Tag: Knitting blog

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Wonderful Wonderwool

We had a wonderful weekend at Wonderwool Wales. It was the 20th anniversary of the show and our third time of being there. We were in the same spot as usual, W16 in Hall 3, and I love the fact that it felt easier to unload and set up this time – partly due to familiarity with the process and being in the same space. I think our stand looked the best it has done so far at Wonderwool, what do you think?

Here’s 2024:

And 2025:

And now 2026!

I think you can see that the pull up pattern display stands have been increasing in number! We also vastly increased the number of designs we brought with us – it was 66 this year!

We sold out completely of Lichfield before lunchtime on Sunday and only had one Nevern Throw left by the end of the show. These designs have been reliable best-sellers ever since they came out. It was also lovely to see some of the designs that don’t come out very often, such as the Lighthouse Blanket, get some attention too.

We had a lot of fun during the weekend as well as working hard and it was great to be able to chat with fellow exhibitors, even if that was mostly during set-up, break-down or occasional trips to the loo! Familiar faces of friends visiting the show and knitters who have visited our stand in previous years added to the camaraderie and fun. We laughed a lot during the three days we were there and the main pic to this post, when Sue was playing peek-a-boo, gives you a sense of the mood!

It really helps that the show is very well organised and as well as the main organisers, there are loads of volunteers around in high vis tops offering comfort breaks to anyone on their own and always ready to point people in the right direction.

Sue managed the stand on her own for a couple of hours each day while I went off to unravel some of the mysteries of two-colour brioche knitting with some fab knitters. They did really well and made excellent progress in two hours with a technique that was new to them and uses some unfamiliar terminology too!

I was absolutely delighted to see another Tiffany in the wild. This one was knitted by Kay who was with one of the guilds and popped over to show me her shawl. It’s a fabulous bright version with some extra colour changes added in!

Apologies for the magazine in shot as well – I had my latest designs that are out in magazines on display just underneath where we laid this shawl for the photo.

Sue has a new plan for a series of videos/reels with the theme of ‘swish or waft?’ and I was the guinea pig that had to try it out first. I’m always shy to be in front of the camera for things like this but I think her final video is fun. If you are a stall holder, you are quite likely to be asked the same question quite soon!

This coming Saturday I will be at Yarnies at the Flaxmill at the Flaxmill Maltings in Shrewsbury. I’m actually going to be flying solo for this one. If you are coming to the show, please stop by and say hello. Between now and then I need to go through all the sample bags and pattern cases and put together the patterns and samples I need as I won’t have 66 designs with me as the space is a more modest 4m x 2m. I think we’ve whittled it down to 48. I also need to reprint a few things!

We came home to a riot of yellow in the garden that wasn’t out when we left. Fortunately not all dandelions (though there are some of those too), but lots and lots of yellow poppies. We’ve never planted these, they’ve just self-seeded and spread themselves during the 22 years we’ve lived here, and I love them. The aquilegias are starting to come into flower as well. I will get some photos of them to share with you next week. Until then, take care and do something that makes you happy. K x

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Over the Finishing Line

Today’s main blog post pic is the swatch version I knitted for my submission for the August Moebius Cowl. It’s called August Moebius Cowl, because August Moebius was the name of the man who discovered this amazing mathematical shape! The design is now out in The Knitter (issue 227), complete with a step-by-step masterclass on how to work Rita Buchanan’s moebius cast-on. It’s not as well known as Cat Bordhi’s method, but I think it is quick to learn and slightly easier to get to grips with for those who have never worked a moebius cast-on before.

I was hoping to be able to share my new design in issue 193 of Knit Now with you this week, but there was a delay with its publication. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and checking the shelves regularly! I can’t wait to share that one with you as well.

I’ve completed a couple of projects this week. Neither of them are ‘new new’, but they are new versions of existing patterns, both worked in a different weight yarn from the original design.

First off the needles was my grey 4ply version of What Do Points Make? in size 3. I’m really pleased with this and I’m looking forward to seeing it blocked and seamed and comparing it to the bright 4ply size 4 sample as these yarns were very different even though they are both marketed as 4ply yarns. The grey has 220m/50g (or 440m/100g) and the bright yarn from LottieKnits is a more chunky 4ply at 360m/100g, which is quite a big difference.

