Tag: Inspired by and living in Wales

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Feedback

I’ve had some lovely feedback recently. Two instances were messages showing me finished knitted items made from my patterns and both knitters were very pleased with what they had created.

The Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl was this knitter’s first knitting in the round. He has said that I can share that he is 62 and has been knitting for 2 years, taught by his 91-year-old Mum and that knitting has helped with his PTSD. I think this is going to be lovely and cosy when autumn comes around.

Menai on was knitted and modelled by Enid and she loves it. She has done a fabulous job with her two-colour brioche knitting and I love how her yarn choices match so well with the rest of her outfit too!

It’s so good to get feedback from customers and I treasure it when they’ve enjoyed a pattern. It gives me a real buzz at a yarn show whenever someone says “I bought this pattern from you last year and I loved it/it was really easy to follow/I learnt something new and now I’m going to buy another pattern”. This is what my lovely wife calls “Know, like, trust”.

Often, in the world we find ourselves in, people are quick to let you know if something isn’t right for them, or they can’t make it work, but they can be less quick to let you know when you are doing it right. I know I can be just as guilty of this as anyone else, so it’s especially touching when folk do take the trouble to get in touch with a success or a thanks.

Occasionally people have even left reviews on Payhip when it’s something they’ve bought from there and that’s really valuable to me as this feedback is visible to anyone who looks at that product page and will hopefully encourage others to make the purchase. Some examples of these are in the featured photo at the top of the post.

There are even whole designs that only exist due to customer feedback!

Sugar Loaf came about when knitters were disappointed that Honeybun cardigan was only sized up to Age 8. Sugar Loaf is the adult version and is sized to fit UK4 to UK42.

Heart in my Hands and Little Orme were originally only mitt designs. The matching hat and cowl to complete each set came about after a couple of customers wanting them – and now the hats are more popular than the mitts!

You may know that I always respond to emails and if it is an email expressing difficulty or confusion with a pattern I aim to respond quickly. I know it’s horrible when you’re working on something and become stuck with it and know you can’t do anything until the person you’ve reached out to for help responds.

I know that not all designers provide pattern support, but I do. This help can involve explaining something in a different way in an email, sending sketches or videos to show a technique, either specially recorded or a link to a video already on my youtube channel. If I’ve recorded something specifically for someone I usually then pop it on my youtube channel as well, as they may not be the only person to need that bit of help.

Some folk are really clear about what they’re finding tricky, others are less so and it can take a couple of emails before I understand what they’re actually asking, but we usually get there. Mostly, the final email from a knitter will then say something like “Yes! I get it now, thank you.” Sometimes I get complete radio silence after what I think was the reply that would really solve their problem. On these occasions I just have to tell myself that this probably means they’re now knitting away merrily.

There is, of course, a limit to how much help I can give. Once, a knitter wanted me to rewrite a whole garment pattern to include only their size! I had to politely decline, but I did do the first line of the pattern for them, to show how they could do this for themselves.

The other lovely feedback I’ve had this week was related to the music side of my life, one indirect and one direct, but both heart-warming. A positive comment on Facebook about the great sound made by the community choir I lead (last week’s rehearsal was in the centre of the shopping precinct so it was very public!), and a personal thanks from the music teacher of someone I’m working with.

On another note, the broad beans are hanging in there, just. They didn’t like the heat wave, but perked up after some watering. We need to get them planted out soon, but I’m not sure how long they’ll last in the ‘bad lands’ of the veg patch. I think the slugs and snails will find them quickly. I think I’ll be picking gooseberries and blackcurrants this week as well. Crumble and jam making season again!

You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the utter madness going on in the world. This isn’t because I don’t care, but because I don’t know where to begin and feel somewhat helpless in the face of it all. Small businesses are getting criticised on social media for continuing to sell and promote their products at this time, but, as others have said there, we still need to pay the bills and no-one is criticising the big companies for advertising!

So, I’ll continue to promote that Rhiannon Hap Shawl is launching on Friday as a single pattern (you can still buy the four issues of The Knitter it was originally published in).

And if you want a tasty introductory discount code for it, sign up to my newsletter before tomorrow at 8am (British Summer Time)!

That’s all from me for today. Until next week, take care, keep knitting and share some feedback with people! K x

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Rhiannon

I am getting ready to launch Rhiannon Hap Shawl as a single self-published pattern later this month. Rhiannon was a great queen from Welsh mythology and this dramatic hap shawl is named in her honour.

