I've been knitting presents

There is a birthday coming up and I've been organised. This is the Forest Canopy Shawl, by Susan Lawrence, in Adriafil Cashmere. It's nice and chunky and so soft.
The yarn works really well with this lace leaf pattern and it took no time to knit. It feels like real luxury and I can't wait to send it to the birthday girl.
I've also made a surprise baby jacket, Elizabeth Zimmerman. This is for Rosie's baby - as yet unborn but due last Friday! Rosie taught me to knit and I'm especially excited about making stuff for her baby.
I've noticed a green theme. I love green. I used Manos Wool Classica for this jacket, a solid and a variegated in lighter tones to make the stripes. I'm not very good at determining the size of surprise baby jackets. The last on I made was for my nephew, Louis, who was six months old. It came out just the right size to fit a very small newborn. It wasn't wasted, it went to my other nephew, James, who was then yet to be born.
You may not be able to tell from this photo but this jacket came out just the right size for a toddler. Oh well. Rosie still wants it so that's marvelous.

Gxx

aren't they lovely?

Thank you all for your comments. I know I'm part of a community of brilliant people and I appreciate your support and sentiment. I'm sure the person who took the hat was not a knitter. How could they be?
This is a picture I took on Thursday night. Aren't they gorgeous?! We had a special visitor from the North. She brought good tiding and fabulous hand made wood buttons and shawl pins. Chris, just at the end of the table with short hair and teal sweater and a raised arm, is just gorgeous, she runs A Fine Yarn, a wool shop in Darlington.

Gxx

2009...

We've been a bit quiet as we were having a lie down! Now it's 2009 we're gearing up again for another year of yarny things and we can't wait. It's only the 5th but already Gerard has been on the telly (he jokes that he'll do anything to get on telly...and I';m starting to believe him). His 2009 debut was on today's Working Lunch where he spoke, very briefly, about how knitting, although not cheaper than buying from Asda, is a quality alternative to having clothes that fall apart and that handmade clothes simply mean more than those made on machines somewhere in the world. He took along some qiviut and some affordable wool to show that there's a huge choice...but didn't really get to speak about it much. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer this week (programme dated 5th January).

So, the world is falling apart...but we're still knitting. It looks like the knitters are going strong too. We've been closed over Christmas and New Year but opened up again on Friday and were swamped with yarnoholics after their next fix. It was a stampede. OK, it wasn't a stampede but it was encouraging to see that not everyone has retreated into hibernation until this credit crunch thing is over. Of course, for every ball of cashmere there's a ball of Emu Superwash so even with tight pursestrings there's still opportunities to make stuff. We splurged over Christmas and actually spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a lovely hotel overlooking Big Ben and the London Eye. Sadly, despite the shop being closed I still had to go to work on Boxing Day (and every day since then) but the 2 days were a nice little respite. Locked away in our posh hotel room felt very decadent - but it was more chocolate and crisps than champagne and cocaine. Still, it felt good!

We both got a little bit sick after that and we spent NYE watching the telly at home instead of venturing out. Is it age or common sense? Or both? London on NYE just doesn't do it for us anymore. We like a comfy sofa... and it's too bloody cold to go out!

So, what happens now...? More of the same I suppose. We are starting tonight with our second annual Big New Year Knit-In at the Royal Festival Hall. An excuse to get the year started with a group of knitters, lots of chatter and all the chocolates we didn't manage to get through...

tea party

we had a marvelous time yesterday at the tea party. The special event was to celebrate the publication of two marvelous books - Wild Tea Cozies, by Loani Prior and Knitted Cakes by Susan Penny.

We served about 150 cups of tea and there was probably an equal number of slices of cake, biscuits and brownies. There was a huge turn out and competition for the 'bake off' was fierce. We thought the bake off was a great way to ensure that knitted cakes were not the only cake on offer and I for one am glad we did it and grateful to everyone who spent their time baking.

I couldn't manage more than 4 servings of cake but between us - the panel of judges - we did manage to indulge in all the offerings. All the cakes were amazing, from the walnut cake to the tequila and lime cupcakes, the ginger cake to the lemon drizzle, the brownies and the cookies, I also loved the scones! Consequently, we wanted all the cooks to win first prize. As it was we did award 2 winners, Jo's heavenly chocolate brownies with white chocolate chunks and Emily's New York cheesecake. The cheesecake came out overall winner as most of the panel were self-confessed chocoholics and were naturally inclined to go with the brownies but they still felt compelled to vote for the cheesecake.

I thought they were all winners. i missed the perfect moment to be Brucie, though! I could have told each person they were my favorite but I think the sugar rush hindered me considerably.

We even had fruit!

Thanks to everyone for being brilliant and baking all the cakes. It was a marvelous afternoon, should we do it once a month?

I leave you with a couple of shots of some very content I Knit London shop staff.

Gxx

did I say relax?

As if!

It's been so long since I blogged properly that Craig has started gently encouraging me to get back to it. The thing is, I'm always so tired and never have any knitting to put up because, actually, running a knitting shop prevents you from doing any knitting. Which, I suppose, is one of life's little ironies.

Not so little, of course.

I still don’t really understand my life. I never have, really – Stephanie Pearl McPhee said that knitters are incomprehensible and I laughed knowingly. I’ve always felt incomprehensible to the people that matter most to me, another irony. This meant I often felt uneasy. I don’t feel uneasy any more though. This feels like the most natural way of being. I love this life, the knitting, the knitters, the events, the cider, the authors and designers, the artists and of course, the wool – ohmygod the wool, we’ve just got some of the most extraordinary Wensleydale in lace and DK, it made my mouth water. I wonder if I’ll ever get to knit anything with it?

The I Knit Day was amazing. I know lots of people enjoyed themselves and I’m thrilled. We worked really hard on putting it together and reading the blogs has been brilliant. A few of them actually made me cry because it made me feel so proud that I didn’t really know how to deal with it. We did a good thing and I’m glad loads of you enjoyed it.

The run up to the show was probably the single most stressful time, ever! We vowed that we were not going to do it again. However, we started planning next year as we sat in an (almost) empty Lawrence Hall waiting for the AA to come and start our van. It was the last thing we wanted but secretly I was so glad to be able to sit down and relax and eat some of the weird stuff brought from Netherlands by Hilly and Carla. The stroopwafels were great but there was some weird liquorice.

There are so many people to thank. I’ve thanked them in person so I wont name-check anyone here, except my Mum and Dad and sisters and nephews who traveled from Liverpool to share it with Craig and I. It was really important to me that they were there.

So Knitting…erm, I’ve started lots of things – tea cosy, anyone? More on that soon. Another Elizabeth Zimmerman surprise baby jacket, another EZ conch hat to replace the one Lorraine fell in love with, booties and socks using Natural Dye studio Angel. It’s amazingly soft – baby alpaca, cashmere and silk. I would put up pictures but this shop has bee moved around so often I’m dizzy. It seems to have swallowed first my camera and now my mobile phone. (not that bothered about the latter to be honest).

AND – the book is out soon! I’ll probably have copies with 6 weeks.

We’re already working on the next book! We’re already working on the next show, too, so please don’t miss out, if you thought 2008 was great you will not believe what we’re trying to make happen for 2009.

On top of all that, Strictly Come Dancing has started again! Well, that’s just a small extra when because I’ve got Craig. With every day he gets more amazing.

Gxx

I Knit Day 2008

It's been a whirlwind week. Back in February we confirmed that I Knit Day was happening, we'd chosen our birthday weekend and we'd heard from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee that she'd come over as our special guest. From that day to this it's been a bit hectic. Sometimes we've wondered why we're doing it, sometimes I wonder where the days have gone. With Gerard as I Knit's only full-time 'member of staff' sometimes I just wonder if we are completely bonkers. But on Saturday it all came together and I Knit Day came and went as quick as a flash. For about three weeks now I've been saying, usually at about 3 o'clock in the morning, "I'm NOT doing this again next year!" but I enjoyed Saturday so much that I might have changed my mind....we'll see what we can do!

But, for this year it was a culmination of sleepless nights, arguments, meetings, phonecalls, about a million emails and lots of persuasion, hard work and, well, money. We've been reading the blogs and the Ravelry forum with huge smiles on our faces and we're chuffed to bits that so many people enjoyed themselves. We're just ignoring the ones complaining about cups of tea and the rain. We know there were some problems which we'll sort our for next year but going around that fantastic hall on Saturday and seeing so many knitters with ridiculously large grins on their faces made it all worthwhile. Yes, of course, we're sorry the heavens opened precisely at the time hundreds of people were queueing for the Yarn Harlot (despite Gerard's likeness, he can't control such things!) and we're also a bit cheesed off about the sandwich situation - but nice to see knitters with initiative heading round the corner to the nearest café. But we hope everything else made up for it..and there was quite a lot of everything else!

For us, this started back in February, but the reality kicked in on Thursday morning when Stephanie touched down in the UK. Gerard swiftly headed off to her hotel with a fruit parcel and a bottle of bubbly in hand. Reading Stephanie's blog over the last few days has been entertaining and eye-opening and it's great to see the city from someone else's view, especially someone with such a way with words. I'm really pleased to see that Stephanie did what I advise all visitors to do; stay off the the Tube and walk. You see so much and the city just opens up before you; history, culture, community, London life. I've spent hours trawling the streets and there's always something new to see. Stephanie's jetlag meant we didn't get to meet her in person until Friday when we recce'ed the venue (see Steph's Friday blog - yes, she really did say "I'm not doing it!" We just laughed nervously.) Then it was off for lunch with Stephanie, Roz from Search Press, Claire Bowles (PR), Billy and Joanna from Melia Publishing and the two of us. After the meal, and a few beers, we were happy to find that Stephanie was well up for it. Phew!

The rest of Friday is a blur really. I think we probably spent most of the evening carrying heavy boxes of books, loading our van and driving to and fro. It's not all glamourous celebrity knitters you know? We do work too. A special part of the whole weekend was having Gerard's family together with us for the first time in London - his mum and dad, two sisters and two nephews all in tow to lend a hand, show some support and generally look all glowing and proud. We spent late Friday in the pub at their hotel and calmed down before the day ahead. We should mention here that, although this whole event has been planned and organised by Gerard and myself, we would not have got through the whole thing without the help of friends who volunteered to help out on the day. From the moment you stepped through those (fabulous) Art Deco doors you will have met a whole host of people who worked their socks off to keep the whole day running. They are old friends and new friends from the knitting group and at the risk of gushing, they are all brilliant and without them we'd have been lost. From ticket takers to queue movers, chaperones and booksellers they kept the whole thing going while Gerard and I ran about like headless chickens!

So, Saturday arrived. we were up at 5am to load more stuff, including the big sheep, and head off to the venue. Waiting outside at 8am with an expectant group of exhibitors was an interesting experience. This was it. When those doors opened we were the only two people who knew what was going to happen, we were (gulp)...responsible. Us? How did that happen? When the queue started to form outside the main entrance just before 11am the realisation that all these people had been brought to this place by us set in...and the realisation that if this all went t*** up we'd be surrounding by thousands of angry knitters (and we know what they're like!) with pointy sticks. The thought of escape crossed our minds a number of times. But, when it came to it, seeing those first few faces entering the hall to be met with a deluge of yarn and a big smile put my mind at rest. It was to be a good day.

The rest of the day is also a blur, but I remember a few things distinctly; I remember Jane Sowerby's table-ful of the most amazing lace shawls; I remember a glorious fashion show from Susan at knitonthenet and Jane Wallers' A Stitch in Time; I remember Gerard in Erika Knight's fashion show taking the easy way out with a hat then looking super in his chunky cabled cardi; I remember hundreds of eager knitters queueing in the rain to see the Yarn Harlot; I remember the rapturous welcome we gave her when she emerged from behind that curtain; I remember seeing Elly for the first time in ages and giving her a great big hug and feeling a bit emotional about it; I remember getting one chance (and one chance only!) to wander around the hall and check that everyone on the stalls was happy (they were); I remember introducing Mazzmatazz and feeling a frisson of excitement from the crowd; I remember saying "Erika Knight is here!"; I remember thinking, on more than one occasion, "is it me or is this just the most bonkers thing we've ever done?..."

By 7 o'clock it was all over. There are just too many things I've forgotten to mention, too many people to thank. But, to all of our special guests, to Stephanie, to everyone who booked a stand, to all the charity projects, to all the knitted aliens, to everyone who bought a ticket and to our sponsors at http://www.knitonthenet.com/ we just say "thanks and we'll see you again next year".

One final thing to say is that I'm devastated that we didn't get a single photograph of the show. With this in mind we make a plea that anyone with pics share them on the Flickr group. If you don't mind me taking a few to illustrate this blog please let me know and I will do so.

Craig

The final countdown.

Get your air guitars out! Diddle-der-der diddle-di-di-der! It's the final countdown....

We've been to-ing and fro-ing form the Horticultural Halls all day in our big van, loading, unloading and stopping off for a couple of hours for lunch with the Yarn Harlot. Stephanie, it was really very nice to finally get to meet you in the flesh and I hope you find your knitters tonight...or maybe you've snuggled up in the hotel away from the weather...?

Anyway, this is short and sweet as I'm being called to carry some more boxes and Gerard can't quite believe I'm writing a blog when there's so much work to do! I mean, honestly, after almost 9 months of work I think I can take a few minutes to say a few words....?

Up at 7am for an early start in the morning...then the fun really begins.

Craig

7 days to Yarn Harlot...

If you're wondering where we've been for the last two weeks, well wonder no more for we are still here. With so much to do for next week's show the blogging just hasn't been a priority. But, very late Friday night and taking a break from proof-reading our programme and trying to please everyone who's coming to the show I thought I'd pop by the blog and post abou what's been happening since 14th August.

