The North East Wool Show in Newcastle was a lot of fun and Angel of the North got a fair bit of attention – certainly more than usual! Everyone we spoke to during the weekend was so friendly and enthusiastic about what we were doing, even if they weren’t knitters themselves. We had time for walks in the evening and learnt a fab new phrase: ‘nae bother’. We even stopped by the actual Angel of the North on the way home and were struck by how absolutely enormous it is, but unfortunately, due to the way everything was packed in the car, we weren’t able to photograph the shawl with its namesake – I will plan ahead better next year as I really hope to come and do this show again!
If you came and said hello or bought a pattern or a kit during the weekend – thank you! We really appreciate it and we hope you enjoy your knitting! Our stand was not quite as large as the Angel of the North, but it was fairly immense at 6m x 1m and we loved filling it up! There’s a bit of overlap in the pictures here, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the fab space we had.
My brioche workshop was good fun and I’ve been impressed to see on social media that some knitters have already finished their swatches and even started on the projects they bought. From little to no brioche experience to this in just under two hours is pretty cool!
This weekend sees us at a show much closer to home. The Pop-up Wool Show in Port Sunlight was my first ever yarn show as a vendor and it holds a special place in my heart as a result. This show is held in Hulme Hall on Saturday 16th August, 10-4, and tickets are £4 on the door or online.
I can hardly believe that it’s less than 5 weeks until Yarn Gathering! Our lovely vendors are going to have some wonderful things to share with you on Sunday September 14th. We are once more in the Daniel Owen Centre from 10-4 and entry is still free! As the show does not coincide with the Mold Food and Drink Festival this year, there will be lots of free parking available around the town.
I have a new design out in the world! The latest issue of The Knitter mag has a lace wrap in called Lorelai that I designed. I hadn’t realised it was being published this month, so it was a really nice surprise to see the pic on Instagram yesterday. Here’s their instagram shot (photo credit: @theshed_photostudio):
I used Jamieson’s of Shetland Ultra Lace for this which is a gorgeous laceweight ‘toothy’ wool that I haven’t used for a while, but adore. It’s a yarn with personality and holds a stitch pattern incredibly well.
The colour is reminding me that there are lots of raspberries at the bottom of the garden that need to be picked, so I’m off to do that.
Take care this week and do some stuff that makes you happy. And if you come to the Pop-up Wool Show, do say hello! K x
One of the key things to do in preparation for a yarn show is to review the patterns and decide which ones are being packed into the carry cases. I can predict which patterns are the stalwarts of the collection and therefore sell well at each show, and I also like to have something new to share. It is important to me to make sure I have patterns to appeal to knitters of different levels of expertise and interest. A range of brioche for those who like this technique and the wonderful possibilities it has, hats that range from simple stranded knitting to more complex patterning. A baby blanket to welcome in a new addition to a family and the larger Nevern blanket which can be made in any size .
It is exciting to think that Angel of the North will be on sale this weekend in its home town at the North East Wool Show. As a shawl it makes a clear statement of the inspiration for its origin in the colour way and shape. I am looking forward to displaying it alongside my other shawls and seeing whether it feels different sharing it in Newcastle compared with sharing it at other events.
I have been enjoying preparing my materials for the sold-out brioche knitting workshop and if you are coming to this I am excited to meet you and share knitting time.
At home there has been time set aside to reorganise the lounge. This has involved a good sort through of mine and my wife’s books and the local charity shop has well-stocked shelves as a result of our decisions. It’s a bit like a belated spring clean, but is also attributable to the fact that we have ordered new chairs to be delivered in a few weeks time. It was fun to seize the moment and sit on a lot of different chairs in a number of different furniture shops in order to identify the kind we wanted. We knew what we didn’t want as well as what we did, and had to laugh when online searches often recommended riser recliners to us.
We had our first homegrown raspberries this week. They’re autumn fruiting ones so it’s a little early for them to get going properly yet, but the half dozen or so that we picked were delicious.
Last week I mentioned I had some shoulder/back pain and wondered whether it was from knitting in the car. It turns out it has been building for a while and is most likely from knitting for extended periods with bad posture over a number of months or even years. So I say hurrah for osteopaths! I saw one for the first time yesterday and I can already feel some difference. I’m going again tomorrow. She’s also a crafter (a crocheter) which I think helps a lot with understanding what I do! Today is all about rolling my shoulders back, applying ice periodically, and not staying in one position for too long.