Rhiannon Hap Shawl was first published in four parts as a Knit-along in The Knitter Magazine in the latter months of last year. As always occurs when a pattern is published in this way, I received emails from knitters eager to get their hands on a copy of the full pattern and in October I was explaining that folk had two options; to buy all four issues of the magazine as they came out to get each section of the pattern, or wait until late June 2025 when the rights would return to me and I would be publishing the shawl as a single pattern. And no, sorry, I couldn’t just email a pdf of the whole pattern there and then.

Last October, June 2025 seemed like such a long way off, but here we are! I am on the final checks of the layout of the pattern in my own house style and new photos have been taken. Next week I will be sending out an email to my newsletter subscribers with an exclusive introductory discount code to use on Ravelry, Payhip or my website, so make sure you’re on the list if you’d like one of those.

I thought I’d spend today’s blog post answering a few of the questions people have asked me about lace shawls and hap shawls in particular when we’ve been at yarn shows.

  1. What is a hap shawl? This is a great question and one I was asked at Yarnies at the Flaxmills in Shrewsbury last month. A hap shawl is a traditional structure for a shawl. It is square (and a half hap is a triangle on the diagonal of the square) and it is worked in a particular way. The central square is knitted first, then stitches are picked up all the way around the four sides of the square. These stitches are then knitted to form a border. In Rhiannon’s case there are two border patterns! Some hap shawls stop at this point and cast off, but you can also knit an edging. Rhiannon’s edging is a knitted-on edging that uses up one stitch from the border with every other row and works its way around all four sides with some fancy footwork to get around the corners. Once the edging is complete you cast off 16 stitches and seam the diagonal edges of the edging and border sections together.
  2. Is it hard to knit? Not really! All of the lace is created through yarn overs and just three types of decrease: K2tog (knit two together), SSK (slip 2 sts one after the other to the right needle then knit them together – which can also be worked as slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over), and Sk2po (slip 1 st, knit the next two together, then pass the slipped stitch over). I agree with Woolly Wormhead that definitions of whether a pattern is difficult are very subjective, but I think if you can do these stitches, and want to make the shawl you will be able to! The central square has a straightforward repeated lace pattern that is a traditional stitch pattern. You do need to count your stitches carefully when you pick up around the edge for the border sections, but again, it’s a straightforward lace pattern that doesn’t involve any stitches that are too complex and there are lots of repeats! You do need to use a circular needle as there’s no way you’d get all those stitches on a straight knitting needle – and it wouldn’t work when you’ve got stitches that go around all sides of the square. The knitted-on edging is the only section that uses some lace stitches on the wrong side of the knitting as well as on the right side, but again there are no difficult stitches. It’s a 12 row pattern repeat so it’s easy to remember after a few times through! When you get to the corners, there are some short rows, but the pattern takes you through them step by step and explains which type of short row to use where.
  3. Do I have to be able to read lace charts? No! Everything in the pattern is written out as well as charted. If you are using the charts you do need to read the written pattern as well as there are a few ‘uncharted areas’ such as garter stitch sections between the stitch patterns.
  4. How do I block it? This is where you wash the shawl (gently), and pin it out to dry to stretch and open up the lace stitches. A shawl can grow dramatically during this process. I’m lucky enough to have a hap stretcher, pictured below (a traditional frame with nails around the edge that you can adjust to different sizes), but you can also pin the shawl out on a spare mattress or on the floor, if it’s covered in carpet. Don’t try pinning it out on a laminate or wooden floor! Another method folk use if they are short of space is to fold the shawl in half and pin it out as a double layer or even hang it on the washing line with pegs on the points. The washing line method doesn’t give as precise a finish, but it is a good back-up option.
  5. Do I have to use the same yarn as you did? No, you don’t. I knitted Rhiannon in laceweight 100% Alpaca yarn, but you can use laceweight wool or other fibres. In fact, this was the first time I had knitted lace with alpaca and I was holding my breath when swatching and blocking to see if the yarn would hold the stitch patterns – it does! My shawl used 220g/1760m of laceweight yarn on 3.75mm needles. You could use 4-ply yarn if you prefer, but remember you will need at least double the weight of the yarn to get the same meterage – and you might need slightly more length as well as weight. The fabric would be less gossamery, and more substantial, but you can still use the same size needles.

I’m sure there are lots of other questions I’ve been asked at yarn shows and events that I’ve forgotten about for the moment. If you have any other questions about knitting lace shawls, pop them in the comments and I’ll answer them!