One thing's for sure...not much knitting. Personally my knitting output has ground to a halt, while Gerard still manages to find time to get a little action in. But I don't feel the loss too greatly, after all the day-to-day business of 18 hour days keeps my mind occupied. Since the last blog we made the decision (which has been coming for some time) that we'd discontinue our Wednesday knitting pub nights. Not that the knitting group is going anywhere soon, we'll still be hosting that every Wednesday and Thursday, but we'll be inviting people to join us at IKL instead. There's many reasons for this, including the strain it's been putting us under keeping up to the chedule for the last, almost, three years. but we're all very proud of IKL and it's now a great place for knitters to come together so we feel like we're not losing out by having the knitting group here permanently. It's now so easy to get to that meeting in a pub a short walk away seemed a pointless exercise. Plus, there are now so many groups across London who meet up in the pub, or café or wherever that those who do miss it can get a fix pretty much any night of the week. but we're not giving it up completely...as always when one idea ends another starts and we'll be certainly doing more of our one-off knit sessions, special events to keep us occupied.

The knitting group were on the telly too - last Friday, Channel 5 News! Big time! Talking of which, Gerard may well be spotted in the forthcoming CelebAir reality TV show which starts on ITV2 next week. He was on the inaugural flight which left Gatwick for Alicante last Tuesday. He was there for about three hours, then he flew back again. The life of jetsetting knitting celeb is all glamour. How many of us can say we went to Alicante with her from Steps, Andi Peters and Chico? I know...I'm jealous too. Still, we have to big up Miss Amy Lamé and wish her the best of luck with the Great British Public. If you're likely to be taking a CelebAir flight in the next few weeks give her a good rating on your feedback form!

So, only a week to go before I Knit Day. It comes around so fast. Stephanie will be arriving on Friday and we have the honour of taking her out for a meal (a nice break from setting up 60 market stalls)...then it's showtime. In the meanwhile I'm just going to get back to my list of things to do. I'm up to number 24...only another 53 to go.

see yous all next Saturday (nervous breakdown permitting)

Craig

Knitting SW and weekly round-up!

We've been away again! Breaks are like buses for us - we don't have one for ages then two come along at once. No sooner were we back from Camp Bestival than we headed back to Dorset for a weekend with Melody Rose. Melody is a mythical, legendary being - for it is she who taught Gerard how to knit. A very special person indeed I'm sure you'll agree. Please give up the love to Rosie on Ravelry (melodymolyneux)! We had a great time down SW, a weekend that involved sea walks, ice creams and trespassing in stately homes. Whilst in Worth Matravers (if you visit over the summer do pop in to see Rosie selling her ice creams in the village 'shop') we discovered the grave of Benjamin Jesty - ever wondered what else you could use your knitting needles for? Well, it's said that Mr Jesty, who discovered innoculation, did so by experimenting on his family, injecting them with cowpox using a knitting needle. Lovely. By the way, if you're visiting wareham don't bother looking for old knitting patterns in the charity shops because we cleared them all out. Some cracking ones to boot.



On Monday we headed further SW to Cornwall. Those who read the blog and come along to the knitting group or the shop may have met Tom Tillery, our knitting gent and sometime actor. Tom is appearing at the incredible Minack Theatre in(pictured) all this week in Curioser and Curioser, based on the stories of Alice by Lewis Carroll. Sadly, Cornwall seems to be the only part of the UK without sunshine - so we endured gale force winds and rain for the three days we were there - the theatre is carved into the cliffside overlooking the sea and that can get a bit choppy. Tuesdays performance was abandoned halfway through, but there was still a frisson of excitement sitting high up on the cliffs watching the show. We were camping at a nearby site and the lovely last night weather really cheered us up. Thought we were going to get blown away, tent and all, in the middle of the night. But, long walks during the daytime around some of the hidden coves and country lanes more than made up for the crap weather, along with some rather nice local cider.


Back to London and quickly back to normality on Wednesday for knitting at the Royal Festival Hall. We melted. Last night wasn't much better at the shop either, but things are looking up folks! Looks like it's not so sunny today. We were packed in last night and the new Brothers Pear and Strawberry cider was going down a treat. it was good to see an illicit Adipose pattern wafting around too - IKL, a den of smuggling and black market shenanigans!

Whilst we were away there was, of course, the excitement of the Guardian knitting supplement which, to all intents and purposes, did the job and went down a treat (mostly!). To see knitting in mainstream newspapers is always exciting, so to see a whole supplement was almost orgasmic, whether it includes Gerard or not. Congrats to Mazzmatazz (unmasked at last!) and those who put the thing together. On the flipside of that we also had the knitted Hitler debacle, which was whipped up by The Sun and The Telegraph to name two. Rachel Matthews' latest publicity stunt seems to have polarised opinion...but one thing that everyone seems to agree on is....Why? It now seems there isn't a book of knitting patterns for Pol Pot etc after all. Oh well, still got in the papers didn't it? We are a bit peprlexed by the whole thing. Oh, yeah, right we knitters are all cool, edgy, subversive blah, blah, blah.

Yesterday we went along the the Royal Horticultural Halls to do a recce ahead of next month's I Knit Day. We came away much encouraged by proceedings - we think it's going to be great (but we would, wouldn't we?) There's a good chance there'll be a small number of extra tickets available for the Yarn Harlot talk now that we've done the sums, counted the chairs and measured the space! We'll announce details of these, and standing room, in our weekly newsletter for those who wish to snap them up. but, tickets are still available right now for the show which gets bigger each week - just confirmed is Sasha Kagan!

Also confirmed for a bit later is Franklin Habit. Also known by his blog, The Panopticon. Franklin will be along to I Knit London on 13th November to launch his new book of knitting cartoons, It Itches, and talk about his blog and stuff. We're very thrilled indeed. We're looking at more of the same for IKL over the coming months, so look out for more special guests poppping up.


That's about it for a round up of this week's stuff. We'll get back to regular randomness now we are back in the swing of things.

I have photos to add, but as is usual with Blogger they don't load. I'll try again later.



Craig

Camp Bestival and In The Loop

We've been quite for a while, not because we disappeared and took it easy but because we've been travelling along the south coat - more specifically to the In The Loop conference in Winchester, followed by Camp Bestival, where we hosted the UK's first festival knitting tent. More of that later....

Our first port of call was Winchester for a really special three-day knitting conference. Speakers ranged from r Martin Polley discussing Sportsmen and their sweaters: Using knitting patterns as historical reference (a favourite with the crowd due to the use of a certain undies ad featuring Freddie Ljundberg), to Sabrina Gschwandtner, Jennie Atkinson, Jane Waller and Rachel Beth Egenhofer's knitting/technology work. We were treated to a splendid array of subjects, plus got to meet the speakers, recent graduate artists and other delegates. There were many familiar faces to Gerard and myself, and hopefully we made some new ones too. Some of the talks and presentations meant more to us than others, and we were disappointed with the preponderence of machine-knitting and mass market knitwear presentations, but on the whole it was a brillaint three days. Some work by a couple of recent graduates will be shown at our I Knit Day in September and we hope to be giving our own presentation next year! If you can make it to Winchester it is well worth stopping by to visit the knitting refernece library, and, in Southampton the Montse Stanley collection which partly inspired the conference in the first place. One of the highlights for me was when I skipped out at lunchtime and did my now traditional charity shop crawl - came away with a few choice books, including Patricia Roberts Knitting Book 2. Best of all though was a market stall with a huge box full of patterns - they weren't cheap but I got them anyway and have quite a few nice 1930s and 1940s ones mixed in amongst the other stuff. They can be seen at the shop, where we are still deciding exactly what to do with all of our old patterns. After a terrible night's camping (nice campsite, shame it was next to a dual carriageway!) we opted for the posh option and stayed in a hotel for the rest of the stay!

That wasn't an option for rest of the weekend though, as we drove along to Lulworth castle to set up our Camp Bestival knitting tent. When Rob called way back when to ask if we'd like to do it we jumped at the chance. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! But not everything we do is a success, and there were thoughts that perhaps this could be one of those forgettable times! I'm ever the pessimist! Gerard, on the other hand, just believes everything is brilliant (he's right, of course) so all he needs to look to the heavens for is more beer (pictured). Who wants to knit at a festival anyway? Well, by the looks of it, quite a few people. The knitting tent was packed all weekend and we pretty much covered our fabulous Great British Sheep in glorious knitting. This was a genuinely family-friendly festival and the kids got so into it that the sheep now has an amazing finger-knitted necklace. But it was incredibly reassuring to see so many young people, including some very tiny ones, who could already knit, and especially the number of boys who didn't shirk from getting involved. it's interesting that they haven't (yet) received any of the stereotypes or hang-ups that quite a few men seem to encounter when they come near a ball of yarn and some needles - that said, we must pay respect to all the blokes who got down and knitted with us too. We had a brilliant team of volunteers who worked their bloody socks of all weekend and we thank them.

This was a really different festival -such a great atmosphere all weekend, mainly helped by the number of young 'uns running around. As Wayne Coyne (Flmaing Lips) said during his Saturday night headline slot, "I can't believe how many kids are here! All you people under 10 years old I want you to remember this moment and when you're older, turn to your parents and thank them for being so fucking COOL for bringing you to a festival like this!" How right you are Mr Coyle. It was loveliness all the way, and we even met up with some friends from The Shellac Sisters and regulars at the shop and knitting group too.

One of our main reasons for creating The Great British Sheep and taking parts in events like Camp Bestival are to get people knitting. We don't care how 'cool' it is, how old the knitters are, how crap you are at it, just as long as you're making stuff it doesn't really matter. It was great to see so many people getting involved and we must've taught well over a hundred people their first casting on and off. We just hope they take something away from the knitting tent and keep it up. It was certainly a resounding success and we're looking forward to doing it all over again next year.

And, if you really must say knitting's cool, then....we did have Kate Nash (pictured) along for the afternoon on Sunday and she gave the knitting tent a mention on the main stage during her set too. OK, so knitting is cool after all.

We could write so much more about the weekend, but at our age our memories don't hold much info. instead, take a look at our pictures for more...

The World Wide Knit in Public Big London Knitty Treasure Hunt

Today, Saturday 14th June, was Worldwide Knit in Public Day 2008. All over the world knitting groups got together, large and small and knit together. Here at IKL we celebrated the day with the first ever London knitty treasure hunt featuring cryptic clues, celebrities, knitting around London's most famous landmarks, hunting knitty treasure and learning to knit and walk at the same time!



A massive thanks to everyone who came along to take part. We eventually had 20 teams and 63 entrants all of whom got well into the spirit of things and followed our clues from Waterloo, The Old Vic (below) along the South Bank, over Waterloo Bridge, into Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square (left) and home to the IKL shop via Big Ben and Banksy's Leake Street tunnel. Congratulations to the victors, team 4 Ply, a fabulous achievement especially as they produced the 2nd longest scarf! Late arrivals, team Unprepared who arrived about two hours after the first team had headed off and arrived back after the prize-giving ceremony with a whopping 117 points. They took home some prizes but due to their lateness they sadly didn't qualify but congratulations on a fabulous effort. Congratulations also to team A Tension Seeker for winning the WWKIP Day scarf challenge with a humungous 90+ inches long (beating the 4 Ply team into second with only 86")!

Along the way teams discovered bits of hidden London, they knitted on Routemaster buses, they knitted with policemen and street performers, pearly kings and queens and celebrities (congratulations to the teams who met and knit with Terry Pratchett and Una Stubbs!). We saw Laurence Olivier wearing a knitted hat, Field Marshall Monty with a legwarmer and Charlie Chaplin with a knitted scarf (all statues of course), and special mention to team Pop who, aptly, sabotaged the balloons of fellow treasure hunters in a display of ruthless competitiveness (which ultimately didn't do them any good!)

I hope a brilliant day was had by all. I popped over into town to search for teams mid-afternoon and got lost amidst the throngs at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, but well done for sheer tenacity in finishing the course. We've even learnt to say "I Knit" in 21 different languages, including Urdu and Kiribati!

Please post your pictures from the day's events to the free I Knit on Flickr group. If you haven't an account you can join up now or send us the photos by email to info@iknit.org.uk and we can put them up for you - show everyone how you got on, and we really want to see Una!

A few of the challenges included:

knitting on a Routemaster bus - yes, there are still Routemasters running in london and a few of our teams managed to get on and knit on this London icon

knitting with a celebrity - only a few teams scored points on this ne. Terry Pratchett was popular with three teams knitting his presence, but top marks to the team who knitted with Una Stubbs (who was also an answer to one of the questions!)

dressing up statues in knitting - from Laurence Olivier and Charlie Chaplin to Frank Dobson's 'London Pride' sculpture, London statues were kitted out in knittiness from armbands and woolly hats to legwarmers and scarves

knitting with the Old Bill - London's boys and girls in blue were (for the most part) only too happy to pose with knitters for WWKIP Day!

knit at landmarks beginning with P, U, R and L - Ok, so we gots lots of knitting in front of the London Eye and the River Thames, but what about a Urinal!?

knit with a Pearly king or Queen - ah, yes, those quintessentially Cockney characters. We Londoners see them all the time right..? Well, surprisingly three teams did manage to meet up and knit with some genuine Pearly Kings and Queens!

find a knitty street sign - how about The Strand? New Row? Obscuring the letters of Wootton Street was a more creative entry!

Once again, HUGE thanks to all knitters...let's do it all again next year...?

Animal alphabet...