I have made a decision about which part of What Do Points Make? to work on next and it’s the third colour. Its a little gloomy outside today with the drizzle, so the pic isn’t quite as vibrant as it is in real life, but hopefully you get the idea.
I love how these colours blend into one another, keeping some of the same shades whilst adding new ones. This is part of a 5-skein gradient set from LottieKnits, bought in 2018 and while I don’t think she’s dying these colours currently, I highly recommend you have a look at her yarns. The yarn base is Little Bird Sock which Lottie does still have and it is really soft and gorgeous to work with.
I’m delighted that my two-colour brioche workshop at the North East Wool Show is now fully booked! I will be running some more Zoom workshops and in-person workshops in North Wales from the Autumn, so if this is something you’d be interested in, keep an eye on the events tab on the website (see below):
It feels as though planning for each show we exhibit at should get easier, but that isn’t always the case. Stand sizes and shape can vary a lot – at the North East Wool Show we have a 6m x 1m stand which I’m very excited about. The preparation involves considering that space and how to maximise it. Even when it’s a show with a similar layout to a previous one, there are nearly always new designs to bring with me as well. My current portfolio on Ravelry shows 72 designs and there’s one more (Crenellate published in Knit Now in March) that needs to be added there, plus a few more designs that are yet to be published. I’ve just purchased two more of the pull up display stands like those on the left below (giving me a total of 5), as it’s so much easier for folk to see the front covers of the patterns when displayed in these, rather than in the rigid plastic table top stands as shown on the right. What do you think?
So I can now show 25 patterns off to their best in these stands, with others (for smaller items) displayed on the table next to their samples. As you can see, I’m going to have to be quite ruthless about which patterns to bring with me! For example, I have two children’s cardigans, one of which tends to be more popular, so that one will come with us and the other one will have to stay at home. Patterns are almost all printed, kits are ready and samples are nearly all packed up. There’s just one mark I need to remove from Sugar Loaf Cardigan:
It’s not really obvious, but I know it’s there. I think it’s ink from a stamp that hadn’t dried. I meant to remove it straight after that event, but life got in the way and it’s still there. I’m hoping it will just need a bit of a dab with a wet cloth or a spot of Vanish soap – that stuff seems to get anything out of anything! I’ll report back next week on how successful I’ve been.
That’s all from me today. Pop back next week for updates on everything! K x
I am getting ready to launch Rhiannon Hap Shawl as a single self-published pattern later this month. Rhiannon was a great queen from Welsh mythology and this dramatic hap shawl is named in her honour.
Rhiannon Hap Shawl was first published in four parts as a Knit-along in The Knitter Magazine in the latter months of last year. As always occurs when a pattern is published in this way, I received emails from knitters eager to get their hands on a copy of the full pattern and in October I was explaining that folk had two options; to buy all four issues of the magazine as they came out to get each section of the pattern, or wait until late June 2025 when the rights would return to me and I would be publishing the shawl as a single pattern. And no, sorry, I couldn’t just email a pdf of the whole pattern there and then.
Last October, June 2025 seemed like such a long way off, but here we are! I am on the final checks of the layout of the pattern in my own house style and new photos have been taken. Next week I will be sending out an email to my newsletter subscribers with an exclusive introductory discount code to use on Ravelry, Payhip or my website, so make sure you’re on the list if you’d like one of those.
I thought I’d spend today’s blog post answering a few of the questions people have asked me about lace shawls and hap shawls in particular when we’ve been at yarn shows.
What is a hap shawl?This is a great question and one I was asked at Yarnies at the Flaxmills in Shrewsbury last month. A hap shawl is a traditional structure for a shawl. It is square (and a half hap is a triangle on the diagonal of the square) and it is worked in a particular way. The central square is knitted first, then stitches are picked up all the way around the four sides of the square. These stitches are then knitted to form a border. In Rhiannon’s case there are two border patterns! Some hap shawls stop at this point and cast off, but you can also knit an edging. Rhiannon’s edging is a knitted-on edging that uses up one stitch from the border with every other row and works its way around all four sides with some fancy footwork to get around the corners. Once the edging is complete you cast off 16 stitches and seam the diagonal edges of the edging and border sections together.