Next to be completed was my DK version of Into The Vortex. I completed this while waiting for my car to be serviced. Current me is very glad that past me put lots of guidance into the pattern in Part 7 about what to do when you’re running low on one of your yarns. I skipped half of Part 7, jumped to the Eyelet Border and only did one repeat of the eyelets rather than two. This was because I wanted to see how big I could make the shawl using just 100g of Yarn A, which is RiverKnits Chimera DK. The answer, unsurprisingly, was about 16 rows shorter than the original small 4ply version. The extra guidance in the pattern was to allow for other knitters working on a looser tension or having a skein of yarn that was slightly underweight (that does occur sometimes!) and it was incredibly helpful here too.

I’m also still working on a new sample of Ice Diamond Mitts. This pattern was written for an undyed worsted weight roving yarn with 200m/100g and I wanted to make a sample in a coloured yarn. I’m glad I’ve been doing this as I’ve also discovered a couple of typos in the process!

My first attempt in red was too loose and too long, despite this yarn also being 200m/100g and using the same needle size. My second attempt in green was also too loose and a little bit too long, even though this yarn was thinner as a DK yarn (225m/100g) and on the same needle size as the original. So, I’m trying for a third time using the red yarn again, but with smaller needles this time. So far the fabric and tension looks like a better match to the original.

I’m also altering the pattern slightly this time, shortening the cuff and the body of the mitt because I noticed that the pattern says the large size used 55g of the original yarn. That wasn’t a problem with a 100g skein. However, this red yarn (Cambrian Wool) comes in 50g balls so it would be really annoying to need to start a second ball just for 5g of it. My plan is to adapt the large size so I can make a pair out of just one ball, including a 10% buffer – which means I need to ditch 10g worth of yarn by making the mitts shorter! They were incredibly long to be fair, which might be one of the reasons why the pattern has never sold particularly well.

We are just sorting out the last bits of printing and planning for Wonderwool Wales this weekend and I am really looking forward to being there on the stand and teaching my Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting each afternoon.

My brioche workshops are sold out at Wonderwool (and at The Wool Monty), but there are spaces available for this class at the Midlands Wool Festival (14th and 15th July, at Wolverhampton Racecourse), the North East Wool Show (9th August, at Newcastle Racecourse) and Stafford Wool Gathering (17th October, Staffordshire County Showground).

The weekend after Wonderwool Wales is Yarnies at the Flaxmill, and I am due to be teaching there as well! The workshop at that show is for Stranded Knitting and the fabulous deal at this show is that when you buy a workshop place you get your entry to the show included at no extra cost!

That’s all for this week – I’m off to redesign the cover of one of my older patterns (Calon Cariad) so it fits my ‘house style’ and so the picture on the front cover of the pattern matches the sample on display! Take care and I hope you manage to do some stuff that makes you happy. K x

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Spring Cleaning

The main pic on today’s post is a double rainbow (the outer one is reversed!) that I photographed through the lounge window yesterday. We had the most outrageous weather, starting with sunshine in the morning and followed up with really fierce hail in the afternoon – plus rainbows later on!

I’ve been doing some ‘housekeeping’ this morning. Not the dusting variety, though that does need doing as well, but the ‘sorting out my subscriber email list’ variety. If you’re a subscriber who hasn’t opened any newsletters in the past few months you’ll be receiving an email later today asking you to confirm that you’d like to stay on the email list. If you get that email and want to stay, please click the link or you’ll be unsubscribed by the end of the month.

It’s important that my subscriber list is made up of people who actively want to be there. Apart from anything it costs about £24 per month to have more than 500 subscribers (I currently have about 840ish), so if there are lots of folk who just haven’t got round to hitting the unsubscribe button it gets unnecessarily expensive!

I’ve been working on a new design submission this week. It’s even more top-secret than usual as I’m getting to use a yarn that isn’t even out yet!

