Tag: Knitting Workshop

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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

Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting at Stafford Wool Gathering, 17th October 2026

Learn this amazing knitting technique to create a wonderfully squishy fabric. We’ll cover the basics of the two-colour brioche stitch and the terminology. We’ll also explore a brioche increase and two simple decreases to create geometric shapes in your brioche swatch.

Don’t forget to book your ticket for the show as well!

Tutor: Kath Andrews

Date: Saturday 17th October

Time: 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Length of Workshop: 2 hours

Cost: £30

Level of Experience: Intermediate

Suitable for Age: 16 plus

Included: Yarn and handouts.

Need to bring: 5mm circular needles, pen or pencil.

Places currently available: 5

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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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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

Next Steps in Two-Colour Brioche Knitting at Ewe Felty Thing, 20th June 2026

Next Steps in Two Colour Brioche Knitting | Learn with Kath Andrews

Date: 20th June 2026

Time: 1.30pm -3.30pm

Venue: Ewe Felty Thing, 24 Castle Street, Conwy, LL32 8AY

Cost: £45 (includes workshop handout, tea/coffee and cake)

Ages 16+ unless attending with a parent or guardian

Book your ticket here!

Take your brioche knitting to the next level with this follow‑on workshop designed for those who already understand the basics of two‑colour brioche. Led by knitwear designer Kath Andrews, you’ll build confidence working with increases and decreases to create beautiful geometric and curved shapes in your brioche fabric.

You’ll learn two key increases and three essential decreases, many of which appear in a wide range of brioche patterns — making this an excellent stepping stone to more advanced projects. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have created a richly textured geometric swatch using all the techniques covered.

What you’ll learn

  • Two brioche increases
  • Three commonly used brioche decreases
  • How shaping creates geometric and curved motifs
  • How to recognise and follow brioche shaping in patterns

Skills required

Ideal for knitters who can:

  • Cast on and cast off
  • Knit and purl confidently
  • Work basic two‑colour brioche stitch
    (Perfect follow‑up to our introductory brioche workshop.)

What to bring

  • 5mm circular needles (60–80cm)
    • Circular needles are essential for two‑colour brioche, even when working flat
  • DK yarn in two contrasting colours:
    • One light
    • One dark
  • A lockable stitch marker

Handouts are provided, and suitable yarn and needles are available to purchase in the shop.

Workshop spaces currently available: 6

Stacked Stitches Workshop at Ewe Felty Thing, 20th June 2026

Stacked Stitches Workshop| Learn with Kath Andrews

Date: 20th June 2026

Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm

Venue: Ewe Felty Thing, 24 Castle Street, Conwy, LL32 8AY

Cost: £45 (including workshop handout, tea/coffee and cake)

Ages 16+ unless attending with a parent or guardian

Book your ticket here!

Discover the eye‑catching world of stacked stitches — a fascinating technique where increases are worked on top of each other within the same row to create dramatic shapes, movement and sculptural texture, all while using just one colour at a time. From waves and ripples to bold geometric forms, stacked stitches open up a whole new dimension of knitted fabric.

Under the guidance of knitwear designer Kath Andrews, you’ll explore how stacked increases and decreases interact to form striking motifs. You’ll create a colourful swatch that showcases the unique possibilities of this technique.

What you’ll learn

  • How stacked stitches work and why they create such dynamic patterns
  • How to stack increases to build height within a single row
  • How to use decreases to shape and balance your fabric
  • Tips for colour placement to emphasise movement and form
  • How to incorporate stacked stitches into your own designs or future projects

Skills required

You should be comfortable with:

  • Casting on
  • Knitting and purling
  • Following a simple written pattern

What to bring

  • 4mm or 4.5mm needles
  • DK yarn in three colours

Handouts are included, and suitable yarn and needles are available to purchase in the shop.

Workshop spaces currently available: 6

Steeking Workshop at Ewe Felty Thing, 30th May 2026

Steeking Workshop | Learn with Kath Andrews

Date: 30 May 2026

Time: 10.30 am – 12.30pm

Venue: Ewe Felty Thing, 24 Castle Street, Conwy, LL32 8AY

Cost: £45 (including workshop handout, tea/coffee and cake)

Ages 16+ unless attending with a parent or guardian

Book your ticket here!

Unlock one of knitting’s most magical (and slightly terrifying!) techniques in this hands‑on Steeking Workshop with knitwear designer Kath Andrews. Steeking allows you to knit seamlessly in the round and then cut your knitting open to create armholes, cardigan fronts, and more — all without your fabric falling apart.

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to plan a steek, create the extra stitches needed, reinforce your work securely, and finally make the cut with confidence. It’s a transformative skill that opens the door to beautifully smooth colourwork garments and advanced construction techniques.

What you’ll learn

  • What a steek is and when to use it
  • How to plan and build steek stitches into your project
  • Methods for reinforcing your knitting before cutting
  • How to safely cut open your knitting
  • Tips for picking up stitches and finishing steeked edges

Skills required

You should be comfortable with:

  • Casting on and off
  • Knitting in the round
  • Basic colourwork or simple patterned knitting

What to bring

  • 4ply wool (non‑superwash) in two colours
  • 3.5mm DPNs or circular needle(s)suitable for small‑circumference knitting
  • 4mm DPNs or circular needle(s) for small‑circumference knitting
  • 3.5mm crochet hook
  • 2 stitch markers.

Handouts are included, and suitable supplies are available to buy in the shop.

Workshop spaces currently available: 7

Stranded Knitting Workshop at Ewe Felty Thing, 4th April 2026

Stranded Colourwork Knitting Workshop | Learn with Kath Andrews

Date: 4 April 2026

Time: 10.30 am – 12.30 pm

Venue: Ewe Felty Thing, 24 Castle Street, Conwy, LL32 8AY

Cost: £45 (includes workshop handout, tea/coffee and cake)

Ages 16+ unless attending with a parent or guardian

Book your ticket here!

Join us for a welcoming and informative workshop led by Kath Andrews, an experienced knitwear designer known for her beautiful, thoughtful patterns and approachable teaching style. This session is perfect for beginners to stranded colourwork or anyone wanting to build confidence with the technique.

What you’ll learn

  • How to manage two yarns at once while knitting and purling
  • Techniques for maintaining an even tension to create smooth, consistent colourwork
  • How to read and follow a colour‑work chart
  • Tips for selecting colours with clear tonal contrast for striking results

What to bring

Please bring:

  • 4mm knitting needles
  • DK yarn in three colours, each with different tonal values

Don’t have suitable yarn? You can pick some up in the shop before the workshop, including:

  • Luca‑S Merino DK
  • West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK

Whether you’re dreaming of Fair Isle, exploring new techniques, or simply curious, this session with Kath will give you the skills and confidence to begin your colourwork journey.

Workshop spaces currently available: 2

Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting at The Wool Monty, 14th June 2026 – SOLD OUT

Learn this amazing technique to create a wonderfully squishy fabric. We’ll cover the basic two colour brioche stitch, the terminology, a brioche  increase and two different decreases.

I will be teaching the workshop on Sunday 14th June.

Book your place here.

Venue: The Wool Monty, Magna, S60 1FD

Dates: 14th June, 10.30am-12.30pm

Cost: £30, including handouts and yarn.

Bring with you: 5mm circular knitting needles (60-80cm long). Needles must be circular for brioche knitting, though we will be knitting flat, not in the round.

Skills required: Cast-on, cast-off, knit & purl.

You will also need a ticket for wool festival for the day you are attending the workshop (buy a ticket here)

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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!