Tag: Stranded Knitting

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Twisting

If you follow my social media posts you will know that I drew a winner for a free pair of weekend tickets for the Christmas Wool Show on Saturday and the lucky winner was Barbara. She is very pleased and looking forward to the show. Are you coming to the Christmas Wool Show? It’s at the National Conference Centre, just off Junction 6 of the M42 and is next door to the Motorcycle Museum.

I’ve made up 18 kits using the new Bukom DK from Weku Yarn; 9 of Twisted and 9 of Bryn, with 3 kits in each of the 3 colourways for each design. I’ve even worked out how it’s all going to fit in the car! I’ve also knitted a large Twisted using the cream and Burnt Orange, partly as the small sample used slightly more than the old Poldale DK did (26g rather than 23g) so I wanted to make sure you can make a large one with 50g of each colour. Result – you can! There is just a little left over.

Because of the small quantity of leftovers, I’ve added a little note in with the kits and to the patterns that if your tension is looser than that stated in the pattern, and you are starting to run short of yarn when you get to the garter stitch border, simply miss out the last three rounds and cast off with the light colour. It’ll just mean the border doesn’t have a stripe and is a little narrower.

I took pictures of the new natural/single colour of Tiffany on Sunday morning while the weather was behaving and I love how it’s come out. I used 222g of McIntosh’s BFL 4ply in My Innocence. This new sample of Tiffany and the original rainbow version knitted using 12 mini skeins from RiverKnits will both be with me at the Christmas Wool Show at the weekend.

I have two workshops scheduled at Ewe Felty Thing on Saturday 5th December – Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting 10.30am-12.30pm, Stranded Knitting 1.30pm-3.30pm. If you want to come, please book a place by contacting the shop soon as the shop will only run each workshop if a minimum of four people have booked!

Workshops and tickets for next year’s shows are also available! I need to update my website, but in the meantime, this is what I’m doing in the first part of the year:

North West Winter Wool Show (Blackpool), 20-21st February. Workshops: Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche (Sat 20th Feb, 1.30-3.30pm), Stacked Stitches (Sun 21st Feb, 1.30-3.30pm). Book workshop places by emailing me. Remember you can get a code for a free knitting or crochet pattern when you buy an advance ticket for the show!

TexStyle (Manchester), 5-6th March (Yes, that’s Friday-Saturday). Workshop: Stacked Stitches (Sat 6th March, 11am-1pm). Book workshops on the show website.

Spring Into Wool (Leeds), 3-4th April. No workshop

Wonderwool Wales (Builth Wells), 24-25th April, Workshops: Stacked Stitches, both days, 1-3pm. Book workshops on the show website.

I’m also taking part in the Fasten Off Yarnalong again this year! This is a great event with 77 participating designers, and covers knitting, crochet, Tunisian crochet and loom knitting. There is a 25% discount off selected patterns from all designers between 20th November (that’s in 10 days!) and 3rd December and there will be games (the bingo is great!), interviews with participating designers and stitch and chat events throughout the Yarnalong. Have a look at their website for all the different ways you can join in.

I’ve been busy with my knitting needles again this week (as well as knitting the large Twisted in less than 24 hours!):

Gingerbread is growing. I think the slip stitch pattern is the right length now. The next thing to do is to double check all the maths for the next part of the pattern!

Gwen is growing. I’ve cast on the sleeves and begun the central lace triangle which is where all the shaping in this top occurs!

The pink gnome is nearly finished. I just need to add the dried lentils to weight it properly, finish the stuffing and knit the last few rounds of the base. The beard has been made and I need to knit the nose and attach them both. Pics to follow later on this one!

I also need to mend Sue’s mitts! I can’t find any of the grey yarn I used for the main colour, but I have found the dark red, so the top ribbing is going to be replaced with all dark red yarn I think.

What have you been up to this week? Did you do a little happy dance when you saw the news on Wednesday? (I did!). I hope you get to do something that makes you happy this week. Take care, K x

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What a weekend!

We arrived early at Skipton auction mart. This was a first for us and gave us time to relax after the drive, eat our lunch (and be chased by a wasp) and chat to fellow vendors who were also there early before the roller shutters went up.

We always forget just how big the building is, but you soon remember when you’re wheeling the trolley up and down the aisles! It took us an hour to get everything unloaded out of the cars.

And then set up began! The roll of black fabric we’d bought having seen someone else use it last year was brilliant for covering the sides of the pens and giving us a backdrop – and was much easier to put up than trying to pin sheets to the rails! It’s the same stuff that is used for the underneath of furniture and also as weed suppressant. We could cable tie it to the rails – and used gaffer tape on the section without rails.

As you can see getting the backdrop up was just the start!

