Tag: Yarn Shows

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Scale

One of the things I didn’t expect to need as a knitwear designer was a set of kitchen scales that measure to 0.1g. But it has been so useful on many occasions. Most recently I have been using it to calculate how much of each of the main and contrast colours I’ve used for the sample of the adult version of Honeybun Cardigan. I can tell you now that each 50g ball of Rowan Summerlite 4ply actually tends to contain between 51g and 52.2g. I’m glad I had some full balls of yarn left over, as I hadn’t thought to weigh them before I started. If I’d assumed the balls were exactly 50g and simply weighed what was left I’d have been slightly underestimating my usage. It would only have been by a couple of grams for each of the contrast colours, but that scales up to about 20g when you’re looking at 9 or 10 balls of the main colour – even more so for the largest sizes.

I am pleased to have finished the cardigan. The shoulder shaping has worked a treat. The ends are all woven in and the pattern is now with my tech editor (hi Deb!). The only thing left for me to do with the sample is to choose and sew on 9 buttons. And possibly give it another wash.

Something else I’ve been thinking about regarding scale (and scales) is my Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl! I first designed this in 2019 using Knitting Fever’s Painted Desert 4-ply in the now discontinued colour way Show Stopper (left-hand pic below). Painted Desert is a lovely yarn with gradual colour changes (a bit like the Zauberball Crazy sock yarn).

You may have seen photos of the orange chunky-ish hand-spun version I made for Sue while we were at Wool-in Garden City. I’m currently updating the pattern so it includes options for DK, Aran and Chunky weight yarns as well as the original 4ply. The cowl itself is knit in the round and, to make life easier for folk, I’ve also included a knit-flat stitch pattern so you can swatch easily. This means you can use the pattern with any yarn you want (particularly useful for hand-spun yarns which can vary a lot from the commercial standards of weight/length) by swatching and doing a tiny bit of maths to work out how many stitches to cast on for the size you’d like. Fortunately it’s a 10-stitch pattern repeat, so that part is quite simple!

I love how the texture of the stitch pattern looks and behaves with different weights of yarn – it gives such a varied character to the finished fabric of the cowl.

I’m really excited about East Anglia Yarn Festival (where I’ll be in less than two weeks!), where Caramel Slice will have its debut as a single pattern (having been originally published in The Knitter last August).

It’ll be the first time I’ve exhibited at this particular event and also the first time I’ve sold only patterns at a yarn show (so there will not be any wooden items, kits or project bags etc). My patterns are printed and ready – I’ll be bring 640 with me (of 41 designs), so there should be plenty! This is what 640 printed patterns looks like:

It may not look terribly exciting like this, but wait until it’s all on display! Taking 41 designs with me to EAYF does mean there will be 20+ designs staying at home, but they will still be available online if I don’t have something in particular with me that a knitter is after.

I’ve been working with slipped stitches a lot lately – and I’m doing another design at the moment using slip stitches, but there are other techniques I’m enjoying currently too – particularly brioche and cables! Here’s a sneak peek at some cool cable work:

Isn’t the yarn gorgeous? Now, you probably know I don’t use silk, so what’s making this yarn so shiny? It’s TencelTM which is a fibre made from wood pulp. The yarn is HeartSpun DK from Woolly Chic, a long DK at 250m/100g with 70% Bluefaced Leicester wool and 30% TencelTM in the colourway Marmalade 2022. Helen from Woolly Chic was one of the organisers of Wool-in Garden City and this was where I got the yarn (and the commission to design something lovely with it!)

There are just two and a bit days left if you want to take advantage of the February online pattern discount for members of my Facebook group and subscribers to my monthly newsletter. This month’s discounts are for patterns beginning with C or D. Pictured below are the patterns that applies to: Calon Cariad, Ceridwen, Codetta Shawl, Croeso Baby Blanket, Diamonds in the Breeze and Drifting Leaves.

It’s a 10% discount for Facebook group members or a 20% discount for newsletter subscribers. From Friday 1st March the discount changes to patterns beginning with E or F. Those will be Elinor Hap Shawl, Fiery Dragon Skin Cowl, Forest Ferns Moebius and Furrowed Fields Scarf. Sign up for the newsletter below (my “Mailchimp audience”) or join my Facebook group if this appeals to you!

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That’s everything from me for today – I’m heading back to my knitting now! Take care of yourselves and each other. K x

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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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Process

So, it’s 2024! The rain hasn’t yet stopped enough for us to go out for a walk since our midnight walk on New Year’s Eve where we saw and heard lots of fireworks in the neighbourhood. I’m hoping we’ll be able to get out soon, but at least for now we are warm and dry and once again thankful to live high up. The garage might get water in it from the steep driveway if the rain pours too heavily, but the house is pretty safe from flooding.

