JUST A QUICK REMINDER… that this month you will all receive your last yarn parcel. After this, from June to the end of the project in October, you will receive patterns only. Also a note to say that everyone had a Mystery Blanket Club woven label included in their yarn parcel. Most of them were tucked into the ball-band of one of the yarns, so make sure that you check through your parcel carefully and don’t miss it. If anyone cannot find their label then let me know and I will post you another one.

THE HUGELY EXCITING NEWS THIS MONTH IS THAT FINALLY, KALEIDOSCOPE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!!! After a long wait it is finally here and available to buy! Jane and I are incredibly happy with our new book and hope that those of you who have purchased a copy are as delighted with it as we are. There are twenty-four projects in total – twelve knit and twelve crochet – and all are home furnishing designs, vibrant and colourful using strong geometric patterning. We launched the book at Twist in Woodbridge, Suffolk in the middle of April, where host Karen Moggridge put on a lovely evening for us, followed by two days of workshops. It was really good fun and we were able to meet lots of lovely and very excitable knitters and crocheters! If you want to purchase a copy of the book then you can order it very easily on-line from either Jane’s website or my website. You can also opt to have it signed by both of us. The cost of the book is £19.95 + p&p. We hope that you enjoy the projects as much as we enjoyed designing them!

THE THEME FOR THIS YEARS’ MYSTERY BLANKET is now going to be revealed…many of you have already guessed the theme, but I know that some of the members are still not quite sure what they have been knitting for the past four months! So here we go…it is…

“A NORDIC ADVENTURE”

I would like to take a bit of time now to tell you about the inspiration behind the design and what made me opt for this particular theme. I have always had a huge interest in Nordic knitwear design and was very fortunate to be asked by Arena Travel to lead a knitting cruise to Norway in 2011. It was a fabulous trip and everywhere I looked I found amazing inspiration – from the gorgeous knitting shops, to the beautiful architecture and scenery. So I took many photographs for my portfolio and on my return back home decided that this would make an excellent theme for the 2013 Mystery Blanket. So all the squares in the blanket this year are inspired by what I saw and what I remembered about that trip. I wanted the fairisle patterns to be authentic so I sought reference from a book of traditional Norwegian knitting patterns, which I used as a basis for some of the designs.  To me it was important that the fairisle patterns were taken from this original source, but to make them my own I added other stitches, colours and beads to them to refresh the designs. The textured patterns in the blanket are mostly inspired by the scenery of Norway. For example, the short-row shaped squares Arctic Skies and Arctic Circle capture the stunning landscape that surrounded us as we sailed along the fjords on our trip towards the northern coast. The colours were absolutely amazing, and all I kept thinking was “knitting patterns!!!”  The colour palette for the blanket is sympathetic to this landscape, mixing soft greys and blues with bright snow white. These muted colours contrast with the stronger shades of Wine and Gilt which were inspired by the little wooden houses nestled along the shoreline, recreated in “Nordic Dwellings”.  I also had some fun with the names of the squares and decided to call some of them after the places that we had visited on the trip. To date you have knitted Olso, Bergen and Alesund, with more to come! In addition to this I researched  traditional Norwegian textured patterns, which I discovered were typified by miniature cables, small knots and twisted stitches, from  which came the ideas for “Intricate Cables”, “Krotasokkar” and “Starburst”. There were endless possibilities with this Nordic theme – with enough inspiration for several blankets! But I hope that my mix of textured stitches, fairisle patterns and stripes are enough to keep you all excited and challenged throughout the duration of the Club and that you enjoy the finished result. Now all I have to do is get my think-tank going again for the next Mystery Blanket Club…but then I decided on the theme for 2014 a long time ago! And soon I shall be making a start on the brand new design…

THESE ARE THE SQUARES THAT YOU WILL KNIT THIS MONTH:

Square 7: Intricate Cables #3 – mini cables with beads

Square 15: Arctic Skies #1 – striped pattern using short-row shaping      

Square 16 Snow Trail – stocking stitch and moss stitch stripes                                              

Square 17 option 1: Alesunn – nordic motif knitted using the fairisle technique                      

Square 17 option 2: Alesund– slip-stitch pattern with beads                                                                     

Square 18: Telemark – striped slip-stitch pattern with cabled stitches  

IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT SELLING A PREVIOUS MYSTERY BLANKET KIT, then the best way to contact a prospective buyer for it is through Ravelry. In previous years we have put sellers in touch with buyers ourselves, however, going forward we would ask you to deal with this yourselves. Ravelry have a huge audience and advertising a sale in this forum will probably get you a lot of interest. Failing that you can always sell a complete kit on Ebay. You never know who might be waiting for that one kit to come up for sale!!!

ARENA TRAVEL HAVE JUST LAUNCHED THEIR NEW BROCHURE FOR 2013/2014, and Jane and I are thrilled to have been invited to lead several very exciting holidays. You can join me on the following trips:

KNITTING IN ICELAND: Sat 28^th September – Weds 2^nd October 2013

KNITTING IN CARCASSONNE: Mon 24^th March – Sun 20^th March 2014 (please note that this date has been rescheduled from the original date in October 2013)

KNITTING RETREAT IN UMBRIA – LAKE TRASIMENO: Sat 17^th May – Sat 24^th May 2014

Knitting holidays are a fabulous way to meet other like-minded people, enjoying a quality break to wonderful destinations combined with knitting workshops and a unique project to keep you busy. I have now been on several tours with Arena and I can honestly say that they are a brilliant experience. So if you fancy joining me on a knitting holiday, it would be wise to check out the details for these holidays on the Arena Travel website: www.arenatravel.com, or ring 01473 660800 and speak to one of the friendly team. I am off on an Arena tour to the Shetlands next week and I know that the ladies who are coming with me are going to have a great time. And don’t forget that if you fancy a crochet holiday then my good friend Jane Crowfoot has several tours lined up too!

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2013 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB ARE STILL OPEN, however, for those of you that have not yet signed up, I need to remind you that there is a strict deadline of 1^st June. We have had a fabulous reponse to the Club, but there are still places available. You can sign up by filling in the on-line application form on my website and Hannah will contact you about your membership.

AND FINALLY FOR THIS POSTING, THE FIFTH 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB PRIZE DRAW!!! Each month a member is picked at random to win a Debbie Abrahams prize.

PRIZE DRAW FIVE (MAY): this month’s winner is member 276, Jules O’Sullivan from Somerset, England. Well done Jules! Please choose a prize from the following selection:

·         a Debbie Abrahams book: Blankets and Throws to Knit/More Blankets and Throws To Knit/25 Cushions to Knit/25 Beaded Knits/Design Your Own Knits

·         a Debbie Abrahams dvd: More Blankets/A Professional Finish

·         4 packs of Debbie Abrahams Beads from the selection on www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk

·         a £15 voucher towards a Debbie Abrahams Mystery Club (Cushion or Blanket)

I will contact Jules directly to discuss her choice.

I am off now to finish my knitting project for the Shetlands. I cannot tell you what it is as it is a surprise for the ladies that coming with me next week. But I will report back to you in June and tell you all about it. It might not be as sunny in Lerwick, so I had better start packing all those thermal tops and warm sweaters! See you in a few weeks, Debbie

 JUST A QUICK REMINDER… that this month  is “patterns only” so you will not receive a yarn parcel – just in case you are waiting anxiously by your garden gate for your postman! Next month (May) is the final month for yarn and then after that it is patterns only to the end of the project.

MEMBERS WHO HAVE PRINTED PATTERNS will find that this month two sets of patterns have been sent to them. One set are the patterns for April and the second set are the revised pages from previous mail-outs: Frosty #1, Nordic Starlets #2, Oslo option 1 and Nordic Dwellings option 1.

THE THEME FOR THIS YEAR’S MYSTERY BLANKET has been guessed by almost all of you now, so well done to everyone that has got it right. But here is one final clue in case you are still guessing, before the theme is revealed in next month’s blog:

_ / _ O R D _ _ / _ D _ E _ _ _ R E

Please send your guesses to Hannah at info@debbieabrahams.com. And remember, there are no prizes for the correct answer – it is simply a bit of fun!

THESE ARE THE SQUARES THAT YOU WILL KNIT THIS MONTH:

Square 5: Arctic Circle #2 – striped pattern using short-row shaping

Square 6 option 1: Bergen – nordic motif knitted using the fairisle technique      

Square 6 option 2: Bergen – slip-stitch pattern with cabled stitches and beads                                              

Square 12: Frosty #2 – slip-stitch mock fairisle                      

Square 13: Crystal Ice– striped pattern with beaded motifs                                                                     

Square 14 option 1: Nordic Stars – star motifs knitted using the fairisle technique  

Square 14 option 2: Nordic Starlets #2: - textured striped  pattern

Square 24: Starburst #2 - textured stitches with knots and swiss-darned star motifs                                                                                                 

WE HAVE BEEN INUNDATED WITH EMAILS AND COMMENTS ABOUT THE DENTAL FLOSS, so I thought that it would be a good idea to pass some tips onto you that have been sent to me by the members. It has been suggested that if you dip the softer end of the floss in nail varnish, then when it is dry it is really easy to slide it through the beads. An alternative to this is to dip it in candle wax, which, according to Janis Kallin in the Shetlands, has helped her enormously with the technique.  If you need to purchase more dental floss then you can buy it from Boots, it is called Oral B Superfloss. However, for those of you who are still struggling, as mentioned in last month’s blog you can use a crochet hook instead of the floss. You will need to use a tiny one, no bigger than 0.75mm, but you can easily purchase one of these from good knitting shops like John Lewis. At Stitchtopia in February I held a beading class which included the hooking-in technique, and some of the ladies tried using a crochet hook and found it much quicker and easier than using the floss. So I would strongly recommend this if you are not getting on with the floss. One last bit of advice was from Christine Phillips-Hing who found a tiny latch-hook tool in amongst her grandmother’s knitting needles and crochet hooks. She says that this has made for relatively quick and easy progress with the hooking-in of the beads. I am not sure how easy these latch-hooks are to find, but if you do come across one then it might be worth giving it a go. Hopefully these extra tips will help you master the technique and I will not have as many emails from frustrated members, fingers crossed!