What I can tell you about is that I have two new patterns coming out this week! I thought one was going to be out last week, but the kind people at what used to be called W H Smith (I think it’s now T J Jones, but I always doubt the initials) looked on their systems and told me that issue 193 is due out on 16th April, not the 9th as I’d thought. I have a pattern in there and also one in the new issue of The Knitter (issue 227) which also hits the shops on Thursday (16th) and many magazine subscribers will already have it. I’ll share pics of the actual design on my socials on Thursday and here next week.

Things are gearing up for Wonderwool Wales in just a few weeks time. The printer has been working hard, the kits are ready and I’ve been playing with the squared paper again to plan this year’s layout of the stand. Also, because Yarnies at the Flaxmill is the following weekend, I’m also trying to ensure that I’ll have enough patterns and kits for that as well.

On Friday I had the pleasure of photographing my Making Tracks jumper on a friend from my church choir. I may have mentioned before that this jumper was originally designed as a man’s jumper, but for various reasons was photographed on a female model for the magazine shoot. I’m really pleased with how the photos have come out and will share more pics in the next couple of months as the rights to self-publish the pattern return to me at the end of May. The jumper really fitted my friend well – and suited him too!

We have a new dishwasher arriving today. After we spent most of August and September without a working dishwasher (because it kept tripping the electricity) we got it fixed, although it turned out this was only temporarily. A few weeks ago it started tripping the electricity again and so we decided it was safer to replace it rather than try to get it fixed again. We had the old one (11 and a half years old) removed and last week we finally got round to ordering a new one! I’m hoping all goes smoothly.

That’s all from me today. I hope you have a good week and if you’re a newsletter subscriber and get an email from me later today asking if you’d like to stay, please click the link if you do, and do nothing if you don’t! K x

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Road Trip

Me standing next to the Nevern Cross holding my Nevern Lap Blanket which uses stranded knitting designs created from the carved decoration on the cross.

Yesterday my lovely wife took me on a very special road trip. As well as me, in the car were the Nevern Throw, the Nevern Lap Blanket and, of course, Ronnie. We went to Nevern in Pembrokeshire.

Nevern is a tiny village, nestling down a very narrow road (single track much of the time, occasional 16 degree incline, and a 60 mile an hour speed limit) with a few buildings and St Brynach’s church. The village hall has two small plaques on the wall celebrating winning Pembrokeshire’s Best Kept Village in 1957 and 1974. In the churchyard are some very old and magnificent yew trees and the Nevern Cross.

Many readers will know that I designed the Nevern Throw for KnitPicks in response to a call out for designs using Celtic knot work and I created all the charts from carvings on the Nevern Cross. It was published in January 2020 as part of the book “Entwined: Celtic Cables Collection”. I had found out about this 11th century, 13-foot high stone cross online and I was mesmerised and fascinated by the carvings that cover every side. Most of the designs came from carvings near the top of the cross and although the book refers to cables, my design used the technique of stranded colourwork. For quite a while Nevern Throw was on the first page of KnitPick’s ‘best sellers’ patterns! It’s currently sitting on page 8 (of 48 pages), with the Nevern Lap Blanket and Leaf & Vine on page 4 and Beanstalk Throw on page 6. In 2022, with the other carvings on the cross calling to me, I designed the Nevern Lap Blanket and this was self-published in December of that year. I used the same size of charts and the same construction as the Nevern Throw intentionally so that the charts from each design could be used together, if desired, in one large blanket.

Perhaps surprising, with all my interest and deep focus on the carvings of this cross I had never actually seen it in person. Yesterday we fixed that. Driving from our corner of North East Wales down to Nevern is a long journey, taking at least three and a half hours without a break, even though it is ‘only’ 130 miles. We were blessed with good weather and made a pitstop at Aberystwyth on the way. Much of our journey down was on roads with only mountains or fields of sheep (and their lambs!) on each side and we got a glimpse of Tal-y-Llyn on the way as well – a lake with a special place in my Mum’s heart.

We took photos. Lots of photos – I think Sue took over 100!