Floella, my lovely estate car, did her longest yet journey since I’ve had her, all the way down to Kent to visit my in-laws and back via Worcestershire to visit my mum. We were away for nearly a week and, while it is lovely to catch up with everyone, there’s nothing quite like your own bed!

Since we’ve been back I’ve been very busy, preparing to take part in an exhibition at Qube in Oswestry. I’ve never had my work displayed in an exhibition before, so this is quite exciting. It’s all about ‘Process’ and that is such a major part of being a designer. Folk usually only see the finished product, and I think it will be interesting to see all the different things that go into developing a design. I’ve focussed on Joseph’s Jacket, which was one of my assessment pieces for my City & Guilds in 2012 and which much later – in 2018! – became Honeybun Cardigan. And the process is still continuing, as this is the design I am currently developing into adult sizes. I’ve blocked the body now and that will be included in the exhibition too. The design process covers 11 years with this pattern!

As I said, I’m taking part in the exhibition – there will be lots of other artists and designers working in different media taking part as well, so it should be a really interesting exhibition. It’s open from January 12th until February 12th and admission is free. The full details of the ‘Process’ exhibition aren’t yet up on the website, but I’m sure they will be soon.

In addition to sorting out all my drafts, samples, swatches and notes for the exhibition, I’ve been getting ready for Wool-in Garden City which takes place in less than 3 weeks! Patterns are printed (all bar one), kits are now in snazzy tins which also make them a lot easier to transport and to display, and I’ve been adding price labels and codes to everything. I’m teaching a brioche workshop while I’m there and taking part in a designer talk too, so it should be a really fun week. And it is a WHOLE week! I’ve never done an event this long before and I’m really interested to see how the central cash desk for all exhibitors works. Tickets are still available for the Preview Evening on January 19th, 5.30-8.30pm – entry to the event during the rest of the week is free and unticketed.

I’m going to be increasing some of my pattern prices this year (not all), starting with garments. Adult garments with 8 or more sizes (currently Of Night and Light and Reaching Out) will be £8 and children’s garments with 5 sizes will be £7 (currently Honeybun). This change has already taken place on all my platforms. Later in the year I will be increasing the price of those that have multiple sizes such as my hat patterns and the more complex designs such as Drifting Leaves (that one is 20 pages!). These increases will be to £6 or £7 from £5. I know price rises are the last thing anyone wants, and believe me, I have thought long and hard about it.

To make up for the price rises, I will be running a year-long (!) discount in my facebook group and for my monthly newsletter subscribers. I know many people subscribe to my weekly blog and receive this as an email, but what I am referring to here is the monthly newsletter, which is different – you can sign up to my newsletter here:

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Each month all patterns beginning with specified letters will be reduced for those folks (10% off for FB group members and 20% for monthly newsletter subscribers). This month covers letters A and B and that includes 11 patterns! They are:

Besides all this admin and travelling I have actually done some knitting as well! I have finished the black lace Diamonds in the Breeze shawl I have been knitting for my friend Lucy’s 50th birthday and that just needs to be blocked now. I’m pleased with how the yarn (Drops Baby Merino) worked up and it will be very soft around Lucy’s shoulders.

If you’d like to learn to knit lace there’s still time to sign up for my Introduction to Lace Knitting workshop in Buckley on Wednesday 10th January (6.30-8.30pm).

I have started Part 4 (the edging) of my Barragan KAL which came out in The Knitter on Wednesday 29th December. I’ve got photos of both the front and the back of the shawl here so you can see how the knitted-on edging works. The line of stitches along the back is the back of the joining stitch. From the front the join is almost invisible. I’m going to do a short video of the joining stitch soon too.

Sue’s sock now has more than half a partner – I cast the second one on on the journey up to Edinburgh if you remember and it’s been a good evening knit when I don’t want to have to keep my eye on a chart or pattern!

And I have begun my small version of Petulia! It was very exciting to see kits for Petulia from RiverKnits featured among “The Knitter Loves…” in this month’s issue of the magazine. Becci is seen modelling the large asymmetrical version of the shawl as shown on the front of the pattern.

The smaller version is symmetrical and I’m using RiverKnits Chimera and Nene 4ply again (bought from Yarn O’clock), but in a very different colourway to the orginal large shawl.

I love the vibrancy and autumnal feel of the leaf shapes. I’m knitting this project with a fixed circular Lantern Moon needle from McIntosh and it’s super smooth to use – really lovely.