IMPORTANT NOTE! It seems that some members are getting very confused over the reference to “Slip” in the pattern instructions. “Slip” is the name of the yarn and NOT an action. If you are asked to “slip a stitch” then this is abbreviated by “sl”. But if an instruction begins with “Slip..”,  or “Cast on using Slip yarn” (as in square 37, Crystal ice), then this means the colour of the yarn and NOT an action.

YARN IN NOTTINGHAM HAVE THEIR NEXT MYSTERY BLANKET MEETING ON WEDNESDAY MAY 1ST, so please note that there is no meeting in April.  Sarah and Alison warmly welcome you to join them on this date, as well as these other Wednesdays between 4.00 – 6.00pm:

June 5^th, Sept 4^th, Oct 2^nd.

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the meeting in May as I will be on my holidays in Kos, however, if you can make it to Yarn, I know that Sarah and Alison will be thrilled to see you. It is always so nice to catch up with other members and to knit and chat for a couple of hours in their lovely shop. Yarn is at 55 Chilwell Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1EN, tel: 0115 9253606, email: info@yarn-in-notts.co.uk.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2013 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB ARE STILL OPEN and you can apply on-line now to join the new Club. Thank you to everyone that has signed up so far. We have sold over half of the places within the first month so if you want to join the Club it would be wise to send your application into Hannah soon. We have limited places and the closing date for signing up is strictly June 1^st. The Club will launch on 15^th June.  So don’t delay if you want to be part of another very unique Club and get your application into Hannah before the deadline!

THE 2013 DEBBIE ABRAHAMS BEAD CLUB IS STILL SIGNING UP MEMBERS, so it is not too late to join this too. Steve is just about to post out the second instalment which is Jane Crowfoot’s lovely fairisle tablet cover.  If you want to find out more about the Bead Club you need to visit Steve’s website: www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk. And if you have any queries please email him at beads@debbieabrahams.com.

I HAVE A FEW PHOTOS AND WORDS TO SHARE WITH YOU ABOUT MY NEW YARN BEING PRODUCED AT A LOCAL SPINNERS IN YORKSHIRE. This is an exciting new venture for me and something that I have thought about doing for some time. I was introduced to James Laxton in May of last year and after I showed him my work and in particular the Mystery Blanket, he was very keen to work with me on a new yarn. (James Laxton is featured in the April issue of Knitting magazine). Getting the exact shades for my colour palette has always been a bit of a problem, and most times I have had to compromise. So to be told that I can have any colours that I want, dyed up in a beautiful 100% merino yarn, was immensely exciting! James only uses the best quality materials, and with names like Erika Knight, Debbie Bliss and Rowan on his books, I knew that what he was going to spin for me would be of the highest quality. He sent me several samples to choose from, and when I was happy with one of them, he tweaked it to my specifications so that it was exactly what I wanted: a high quality 100% merino yarn that was machine-washable whilst bulky and soft to the touch. And then the wheels were set in motion! James spun the yarn for me and then, after a few weeks it was ready to be sent to a dyeing company to complete the process. I was so excited to see the first samples that came back from the mill, and to my absolute delight, the colours were spot-on! The next process was to design the ball-bands, which I wanted to be bright and colourful as well as easy to read. I worked on them with a graphic designer who came up with some lovely ideas using stripes – a bit of a “Debbie” trademark! At this point I also had to give the colours names, so I spent an interesting afternoon on the internet, googling different words to see what I could call them. Some of the names of the colours are obvious, such as Gilt, but did you know that “Slip” is a word associated with clay (when clay is mixed with water to create a paste)? I thought that this was a good name for the grey in my range which looks just like grey slip! As soon as all the names were confirmed and the design was signed off, the ball-bands went to print. And a month or so later the yarn was delivered to me, all six colours looking exactly how I had imagined them to look (and feel!). And now you are the first people ever to knit with my yarn, which I think is quite a special thing for my members. At the moment the yarn has been developed solely for the Mystery Blanket and I have no plans to expand it into a full range. However, I will be adding more colours to it for the 2014 Mystery Blanket, and depending on how that goes, I may well look into launching a small range that is available for other projects. So far the feedback about it has been very positive and many of you have commented on how lovely it is to knit with. So all I will say is, “watch this space” and you never know what the future holds! Here are some pictures of the yarn being spun, beginning with a bale of the fleece and resulting after several processes in the finished yarn, hanked up and ready for dyeing:

AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BLOG, I HAVE JUST GOT BACK FROM A LOVELY WEEK IN FRANCE, accompanied by eleven fabulous Mystery Blanket members: Elizabeth Holland, Wendy Atkinson, Clare Bright, Helen Schwarzacher, Felicity Miller, Katherine Saunders, Chris O’Rorke, Andrea Gostick, Gill Nicklin, Mary Leeson and Viviane Callaghan. We had an amazing week together at La Verderie in Charente-Maritime in south-west France (near Bordeaux) and here is my diary of what we got up to for seven days away from home with our Mystery Blanket knitting!!!

Day 1 (Thurs 14^th March)

The day that everyone travelled to France, arriving between early afternoon and the evening. Mary and I arrived last and were delighted to find that the group had waited for us to start their evening meal – we were all ravenous! Sue and Culli had a fabulous meal ready for us: selection of cold salad vegetables: artichokes, tomatoes, pickles, bread / chicken cassoulet with green leaf salad / chocolate brownie with raspberries and crème fraiche.

We ate at La Nougeree, which is a very large converted barn where seven of the ladies were staying. The weather was unusually cold so log fires had been lit to warm us up. Everyone was very excited about meeting each other, despite the fact that we were all very tired from travelling. So soon after our lovely meal we retired to bed, ready for our full day of Mystery Blanket knitting tomorrow.

Day 2 (Fri 15^th March)

A whole day knitting at La Nougeree! The group introduced themselves and we then discussed which techniques they needed help with. Hooking-in beads was top of the list, followed by short-row shaping (wraps and removing wraps), fairisle, and also blocking and pressing. It was interesting to see that some of the members had brought their I-Pads and tablets with them, onto which they had loaded their Mystery Blanket patterns. It was amazing to see how they could enlarge up the text and the charts to see everything much more clearly. I think that I am going to have to add one of these to my 2013 Christmas list!

Self-service tea and coffee was on all day. I demonstrated the hooking-in beading method using floss (but also using a crochet hook, which some of the ladies much preferred), before we broke for a much needed lunch at 1pm. We enjoyed homemade soup with cheese, pate, pickles and bread. Wine was also on the table for those that wanted it (as it was everyday!)

We continued knitting all afternoon, chatting away as we worked. Some good ideas were discussed about the Club, all of which I made notes about, plus some great tips which I am going to pass onto you. The first one was Mary’s tip which will help you keep track of the different shades of yarn (and may prevent you from using the wrong colour). Mary writes the name of the colour on the ball-band and then puts it back on the yarn which means that she can identify her colours very easily.  She also puts her completed squares in zip-lock bags which are labelled up so that she can locate them quickly when she needs to knit-on the next square. The bags also keep her knitting nice and clean. Helen had a fabulous idea about keeping the edges of her fairisle neat and tidy. She knits the first and last stitches of every row using both yarns (creating a double stitch), and then she knits these two stitches together at the beginning and end of every row so that the number of stitches remains constant. Several of the ladies tried this technique and really liked it.

pic: the group were really focussed on their Mystery Blanket squares and great progress was made on the first day!

Dinner was served around 7.30pm and we were treated to another wonderful meal: pear, bacon and rochefort salad /duck in choc and prune sauce with potatoes and broccoli / bread and butter pudding with fresh oranges.

After several bottles of wine and plenty of gin and tonics too, we were all up for a good story, and Wendy entertained us with one of her much anticipated tales! If you have never heard a “Wendy” story before then it is worth coming on one of these holidays just for that! She has us all in hysterics, and feeling relaxed and happy before we retired to our rooms, full of food and wine and in need of a good rest before our trip out tomorrow morning.