Is it hard to knit? Not really! All of the lace is created through yarn overs and just three types of decrease: K2tog (knit two together), SSK (slip 2 sts one after the other to the right needle then knit them together – which can also be worked as slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over), and Sk2po (slip 1 st, knit the next two together, then pass the slipped stitch over). I agree with Woolly Wormhead that definitions of whether a pattern is difficult are very subjective, but I think if you can do these stitches, and want to make the shawl you will be able to! The central square has a straightforward repeated lace pattern that is a traditional stitch pattern. You do need to count your stitches carefully when you pick up around the edge for the border sections, but again, it’s a straightforward lace pattern that doesn’t involve any stitches that are too complex and there are lots of repeats! You do need to use a circular needle as there’s no way you’d get all those stitches on a straight knitting needle – and it wouldn’t work when you’ve got stitches that go around all sides of the square. The knitted-on edging is the only section that uses some lace stitches on the wrong side of the knitting as well as on the right side, but again there are no difficult stitches. It’s a 12 row pattern repeat so it’s easy to remember after a few times through! When you get to the corners, there are some short rows, but the pattern takes you through them step by step and explains which type of short row to use where.
Do I have to be able to read lace charts? No! Everything in the pattern is written out as well as charted. If you are using the charts you do need to read the written pattern as well as there are a few ‘uncharted areas’ such as garter stitch sections between the stitch patterns.
How do I block it? This is where you wash the shawl (gently), and pin it out to dry to stretch and open up the lace stitches. A shawl can grow dramatically during this process. I’m lucky enough to have a hap stretcher, pictured below (a traditional frame with nails around the edge that you can adjust to different sizes), but you can also pin the shawl out on a spare mattress or on the floor, if it’s covered in carpet. Don’t try pinning it out on a laminate or wooden floor! Another method folk use if they are short of space is to fold the shawl in half and pin it out as a double layer or even hang it on the washing line with pegs on the points. The washing line method doesn’t give as precise a finish, but it is a good back-up option.
Do I have to use the same yarn as you did? No, you don’t. I knitted Rhiannon in laceweight 100% Alpaca yarn, but you can use laceweight wool or other fibres. In fact, this was the first time I had knitted lace with alpaca and I was holding my breath when swatching and blocking to see if the yarn would hold the stitch patterns – it does! My shawl used 220g/1760m of laceweight yarn on 3.75mm needles. You could use 4-ply yarn if you prefer, but remember you will need at least double the weight of the yarn to get the same meterage – and you might need slightly more length as well as weight. The fabric would be less gossamery, and more substantial, but you can still use the same size needles.
I’m sure there are lots of other questions I’ve been asked at yarn shows and events that I’ve forgotten about for the moment. If you have any other questions about knitting lace shawls, pop them in the comments and I’ll answer them!
I’ll update you on the progress of the veg seedlings next week. Until then, take care and remember to sign up for the monthly newsletter! K x
The first Yarnies at the Flaxmill on Saturday was a great success. The organisers (Clare of Wild Field Fibre and Chantelle of Bijoux Events) did a splendid job and we had a really good day. We had the prime spot just inside the entrance and it was a great opportunity to give my new roller banner its first outing. Fortunately, once it was in a large space such as the Dye House at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, the banner didn’t seem quite so enormous as it had done at home!
It was a surprisingly windy day on Saturday – it was the first day that the weather began to change and we were glad to have our flasks of tea with us. Not just to drink, but to weigh the legs of the roller banner down and stop it blowing over backwards! See if you can spot them in this video I took just before we opened:
Each of the samples has a new label with a little more information and positioned in a way that makes it easier for folk to access. You would not believe how long it took to do those! Each one was hand stamped with my logo and allowed to dry overnight (I made 2 batches of 50 as I ran out partway through) and then each label was handwritten. But I think it was worth it! Of course, I only did new labels for the samples I took with me on Saturday, so there are still lots more to do!
There were some fabulous vendors at the show, some of whom I see regularly at events and others who I only see occasionally. Our lovely stand neighbour on Saturday was Allium Threads who dyes yarn, fibre and embroidery threads with natural dyes. I’ve seen them at the Pop-Up Wool Show in Port
A wonderful surprise in the morning came from Deb of Dyelution who brought her finished Heart in my Hands Hat to show me. She had knitted it in some of her own hand-dyed yarns, and had it on display with the yarns during the day so visitors could see how the yarns look knitted up. It looks gorgeous!
