HAPPY EASTER

It is a particular pleasure for me to welcome the many new members to our website, not just here in Australia, but all of you from many different countries all over the world. I would like to say a very warm welcome to you all and thank you for joining us and enjoying working with our yarn.

A lot is happening here at Biggan Design, since my husband and I returned to Australia from a three year stint overseas in the UK and Sweden for my husband’s work. Though almost half of that time I had to spend in Australia to work with the yarn. It was very interesting for me as a knitter and designer to spend time in both these countries, as there is such a strong and ingrained tradition for knitting and again becoming such a popular pastime.
And, of course, over in the UK and Sweden you do need your knitwear to keep warm!! Layers of sweaters, skirts,throws, scarves, beanies and tams I could fully indulge in and never feel too hot. In sunny, subtropical Brisbane, where we are based, you certainly don’t need so many jumpers!

I want to acknowledge that this set up being overseas was only possible for the very competent help from my daughter Henrietta in the first two years, and then from Anita, who took over the reins for the last year. Anita also instigated the new website together with her husband Stephen. They have done a stellar job, of which we are very proud. Thank you all three for you devoted help to the company!

Our 4ply range is now up to 47 colours in total and will keep growing as we need to order more yarn – so please keep buying!! The 4ply is a wonderful yarn for socks, as it is both soft AND strong, so the socks last the distance and can be washed in the machine on a wool or gentle cycle in 30°C. It is also lovely for any lace projects, especially shawls and light summer cardigans, of which I am currently working on a new design.

The DK/8ply is not only great for garments, but we found is also great for baby blankets which are so soft in the Biggan Design yarn, and in which you can make very colourful combinations from the big range of colours. Babies’ brains it has been found respond very favorably to strong colours in their development. And don’t forget that the blankets can be washed over and over again.

I have just come out with a new, classical V-neck cardigan pattern, Robyn, which goes with everything, for size 85cm – 110cm bust measure.
I am working on up sizing several of my patterns to a 130 cm bust. I would love to get some feedback if this is something you knitters are interested in. I feel that so many patterns are only made for tiny teenagers and not for real, grown up people. It’s lovely to knit for your children and grandchildren, BUT also for yourself!
Sizing I’ve decided to keep to centimeters and inches, instead of the actual sizes you find in the shops, as sizing differs so dramatically from country to country. This way everyone knows where they stand by using a tape measure around the bust, waist or hip and thus get the size that is right for them. All my patterns are written in this way.

I have knitted a whole range of both knee- and ankle length skirts, to which I am particularly partial, as they are so comfortable to wear and never restrictive or tight, they don’t seat even after years of wear and washes beautifully in the machine on a wool or gentle cycle in 30°C. As the yarn is so soft you can’t feel the skirts on your skin, even without a slip and stockings underneath during summer. That is how I wear them in Brisbane and how my three daughters wear their Eleanor miniskirts.

All through the winter months I will be giving workshops in Finishing techniques, Circular knitting, Colour work, Fair Isle knitting and steaking at Tangled Yarns here in Brisbane. If you are interested please read our Events page in early May, when classes should have been decided on.

I wish you a Happy Easter, with lots of time for knitting projects on the go. My husband and I are off camping with friends in the beautiful Gibraltar Range National Park in NSW and I will bring plenty of knitting along to do by the campfire or in case it rains, which is not unusual during the Easter holidays here!

HAPPY KNITTING!

Biggan Ryd-Dups

Creative Director and Founder

Robyn Cardigan Now Available

Robyn Cardigan

As the weather gets cooler and autumn is most definitely in the air, it is time to start casting on warmer garments in Biggan Design’s DK yarn. To inspire you all to create cardigans for the cooler weather, Biggan has just launched her new Robyn pattern as part of her 2011 Collection. Here it is pictured in Burgundy – one of the key ‘Berry Tones’ colours of the season.  If you are feeling creative and daring – why not give the cardigan your unique/ personal twist and work it in stripes in a colour combination of your own choosing.

Happy Knitting

The Biggan Design Team x

Gelati now available

If you’re looking for last-minute gift ideas, Biggan has just released three new patterns.

The luscious sorbet colours of Gelati will brighten even the darkest winter day. With three individual patterns available – a miniskirt, boobtube & wristwarmer set, and scarf & beanie set – there’s a little something for everyone’s Christmas stocking.