Day 3 (Sat 16^th March)

After breakfast we went to St Jean D’Angely for some shopping therapy. It was a delightful old town, with a big outdoor market and some lovely shops. We all got very excited when we came across a yarn stall and most of us ended up buying something. Katherine and Andrea found some wide ribbon that knitted into a scarf, and some of us bought variegated sock yarn in various colours – purple seemed to be the favourite! I got some Katia super chunky yarn, grey with neon streaks through it. Not sure what I will do with it, but it looked interesting! We then got stuck into some serious shopping, spending most of our time and money in a wonderful interior shop. I had been to this shop on my last visit to Sue and Culli’s last March and remembered that it was well worth visiting again. I bought some wonderful coloured cutlery (to match what I had bought last year) and some spotted and striped small ceramic pots – perfect we decided for peanuts or nibbles!

Before we went back we stopped at a small café/bar where we all enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate.

pic:Felicity relaxes in the bar while behind her Katherine, Elizabeth, Helen, Gill, Andrea, Chris and Viviane get stuck into a lively conversation!

Lunch was served on our return and we ate very well again! Sue had bought some fresh prawns from the market, so we had these with homemade soup, cheese, pickles, ham, pate and French bread. She had also made a wonderful carrot and orange soup which everyone really enjoyed.

We then went to La Verderie, where five of us were staying with Sue and Culli, and we spent the afternoon knitting around Sue’s large dining-room table. Gill, under my supervision, managed to conquer the problems she had earlier with square 1, and was delighted to return later on to La Nougeree with many more rows completed than she had started the day with!

Late afternoon the Six Nations Rugby was on and those in the group that were fans gathered around the tv to watch Wales v England. To the absolute delight of Andrea, Gill and Katherine, Wales won by a massive score and for the rest of the evening they reminded everyone of this, much to the displeasure of  Culli, Clare, Vivian and Chris!

After our early evening drinks, Sue and Culli served our meal, which was another fabulous feast: homemade houmous and salmon pate with French bread / beef bourguignon with green beans and potatoes / raspberry meringue with crème fraiche.

Following some after-dinner tales provided by Wendy, Clare and Andrea, we retired to bed, all exhausted again after a very enjoyable day.

Day 4 (Sun 17^th March)

We woke to heavy rainfull, meaning only one thing – it was the perfect day to stay indoors knitting – which fortunately was the plan anyway! The group got on really well with their squares and good progress was made.  However, it was noticed that Gill – much to her horror – had used Black Tweed in place of Felted Charcoal for her Oslo square – but we all persuaded her not to undo the square and to continue with it – which I hasten to add she did without too much of a protest!

pic: the ladies busy at work!

We broke for another very lovely lunch after a few hours and enjoyed Sue’s homemade french onion soup and courgette tart served with ham and the usual selection of wonderful French cheeses, pickles, pate and wine.

We continued knitting all afternoon, and, much to our relief the room warmed up and was very cosy. Earlier on in the week Viviane had given us all a very valuable tip about layering our clothes to keep warm – something which we all took on board, and it worked! So when the sun eventually came out towards the end of the afternoon, some of the ladies had to peel off a layer or two to cool down!

pic :Viviane, Elizabeth and Gill relax with a glass of wine – I am not sure what time of the day this was!

After a hard day knitting we were treated to another fabulous evening meal of roasted red peppers / roast pork served with creamy potatoes and fresh vegetables / banoffee pie.

After eating such a huge meal most of us were up for nothing more than a brief chat and a cup of tea before we went to bed, although when I left La Nougeree I noticed that there were a few ladies finishing off their blanket squares…

Day 5 (Mon 18^th March)

We woke this morning to more rain and very thundery looking skies. Our plan today was to knit in the morning and then visit Cognac after lunch. And whether it was raining or not, everyone said that they fancied a trip out. I spent most of the morning beside Gill and kept my eye on her as she knitted her Arctic Circle square – which she knitted beautifully. Katherine reminded me several times of “the sandwich”, which I was very conscious of whilst sitting beside Gill (praise, give constructive criticism, then praise again!).

pic : We were all impressed with how Katherine’s “stacked” jewellery matched the colours of the Mystery Blanket perfectly!

Lunch was cream of vegetable soup, merguez (French sausages) and mash, cheeses, pickles and pate – delicious!

After lunch we travelled the short distance to Cognac, stopping off on the way at a supermarket. Some of us bought bits and pieces ranging from lavender scented handwash to pots of French mustard! Helen found a lovely knitting and crochet magazine for the home called Filati Home. When we reached Cognac the rain had stopped, so we parked up and enjoyed a leisurely walk around the town. Unfortunately a lot of the shops were closed (a common thing on a Monday), however, we still found somewhere to spend our money, ending up at a lovely little french café/bar where we warmed ourselves with hot chocolate and coffee.

As soon as we got back to La Nougeree the knitting needles were out, and we continued working away until our evening meal was served.

After our usual pre-dinner drinks, we sat down to another wonderful meal: homemade guacamole, sliced carrots and peppers, bread / chilli and rice with garlic bread / fruit crumble with crème fraiche.

After dinner Wendy amused us with another one of her wonderful stories, this time it was the one about Eurie and the ladder…before we all retired to bed, exhausted after another very enjoyable day.

Day 6 (Tues 19^th March)

This was our last day together and I am sure that some of us awoke feeling a little sad that tomorrow we would be leaving for home. However, the weather had settled down overnight and we were looking forward to a morning of knitting followed by a trip out to Saintes (for a final bit of shopping and sightseeing). So, up until lunchtime the ladies knitted and I made sure that everyone had got all the tips that they wanted as this was our last knitting session together.

Lunch was as delightful as ever: a beautiful salad nicoise served alongside pate, cheeses, bread and pickles.

After lunch we travelled to Saintes, a lovely town with lots of good shops, including a huge fabric and yarn shop which we stopped off at first. As you can imagine we were all so excited to be let loose in such a store, and many of us bought fabric and other bits and pieces including buttons, yarn and ribbons. We then decided to split up into smaller groups as we only had a couple of hours to look around, and arranged to meet at around 4.00pm at a café/bar. I found some lovely books in a stationary shop, which Clare, my shopping monitor, agreed I could buy as they were “inspiration”. It might be wise to point out that my dear husband always goes into a panic when I go away on these holidays, deeply concerned about the amount of things I might buy. So he asked for one of the ladies to act as my “shopping monitor”, which Clare duly stepped up to. And I am pleased to say that she did a good job and stopped me from making several purchases that were not really “necessary”, including some ceramic plates in one of my favourite interior shops called Maison du Monde.

After a nice hot drink we made our way back, stopping off at a local Cognac producer who had agreed to show us around his distillery and give us a Cognac tasting. The owner was a man called “Papa” and he was very proud to show us his workplace. He spoke hardly any English at all, so it was down to Culli to translate for us – and he did a brilliant job! We ended up in the “tasting room” where Papa offered us some generous glasses of Pineau and Cognac. This was a fine way for us to start off our last evening together, ahead of the usual pre-dinner drinks and bottles of wine with our evening meal. So most of us returned to La Nougeree feeling quite light-headed, clutching the bottles that we had purchased from Papa!

pic: Andrea has lots of questions to ask at the Cognac tasting.

When we got back to La Nougeree we enjoyed a last bit of knitting before our evening drinks and our final meal of the holiday together: antipasti followed by chicken tagine with spiced aubergine, chickpea and courgette couscous, finished off with chocolate pots – totally amazing!!!

After our meal Felicity presented Sue, Culli and I with some beautiful cards and presents. Felicity had made the cards herself which all the ladies had signed. And much to my delight, they had bought me a polka-dot and striped ceramic plate – which I had been eyeing up a few days ago in that nice interior shop in St Jean! So I was very very happy! After this Wendy told us one last story (the one about the Russian sauna) which we all found hilarious, and then there were a series of toasts (and towards the end some very silly ones!) around the table to a fabulous week! By the end of the evening we were all extremely tired, worn out not only by the busy day we had, but by the amount of laughing we all did around the dining-table! So it was with much sadness that we said goodbye to each other and retired to our rooms.

pic: A lovely group shot of the ladies who joined me in France. Left to right: Gill, Katherine, Viviane, Clare, Elizabeth, Felicity, Mary, Andrea, Wendy, Helen and Chris.

And so that was it, a fabulous week with amazing hosts who provided us with the most exquisite food, spent with a wonderful group of ladies! It was a brilliant week with many great memories to treasure. And the great thing is that Sue and Culli are planning to run another one next year! So I hope to see you there!…

AND FINALLY FOR THIS POSTING, THE FOURTH 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB PRIZE DRAW!!! Each month a member is picked at random to win a Debbie Abrahams prize.

PRIZE DRAW FOUR (APRIL): this month’s winner is member 291, Hilary Bonney from Somerset, England. Well done Hilary! Please choose a prize from the following selection:

• a Debbie Abrahams book: Blankets and Throws to Knit/More Blankets and Throws To Knit/25 Cushions to Knit/25 Beaded Knits/Design Your Own Knits
• a Debbie Abrahams dvd: More Blankets/A Professional Finish
• 4 packs of Debbie Abrahams Beads from the selection on www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk
• a £15 voucher towards a Debbie Abrahams Mystery Club (Cushion or Blanket)

I will contact Hilary directly to discuss her choice.