Another lovely surprise came at the end of the day from Marianne of Penny Stitch Craft who brought over a couple of mini skeins of her 4ply Tencel yarn for me to play and experiment with. What a gift!
I’ve started developing some ideas for a design using her Tencel DK, and I can’t wait to get my current sweater design finished so I can concentrate on it properly!
Speaking of the sweater – both the sleeves now have a full complement of increases! I now ‘just’ have to:
knit both sleeves straight to the full length
cast off for the saddle shoulder
knit the saddle for each sleeve (remembering they are not the same, as half the saddle on each sleeve completes the back neck)
block all the pieces
seam the pieces together at the shoulders
knit the neckband
seam the body and sleeves
finish the written pattern
double check the pattern and the charts
and then send it off!
I’m so glad I started this in plenty of time. If anyone ever knits you a sweater, be in no doubt that they love you!
I didn’t actually do any work on the sweater yesterday as I was busy updating my samples and workshop notes for the two workshops I’m teaching tomorrow in Cheadle: Introduction to Sock Knitting and Introduction to Lace Knitting. I knitted one of my mini socks with each section in a different colour to help with understanding the anatomy of a sock, and it was surprising to see that (at this size) the largest section was the gusset (in blue)! By contrast, the heel turn (in green), which creates a lot of the magic of a top-down/heel flap sock, is really tiny!
I quite like the look of the rainbow sock – I might even knit up a full size pair!
Since the weather changed at the weekend, we’ve had lots of much-needed rain. It actually hasn’t stopped today, so I’m hoping that our water butt will be getting replenished a bit. The seedlings in trays have been moved from the garage to the patio and are loving this weather – as are the broad bean seedlings that I sowed directly into the veg patch – I’m just hoping the slugs don’t find them too soon now they are finally growing! Hopefully I will be able to take some pics of the seedlings during the week and show you next Tuesday how they are getting on.
It’s strange to think after three yarn shows in quick succession (Wonderwool, Buxton Wool Gathering and Yarnies at the Flaxmill) that our next one isn’t until August! That will be the North East Wool Show at Newcastle Racecourse. I’m teaching a brioche workshop there and ticket sales for that are made directly through me, so if you’d like to learn how to knit two-colour brioche and will be in the Newcastle area on August 10th, do get in touch!
That’s all for today. I hope you have a good week and manage to do some stuff that makes you smile. Take care, K x
We had a lovely weekend at Buxton Wool Gathering and we had the best view of the Pavilion Gardens building from the lounge of the flat we were staying in! The weather was lovely on both days of the show and we even had a chance to soak up the sun with an early lunch before setting up on Friday.
It was so nice to talk to visitors and other vendors about all things yarn and knitting during the weekend and one of the most exciting things was spotting that our first customer of the show was wearing a Marianne Half Hap shawl that she’d made with her own handspun laceweight yarn. It’s stunning!
I’ve also gathered together the top 5 selling patterns from the weekend to share with you. They were:
Having had such a long run of dry and sunny weather, it was a surprise to wake up to the sound of rain! There wasn’t much this morning, but we’ve had a little more and the broad beans are finally starting to show themselves in the veg patch. The seeds that we started off in seed trays are looking more developed and we may even have some veg of our own to eat later in the year! We’ve been enjoying lots of rhubarb in the meantime though.
Last week I told you about the need to rewrite the sleeve instructions for my current design. I’m now on the third iteration of the sleeves and I’m happy with them. After the second version wasn’t behaving the way I wanted (Tuesday-Wednesday) I decided not to rip it out straight away, but wait and see how the third version went (Thursday onwards) – partly so I could compare the two, rather than just try to remember the previous version! I’m so glad it’s now where I want it to be, and I can just knit away and follow the instructions.
It’s been a while since I did two shows on consecutive weekends and this Saturday sees us at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, now an English Heritage property, for Yarnies at the Flaxmill, a new yarn show. It’s a single day even and it will be open from 11-5pm. There will be alpacas too!
Every show leads you to consider what works well and what could be even better, and today I’ve been re-writing lots of sample labels. The new labels will help folk to see more easily what a pattern is knitted in, the variations it has and any extra features such as if it’s reversible! We’re not bringing everything with us to Shrewsbury, so I still have some to do! Some of the patterns and samples will be staying at home but we will still have 44 patterns with us (and all the knitting kits) so there will be plenty of choice!