The rain is still falling and it’s looking highly unlikely that a walk today will be possible (especially as my lovely wife is in a poetry event on Zoom for the next couple of hours). So, instead I shall settle down with a cup of tea and my new journal and work out some plans for the year/month/week/tomorrow and maybe even do some embroidery.

Take care and stay warm and dry. K x

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Jingle All The Way

On Saturday my lovely wife and I attended the Buckley Christmas Market and had a really great day talking to everyone who stopped by the stand to look, ask questions, chat and buy things. It’s been the most successful Christmas event I’ve had a stand at, and the atmosphere in the shopping precinct was buzzing and busy. The coasters were particularly popular!

Buckley Town Band played in the morning and Shelby’s Place Singers gave their inaugural performance of six Christmas songs in the afternoon! We were even accompanied by some very rhythmic jingle bells which added greatly to the festive feel. I’ve already started thinking about what we’ll learn to sing in the New Year ready for the next market at Easter time!

It was a full day; we arrived to set up at 7.30am and the market finished at 4pm – we were very glad to get everything back into the car and then into the house before the storm winds really took off!

Today I finished Part 3 of Barragán Shawl KAL which, as you no doubt know by now, is being published in four parts by The Knitter. I surprised myself by using slightly more yarn than I’d expected to (though I did still have enough), and I’ve been trying to work out why. My conclusion is that the first time I knitted it, while I was designing it, I was knitting faster. I was working to a deadline and I had to knit several sections of the shawl twice, ripping it out when I wasn’t fully satisfied with links between parts.

This time I’ve been ‘knitting along’. I worked out how many rows I need to knit each day to complete one part of the shawl before the next part was published and, for the most part, I’ve only been knitting that much. This difference in both speed and focus makes me wonder if my tension while I’ve been knitting this second shawl has been looser as I’ve been more relaxed about it? Relaxed, that is, apart from today when I began to wonder if there would be a game of yarn chicken in my future (there wasn’t!) and so knitted the final two full repeats of the stitch pattern in one go.

It’s made me think about tension/gauge again and how frustrating it is when knitters say they never knit a tension swatch as they always ‘knit to tension’. How can they? The tension listed on any given pattern is that of the designer while they were working on the pattern – not that of anyone else, and it’s entirely possible that a change of needle size might be required to achieve the stated tension. But that can only be discovered by working, washing and blocking a swatch.

The stitches and rows listed on a yarn ball band are considered the ‘standard’ tension for that yarn when working stocking stitch using specified needles, but that doesn’t mean that is your tension, nor that it is the designers’ tension. And what if the designer is using different needles from the ‘standard’ ones for that yarn weight, such as with lace knitting, where the needle size tends to be larger than you’d use for stocking stitch? In those cases the ‘standard’ tension is almost irrelevant – or at least guaranteed to be different from that of the pattern. And, as it seems, speed of knitting and levels of relaxation can also make a difference to a knitter’s tension, as even a slight change in tension that doesn’t show up much in stitch or row counts can fractionally affect how much yarn each stitch is using.

It’s a fascinating topic and it’s really interesting to me how knitters vary so much in their tension. I’ll probably write more about this in the future and I’m even tempted to get some data by measuring the (unblocked) tension of knitters in workshops who will all be using the same yarn and needle sizes, but who undoubtedly will have different tensions in what they are producing.

All that remains now is Part 4 (out on December 28th) which is the edging worked in the buff colour and the all-important blocking.

The other project I’ve made some progress with this week is the adult version of Honeybun. The colour work sections of the sleeves are now complete and I’m soon to move into the stocking stitch section where the increases happen.

I shall work on this while I watch Vigil later this evening! If you’ve not seen any of this and have access to iPlayer I highly recommend it. There have been 2 episodes so far and it is really rather gripping.

Have you had a look at my ‘Where I’ll Be’ page on the website lately? There are some more things to add (once the exhibitors for events are publicly announced), but it’s looking like an exciting 2024 for me.

Highlights so far:

  • 10th January – Introduction to Lace Knitting workshop at Shaz’s Shabby Chic in Buckley, 6.30-8.30pm
  • 19-26th January – Wool-in Garden City. A week-long yarn festival in the Howard Centre at Welwyn Garden City. During this event I will be taking part in a ‘Meet the Designer’ panel discussion with other designers (on Sat 20th) and teaching an Introduction to Brioche Knitting workshop (on Sun 21st).
  • 9-10th March – East Anglia Yarn Festival at the Norfolk Showground Arena, Norwich
  • 18-19th May – Buxton Wool Gathering at the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton
  • And we are hoping to run Yarn Gathering in Mold again in September!