It was another busy knitting group on Thursday night, with the usual stuff going on, including the consumption of cider and the sharing of a few tips and ideas....we also started our IKL Polaroid photo gallery which you can see adorning the walls of the shop very soon. You can be included too, all you need to do is come to one of our knit nights! Welcome back to Jon, too, who we haven't seen in a while, so busy is he with making more of gorgeous Easy Knits yarn. At the end of the night we all tried to work out the conundrum emblazoned on Justine's chest:

Leave your answers here! We're stuck on X, and N...?

{EDIT}...and for bonus points...which one is the odd one out, and why?

London pride

Last Sunday we both walked across the windy, snowy Waterloo Bridge from where we saw the set up for the Olympic torch relay. Our disinterest in the occasion seemed to be shared by most other Londoners, with a flaccid crowd of spectators overrun by a well-organise bunch of protestors. We saw the approaching Coca-Cola advert (there was a bus hidden beneath) and the farcical deployment of our police service riding motorcycles and lining the route.

Some of those free 'news' papers have suggested the whole day was an embarassment to London - far from it. I'm proud that in this country it's possible to stand up and demonstrate and have your voice heard without fear of persecution. This was far from an embarassment but a moment to be proud of. The whole worldwide journey is a crass attempt to advertise China as modern, democratic country irrespective of it's appalling human rights record. What was really embarassing was the likes of Konnie Huq and Denise van Outen smiling inanely amongst the Chinese bodyguards and police - surely there are better ways to promote your 'career'?

We love local...

It's ironic, after our last post, that we woke up to discover that one of our favourite local shops has closed down. It's very easy to say 'support your local shops' and all that but go to the supermarket every day instead. We live in a flat in Vauxhall and there's a huge Sainsbury's so it's not easy to support the local shops - we are pleased to say that we do try, including some of the local Portuguese delis in the area. But we did patronise the bakery on the corner regularly...so it was a shocker when I went past this morning to see it had closed down. Kaye's Of Lambeth was literally a family-run company in Lambeth for 70 years, started in the 1930s and sadly now swiftly and unexpectedly erased from the streets of Vauxhall. Gerard, especially, will miss their rye bread. It comes at a time when we find ourselves moving into a very local street, and only days after finding the We Love Local website. It's funny how things happen all together sometimes. It's also weird timing as we did go into Sainsbury's last night and partaking of a special offer on Rosé...what struck me was that the receipt said I'd saved £5.99. But, actually, I'd spent £18 I wouldn't have spent to get the saving...so I didn't save anything. It's obvious, but I still fall for the tricks of the supermarkets!

Craig

A house is not a home...

So we're now counting the days until Saturday's opening day at Waterloo. There seems to be so much still to do, which isn't helped by finger injuries and bad backs! One of the things you lucky knitters can look forward to is the new loo! For anyone's who's been along to the knitting nights at Bonnington Square you may have experienced the basement toilet, which is functional but memorable for all the wrong reasons. The new shop had a fairly grimy counterpart until I took a hammer to it. That wasn't my best idea, although it does mean we have a nice new one for everyone to sit on. Hurray. Pictures are proving impossible to load, but maybe that's a blessing!

The shop is taking shape. It's an empty shell with some of the previous fittings and fixtures in place. In an ideal world we'd start from scratch but time and money are against us on that one. We're of the opinion that IKL is more than just bricks and mortar though, and when it's filled with the sound of chattering knitters it could be a barn and it'd still be great. The best thing about the new space is that it's so much bigger...which means more room for yarn, more room for lounging around and more room for classes. As Hal David once wrote, "A room is a still a room, even when there's nothin' there but gloom. But a room is not a house and a house is not a home"...which, basically means I'm trying to say that it's what happens inside IKL that's the most important thing. Having said that, we have splashed out on some lovely new IKEA furniture to fill up with yarn and there's even a chance our new sign will be ready before we open, or perhaps not.

One of the things I'm looking forward to the most though is being part of Lower Marsh. Gerard and I both worked at the National Theatre (I still do!) so it's somewhere we're familiar with as it's so close to the South Bank. It's a really 'local' street, and there's been a market here for centuries. I'm always telling the story of how we stumbled upon the shop in Bonnington Square, and the same serendipity has landed us with the new address. Wandering past a few months ago I noticed the empty shop and thought we'd make the big decision to go for it. It was a clothes shop called The Closet (and all jokes about us both moving into the The Closet have already run dry!) There's a brilliant shop called Radio Days which has, in the past, been a destination for the ladies of the box office at Christmas Party time for a fancy frock or two. I like rooting through the fabulous vintage mags from the forties, and have picked up a few vintage knitting patterns in there too. Further up there's the retro What The Butler Wore for some 60s/70s fashions and next door to that one of the city's best kept secrets, the Scooterworks café. All this and a local bookshop, a couple of nice pubs, Iceland, Boots, sex shop and even the woodwind instrument shop! All it needs is a fabulous knitting shop and you've got a village in the centre of London! I fear that with Cubana at one end and The Walrus at the other we may see late nights at IKL go on til the wee small hours.

For a history of Lower Marsh and a view of some of the shops and cafés you'll find there check the Lower Marsh website.

London's newest knitting shop...

Sort of.

It's been just over two years since Gerard and I started I Knit London. Back then we were a regular knitting group, organising weekly meetings for knitters in London pubs. Every Wednesday we'd choose a pub, send out a newsletter and wait for people to arrive. So far, so easy. It's only ever worked because people came, what we did was really nothing at all. So we'd teach people how to do stuff, and sometimes they'd teach us and we all had a few drinks and got on like a house on fire, made new friends and made stuff. But there was more to do, there was a Sunday market stall at Spitalfields, a decision based on the fact Gerard couldn't buy any recylced sari silk in London, so thought he'd do it himself. Those very early Sunday mornings were very hard work and even if we didn't make back any of the stall rent, we met more knitters and we invited them along to our weekly pub meetings too. Our circle of friends got bigger and our plans did too. but, the last thing we wanted was a shop - why would we need another full-time job on top of the two we already had?

One of our local hang-outs was the Bonnington café, where I'd meet Gerard for lunch when it was my day off from the National Theatre, and he was working around the corner for WaterAid. I don't remember when it was that I first suggested asking about the corner shop, at that time looking pretty grim with the metal shutters down and a blight on the square to be honest. Gerard was working from 8am til 4pm so we thought we could run a shop for people after work, open from 4 to 9 and still give ourselves a little time to have a life. We'd close on Wednesdays so we could still go to the pubs and knit and all would be well. We knocked on a few doors, found the owner and decided to give it a go....and it's been an unexpected journey.

Shortly afterwards Gerard was promoted and had to stay on til 5pm. It's only an hour difference but somehow 5 to 9 each night didn't seem proper, so we got someone to sit there for afternoon, usually on their own, pretending to run a shop, only with no customers. This is when we decided to get our licence to sell alcohol and decided that we'd alternate our weekly knitting group between shop and pub, giving everyone a chance to come and discover IKL and to live up to the 'sanctuary' part of the name which we'd been adamant about from the start. And so it went on....

Recently I've been hearing that because we're a 'business' we're different to other knitting groups; somehow this makes us less worthy of praise, as if our 2 years of work is somehow reaping financial rewards. I only wish! True, Gerard did, finally give up his full-time job at the end of 2007, meaning he can now spend his time and energies on his first love, but it's also true that it means from two incomes we're down to only one! I'm glad the 14 hour working days are over, I'm ecstatic that we won't have to give up our flat and live in the shop again (well, not as far as we plan it anyway) but with only two of us running the shop and the knitting group, not to mention organising SnB Day last year and this year's I Knit Day, it's still a long way from time to relax and put our feet up.

So, the last thing we need right now is more stress and more sleepless nights - but we genuine love IKL so much that we're going to do that anyway...and we're moving. Bonnington Square has been good to us, it's been a beautiful place to rest our knitty heads and it will always be part of our IKL story...but there's always time to move on. Next week London has it's newest knitting shop, at 106 Lower Marsh, Waterloo, SE1. Open late, licenced bar, gorgeous yarns and still a place for knitters to drop-in, put their feet up and have a natter. We wouldn't miss it for the world and we hope knitters from London and those visiting the city think so too.

From a weekly pub knitting group to what we consider to be a very good local yarn store, it has been a long hard slog. We won't be retiring anytime soon and we'll continue to do our best to offer London's knitters what we think they want and need. To all those who think it's easy you are welcome to have a go, and for those who think we're in it for the money - well, I can only laugh! The one thing I will say is that I am never a do-er, I'm always a wannabe! Thanks to Gerard this has been the most interesting (most stressful, most exciting, most unpredictable, most fulfilling...) 2 years of my life. If you want to do something just do it...we are no businessmen, and I still feel like I'm making it up as I go along. The clever part is making it look, apparently, so easy.

I Knit London will open at Waterloo on Saturday 15th March....until then, there's lots of painting, scrubbing and shelf-building to get done!

The KNIFTAs..(formerly the CREAK Awards!)

Never mind the bloomin' Oscars...there's a new award show in town (sort of). After our recent post about the dirge of bad knitting on the telly we've decided to create a forum where those who can manage to knit and act at the same time are rewarded for their efforts.


So, we give you the first ever KNIFTAs (Knitting in Film and Television Awards). We need your nominations as follows:

Worst knitting/crochet/craft scene

• the criteria covers everything from a so-called actor- type pretending to knit/crochet when clearly they have no idea what they are doing, to simply, bad knitwear on screen.

Best knitting/crochet/craft scene

• opposite of the above; this award will go to the turn who shows that knitting and acting are possible at the same time. Extra kudos will be given if the knitting is a symbolic metaphor for a deeply meaningful moment…

Best knitwear

• I think I know which film might win this one…but the title says it all. Nominate the film that contains a piece (or pieces) of knitwear you just couldn’t take your eyes off!

Oustanding Contribution award

• you can’t nominate for this, but we’ll be recognising the efforts of someone to keep knitting on our screens too…

It’s all a bit of a laugh and we’ll be announcing the winners later this year…you never know we might even have a ceremony at I Knit Day if we get enough votes!

Rules (sorry there has to be oneor two) - all nominated films must have played in UK/US cinemas, or been shown on UK/US television in the last year or two. We’ll watch all the nominees and our judging panel will rate them…

For movie inspiration you can check out our own ‘knitting in films’ page. Post your nominations here or on the Ravelry I knit group message board, where you also argue/discuss the other nominations. I hope we can make this a funny little awards ceremony!

Pearls of wisdom

As you can imagine it's been a bit hectic so far this week. Monday we put our tickets on sale for this year's I Knit Day and they were whipped up at a vast rate of knots - but don't panic knitters, there's plenty left! Sadly our current technology means it's a laborious process this end but we can live with that. Now it's planning the rest of the show that needs our attention. It's great to hear all the great comments about Yarn Harlot's first UK trip, so thanks for that. I'm feeling much as I did last year about the UK SnB Day - can't quite believe we're doing it and amazed it's happening only a couple of years after we started the knitting group. Things constantly surprise me, and this is one of them. I don't know where we've found the time, effort and energy over the past two years to go from knitting one night in the pub to having a knitting shop and running a new annual knitting show. I don't take any of the credit though - this is entirely down to two things. 1. Gerard 2. support from all the knitters. It still feels like we're blagging it, but at times like this I always remember sleeping on the shop floor for four months on an inflatable mattress, living literally out of a suitcase, showering in our local gym (not as often as I'd have liked to!) and spending 3 hours every Sunday in the launderette and realise...there's still loads more to do!

With all the hectic-ness it was a nice respite to get out and spend some time with the Kniterati book group last night. Kniterati was Justine's idea (nowadays always to be followed by the phrase 'CaveFelem on Ravelry'). Last night was an interesting one because we were being recorded for a university project which is looking into the phenomena of the book group and how each differs or what unites them. The research has taken in a number of different types of group so far, and our knitting 'angle' made it quirky enough for inclusion. But it gave us all a chance to not only talk about the book (The Pearl by John Steinbeck) but also discuss the group itself. It was fascinating. I've never been in a book group before and don't do a huge amount of reading (who has the time...!?) and I was conscious of being inadequately intellectual to take part. That's such a ridiculous notion though, having now experienced it, and the chats are informal and educational, and sometimes heated! One of the best bits though is when we veer off the book for a while and move onto the career of Alan Dale (he's from New Zealand NOT Australia) or how scary 28 Weeks later... is. Anyway, the next book was chosen and is The Road by Cormac McCarthy, quite topical after the Oscars for the adaptation of his No Country For Old Men. Amazingly, having read only about 10 books in my lifetime, I have read one of his before, and loved it, so looking forward to this one. In fact I am taking advantage of the morphine induced mobility to go into town and get myself a copy right after this.

Craig

Curfews and cute pressies...

I've no idea what was going on last night, but every Thursday we hold the knitting group meeting in the shop. It's usually a great way to relax after work, much more chilled out than our Wednesday pub meetings and a chance to wind down. I couldn't make it due to back issues, but Gerard was holding the fort...til 1am! Blimey, I know there's always some gossip but thats got to be the latest knitting get-together we've ever had. I might have to set up a curfew, or at least limit the amount of cider we sell, especially to Gerard, or from what I hear, to some of our regulars too. Anyway, I'm a bit sad I missed it, it sounds like it was a memorable evening...