We also looked inside the church and I found some beautiful needlepoint kneelers also using some of the cross’s carvings for their designs. I didn’t photograph them though. We did buy a few postcards and a leaflet with information about St Brynach’s church and the Nevern Cross which I will enjoy reading later on and hopefully learning more about the history of this incredible monument. I can’t tell you how happy I felt to be standing in the sunshine next to this ancient stone cross (and yes, I know it’s not actually cross-shaped) that has helped me create two of my most popular knitting patterns, having been driven there by Sue, my wife and the best person ever. Ronnie loved it too and we got a great shot of him jumping for joy.

We took the journey back gently, stopping at Cardigan for our lunch and a mooch around (and some very good vegan ice-cream), then at Dolgellau for a much needed drink and loo-break. Our last stop was in Betws-y-Coed where we had hoped to have a pizza at Hangin’ Pizzeria, but we hadn’t realised how busy they would be on a bank holiday evening so, rather than wait for a table and then get home very late, we had some quick chips then hopped back in the car for the final leg of the journey home. We’ll be back to Betws-y-Coed before too long and pizza will happen then!

I hope you have managed to find some joy in the week just gone and that you get to do something that makes you happy this week. K x

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Getting Things Done

I’ve actually done quite a lot of knitting this week! The sample of Bryn I showed you last week knitted in Weku Yarn Bukom DK is glorious – these colours are Golden Yellow and Royal Purple and this yarn is now available on Weku Yarn‘s website! The purple is a lot more vibrant in real life than it looks here in the photo.

I’ve also tried out a new colour combination for Twisted (which would also work really well for Bryn) which is Lime and Blue in Town Ends Yarns Poldale DK. I had slightly less than 25g of each of these colours and completed the cowl successfully!

In trying to get ahead of myself for Wonderwool I’ve also been putting my kit boxes together. I like the boxes rather than the tins, although they are trickier to open once they’ve been closed!

Those piles of boxes are stacked six high and there are two more piles around the corner!

In more DK knitting I’ve also made progress on my DK version of Into the Vortex. I love how different the slip stitch patterns look in the different yarns.

I’m not yet sure how much more I’ll be able to do as I want to ensure I only use 100g of the Riverknits DK Chimera. I’m also not 100% sure how much purple I used (West Yorkshire Spinners Fleece) as I had a number of part balls in the basket and I’m not sure I picked up the same one each time… I’ll have to weigh it! I’ve realised this is the only shawl I’ve designed with this shape and I think it’s one I want to explore again – maybe swirling the other way next time!

My 4-ply grey sample of What Do Points Make? is also growing. I’m very much enjoying this yarn and I’m looking forward to how the finished item will look once blocked.

Someone kindly messaged me the other day as well to let me know there was a st count error in size 1 at the bottom of the first column on page 4. It should read : “Rep Rows 7-10 twice more, then rep Rows 7-9 once more. 53 (71, 89, 107) sts” (not 55 sts). After the bottom of that column the st count is then correct. It’s been updated on all the digital formats available and I’ve let buyers of the digital pattern know about the update where possible.

Last week I said that my next job was to update the events section of my website and that has been done too – there are lots more yarn shows and workshops showing now! I’m teaching at Ewe Felty Thing on Saturday and, while the two-colour brioche workshop is sold out, there are still some spaces on the stranded knitting one (10.30-12.30, £45 including tea/coffee/cake and of course your workshop handouts). Contact the shop if you’d like to attend!

I’m going to keep today’s post short as there are lots of things I want to get done before my lovely wife gets back from nearly a week away, so Happy Easter to those who celebrate it and I hope you all get to do something that makes you happy this week. K x

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Don’t Stop Me Now

We got home from the East Anglia Yarn Festival yesterday, successfully completing the third yarn show of the year. As always at EAYF it was a lot of fun, and we saw some old friends who we only see at this show, both visitors and other vendors. This included Victoria who I first met in person at EAYF in 2024 after knowing each other on social media beforehand and have been delighted to catch up with each year since. This year she brought her completed Am Byth hat to show me – knitted in a yarn containing camel fibre, it was super soft and silky and a very different beast fabric-wise to the original sample in WYS Croft DK – which is on display just behind her head!