Add to this three additional yarn shows I’ve been accepted for and you can see that the year is going to be busy! Thank goodness for Floella (my new-to-me estate car) who will be essential in transporting everything to each event.

Next week will be my final blog post of 2023 as I will be taking a week off between Christmas and New Year. Thank you for reading my posts – and especially those of you who take the time to comment; it’s always very much appreciated.

Until next week, take care and stay warm. K x

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Harvest Time

The past week has been so busy, and my intention of picking raspberries every couple of days has gone slightly sideways. The high winds today have done some other harvesting for us and there are quite a few windfalls on the grass waiting to be picked up tomorrow. The last two tomatoes are ripening on the kitchen window sill – they are tigerella tomatoes and their stripes are emerging nicely as they change colour.

Various projects I have been working on have also come to fruition and are ready to harvest this week! Partly as a result of these I have been updating my homepage of the website and I have to say I’m pleased with how it’s looking.

You may have seen on my newsletter or social media posts that I have something very exciting happening with The Knitter. Barragán Shawl is The Knitter’s Autumn 2023 knit-along, designed by me in McIntosh’s BFL (Bluefaced Leicester) yarn. It’s a gorgeous British wool and the colours I chose, MY Serenity and MY Joy, are stunning.

The shawl is called Barragán, named after the Mexican architect, Louis Barragán (1902 – 1988) who is quoted as saying, “A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy”. With serenity and joy being the names of the colourways I chose it seemed absolute serendipity when I came across this quote and I had to name the shawl after him.

You can pre-order a yarn kit direct from McIntosh. (By using this link, if you decide to buy a kit, I get a little commission!). Part One of the KAL is out in Issue 194 of The Knitter on October 4th, so in order to receive your yarn kit in time, pre-order by September 29th.

Another piece of exciting design release news relates to my Petulia shawl which I designed for RiverKnits. It is going to be launched at Yarndale, this coming weekend (September 23rd and 24th)!

There are still some tickets available for timed entry to Yarndale on the Sunday if you haven’t got one yet. The pattern is a big one; there are two shawl shapes within the one pattern. Both versions use the same two-colour brioche leaf motif as a structural building block. The smaller version of Petulia is symmetrical and uses 2 x 50g skeins of Chimera and 1 x 100g skein of Nene 4ply, the other is larger, asymmetrical and flamboyant and uses 3 x 50g skeins of Chimera and 2 x 100g skeins of Nene 4ply. If you’re going to Yarndale look out for my large Petulia shawl on the RiverKnits stand – they’re on stand F1!

Just as with Tiffany and Agnes, Petulia will be available exclusively from RiverKnits for the first six months, after which I will be selling the pattern as well.

I finished sewing the zipped project bags on Thursday and was really pleased with how they turned out. I even discovered that my sewing machine has a thread cutter on the side, which I had no idea about, despite having had my sewing machine for over 6 years – doh!

Sewing the tabs on the side was the trickiest part – 12 layers of fabric, 2 layers of fusible fleece and a zip to keep lined up! I’ll be adding them to the website later this week.

Yarn Gathering on Sunday was fantastic. We had a dozen wonderful vendors and over 160 visitors. I really loved seeing all the people in The Daniel Owen Centre having a good time, chatting about yarn, weaving, crochet, knitting and dyeing.

Some of the best moments of the day for me were when knitters came to show me their finished projects, either on a photo or in real life – I wish I’d thought to take some pics of them, but it only occurred to me afterwards…

There have been some great posts on social media, with folk showing off their purchases. The day ran smoothly, after the slightly scary moment when we opened the fire doors to the car park and the alarm went off! Fortunately one of the lovely people from the venue arrived a few minutes later, turned it off and all was quiet again!

My workshops at Shaz’s Shabby Chic are going well and I’ve booked some more dates in for October – more details to follow very soon. Working with Colour – Slip Stitch Knitting is tomorrow (you can still book a place!) and I’ve had fun digging out samples of my designs that use slip stitches to create colour patterns.

If you want to expand (or begin) your knitting skills why not sign up for a workshop? The October workshops will be available to book by the end of week.

Yet again, the day is running away from me and I need to get this posted. I will tell you all about how tomorrow’s workshop goes next week and hopefully I’ll have some news about how Petulia was received at Yarndale.

