knits to share and care

finally!

the new book is here.

hurray!

Gerard Allt: a National Treasure

I think most of us already knew this, but when Gerard appeared on ITV this week on The Alan Titchmarsh Show his status as National treasure was secured - and he even has a plaque to prove it!

Gerard was with Jonathan from Sloe Motion in a section about 'Winter Warmers'. Amazingly G didn't bring any sloe gin home with him. If you look closely you can see a collection of Gerard's knitted goodies (including the now famous sheep tea cosy). He was brilliant. I saw lots of Alan Titchmarsh recently when I was off with my trapped nerve and I can say that G is in esteemed company - as it says he is now among an elite group of "the Best of British, from the unsung heroes to our biggest stars". LOL!

You can watch the interview here - click on the 'Winter Warmers' clip. Anyone coming to the knitting group tonight, form an orderly queue, only one autograph per person please!

Cx

The cat's out of the knitting bag...

So, it's finally out! We've been sitting on the plans for the first official UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day for a couple of months now and, to be honest, we've been bursting to tell everyone about it...and now we have it feels like a huge release! Now we can concentrate on putting together a great day for everyone - and we've got some plans for a really special day out for knitters, not least the first chance to meet SnB founder Debbie Stoller.

It's funny how things happen, and it's probably worth going through how this all came about. Those who know us will already know how surprised and thrilled we genuinely were about being given the opportunity to host this event, which came from Debbie herself. We took part, last November, in the official SnB Day in Rotterdam, where Debbie appeared and signed copies of her last book. This is where we first met her and had a chat about stuff, but it never entered our mind that, only a year later we'd be hosting a similar event in the UK. When Debbie asked if we'd do it we jumped at the chance...then realised just what we'd got ourselves into. It was a real honour and a real challenge and a really scary thought at the same time! But, now we've had a couple of months to calm down we are so looking forward to it...so thanks to DS for asking (and also, more selfishly, for bringing out a book of men's patterns!) and, if you know IKL or know us, you'll know that this will be a knitting day like no other! We're looking for yarn producers big and small to take part, with a chance to buy direct from some of the best independent knitty folk in this country and from overseas...keep your eyes on the website for regular updates about who's appearing, selling, exhibiting...

Getting the news of SnB Day finally out of our system came at just the right time, after a hectic weekend spent in Liverpool and London. We both went up to Gerard's home place on Thursday for a friends' wedding/civil partnership (the knitted garters and nipple tassles went down a storm - thanks Sue!). I have always been a bit ambivalent about the whole 'gay marriage' thing, and G and I have never given it any serious thought, although, I must say it's a good excuse for a party. It was long, champagne-soaked day, torrential rain for most of it, but a great party which finshed, very civilly, just after midnight. Back on the train Saturday morning and straight to work...

Then, straight to Duckie after that! It's our last Saturday night this week (28th) for our residency in the knitting gazebo. It's been a really great experience, meeting so many folk, teaching people to knit in the least likely environment and creating something quite special. People have been surprisingly up for getting involved, knitting up their favourite bits of London, and it's another blow for those who think knitting is dying, or just reserved for a particular stereotyped group. When you're sitting outside a nightclub in London on a Saturday night, surrounded by people knitting there's really no way anyone can deny that craft is back!

Craig

Without You I'm Knitting...

Whose idea was it to knit til 2am on a Saturday night in one of London's most famous gay discoteques? It was a brilliant idea, and although we are both a little weary and hungover we can honestly say we enjoyed ourselves at Duckie last night. Our little project was to inspire folks to knit something that represents their favourite bit of London, for whatever reason, and hang them with a tag from the roof of the knitting gazebo. Bearing in mind most of those who got involved had never knitted before in their lives I think it was a bloody great success which is just as well because we're doing every Saturday night in July!

We had the usual funny looks and naysayers who refused to let their cool down (ha, what do they know about being cool...we were knitting!) and I think we taught more people to garter stitch last night than we have since we started IKL. All of the creations will be posted up on the website this week, and if you want to get involved without coming to the RVT on a Saturday you can send us stuff to the usual IKL address and we'll include it in the project - just remeber to attach a tag and tell us what it is and why you chose it...

This is our giant pom-pom/glitterball made from plastic, that represents, of course, Amy and Duckie, which we hung from the ceiling of the tent. We also had Victoria Park in Hackney, the river, Big Ben, a pink handbag and a tale of coming out, a vegan-knitted protest against city farms (knit in acrylic, of course), the Southbank Centre, rats, diversity, a rock from the stone circle in Lewisham, a fish from the Aquarium, a book from the British Library...and all with a story to tell!

And to keep the knitting theme there was even a knitting quiz, where Gerard realised a lifetime's ambition and became an independent adjudicator!

More of the same next Saturday!

Now, a short recovery period of an hour before we embark on our smokefree knitting pub crawl at 2pm this afternoon...I swear this knitting will be the death of us!

Here Gerard shows the least toxic way of enjoying a fag...actually if you lit this it would probably be 100 times more toxic than a real one!