One visitor wore her Meg March Shawl on the Saturday, to great admiration – and then returned on the Sunday wearing her Tiffany shawl!

If you’re on social media you may well have seen these pics already (apologies for the overlap!), but I know that several readers of this blog aren’t, and I didn’t want them to miss out!

I was most impressed by the knitting and greatly honoured too that she was wearing my shawl designs on both days of the show, especially as this was a show where Stephen West was present (sharing the same space two weekends on the trot!? Goodness!) and so there were a huge number of Stephen West shawls in attendance as folk queued for selfies. I was also highly delighted that he admired my Meg March Shawl and asked if I’d designed it on Sunday morning before opening when the vendors get a chance to wander around and chat with each other. I heard him say to Eddie of Madrigal Yarns while they were behind me that people at the show just had ‘mad technical skills’ and then realised they were talking about my shawl, so of course we had to chat!

Sue and I shared the most outrageously gorgeous vegan cinnamon bun on Saturday morning from Swirl of Norwich, who did very good business, selling out of most of their buns both days.

Since we got home we’ve been busy, catching up on the house and washing, and I’ve been weaving in the ends of the design commission that has a deadline of this coming Friday. Final checks of everything were completed this morning, the sample has been posted and the pattern and ‘all associated files’ – charts and schematic – have been emailed! Completed, done and dusted well before the deadline. I’m very pleased – I just hope they like it!

Now I’ve emailed the pattern I really need to sort out my desk. It hasn’t quite got to archeological strata levels, but it’s not far off – large working drawings, printed schematics, draft print outs of the pattern, inter-spliced with other paperwork. I know where everything is, but I also know that my brain will function more smoothly on the next things when it’s all tidied away.

The next things for me are to update the website with workshops and shows that are coming up and to start putting kits together in the new boxes ready for Wonderwool. I know there are technically four and a half weeks until Wonderwool, but that time will go by fast. We have nine more shows this year, six or seven of which I am teaching at (yay!), so there is a fair bit to update!

I’m also looking forward to my next workshops which are in less than two weeks at Ewe Felty Thing. I’ll be teaching an Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting and Stranded Knitting there on April 4th. The brioche workshop has sold out, but there are spaces on the stranded knitting workshop (10.30-12.30, 4th April)!

Closer to home, there are just 10 days left before Anne closes Yarn O’clock for good! Everything is now 20% off, so now would be a very good time to make a final visit (or two) while you still have the chance! I still can’t quite believe that very soon she’s not going to be there as she’s just celebrated the shop’s 10th birthday. However, all good things must come to an end one day and this particular ‘one day’ is April 4th. Don’t miss your chance.

I’ve also been knitting this.

It’s a Bryn Brioche Cowl, in a new-to-me (and new-to-everyone as it made its debut at East Anglia Yarn Festival!) yarn from Weku Yarn. If you watched Game of Wool, that’s Lydia’s and her sister Hannah’s company. Watch this space.

Until next week, take care and I hope you get a chance to do some stuff that makes you happy. Goodness knows we all need that! K x

P.S. If you don’t know the Queen song ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, I highly recommend a listen!

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Manchester – so much to thank you for!

This week feels very short and in a way it is – we have just four days in between returning from one big show – TexStyle in Manchester – and going to another one – East Anglia Yarn Festival just outside Norwich. Unsurprisingly therefore, my printer is working overtime as I type and I’m awaiting a delivery of A3 paper today as I may be about to run out!

TexStyle was a lot of fun as you’ll know if you’ve seen my social media posts. The hardest part was finding the loading bay for the venue when we arrived as the pictures with arrows on supplied by the venue were the kind that only make any sense when you already know where to go! I ended up in a lay-by of a side street ringing one of the organisers and saying: “Please help – I’m lost!” Michelle was a superstar and, having experienced the same issues herself the day before, was able to direct me exactly where to go. Once we arrived the system worked like clockwork: our booking code for unloading was scanned and we were shown where to park and unload from. There were venue staff on hand for those who needed help unloading and each stand already had a little ‘bus-stop’ style name attached to it so it was easy to find where we were positioned in the hall. I moved the car to the car-park underneath the venue once it was empty and returned to get set up with Sue.