Until then, take care one and all, K x

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And Then There Were Two…

You know I enjoyed the sewing workshop last week, when I made the zipped pouch with Jo Paloma Makes at Amanda’s Fabrics? Well, I enjoyed it so much I made another! There will be more…

Are these boxy little bags something you’d like to see on my stand at yarn shows?

I’ve also finished, blocked and photographed my new sample of Amy March Shawl (though I haven’t updated the pics on the webpage yet), so I shall have the new sample and printed patterns with me at the Pop Up Wool Show on Saturday at Hulme Hall. In fact, I’ll have Amy March AND the updated version of Marianne Half Hap – as well as all my other patterns of course!

This week has also seen the completion of the second sock of the largest size in my new design that will be out in October. The pic shows it just after turning the heel. That’s five socks I’ve knitted using this pattern now. I’m going to make one of each of the second and third sizes as well, in different yarns, so folk can see how the pattern works well with striped, semi-solid, variegated and speckled yarns. The pattern still needs a name, but I have a few ideas now, so it won’t be nameless for too much longer.

My Mystical Lanterns Blanket, designed by Janie Crow, now has a fifth row. It’s interesting to see how, despite the random colour selection process, some colours are grouping together in the same area of a row each time. I think I shall have to give the bag a good shake after I put the yarn balls back in next time.

There’s even been some spinning! Having been working hard at getting thicker yarns more consistently I decided to ring the changes and explore the higher ‘gears’ or ratios on my spinning wheel. That just involves moving the elastic band that links the big wheel turned by my feet to the small wheel that spins the bobbin where the yarn goes.

The higher the ratio, the faster the top wheel spins and the faster the yarn goes on to the bobbin. While I’ve been getting used to it I’ve actually slowed my feet down dramatically, just so the fibre doesn’t fly out of my hands before I’ve put enough twist in it to hold together. But it’s certainly more successful than the last time I ventured onto the fastest end of my wheel and this time there was no swearing!

My week hasn’t been all yarn and fabric based. I’ve been busy designing and editing the flyers for my knitting workshops taking place at Shaz’s Shabby Chic and advertising them on social media.

If you know someone who would like to learn to knit from scratch or develop their skills further with slip stitch knitting or knitting in the round, please send them in my direction! You can even scan the QR code in the image above with your phone’s camera, which will take you straight to Ticketsource where you’ll find all the details for each class and be able to book tickets (or click the link!).

The final preparations for the Pop Up Wool Show are taking place, with printing of patterns, checking of kits and wooden items, clarifying my display set-up etc.

I know that I’ve got a space against a wall this year, which is good for me, and I hope you’ll come and say hello to me and my lovely wife if you get the chance.

I couldn’t leave you without mentioning Yarn Gathering.

We’ve got 12 lovely vendors lined up for you this year. There are a few more folk to add to the webpage, but do have a look and see who’s coming. There will be some cafes open in Mold, parking is free on a Sunday (as is entry to Yarn Gathering), and of course, the Mold Food and Drink Festival will be taking place as well, so there is a lot to come and enjoy on September 17th!

What have you been up to this week? Take care and I hope to see some of you on Saturday! Kx

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Do It All Over Again

My new sample of Marianne Half Hap in RiverKnits Northampton Shear Shetland Lace is now blocked and awaiting some proper photos. I’m very pleased with how it has turned out – and the fact that it uses less than 100g laceweight yarn! The updated pattern with new photographs (and some other general improvements to the layout) will be available soon and I will definitely have printed copies of it with me at the Pop Up Wool Show on August 19th.

As I mentioned last week, finishing this new sample of Marianne means that I have been able to cast on my new sample of Amy March Shawl. This uses two skeins of 4-ply yarn from The Yarn Artist: I’m enjoying working with it and am very pleased with how it’s looking already! As I was knitting my new sample of Marianne as my project for the Summer Knit-along, and that runs until August 2nd when the final Show & Tell Zoom takes places, I thought it was only right I should get another knit-along project on the needles asap. Tickets are available for the Show & Tell Zoom event – if you’ve been knitting one of my designs during the past month and a bit, it would be lovely to see what you have created.

One of the things I love about 2-colour brioche knitting is that both sides look great – and very different! More about brioche knitting later on.

I’ve been burning stitch marker pots this week – and coasters and hearts as well! If you’ve seen my stitch marker pots before you’ll notice the ones at the back in this pic are considerably bigger than ones I’ve had previously, at 6cm diameter. These are more the type of pot you would have on the table by where you knit, whereas the smaller ones are ideal to throw in a project bag with just the stitch markers you’ll need for that project – especially as the smaller pots have screw lids! I’ve enjoyed trying out a couple of new designs, as well as working out how to get the lines fine enough on the balls of yarn on the medium pots – that required a very steady hand. Again these will be with me at the Pop Up Wool Show in Port Sunlight next month.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I have a new shawl design coming out with RiverKnits. Let me introduce you to Petulia – a lacy, 2-colour brioche shawl!

