We designed our first afghan in 1996. It came about shortly after the publication of our Woolly Thoughts book when we were contacted by Brown Sheep, a large American yarn company. They asked us if we would design an afghan for them. We agreed but actually had no idea what it was they were wanting. …
Author: Pat Ashforth
Reversing Illusion Knitting
We are often asked why Woolly Thoughts illusion patterns are arranged in the way they are. This post will attempt to answer the most frequently asked questions. Illusion knitting works by knitting alternate ridges in two different colours. A ridge is two rows of knitting. Each horizontal stripe on the chart is one ridge of …
Illusion Shawls
I have now collected together all our current illusion shawls patterns. Some of these have ‘pictures’ like our illusion art. Others have colour effects that form patterns, not pictures. Some people would describe these as shadow knitting. It is difficult to draw a line between illusion knitting and shadow knitting. As with all illusion knitting, …
Illusion Baby Blankets
Over the years Steve has designed several illusion knitting baby blankets. When you look straight at the knitting you only see narrow stripes, in two colours. The image appears when you look from an angle. Illusions are notoriously difficult to photograph. They are much more impressive in real life. Most of the blankets are designed …
Menger & Sierpinski
This is a Menger Sponge. It is made from plastic canvas. A Menger Sponge is a 3D fractal. It is named after Karl Menger. The basic idea is that you take a cube and remove a square tunnel from the centre, in all three directions; then you remove a square tunnel, in all directions, from …
Illusion Art
Knitted illusions are extremely difficult to photograph. When you look straight at the knitting the image disappears and you only see narrow stripes. The image is revealed as you move round and look from different angles. We have recently updated a lot of our photos. These are probably the best we have ever had but …
Squishy Things
A few months ago I started experimenting with trying to create a particular knitted effect, related to illusion knitting. It didn’t work but I accidentally stumbled into something that became quite addictive. Most Woolly Thoughts patterns are either illusion or geometric. These two patterns aren’t either yet they have a hint of both. It is …
More Patterns
I keep finding more old patterns. I have now added several machine knitting booklets to the Old Patterns page. Many of them are Bond magazines and pattern books; some are older. They are at the bottom of the page. Contact us if you are interested in any of them.
Patterns in need of new homes
I have been tidying up and have decided that the time has come to get rid of some things we will never want again. It is fairly easy to find new homes for many things but we have accumulated a lot that will only be of interest to collectors and craftspeople. Finding the people who …
Om
People often ask Steve to design particular illusion charts for them. He almost always says no. It is very time consuming and he always test-knits things himself to make sure they really work. He is always willing to help someone wanting to create their own and their are also tutorials on our web site. A …