I’ll update you on the progress of the veg seedlings next week. Until then, take care and remember to sign up for the monthly newsletter! K x

Posted on by — Leave a comment

This kind of day…!

Today is my lovely wife’s birthday and we have spent the day in Llandudno. We have walked on the beach, found some sea glass, had some food (including lovely vegan ice cream), visited a craft fair and enjoyed some birthday cake.

We avoided most of the rain and have had all our cobwebs blown away by the strong breeze.

I am sure I will sleep like a log tonight!

More knitting content next week. Until then, take care, K x

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Start All Over Again

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

Posted on by — Leave a comment

And I think to myself, what a Wonderwool World…

Wonderwool was fantastic! If you are on social media then you may have seen some of my posts from during the weekend already. If you came and had a chat, or bought a pattern or a kit, thank you so much! We enjoyed talking to so many people over the weekend and hearing about their knitting plans and ideas. I didn’t take lots of photos as it was very busy (yay!) and I was teaching on both days as well. Some of the highlights were:

Having a lovely big space to use and set up (and it being such a well-organised show that it makes this process easier). This space is 10′ x 14′ (approx 3m x 4.25m) and these photos were taken when we’d just finished setting up on the Friday afternoon, which is why there are the inevitable extra bags by the chair! I promise it was tidier when the show was open.

Seeing people’s projects that they had made (or were making) from my patterns. Below are three Tiffany shawls – one in Riverknits yarn, one in the knitter’s own hand-spun yarn, and one in Deby of Dyelution‘s own hand-dyed yarns, a Jo March scarf in the most glorious colours and a Meg March shawl knitted by Katie of Sealy MacWheely knitted in her own hand-dyed yarns modelled alongside me in mine!

I had fun teaching two groups of knitters how to knit a moebius and they all had success! There was even one intrepid soul who had never knitted before!!

These were from Saturday’s workshop (or Woolschool as Wonderwool Wales calls them!) My big teaching example moebius is the photo in the centre:

And these were from the Sunday group. Many in this group chose to make their headbands into a cosy cowl by knitting extra rounds. The first time knitter’s work is top left – isn’t it amazing?!

We got home safely, if a little tired on Sunday evening, and I spent much of yesterday analysing sales and checking inventory. I was delighted to discover that patterns for 44 different designs had been bought during the weekend (with a total of 168 patterns sold) – which is a big increase in variety on the 34 different designs bought in 2024. I had taken 56 different patterns with me and had worried it was way too much, but the visitors to the show obviously appreciated the range of choice! We didn’t run out of Nevern Throw as we had done last year, but we did run out of Tiffany!

In less than three week’s time it will be Buxton Wool Gathering on May 17-18th! This year we’ve gone for a slightly larger stand than before at 2m x 4m, and I’m hoping this helps folk get in to see things more easily. There are still spaces on the moebius workshop at Buxton which is on Sunday 10.30am-1pm. It’s a 2.5 hour workshop with all materials (yarn, needles and handouts) included, so good value at £40. There are five workshops happening each day, so there’s a lot to choose from and it’s such a lovely event.

The weekend after Buxton Wool Gathering, a new show, Yarnies at the Flaxmill is happening. Taking place on Saturday May 24th from 11am-5pm (note the slightly later timing from the majority of shows), this is happening at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, a location which has recently been acquired by English Heritage! Tickets are £5 either in advance or on the door, with under 16s and carers going free. There will be just under exhibitors (of which I am one) and should be a lovely day out. Do come and say hello if you visit this event!

The workshops I told you about last week at Sew Woolly in Cheadle are happening in May too – on Wednesday 28th. If you want to learn how to knit socks (this workshop is for cuff down socks) or how to knit lace, do get in touch with Elizabeth at the Sew Woolly shop! All yarn is included in the workshop fee.

August seems like a long way off at the moment, but I’m sure it will swing round really quickly. We’re exhibiting at the North East Wool Show for the first time which is exciting. It’s the furthest north we’ll have been for a yarn show yet! I will be teaching my Two-Colour Brioche workshop there on the Sunday. The show is held at Newcastle Racecourse on August 9-10th and my workshop is 12.30-2.30pm on the 10th. If you want to book a place, just email me and I can send you an invoice for the places you want. There are currently 6 more places available on the workshop.

As someone said at Wonderwool this weekend when they saw the flyers on the table for the different events we’re at: “You’re getting about a bit, aren’t you!”