We had been hoping to launch Petulia this month, but the pattern will actually now be coming out in September – so it’s not too long to wait. These are not the official pics, just a couple I took before sending the shawl off to Becci and Markus, and both both shots show the large asymmetrical version of the shawl which takes 3 x 50g Chimera and 2 x 100g Nene 4-ply. It is a big shawl! However, there is also a smaller, symmetrical version using the same motif that only takes 2 x 50g Chimera and 1 x 100g Nene 4-ply. And BOTH of these designs are included in the pattern!

When I was at Wool@J13 in May, several folk loved and bought the pattern for Honeybun Cardigan and many more would have got a copy if the sizing had gone beyond 8 years, as they wanted to make it for themselves. I have made a couple of steps in the direction of sizing Honeybun up for grown-ups: I’ve chosen (and bought) new colours for the adult sample, and set up a new spreadsheet. I’ve got a couple of submission deadlines coming up in the next couple of weeks, and then I hope to get cracking on this as soon as I can!

Alongside all this planning ahead, it’s good to look back and see how the journey is going. Can you believe it’s now 11 years since New York Nights was published in Issue 11 of Knit Now? This beaded lace stole was my first ‘proper’ publication and I was SO excited it made the front cover. I still get really excited, but I no longer go round all the local shops that stock a magazine I’m in and place it at the front of the shelves (I have to admit I did do that with this particular issue!)!

New York Nights Knit Now 11 Front Cover

Yarn Gathering plans are coming on well. It will be taking place at the Daniel Owen Centre in Mold on Sunday 17th September, coinciding with the Food and Drink Festival, just like last year. There are a few small changes, but if it worked well last year, it will be happening again. We have some returning vendors and some new vendors, and we have a new logo! We’ll be revealing this on social media in the next few days, the website will be updated with all the info and I’ll share the logo here next week too as I know not everyone uses social media. It’s very cool and has been designed by someone who really knows what they’re doing!

Last week’s leaving ‘do’ for my lovely wife was super by the way. Just right. I don’t have anything quite as momentous to do this evening, but I will be deciding on the best finish for my stitch marker pots and coasters, as well as starting my fifth row of the Mystical Lanterns blanket!

‘Til next week, take care, K x

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Signs of Life

I’m sitting at my desk watching the sunshine on the garden and enjoying the range of colour that has emerged over the past few weeks. The blackcurrant bush is now in full leaf and the redcurrant isn’t far behind. The daffodils are looking mightily impressive and the camellias are both absolutely covered in flowers. Even the hellebores are still looking good – though I may need to deadhead them soon to avoid the garden becoming covered with seeds!

The birds are pairing up – there’s been a very attentive wood pigeon bowing to another on the fence most days and there are two robins in the garden. They must be a pair as robins are far too territorial to allow another ‘random’ robin into their space.

I finally sowed the veg seed just over a week ago – with the weather being so variable I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to snow again! Nothing is showing yet, but I’m keeping everything crossed. It’s last year’s seed, but it should still be good for this year. If we’re lucky we’ll get some broad beans, edamame beans, French beans, cucamelon, courgettes of various sorts and mange tout. If we’re not lucky we should at least have the fruit from the fruit bushes!

I’ve started knitting my own Tiffany shawl! RiverKnits have the original version, and they have very kindly provided a Shadow Rainbow mini set of Nene 4-ply for me to knit my own. This is great as the pattern rights have now returned to me and it will be wonderful to have the shawl in person when selling the design at shows. I have a long train journey tomorrow – more on this next week! – and I’m hoping to get a good chunk of Tiffany done during the ride.

Speaking of shows, I’m looking forward to going to Wonderwool on Sunday – it’s a great day out in mid Wales and it will be lovely to say hello to some familiar faces. If you’re there and you see me, do say hi – and please tell me who you are! It is of course also the day that the new national ’emergency alert’ system is going to be tested, sending a loud sound and message to all smartphones. I’m glad we know what time it will be (3pm) as those of us who would prefer not to be in a big shed with thousands of other phones going off at once will have a chance to pop outside beforehand.

Going to yarn shows as a ‘punter’ is a very different experience from being at one as an exhibitor and I find it always gives me ideas for new ways I could display samples or patterns. I better not have too many new ideas though as Buxton Wool Gathering is only two weeks after Wonderwool and Wool@J13 is the week after Buxton!