Being in Manchester meant we were able to commute which we’ve never done for a weekend show before and I have to say it was lovely to fall back into our own bed at the end of the day!

Travelling into Manchester on Saturday morning was fairly quiet on the roads, apart from when one of the warning lights came on in my car – along with its associated ‘ping’! It was a ‘headlamp low’ warning and sure enough, once we were ensconced in our favourite parking spot and able to check, one of my main headlights had blown. This led to a large number of phone calls between Sue and Quickfit, then Halfords and between me and Lookers (the nearest Kia dealership). We finally discovered that Halfords in Trafford would probably have the correct bulb in stock and would be able to fit it, but they closed at 6pm and the show was open until 5pm… As you can imagine this was all a little distracting and worrying, especially as the show was incredibly busy on Saturday. However, at 2pm when it got a little calmer, I let the organisers know that I was popping out and why and left Sue in charge of the stand while I ventured to Halfords. They were so helpful and kind – got my headlight fixed really quickly and I was back at the show just after 3pm, feeling much happier – and I think my relief showed!

I even got the confidence up to go and say hello to Stephen West (and I got a hug!) after Sue and Ronnie set the example of being brave. If you’re a knitter you have probably heard of Stephen West, he’s a ‘big name’ in the knitting world and had a stand at the show.

However, back to the show itself. It was lovely to meet some of the people who follow me here and elsewhere online, including Anthony who brought his gorgeous Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl to show me in person. I’d seen a photo, but the actual knitting had so much colour and texture in it – and was knitted really well too! I also saw the finished version of Stitches and Jack‘s Imperial Cowl that she was wearing, and Jenny from the Bowland Guild was wearing her Tiffany Shawl too! Both beautifully knitted and worn with style. Because it was so busy and I didn’t think of it until later I didn’t get any pics of these lovely projects, but I know that Stitches and Jacks is likely to be podcasting about it soon – she did get a pic of us! She has talked about the process of knitting The Imperial Cowl in Episode 106 of her podcast (starting at about 22 minutes in).

Saturday was so busy that we barely stopped all day and so it was a bit of a relief that Sunday was quieter. I think the combination of Mothers’ Day, a St Patrick’s Day parade and a football match all taking place on Sunday had meant that most people had decided to come on the Saturday. It actually gave us a chance to have a proper chat to lots of the other vendors and start to plan the design of our stand for next weekend at EAYF as well as have a little dance in the empty space opposite us.

Although both of these shows are ‘patterns only’ for me, everything still takes up quite a lot of space as folk like/need to see the samples before they buy the pattern and next weekend our stand will be smaller, so we’re going for a slightly different approach. No table, just the pull up pattern stands, the double height rail and the cage to display samples that don’t hang well. We’ll have 32 of our most popular and newest designs with us rather than the 50 we brought to Manchester, but the layout should mean folk can still get in to the smaller space and have a look at everything fairly easily.

Looks impressive, don’t you think!?

On a related note, if you bought a copy of Nevern Lap Blanket (probably on Sunday) or a Heart in my Hands Hat (on Saturday – it was purchased alongside the Little Orme Hat) and find you only have the outermost pages of the pattern, please do get in touch and we’ll fix that for you.

One of the downsides of not using staples in our patterns is that sometimes the inner pages get left behind when a pattern is picked out of the display. The benefits of not using staples are tangible though – by not using staples it keeps the cost of producing the patterns down (partly as I would have to outsource the printing of patterns if they were stapled which would likely require a price rise), and staples are a ‘snag-risk’ for yarn when knitting.

That’s all from me today – I am heading to the dentist very soon for my annual check-up, and then it’s back to prepping for next weekend as well as finishing seaming my current commission (it’s blocked beautifully). I also need to update my website so you can see all the shows we’ll be at and where I’ll be teaching as more events have now published their vendor lists.