Yarn Gathering will be happening again this year and Anne and I are in the midst of finalising who is coming to this year’s show. This year Yarn Gathering is not on the same weekend as the Mold Food and Drink Festival. Instead it will be taking place the weekend before, on Sunday September 14th. There will still be some shops and plenty of food outlets open in Mold that day and parking will be easier too! We will have more information about this year’s show very soon.

Alongside all these shows and workshops I am still designing! This morning I emailed a new pattern off to the magazine editor and I will be entrusting the sample (the actual knitted item) to the postal system later on. That part is always a little terrifying, so I often end up sending them by special delivery – after weeks or even months of work (and sometimes a design has been bubbling away in my head for years before it finally takes shape) the last thing you want is for the sample to get out in the post!

As I write today’s blog post I am looking out of the window at the back garden. The apple tree is in full blossom and looks beautiful and my lovely wife is tackling the vegetable plot, which has been neglected for several months, in readiness for some optimistic sowing of seeds. I do hope that this year’s plants aren’t all eaten before they get big enough to actually produce some food for us! That was what happened last year and it was a little disappointing. I have spotted that the currant bushes and gooseberries seem on track for bumper crops – they seem to have appreciated their prune!

It seems I’ve had a lot to tell you today! If you’ve read this far, thank you. I hope you have a good week that includes some things that make you happy and I’ll write again next week. Until then, take care, K x

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Twist and Shout

I’ve got to an exciting point in the sweater design I’m working on. I recalculated various points:

  • the cast-on and full stitch counts for all sizes
  • the underarm cast-off numbers
  • the length up to the underarm
  • the length from the underarm cast-off to the shoulders

And I’ve knitted up to nearly the shoulders of the back in the sample size.

This afternoon I re-calculated the shoulder cast-off numbers for all the sizes. So, later on today I will be able to finish the back and start the front.

When I say ‘all the sizes’, there are eight sizes to fit chests from 34-64″, so it’s quite a bit of maths, but not as much as in Sugar Loaf Cardigan where there are 20 sizes and two length options! I am eternally grateful to past me for learning how to crunch some of the numbers in Excel.

I wish I could share photos with you, but I can’t yet, not until the design has been published. So you’ll just have to trust me that it’s looking good!

I’ve recently updated my moebius knitting workshop notes and changed the way I’m going to teach it. I’m looking forward to leading this workshop at Wonderwool Wales this coming weekend (both days – both sold out!) and also next month at Buxton Wool Gathering. There are spaces on the Buxton moebius workshop if you’d like to learn this fascinating construction method.

Knitting a ‘true’ moebius is a lot more than knitting a thin rectangle and putting a twist in before seaming the short ends together. It’s all to do with how you cast on, to create a piece with one side and one edge and one cast-off: mind-boggling for a three-dimensional piece of fabric!

These are pictures of my four designs that use a moebius cast-on (Mirror Mirror Moebius, Forest Ferns Moebius, Twisted and Gnarly Roots which includes both a moebius and a ‘straight’ version in the pattern), plus the headband we will knit in the workshop and also the striped cowl that was my first foray into the wonderful world of moebius knitting. I started with the blue, changed to purple, then green, then black, then cast off. The same colours also magically appear below the central colour where I started! And, because you see the back of the knitting on the lower half and the front of the knitting on the top half, with Twisted, my brioche moebius cowl, you get to see both wonderful sides of brioche at the same time!

If you’d like to attend a workshop that isn’t about moebius knitting, I’m also teaching an introduction to sock knitting and an introduction to lace knitting, both at Sew Woolly in Cheadle, both on Wednesday May 28th. The sock workshop is in the morning (10-12.30) and the lace workshop is in the afternoon (1.30-4pm). To book, message the shop through their facebook or instagram pages. This screenshot of their Facebook page also includes a phone number if you’re not on either platform:

Another part of my preparations for Wonderwool Wales this year has been deciding which samples I’m going to offer for sale. This is not something I’ve done before! These are all designs for which I have other samples that I use on display. Some of them have been used as display samples, some haven’t, but none of them have been worn. The prices range from £30 to £90. That might sound expensive, so let me tell you how I calculated them. First I took the price of the yarn, as it cost when I bought it, not what it would cost now – for example £20 per skein for 100g hand-dyed 4ply yarn. Then I took the meterage of the yarn and multiplied that by 17.5p. So, 17.5 pence per metre. That’s the labour charge – it’s not the cheapest price per metre for sample knitting (which tends to vary from 12-20p/m), but these are mostly lace or brioche samples, so not the easiest knitting. I used the full meterage of the skeins as most of the designs had very little left over and it was a lot easier than weighing the samples (and you’re about to see another good reason for not worrying about the exact meterage!). Add that to the cost of the yarn. And then? I halved the number. That’s right – in half. So, if £90 for a hand-knitted brioche shawl in hand-dyed yarn seems a lot to you, remember it *should* have been nearer £180!