But by 6.15pm we were done! The next photo was actually taken on Saturday as we had chosen to leave the patterns in the cases overnight to avoid them getting spoiled by any rain that might come in or condensation dripping from the metal rafters.

Having a double stand was definitely the right decision – loads of room meant that lots of people could browse and that helped sales too.

Lots of fun was had during the weekend with various vendors joining in the “swish or waft?” game with Meg March Shawl – there are some cracking videos on Sue’s socials. It was also lovely that so many people stopped by to say hello – friends, people who have been on previous workshops, returning customers, fellow tech editors and readers of this blog. If you were one of them – thank you.

My workshops were both fully booked and went well. Neither photo below includes everyone’s progress as some folk had to leave before the photos were taken, but there are now more knitters in the world who can do stacked stitches and two-colour brioche!

I’m teaching brioche again at the Montgomery Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers in a couple of weeks and then again at Stafford Wool Gathering – that workshop is now sold out too!

The best selling patterns at the show were the usual suspects: Nevern Throw, Lichfield and Tiffany. It was good to see Ice Diamond Mitts getting plenty of attention too.

Not for the first time, several people asked if there was an adult version of Caramel Slice and there isn’t.

This has made me decide that now is the time to remedy this! The original child’s version was knitted using West Yorkshire Spinners Elements DK (a blend of Tencel and Falklands wool), but, as WYS is in the process of being sold to new buyers, I decided to use a different DK yarn for the adult version. I’ve chosen Yarnsmiths Superwash Merino DK and selected some gorgeous colours this morning. I’ve gone for ‘Copper’ as the main colour which is a deep rich colour like Parkin or gingerbread, paired with ‘Carrot’ and ‘Vanilla Fudge’. I’ve recently used the ‘tweeds’ version of this yarn for another design and really liked it, so I’m hoping this non-tweedy one will be just as soft and lovely. As this design isn’t a commission I’ll be able to share the process and my progress with you which is quite exciting!

I’m sitting on my chair in the lounge writing this on my phone today for a couple of reasons. It’s warmer in here and I’m a feeling bit under the weather (probably my body’s reaction to knowing that the 3 deadlines and 3 events of this month have now all happened!) and also there is a big box on the floor in the study that needs sorting out and if I write my blog in another room I won’t be distracted by that.

When we were about to start packing up on Sunday when the rain came down with such ferocity that it even came through the wooden slats that made up the upper part of the wall above our stand. All the samples that were near the wall got a bit damp and so they were packed in a separate bag from everything else and are now spread out around the bungalow to air and dry properly – I don’t want musty smelling samples!

On Thursday Part One of Autumn Dahlia knit-along will be released in issue 233 of The Knitter!

You may have seen the special subscription offer they have been promoting on social media with it. It’s a three part knit-along using LangYarns Naturalis. This is a yarn dyed using natural dyes and is a very lightly spun single ply yarn. It’s listed as an aran/worsted weight yarn although I thought it felt more substantial than that while was using it. The shawl is worked on a 7mm needle. I’ll be sharing lots of pics of this with you next week.

What have you been up to this week? Did any of you come to Yarndale? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! 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

Stranded Knitting Workshop at Ewe Felty Thing, 5th December 2026

Stranded Colourwork Knitting Workshop | Learn with Kath Andrews

Date: 5th December 2026

Time: 1.30 pm – 3.30 pm

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

Cost: £35 (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: 5

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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!

Fair Isle (stranded) Knitting Zoom Workshop,12 Oct 2024

This is a Zoom workshop. Learn from the comfort of your own home.

Learn how to manage two yarns at once when knitting or purling, maintain an even tension to create a smooth fabric and follow a colour-work chart to create wonderful colour-work patterns, both traditional and modern.

2-hour workshop, £25. You will receive the Zoom link upon booking and the workshop handout will be available to download before the event.

You will need two contrasting colours of DK yarn & 4mm needles (straight or circular).

Skills required – Ability to cast-on, cast-off, knit and purl

Fair Isle (stranded) Knitting Workshop, 11 Sept 2024

Learn how to manage two yarns at once when knitting or purling, maintain an even tension to create a smooth fabric and follow a colour-work chart to create wonderful colour-work patterns, both traditional and modern.

2-hour workshop, £25, including yarn.

You will need to bring 4mm needles (straight or circular) with you.

Skills required – Ability to cast-on, cast-off, knit and purl.

Refreshments can be bought from the shop during the workshop.

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Consider Yourself ‘Wool-In’!

I’m sorry about the corniness of today’s post title, but I just couldn’t resist it. After rehearsing ‘Consider Yourself’ with Shelby’s Singers (our local community choir) last Wednesday, and now being at Welwyn Garden City for the week long wool festival that is Wool-in Garden City, that twist on the lyrics just won’t leave my head!