See you all next week! Until then, take care and do something that makes you happy. K x

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Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

Knitted ones at any rate! I designed Ice Diamond Mitts five and a half years ago and I’ve been knitting a new sample from the pattern this week. I’ve just reached the point where the stitches for the thumb are divided away from the rest of the stitches. Diamond patterns are a common feature of lace knitting as they are easy to create with correctly placed decreases and yarn overs and create clear and pleasing shapes in your knitting.

I find it fascinating that, while the design and pattern are clearly mine and my style of pattern writing has changed little since 2020, in some ways following the pattern is almost like knitting someone else’s pattern – it feels quite distant. I suppose that’s hardly surprising as I’ve only knitted these mitts once before and I’ve created 44 other designs since then (I’m also including the ones I’ve designed and made and are due to be published soon)! That’s an average of 8 designs per year – which may not sound like a lot, but it’s quite a chunk of work.

Last weekend was very much a musical one. Saturday was the Spring Market in our local shopping precinct where Shelby’s Singers performed 14 (yes!) songs to the shoppers and I bounced around in front of them waving my arms, sorry, conducted them. Then on Sunday it was choral evensong at the church where I sing in the choir. From Erasure, Alex Warren and the Great Showman to Stanford in Bb and Purcell! Quite a mix.

This weekend sees our second show of the year (of 12!) at TexStyle in Manchester, followed by East Anglia Yarn Festival in Norwich the next weekend. Both are patterns only, so no kits, but we will still have all the samples for the designs we are bringing with us so folk can see in person what they will be creating.

I’ve finished knitting my current commission and I now need to block the pieces and seam it (and make any tweaks to the pattern’s other sizes if necessary at that point – I’m looking at you, neckline!). It feels good to be at this stage 17 days before the deadline – especially with two shows added to the mix!

Now that I’ve finished the knitting of this design I can really get cracking with knitting the mitts, and finishing my DK Into the Vortex as well.

The brown boxes have arrived for my kits – being made of cardboard and arriving ‘flat’ means they take up far less room in the house than 100 tins would have done! In fact, I don’t think I would ever have ordered 100 tins at a time precisely for this reason. Yes, that really is 100 boxes. Or will be, when I make them up.

I’m considering adding needles to some of my kits, specifically Twisted which needs special short interchangeable needle tips plus an 80cm cable to make the smaller version and not everyone has these. Do you think this would be useful – a kit that includes the needles where the needles required are ‘non-standard’?

If you bought an advance ticket to the North West Winter Wool Festival and have not yet downloaded your free hot water bottle cover pattern, now is the time to do it! The download code will stop working at the end of the day on Sunday 15th March. 158 people have taken advantage of this offer which is an increase on those who downloaded The Imperial Cowl last year (125).

We are almost ready for Friday – the parking has been booked, the unloading time-slot at Manchester Central has been booked, the patterns printed, the samples checked, float made ready and the snacks bought! Now I just need to refresh the blue of my hair, and keep all the other plates spinning.

That’s all from me for today. Keep your heads up and I hope you are able to do something that makes you happy this week. K x

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Let’s Go Round Again

Having finally blocked my size four 4ply sample of What Do Points Make? I have sewn some very small side seams and woven in all the ends. It’s come out larger than the laceweight version in both length and width, but not ridiculously so. This 4ply yarn (Little Bird Sock from LottieKnits) is a gorgeously bouncy yarn with 365m to 100g so it’s slightly thicker than most 4ply yarns which tend to be 400m to 100g so this might be partly it’s come out a little bigger than expected. I absolutely love it. As a contrast with the laceweight size 4 sample, with this one I matched the colour changes on each side. I’ll get a photo of me wearing it soon, but for now, here it is on a hanger.

I also have chosen the yarn for my size three 4ply sample of What Do Points Make? and in a complete change from all my other versions of this design, I have chosen a neutral solid colour – grey! It is classic and the finished garment will go with everything. And this one is slightly thinner than many 4ply yarns with 440m per 100g, so it should be closer to the original measurements.

I’ve started a new sample of Ice Diamond Mitts using Cambrian Wool DK in Welsh Red. Their DK weight yarn is more towards the heavy DK/worsted weight end with 200m per 100g so these will be just as cosy as the originals that were knit in worsted weight yarn and in a more practical colour for mitts!