April sees the long-awaited launch of my co-authored book with Jane Crowfoot, “Kaleidoscope”, so it is going to be a very busy month for me! I have several workshops booked for it including a weekend workshop at the Rowan Mill in Holmfirth with Jane, so we hope to see some of you there. Have a fabulous Easter and I will see you back here at the beginning of May! Happy knitting, Debbie

JUST A QUICK MESSAGE FROM HANNAH REGARDING THE EMAILED MONTHLY PATTERNS… she is very concerned that some of you are staying up all night sat in front of your computers, waiting for the patterns to be delivered into your inboxes!!! Hannah sets up the Mailchimp newsletter  with your patterns attached to it to be launched at midnight on the last day of the month. However, because Mailchimp is used by many companies around the world, there is always a backlog, hence the reason why your patterns are not always delivered until some hours, or even days, later. So the advice from Hannah is please do not panic if your patterns are not in your inbox for anything up to a couple of days after she has sent them. Most of you are receiving them within hours of them being sent, but sometimes they do, and will take a bit longer. However, if you have not received your emailed patterns within a few days, please get in touch with Hannah as a very small percentage of the emails do not reach their destinations. You can contact Hannah by emailing her at info@debbieanbrahams.com.

SOME HUGELY EXCITING NEWS IS THAT THE 2013 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB HAS LAUNCHED and you can apply on-line now to join the new Club. This year’s Mystery Blanket Club sold out very quickly and well ahead of the deadline for applications. Consequently Hannah has a long waiting list for any membership cancellations.  However, as the theme is proving so popular amongst the members, I doubt that any places will become available. So, if you are stuck without a Mystery project this year and are reading this from the sidelines, why not join the Mystery Cushion Club this year?  All you need to do is fill in the online application form on the Mystery Cushion page and send it to Hannah, who will then contact you personally to sort out your membership.  The good news for 2013 Mystery Blanket Club members is that you all get a discount on the Mystery Cushion Club. So if you are feeling up to it, I would love to see you on that adventure too! As with all my Mystery Clubs, places are limited and the patterns are exclusively for members only.  Once all the memberships have sold, the Club will be closed and the patterns archived. I don’t want to tell you too much about the theme for this year, but I can tell you that it is completely different to the Mystery Blanket, which means that this will be a brand new challenge for you blanketeers! One more thing…it uses one of my favourite Rowan yarns, Glace Cotton, which I know is hugely popular and much loved by many of you. So….if this is tempting you, I would advise that you book your place now…

THE THEME FOR THIS YEAR’S MYSTERY BLANKET has been guessed by so many of you, so well done to everyone that has got it right. There have been plenty of clues to the theme in the patterns you have been sent so far, both in the visuals and the names of the squares. However, if you are still not quite sure of the theme, here is another letter to give you a bit more help with it:

_ / _ O R D _ _ / _ D _ _ _ _ _ R _

Please send your guesses to Hannah at info@debbieabrahams.com. And remember, there are no prizes for the correct answer – it is simply a bit of fun!

THESE ARE THE SQUARES THAT YOU WILL KNIT THIS MONTH:

Square 2 option 1: Oslo – star motif knitted using the fairisle technique

Square 2 option 2: Oslo – slip stitch pattern with cabled stitches and beads

Square 3: Arctic Circle #1 – striped pattern using short-row shaping

Square 4 option 1: Nordic Dwellings – fairisle pattern with beaded motifs

Square 4 option 2: Nordic Dwellings– striped pattern with beaded motifs

Square 22: Snowflake #1 – beaded snowflake motif using the hooking-in method of adding beads

Square 23: Krotasokkar: - twisted rib with slip stitches

IN THIS MONTH’S BATCH OF SQUARES YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND THAT SQUARE 22 AND SQUARE 2 OPTION TWO (which both use the hooking-in method of adding beads) will take you the longest to complete. Admittedly I found this method slower than using the slip stitch method.  However, I would say that as long as you know this and are prepared for it, it really should be enjoyed and not feared! I promise you that your time will be well invested as the results are really lovely. I also want to mention square 3 which uses the technique of short-row shaping to create uneven shaped stripes. This is the same method that some of you may have used to shape a sloped shoulder in garments. Partial rows are worked and you are asked to turn back at certain points within each stripe. The techniques of wrapping a stitch and removing the wraps are used in this square, and you will find all the information on how to do this in the Knitting techniques and the Abbreviations sections of your mail-out. I hope that you enjoy knitting up these squares and trying some new techniques.

A FEW MEMBERS HAVE CONTACTED ME TO SAY THAT THEY ARE IN A DILEMMA because they like some of the option one patterns and some of the option two patterns. So the question is, can they be mixed? And the answer to this is yes, unless I tell you that a particular option must be chosen for a square. For example, for square 8 Nordic Hearts/Nordic Starlets #1 and square 36 Nordic Folk/Nordic Starlets #2, it would be ok to knit either option for each of these squares. So you could choose option one for square 8 and option two for square 36. However, later on in the project when you have the patterns for squares 14 and 42, you will be instructed which option to knit. So, if you knitted option one for square 8 you will be told to knit that same option for square 42. And if you knitted option two for square 36 you will be told to knit that same option for square 14. This will keep the design balanced while enabling you to personalise your blanket by mixing both options together.

NOW FOR THAT DENTAL FLOSS…!!! This has been included in your parcel for hooking in the beads on square 2 option 2, and square 22. This is a different method to the usual slip stitch method that I have used in all my beaded patterns so far, and there are instructions for the technique in the Knitting techniques section of your mail-out. First of all I am going to tell you the reason why I have used this technique in the blanket. Not only do you not have to pre-thread the beads (which for some of you will be the best news ever!), but when beads are hooked into knitting they can be placed next to each other and on every row, if desired. So this means that from a design point of view, I can create beaded motifs that have more detail and are more refined in their shape. The slip stitch method restricts the placing of beads as they have to be placed at least one stitch apart from each other and preferably with three rows between them. Members Hazel Lackie and Pippa Taylor both re-introduced me to this technique when I met them at workshops last year, and they raved about it so much that I just had to give it a go! So thank you Hazel and Pippa! Now that you understand my reasons for using this technique, I am going to expand a little bit more on it. It is exactly the same as the crochet hook technique of adding beads to knitting. In other words, you would slip a bead onto the crochet hook, put the hook through the stitch and then pull the stitch through the bead.  However, the holes in the beads are small so if you want to use a crochet hook instead of the floss, you would need a tiny hook, less than 1.00mm in size. I have also found that the new hooks you can buy seem to be more slippery than the old ones and consequently they are not good for hooking in beads. If you do want to use a crochet hook in place of the floss, the best hooks are the old ones which seem to grip the yarn a lot better so that you can pull the stitch through the bead more easily. This might mean rummaging through your grandma’s old knitting bag or perhaps seeing what Ebay has to offer. If this is the route you want to go down, then it might be worth taking the time to look. However, if you decide to use the dental floss that I have provided for you then you need to make sure that the end that you poke through the stitch first is the one that is closest to the thicker, furry bit of the floss. This end is stiffer than the other end and should be strong enough to poke easily through the stitch without it bending too much. As I said before, the instructions for the hooking-in technique are in your mail-outs, so please red through them carefully before you make a start on the squares. And if you do have any queries, please get in touch with me, or see if your queries can be answered on Ravelry – where I am sure this topic will be under discussion! There is no need to panic. Give it a go, and you never know – you might be hooked!!!

DON’T FORGET TO BOOK YOUR PLACE ON A MYSTERY BLANKET WORKSHOP! Workshops are a great place to meet up with other members and get some help with your blanket. This is what is happening and where over the next six months:

Thurs 14^th – Weds 20^th March: Charente-Maritime in France, hosted by Sue Culligan (previously the owner of Kangaroo). Contact Sue at: sueculligan@gmail.com. You can read all about her knitting holidays and retreats on her website: www.knittingholidaysinfrance.com

Weds 8^th May: Manfield Crafts, Rushden, Northamptonshire. For details on how to book, please contact Emma and Deborah on 01933 314920, email: manfield.knitter@gmail.com

Sat 11^th May: Purlescence, Wantage, Oxfordshire. For details on how to book, please contact Sarah Lewis on 01865 589944 or visit the Purlescence website: www.purlescence.co.uk

Thurs 27^th June: Cambridge John Lewis, tel: 0844 693 1709. Ask, if possible, to speak to Sue Meredith, the Rowan Design Consultant.

Sat 6^th July: Laraine Judd, Stocksfield, Northumberland. For details on how to book, please contact Laraine on +44 (0)1661 844874 or email her at larainej@virgin.net

AND DON’T FORGET THAT YARN IN NOTTINGHAM HAVE STARTED THEIR MYSTERY BLANKET MEETINGS EACH MONTH, and Sarah and Alison warmly welcome you to join them on the following Wednesdays between 4.00 – 6.00pm:

March 6^th, May 1^st, June 5^th, Sept 4^th, Oct 2^nd.

I will be there for the meeting on March 6^th (apologies for not making the meeting in February), so I hope to see some of you there. Yarn is at 55 Chilwell Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1EN, tel: 0115 9253606, email: info@yarn-in-notts.co.uk.