Something new I have done recently is to sign up to Ko-fi.com. You’ll notice a floating button on my website now with a pic of a coffee cup that says “Support me”. I may change the text to “buy me a cuppa” or something else. (Ironically I don’t actually drink coffee – it gives me migraines!)

I’ve done this so folk who like what I do and want to support me, but don’t currently need a knitting pattern, knitting kit or wooden treat, can now do so. I’ve had non-knitting friends buy a knitting pattern in the past as they’ve wanted to support what I do and Ko-fi seems a practical approach to this.

I’m not planning on doing ‘memberships’ as I can’t promise regular exclusive content when I’m already writing a weekly blog and doing daily social media posts across four platforms. It is only me running this business after all.

It’s appropriate that tonight is my Finishing Techniques workshop, as this morning I have been weaving in ends and seaming half of the child’s cardigan I’m designing (remember I was about to cast on the first sleeve just after last week’s post?). I still have one sleeve to weave in the ends of and seam, before I join it to the body. Then it’s just the button band to knit, and that runs all around the edge of the body. And that reminds me that I need to buy some buttons! I may take some of the cardi along with me this evening to show how much of a difference it makes when you match up the increases or decreases on each side of a seam.

When I get to this stage of a project that my brain starts turning to the next design (or two). I’ve pulled my favourite stitch dictionaries off the shelf and onto my desk, and the pages of my bullet journal are starting to be filled with sketches and charts once more as well as daily lists of things to do. Again it’s a design that I won’t be able show you for quite a few months, but I am very excited to start working with this yarn – the colours are delicious:

I’m still going with song titles where I can for blog titles – today’s is a song by Pink Floyd from the album ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’, the first ‘proper’ band I got into when I was 14. It’s quite surreal.

Take care of yourselves, I’ll be back next week! Kx

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Yarndale!

Last weekend at Yarndale was great fun and I had a lovely time hanging out on the RiverKnits stand with Becci and Markus (and Bryn). I was very lucky that, as well as it being the launch of Agnes and Tiffany (the two new shawls), they had also invited me to bring some of my other patterns and samples with me – so I had half a table and a long clothes rail to display my stuff on.

This is the fab video that Becci took of the stand just before everything got going on Day 1 – clicking play will take you to Instagram to see the video, but that’s ok – I’ll wait for you to come back!

It was the first two-day event I’ve been at for the whole time, and folk are right – that concrete floor gets mightily cold! However, the marching band that came around regularly on the Saturday helped warm us up and get the blood moving as you couldn’t help but dance to the beat.

There was no band on Sunday, but instead some rather large sheep did the rounds – pursued by a very friendly sheepdog! Unfortunately, my pic of the sheepdog is rather out of focus as I was laughing so much when I took it – the dog kept pausing to wag its tail!

It was wonderful to talk to people about yarn all weekend – and so lovely to see reactions to Agnes and Tiffany as people came towards the stand. I certainly got a big boost from hearing all the comments and from talking to people about their plans for knitting them.

Another bonus was being able to look round the rest of the show, especially on Sunday morning shortly before opening. Getting a chance to chat to some of the other vendors (including some who had been at Yarn Gathering the weekend before – hello Tanya from The Woolly Tangle and Lyn from Gwennol Designs!!) was great too.

So, Yarndale is done, and Agnes and Tiffany are launched. What’s next?

There will be a “Cast-on/Cast-off; Beginning and Ending Well” workshop at Yarn O’clock on October 18th, 6.30-9pm. There are only going to be 4 spaces, so book early! (I know there have been some requests for another brioche workshop and that will be coming, but not until at least November).

I’ll be teaching three workshops at The Knit-Tea Retreat in Cardiff on October 22nd-23rd: Moebius Knitting, Stacked Stitches (learning to use the techniques used so spectacularly by Xandy Peters in their designs), and Cast-on/Cast-off. I’ll also have a stand at their marketplace on the Sunday afternoon.

I’m working on plans for the next MKAL with Yarn O’clock (you’re not getting any clues as to what it’ll be yet!) that we’re aiming to run in January. In fact, swatching for this is taking place this week!

AND, there will be a third RiverKnits shawl joining Agnes and Tiffany! I got to choose the yarn and discuss ideas for it at the weekend. Here’s a real teaser in the form of a black and white photo so you can’t even tell what the yarn colours are:

Phew! I think I’m going to have to make the spaces bigger in my forward planning section of my next bullet journal as the pace of things is definitely picking up.