Recently I posted here on the blog about some of the negativity we've had in the past, even from fellow knitters, who for some reason can't just be happy to have another lovely yarn shop in London. It grates, especially when you put so much work and so many sleepless nights into something, not for yourself but for others too. But you can't please everyone I guess. Anyway, I wanted to post about the nice things we get too. Whenever we see a post on Ravelry from someone we don't know, but who has been to the knitting club or the shop and enjoyed themselves it obviously makes us know it's worthwhile. I've worked in a theatre for many years and have never understood the role of critics, or more distinctly, I've never understood why people would base a decision to see a play on someone else's opinion, unless you read them all to get the bigger picture. So, it's great to get good comments, but when we're slagged off it's always sensible just to take a moment and be introspective - sometimes you can get too big for your boots! Most of the negativity we've encountered so far at IKL has been petty nonsense and jealousy so, for now, we're happy, but bad feedback is probably more important than good feedback!

One of the nice things that's happened over the past two years is that we've met some great new people, some who have become friends, and we've received some lovely pressies too! being ill always brings the charity out in people! This little fella, "Lamby" is from regular Lynsey. I've always been conscious of the knitting group becoming a clique where newbies won't feel welcome - but, although we do have a close group of friends, they are actually only our friends because of the knitting get-togethers in the first place. I think we do manage to keep our group open and friendly. Lynsey came to us early last year, and joined our beginner's knitting class. She has become an IKL mainstay, a regular at the meetings and has even graduated to shop girl on occasion. Lynsey is brilliant - the way she's taken the yarny challenge with so much enthusiasm is a bit inspirational actually. She's obsessed with it and has done about a billion more projects than I have. The fact that Lamby Lamb Lamb here is wearing his own bespoke IKL jumper, knitted especially for him by Lyns is, frankly, gorgeous! And those letters are knitted into the work not just sewn on top y'know. She also made me the little cat in the picture below to cheer me up while I've been off. Bless you Lynsey, you are marvellous. Another marvellous knitter is the much-missed Esther. She's away on the other side of the world right now but there's always a presence, especially in the shop as she has showered us with pressies and postcards since she first started coming along the meetings. There are some people you just like as soon as you meet them, and you always remember when and where that was. With Esther it was at the pub knit night, at The Wellington on the Strand. Not a great pub but it was summer of 2006 and we sat outside till it got dark. A great group that night, among them Esther. If you're lucky
enough to come to a shop meeting and Esther's there you can guarantee she'll bring some cakes and chocolate. Everytime. Recently she gave us this tea-towel (kitsch? how very dare you?). If you can't read it it's The Knitter's Song by Marjorie Carrier (I've copied it out below) I love it's retro cheesiness (and I mean that in a nice way, I do really love it). Weirdly it reminds me of a competition I entered at primary school - someone collected tea-towels and brought in about 50 of them. They were hung up on the wall of the assembly hall. We had to look at them for a minute then turn around and write down as many as we could remember. What a bizarre memory that has literally just come back after never bothering my little head for 28 years!

Talking of being cheesy - the best present has been kept til last though. When we got confirmation from Stephanie that she was coming to do our show in September. That made me nearly wet meself with excitement. When things like this happen, when you spend months trying to sort things out, when you have sleepless nights thinking it's all going to go arse up it's a big relief! Not that I've stopped worrying - no, this is just the start. I will be stressed out every day until 7th September now! Luckily, Gerard is much more philosophical and a little calmer than I.

Craig


The Knitter's Song by Marjorie Carrier

Clickety clack, clackerty clack,
The knitters at work - knit and purl back.
In two-ply or three-, mohair or double,
the knitting keeps growing, without any trouble.

Sometimes machine, often on pins,
the knitter is busy and has no sins!
The garments are splendid admired by all,
"Knit one for me" is everyone's call.

The colours are gorgeous, in all sorts of hues,
they cheer all those who suffer the blues.
"So keep on knitting", is everyone's cry,
"For we love knitting!" is our reply.

Marjorie Carrier, 1990, for The Button Lady

I Knit, in 2008, with...

..Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.
In our ongoing endeavours to bring the UK the best of everything knitty we are delighted to be able to announce that the Yarn Harlot will be with us at the I Knit Show on 6 September.

Stephanie will be with us for a talk and a booksigning. We're thrilled that Stephanie will join us at the show in what will be her first UK appearance. Her new book looks to be as great as, if not better than, her previous books!!!

The tickets will be on sale first to our mailing list members, early next week. Visit our website, http://www.iknit.org.uk/newsletter.html , to put yourself on the list!

Knitty negativity and the community spirit...

Living in London can sometimes be a joy, sometimes not, but I'm lucky in that my journey to work in the morning is just a short 20 minutes bus ride. Since we moved to south London four years ago we rarely take the Tube anywhere and it's very possible it's saved my sanity. I used to travel in from Leyton on the central line and may have exploded if I'd still been doing that. One of the things that makes commuting so much more bearable though is knitting for the journey. There's been a few posts on the Ravelry forums recently about public reaction to commuter knitting, and also reaction from other knitters.

I think it's fair to say that there's a small element of pride or even exhibitionism in most of us, and I know sometimes when I get my pins out on the bus I enjoy the staring. Other times, though, especially now I'm struggling with my first DPN project, I'm so in the zone that I barely notice anyone. Sometimes it's harder to concentrate than others - this morning I was sitting in front of two blonde girls, and I hate to perpetuate the stereotype but, blimey, could they talk - about everything, especially their boyfriends, one of whom, appropriately, was called Ken. I ain't kidding.

Anyways, there was a post on the Ravelry forum recently about a fellow knitter who spotted another knitter on their train and found a seat opposite. When they got their knitting out they expected some kind of reaction - but nothing, not even a little smile, or a Freemason-like secret sign that they were both crafting together on the packed train. It raised the question - just because we knit, does it mean we're going to like other knitters. At first I'd have said it does - since we started the knitting group hundreds of people have turned up in a central London pub, on their own, settled down and joined in. One of the things that makes the group so accessible is that (apart form being a friendly bunch in the first place!) you know that you'll have at least one thing in common with the others there. Going into a pub on your own is hard enough but knowing there'll be a common thread (no pun intended) is always a good start. But should we really expect everyone to get on?

I remember saying many times, I've never met a knitter who wasn't nice, but it's not true, sadly. People drawn to the same activities are very likely to have other things in common and get on with one another but I guess it shouldn't be taking for granted - we've had such great times and can now count the majority of our close friends as people we've met through I Knit London, but still, every now and then, we smack into a wall of negativity from someone who knits. Why? I suppose you can't get on with everyone, and despite what we do there's always the pessimists who don't believe in altruism or good-naturedness. On the whole the knitters we meet are all lovely, and long may it continue, but if you do find yourself in a situation where a fellow stitcher doesn't seem as excited don't be too disheartened - it's a big wide world and our differences are just as important as the things that bind us together. Gerard and I are in a number of interesting minority groups but it doesn't mean we like everyone else in those groups too (except the knitters, of course....we love you all!)

The Big New Year Knit-In

Last night we held the first I Knit London meeting of the new Year, and saw a big bunch of knitters, crocheters and one loom-knitter all gathered at the Royal Festival Hall for a really good night. It was brill to see so many new faces, and we got a few new knitters on the needle too with some basic tuition....lollies and chocolates went down well too! We took over quite a large area, rearranged the furniture and settled in for the night. We've got another get-together tonight in the shop and we're looking forward to a whole other year of weekly knitting groups for newbies and oldies alike!

And congratulations to Claire and Tom (below centre) who got themselves engaged just before Christmas (after a very protracted, well-organised and romantic proposal!). Some IKL regulars may recognise them from previous get-togethers, or you may have seen Tom on the telly when we did Eggheads. Also, congrats to Tom on starting his latest project!

If you come along to the shop anytime soon look out for this new Vodafone ad which is positioned very aptly at the end of our street. Aww, cute little smiley balls of yarn!

Y Viva Espana!

We've been away for Christmas and have avoided (almost) the interweb for the whole two weeks! But now we're back and raring to get knitting again! First things first, thanks to all who came to our Christmas party on the 20th - we really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great night. Thanks for all the Secret Santa pressies and the food. Crikey, there was enough to feed an army. We'll be adding some photos form the party and from our Christmas break onto our Flickr today.... Meanwhile, we managed to get around to knitting (and finishing) a number of pressies this year, the pièce de resistance being this poodle wine bottle cosy which I made for my stepmother as a bit of a joke. I actually didn't take enough yarn with me for the pom-poms, so we scoured the local town (Torre del Mar) for a knitting shop....and found two. That's why his pom-poms are a bit darker than the rest of him. He took pride of place in the centre of our Christmas dinner table!

We spent our holidays with her and dad in their Andalusian villa in the hills of Axarquia. Oh yes! It was lovely (despite powercuts, torrential rain and thunderstorms, plus swimming guinea pigs - the most memorable Christmas for a while saw me giving the kiss of life to a guinea pig, by candlelight on the kitchen counter!) To be fair, the torrential rain, thunderstorms and power cut only lasted one night and the rest of the time it was sunny. Getting back into the UK on New Year's Day was a bit chilly. It was a very refreshing, relaxing time away from everything, after a year of much organising, planning and drinking! We are ready for 2008 and we're both really excited about what's in store for I Knit....

One of the things may very well be a Wii Tournament! We treated ourselves to a Wii for Christmas and have become a little addicted to the tennis and the bowling. Our aim is to get everyone on the mqachine to have a bash at games night. Let the games begin....! Whilst away we did some of the real bowling too (although after one strike my back gave out). Here's G getting a throw in. We realised that playing bowling on the Wii is just as strenuous - both our arms were killing the next morning.

We also made a short day trip over to Tangier, which we expected to be full of Arabianm charm and mystery. It looks nice in this pic, but, frankly, it was a grim experience.

Happy New Year to everyone, see you knitting in 2008! If you haven't been along recently there are a few of our badges left with our New Year motto "I Knit for life not just for Christmas" - get 'em while we have 'em at ther knitting group meet-ups or in the shop.

Cx

I love working in a wool shop!

I think it must be the best job ever!We've had lots delivered this week, including some fabulous Amy Buter bags. perfect for your knitting!

Sue has made some brilliant ladies under garments. It's a good job we have a manequin because it's freezing in this shop!

They came with a couple of pasties!

I though they would make a groovy eye mask for those delicates who are sensitive to light at night, like me.
Pom Pom International is about to take over the world. We've got lots of kits in the shop.

I also love the silk with stainless steel from Habu, it's amazing. I didn't get a chance to do much though.
And lest I forget the Sloe Gin.
I'm really looking forward to the IKL Christmas party tomorrow. The Bucks Fizz is chilling and I can't wait to open the pringles.

I love Christmas.

Gxx

Taking it nice and sloe....

When Gerard appeared on The Alan Titchmarsh Show last month ( a now legendary TV moment) he met Jonathan from Sloemotion. This small company, based in Yorkshire, handpick sloes from hedgerows and steep them in vodka, whiskey and gin to make their gorgeous, syrupy drinks. G sampled some live on the show and it was only a matter of time before it arrived, by the case load, at IKL. G has been sampling all week (in the interest of customer service, of course) and can safely say it's worth the £15 a bottle price! We'll be dishing out shots at the Christmas party next week. Yesterday, we had some friends over for a Christmas lunch (our flat is so small it's nice to have a knitting shop to do this in!) and the sloe gin and champagne went down a treat, alongside G's famous salmon en croute. It was a lovely afternoon, and we got our first handmade card of the year courtesy of Hannah - you can't beat a bit of glitter glue and plastic diamante.

The 'sloe' pun is slightly misleading as, actually, we are both knitting furiously having left Christmas pressies too late yet again. I've just finished the Chulo hat in Artesano Hummingbird alpaca for an old friend, Ann (can't show a pic cos she reads the blog and it'll spoil the surprise), Gerard has started a shawl for his stepmother-in-law in the new Habu stainless steel and silk laceweight (below), and I'm now working on a really cheesy Poodle wine bottle cover from Erika Knight's New Knits book (although I've seen this particular pattern in many an old knitting pattern book from the 60s and 70s.

Of course all this means that my own Cobblestone Pullover by Jared (from IK Fall edition) will probably have to wait until the New Year, although we are going away to Spain for Christmas so I could start whilst lounging by the pool! In fact, Jared's a bit of a favourite at the moment, Gerard is working on the amazing Koolhaas hat too. Could it be for my Crimbo? Mmmm, probably not. Looks like my Secret Santa at work will be getting a quick knit Rowan Big Wool chunky scarf too so there's lots to be getting on with over the next week. I must remind myself to take my knitting along to the knitting group at The Cock this week - last pub meeting I grabbed my bag and discovered on arrival that I was both witless and knitless.

Our Sunday ended in the same way as many of our nights seem to end these day - in the Vauxhall Griffin. It's our local and it's a great antidote to going home and being sensible. If the Aspall's blush cider wasn't enough we are now completely addicted to the Carry On Quizzing game on the quiz machine....oh, and we get a few rounds of pool in too....

Weirdos at The Water Poet...

Last Wednesday we were knitting once again around London town - this time the pub was the cavernous Water Poet up by Spitalfields, which proved quite tricky for some to find - even G was ringing me at the shop asking for directions! I don't know about you, but I always find out where I'm going before I set off...?


But it was a good 'un. Early on we had a visit from a Belgian TV crew (will add picture later when Blogger is less temperamental) and we had some new boys learning too (above right). Go on lads! Jenny, in the same pic, put forward an idea about starting a group at her Uni, and we're up for that...more news as and when it happens. The other pic is representative of every knit night we have - a bit of knitting and a pint of beer. Perfect.

In fact, the Water Poet seemed a perfect location. Massive place with plenty of space, light enough to see your stitches and a good selection of booze. It all went a bit sour when the lights dimmed...but we asked nicely and they obliged, although the barmaid did say 'we have to think about the atmosphere' - as G said, we were the atmosphere! Anyway, when she raised her eyebrows and called us 'weirdos' I thought it was hilarious.....sadly, we probably won't patronise them again.