I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE MEMBERS THAT ARE JOINING ME THIS MONTH IN FRANCE on the Mystery Blanket workshop week (I cannot wait!!!). It would be a good idea to save your March squares for the trip so that you have something to work on while you are there with me. However, if you simply cannot resist knitting them up before you come, then you will need to bring some other knitting with you (which I am sure you have plenty of!). I did send you all an email last week about this – to which I have had several responses, thank you! – but for those that missed my email, I just hope that you are reading this blog! I look forward to seeing Elizabeth, Wendy, Clare, Helen, Felicity, Katherine, Christine, Andrea, Viviane, Mary and Gill, and of course Sue and Culli very soon!

THE 2013 DEBBIE ABRAHAMS BEAD CLUB IS STILL SIGNING UP MEMBERS, so it is not too late to join. The first set of patterns and beads have just been posted out and it was good to see a few of you knitting up my Denim Hearts beaded bag at Stitchtopia last week! If you want to find out more about the Bead Club you need to visit my husbands’ website: www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk. This club would make an excellent gift for yourself or for a friend who enjoys knitting as much as you. We think that the patterns are really lovely this year and hope that you will join us on our bead adventure.  The cost of the Club is very reasonable as it basically covers the cost of your beads and postage, meaning that you are paying just a few pounds for each pattern – and they are all exclusive one-offs! Steve would be very happy to hear from you, so if you have any queries please email him at beads@debbieabrahams.com. Alison Crowther-Smith who has designed a beautiful shawl for the June instalment of the Club is organising workshops to support her beaded project, so if you are interested in this please contact her through her website for more details: www.alisoncrowthersmith.com.

IN MY LAST BLOG I SAID THAT THIS MONTH I WOULD TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY NEW DEBBIE ABRAHAMS YARN AND THE STORY BEHIND IT…however, as there has been quite a lot to talk about this month, I am going to save it for the April blog.

AND FINALLY FOR THIS POSTING, THE THIRD 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB PRIZE DRAW!!! Each month a member is picked at random to win a Debbie Abrahams prize. (Just an extra message before I announce the March winner to say that member 61 Heather Roberts, who was last month’s winner, has not yet claimed her February prize, so if you are reading this, please get in touch with me!)

PRIZE DRAW THREE (MARCH): this month’s winner is member 100, Annabel Shawcross from Oxfordshire, England! Well done Annabel! Please choose a prize from the following selection:

• a Debbie Abrahams book: Blankets and Throws to Knit/More Blankets and Throws To Knit/25 Cushions to Knit/25 Beaded Knits/Design Your Own Knits
• a Debbie Abrahams dvd: More Blankets/A Professional Finish
• 4 packs of Debbie Abrahams Beads from the selection on www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk
• a £15 voucher towards a Debbie Abrahams Mystery Club (Cushion or Blanket)

I will contact Annabel directly to discuss her choice.

It was great to see so many of you at Stitchtopia in Bedfordshire last week, and I have just heard from Arena Travel that Stitchtopia 2014 has already been booked for next February! I also have some very exciting new trips booked with Arena to several European destinations, so don’t forget to check these out on my workshop calendar. And for all those ladies travelling to France this month, safe travelling and I will see you at Sue and Culli’s for a glass or two of wine! I will report back to the rest of you on how it all went next month. In the meantime, happy knitting to all of you, Debbie

ALL LEFT-OVER YARN AND BEADS SHOULD BE KEPT IN A SAFE PLACE and not thrown away – even short lengths can come in handy. When I knitted my Mystery Blanket I kept all my bits and pieces of yarn in a basket and when I needed to embroider or knit in a small amount of colour, I used them. One thing that I hate doing is throwing yarn in the bin.  So, unless it is shorter than twelve inches, it stays in my knitting basket.  It is surprising how many of those bits and pieces get used up!

THE THEME FOR THIS YEAR’S MYSTERY BLANKET has already been guessed correctly by so many of you. In fact, on the very first day of the Club we had several correct guesses emailed to us. I have noted down the names of who guessed correctly in the first few days, and then after that there were so many guesses coming in that I decided to stop! So, congratulations to these members who emailed in their answers first: Maggie Fallon, Pat Simcock, Jenece Robinson, Jo Wasmuth, Elaine Workman, Elizabeth Holland, Linda Howarth, Barbara Medcalf, Jacqui Murphy, Megan Cooke, Ruth Watson, Claire Brough, Jackie Bishop, Anne Scullion, Jill Holden, Maxine Leckey, June McBain, Lucy Norman, Susan Elghamry and Pauline Keys. What a long list!!! And congratulations to everyone else who is not listed here who has also guessed right. However, there are plenty of you still guessing, so here is another letter to give you a bit more help with it:

_ / _ O R _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R _

Please send your guesses to Hannah at info@debbieabrahams.com.   Remember, there are no prizes for the correct answer – it is simply a bit of fun!

THESE ARE THE SQUARES THAT YOU WILL KNIT THIS MONTH:

Square 10: Frosty #1 – slip stitch mock fairisle, same for both options     

Square 11: Starburst #1 – textured stitches with knots and swiss-darned star motifs, same for both options                                                    

Square 36 option 1: Nordic Folk – motifs knitted using the fairisle technique                      

Square 36 option 2: Nordic Starlets #2 – textured striped pattern                                                                       

Square 37: Crystal Ice – textured stitch with beads, same for both options   

Square 43: Intricate Cables #2: - mini cables with beads, same for both options                                                                                                      

IN THIS MONTH’S BATCH OF SQUARES YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND THAT SQUARE 43 takes you the longest to complete. This is not because it is difficult to knit, but there are many stitches to cable in it which means that you have to pick up your cable needle every few stitches and on almost every row. However, as with all patterns like this, you will soon get used to the repeat, and I found that after a few repeats I could remember what to do on each row without having to read every stitch. Just keep an eye on your twists to the left and to the right and make sure that they go the correct way. Stitches are cabled on both right side and wrong side rows, so you will need to refer to the abbreviations page which guides you through this technique.

I HAVE SOME ADVICE THAT MIGHT HELP YOU DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH THE FIRST AND LAST STITCHES OF ROWS… as this is a common question. On most of my knitting I knit the first and last stitches of every row and this gives the knitting a neat, flat edge that is easy to pin out and press. However, there are exceptions to this which are influenced by what the pattern of the knitting is. For example, on a pattern where yarns are being carried up the side edge, I find that by NOT knitting the first and last stitches the edges are a lot tidier. So, on a wrong side row of stocking stitch which is either striped or fairisle (such as square 36, both options), I will purl the first and last stitches. But with a textured  stitch (such as square 11), I will knit the first and last stitches of every row. (One thing that I never do is to slip stitches at the beginning and end of a row. This has never really worked for me, especially as I use mattress stitch to join my squares together). So, if you are undecided about how to work your edge stitches then try what I have advised. However, you need to do whatever works best for you, and if that means going against what I have suggested, then so be it. At the end of the day, neat edges is what we are all after, so you need to find the way that works the best for you.

IT WAS NOTED LAST MONTH BY A MEMBER THAT WHEN THE INSTRUCTIONS SAY “PICK UP” TO START THE NEXT SQUARE IN A STRIP, it does not say “pick up and knit”. This led to some confusion about what to do, so I am going to clarify this. Whenever a knitting pattern instructs you to pick up stitches, it always means that you pick up and knit. So you need to put your knitting needle through the stitch, wrap the yarn round the needle, and pull the loop through – this is “pick up and knit”. When I checked through my pattern instructions for the Mystery Blanket I realised that I do not say “pick up and knit” – which on reflection, I should do. So, you will now find that in the rest of the patterns for the blanket, it now says “pick up and knit”.  Hopefully this makes it crystal clear and there will be no further confusion. All thanks to the member who pointed it out to me!

IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOUR MYSTERY BLANKET SQUARES ARE BLOCKED AND PRESSED as this will not only improve the look and the feel of the fabric, but it will also mean that all your squares are the same size. With so many different stitch patterns going on in the blanket, I know that this has been a concern for some of you. So, I want to tell you how I block and press my squares. I have a foam mat that I have covered in gingham fabric – perfect for the job as it gives me straight lines across and down.  I have marked out onto it an area of 16cm x 16cm. I then pin out each square to these dimensions, wrong-side facing upwards, and first securing each of the four corners of the knitting with a pin before pinning out the top and bottom edges. If you have worked in strips then you will need to pin out along the seam where you picked up from the previous square. After pinning out the top and bottom edges I then pin the selvedge (side) edges in place, making sure that I follow the straight lines on the fabric. For some squares this does mean that I have to ease the fabric out so that the knitting fits exactly into the marked area – with my squares I found that I had to ease out on the fairisle squares and some of the textured ones too. Alternatively, I found that I had to ease in some of the other squares, such as the mock fairisle. Whether you have to ease in or ease out does not matter – with a bit of manipulation all your squares will block out to the same size. When the square is pinned out with all the edges flat and neat I spray it generously with cold water and press it gently all over to make sure that the water is distributed evenly throughout the knitting. I then leave it to dry fully before removing the pins. (Sometimes my cat Zach sits on it as well, which gives is an extra press!).  When the pins are removed you will find that your square is perfectly pressed and any discrepancies with size should be ironed out (excuse the pun!). There is no rule as to whether you should block each square are you go along or each strip as you complete it. As long as each square is blocked and pressed at some point, it will all be ok and you will have the most perfect Mystery Blanket squares ever!