There are still spaces on the knitting workshops at Sew Woolly in Cheadle next week!
Introduction to Sock Knitting covers knitting a top-down sock, from the cast-on to the toe graft, via the heel turn. Wednesday 28th May, 10am-12.30pm.
Introduction to Lace Knitting teaches you how to include deliberate holes in your knitting! Learn how to use specific decreases to create directional lines and patterns in your knitting and how to follow a written lace pattern and a chart. Wednesday 28th May, 1.30-4pm.
Yarn and handouts are included for both workshops (£35 each). Ring Sew Woolly on 07905 741969 to book a place.
I’m considering offering another online knit along. I’ve done a couple of these – one was for Calon Cariad and another was for any pattern of your choice and they were both great fun, seeing other people’s projects develop and chatting about all sorts of things as we knitted. I’m looking at whether there’s interest for another of these. So, with this in mind, here’s a poll!
That’s all from me for today. Take care and I hope you get a chance to do some stuff that makes you happy during the week.K x
I am delighted to be exhibiting at Yarndale once again.
Held at Skipton Auction Mart during the last weekend of September, Yarndale is one of the biggest shows in the UK.
Day tickets are £19.50 (including £2.50 booking fee), weekend tickets are £34.50 (including £2.50 booking fee). Under 16s and carers are free with an accompanying ticket-holding adult.
Day tickets have timed entry (between 10am and noon) and the 10am entry sells out first – so don’t wait too long if you want to spend the whole day!
I had been hoping to tell you today that I am halfway through the first sleeve of my sweater design and at 9pm last night I was. However, the sleeve has now been frogged as I realised I need a slightly wider cuff and also need to get the to full width of the sleeve sooner. So, it’s back to the drawing board (or rather, excel spreadsheet) with the sleeves today and start again. I know what I need to change. It’s now a matter of working out the maths. I’m so glad I decided to knit the sleeves one at a time rather than both together! It’s frustrating when things don’t work out as you want the first time, but I’m taking it as a learning point! At least I have enough time before the deadline to do it properly and make sure the sleeves will work.
Like much of the country this week has been hot and dry – in fact we haven’t had any significant rain in over three weeks. It tried to rain a bit yesterday, but the paths looked a lot wetter than the veg patch did. Our water butt is empty and we are having to water the seeds we finally sowed a week or so ago more often than I would like as the compost dries up very quickly for the little seed tray pots and the ground is rock hard! Left over water from ironing is going in a watering can on the back step and we even got the hose out one day. I’m hoping we will get some decent steady rain soon, but maybe not this coming weekend…
On Friday we travel to Buxton for Buxton Wool Gathering. The weather is set to continue fine and I’m sure the ice-cream stand outside the Buxton Pavilion will be doing a roaring trade.
I really like this show. It’s well organised and in a lovely setting and this year we are staying somewhere that I think is just next to the Pavilion Gardens, so getting back to the accommodation will be super easy! This year is the first time I will be teaching a workshop at Buxton, and there are still a few spaces on my moebius workshop, the price of which includes the very specific needles you need, pure wool yarn and handouts! The workshops happen in an upstairs conference room (in the same area of the building as the toilets). There is a lift as well as stairs so it is all accessible.
Hard on the heels of Buxton is the Yarnies at the Flaxmill at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings the following Saturday. This is a one-day event, with opening hours of 11am-5pm.
I spent some time yesterday updating my website, especially the events page and made sure to add the workshops I’m due to be teaching at the end of the month at Sew Woolly in Cheadle (Stockport) there too. I’m teaching two workshops on the same day – socks in the morning and lace knitting in the afternoon.
Here’s the info about the workshops:
Introduction to Sock Knitting
Learn all the steps of knitting a top-down sock on double pointed needles: Cast-on, ribbing, leg, heel flap, heel turn, gusset, foot, toe, grafting. We will be working on a scale that means you can complete the whole sock in the workshop!
Skills required: cast on, knit, purl, k2tog, ssk.
Equipment to bring: 3mm double pointed needles (you can buy these from Sew Woolly if needed), tapestry needle. Everything else will be supplied.
2.5 hour workshop, £35, including yarn and handouts
Introduction to Lace Knitting
Learn how to use decreases and yarn overs to create deliberate patterns of stable holes in your knitting – this is lace knitting! Learn how to follow both written and charted lace instructions and see how blocking works magic on lace knitting by opening up the stitches.