Cx

Weardowney

Another hangover, another knitting do last night. G and I went along to the official launch party for the new Weardowney: Knit Couture book in swanky Fitzrovia. As the event was partly sponsored by Hendricks Gin and Thorntons sweets you can imagine how my head and stomach feel this morning!

Weardowney launched at London Fashion Week in 2004 by founders Amy Wear and Gail Downey. Their fabulous Marylebone boutique offers custom-made handknits and more, in stylish surroundings and with a laudable outlook, promoting handknitting and creating some stunning designs. The party last night, at The Georgian Group, gave us all a chance to check out some of their creations, paw over the book and strike a few poses amongst the fashionistas. All that and cakes from Paul, canapés and cocktails!

We've had a copy of the book in the IKL shop for a while and it really is a thing of beauty. Quite inspirational too, G and I are constantly looking for new ideas and ways to promote knitting in all forms, so it's great to see we're not alone. Our brains are filled with ideas and shortly we should have more time to fulfill them! As the end of another year comes we're looking forward to 2008 with IKL going from strength to strength, expanding our knitty horizons - and everyone's welcome to be a part of it....watch this space!

After last night's party it's put us in mind of our own Christmas do too. We are having a well-earned break over Christmas so we've decided that on Thursday 20th, which will be the last IKL group meet-up of the year, we'll also host a little soirée for Xmas. Invites will be going out this week to all our Facebook group members, Ravelry group members and real-life group members too!

Cxx

Beautiful Bonnington Square...

G is away in Liverpool for a couple of days, visiting family and friends, and staying out til 4am according to his phonecall this morning. At our age that's a bit reckless. Anyways, I opened up the shop this morning and upon entering the world of Bonnington Square came upon this fragrant steaming pile. Now, we've been in the square for over a year now and it throws up some bizarre sights every so often, but piles of giant dinosaur turd, fresh, isn't a regular occurence. For anyone who has visited the shop they'll know just exactly what the square is like - an oasis, a sanctuary, a surprise. It's also home to the small but perfectly formed 'pleasure garden', a piece of reclaimed land that serves as a community garden, children's playground and refuge from the rest of Vauxhall. This is all in zone 1, just yards away from the six-lane South Lambeth Road, railway bridges and packed Vauxhall bus and Tube terminal. I remember first discovering the place a few years ago, meeting G for lunch in the brilliant unpretentious café and just being in awe of the place - not just the quietude, but the totally unexpected community feel, the jungle-like streets and the exotic flowers and plants. It's only because of the café that the shop, as it is, and where it is exists. We have often talked about the square here on the blog and at the knitting group but I don't think we've ever really given it, and it's people, enough credit for what they have created and for what that gives to us at I Knit London. We're the only shop anywhere near and some might say it's a business nightmare...but for us, our little knitting shop and sanctuary seems the perfect fit.

So, back to the pile of poo...the tireless garden association were having one of their regular gardening days today, hence enough manure to save the Amazon rainforest piled in the street. One of the wonders of the square is the upkeep, the spirit that keeps the square 'local'. Here's Draeyk, one of the first to pop his head round the door when we opened and a constant inspiration. If you've never visited the Bonnington Square café try Vegan Thursday - superb food, more than you could imagine and all fresh too. Apart from watching the squirrels playing in the square in summertime, the other thing that makes me smile is Draeyk cycling past on his way back from the allotment with a bike rack full of veg, knowing a few hours later it'll be served up to a packed crowd in the café!

The square is a model of how to still remain a community in the heart of a capital city and everyone who takes part in this community should be rightly proud. If you come along to any IKL event at the shop you must add a trip to the café to your visit - real food, great atmosphere and nastertiums in your salad!

(Thanks to Lynsey for the pics)

Craigx

Here we go round the Mulberry Bush...

I always find it difficult to get out of bed of a morning, especially on days like today. One of those gorgeous winter dawns where the sun is shining but the air is crispy and curling up under the duvet is like being back in the womb. Sadly, needs must and up we got.

I have a knitting hangover today, thanks to another great I Knit London knitting group night at the pub. Our alternate Wednesday pub nights continue apace with new knitters, old knitters and some crocheters too. Last night we met at The Mulberry Bush, a Youngs pub on the South Bank and were well met by a packed bar, Winter Warmer Ale and some smily knitting faces.
This was a new pub to the IKL club and it suited well. Good enough light, three choices of ale, plus the usual light pub grub. The evening was a little surreal as the venue is opposite the London Studios and The Graham Norton Show were filming 'ladies taking off their bras without removing their tops' at the front of the pub. I've been reliably informed that this is actually quite an easy thing to do, although none of the knitters felt the urge to get up and do it on the telly. I'm slightly bemused by this obsession gay men have with breasts - G, can you explain?
Another highlight of the evening was a FWIP moment (finished work-in-progress) - Alix held aloft her majestic lace shawl and it was a sight to behold. Still, after two years of doing all this pub knitting it's still surprising that our little gatherings are seen as so eccentric by some of the other drinkers. But, deep down, we love the attention!
More of the same in the shop tonight, and twice a week for the forseeable future!

Craigxx

The morning after the Stitch 'n Bitch Day before...

How was it for you?

From the first excitement back in April when Debbie first asked if we'd like to host an event "around my new book and my first trip to the UK" right up until Friday's night's set up I think we both were still pinching ourselves, feeling like a bit of a fake and wondering how did this happen?"!

From an original germ of an idea, something like Debbie in a room, a pile of books and a few pens to sign them with....we expanded...and expanded and settled for what happened yesterday. What did happen yesterday exactly?....ProbablyJane summed it up brilliantly on her Ravelry post this morning - it was like a big knitting party! Those who know us or come to our knitting group meetings will, I hope, agree that we've always wanted I Knit London to be more than just a shop, or a knitting circle. The social aspect is key to making everyone feel welcome and everyone feeling like they are part of IKL - and everyone is. Yesterday would not have been possible without the cool knittersand fabulous friends who turned up and stayed for the day - settled down, shopped,had a drink or two, met new knitty friends and learnt new stuff in the workshops.

For me, it was just thrilling to see everyone having such a good time, and a genuine 'buzz' about the place (thanks must go especially to the Shellacs for looking glorious as ever and providing the perfect backdrop to the day). I guess we need to thank everyone, from Debbie all the way down to the very last knitters who stayed to the bitter end....

We've set up a Flickr group for y'all to share any pics from the day (did anyone get some of the fashion parade - we'd love to see those!) Feel free to join the group and post away....

We especially liked to see our name in lights at last!! (Even if they did spell 'stitch' wrong - German girl input this apparently.) Come to this week's knitting club night at the Mulberry Bush on Wednesday for more SnB Day backstage gossip!

...and despite running around like headless chickens for most of the day, Gerard and I really, really enjoyed ourselves! We must do it again sometime...

Origins Ginger Knits stand

Knitting!

Pom Pom International!

Knitted hamsters!

...and lots more!

UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day...counting down...

What a mad weekend. I missed all the fun on Saturday when Jane came around to IKL and shone like a freshly polished crystal rosebowl. I think G was really taken with her, and I hope everyone had a good time. I've just had an email from a friend who popped along to the shop and couldn't get in the door! We must move somewhere bigger. It was great to see Jane's post last night about Gerard's pineapple pressie too. He's so thoughtful.

For me, I was working elsewhere and missed the fun, but joined G, Sue and Lynsey at the Vauxhall Griffin for leftover cake and cider, although I suspect they'd already had enough of both by the time I arrived at 9pm.

We like Sundays, they are our one day off after a 6 day week. But not yesterday. The UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day is just 3 weeks away and so much to be done! After a little setback when I left our ticket print sheets on the bus on Saturday (doh) we'll be sending them out this week, with a timetable and some info about the show - if you haven't got one, get one now!. There'll be a free programme on the day with more info and some lovely pics of us and stuff....I spent most of yesterday in the shop confirming details from the designers, the yarny people and the publishers. It's getting really exciting, and we've put up a timetable for the workshops and I Knit Lounge area already. But there's so much more to see and do, with charity projects there and, of course, shopping! We'll have the full website links active by the end of the week...

The difficult bit is trying to get everyone the chance to do something. Obviously not everyone will be able to attend the workshops as space is limited so we've decided to have some kind of registration on the day, and, perhaps for Debbie's Argyll scarf workshop (on the front cover of the book) we'll have to hold a lottery. I like the idea of a tombola. Very retro. Debbie emailed just the other day and she's really excited about it all, and the books are somewhere mid-Atlantic as I write. We're thrilled to say that the UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day will be the first and only place to get a copy in the UK before it's released!

And, just a note about the webpage. There's a curious mis-spelling; the gorgeous wool is from YorkshiRe!

Cx

Lavender, blue, Ally Pally...

After a very long week for Gerard we met up in Vauxhall with Elly and blogless Lynsey (as in de Paul) after their looong day at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. I'd been in the shop all day, with Sue and our one-day beginner's knitting session. To mark National Knitting Week we're having our big sale so I spent most of the day sorting through everything, pricing up the half price stuff and getting the buckets filled up. It was a grand day - hopefully everyone learning enjoyed the day, and with the big show in town it was nice to meet lots of visiting knitters who'd travelled south of the river (only just) to find out what I Knit London was all about!

So, Saturday night in Pico's, our local Portuguese restaurant, always packed and always super. Then to The Lavender - we couldn't avoid the rugby but the conversation was more about yarn, family, names, the Arctic musk ox and knitting. A couple of bottled of Chilean sauvignon blanc later and I think we were all pretty relaxed! And I am grateful for the discovery of Qiviut for online Scrabble!

But we were up very early on Sunday. Gerard has had his WaterAid cap on this week at the Ally Pally show, working there since Thursday, and today was the last day, and my first. So, up at 7am and off to north London. I've never been and the view of Alexandra Palace as we crested the brow of the hill, smothered in fog was quite spectacular. But what of the show? I loved it! It was so great to meet some of our knitty friends who I've only ever spoken to by email and phone - I spent most of the day flitting around from stall to stall...and met some new pals too - not least Amanda from The Natural Dye Studio (left) - you won't believe the amount of gorgeous alpaca and Blue-faced Leicester that will be gracing the IKL shelves from tomorrow! We also grabbed our first batch of Cherry Tree Hill's Sockittome and met Cheryl for the first time. It was funny being there from a business point-of-view, and although I was surprised just how much more non-knitting there was included, there was plenty to get your teeth into - we're certainly adding some new stock to the IKL shelves between now and Christmas, including some stuff we've never seen before - it's ironic that this all comes in the same week that a yarn we've wanted to stock for ages has become 'unavailable' to us (for reasons which I shan't dwell on here!). It's like the balance has been put right. But I was thrilled to meet up with Ann and Ruth from the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop (below) with whom I've had so many phone conversations - and we couldn't go away without grabbing some more stock too. And, Elaine and Nicola from Jamieson's of Shetland were another long-distance realtionaship where I could finally put names to faces! There were a bit camera shy, so no pics!

Ann & Ruth from the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop

Darlene from Handjive at the fabulous Habu stand

Laura and Loretta from the new knitting mag Let's Knit! - get a copy, it's brill and we're in it! Plus you get a free DVD too, how nice of them.

Gerard sits on the river, after four days, waiting for the taxi home - note, four bags and two boxes...wonder what's in there?

Of course the main reason we were involved in the Knitting and Stitching show this year was to show off our knitted river. I say 'our', really it belongs to all those who took part, knitting, crocheting and sewing up. There's always a message behind displays such as this and this time we were asking people to take the next step in the process, filling in cards to send to the Japanese Prime Minister. He's the pne who will be setting the agenda for next year's G8 summit and the more names we can muster the louder our voice will be to convince him that water and sanitation issues should be on the agenda and high up too. It's always difficult to engage some people with ideas like this, and this is why, not just because of the phenomenal response of 100,000 squares, I think the river works so successfully. It's an amazing thing that stops you in your tracks and gives us, the WaterAid volunteers, a chance to get our message across much more easily than if I were just to stand there with a poster and a pen. There was a genuinely great response over the four days, and it was also very special meeting some of the people who made some of the squares. We've met very few of the thousands who took part so it was an opportunity to say thanks in person and to show knitters that this type of action can make a difference. There are some pictures from the day now added to our photo gallery, which we continue to update regularly, so check there and you might spot your square!

Of coursem there's more to be done - if you want to add your voice to the campaign you can do so here .

To end on a happy note....Gerard heard yesterday (for the second time in a year) that he's an uncle again! Baby #2 is due next summer and G's knitting fingers are twitching already!

Craig

x

Crafty soirées and The Rottweiler...

We hosted the first meeting of the new Kniterati book group last night. It was a nice night, with some considered chat and chocolate cake! I think I like the idea of this monthly meet-up, as , like our film nights it gives G & I the chance to stop work for a while and be part of the group - sometimes at the weekly knit meetings it's all a bit too much responsibility! It was a lovely group who braved a sudden downpour - I know from Ravelry that there were a few others reading the book who didn't make it along so I hope you can get down next time. We chose the book last night, and I was picked out of the hat - apologies as it's another crime novel, but much newer: The Rottweiler by Ruth Rendell. The next meeting is on Tuesday 30th October, plenty of time to get yourself a copy and read it - and don't scared about not knowing what to say, you can happily sit there and knit whilst the rest of us blether on.

