Earlier in the year I wrote about needing to buy a protractor while working on a design for a top and trying to remember how to use sin, cos and tan in mathematical equations (to calculate the angle and therefore length required for the knitting from the neckline to the shoulder). The pattern that all those calculations were for is coming out this Thursday (16th July) in Knitting Magazine, issue 271 – and it’s on the front cover!
To say I am delighted is an understatement – the photography and the model are both fabulous. This top is called Gwen and I did the hard maths so you don’t have to! All the shaping for every size (there are 10 sizes, UK dress size 4-42) occurs within the central lace sections which makes it simple to knit as well. I used CoopKnit’s Socks Yeah! which is a beautiful lightweight 4ply yarn, perfect for a summery (or even spring-time) top. The whole issue is packed with some gorgeous designs and you can buy the magazine in the shops or digitally from 16th July.
We spent the weekend at the first Midlands Wool Festival at Wolverhampton Racecourse. Nick and Natasha, the organisers, arranged with the racecourse staff to provide free chilled water and large fans throughout the event which were appreciated by visitors and vendors alike as it was roasting. We set up on Friday in 34 degrees – the hottest day. We were so glad that Saturday and Sunday were each a little cooler than the day before. It was too hot for me to wear any knitted samples at all though and I think that’s a first!
My students at the two intro to Two-Colour Brioche workshops did extremely well and they all tackled increasing and two types of decrease as well as nailing the straight brioche.
My next workshop for this technique (at North East Wool Show) is sold out, but at the time of writing there are spaces for this workshop at Yarndale (Sun 27th September), Stafford Wool Gathering (Sat 17th October) and at Ewe Felty Thing (5th September and 5th December).
During the show our last Meg March Shawl kit found its forever home with a knitter who was excited to make it. I have now removed that kit page from the website as it won’t be restocked. You can still buy the pattern for Meg March Shawl of course.
We have a few weeks now until our next show and then there are two on the trot. North East Wool Show is at Newcastle Racecourse August 8-9 and the Pop Up Wool Show is at Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight on Saturday 16th August.
I’m working on two new designs, one of which has several (understatement…) possible variations! Watch this space – it won’t be published until January, but I’m quite excited about it! The other design will be seen sooner than that and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.
I don’t know if it’s the heat, but I seem to be particularly accident prone these last couple of days. Does that happen to anyone else? Yesterday I was putting some of our display set up back under the house (we have under house storage as our home is built on such a slope and it has half height doors) and walloped my head on the lintel while backing out. Then today I bashed my foot against the bronze sailor that used to hold tools for a wood or coal fire and that we are currently using to prop the kitchen door open with. I knew it hurt, but didn’t realise the damage until I saw what I thought was pink yarn on the cream carpet and realised my toe was bleeding! Oops. I can report that the cleaning liquid you buy to put in a Rug Doctor gets blood out of a cream carpet very well.
That’s all from me today. Time to re-hydrate I think! Stay cool and I hope you get to do some things that make you happy this week. K x