How are you after Storm Isha? It sounded pretty scary outside to me, but there didn’t seem to be any major damage where we are.

I’m having such a lovely time at Wool-in Garden City. I’ve met a whole new bunch of fab yarnie people, given a talk about my work as a designer (!) and taught 8 people how to knit two-colour brioche. The folk standing around the edge might have picked up a tip or two as well!

The mayor of Welwyn Garden City opened the event on Saturday morning, cutting the obligatory ribbon, and he and his wife spent time talking to every exhibitor as well.

A week long show as a pop up shop is a big undertaking, especially for the organisers, and I can’t thank Helen and Naomi and their extra volunteers enough. They’ve been helpful, kind, friendly and encouraging throughout. We have the opportunity to take time out from the event, at which point folk can pay for items from our stands at the central cash desk. As some of the exhibitors also have full time a Monday to Friday jobs this means they can continue with their regular lives and have their work on display and on sale at the same time – a brilliant idea.

I got very excited about having some of my designs in the window of the shop too…

As a result of a conversation I had at the weekend, I took my courage in my hands and wrote an email I’m now nervously awaiting a reply for. It could be very exciting.

As well as all this, there has been some knitting!

The sleeves for the adult version of Honeybun are gradually growing and I’m getting closer to the armhole shaping. this is one of the two sleeves – I’m doing them both at the same time on the same needle, but photographing them both together is proving to be tricky!

My small Petulia grew by 40 rows at the weekend.

And I finally swatched for and started (twice) my chunky version of Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl.

This will be added to the original pattern once I’ve got all the details down and photos of the finished sample. This is using my handspun yarn that I made last year from Velvet Sixpence in Polwarth wool. I have to say I was impressed that it coped so well with being frogged twice and re-knitted. I usually keep my swatches, but as I only have this one ball of yarn and I didn’t know how much I would need for the cowl, I decided not to risk it.

By the end of Monday it was nearly finished!

And I did finish the socks before going to Wool-in Garden City!

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the event this week and I will take lots more photos of everyone else’s stands to share on social media and to show you next week.

We were woken up by an owl this morning – another addition to the list of wildlife we’ve seen or heard in the area.

Until next week, take care and try not to get blown away by Storm Jocelyn! K x

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Join In

My current design is coming along well now and I only have the final edging section left to knit! But you knew I wouldn’t be able to resist making a start on the crochet blanket, didn’t you?

I’ve also just finished going through the tech editing process on another design and I hope to be able to share details of when that will be coming out soon. It’s very cool and is effectively two patterns in one.

You may notice the main menu of the website is looking a little different – I’m aiming for a sleeker look that is easier to navigate, with more drop-down options and fewer things to read initially. So, instead of ‘Patterns’, ‘Kits’ and ‘Wooden Things’ each having their own space in the menu bar, they are now drop-down options under ‘Shop’.

It’s a small change, but one I hope will help people find their way around when visiting the website.

During the past few days I have been taking part in an Instagram challenge to share images of my work each day and to nominate another artist each day to do the same. The format of the posts is as follows:

“I was nominated by @deunynknits to present 1 piece of my work each day for 10 days, with a nomination of another artist to do the same.
–
10 images, 10 nominations, no explanations, all to promote creativity, passion, the love of what we do and support our artistic friends.
–
Today I nominate…”

I thought it would be nice to share the images I have selected so far with you as well!

The designs are: (top row) Maid Marion Shawl, Nevern Throw and Diamonds in the Breeze and (bottom row) Of Night and Light, Into the Vortex and Angel of the North.

Marianne Half Hap Socks Yeah

Summer KAL

I’m going to be running a Summer Knit-along in my Facebook group and you are warmly invited to join us.

It will start on June 21st and run until the end of July. After running a poll in the Facebook group, I have decided that it will be an ‘open’ KAL – that is, you can take part by knitting any of my designs. And there will of course be prizes!

We’ll have a cast-on party via Zoom on Wednesday 21st June (7.30-9pm) and two more Zoom events during the KAL. Finalised details will be published on Facebook, Instagram and my website with links to book tickets for the zoom events.

I have decided that my project for the Summer KAL will be a new sample for my Marianne Half Hap Shawl. You, of course, are welcome to join in by knitting any of my designs!

The shawl was originally knit in a sport-weight yarn, and then in this 4ply/sock yarn (Socks Yeah!) and I’m now going to knit the pattern up in a lace-weight yarn. I’m going to use two skeins of RiverKnits’ Northampton Shear Lace. 

Next week I’m going to tell you a little bit more about this! 🥳

Until then, take care, keep an eye out for the KAL info and enjoy the sunshine (carefully) if you can. Kx