Spring is here!

At least that’s what the calendar says!

The warm spell we had at the beginning of September convinced me that it was time to pack away the winter woollies for another year. But the past week has been rainy and a little chilly, and I’ve found myself wishing for a light wrap or shrug.

To celebrate the onset of spring, Biggan has come out with a gorgeous new shrug pattern. Worked in our 8 ply merino, the Anita shrug is just perfect for throwing on over a summer dress or tank top in this changeable weather.

In fact, I couldn’t resist popping one of the samples on this morning while I watched my kids playing in the garden!

Guerilla crafters dress Brisbane in winter woollies

If you’ve been in the Brisbane city heart this week, you may have noticed that it is a bit more colourful than usual.

Pompoms are hanging from trees, green hearts and mushrooms have sprung up in the quirkiest of places, and the statues have put on their woollies to ward off  the winter chill – like this little fella in King George Square, who’s sporting a very nice stripey scarf (in Biggan yarn, of course!):

© Stephen Jaensch. Used with permission.

They are all part of I Knit Brisbane, a community knitting and crochet project that brought together crafters from all over Brisbane – school students, artists, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, seniors groups, knitting/crochet groups and associations, and the craft businesses that service them.

Hundreds of hours of knitting, crocheting and assembly went on behind the scenes, culminating in a massive effort on the night of 31 May, when the guerilla crafters took to the streets of Brisbane to ensure the city heart was warm and cosy for the first day of winter. I wish I could have seen the faces of the city workers when they came across their first piece of woollen sculpture that morning – I hope it made them smile!!

Biggan and I were awed and inspired by the army of fantastically creative guerilla crafters who put their hearts and hands into making Brisbane a warmer place this winter. We were honoured to be a small part of this amazing community by providing some of the wool for the installations.

Channel 9′s news story about the project can be viewed here (and yes, that is Biggan being interviewed behind Sebastian di Mauro’s hand sculpture)

If you’re in Brisbane and want to check out I Knit Brisbane, this map will point you in the right direction…

Part of the art

So what do knitters get up to on a lazy afternoon in the River City?

Well, yesterday a group of us became part of the art at the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6) at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art.

One of the exhibits is Untitled 9, a gigantic plinth which dominates the gallery’s River Room. The plinth is topped with a circle of chairs, where various groups have been invited to meet during the exhibition. Yesterday, Biggan and I joined other members of the Brisbane SnB group for a spot of public knitting as art.

From the top of the plinth, we knitters had a fabulous view of the river and the new Kurilpa Bridge, a pedestrian and cyclist bridge which links the city heart to the art gallery precinct. It’s an interesting structure, and a very apt view for our group, as people often liken it to knitting needles!

If you would like to read more about the concept behind Untitled 9, have a peek at the blog of its creators, the art collective DAMP.

Rainbow ruffles take home the prize

Congratulations to Christine Jones, who is the first winner of our monthly competition with her self-designed Arwen rainbow ruffle skirt.

© Christine Jones. Used with permission.

A resident of Australia’s Northern Rivers region and a knitter for almost 30 years, Christine has recently turned her hand to designing patterns. Her first published pattern, Flamenco, is featured on the cover of the current issue of Australian knitting magazine, Yarn.

“I’ve always loved colour and that’s what I really like about Biggan yarn,” Christine says. “I bought a few different colours from Biggan at a craft fair in Brisbane earlier this year, and did a couple of samples for the course I’m doing.

“I’m not sure where the actual inspiration for the skirt came from. I guess it was having all those single balls in different colours. The materials influenced the design…and I also love frills,” Christine said.

Christine is currently working on grading Arwen, so keep an eye out for this exciting new pattern.

Christine has won two 50g balls of Biggan DK/8 ply yarn in Emerald, and we hope this provides her with inspiration to design more fabulous things!

And remember, if you’re on Ravelry, why not enter our monthly competition? All you have to do is knit or crochet a project using Biggan yarn, and then share it with the Biggan Designs group so that it shows up in the “Recently Completed Projects” from group members.

We will be announcing our second winner on 1 January, so don’t forget to post your projects to the group by 31 December!

Meet Nisse

Our new recruit -- Nisse is Elf in Charge of Christmas Cheer!