There’s a Drifting Leaves, a Beth March shawl, an Amy March shawl, a Llandudno Promenade shawl, a Calon Cariad shawl and a Croeso Baby Blanket to choose from. The samples pictured on the website in the links aren’t the ones for sale as those are my new samples. There are of course, only one of each of these, so when they are gone, they are gone. It’ll be really interesting to see if folk want to buy these samples – I always get one or two people asking if samples are for sale at events.

I made a vegan fruit cake at the weekend – the same recipe I usually use for Christmas cake, except we didn’t have one this year. It’s for Mum’s birthday and was specifically requested and I’m so glad I re-checked the recipe in advance. I always seem to forget that the fruit has to be soaked overnight before making the actual cake! Maybe if I made it more frequently I would remember this. Actually that’s not a bad idea. I had to buy a packet of xanthan gum specially for this recipe (and it only uses 1/4 tsp!), so I may as well make the most of it!

By the way, the singing from the bell tower last Thursday went really well! We had to go up twice, once in rehearsal and once in the service, with strategically placed bags for life at the bottom of the spiral staircase to put our cassocks and surplices in. There was no way that going up the steep and tight spiral staircase would have been remotely safe whilst wearing our choir robes!

If you celebrated Easter in any way I hope you had a good one and if you didn’t I hope you had a lovely weekend doing whatever you did. Will I see you at Wonderwool this coming weekend? If not, I’ll tell you all about it next week. K x

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Mixing It Up

This has been a very varied week, despite spending quite a lot of time on my own. I even made biscuits, though there are none left and no photographic evidence was taken.

Knitting wise, I have been working on four designs! One, Elinor Hap Shawl, has now been updated with an improved layout and a correction of stitch counts. There will be a further update later in the year once the new sample is ready for photographs.

Another design, Menai, will be launched as an individual pattern next week on April 4th, having been originally published last October in The Knitter magazine. We took advantage of yesterday’s sunshine to take some new photos and I am pleased with how they have come out. It’s a brioche cowl that almost behaves like a mini-poncho and there are some fun decreases to create the leaves and leaf-bud shapes.

I have kept the layout and language consistent with my other brioche designs, so you will see rows labelled as “Row 1 LC (RS):”, followed by “Row 1 DC (RS):” where LC stands for light colour yarn and DC for dark colour yarn, rather than “Row 1 (RS): Using yarn A…” followed by “Row 1 (RS): Using yarn B…” which was the magazine’s house style for brioche.

It’s knitted flat, partly because the alpaca yarn I was using started to make the fabric twist when I tried knitting it in the round, and partly because it’s easier to block properly! The method I use for drawing a blocking schematic varies wildly: sometimes I draw it in a computer programme, and at other times, such as here, I take a very different approach: I print out a photograph of the work while its pinned and blocking, tape it to the window with a plain piece of paper over the top and use that as a free lightbox to trace the outline! To this I can add measurements!

There will be a time limited subscriber discount when Menai is launched for digital copies of the pattern, so if that appeals to you, make sure you sign up to my newsletter before the end of March!

By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with me and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from me. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

I will have Menai (both the sample and printed copies of the pattern) with me at the Trunk Show at Yarn O’clock on April 12th. The shop is open 10-4 and I will be there all day with lots of my printed patterns and samples and Anne who runs the shop will be able to show you all the fabulous yarn she has that would be appropriate for the different patterns.

The two other designs I have been working on are new designs that will be published later this year, both single colour items, but very different in yarn weight, technique and finished item! I can’t wait to share them with you.

As well as doing lots of knitting and pattern writing/tweaking, I have been doing quite a bit of singing this week. It was the Spring Market in our town on Saturday and the community choir I lead, Shelby’s Singers, sang for a full hour with songs from Pink, Steps, Les Miserable and Joseph to name just four! The church choir I sing in also had a great rehearsal in the week as we are preparing for performances of Fauré’s Requiem and Allegri’s Miserere just before Easter.