DON’T FORGET TO BOOK YOUR PLACE ON A MYSTERY BLANKET WORKSHOP! Workshops are a great place to meet up with other members and get some help with your blanket. This is what is happening and where over the next six months:

Thurs 14^th – Weds 20^th March: Charente-Maritime in France, hosted by Sue Culligan (previously the owner of Kangaroo). Contact Sue at: sueculligan@gmail.com. You can read all about her knitting holidays and retreats on her website: www.knittingholidaysinfrance.com

Weds 8^th May: Manfield Crafts, Rushden, Northamptonshire. For details on how to book, please contact Emma and Deborah on 01933 314920, email: manfield.knitter@gmail.com

Sat 11^th May: Purlescence, Wantage, Oxfordshire. For details on how to book, please contact Sarah Lewis on 01865 589944 or visit the Purlescence website: www.purlescence.co.uk

Thurs 27^th June: Cambridge John Lewis, tel: 0844 693 1709. Ask, if possible, to speak to Sue Meredith, the Rowan Design Consultant.

Sat 6^th July: Laraine Judd, Stocksfield, Northumberland. For details on how to book, please contact Laraine on +44 (0)1661 844874 or email her at larainej@virgin.net

Hannah has now uploaded the new workshop calendar onto the website, so you can check out my 2013 workshop schedule and see the full listing of where I will be teaching this year. There are many different workshops on there – not just Mystery Blanket! – including some overseas trips with Arena Travel, so it is worth taking a look. My first trip this year is to Wyboston Lakes in Cambridgeshire where I will be teaching at Stitchtopia from the 18^th – 21^st of February.  I know that some of you will be there, so this will be a great opportunity to meet up and say “hello”! If you have not booked a place at Wyboston yet and are thinking about it, there are still places left on some of the courses. You can read all about it and make your booking through the Arena Travel website:  www.arenatravel.com. During the week there will be classes run by many top Rowan designers including Jane Crowfoot, Sarah Hazell and Brandon Mably, so it should be a fantastic week!

YARN IN NOTTINGHAM ARE STARTING THEIR MYSTERY BLANKET MEETINGS THIS MONTH, and Sarah and Alison warmly welcome you to join them on the following Wednesdays between 4.00 – 6.00pm:

February 6^th, March 6^th, May 1^st, June 5^th, Sept 4^th, Oct 2^nd.

I will be there at the first meeting and at most of the others too. So if you are able to come, please join us. Sarah and Alison always provide a hot drink and a biscuit to keep us all going, and the meeting is very informal and relaxed – don’t worry, I won’t be checking how many squares you have or have not knitted! Yarn is at 55 Chilwell Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1EN, tel: 0115 9253606, email: info@yarn-in-notts.co.uk.

THE 2013 DEBBIE ABRAHAMS BEAD CLUB IS STILL SIGNING UP MEMBERS, so it is not too late to join if you have it on your 2013 wish list – the first set of patterns and beads are going to be posted out to members mid-February. If you want to find out more about the Bead Club you need to visit my husbands’ website: www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk. This club would make an excellent gift for yourself or for a friend who enjoys knitting as much as you. We think that the patterns are really lovely this year and hope that you will join us on our bead adventure. Steve is waiting to hear from you, so if you have any queries please email him at beads@debbieabrahams.com.

MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT THE 2013 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB, and I am happy to announce that applications for it will open at the beginning of March. There will be an online application form on my website, along with lots on information about the club. As with the Mystery Blanket, memberships will be limited and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you want to ensure your membership, please sign up as soon as possible. Many people were disappointed this year when they missed out on the Mystery Blanket because it sold out very early on. So my advice is, get your place booked and secured if you don’t want to be disappointed. The design will be different to the Mystery Blanket, so there will be a whole new project with a new theme to knit up. And the good news is that 2013 Mystery Blanket members get a discount on their Mystery Cushion membership fee – so that is even more of a reason to look out for that application form next month!

AND FINALLY FOR THIS POSTING, THE SECOND 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB PRIZE DRAW!!! Each month a member is picked at random to win a Debbie Abrahams prize.

PRIZE DRAW TWO (FEBRUARY): this month’s winner is member 61, Heather Roberts from Nottingham, England! Well done Heather! Please choose a prize from the following selection:

• a Debbie Abrahams book: Blankets and Throws to Knit/More Blankets and Throws To Knit/25 Cushions to Knit/25 Beaded Knits/Design Your Own Knits
• a Debbie Abrahams dvd: More Blankets/A Professional Finish
• 4 packs of Debbie Abrahams Beads from the selection on www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk
• a £15 voucher towards a Debbie Abrahams Mystery Club (Cushion or Blanket)

I will contact Heather directly to discuss her choice.

I hope that you have found my blog helpful this month. Next month I am going to tell you all about my brand new yarn and the story behind it. So please make sure that you come back for a read at the beginning of March. I look forward to seeing some of you at Stitchtopia later on this month. I am off now to get my workshop prep done for it, so I will see you back here next month. In the meantime, enjoy your February squares!

SQUARES TO KNIT IN THIS FINAL MONTH ARE:
Square 14 (panel 2)
Square 15 (panel 2)
plus the finishing

I DECIDED TO LEAVE THE “REVEAL” OF THE CUSHION THEME UNTIL THE END OF THE PROJECT, and so, although many of you (all of you?!?) have guessed what it is all about, I am going to tell you about the inspiration and what motivated me to design this year’s Mystery Cushion. The theme is “The Diamond Jubilee” – surprise, surprise!!! – not a very inventive name, I know, but then I wanted to keep this one simple. What was very interesting were all the different names that some of you came up with, which to be honest, were far more interesting than what I went for! I think that my favourite was “Jubilee Street Party”, which on reflection would have made a great title! Anyway, it looks as if almost everyone guessed it in the end, and for many of you the theme was apparent from very early on. For me as a British designer, there were two great events that happened in 2012 in the UK, one being the Olympics and the other being the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. And as the Jubilee is more of a British celebration rather than global, I thought it more appropriate to use this theme for the cushion instead of the blanket. (The Mystery Blanket has a wider global membership than the cushion, and, although the cushion does have overseas members, the numbers are much smaller). The first thing that I looked at was a colour palette for the design, and I made a very deliberate decision NOT to use red, white and blue. To me this would have been the obvious choice – and I do not do obvious! Also, with red, white and blue adorning everything to do with the Jubilee, I thought that it would be refreshing to use a totally different colour palette. So I went for a mixture of soft pastel colours combined with teal, blues and charcoal grey to create a more unusual range of colours to play with. In the striped squares the shell and citron remind me of buttercream and icing, which ties in with the cupcakes and tea – all very British! I then went on to think about all the things that people might associate with the Jubilee, and came up with Tower Bridge (which I mistakenly called London Bridge in a previous post), the Queen’s crown, “60” years and a play on the Union Jack. The textured and beaded squares in pale blue and grey have diamond motifs – again linking to the theme – and there is also the date in the centre of panel one. I also decided to go for a different kind of fastening that was pretty and sparkly and added in the beaded ties to complete the design.. All in all I really enjoyed designing this cushion and created something that will hopefully be kept as a souvenir of the summer’s celebrations. And who knows….in years to come (centuries maybe?), your Mystery Cushion might appear on some antiques show and be worth a small fortune! So make sure that you look after it, treasure it, and hand it down to someone who you know will look after it. And remember, it is limited edition and there are only 200 of them in the world, so that makes it even more special to have been part of!

HOPEFULLY THE FINISHING INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CUSHION ARE CLEAR, but if anyone has a query, please contact me: info@debbieabrahams.com. I have had one query so far about sewing the two panels together along the cast-on edges. I used mattress stitch to sew together all of the seams – horizontal across the cast-on edges and vertical along the selvedge edges. Horizontal mattress stitch is perhaps not so commonly used as vertical mattress stitch, so I have a bit of advice to give you. It works in the same way as vertical mattress stitch, but you are taking the sewing needle under one whole stitch at a time, instead of under two bars (two rows). You work with the right-sides of the knitting facing up towards you and you take the needle under one stitch at a time on each side, drawing the fabrics together after every few stitches. For me this worked really well and was very neat. But if you are struggling it might be a good idea to look up the technique to check that you are doing it properly. In the back of both of my blankets books there is some information about mattress stitch in the “Techniques” section. Failing that there is always YouTube or the ever helpful Ravelry forum where you can always get help and advice.

JUST A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB…which is selling out really fast. We have been inundated with applications since some recent promotional activity in newsletters and blogs, plus the London Knit & Stitch Show, and now we only have about 40 places left. At the moment we have many applications filled in but not paid for, and, until the membership is paid for those places are still up for grabs. So if you want to join and are sitting back waiting until the last moment, I can say that for sure we are going to sell out soon, very possibly by mid-November. So, don’t delay if you want to be part of next year’s Mystery Blanket Club fun, contact Hannah now to secure your place: info@debbieabrahams.com.