A few weeks ago we were visited by Marissa at Hodder books clasping a preview copy of Jane Brocket's gorgeous book The Art of Domesticity. G nearly wet himself. It wasn't even a book, it was just the proof copy pages - but even then it looked tasty. Now the book is due out it is a thing of beauty. We agreed that Jane should be part of the UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day, but before then she's coming down to the shop to have 'crafternoon tea', sign the book, share some inspiration, chat and be generally celestial and goddess-like. If you've haven't seen her blog take a look here - I always want to just crawl through the computer screen, like I'm entering another world - the photos themselves look good enough to eat!

Jane will be at the shop on Saturday 20th October from around 12.30pm - it's free and, of course, we'll have the book available for sale and signing.

These meetings, film nights, events at the shop have really made us proud about IKL. Our dream of a knitting shop and sanctuary (both parts equally important) have been realised. After only a year it's sometimes quite emotional to see that all the hard work, long days (and nights) and quite a few sacrifices have been worth it. The place really comes alive when it's buzzing with people, and we are so chuffed that it is a 'sanctuary' as well as a shop. We will be extending our knitting group nights to two days from next week, with a meeting on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and we'll always be looking for the chance to hold a crafty soirée or knitting 'do'...and in 2008 expect some exciting ones!

Craigx

Daytime TV and supporting your local yarn store!

As I've said before I'm suffering with pain so have been languishing at home for a week or two now. It's dperessing enough not being able to go out for a long walk, or even a short one, without having to contend with daytime TV. But, somehow it's so addictive - I find myself desperate to know just how they'll get at auction for their Beswick porcelain horse, and just what that house is worth after they've knocked down a few walls. There's also a plus with the range of obscure films they broadcast...I am a hoarder of movies so try to record everything I can, and there's some real gems tucked away in the daytime telly schedules! Laura is on right now - an absolute classic. I'm going to try to stick o golden oldie into the Thursday film nights now and then.

Talking of trash TV, after our Eggheads appearance last week, Gerard hits primetime tomorrow when he's off to Hell's Kitchen! I'm not kidding. I've advised him to kick up a fuss cos it makes good telly and we'll all get to see him...he says he's just going to drink a lot and see what happens!

Yesterday I made it out and into the shop. I haven't been round for a few days, and I couldn't make the Wednesday night knitting group last night either - sorry folks, I hope it was good 'un, and the Tube trouble didn't dampen spirits and put anyone off. So, in the shop all day, pottering about and it gave me time to do a bit of business stuff. It's always nice to speak to those people who keep us going, the people who actually make the yarn. One of our founding ideas was to include in the stuff we sell yarns from this country. To support our own producers is, to us, a vital part of keeping the knitting industry alive. We were always amazed that the choice of yarn elsewhere either ignored completely, or just paid lip service to 100% independent UK producers - department stores won't touch the stuff because they are all about making a profit (let's not get on our high horse here, by the way, of course we are running a business and we have to make a profit, but we can do this without neglecting some gorgeous yarns, and without ignoring what knitters tell us they want). I remember I was surprised to find most of Rowan's yarns are produced overseas!

Anyway, one of our must-haves was Jamieson's of Shetland. I spoke with Peter yesterday about another large order, and I am really pleased that their stuff does so well. it proves there's a market for it and that, depite the number of knitting books recommending the big names, savvy knitters know that there's more out there. I always like calling them too, sometimes you even get the kids answering the phone and it brings it all home to me that they are genuinely independent, family yarn producers. I love that! I was actually calling because, as some of you must know, there's a new Simply Shetland Book on the way with Eunny Jang's Autumn Rose Pullover. I am honestly thrilled that such a high profile pattern is using Jamieson's, opening up their yarn to a whole new bunch of knitters! Their stuff has always been huge in the US and it's about time we appreciated it more in it's home country!

Thanks to fimngersandtoes on Ravelry who put this in my head and started this bit of a rant. But, y'know, when you support LYS you encourage choice and diversity, and the knock on effect is that we have to compete with other LYS and that just makes us more determined to expand our range, find new yarns and suppliers. We already have at least three yarns in store that we wouldn't have if not recommended by customers and long may that continue!

Lil' Louis' Liverpool mittens, and hedgehogs dressed as postmen...

It's been a very long week. Thanks to everyone who has sent messages to both of us this week, me with my trapped nerve (not getting any better I must say) and Gerard on his new uncledom. G went home to Liverpool at the weekend for his first avuncular cuddle and took with him a bounty of knitted goodies. I couldn't travel so stayed in London, watched films ate pizza and chocolate. Here's some pics of little Louis' first gifts...

The hat has been around for while just waiting for a baby to be honest, but it's so adorable and has three cute little pom-poms on the top that just top it off perfectly. It's in Rooster DK. The mittens are part of a double act along with a pair of similar striped bootees in Liverpool Footbal Club colours - these are in Artesano's Inca Cloud 100% alpaca and are just so soft,

Louis will be snuggling up in them right now! And the second set of bootees... well, how cute? I think G is already on his third set of bootees, and has just bought Zoe Mellor's 50 Bootees to Knit book...so another 49 will be heading up to new nephew in the coming months. I do believe Louis will be the most spoilt (knitting-wise) baby EVER!

Edit - the pattern is Saartje's Bootees, I got the link from Brooklyn Tweed's blog.

Meanwhile, back on home ground we have been enjoying the last (first) of the summer's sunshine. A brilliant knitting group on Wednesday night at the shop, more knitting out in the square a) because it was a balmy summer's eve and b) because there was no room inside. Once again, lots of new faces, lots of cider, lots of banter. And, if we may big ourselves up a bit, we even have a quote for the billboards outside - "This is the only knitting group worth travelling across London for!" - aw, thanks. Honestly, and I know how cheesy this sounds, but, the knitting group only works because of the people who come, and maybe we just get the coolest, friendliest knitters at IKL...who knows? Anyway, I know we love our Wednesday nights and will continue to do so!

Tonight was the film night (we showed the original Hairspray) and, again, it was great. We finally met with Justine too, who has been organising, via the omnipresent Ravelry, a book club for knitters, which we agreed tonight we would host at IKL. Funnily enough we thought of hosting a book group last year just after we opened, but couldn't decide if knitters had time to read (!), and then once all our evenings filled up the idea waned. We were also slightly reticent to take someone's idea away, so it's not an I Knit book club, although it'll be here once a month, and the name will be decided soon. I'm actually really looking forward to getting into it. I haven't read a book in almost two years - shameful. But what with running the shop, full-time job, knitting dos and now Facebook and Ravelry I just don't know when I've got time! So, basically having someone organise for me what I'll read and when is brilliant. The first book is Patricia Highsmith's The Cry of the Owl and the first meeting is on 25th September. Can't wait!

One other thing this week which opened my eyes was the response to the newsletter. Knitters are a funny lot and I try my best to put as much in there as I can without becoming too boring and rattling on (like now). But we've started to feature, each week, one of the most exciting things we've had delivered that week to the shop - honestly, sometimes we even fight over which of us gets to open the parcels! Last week I finally managed to get stock of Jean Greenhowe's knitted dolls/toys books. Well, call me old-fashioned but I think they are genius...and the reputation of IKL was at stake choosing them over, say Rowan Magazine 42 (yawn). But, thankyou to all those who have shared their JG love. We ain't high-end down here in Vauxhall...and how can you resist a hedgehog dressed up as a postman?

The IKL sock club...

Well, we reached the last month of our inaugural sock club this week. We must apologise for not getting it out first thing in August but we hope everyone in the club has got their third package by now and is suitably excited by it. This month's climax was courtesy of Jon at Easy Knits who we've been banging on about for ages, who is a good mate, but also a damn fine knitter and dyer. His sock yarn is somehting special and we hope that the sock clubbers agree that we saved the best til last - not least because you are the only people in the whole wide world who have that yarn! Do feel free to leave us feedback here on the sock club and the three designs that were prepared exclusively for us - huge thanks to Jon, Esther and Sue who provided those. And, if you missed out this time we have decided to continue with the sock club, and you can sign up at anytime to receive your three months worth of fabulous footwear. If you don't think you can handle a whole sock just yet....then join our sock knitting for beginners starting next Saturday (18th), with, yes Jon again (he really can do everything).

Links can be found on the website.

I know this post looks like a big plug, but, honestly, if I just posted about what I've been up to for the last three days you wouldn't believe me anyway - trapped nerves, ambulances at 3am, crawling on my hands and knees along the pavements of South Lambeth, two days locked away from the world spun out on a cocktail of Diazepam, Codeine and Diclofenac when I should have been at friend's wedding in Liverpool. Really, it's not worth writing about. I'm 34 years old and I bought my first walking stick today. Don't ask. The pain has gone, but the mind is all over the place.

Innocent Village Fête

So, this weekend was the Innocent Village Fête in Regent's Park. We couldn't make it on Saturday (some of us have jobs to do and shops to run!) but yesterday we went up to town and had a great day out. I don't know about where you were but it was such a hot day I did have a bit of a struggle to really enjoy the festival itself, so we spent much of lounging on the grass and drinking cider (nothing new there then). We also had a go on the chairoplane (above) and, of course, made it to the knitting tent. The latter was a personal disappointment, not least because it was more of a shop than a place to just sit down, chill out and knit, although there was plenty of free teaching going on, something we wholeheartedly agree with - we may hold full-on classes in the shop but we certainly don't mind passing on the secrets of casting on and off for free in the IKL Wednesday knitting group. It was great to see the little knitted hats on the Innocent bottles though, and this year's campaign should be bigger and better than last year's now that Rowan have got in on the act. The whole fête this year was bigger than ever before and with that comes the corporate angle - but we like Innocent, and they did seem to try their best not to 'sell out' too much. It was a bit weird, though, to see, amongst all the organic food stalls, the stands from eco-friendly, ethical companies and the Innocent drinks themselves, proudly packed full of nothing but natural stuff, the huge Red Stripe tent...probably the worst lager in the world! Nice and unnatural. Still, we did catch a glimpse of some maypole dancing (we missed the ferret racing though) and enjoyed watching the alfresco ballroom in full swing to the tune of Cut A Shine.
There was also this brilliant paper Forest - nicely branded by The Guardian :)

It was, in the best English tradition, a grand day out.

Craig

Summer's here and the time is right for knitting in the street...

Quick, it's sunny, get outside! At the Wednesday night knitting group we spilled out onto the pavement and enjoyed a few bottles of organic cider on a balmy summer's eve. For a few hours it wasn't London, it was St Tropez. OK, maybe not, but it was lovely, and the square, as I always go on about, was certainly one of the nicest places to be in zone 1 of an evening! Wednesday nights are still my favourite night of the week and I even gave myself a little time to knit instead of working. It was great to see the place full of knitters, new faces and old, getting on like old pals. Ah, the unifying power of knitting (and cider)! It felt good. One sleeve to go and the cardy's finished...only I've just gone and lost the bleeding pattern!

This hot spell has gone to Gerard's head a bit and with the autumn edition of KnitSimple magazine arriving yesterday he's done two hats in two days...ready for the cold weather! I'm not quite decided on this little number, in (Colinette Point 5 Zebra), especailly the long tassel at the back, but I do prefer the one below in Rowan Big Fusion. And it's true what the mag says: 2 hour hats! Either that or Gerard is just dead quick.

It's now about 8pm on a Friday and the boy's night is in...err...full swing. Well, we've settled into a small but committed group of knitters, but there's a couple missing tonight. Boys...where are you? The omnipresent Tom is here (left), and although he admittedly comes for the gossip and the booze, he's a lesson to all those who say you're too old to learn new tricks (although he did learn to knit about 60 years ago, he just took his time getting round to finding his groove!). Funnily enough G and I have downed needles, I to write this blog, and G to flick through the book of chocolate recipes (b'day pressie from Jon) - he's going to make us all a big cake! Hurray.

One more thing to mention - I saw Hairspray last Sunday and, well, it's just about the best time I've had on me own in a dark room for a very long time! Brilliant.

We're men, and we knit...

Dear reader, you may or may not know that we have what we call a 'men's knit night' every Friday here at IKL. Now, I know for sure that some folk just think this is plain misogynistic, some think it's divisive and some just think it's weird. But, it's undeniable that, because we've got an extra couple of balls in our stash we do get looked upon with suspicion and are considered eccentric in some quarters! Don't get me wrong, we don't think we're any different from any other knitters and we certainly don't think we're special (well, not for just being men any road). We first noticed the phenomena at the Sunday market stall last year where the sight of a couple of men (with beards too!) caused hysteria amongst some of the punters. Anyways, there is still a stigma attached to the male knitting thing, sadly, so we hold the boys' night to encourage those hiding away behind their machismo to get out and get crafty.

We get asked (more often than you might believe) just what exactly goes on at an IKL men's knit night - it's really the same as what goes on at any other IKL meeting. Drinking, especially. Possibly a bit more bitching than usual though, and of course loads of talk about football ;). Plus, being blokes, the gadgets come out as often as we can get them (top picture, Neil gets to grips with the knitting machine). Last night we were in gadget heaven, joined by the delightful Drew and Tom from Current TV who picked up on the men knitting thing and came along for a spot of filming - look for us soon on a TV near you! Drew got well into the whole thing (here he gets some tips from Jon on how to cast on), and went off into the night a new knitter...


...and for those still to be convinced, look at our stack of empties at the end of the night (left). Proof, if any were needed that we are real men and we knit and it's nowt to be ashamed of!

Don't worry ladies...you are always welcome, even on a Friday (but, be warned, there may be an overwhelming amount of testosterone in the air....)


Craig

Only 63 places to go...and Ravelry is mine all mine!!

