I managed to log myself out of my own website about half an hour ago and have only just managed to get back in. First world problems, I know, but it was frustrating – and there are exciting things I want to tell you about!
(You know when you end up swearing at the computer and have five tabs open that all purport to help you change your password, but just seem to send you round in circles, that you probably need to take five minutes to breathe!)
Anyway…
As you can see from the main pic, the sourdough is going well – lunch was delayed until this one was cool enough to cut! But on to the knitting stuff…
Have you heard about Fasten Off Yarn-a-long 2021? It’s a month-long community event for both knitters and crocheters that takes place completely off Ravelry (which as we know has many accessibility issues on its website and many people struggle to use it since its redesign). You can get involved on Instagram, Twitter and Discord and there will be games and prizes up for grabs.
There are over 80 independent designers participating, of whom I am one, and the first part of the YAL involves a great big pattern sale!! Designers decide which of their paid patterns to include in the event and they get a 25% discount during the period of the sale which runs from 30th November to 6th December.
I’ve decided to include ALL of my paid patterns that I have the rights to (even the collections); so that’s everything except Nevern Throw, Of Night and Light (I get the rights back in January for these two) and Soft Syncopated Brioche Scarf (which is free anyway). All my patterns are on Payhip, Lovecrafts and Ravelry.
As Fasten Off Yarn-a-long is intended to be inclusive and accessible, only patterns that are available somewhere other than Ravelry will be included. Unfortunately, Lovecrafts doesn’t offer designers the option of adding a discount code, so the code (which I’ll post next week) will be valid only in my Payhip store, but it’s a great opportunity to bag a fab discount!
What else has been going on? Well, I’ve finished the pattern for next week’s deadline. Hurrah! I’ll probably only check it over another five times before I convince myself it’s ready to email. It looks great and I’m really excited about it and I can’t believe I have to wait until June to show you!! Why is the deadline so far ahead of publication? This company (in the US) does their own sample knitting as well as the tech editing and photography, so they need to allow time for their test knitters to make the items as well as all the other steps in the process. Being in the US I am truly grateful they have this system as I would be very nervous of posting a finished sample all the way over the Atlantic. All I need to send them is the pattern and other associated files.
My other secret project is growing too – this one WILL be posted off, but it’s staying in the UK and the deadline isn’t until April. It’s nearly a quarter complete though and I am very happy with how the stitch patterns are behaving in this yarn.
My hat (above) also grew by another panel over the weekend, as we had a big adventure in Manchester. My lovely wife has a poem out in a new book called ‘Queer Writing for a Brave New World’, published by Out On The Page and there was an event for contributors at The Modernist, followed by drinks at No.1 Canal Street. All of which was very good and also very good knitting time for me 😊🧶! It was strange being in a big city again – something we haven’t done since before Covid and I was glad we worked out a route from the car park to the shop via the roads parallel to the main streets, so we avoided as much of the crowds as we could. By the way, if you like poetry, photography and other writing, there’s a launch on Zoom tomorrow evening!.
And with this gorgeous photo I shall finish for today.
Stay warm, stay safe and keep knitting. K x