Lorelai Wrap is now live on my website, Payhip and Ravelry stores!

Newsletter subscribers will be getting an email in the next day or so with a time-limited discount code for the pattern, so if you think that sounds good and you’re not already a subscriber, why not sign up?

I can hardly believe that TexStyle is happening in less than two weeks and East Anglia Yarn Festival is the weekend after! If you are coming to either of these shows, please do come and say hello. I will be on stand H6 at TexStyle, pretty much in the middle of the hall. I don’t yet know the floor plan for EAYF, but we are all in one space so it shouldn’t be too hard to find me! I have designer stands at both of these events, so I will only be selling printed patterns.

It’s impossible to know what to say about what is happening in the world at the moment. All I can hope is that you and your loved ones are safe and as happy as you can be. These little narcissi have opened up this week in our front lawn (sorry, front moss) and are giving me hope that nature is pressing on regardless of what us silly humans are doing to the planet and each other.

Until next week, take care and do something that makes you happy. K x

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At Last

I completed my 4-ply version of What Do Points Make? late last year, but with the reduction of space in the lounge with the Christmas tree up and all the busy-ness at the start of the year, I have only recently got around to blocking it. I have to admit that pinned out it looks like a large pair of trousers, but, once it is released from the blocking boards, I will fold the narrow pieces over, sew some side seams, weave the ends in and it will be a loose flowing throw-over. I’m hoping to have it with me at the shows are doing in March – TexStyle and East Anglia Yarn Festival (or EAYF).

You can see from the schematic (the line drawing on the right) that the measurements are bigger in the 4-ply version (that’s the bigger font) than for the laceweight (smaller font). I’d made the largest size. Not quite a ‘whole size’ different but definitely bigger. It might be interesting for me to knit a size 3 4-ply version as well and see what size that comes out. At least I know it wouldn’t take up quite so much room on the lounge floor!

I’ve also made some progress with my DK version of Into the Vortex. I seem to be in a ‘scaling up’ mode at the moment! This is coming out nicely and it will be interesting to see how much of the pattern I can work with 100g of each colour. The DK Chimera from RiverKnits is an absolute delight to use – really bouncy and full of so much colour. This photo doesn’t do the yarns justice as the colours look a lot brighter in real life.

I’m also cracking on with my latest design that had me purchasing a protractor and then doing calculations with both tan and cos. (no pics as it’s for a magazine). The surprising thing is that it looks quite simple in the sketch (and on the needles), it’s just the way I constructed it that caused me some head scratching in terms of making sure all the sizes work and especially that the larger sizes won’t have the top falling off the shoulders. I can’t wait for you to see it!

The sleeveless jumper design I was working on for a knitty.com submission has taken a back seat for a while – I’m not happy with the neck line and armholes when worn and there’s a weird band right across the middle of the chest that might be due to have used re-purposed yarn. I’m going to knit another sample in new yarn and work out how to improve/change the neck and armholes so they make the top look properly finished. I know I can’t do that in time for their current deadline, especially with the other top on a March deadline too. Sometimes, I have to admit that I can’t do everything and let something go.

Some exciting news for me, and possibly for you as well if you live near Glasgow, is that a number of my printed patterns are currently winging their way to For The Love of Yarn in Rogart Street. I saw a video of their shop recently and it’s enormous and beautifully stocked! If we ever get the chance to go to Glasgow – I’ve never been – I will definitely be paying the shop a visit.

On the garden front, we have one daffodil in flower in the front lawn, our deep red camellia is beginning to flower and the hellebores and snowdrops and still going strong. It also looks as though all the chunks of rhubarb crown we planted have taken – all of them have bright green leaves topping even brighter pink stalks. So I think that’s seven rhubarb plants we now have. I think we’re going to be giving rhubarb away come the summer!

And we still have flowers from my Mum’s amaryllis – even though the second flower stalk fell over and had to be cut off.

That’s everything from me for today. I hope you have a good week and get to do some stuff that makes you happy. K x