Just in time for the silly season, Nisse has arrived at the Biggan Design office!

In all the craziness of preparing for Christmas, it’s easy to get so stressed that we forget that this is supposed to be a time of joy. So Nisse’s job is to remind us of that here at Biggan Design.

And just look at him — who could fail to smile when confronted with this colourful little person?

Alan Dart’s patterns look so impressively complex when finished, but they are not terribly hard to knit … although they can be a bit fiddly. All in all, Nisse took less than 15 hours of knitting time! Working circularly certainly cut down the amount of finishing required too, although there were still quite a few pieces to sew together at the end.

To convert the pattern to circular knitting, I kept the stitch counts the same and simply joined the end of the first row to the beginning. I worked on four DPNs for the larger diameter sections (the head and body), and on two for the smaller diameter pieces (hat, legs, arms and neck). The more fiddly pieces, such as the shoes, hands and cuffs, I worked flat and seamed. Blocking all of the pieces lightly helped to ensure the cast-on edges didn’t roll, and made sewing Nisse together much easier.

Working on such small circular knitting pieces has given me a much greater appreciation for the elasticity of Biggan yarn; even when working on only two needles, I had no ladders to contend with at the point where I changed DPNs. And when my elf legs turned out vastly different sizes — goodness only knows what I was thinking of to change my tension that drastically! — I was easily able to block them to a more consistent length and width.

Stitches and song at the Swedish Church in London

On Tuesday afternoon, I popped in to the newly started Stick- och Syjunta (Knit and Knatter) at the Swedish Church here in London.  I had a wonderful time with the loveliest people, all talented knitters and very interested to be working with our yarn. One of the pastors, Björn, even came down to join us for a bit — he is a charismatic young guy and a keen knitter!!! I’ve been invited to show our yarns and knitwear at their next meeting in February.

During the evening I do not know how many people came up and complimented me on my red Saya wrap and my pumpkin Mary skirt and Georgia sweater. So many were interested in knitting the Saya wrap, which is great! It is a most useful garment for any occasion, be it travelling, out on the town, on the sofa with a book, or to a concert at night!

I stayed on for a fabulous Advent Concert that evening, held first at the church with traditional Christmas music, and later down in the refectory for a more frivolous performance. The quality of the performers was superb. Swedish mezzo soprano Catrin Johnsson and soprano Linda Johnsson, accompanied by Rachel Fuller at the piano, filled the church with beautiful Christmas carols, and later Johan Hugosson performed an almighty piano sonata by Frans Schubert. The world-renowned a capella quartet Cantabile sang a wonderful rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas, with such hilarity and cheek that they had us all in awe and stitches! I’m definitely a fan, and will be following very closely where they will be performing again. They are extraordinary in their musical range and acting skills within the musical context. 

Every office needs a Christmas elf…

Our inspiration

With only three weeks left before Christmas Eve — how did that sneak up on us so fast? — Henri and I decided that we needed an extra pair of hands around the office.

Henri had bought a gorgeous Christmas elf, knitted from Biggan yarn, at Threads and More, which set us to thinking about knitting something similar as our Christmas office mascot.

I suggested that we look at Alan Dart’s whimsical Christmas toys. We eventually decided on the adorable Initial Imps, and I got to work rummaging through our yarn remnants to find a colour combination (seriously, I have the best job on earth!).

The Biggan yarn palette lends itself beautifully to Alan’s patterns and, with 64 colours to choose from, our little Nisse was always going to be the trendsetter of the Christmas elf world. I finally settled on Lime (#405), Burnt Orange (#280) and Royal Purple (#805).  

Our office Christmas elf is still in pieces, but not for long...

I made some minor modifications to the pattern, mostly to accommodate my colour scheme eg working the stockings in three colours instead of two, and with three rows of each colour. Given our hectic Christmas knitting schedules, I also decided to knit Nisse in the round — even though it is already a quick knit, I figure I will save a lot of time by not having to seam each piece.  Leaving the stitch counts the same, and working on 3mm DPNs, I simply joined the end of the first row to the beginning and just kept knitting.

I’m a little behind schedule thanks to the arrival of my best friend’s new baby, but Nisse should be finished this weekend, so stay posted for pics of him in all his multicoloured glory.

PS. Don’t forget to check out our free patterns for more quick and easy Christmas decoration ideas!