And, surprise surprise, I spent a couple of hours at the garage during the past week (knitting of course) while they checked out my un-opening door. And yes, they did agree after that investigation that it does have wrong with it what I said it did when I booked it in, and they will be ordering the part. I had been foolish enough to think that, having told them the problem had also occurred on a different door nearly 18 months ago and what had been needed, that the part would already have been there and the fault fixed that day, but I was wrong. They needed to check it out for themselves first. Which I suppose is fair enough, but it does mean another wait for it to be fixed.

Then this afternoon, I spent a lovely couple of hours in the company of some ex-colleagues working through a cryptic crossword as we had used to do in the staff room. To be fair I wasn’t a regular member of crossword corner then as I couldn’t often get out of the department during day, but I had always enjoyed the times I did and today was wonderful. Laughter, sharing news, a little reminiscing, but not a lot, and a lot of brain work wrangling our way through the cryptic clues. I will definitely be meeting with them again.

I am looking forward to seeing more of the camellia flowers opening up on the bushes in the back garden – I am hoping they will look quite good by next week and intend to take some photos to share with you. I still need to finish some of the winter cutting back, but I have at least finished the fruit bushes.

I am also looking forward to cooking dinner for my lovely wife this evening, so I had better stop now!

What will you do this week that makes you smile? K x

Posted on by — Leave a comment

500 Miles

The East Anglia Yarn Festival was fabulous and I think I enjoyed it even more than last year. I think it’s so nice when you can do an event more than once, as things are more familiar the second time round. I had forgotten quite how far away Norwich is from North Wales – the journey was 250 miles each way, but it was absolutely worth it.

Laura, who organises the show, and her team make the event run really smoothly and the layout makes it easy to find everything you need. It even felt quicker setting up despite doing it on my own. My lovely wife was in a different part of the country on Friday, but made it to Norfolk on Friday evening, ready to help. I even had extra help on hand from an old uni friend who came to the show to support what we’re doing, and quickly said yes to the tentative email of “Would you be able/willing to man the stand during my workshop and be my booth bade if Sue doesn’t make it here by then?”. It was definitely the prospect of being a booth babe that got his attention – he said as much! We had a great chat catching up when I wasn’t teaching, and he and Sue had a little competition while I was teaching over who could be the most successful pattern seller – I think they drew.

It was so lovely to see some of my designs in the wild during the show. Our first customer of the weekend was wearing her Into The Vortex which she had bought the pattern and yarn for at the show last year – and she bought two more patterns on Saturday! I also saw a Tiffany being worn. It’s so lovely when people come back after knitting a design and say, “I loved it and it was easy to follow.” And it’s also really nice when they follow it up with “and now I’m going to buy another/more of your designs”! It makes me feel trusted.

The workshop itself was super. The meeting rooms of the main event space are well lit and really warm. I even had to turn one of the heaters off! I had four students in the class, none of whom had tried two-colour brioche knitting before and they all did really well. This is what they created in two hours – as well as learning lots of new concepts, terminology and tricks to help them get it right!

We had hoped to be wearing our spangly new badges at EAYF, but they didn’t arrive in time. Boo. But they arrived today – hurrah! – so they will get their first outing next month at Wonderwool Wales on April 26-27th. I may even wear mine at the trunk show at Yarn O’clock on Saturday April 12th! Please note that one of the badges does indeed have the job description of ‘Booth Babe’.

One of my plans for March was to finish knitting the border of Elinor Hap Shawl – and I have! I’ve even started the edging and I have done nearly half of one side.

There are a lot of repeats of the edging (208 in total I think), but it is only a 10-row pattern repeat, so it’s quite easy to chalk up half a dozen in an evening. I don’t think I’ll finish the edging this month though, as there was an exciting delivery just before we left for EAYF and there’s another parcel attempting to make it’s way to me as well (which, if it’s what I think it is, is something scrummy from Shetland!) and should be at the local post office for me to collect on Thursday.

It occurred to me that it would be a good idea to remind folk that I also give individual online knitting tuition as well as group workshops. This can be useful if there’s a technique you want to learn and you don’t want to wait until a workshop is advertised or if you think you would fare better in a one-to-one setting than a group one. Individual tuition is currently £25 per hour and can be booked by simply emailing me. I haven’t got as far as setting up an online calendar where you can choose a time slot yet, but it’s on the way.

The Imperial Cowl had a good reception at the weekend. People liked the fact that you could knit it flat or in the round and that there are video links included the pattern too. We sold six copies of the pattern at the show and one online (using the exclusive subscriber discount – did you know I do those for newsletter subscribers?), which may not sound like a lot, but as the pattern had already been downloaded by 127 people from the North West Winter Wool Festival, I think that’s pretty good! That’s over 130 copies of the pattern out in the world and hopefully being used!

