My newest design, the Milly Cardigan, has an unusual i-cord edging to the neckline. This is a really easy edging to work - much quicker than a standard rib neckline, and gives a neat, thin stylish edge. The sample used here is knitted in shade 890 Libby Summers Fine Aran. See my ravelry page for more details of this project.

Arguably the best hour of my week is spent at my daughter's school, Copthill School, running a knitting club for Year 4 - Year 6 children. I approached the Headmaster two terms ago to start the club, and my timing was, for a change, impeccable, as he was just getting interested in alpacas, being about to add a trio of these beautiful animals to school's ever growing animal population. With ambitions of spinning and producing yarn from their very own animals, he was keen to get the children started on making things yarnie, and so the knitting club was created.

The club started off with twelve members, and it was a bit of a challenge getting them all started on my own as the first stages of knitting are frustrating, time intensive for the teacher and slow! However, I was impressed at how the children applied themselves and persevered with the craft. There are now ten devoted members of the club and many of them have their own knitting bags housing several WIPs! It has been fantastic to see how they have picked the skills up so quickly and eagerly, and made so many lovely things already. It is a real personal treat to see what they have made at home each week. Some weeks, I have been joined by a member of staff with her spinning wheel, and the children have had a go at spinning their own yarn from fleece, which they have thoroughly enjoyed.

Now we are getting ready for a group project; our very first knitting stall at the school Summer Fete in June, which is very exciting. This came about for two reasons. The output of the group has increased, and so we are in need of more knitting wool to keep our club going. The children are also enjoying making things for others, and are keen to share their skills and their creativity. So I mooted the idea of taking a stall at the Summer Fete. The children immediately jumped at the idea, and it has been great to see them working together as a team to plan for the event. They have decided on a number of projects and items to make and sell, set pricing, and targets for production, as well as deciding amongst themselves who will make what, to ensure they end up with an appropriate number of each item. They have also decided between them what they will do with the money they take; half will go towards buying new materials for the group and half will go to their chosen charity. They also have plans to offer mini knitting lessons for a fee on the day. They have done this all with very little input from me, which just goes to show what super kids they are and what a fantastic school they go to!

So, I have been tasked with designing some patterns for the Fete. This week I designed mug warmers and tea light covers, and I am sharing these patterns with you here, as they are so simple and easy to make but very effective. I hope that some of you might be be inspired to start a club at your local school, run a stall for charity or something else entirely! Watch this space for more free patterns at a later date too.

Materials
15g Aran weight yarn (I used 100% Shetland yarn)
Pair 4.5mm needles
A button

To Fit
The mug warmer can be adjusted to fit the circumference of your mug, but you will need a bit more yarn if it is bigger than the one used here. The one I used has a 23cm [9in] circumference and a height of 10cm [4in] .

Finished measurements
7cm high (this is the width of your work) and 23cm [9in] circumference (the length of your work).

Tension
18 sts and 32 rows to 10cm [4in] measured over garter stitch using 4.5mm needles. The stitch count is more important that the row count here, as the pattern requires you to measure your work rather than telling you how many rows to knit.

Instructions
Cast on 12 sts.
Work in garter stitch (ie. knit every row) until work measures 23cm [9in] or the measured circumference of your mug. Cast off.

Making Up
Sew the cast on and cast off edge together just at one corner. Sew the button in place on the other corner of one end. Using a spare piece of yarn, create a loop at the other end, fastening off carefully so it doesn't come undone.

Materials
5g 4 ply weight yarn (I used Manos Serena)
Pair 4.5mm needles
A button

To Fit
The tea light holder cover can be adjusted to fit the circumference of your tea light holder, but you will need a bit more yarn if it is bigger than the one used here. The one I used has a 23cm [9in] circumference and a height of 10cm [4in]. Mine is tapered, and I measured it in the middle, at the slightly narrower part, as the yarn will stretch and you don't want the cover to be too loose as it will just fall down.

Finished measurements
7cm high (this is the width of your work) and 23cm [9in] circumference (the length of your work).

Tension
18 sts and 32 rows to 10cm [4in] measured over pattern using 4.5mm needles. The stitch count is more important that the row count here, as the pattern requires you to measure your work rather than telling you how many rows to knit.

Instructions
Cast on 10 sts.
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Knit.
Row 3: Knit, wrapping the yarn TWICE around the needle for every stitch.
Row 4: Knit, dropping the extra wrap as you do so (ie. don't knit into both wraps or knit every wrap).

Repeat 4 row pattern until work measures 23cm [9in] or the measured circumference of your tea light holder. Cast off.

Making Up
Sew the cast on and cast off edges together. If you like, you can stick the cover to the tea light holder using double sided tape.

Sometimes you're making something where both sides will be visible, and you really don't want to spoil the integrity of your fabric one little bit, even with the neatest sewing in of ends ever seen.

Well, there is a way.

This works best with singles yarns. I've not widely experimented to adapt to a highly twisted yarn, but I expect there are ways and means, and if anyone has any tips, please share them in the comments section.

This is just a simple technique which only takes a few minutes and your knitting will look as if you have worked from one ball continuously all the way through.

Step 1: Work up to the point where you have approximately 5cm of yarn left. It doesn't matter if this is in the middle of a row - in fact, it's better if it is! 

Step 2: Take your new ball and lay it side by side with the last 5cm of the old ball.

Step 3: Separate the strands of both sections of yarn without breaking the fibres.

Step 4: Gently work the fibres from both balls together by holding them between your index finger and thumb and gently twist them and squish them together, working in the same direction as the natural twist of the yarn. Even with a singles yarn, the fibres will tend to slant in one direction, so try and identify this before your start working the fibres together.

Step 5: Continue in this way until the yarns are integrated and the join is pretty much invisible to the naked eye. Test the join by tugging GENTLY - not too much as a singles yarn breaks easily anyway! A little bit of instability is ok, as when the yarn is worked, the knots tied by the stitches will firm up the join.

Step 6: Continue with your pattern and enjoy the seamless join!

This tutorial explains how to work the edging for the cushions from the Sojourn Pattern booklet #11 using the simple two double pointed needle method. There may sometimes be a slight gap or seam between the stitches on the back. However, this doesn’t matter at all in this pattern, as you will be sewing the i-cord onto the edge of your cushion, and so concealing this. Bear in mind that 6 sts is the maximum you can use to create an i-cord using this method. 

You need two 6.5mm double pointed needles and a small amount of Libby Summers' Chunky.