Skills required: cast on, knit, purl
Equipment to bring: 4mm or 4.5mm needles (you can buy these from Sew Woolly if needed), straight or circular. Everything else will be supplied.
2.5 hour workshop, £35, including yarn and handouts.
If you want to book a place for either workshop, please ring Sew Woolly on 07905 741969 or message them on Instagram or Facebook.
I have decided to improve my Pride Flag Knitting kits by presenting them in a tin. These flag kits have currently been available separately, packaged in cardboard envelopes. The new kit for both flags in the tin is an upgrade as it looks much nicer if you’re giving it as a gift, it includes both kits in a single package, and you can re-use the tin when you’ve finished with the kit! All the yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK, so it’s 100% wool and the kits are far more economical than buying 11 whole balls of wool!
I will have these kits with me at Buxton Wool Gathering this weekend and also at Shrewsbury! I may still have one or two single flags in envelope packaging left too!
Back in 2015 I attended a knitting retreat where I learnt how to dye yarn and fabric with indigo, did some colour work knitting techniques and had a go at repurposing an old shirt into a new garment. It was great fun and really nice to spend a whole weekend away with like-minded folk, immersed in making and craft. In 2023 I was invited to teach at the Knit-Tea Retreat in Cardiff and again I had a super time, surrounded by knitters and crocheters and lots of yarn, tea and cake. This October I will be teaching at another retreat, this time in High Wych in Hertfordshire. Having enjoyed knitting retreats from ‘both sides’, as an attendee and as a tutor I was quick to accept the offer to take part in this one! Woolly Away is a knitting and crochet retreat for crafters of all levels, brought to you by Diana from The Crochet Chain and Deb from Crates of Wool.
This is from the Crates of Wool website:
“What’s a retreat?
Two days of relaxation while refining your craft in the company of other knitters and crocheters. We stay in a peaceful, comfortable hotel away from the everyday hustle and bustle of life and just take time for ourselves.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings we have a choice of workshops, then lunch in the restaurant, followed by time in the afternoon to work on your projects from the morning or for any other craft work. The hosts and tutors are available throughout to help with your crafting dilemmas.
You receive a tool kit containing everything you will need for all the workshops, plus other goodies, such as patterns and special yarns. So all you need to bring are your needles, hooks and your favourite notions.”
One of the great things about this retreat is that the ‘tool kit’ you get contains the handouts etc for ALL the workshops even though you can only attend two of them (you choose one for the Saturday morning and one for the Sunday morning). So, you can look at the handouts for the two sessions you weren’t able to attend and have a go at those in your own time as well!
You can reserve your place for a £100 deposit – bookings have just opened! – and you then pay the rest by early September.
That’s all from me today. I’ll tell you how Buxton went next week. If you come to the show, please drop by my stand and say hello – we’ll be right in the middle of the octagon room. K x
Wonderwool was fantastic! If you are on social media then you may have seen some of my posts from during the weekend already. If you came and had a chat, or bought a pattern or a kit, thank you so much! We enjoyed talking to so many people over the weekend and hearing about their knitting plans and ideas. I didn’t take lots of photos as it was very busy (yay!) and I was teaching on both days as well. Some of the highlights were:
Having a lovely big space to use and set up (and it being such a well-organised show that it makes this process easier). This space is 10′ x 14′ (approx 3m x 4.25m) and these photos were taken when we’d just finished setting up on the Friday afternoon, which is why there are the inevitable extra bags by the chair! I promise it was tidier when the show was open.
Seeing people’s projects that they had made (or were making) from my patterns. Below are three Tiffany shawls – one in Riverknits yarn, one in the knitter’s own hand-spun yarn, and one in Deby of Dyelution‘s own hand-dyed yarns, a Jo March scarf in the most glorious colours and a Meg March shawl knitted by Katie of Sealy MacWheely knitted in her own hand-dyed yarns modelled alongside me in mine!
I had fun teaching two groups of knitters how to knit a moebius and they all had success! There was even one intrepid soul who had never knitted before!!
These were from Saturday’s workshop (or Woolschool as Wonderwool Wales calls them!) My big teaching example moebius is the photo in the centre:
And these were from the Sunday group. Many in this group chose to make their headbands into a cosy cowl by knitting extra rounds. The first time knitter’s work is top left – isn’t it amazing?!
