Introducing the Trumbles

Life at the moment isn’t easy and news of another lockdown here in the UK is gutting. I was very lucky at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic to give forever homes to two baby bunnies and now my home is overrun by hay, bunny fluff and binkies.

Barry and Bryan bunny (aka the Trumbles - yes they have their own surname and the vets love it!) are wonderful and they seemed to be loved by many who follow @abbieknits on Instagram. Below you’ll find a little collection of my favourite pictures of them and I hope it brings a little bit of joy to your day ❤

Barry Trumble lying on the living room rug.

Baby Bryan Trumble sitting on the fluffy blanket on the bed.

Bryan Trumble standing on the Marshmallow Flump jumper.

Bryan Trumble sitting on Abbie looking into the camera.

Bryan Bunny enjoying a hug with Abbie in a chunky knit.

Barry and Bryan Trumble enjoying a snuggle on their hay in their house.

Mission Statement

A mission statement sounds very fancy but really, I’m just here to talk about how I started Abbie Knits and why I’m doing the things I’m doing in the way that I’m doing them.

I started knitting (properly) in 2015 when I found a knitting shop close to my house in Leicester and fancied making something one weekend. I went into the shop, picked something I liked with some appropriate straight needles and thought yeahhhhh I can knit a scarf. Turns out I couldn’t and I frogged it many many times until I finally made something acceptable to be shown to people and gifted it to my sister.

After that I felt very ambitious and found a men’s sweater pattern on the internet, went into the same shop and chose some wool I liked regardless of fibre, weight or whether the yarn was suitable for the pattern. The owner of the shop was horrified that this was something I might do and told her I had found a yarn calculator and that everything would be fine. It was a bit naïve but at the time, most of the patterns I could find were old fashioned, complicated and not at all like what I wanted to create.

So a while later after knitting a little here and there and a couple of Christmas jumpers later, I experienced heartbreak and found myself picking up my needles whenever I had free time and my obsession really began. I found Wool Warehouse, Love Crafts and Ravelry and realised the world of yarn was much bigger than the tiny old ladies’ shop in Leicester and Wool and The Gang (although WATG is still a firm favourite!). On a visit to see my sister in Belfast, we met a lovely lady called Victoria (@Pictureofgrace) at St George’s market who makes amazing amigurumi and this is when I decided to learn to crochet. I joined the lunchtime crafty club at work and went subsequently went through a Toft obsession (we’ve all been there….) and it was around this time a friend suggested I put everything I made on Instagram and Abbie Knits was born.

Throughout this little crafty (hate to say it- sorry) journey, I’ve made lots of errors, frogged lots of things, thrown half finished squishy friends away because I couldn’t deal with unravelling them but I’ve got to the point where I can pretty much make anything I want. And that’s why I made this site.

Being a beginner crafter (here we’re talking about knitting and crocheting) can be a bit daunting and also expensive - you have to buy the yarn (there are so many lesser appreciated smaller affordable brands) the pattern and then the needles, the stitch markers and anything you else you thought you might need because you got a bit excited browsing LoveCrafts. But it is wonderful. It allows you to be creative, to slow down and you’re more connected with the things you create than if you went out and bought said something. And that ultimately is more sustainable for not only the planet, but for your bank balance and it’s excellent for your mental health.

We need to make a move away from fast fashion and we need to do it now. The industry is driven by profits and won’t change without pressure from the consumer. The most effective thing we can do? Make our own items and stop buying. Of course, it is much more complicated than that, but ultimately the items we make will be better quality, have a lower carbon footprint, longer lasting and communities haven’t been exploited in the process. I’m a scientist who cares deeply for the future of our planet and I’m also a crafter who believes in the maker movement and this is why this site exists.

Through Abbie Knits I want to share accessible, free and easy to understand patterns so you can make whatever it is that you want (apart from socks - I’m never knitting socks!). I want to be part of a maker community that is diverse, inclusive and friendly and I hope you want to be part of it too! On a personal note, this website is also a great way for me to document what I make and it’ll become my online knitting library.

I hope you enjoy the website and please do get in touch if you need help with patterns, if you have an idea you want to share, feedback from anything you make or just if you want a chat - not restricted to crafting!

Thankyou and lots of crafty love,

Abbie xo

Abbie and Coral feeling very happy in their hand knitted jumpers- albeit one of them being very ugly.

Why yarn is so great

Why yarn is so great

Since Covid came along and changed the world forever, crafting has become cool. It was already great and now even Tom Daley is doing it. I’m very grateful to have been able to learn this skill and the joy it brings into my life.

1) Crafting brings people together

The crafting community is kind, colourful and a wonderful thing to be part of. Seeing other projects gives you inspiration, you find great new yarns (I discovered Lauren Aston Designs on Instagram during lockdown and now my life is full of chunky merino) and you meet lovely people who become internet friends who otherwise, you would have never found. It’s corny yes, but I’m all here for it.

2) Makes you appreciate your clothing more

Fast fashion is destroying the planet. I don’t care what Inside Missguided (check out the documentary on 4od) has to say - fast fashion has a bad rep and it deserves it. We’ve become very disconnected with where our clothes come from, and as fashion is so readily available there is little consideration for what happens to it once we get rid of it. Creating your own clothes -whether its by crochet, knitting or sewing-allows you to make something exactly how you want it, with the materials you like and the time spent to create something really gives value to it. I might have knitted more cardis then I’ll ever need over lockdown but I’ll never get rid of any of them and if the end of the world ever comes (planning ahead in case of a zombie invasion anyone?) I know I can be snug and cosy hiding away with the bunnies.

3) Benefits to mental wellbeing

Life is hard sometimes (especially now) and knitting for me is meditation. Now I’ve practiced a lot, I don’t have to think about it my favourite evening activity is to sit down either in quiet or with the TV and knit. Call me a granny, but it makes me happy and after spending a day feeling frazzled by my PhD, its the perfect way to reset.

4) It’s something which is accessible to most

Some yarn is really expensive but there are so many more accessible brands out there doing great things. Drops yarn is amazing- they have a huge range with a lot of colours with more free patterns on their website than you could ever make - and you can make a 100% alpaca yarn jumper for around £30 (depending on size). Stylecraft is a great acrylic option (readily available in a lot of craft shops and Paintbox yarns have some lovely cotton options. Wool and the Gang’s Crazy Sexy Wool is lovely but ideally I’d like my projects to cost less than two weeks food shopping.

I could go on, but I’d love to know why you love crafting! Comment below or feel free to message me on Instagram for more crafty chat!

xoxo