This afternoon I had my annual dentist check-up. This involves driving into Chester, which I don’t do nearly as much as I used to when I was teaching full time. All was well and as I walked back to the car park I went past a shop that had a window painted with three words I couldn’t ignore: We Sell Yarn. Despite having been surrounded by yarn all weekend I had to go in, didn’t I? I had a lovely chat to the owner, who explained that it had been a plant shop, hence the name The Green Rooms, and she had recently shifted to selling yarn. They also host lots of workshops, particularly for crochet. I bought a ball of self-striping sock yarn that contains 50% wool and 25% bamboo as well as the 25% nylon that will make the socks hardwearing. The bamboo makes the yarn feel quite silky and I’ll be interested to see how it knits up.

It was a long drive home yesterday – over five and a half hours – and I’ve deliberately taken today at a slightly slower pace. Later this week I will hopefully be getting my rear passenger door fixed so it opens again. I have been able to rejig the way I pack the car for shows to allow for this irritation, but it will be so much easier when all doors function as intended once more! On Saturday Shelby’s Singers will be singing at the Buckley Spring Market in the shopping precinct in town at 1pm, for about an hour. We have our final rehearsal for that tomorrow! I’ll tell you all about that next week. Until then, take care. K x

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Coming up for Air

The top edge of a knitted shawl in golden yellow, green and pink, pinned out to dry with a wooden rule to keep the edge straight.

This week I finally feel like I’m starting to get back to stuff that makes me “me”!

I finished the shawl I showed you a sneak peek of last week and on Monday morning I blocked it. I’m really pleased with how it’s come out and I’ll be showing you the whole thing very soon! The blocking is a gentle one, just easing the edges into straight lines and pinning them in place to dry, rather than stretching the lace out to its limit. I happen to have a wooden metre rule (actually as the measurements are in inches, it might be a yard rule) that came with my blocking kit and this was the perfect tool to ensure I was maintaining a straight line as I pinned. The pattern will be available exclusively in kit form from James McIntosh in the spring. Remember you can already get gorgeous kits for County Shawl and Barragán from McIntosh (and, if you already have the ideal yarn for it in your stash, you can buy the pattern on its own for Barragán from me). Some folk do check in with me about kit sales to

I’ve also sent off a submission swatch/sketch for a design that could be published later in the year and had two others accepted recently.

And last Wednesday was spent mostly making 18 jars of Seville orange marmalade. This was made in two batches which is why it took most of the day, as there was no way my jam pan would have coped with 2.5kg fruit, 5kg sugar and 9 pints of water! It tastes delicious.

Last week’s Zoom brioche class went really well and my student completed her entire swatch during the session. I was very impressed and was pleased she said that I could share a pic of her work with you. Isn’t it great?!:

I will be teaching my Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche workshop (pictured above is ‘Next Steps’) at a couple of yarn shows this year and I’m keeping my eyes peeled for when they open their bookings for these so I can let you know.

Last week I mentioned the North West Winter Wool Festival taking place in Blackpool on February 15th and 16th. The opening hours are 10am-4pm for advance ticket holders, and 11am-4pm for tickets bought on the door. This is important as if you don’t have a ticket pre-booked you won’t get in at 10am. So if you want to be sure of a whole day of woolly fun, get yourself an advance ticket now!

I’m really looking forward to this show, although I won’t have my lovely wife acting as my ‘booth babe’ on this occasion, so I shall be flying solo. It’s a pattern only show for me, so I won’t have any kits with me, but there will be lots of wonderful yarn on offer from other vendors that you will be able to pair with any patterns you purchase!

Vendors will be split across two rooms, the Lancastrian Suite and the Louis room, both of which are on the same floor of the hotel and very close to each other. Do make sure to visit both spaces so you don’t miss out on anything.

To date, 73 ticket holders have downloaded their free copy of The Imperial Cowl, which is wonderful. I’m hoping to see lots of them being worn at the show! If you have bought an advance ticket and not downloaded your pattern, please do! The free version of the pattern is only available as a pdf download, and I won’t have any printed copies available until Wonderwool in April!

Writing this reminds me that one more task to add to my list of things to do before I head to Blackpool is to seam the shocking pink version that I knitted on the way to Kent before Christmas. See, I’m still coming up for air! (I also need to block the DK version of Into the Vortex that I knitted much earlier in the year – I think I finished it mid-October…)

The next few days will see my computer and printer working overtime (thank goodness they don’t only work 8 hour shifts!) as I update my inventory and get printing! I’ve double checked that I have spare ink cartridges lined up as well. The ones I buy are really good – expensive, but each colour does 2500 pages and the black does 5000 pages! (and I’ve got two of those on hand, so no fears of running short just yet!).