We got home safely, if a little tired on Sunday evening, and I spent much of yesterday analysing sales and checking inventory. I was delighted to discover that patterns for 44 different designs had been bought during the weekend (with a total of 168 patterns sold) – which is a big increase in variety on the 34 different designs bought in 2024. I had taken 56 different patterns with me and had worried it was way too much, but the visitors to the show obviously appreciated the range of choice! We didn’t run out of Nevern Throw as we had done last year, but we did run out of Tiffany!
In less than three week’s time it will be Buxton Wool Gathering on May 17-18th! This year we’ve gone for a slightly larger stand than before at 2m x 4m, and I’m hoping this helps folk get in to see things more easily. There are still spaces on the moebius workshop at Buxton which is on Sunday 10.30am-1pm. It’s a 2.5 hour workshop with all materials (yarn, needles and handouts) included, so good value at £40. There are five workshops happening each day, so there’s a lot to choose from and it’s such a lovely event.
The weekend after Buxton Wool Gathering, a new show, Yarnies at the Flaxmill is happening. Taking place on Saturday May 24th from 11am-5pm (note the slightly later timing from the majority of shows), this is happening at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, a location which has recently been acquired by English Heritage! Tickets are £5 either in advance or on the door, with under 16s and carers going free. There will be just under exhibitors (of which I am one) and should be a lovely day out. Do come and say hello if you visit this event!
The workshops I told you about last week at Sew Woolly in Cheadle are happening in May too – on Wednesday 28th. If you want to learn how to knit socks (this workshop is for cuff down socks) or how to knit lace, do get in touch with Elizabeth at the Sew Woolly shop! All yarn is included in the workshop fee.
August seems like a long way off at the moment, but I’m sure it will swing round really quickly. We’re exhibiting at the North East Wool Show for the first time which is exciting. It’s the furthest north we’ll have been for a yarn show yet! I will be teaching my Two-Colour Brioche workshop there on the Sunday. The show is held at Newcastle Racecourse on August 9-10th and my workshop is 12.30-2.30pm on the 10th. If you want to book a place, just email me and I can send you an invoice for the places you want. There are currently 6 more places available on the workshop.
As someone said at Wonderwool this weekend when they saw the flyers on the table for the different events we’re at: “You’re getting about a bit, aren’t you!”
Yarn Gathering will be happening again this year and Anne and I are in the midst of finalising who is coming to this year’s show. This year Yarn Gathering is not on the same weekend as the Mold Food and Drink Festival. Instead it will be taking place the weekend before, on Sunday September 14th. There will still be some shops and plenty of food outlets open in Mold that day and parking will be easier too! We will have more information about this year’s show very soon.
Alongside all these shows and workshops I am still designing! This morning I emailed a new pattern off to the magazine editor and I will be entrusting the sample (the actual knitted item) to the postal system later on. That part is always a little terrifying, so I often end up sending them by special delivery – after weeks or even months of work (and sometimes a design has been bubbling away in my head for years before it finally takes shape) the last thing you want is for the sample to get out in the post!
As I write today’s blog post I am looking out of the window at the back garden. The apple tree is in full blossom and looks beautiful and my lovely wife is tackling the vegetable plot, which has been neglected for several months, in readiness for some optimistic sowing of seeds. I do hope that this year’s plants aren’t all eaten before they get big enough to actually produce some food for us! That was what happened last year and it was a little disappointing. I have spotted that the currant bushes and gooseberries seem on track for bumper crops – they seem to have appreciated their prune!
It seems I’ve had a lot to tell you today! If you’ve read this far, thank you. I hope you have a good week that includes some things that make you happy and I’ll write again next week. Until then, take care, K x
I’ve got to an exciting point in the sweater design I’m working on. I recalculated various points:
the cast-on and full stitch counts for all sizes
the underarm cast-off numbers
the length up to the underarm
the length from the underarm cast-off to the shoulders
And I’ve knitted up to nearly the shoulders of the back in the sample size.
This afternoon I re-calculated the shoulder cast-off numbers for all the sizes. So, later on today I will be able to finish the back and start the front.
When I say ‘all the sizes’, there are eight sizes to fit chests from 34-64″, so it’s quite a bit of maths, but not as much as in Sugar Loaf Cardigan where there are 20 sizes and two length options! I am eternally grateful to past me for learning how to crunch some of the numbers in Excel.
