Meet the maker: Cat's Creation Somerset

Welcome to the Cosy Craft Club's arm knitting month! We really want to encourage you to have a go at arm knitting, and we'll be sharing the key things you need to know to get started. You can find all our arm knitting posts in one place here.

We love to meet the makers behind our kits, so today we are getting to know Cat from Cat’s Creation Somerset who created our lovely arm knitting kit!

Please can you introduce yourself?

Hi I’m Catherine aka Cat. I try and live a self sufficient lifestyle in Somerset with my family, dog and chickens.

How did you get into arm knitting?

I have been arm knitting for 7 years now. It all started when I wanted to try knitting with needles. I went to the charity shop and bought some along with some wool and started watching some video clips on the internet. After many hours I wasn’t progressing very fast so I googled how to knit quickly! After watching a video I was hooked. I made my first snood which was a bit ropey but it didn’t take very long. So I kept going and going and going!

That year I attended a Christmas fair with my snoods and they all sold. I was amazed. So I kept going and haven’t looked back.

It was always a hobby until 2018 when I had my son Henry. I decided that I didn’t want to go back to work and I wanted to try and push my hobby into a business.

I now knit luxury homeware items as well as my snoods to expand and grow my business.

What is your favourite thing that you have made?

My favourite item I’ve made to date will have to be my first ever arm knitted blanket. The wool I used was a polwarth wool mix and I used 4kg of wool to make it. It’s stunning and I was sad to see it sell!

What do you need to look for when buying arm knitting supplies and where can you get them from?

I’m a stockist for three different wool companies so if you get hooked I can provide you with everything you’ll need to progress onto bigger and better projects.

If you want to find your own supplies all I would say it don’t always buy the cheap stuff especially from cheap apps! Look at company reviews and find companies that make their own items from their own yarns so you can trust it.

You need to look for super chunky yarn. Even then some super chunky yarn won’t be thick enough. If you use thin yarn it will be very difficult to knit with and this is a mistake people tend to find out early on!

What is the most common mistake you see people who are starting out with arm knitting?

The main issue I see when I teach arm knitting at my workshops is people who already knit with needles have a habit of pulling everything tight. The first rule of arm knitting is little to no tension. I see it all the time, people will pull it so tight that they then can’t put the yarn over their hand. Do not pull it tight!! It will feel very unnatural but trust me. When you have made a few you will get your rhythm and find a good tension.

What are your top tips for someone who is starting to learn arm knitting?

Don’t forget once you start you can’t stop. You have to keep going until you have finished! You can’t put it down like you can with needles. Just as well it doesn’t take long!

If someone tried arm knitting and quite enjoyed it, what would you recommend as the next steps for them?

If you enjoyed making the snood in the kit and want to progress I’d recommend having another go with snoods until you are confident in doing it.

The next stage would be a blanket. You wouldn’t use the same wool for the snoods and a blanket. This would need to be wool tops or roving. You can get this from me or use my tips that I mentioned earlier.

Wool tops or roving is unplyed. This makes it a very delicate material. If you pull it it will pull apart because there is nothing to hold it together. (Normal wool has been twisted many times to give it strength) This is why I recommend practising a bit more before you progress to this.

You can buy acrylic roving to make blankets with. It’s not something I enjoy working with because it doesn’t feel as nice as real wool. The other bonus with using real wool is you can felt it to reduce the shedding. You can’t felt man-made acrylic. Wool is also sustainable too.

What other crafts do you enjoy?

I dabble in many crafts in my spare time and also make and sell pebble pictures too. This has taken a step back slightly due to the HQ being full of wool!

I really hope you enjoy making yourself a snood. I’d love to see your snood selfies. If you need any help please do get in contact via Facebook and I’ll happily help you out.

Cat x

Get to know Cat more by visiting her website, or checking her out on Instagram and Facebook

All photos courtesy of Cat’s Creation Somerset