G told me the last post was 'a bit gushy' (I was excited!) so this time I'm getting straight down to it. We met, regular as clockwork at the I Knit London knitting group last night, The Freemason's Arms in Covent Garden. G was there from about 5 and the knitters came in droves. When I got there at about 8 we'd already formed three splinter groups because the pub was so packed, but I flitted between them like the social butterfly that I am to say 'hello', and, especially, rob a few chocolate brownies from the table by the door. Thanks for bringing those, and I'm sorry to the many IKL virgins last night - I hope you didn't feel neglected as we were at opposite ends of the pub! But, as always, a great turn-out of knitters and surprisingly knit-friendly staff and clientele - we liked it, and they had some decent ale!

I was a very good boy too, with my knitting. I often find myself embroiled in conversation and beer, rather than stitching, but I revisited an old favourite, my teeny cardy, which was last out of the knitbag over a month ago, and I do believe it may be finished very shortly! With G always on the go, finishing projects left, right and centre the pressure to keep up is overwhelming - at least I admit that as far as knitting goes I'm not great but I'm getting better! I was secretly thrilled when the lovely Elly said, with a hint of admiration, that my cardy was very neatly done (she had had 'a few' glasses by then though I must add). Anyway, here's the pic, which doesn't look much but it feels gorgeous (Rowan Cashsoft DK) and the IKL button badge makes good safety pin substitute for holding stitches! Meanwhile, not to be outdone, G has just finished this pair of socks (his one millionth project so far this week) with some yarn from Easy Knits...you'll be hearing more about him in the next few months, oh yes you will!

The lovely Elly also popped over to Bonnington Square tonight for our Thursday film, Little Miss Sunshine, which I'd never seen, and I loved. Another good turn-out of knitters too, and I now must hold my hands up and say that my choices of films previously may have lacked a certain something. G will be in charge of film choices from now on, after last week's and this week's were more popular than ever! I wouldn't go so far as Steph, who suggested the films I chose were 'bargain basement at Woolies' but maybe a bit more up-to-date would've helped...you can't beat a classic though. Anyways, the best bit about tonight is that Elly stayed on and we played with her Ravelry...and I discovered there are only 63 people in the queue in front of me! I've just got to grips with Facebook (which, by the way, now has an I Knit London group, feel free to join), but I can't wait to get into Ravelry. G, who was a little slower on the uptake than I has about 3000 in front of him - can't believe I got there first!

EDIT....the very next morning, today in fact, I got the email and I'm in the Ravelry club. Hurray. Now I need to take a holiday and spend all my time putting photos and whatnot on there!

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

Hanging out on the SouthBank...

Today we hung the knitted river form the roof of the National Theatre in London. It looked amazing, and WaterAid's volunteers were on hand to talk about WA and the river to the hundreds of people walking by on the SouthBank. It certainly grabbed folks' attention which is what it's all about - every time we do something like this I always feel quite humbled by it - we started the whole thing over a year ago and knitters around the world took the idea and ran with it...thanks, as always, to everyone who contributed. If you still want to help WA you might like to offer your services longterm - they hold hundreds of events all year round and are totally dependant on the time and efforts of their campaigners. Volunteering can be a really rewarding experience in more ways than one! Check their website here for how to get involved in the UK, USA or Australia.

What's in your stash...?

Ooh, Gerard is a naughty boy, letting the cat out of the bag in the previous post...but, honestly, we are thrilled to be part of what will surely become a regular fixture on the knitting events calendar...watch this space!


Meanwhile, back in the world of IKL...our Friday night men who knit gathering was an interesting one last week, not least due to the new 'member' who turned up, unexpectedly. Since we opened the shop and sanctuary for knitters we've had a number of bags of old yarn, patterns, books, needles and other knitty stuff brought in by folk, from friends who can no longer knit or who have sadly passed away (we have a growing collection of dead ladies' knitting, one of which is a slightly eery half-knit jumper, still on the needle, which I like to think was the last thing she saw as she drifted off to sleep, clicking needles in hand). We use much of this for classes and events but for about a month we've had a huge sack of yarn stashed away in the back that was donated by someone (we honestly can't remember exactly who dropped it in) and which we have still to sort through. On Friday, Sue decided to delve deep into the sack to see if there was anything worth filching and out popped:

THOSE OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION MAY WISH TO LOOK AWAY NOW!

the gap below is for a reason!

Much hilarity ensued. Perhaps this was the last thing...actually, hold that thought!

Now that smokers have been banished to beyond the cosy environs of bars, we seem to have another problem to contend with on our knitting adventures - not the demon drink, but the gloom. We had a really good night at the new bar at the BFI Southbank for our regular weekly knitting group, and they even sell our newly discovered favourite tipple, Weston's Organic Cider. Only problem is the lights went down after a couple of hours and stayed down - they called it 'ambiance', we call it 'annoyance'. We asked nicely for a bit more light but to no avail...we didn't push the point, so we settled down with conversation and good company for the rest of the evening (and the waiter was cute so we really didn't want to upset him!)

Gearing up for hanging the knitted river from the roof of the National Theatre this weekend. We're hoping to see lots of WaterAid supporters down there from 2pm to 5.30pm on Saturday, and fingers-crossed for a sunny day.

h b to me

Thank for all the birthday wishes. I was slightly mortified when I saw that Craig had started the last e-newsletter with a picture of me and the news of my birthday.

Hello, my name is Gerard and I am 34! There, said. I usually say 29, lol. I am not worried about being old but I can't bring myself to say it out loud. It's worrying. It's interesting to note that I, for a while, said I was 27! It's not that I'm scared of getting old; I think I am scared of growing up. I never wanted to be a man! At 34 I can not deny the fact that I am a fully fledged man! How the beard and the grey hair came to be is a mystery.

So, there you are, 34 years old. We had a great weekend, but dare I say it...I think I am getting too old for all this! Just kidding, but I am quite tired, still. (I think I am still getting over Glastonbury.) We had a brilliant night at Duckie on Saturday, as Craig said. And Sunday was great too, a pub crawl to celebrate the smoking ban. (Lots of people at Duckie on Saturday - even those who didn't smoke mourned the loss of the smoke filled environment because now the club smelled of BO and farts!)

I for one am truly glad that there is a smoking ban. I think I can speak for Craig on this, too. That makes 2...anyone else? It was great to be out all day and get home and not smell of cigarette smoke. It's great to wake up and not have to smell other people's cigarette smoke in your hair!

Anyway, the first decision of 34-dom is less booze! At least for a little while - I have weddings to go to, you know!

So back to the birthday. I had a holiday from work and we went to town determined not to drink but to relax, maybe buy some clothes and possibly go for a birthday meal. It took about 2 hours to get waylayed by a 2-4-1 on jugs of sangria sign on St Martins Lane. After it was time to leave and the rain came. We'd talked about maybe going to China Town for a meal so we headed off. Craig as stubborn as usual going the wrong way but totally convinced he wasn't...until...we got to The Ivy! I went to The Ivy! It was a total surprise to me but the table was booked.

It was lovely. We had such a nice meal and a really great time. Of course Craig was treating the birthday boy but the increasing stress level was actually visible in his forehead when it came to ordering. I didn't get the lobster. What we did order was absolutely gorgeous. I don't very often eat desserts when we are eating out but I had to get dessert at The Ivy. I got peach and amaretto trifle. It was nothing short of amazing. Also just past the amazing mark, I think you will agree, was the fact that we were on the next table to Jane McDonald. Jane McDonald ladies and gentlemen! She was drinking champagne, we opted for Sancerre Rouge and by near the end of it I was kissing my fingers and throwing out my hands to Craig, touching my hands to my heart and throwing out the love in a gesture of 'thanks, I love you, you are great too' a la Ms
McDonald. Craig was a bit embarrassed but, although I am not an ordinary Kirby girl I am from Liverpool and I've recently watched 'Letter to Brezhnev', twice, and that's just how we are!

So, all that's missing is knitting. Well, you'll be glad to hear that I did knit in between courses. I'm on socks at the moment. My lace knitting has taken a back seat not just due to lack of time but also because I realised that there was a mistake in the pattern I am following for a scarf. It said 3 repeats of the pattern for the beginning - 4 points at the end - but it should have said 2! now I am going to have a scarf with 4 points at one end and 3 at the other! While this is not a major disaster nor is it life threatening it kind of killed the buzz.

I do have plans for a Christening shawl for my sister's soon to be here baby. If you have any ideas on patterns I should be glad to receive them.

Finally to my secret pal spoiler...
Of all the people who I have never met and love, I love you the most.
I love my gifts and I apologise for not posting pics and words of love about them. I will do that. asap. Finding the time to do everything is quite hard at the moment but there is love, there is always room for more love.

Finally, finally, I have been bursting to post about it but have been unable until now. I can't say much but we have a very special November treat for all the knitters, keep reading - we'll keep you posted!
Gxx

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!

Finally, this weekend we ARE knitting London!

Yes, it might seem obvious but I Knit London have never actually knitted London before. That's all changing this weekend when we try to get the regulars at Duckie to knit up their favourite thing about London town. Tonight I finished off my Pet Shop Boy, which represents my escape from Shakin' Stevens with the release of the Disco album in 1986. before I heard that I'm afraid Shaky was my idol...listening to PSB really did change my life! The boys met on the Kings Road in 1981 and my little PSB doll will be pinpointed to that location on our map of London for this Saturday (and all subsequent Saturdays in July). Bring us your favourite thing about London and tell us why. You can read more about this here.

As well as knitting Neil it's been a Wednesday knit night, but I'm guessing all the knitters are away on hols. A quiet one, but no less relaxing than ever. Some good company here at the shop, and helped along by our recent discovery (at the weekend's festival) of Weston's Organic Cider. At 6.5% only one bottle is recommended whilst trying to knit a spiral cone hat. If it looks a bit rough then I blame the cider.

I Knit London...I heart/hate London...

It's been an interesting week, starting last Sunday (24th), while gerard was chatting with the world's media we were setting up at the Vauxhall Park Summer Fair, sadly damp and rainswept. We set up a pitch making pom-poms, knitting with the giant needles and teaching folk to cast on...plus Jon joined us with his spinning wheel,but his fleece didn't react well to the damp air! We still made a day of it in the park and had a good day in our little knitting tent - Joanna Lumley, local resident and crocheter, opened proceedings. The weather has put a depressing stop to many events so far this summer, but it managed to stop for the Bonnington Square Festival on Sunday 1st (see previous post).

It wasn't the case last Wednesday when we held our knitting group meeting at the Bread and Roses in Clapham - I decided against all obvious wisdom to cycle up the road to the pub and arrived rain-sodden and mud-speckled. It was a small but dedicated turnout for the knitting,

and some of us ventured upstairs for the Frenzic Theatre's Victorian do, where they were partying like it was 1899 (as Prince Albert might have said). The evening was most memorable as the farewell knitting night for long-serving IKLondoner Chris who has moved out of the city for Leicester and who we'll really miss. Chris first arrived on a Wednesday night at The Salisbury last summer and has been a Wednesday knitter off and on since then. She is completely lovely and has the distinction of being IKL's first ever customer, when we opened the shop in September last year she made the inaugural purchase and for that, and much else (not least a LOT of sewing of blue squares) we will remember her. Leicester isn't too far away, she's already sought out a new knitting group there, and hopefully we'll see her back in London shortly. Thanks Chris, for being part of this adventure with us and that friendly smile!

While Chris leaves London, we continue on, and tonight has seen the usual contradiction that this city offers in infuriating chunks. Our crochet lesson finished we headed to the Retro Bar for our first smokefree pop quiz (the Retro has always been a smoker's haven, but tonight it was genuinely nice not be so smelly). We found ourselves in Trafalgar Square at 11.30pm, which isn't late when you consider this a 24 hour city...but, sadly, I don't think it is! Those of us who want to go dancing are foiled by friends who can't get home afterwards, those of us who want to move on for somehting to eat have no choice except Tesco Express pre-packed sarnies, and those who need to use the boy's room are in for a long wait before they get home! Don't get me wrong, I love London - neither of us here at IKL are Londoners born and bred, but after 10 years I am proud to be here, and proud to be part of this city (especially at times like these), but comparisons with other world cities just doesn't wash. NYC is alive, 24 hours a day, and London just doesn't compare...the capital is all but closed after 11pm, and we'll never have the same vibrancy as New York unless we sort that out. 24 hour Tubes, black cabs that most of us can actually afford, 24 hour culture and PLEASE some more public toilets! Some of us don't like urinating up the nearest alleyway! (Don't worry folks, I didn't). Having said that, the trip home on the #87 was a blast - Battersea-living, not-quite-in-Fulham-yet couple discussing the pros and cons of police stop and search procedures under the new terrorist climate was worth the wait - "yah, but Rosie...where's this Utopia, this Meccaland that we're all striving for...?"

I have to deal with...Spamalot.

It's gone 2am and I've just got home from the Mid-Knight Matinee of Spamalot - I felt I had to post because I had such a briliant night! The performance was in aid of The Theatrical Guild, a charity for those who work in any area of the theatre, and it started at 11.30, so the crowd were all (possibly) merry, and certainly up for it. What a great show, though. I doubt a regular audience are so enthusiastic but it was the funniest thing I've seen in ages, and you have to love SRB! Spotted in the audience tonight: Paul McGann, Phyllida Lloyd, Nina Myskow, Nickolas Grace, some woman from EastEnders and Nichola McAuliffe (that roll-call for the benefit of Young Tom, who likes that kind of thing!).

Th evening's entertainment came at the end of a long day in the IKL shop - mostly spent sorting out my html in preparation for our sparkling new newsletter next week. Hopefully it'll be more concise, less dense and easier to get the info you need...plus a special surprise each week, or maybe fortnight! Jon dd most of the work on that actually, whilst I whinged about technology about Facebook and generally all things 'modern'! And here's me writing a blog, how ironic. Some people still can't believe I exist without a mobile phone, but it was possible for the first 30 years of my lie so I don't see why I shouldn't be able to cope?