Well, that is it for another year! I just want to thank everyone that has taken part in this year’s Mystery Cushion Club and I hope that you have enjoyed the experience. Applications for the 2013 Mystery Cushion Club will open in March, so If you decide to take up the challenge again there will be a brand new “mystery” to uncover. And it would be great to have you back on board! Until then, keep busy, keep happy and keep knitting!…

NOW WE ARE AT THE END OF THE PROJECT I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE INSPIRATION FOR THE DESIGN. As you now all know, the blanket is called “A Celebration of Sport”, designed in a year that I thought was significant for, not only because of the Olympics, but also because of many other events that are happening (or have already happened) worldwide, including the Euro Football Championship, the World Figure Iceskating Championship and the very recent Golf Ryder Cup – to name but a few. However, because it is an Olympic year, I have had a few comments from members saying what a shame it is that the blanket does not relate more specifically to the Olympics. And this is what I want to explain to you…in the beginning my intention was to design a “London 2012 Olympics” blanket, mainly because I knew that it was going to be such a major, historical event for Great Britain – and because, after all, I am a British designer. And the prospect of playing with all those sports motifs, flags and colours really motivated me to base my design on it. However, after reading about all the red tape and copyright surrounding the Olympics I then realized that a blanket based solely on this theme was not possible. So I decided to expand the theme of sport to include other major events and not just the Olympics. There are certain symbols and words that the Olympic committee have listed cannot be used in a design and these include coloured rings (even if they are not in the formation of the Olympic logo), and words coupled together such as “Summer Games”, “Bronze, Silver, Gold” and “London 2012”. This did therefore restrict me in what I could do with the design and meant that some of the images and motifs that I wanted to include I had to leave to one side. Nonetheless, I am happy with the result and am also happy that the blanket relates to a year of sport rather than one specific event. I have heard that some members are saying that it is more of a “masculine” blanket – perhaps because of the sports connection? – however, I know that there are also many female members that enjoy sport so hopefully everyone will treasure this Mystery Blanket as an heirloom that was designed to celebrate a very special year of sport.

I HAVE HAD A FEW QUERIES ABOUT THE BEAD THREADING FOR SQUARE 25, OPTION 1, asking where it is in the pattern instructions. It seems that it has been overlooked because the text has not been written in bold for the yellow yarn (whereas it is in bold for the black yarn). You will find the instructions straight after the bead threading for “black ball 2”.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FINISHING AND COMPLETING YOUR MYSTERY BLANKET are included in the October mail-out. Step-by-step instructions guide you through how to assemble your squares and how to knit the edging. So hopefully everyone will find this fairly easy and straightforward. If you need any guidance on techniques like mattress stitch (that I suggest you use), then there are plenty of good books that you can check out, including Jane Crowfoot’s “Finishing Techniques for Handknitters”, or you could try the internet or Ravelry. The group that has been set up for my Mystery Blanket on Ravelry is extremely helpful, so if you have not joined the group, it might be worth doing so – even at this late stage! New members are always welcome…

THE SQUARES AND OPTIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO KNIT THIS MONTH ARE:

Square 25: choose either option one or option two

Square 26: same for both options

Square 27: same for both options

Square 28: choose either option one or option two

Square 35: same for both options

Please note that the pattern instructions for squares 26, 27 and 35 are on the same sheet. And there is a final image of the option one design, but no image of option two. I will post a picture of the option two Mystery Blanket on my website soon.

MY WEBSITE WAS TEMPORARILY CLOSED AT THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER, however, I am very happy to announce that it is back to full health and up and running again. Apologies for any inconvenience that this caused you, and thank you for your patience.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB have recently accelerated due to some exciting promotional activity in magazines, with bloggers (Mason and Dixon) and on Facebook and Twitter. Places are selling really fast at the moment, so it would be advisable to sign up now if you have not already done so. Like in all previous years, the Club will be closed when the memberships are sold and the patterns will be archived FOREVER.  I will be signing up memberships at the London Knit & Stitch Show too, so we may well sell out soon – just a warning as I don’t want anyone to be disappointed!

AND THAT BRINGS ME TO THE LONDON KNIT & STITCH SHOW, which Steve and I are frantically getting ready for at the moment. We are very excited about the show and will have lots of lovely things on our stand, including a brand new beaded bag knit using Rowan Glace Cotton, a free scarf pattern with a purchase of Debbie Abrahams Beads, as well as my handmade ceramic buttons and toggles, dvds, books and, of course, the whole collection of Debbie Abrahams beads. So if you are planning to come to the show, it would be lovely to see you. We are in the Great Hall, stand number J32, and we will be opposite my lovely friend, Jane Crowfoot. It will be the perfect place to shop for all your knitting and crochet needs, so please come and see us!

MY STASH SALE IS STILL ONGOING, and although we have sold a lot (thank you!), there is still plenty left to browse through. And the good news is that we have more to add to it – to name a few, Rowan All Seasons Cotton, Handknit Cotton and Wool Cotton. Thanks to those that have made a purchase, we now have a bit more room in our house. But we could do with creating even more space! So before you purchase the yarn for your next project, please check out our stash sale and you might just find what you are looking for. You can view what we have for sale on Ravelry, simply follow this link: http://www.ravelry.com/people/DABeads/stash/trade.

NEXT I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT A VERY ENJOYABLE MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB WORKSHOP AT PURLESCENCE LAST MONTH IN OXFORDSHIRE. Sarah is the owner of the company and she invited me to run a workshop for MBC members. So, on a very lovely warm sunny day in Wantage I was joined by members Amanda Towl, Elizabeth Holland, Valerie Lewis, Debra Eatch, Stephanie Austin, Viv Fox and Helen (sorry Helen, I cannot remember your surname, huge apologies). The day was spent discussing and practicing techniques that are used in the blanket, including chain stitch, swiss-darning, mattress stitch, intarsia, picking up stitches and sewing in ends. Sarah provided us with a very nice lunch, after which we all went shopping, some of us treating ourselves to some gorgeous knitting goodies. If you have not visited Purlescence before, then I would definitely recommend it. Sarah sells a range of beautiful knitting and crochet yarns and accessories and focuses on top quality brands like Lantern Moon, Off-Hand Designs and Namaste. I found too many lovely things to buy – some of which I treated myself too and others that I will put on my Christmas list. After our shopping expedition we then got back to the workshop room and continued with the techniques between bouts of friendly, happy banter. The whole day was very enjoyable, and the only regret I have is that I did not take my camera. So unfortunately there are no pictures to show you what a great day we had – you will just have to imagine it, or, even better, join me at Purlescence next year when Sarah is planning to run another Mystery Blanket Club workshop. Details, when confirmed, will be posted on my website on the “News” page and on the Mystery Blanket Club blog next year, as well as on the Purlescence website: www.purlescenceyarns.com.

MANY OF YOU WILL KNOW THAT I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM A WEEK IN FRANCE WITH JANE CROWFOOT, where we ran knitting and crochet workshops hosted by Sue Culligan (ex Kangaroo). Jane and I were joined by nineteen ladies and one Canadian man (who was a husband of a knitter, and not a knitter himself). It was also a joy to have my lovely husband Steve with me, who was kept company by Jane’s husband Andy. We were teaching at an amazing location, an old French chateau in a small quiet village called St Julien L’Ars, near to Poitiers. Sue has ran many workshop weeks at this same location, but sadly, this is the last one (although Sue will continue to run workshops and retreats at her home in France, details at www.knittingholidaysinfrance.com, including a Mystery Blanket Club one next March). It was a very enjoyable week, creative and fun and shared with like-minded people, (which is the best thing about these knitting holidays). The weather on the whole was good, so we split our time between working on projects inside the chateau and sitting outside in the lovely warm sunshine knitting and crocheting. Jane and I set a project based on our forthcoming book, “Kaleidoscope”, and were completely bowled over by the work that the students did, some creating their own designs and others using the project to practice and perfect their knitting and crochet skills. There were also opportunities during the week to do a bit of shopping in nearby local towns, during which we were able to visit the two churches that had inspired Jane and I four years ago to create our designs for the book. It was wonderful to be able to show this inspiration to the ladies, who on entering the churches excitedly pointed out the patterns that they recognized from our knit and crochet projects. It was really lovely for Jane and I as well to see it all again. Not only did it reassure us that our designs were true to our inspiration, but we noticed even more patterns and motifs on the decorated walls and pillars that we could use for another book…maybe the follow up to Kaleidoscope – who knows!!! Finally, I cannot finish this report without mentioning one other thing about the holiday – the amazing food and wine that was provided for us all week by Sue and her husband Culli. They worked hard all week in the kitchen preparing our meals, assisted by Steve and Andy who did a great job clearing the tables and washing all the dirty dishes. There were endless bottles of wine in all three colours on the table with every meal (except breakfast!), as well as French bread and cheeses – just the perfect way to spend a week in France! It was a truly wonderful week, spent with lovely ladies, eating amazing food in a most spectacular location. Experiences like that are worth their weight in gold. And, although Sue will not be returning to the chateau for workshops, you can continue to enjoy her wonderful hospitality with her knitting holidays in France – be sure to check out her website and I might just see you there!

AND NOW FOR THE FINAL PRIZE DRAW FOR THE 2012 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB!

MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB 2012 – PRIZE DRAW 10 (October)

The winner of the final draw for 2012 is…member number 207, Kelly Doolan, who did live in the Wirral, Merseyside, but has moved to Greece in the last few months. Well done Kelly! Please choose a prize from the following selection:

-         A Debbie Abrahams book: Blankets & Throws To Knit/25 Cushions To Knit/More Blankets & Throws/25 Beaded Knits/Design Your Own Knits (signed, if desired)

-          A Debbie Abrahams dvd: More Blankets & Throws/A Professional Finish 1

-          A Debbie Abrahams kit from the selection on my website

-          4 packs of Debbie Abrahams Beads from the selection on the Debbie Abrahams Beads website (www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk).

Well, that is it for another year! Thank you to everyone that has taken part in the 2012 Mystery Blanket Club. Your support of my work is always appreciated, and without you, there would be no Club. I am looking forward now to the 2013 Mystery Blanket Club and to continuing the many friendships that I have made through running this Club, as well as “meeting” new members next year.  Enjoy your last instalment of 2012 and I will see you in a few months…!!!

SQUARES TO KNIT THIS MONTH ARE:

Square 10 (panel 2)

Square 11 (panel 2)

Square 12 (panel 2)                                                                                                                                 

Square 13 (panel 2)                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                             

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BOUGHT YARN FROM MY STASH SALE. We have sold lots of it but there is still plenty for sale – with more still to be added. But the sales that we have made mean that we can move about in our house a little bit more easily! If you are interested in having a look at what we have got, then all you need to do is to follow this link on Ravelry:  http://www.ravelry.com/people/DABeads/stash/trade  The yarn we have there is ideal for all sorts of projects and some Bead Club members have been buying it for their projects – a great idea! So please do have a look and get in touch if you are interested in any of it. My husband Steve is looking after this, so you can contact him either through Ravelry or by emailing him at: beads@debbieabrahams.com. He will be extremely happy to hear from you!…

I AM JUST GETTING READY TO DEPART FOR FRANCE FOR THE LAST CHATEAU TRIP, so it is pretty manic here. Jane Crowfoot and I will be joined by twenty ladies who will enjoy a week of knitting, sunshine (hopefully!) and plenty of wonderful food and wine. We are focusing on our new book, “Kaleidoscope”, and the ladies will enjoy some lovely projects to knit as well as being guided through the design process to
create their own project. I know almost everyone that is coming on the trip as many of them are my Mystery members. So it will be a bit of a Mystery Blanket/Cushion reunion! I know that some of the ladies are also members of Jane’s Crochet Club, so it will be a great opportunity for us all to get together and share our stories and ideas. I still have my bags to pack so I am going to rush off shortly. But I promise to talk more to you next month in the final blog. See you when I get back!…

AND FINALLY FOR THIS MONTH … THE THEME OF THE MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB! I am going to give you another letter this month, just to help those that are still guessing…

_   _  _  / D  I A  _  _  N  D /  _  _ _  I  _ _  _

…and I have just realized that I have no Euros either, so it’s a quick dash to the post office. Happy knitting and I will be back next month with the FINAL INSTALMENT!!!!…

THE SEPTEMBER WEBLINK has been emailed to everyone, so you should have the patterns even if your parcel is still on its way to you. If you are having any problems receiving or opening the files, please contact Hannah:  info@debbieabrahams.com. So far it has run very smoothly with just a few queries from members, so the process seems to be working. And as this is the way that we are going forward with next year’s Mystery Blanket, it is good to know that most people seem to be happy with it. I feel happier as I know that whether you live round the corner from me or you live on the other side of the world, you all have your patterns at the same time. That is fair for everyone, even if your yarn parcel takes a few more days to reach its
destination.

THE SQUARES AND OPTIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO KNIT THIS MONTH ARE:

Square 7: choose either option one or option two

Square 32: same for both options

Square 33: same for both options

Square 34: choose either option one or option two

Square 42: choose either option one or option two

HANNAH AND I ARE DELIGHTED AT THE FANTASTIC RESPONSE THAT WE HAVE HAD TO THE 2013 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB, and we are very grateful to those of you that have decided to continue your membership. We have sold well over half of the places now with many new knitters taking part as well as the familiar faces (you know who you are!!!).  The design for next year is well on its way and I am very excited about it – mostly because it is so different to this year’s design so it is a brand new challenge for me with different patterns, colours and yarns. There will be two
options again so anyone that feels that they might not be up to taking on the more complicated squares can opt for something a bit easier. Giving two options also means that there is the opportunity for every member to make their blanket slightly different by mixing one and two together if preferred. I know from seeing various Mystery Blankets on my travels that many of you have enjoyed mixing your options this year and the results have been really amazing and lovely to see. So, if this is whetting your appetite and you have not signed up yet, there is still plenty of time. The easiest way is to use the online application form which is sent straight through to Hannah. On receiving your form Hannah will contact you regarding payment and will help you through the procedure. Our deadline for applications is 31^st December 2012, after which the
Club will be closed. So don’t delay!

I HAVE JUST BOOKED MY STAND FOR THE KNITTING AND STITCHING SHOW AT ALEXANDRA PALACE LONDON, where both Steve (my husband and bead man!) and I will be very pleased to see you. Hannah is also planning to join us, as well as Steve’s mum (your Mystery Blanket postal lady!). We are on stand J32 in the Great Hall and we are opposite my good friend Jane Crowfoot. So please come and see us if you are visiting the show. We will have a lovely selection of things for you to look at and buy, including the whole collection of Debbie Abrahams Beads, some exclusive bag kits, ceramic buttons and Bead Club memberships. In addition to this I will have about eight 2012 Mystery Blanket Club kits to sell – and I must add that these are not in addition to the 500 memberships, they are part of it as we did not sell every single place this year. So, if you see these kits do not despair and think that I have broken my word about archiving the design, because I have not. These are the last few kits that we have left and when these are sold there are no more. The show takes place from the 11^th – 14^th October and we cannot wait to see you!!!

JUST A QUICK MESSAGE ON BEHALF OF MY HUSBAND AND THE BEAD CLUB… for all of you that have been wondering whether or not there will be a 2013 Bead Club, I have some good news – there is going to be one! Steve is still selling his 2012 memberships as the Club does not close until December. So when the current Club closes he will start signing up members for 2013. Unlike my Mystery clubs, Steve’s Bead Club is not a mystery so you will be able to view all of the designs on his website: www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk. Many knitters have been looking for an application form on my website, but please remember to check out the Debbie Abrahams Beads website instead as this is where you will find all of the information. He has some new designers involved for next year with some exciting projects, so make sure that you check out all of the details towards the end of the year and book your place!

(This message is also posted on the Mystery Cushion blog). AFTER MUCH THOUGHT I HAVE MADE A DECISION TO SELL PART OF MY STASH. For years I have backed away from doing this, but pressure from my husband due to the enormous pile of yarn that is occupying our house has finally pushed me to make this decision. I feel quite emotional about it as my yarns are like old friends, collected over the past twenty years. However, I know that a lot of what I have will never be knitted up, so it is time to clear it out. At the moment I have over 900 balls for sale and this is without the
two other stashes that are in my parent’s and my sister’s lofts! So there is a lot more to come. We have listed the yarns on Ravelry so that you can view each one. If you are a Ravelry user then it might be worth taking a look at it: http://www.ravelry.com/people/DABeads/stash/trade In my stash there are lots of
vintage Rowan yarns, some that have been discontinued for years and are now
impossible to get hold of like Chunky Tweed, Kid Soft, Donegal Lambswool Tweed
and very old shades of Glace Cotton and Handknit DK. If you have a Rowan project in mind from many magazines ago then you might just find what you need in my stash. The frightening thing about all of this is that even with that stash sold I still have a stash of the same size that I am keeping, so do not despair – I am not without yarn! My husband Steve just cannot believe what I have been hiding from him for the past eight years (like many of us, I am sure!!!) So, if you are interested please go and take a look. Steve is in charge of selling my stash so you will be dealing with him if you have a query
or want to make a purchase. And I am around to help answer any technical queries you might have.  If you want any of it, let us know as soon as possible as we are sending out the orders on a first-come first- serve basis. And we do not want you to miss out. UPDATE!
– having raided my mum’s and my sister’s lofts last weekend, we now have a huge
amount of Glace, Handknit Cotton, Wool Cotton and All Seasons Cotton to add to
what is already on Ravelry. So if you have already taken a look, you might want to look again. We uploaded the Glace last night and the other yarns are soon to follow!…

AND NOW FOR THE PRIZE DRAW RESULTS!…..

MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB 2012 — PRIZE DRAW 9 (September)

This month’s winner is Member 373, Nicolette Van Der Leck from France.
Well done Nicolette! Please choose a prize from the following selection:

-         A Debbie Abrahams book: Blankets & Throws To Knit/25 Cushions To Knit/More
Blankets & Throws/25 Beaded Knits/Design Your Own Knits (signed, if desired)

-         A Debbie Abrahams dvd: More Blankets & Throws/A Professional Finish 1

-         A Debbie Abrahams kit from the selection on my website

-         4 packs of Debbie Abrahams Beads from the selection on the Debbie Abrahams Beads website (www.debbieabrahamsbeads.co.uk).

 Less than two weeks and I will on my way to France with Jane Crowfoot and husbands Steve and Andy to enjoy a knitting holiday with twenty lovely ladies. If you are joining us at the chateau, then see you there! And if you are not, then you will be able to read all about it on my next and final Mystery Blanket blog for this year. Au revoir for now!