What are you up to at the moment? What are you working on or planning to make next?

I heard a wonderful quote this morning, apparently from Albert Einstein:

“Creativity is intelligence having fun”.

Albert Einstein

And we all need all the fun we can get, right? It’s been shown (not sure where, so I can’t give you the citation) that even forty minutes of making/crafting is truly beneficial to your brain chemicals. So, go make something. And take care out there, K x

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We Made It Happen!

I can hardly believe it’s just two days since Yarn Gathering. It was a wonderful day and everyone who came as both vendors and customers were really enthusiastic about the event. We’ve already had people asking when the next one will be! To which we gently reply – next year. Once a year is enough, especially as there are so many other yarn shows around the UK to which people have commitments.

I was really busy on my stand throughout much of the day, which is my way of saying, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t take any photos”! There are some photos and videos of the day taken by Anne on the Yarn Gathering North Wales Instagram page and if you search the #YarnGatheringNorthWales or #YarnGatheringMold hashtag you’ll see some other posts too!

I popped into Yarn O’clock this morning to see Anne, and we both said, “We did it! Was it real?!” There is such a sense of relief that it all came together, everything worked, everyone turned up and no one had to pull out through illness. Add to that the sense of accomplishment at making something really happen and the tiredness of having run a stand myself as well and it starts to feel a bit dreamlike!

A special thank you has to go to The Daniel Owen Centre for hiring the building out to us and allowing us to move furniture around to suit our needs. Also to Rick from The Gathering cafe in Mold for his AMAZING vegan blueberry muffins that kept the vendors topped up with sugar and blueberry goodness through the day (great call on that one, Anne!). And, also to Mold Town Council, the Mold Food and Drink Festival, and all the shopkeepers in Mold and Buckley who all put posters up for us!

So, that’s done, and it’s on to the next adventures. I promised you some exciting news this week and I am indeed able to share two big things with you.

The two shawls I have designed for RiverKnits are going to be launched this weekend at Yarndale in Skipton! Here they are in all their glory; Agnes:

And Tiffany:

I will be there, on the RiverKnits stand (K10) during the weekend (10-12 and 2.30-4.30 both days), so please come and say hello if you’re going to Yarndale. I will also have a selection of my other designs with me there, both the samples and printed patterns, all of which can be made using RiverKnits yarns!

The second piece of exciting news I have is that I am one of the tutors at the Knit-Tea Retreat at Insole Court in Cardiff next month, October 22nd-23rd! I was really pleased to be invited to teach at this event – I went to one of their online retreats during lockdown and really enjoyed it. There are three other tutors and we will be offering a wide range of workshops. There are interviews with each of us on the Knit-Tea Retreat website so you can find out more about us and what we are offering, but in brief:

I will be teaching Möbius Knitting, Stacked Stitches and Cast-on/Cast-off. There will also be workshops on Beginner Crochet Amigurumi, Fun with Fibre and Intro to Drop Spinning with Angela Hart, Lino Printing with Bethan of Joy House Creations and Yoga for Crafters with Lisa Hassan-Scott! There will be a marketplace on the Sunday afternoon (where I’ll have a stand), and lots of tea and cake and opportunities for socialising with other knitters and crafters.

If this sounds like your cup of tea (see what I did there? 😉), have a look at the Knit-Tea Retreat website. Places are limited and you don’t want to miss out!

In the meantime, I need to finish printing out copies of patterns to take with me to Yarndale (I’ve just run out of A3 paper, so that’s something I’ll need to tackle first thing tomorrow), finish writing up the pattern for my secret knitting – it’s blocked out beautifully and I’m so pleased with it – and get it posted off to it’s destination and, at some point, finish the ironing. Have you noticed the word ‘finish’ is cropping up a lot here?! I’ve done most of the printing, about 85% of the writing up of the pattern and half of the ironing, but none of these jobs are done until they’re done – and finished!

Yesterday, as you can’t have failed to notice in the UK, was the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth. Even though I’ve found the media coverage of the past ten days somewhat overwhelming, we did watch the procession and the services on the tv. The precision and hours that went into making that happen were breathtaking, and the music was exceptional. It was wonderful to hear so many pieces that I know well and have sung myself over the years. There was a lot more of the events of the day covered than I was anticipating (though the previous days’ coverage should have given me a heads up!), but I could at least knit on the comfort of our sofa whilst dipping in and out.

Take care one and all, hold those you love close when you can, and come and say hi in Skipton if you’re there at the weekend! K x

P.S. I’m currently enjoying my use of the Oxford comma – if you know, you know!