have a lovely weekend.

nancy x

introducing...

my new business

thanks to the wonderful veronica who designed the logo in return for this cowl.

i think it was a perfect trading of talents. if you're on ravelry and you want more information about the cowl, you can find me (nancyknitsuk) and my projects there.

i was going to wait until i had a decent amount of stock before officially launching but i thought it might be nice to document the process here and, as people are often urging me to sell me stuff, i decided to go ahead and announce it now. yesterday i registered the name with companies house so it feels good to have it all  official and to be a director of my own company :)

i will be selling predominantly hand-knitted baby clothes along with some vintage baby wear and, at a later date, some hand-sewn items.

i'm not yet sure when i will launch as i have the small matter of a thesis to complete but follow this blog to keep up to date with any developments.

all items will be available to buy at big cartel (or possibly etsy) and i will post more information on this once things are up for sale.

another way to keep up to date and be the first to bag any unique knitted items is to follow me on twitter @figsandroses or see my facebook page. even better, 'like' my page to show your support. i have lots still to do in terms of making this blog prettier and getting the shop front organised but i don't want to rush things as it's important to get it right.

over the past year i've been contacting knitwear designers to get their permission to sell knitted items made from their designs and many of them have been very enthusiastic and supportive. i have also started designing my own stuff (so fun) and two shops in bristol have even said they want to stock my products!! i will also possibly have a stall every so often for example at love baby fest in bristol as the organiser thought this was a good idea when i spoke to her in the spring.

but for now, i'll be busy knitting and finishing my PhD. if you have a question, get in touch at figsandrosesinfo@gmail.com or comment below!

ps - if you're a new follower, you can see my other blog - nancy knits - to see the kind of things i make and what else i get up to when i'm not knitting. but i will be posting sneak peeks of items here too of course.