On a somewhat different note, I have my very first mammogram next week. I’m a little apprehensive about it to be honest, but I will be going as I know that these screening tests save lives. Early detection can just mean that you need to have something removed and then be closely monitored for a few years. If you get invited for a mammogram (or any other type of health screening check) please go. It could save your life.

Bodelwyddan was designed as part of a fund-raiser for Ysbyty Glan Clwyd (that’s Glan Clwyd Hospital to anyone who doesn’t speak Welsh) which is based in the village of Bodelwyddan (pronounced Bod-el-with-an). In October 2023 I donated 50% of sales from this sock pattern to Treasure Chest YGC, a charity whose aim is to support and raise funds for patients who have had or are having surgery or treatment for breast cancer in Glan Clwyd Hospital. I’m going to do the same for all sales of Bodelwyddan during February – so what are you waiting for? Crack open the sock yarn!

That’s all from me for today. Take care, stay safe and, if you get even the smallest chance, do something that makes you happy. K x

Posted on by — Leave a comment

It’s lovely when it works!

A BT home hub with orange lights - not working!

So the last week has been interesting. I had Covid for the first time and it fairly knocked me flat. Two full days in bed, two more days on the sofa not doing anything, two days where I was able to do a bit of work at my desk. Yesterday we left the house briefly for the first time and today we had a walk. My sense of smell completely vanished and it affects your sense of taste far more than I realised. It’s starting to come back now which is a relief. I even cheered when my lovely wife, who’s also been ill, came into the lounge last night and said “It smells of old farts in here!” My reply was “You can smell again – brilliant!”

And this morning we woke to find the broadband in our area is down. So, no Wi-Fi, no landline (thanks full fibre for the digital phone) and, as our thermostat is on the Wi-Fi, I don’t think I can advance the heating either! News via the local Facebook group says it should be fixed tonight, but varies between that being a ‘this evening’ tonight or an ‘early hours of the morning’ tonight.

At least we have the gas fire and plenty of woolly layers! And hurrah for 4G data.

I suspect it’s part of the fallout from the latest storm. We escaped lightly from that. 60+ mph winds all day on Saturday, but no damage and utterly grateful to live up a big hill so no flooding either. Mostly of the town seems to be without broadband at the moment and some have been so for days.

I picked up my knitting again on Sunday, having not done any since last Monday (as Spike Milligan once said: “I told you I was ill!”) and it felt really soothing. It’s a new design, due out next year and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

There’s another new design coming out soon which is an exclusive freebie when you buy an advance ticket for the North West Winter Wool Festival. Tickets are on sale already and the link to the pattern will be available soon. The show is in February (15-16) so there’s plenty of time to knit the pattern up and wear it when you come to the show! The pattern will then be publicly available to buy from mid-March. I may even have a photo or two to share with you next week…!

In the meantime, there are some Flying the Shawls 2025 calendars still here that I would love to send to new homes for the new year. You may have spotted my post on Facebook and Instagram yesterday, but if not:

📣 Special Offer while stocks last! 📣

Flying the Shawls 2025 desktop calendar is available via Payhip for £10 + p&p. There are less than 20 copies remaining and they make great presents!

The offer? If you add the calendar to your Payhip basket, you can also add the Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl digital pattern at a whopping 50% discount! No code is required, just click the ‘add to my basket’ button that pops up. The calendar will be posted to you and you will be able to download the pdf of the pattern once you check out both items.

Why did I choose this pattern as the one for such a special offer? It’s a one-skein pattern that knits up quickly and there are options for almost any weight of yarn (apart from lace) included within the pattern. So, if you need to knit a gift that doesn’t take too long and you have 100g of yarn (from 4-ply to chunky), this pattern has you covered. Personally, I’ve knitted this pattern in 4ply, sport weight hand-spun, DK and Chunky hand-spun yarns.

Another joy of Brexit is that rules about selling to the EU (which for the purposes of this new law also includes Northern Ireland) are changing imminently and many small businesses have been discussing what they will and won’t be able to do, so to ensure I don’t accidentally fall foul of any new exporting rules, this offer is only available to folk in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) – sorry!

I hope you are keeping dry, warm and well, and that you get to do some things that make you happy this week. Take care, K x