english girl at home

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Tag Archives: Hannah Fettig


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Wharf Street Pullover

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

I’ve got a jumper to share today that has been some time in the knitting.

I’m a huge fan of Hannah Fettig’s knitwear designs. I knit two projects from her book Home and Away at the end of last year / start of this (Lesley and Hancock), and have two projects from Knitbot Linen on the needles (I failed to finish them in time for last summer; maybe I’ll manage for this spring/summer). So, unsurprisingly, I’m really excited about Hannah’s brand-spanking-new book, Texture.

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

I was also really excited when Hannah asked if I would like to be a test knitter for a project from Texture back in the summer. However, I entirely overestimated both my knitting ability and speed, and available time. I selected the Wharf Street Pullover, a bottom-up pullover featuring honeycomb cables, and raglan three-quarter sleeves (ahem, more on these below).

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Feedback was due back with Hannah in the autumn; I finished knitting the pullover this week… So apologies to Hannah for being a useless test knitter, but I have ended up with a lovely jumper! I have also ended up with a jumper which is quite different from Hannah’s design, which is intended to be quite a bit shorter in the body and sleeves. I may yet go back and alter it to be a closer match to Hannah’s design, but I do quite like this alternative slouchy version. I attribute the added length to my gauge being off, and possibly also to wearing it for these photos (and for some hours before) while it was damp, following  its first wash, which I suspect resulted in some stretching which blocking should reduce. It possibly also resulted in me temporarily smelling a little bit like a wet sheep…

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

The honeycomb stitch which makes up the bulk of the Wharf Street Pullover is straightforward, if relatively time consuming. I made some mistakes when attempting to maintain the pattern on increase/decrease rows, particularly on the sleeves, but I was working from the test pattern, and the final version may do more hand-holding on these sections.

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

In contrast to my usual contrariness, I knit this using the suggested yarn, Quince & Co’s Owl (worsted 50% American wool, 50% alpaca, which is spun and dyed in USA) in the ‘mesa’ colourway. The yarn showcases the honeycomb cable beautifully and is suitably sheepy and warm.

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

The Wharf Street Pullover is one of 13 designs included in Texture, which features a mix of garment and accessory patterns using cables and textured stitches, designed in Quince yarns. As with Home and Away, the book contains a number of tutorials – I haven’t seen these yet, but the tutorials in Home & Away were excellent, so I’m expecting similar. Plus, the photography is gorgeous.

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Other favourites from Texture, are this jacket (which should be a quick knit) and these cardigans 1 /2. Oh, and if you pre-order the book, you receive this rather lovely cowl pattern.

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Right, I’m off to plan what I can knit next, and hopefully finish in time to wear this winter!

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

P.S. it’s worn here with Stork Scissors by Birmingham-based Frilly Industries, and People Tree’s Hesper Stripe Skirt.

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Wharf Street Pullover by Hannah Fettig


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Lesley in John Arbon Merino

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

This is my second project from Home & Away by Hannah Fettig (Knitbot), the Lesley sweater. This pattern is the cover star of Home & Away, and the photos of it included in the book are stunning.

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

I loved the pattern as soon as I saw it. It’s a great basic which goes with everything. It’s also a straightforward knit, and thanks to the aran weight yarn, knits up really quickly. Kirsten knit her Lesley sweater in one week! I wasn’t that quick, but it didn’t take me much longer.

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

I received the yarn for my Lesley as a Christmas present from my Mom and Dad, it’s John Arbon Textiles’ organic Falklands Merino. It makes for a lovely soft sweater. I have one skein of yarn (plus a little bit) left over which I might use to make a hat – probably one of the gorgeous hats from the Autumn 2015 issue of Pom Pom. According to the patterns I won’t have quite enough yarn, but I’m going to chance it and see how I get on!

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

I’m wearing my sweater here with a Pianissimo scarf (also in a John Arbon yarn! This is Viola in the Fern colourway), and Stork Scissors by Birmingham-based Frilly Industries.

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

I swatched for this sweater on Christmas day, and would have started knitting but didn’t have the correct size circular needles for the ribbing – bad planning on my part. I went into Birmingham on Boxing Day to buy needles and cast on that evening. I was very happy with House of Fraser who were open and had the needles I needed – and not happy with John Lewis who were closed altogether. How is a person supposed to start their #boxingdaycaston!

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

These photos were taken out-and-about in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade (Gillian, I’m listening! #betterpicturesproject). It’s a beautiful arcade with great indie shops but you wouldn’t really know from these photos as you can’t see much of it – I blame the camera man;) One of the most enjoyable film screenings I ever attended was held in the Great Western Arcade as part of Flatpack Festival (p.s. if you’re local, this year’s festival starts 19th April). It was a screening of Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!, it took place in March when it should have been warm enough for a screening in the arcade, but that day it was very cold and snowed. Note that the arcade is open to the outdoors at both ends. The organisers were fantastic and provided us each with a blanket and cup of tea, along with popcorn and chocolates. Such a fun evening.

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

I’m finishing up a few small knitting projects currently but looking forward to casting on another sweater/cardigan soon!

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn

Lesley by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot, In John Arbon Aran Yarn


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Hancock in Lyonesse

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Inspired by Gillian’s Better Pictures Project, and Katie’s guest post in particular, I photographed this recent knitting project indoors. However, I was paranoid the photos would be too dark (it was a grey day) so there is a mixture of indoor and outdoor photos below!

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

This is the Hancock pattern from Home & Away by Hannah Fettig, also known as Knitbot. I ordered the book straight after it was published (self published by Hannah) and love it. It contains eight cardigan/jumper patterns (plus one hat), which can be knitted flat or in the round. The book also contains some great general knitting tutorials, such as gauge, blocking, and weaving in ends. Plus it’s a beautiful book.

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

I knitted Hancock in the round, using the smallest pattern size. The yarn I used is Blacker Yarns Lyonesse 4-ply in colour Rose Quartz. Lyonesse is a blend of linen and Falkland Island Corriedale/Merino wool. Blacker Yarns refer to Lyonesse as their ‘summer range’, and the inclusion of linen in the yarn means it is lightweight and relatively summery. However I’m still wearing it this winter over long sleeve dresses / tops.

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

You can see Hancock is relatively short (this is accurately shown in the pattern photos) and I considered lengthening it, but ultimately followed the pattern without any changes. I’ve found it the perfect length to pair with a dress or high waisted skirt or trousers, but it’s worth bearing in mind if/when knitting it.

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

The pattern is an open cardigan without any fastenings. I’ve been intending to buy a shawl pin (as every knitter surely ends up knitting shawls, despite previously never knowing that you needed one!) and think that Hancock would also look good pinned closed when I want a bit of extra warmth.

Hancock is a straightforward knit, if relatively time consuming (at least for a slow knitter like me) due to the use of 4-ply yarn.

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

I’m classing this as one of my #1year1outfit projects since it is made with a yarn produced by British mill Blacker Yarns, using Falkland wool (it’s unclear from the Blacker Yarns website where the linen was sourced). Given that my 2015 One Year One Outfit pledge already allowed me to use fibre from the entirely of the UK, I might be pushing it by also including Falkland wool. However, BritYarn’s definition of British includes overseas territories, and that’s good enough for me!

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

Hancock by Hannah Fettig, Knitbot

I’m just in the process of blocking another completed project from Home & Away which I’ll be blogging soon.

P.S. If you’re on Ravelry you can find me here.