I had been hoping to tell you today that I am halfway through the first sleeve of my sweater design and at 9pm last night I was. However, the sleeve has now been frogged as I realised I need a slightly wider cuff and also need to get the to full width of the sleeve sooner. So, it’s back to the drawing board (or rather, excel spreadsheet) with the sleeves today and start again. I know what I need to change. It’s now a matter of working out the maths. I’m so glad I decided to knit the sleeves one at a time rather than both together! It’s frustrating when things don’t work out as you want the first time, but I’m taking it as a learning point! At least I have enough time before the deadline to do it properly and make sure the sleeves will work.
Like much of the country this week has been hot and dry – in fact we haven’t had any significant rain in over three weeks. It tried to rain a bit yesterday, but the paths looked a lot wetter than the veg patch did. Our water butt is empty and we are having to water the seeds we finally sowed a week or so ago more often than I would like as the compost dries up very quickly for the little seed tray pots and the ground is rock hard! Left over water from ironing is going in a watering can on the back step and we even got the hose out one day. I’m hoping we will get some decent steady rain soon, but maybe not this coming weekend…
On Friday we travel to Buxton for Buxton Wool Gathering. The weather is set to continue fine and I’m sure the ice-cream stand outside the Buxton Pavilion will be doing a roaring trade.
I really like this show. It’s well organised and in a lovely setting and this year we are staying somewhere that I think is just next to the Pavilion Gardens, so getting back to the accommodation will be super easy! This year is the first time I will be teaching a workshop at Buxton, and there are still a few spaces on my moebius workshop, the price of which includes the very specific needles you need, pure wool yarn and handouts! The workshops happen in an upstairs conference room (in the same area of the building as the toilets). There is a lift as well as stairs so it is all accessible.
Hard on the heels of Buxton is the Yarnies at the Flaxmill at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings the following Saturday. This is a one-day event, with opening hours of 11am-5pm.
I spent some time yesterday updating my website, especially the events page and made sure to add the workshops I’m due to be teaching at the end of the month at Sew Woolly in Cheadle (Stockport) there too. I’m teaching two workshops on the same day – socks in the morning and lace knitting in the afternoon.
Here’s the info about the workshops:
Introduction to Sock Knitting
- Learn all the steps of knitting a top-down sock on double pointed needles: Cast-on, ribbing, leg, heel flap, heel turn, gusset, foot, toe, grafting. We will be working on a scale that means you can complete the whole sock in the workshop!
- Skills required: cast on, knit, purl, k2tog, ssk.
- Equipment to bring: 3mm double pointed needles (you can buy these from Sew Woolly if needed), tapestry needle. Everything else will be supplied.
- 2.5 hour workshop, £35, including yarn and handouts
Introduction to Lace Knitting
- Learn how to use decreases and yarn overs to create deliberate patterns of stable holes in your knitting – this is lace knitting! Learn how to follow both written and charted lace instructions and see how blocking works magic on lace knitting by opening up the stitches.
- Skills required: cast on, knit, purl
- Equipment to bring: 4mm or 4.5mm needles (you can buy these from Sew Woolly if needed), straight or circular. Everything else will be supplied.
- 2.5 hour workshop, £35, including yarn and handouts.
If you want to book a place for either workshop, please ring Sew Woolly on 07905 741969 or message them on Instagram or Facebook.
I have decided to improve my Pride Flag Knitting kits by presenting them in a tin. These flag kits have currently been available separately, packaged in cardboard envelopes. The new kit for both flags in the tin is an upgrade as it looks much nicer if you’re giving it as a gift, it includes both kits in a single package, and you can re-use the tin when you’ve finished with the kit! All the yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK, so it’s 100% wool and the kits are far more economical than buying 11 whole balls of wool!
I will have these kits with me at Buxton Wool Gathering this weekend and also at Shrewsbury! I may still have one or two single flags in envelope packaging left too!
Back in 2015 I attended a knitting retreat where I learnt how to dye yarn and fabric with indigo, did some colour work knitting techniques and had a go at repurposing an old shirt into a new garment. It was great fun and really nice to spend a whole weekend away with like-minded folk, immersed in making and craft. In 2023 I was invited to teach at the Knit-Tea Retreat in Cardiff and again I had a super time, surrounded by knitters and crocheters and lots of yarn, tea and cake. This October I will be teaching at another retreat, this time in High Wych in Hertfordshire. Having enjoyed knitting retreats from ‘both sides’, as an attendee and as a tutor I was quick to accept the offer to take part in this one! Woolly Away is a knitting and crochet retreat for crafters of all levels, brought to you by Diana from The Crochet Chain and Deb from Crates of Wool.
This is from the Crates of Wool website:
“What’s a retreat?
Two days of relaxation while refining your craft in the company of other knitters and crocheters. We stay in a peaceful, comfortable hotel away from the everyday hustle and bustle of life and just take time for ourselves.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings we have a choice of workshops, then lunch in the restaurant, followed by time in the afternoon to work on your projects from the morning or for any other craft work. The hosts and tutors are available throughout to help with your crafting dilemmas.
You receive a tool kit containing everything you will need for all the workshops, plus other goodies, such as patterns and special yarns. So all you need to bring are your needles, hooks and your favourite notions.”
One of the great things about this retreat is that the ‘tool kit’ you get contains the handouts etc for ALL the workshops even though you can only attend two of them (you choose one for the Saturday morning and one for the Sunday morning). So, you can look at the handouts for the two sessions you weren’t able to attend and have a go at those in your own time as well!
You can reserve your place for a £100 deposit – bookings have just opened! – and you then pay the rest by early September.
That’s all from me today. I’ll tell you how Buxton went next week. If you come to the show, please drop by my stand and say hello – we’ll be right in the middle of the octagon room. K x