I wish I could share photos with you, but I can’t yet, not until the design has been published. So you’ll just have to trust me that it’s looking good!
I’ve recently updated my moebius knitting workshop notes and changed the way I’m going to teach it. I’m looking forward to leading this workshop at Wonderwool Wales this coming weekend (both days – both sold out!) and also next month at Buxton Wool Gathering. There are spaces on the Buxton moebius workshop if you’d like to learn this fascinating construction method.
Knitting a ‘true’ moebius is a lot more than knitting a thin rectangle and putting a twist in before seaming the short ends together. It’s all to do with how you cast on, to create a piece with one side and one edge and one cast-off: mind-boggling for a three-dimensional piece of fabric!
These are pictures of my four designs that use a moebius cast-on (Mirror Mirror Moebius, Forest Ferns Moebius, Twisted and Gnarly Roots which includes both a moebius and a ‘straight’ version in the pattern), plus the headband we will knit in the workshop and also the striped cowl that was my first foray into the wonderful world of moebius knitting. I started with the blue, changed to purple, then green, then black, then cast off. The same colours also magically appear below the central colour where I started! And, because you see the back of the knitting on the lower half and the front of the knitting on the top half, with Twisted, my brioche moebius cowl, you get to see both wonderful sides of brioche at the same time!
If you’d like to attend a workshop that isn’t about moebius knitting, I’m also teaching an introduction to sock knitting and an introduction to lace knitting, both at Sew Woolly in Cheadle, both on Wednesday May 28th. The sock workshop is in the morning (10-12.30) and the lace workshop is in the afternoon (1.30-4pm). To book, message the shop through their facebook or instagram pages. This screenshot of their Facebook page also includes a phone number if you’re not on either platform:
Another part of my preparations for Wonderwool Wales this year has been deciding which samples I’m going to offer for sale. This is not something I’ve done before! These are all designs for which I have other samples that I use on display. Some of them have been used as display samples, some haven’t, but none of them have been worn. The prices range from £30 to £90. That might sound expensive, so let me tell you how I calculated them. First I took the price of the yarn, as it cost when I bought it, not what it would cost now – for example £20 per skein for 100g hand-dyed 4ply yarn. Then I took the meterage of the yarn and multiplied that by 17.5p. So, 17.5 pence per metre. That’s the labour charge – it’s not the cheapest price per metre for sample knitting (which tends to vary from 12-20p/m), but these are mostly lace or brioche samples, so not the easiest knitting. I used the full meterage of the skeins as most of the designs had very little left over and it was a lot easier than weighing the samples (and you’re about to see another good reason for not worrying about the exact meterage!). Add that to the cost of the yarn. And then? I halved the number. That’s right – in half. So, if £90 for a hand-knitted brioche shawl in hand-dyed yarn seems a lot to you, remember it *should* have been nearer £180!
There’s a Drifting Leaves, a Beth March shawl, an Amy March shawl, a Llandudno Promenade shawl, a Calon Cariad shawl and a Croeso Baby Blanket to choose from. The samples pictured on the website in the links aren’t the ones for sale as those are my new samples. There are of course, only one of each of these, so when they are gone, they are gone. It’ll be really interesting to see if folk want to buy these samples – I always get one or two people asking if samples are for sale at events.
I made a vegan fruit cake at the weekend – the same recipe I usually use for Christmas cake, except we didn’t have one this year. It’s for Mum’s birthday and was specifically requested and I’m so glad I re-checked the recipe in advance. I always seem to forget that the fruit has to be soaked overnight before making the actual cake! Maybe if I made it more frequently I would remember this. Actually that’s not a bad idea. I had to buy a packet of xanthan gum specially for this recipe (and it only uses 1/4 tsp!), so I may as well make the most of it!
By the way, the singing from the bell tower last Thursday went really well! We had to go up twice, once in rehearsal and once in the service, with strategically placed bags for life at the bottom of the spiral staircase to put our cassocks and surplices in. There was no way that going up the steep and tight spiral staircase would have been remotely safe whilst wearing our choir robes!
If you celebrated Easter in any way I hope you had a good one and if you didn’t I hope you had a lovely weekend doing whatever you did. Will I see you at Wonderwool this coming weekend? If not, I’ll tell you all about it next week. K x