Spoke with G today who has been two days in a field in Somerset - rained today but he had the honour of speaking to the assembled hordes at his frst press conference. He'll be blogging about his whole experience either from Glastonbury, if he can, or a full report when he gets back next week. I'll save te stories for him to tell. He's working at the festival for WaterAid (of course) and will be in the backstage area, which, apparently, sounds much more glamourous than it sounds. So far, so he was told, the closest he's come to a sleb is when 'someone from Ash' walked past.

Tonight we watched Pleasantville at the IKL Thursday film night. I remember seeing it years ago and it's a lovely film - which makes it sound awful! But it wasn't awful, and we all liked it. The film nights, and sometimes lunch breks at the NT, are now the most likley times I actualy get to sit down and knit so tonight I finished the left front of the baby cardy that I've been on recently. It's really the best way to learn new stuff - just pick something and do it...I'm doing stuff I've never done before (very basic) but I'm learning, if my impatience doesn't get the better of me! The film nights are a real treat, and although we rarely get a big group I look forward to them more and more - plus, Esther is always reliable with the M&S chcolate cokies, flapjacks or assorted nibbles!

Craig

Knitting in...the rain, the park and Tsumugi silk

It's end of what feels like a really long week, it's our dear Queen's (official) birthday and it's thunderstorms a-go-go. Hope she doesn't get wet. I'll admit to feeling just a little lethargic after last night's knitting night for blokes spilled over into The Wheatsheaf on South Lambeth Road and went on til almost 2am. And why is it that after such-and-such an amount of beer/wine the only thing you really want is cheese and chips? We were joined in our manly knitting last night by the divine Miss Elly who we assured could watch BB on our big screen. Alas it was not to be - the knitting has saved us this year from the death of summer that is Big Brother and I am grateful for it!

It's been a full week and I'm looking forward to our Sunday off, although will surely spend most of that in front of this screen, tweaking the website and our new newsletter. Wednesday IKL night in the pub was one of the most relaxing for ages, in a really gorgeous spot by the lake in St James' Park. Inn the Park has a premium position, and it's a bit annoying that they've filled it with the most expensive drinks I've ever seen. It's nice and all, but really you're taking advantage when you start charging over a fiver for a small bottle of red wine! Staff were quite bolshie too. We spotted the owner, Oliver Peyton, outside and considered having a word but our British reserve meant we just put up with and enjoyed the view! Until the rain came...you can always rely on that. But we split up into two knitting packs and found some space both inside and outside, all cosy-like under the trees.

Looking forward to Duckie in July (we have an arty knitting project planned for Saturday nights), I was knitting the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing! Of course, Sue outdid me by a mile and knocked up a Belisha beacon in a matter of minutes, complete with crocheted beacon and propped up with a coffee stirrer. But at least I finished mine, which officially meenas I've finished two things in as many weeks - the first was this scarf-thing which I started in Brighton on the 3rd. On Thursday, much to Gerard's surprise I picked up my baby cardigan and started that again...I'd thrown it aside in a strop the other night after mistake #1762 sent me over the edge of sanity. But in the clear light of day (and with Starship Troopers as accompaniment) I began again, with determination renewed!

Now, someone was a bit disparaging recently about my choice of films for our Thursday night film night and I was most put out. I'm of the opinion that knitters come in all shapes and sizes, and you can't (usually) recognise one in the street without having an Attenborough-like eye for the giveaway signs. I'll agree, Starship Troopers is not, perhaps, the most relaxing evening's entertainment, but we were happy in it's presence and the knitting didn't suffer! We did have M&S chocolate biscuits and sultana cookies to help us along. But, the point is, the films we show aren't determined by a blinkered generalisation of what a knitter should be, but more by our own random choices. I've liked them all so far...but apparently I'm "odd"! You can see what we have coming up over the next few weeks here - and suggest your own if you like. Leave a comment.

Gerard's Victorian Lace Today obsession still refuses to lose it's grip! And why not, the stuff he's made so far is beautiful - and makes me jealous as hell. We've just ordered a mountain of Tsumugi cones from Habu to replenish after his first lacy scarf sent the 'buy what you see' knitters rushing for the cones we had...they've just added 6 new colours too so we're slavering with anticipation for those to arrive.

Not that today's downpour fills me with any hope for a long hot summer, we've agreed to take part next week in the Vauxhall Summer Fair in Vauxhall Park. I'm determined to have a good day there, so I'll have my cart of yarn, big needles, loads of brightly coloured acrylic, Innocent Big Knit hat patterns and other bit and pieces for folks to play with. It's Sunday 24th and it would be great to see any knitters there - they'll have loads of stalls, games, entertainment etc, plus Joanna Lumley is opening it! Also, Jon Easy Knits will be rocking up with a fleece and his spinning wheel to demonstrate the lost art to a bemused Vauxhall crowd. I'm looking forward to it, and I promise not to go on about how I should be at Glastonbury watching the Dame instead.


Craig

Fighting for the right to...knit?

Knitting in public eh? What's the point? - that's the question I was asked by a slightly bemused German (?) tourist on Saturday as a bunch of us sat on the steps of Trafalgar Square with our needles out, big and small. After searching for an answer I came up with the idea that we were demonstrating a craft that many folk still associate with their granny (not a bad thing, surely) and that knitting is having a renaissance and it's, like, really cool, and hopefully we'll encourage people to take it up. Something like that. He said I was 'very amusing' and walked on. It was certainly a sight to behold, and I think at one point I looked up from my knitting to see a wall of cameras pointing in our direction that almost outnumbered those of us actually knitting!

Whilst Gerard was at the G8 last week, trying to convince some of the most powerful people on the planet to sort it out, we had our own little battle on our hands - fighting for the right to knit in public! No sooner had we settled on the said steps than we were approached by Security Guard #1 who was curious to know what we were doing and why. After a brief explanation he looked none-the-wiser and thus ensued a relaxed debate about sitting down and knitting. It would seem you can sit on the steps, but you can't sit on the steps and knit. I agreed to remove all signs of "World Wide Knit in Public Day" which I'd printed off and laminated for the occasion but it wasn't enough. Only when Security Guards #2 and #3 arrived was I told we were holding an unauthorised event! When I asked if we stopped knitting could we still sit here he got a bit flustered - I must admit, it didn't help that I chose my giant needles to bring along for showing off, which apparently made our little shindig a 'performance' - I told him it was nothing of the sort - "I'm knitting a curtain" - I said, in an "isn't that obvious" kind of sarcy manner. After much name-dropping ("I emailed Ken and he said it was OK!"), our arm-waving, raised eyebrows and incredulous looks gave way to him actually not being arsed in the end and we talked him into submission - as long as we were out of the way by 2pm so the march for Palestine couldn't be disrupted by our little performance. Is knitophobia a word? - in the 21st century you still have to stand up and be counted my fellow knitty comrades! ;))

All argy-bargy aside, it was a fun day. I met loads of new knitters, and, although after a couple of hours in the sunshine we were baking, it was hilarious to see the reactions of some of those mystified tourists. We even managed a couple of hats for the Innocent Drinks Big Knit campaign. The last few of us headed to St James' Park for a few hours, with some Stella (classy) and returned to the square for more brief knitting with the Stitch and Bitch London group who arrived on the scene after their crawl around London's landmarks. From there, more drinking at Walkers wine bar off Whitehall and a jolly good chinwag. A good day was had by all!

Thanks to Gail for some of the pics!

Summer knits and keeping fit

While Gerard plans on changing his life (we'll see about the red hair!) I made a little change this week and went to the gym for the first time in my life. Now I know that for those who know me that may come as a surprise, as I am so honed and svelte that you must all think I'm some kind of fitness guru, but actually it's all natural ;) Anyway, with the onset of the mid-30s and now that we have a fridge in the shop stocked with Corona and Magner's, I decided that at 7am on Tuesday I'd give the old cross-trainer a go (that's the thing where you move your arms AND your legs in a kinda 'going up the stairs whilst pulling yourself up on the bannisters type motion). All I can say is that there is a very weird netherworld of tracksuit-clad freaks out there who, rather than lie in bed for an extra hour, are sweating away in front of Beyoncé and Shakira and the like. I first experienced this in New York in March when we spotted the same species 'working out' (as I think they like to call it) at 2am through the windows of a gym - I didn't realise that we had succumbed to it over here. To get to the point, I felt quite invigorated, but bored, and my legs hurt. Of course, now I've taken out a mortgage just to pay the fees I will have to keep going, so expect a rippling torso next time you set eyes on me.

It's exactly this time of the year when being in Bonnington Square is really worth it - the shop's huge glass windows look out onto the Pleasure Garden (slightly obscured by yarn) and when the sun's out it's really beautiful - genuinely relaxing and, although only a few hundred yards from Vauxhall station you could be forgiven for thinking your in your own little village. We've had a couple of gorgeous nights this week with the knitting group - Wednesday night I cycled back late from the National Theatre and joined in the knitting - we had, amongst others, visitors from Canada and the US, plus Nikki from Purple Kitchen who we haven't seen in ages and who was very helpful when I, as I always do, messed up my ribbing because I was talking and drinking too much!

Then last night we had the film night - The Band Wagon - Fred and Cyd and That's Entertainment! I'm really quite grateful for the film nights - with two full time jobs and running the shop til late each night I can just pretend I have a life and watch the film...it was a quiet one last night but still enjoyed by all present. Next week we're showing Rita, Sue and Bob Too! - that's another reason I like Thursday - we can choose whatever film we like and anything with Black Lace, gang bangs and huge loopy ear-rings will always get a look in! Very excited that we've almost got to grips with the technology to project the telly too - just in time for our Eggheads appearance, but, sadly too late for Eurovision and the American Idol final (Melinda was robbed I tell you!)

It's hot isn't it? Spoke to my dad (who swanned off to live in Spain a few years ago) and it's been raining all week. Felt a bit smug.

Craig

Wednesdays by the river and Gormley spotting...

I love Wednesday nights! We can close the shop and go to the pub, which, when you're working from 9.30 and closing at 9pm most days is a blessing! OK, so we're still knitting but we're doing it with beer and with other fabulous knitting folk and it's a real midweek wind-down. Gerard is just happy there's no website for me to update or computer to sit in front of because that's where I usually am, tweaking something or other in cyberspace. But Wednesdays is my chance to actually do some knitting, although the other night had a few false starts, I got there in the end, thanks to Jon who doesn't get bored with counting stitches or unpicking. I, on the other hand, have a short attention span. Jon and Esther also brought along their finished pattern for our sock club and if you've signed up you're in for a treat too. Still time though to plug it though and you can still join for June/July/August here!



Anyways, we found ourselves in the shadow of Tate Modern at Wednesday IKL knitting meet-up at The Founder's Arms, with familiar and fresh faces. Hello to everyone who came, the pub was packed but we liked it, although the scrum at the bar was shocking. An especially big thanks to Tom who was only in town for this week from Chicago - he treated us, thanks Tom! Our old favourite Tom was also back from Sri Lanka (with tea, peppercorns and vanilla essence) to make us all really jealous, and we had a visit from an original IKL knitter (Vanessa, we thought we'd upset you!) who we haven't seen for ages. That's what's so good about the knit nights, you can be sitting in the pub and have no idea who's gonna show up - sometimes it looks like we might be there on our own all night but we know the knitters of London can't hide away for too long.

Have you all seen the Gormleys standing on the rooftops of London? We first saw his statues on the beach at Crosby last year when we were up in Liverpool - it was eerie, these metal figures standing in regimented lines gazing out to sea at the passing ships. Although they were all lined up they seemed much more lost and lonely than their urban brothers. If you don't know what I'm on about pop down to the Hayward Gallery for Anthony Gormley's first major exhibition, and then hang around the South Bank and see if you can spot the Gormleys on the rooftops of buildings all along the river, north and south. This one is directly opposite the box office on the fifth floor of the National Theatre (my day job) - when you catch glimpse from the corner of your eye it makes you a bit uneasy, even when he's there staring at you all day. Aleasha has already christened him 'Johnny the jumper'.

Watched Calendar Girls tonight at the IKL film night. Never seen it before, very funny. God bless 'em! Funny how it did the WI a world of good, and yet, according to the film they weren't really all that into the idea in the first place! Next week we're showing Sunset Boulevard cos we all love a big drama queen.

Craig
IKL

Good Friday

As the National Theatre and WaterAid (our other jobs) were both closed yesterday we took the opportunity to spend the day in the shop together, and get stuff done that we'd usually leave to Sundays. We discovered our local Bookers first thing in the day which is one of those warehouse cash-and-carries loaded with boxes of stuff for shops, restaurants etc. We are stocking up on beer, wine and cider for the IKL meetings - it was fairly mouth-watering to see it all stacked high and cheap!

It was a gorgeous day in the square yesterday. Sun shining and quiet. Gerard was getting on with his Colinette Jitterbug socks - they are for his dad, but on finishing the first one he discovered that his feet might be a bit too chunky for them. Luckily we've got our own feet to display them on now. Amy popped in with gorgeous hot cross buns and we spent the afternoon nattering away - topic of conversation at one point was our first gig. I eventually decided it was Jason Donovan at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, Gerard went for a Beatles tribute band (!), and Amy trumped us both with The Ramones in New York when she was about 15. OK, so we could be cooler I suppose. She has the benefit of being born in New Jersey (it's near NYC!) and having an crazy, cool uncle though. I was listening to Shakin' Stevens records in Carlisle while the rest of my classmates were into The Smiths and Jesus and Mary Chain. I've always been a proud geek.

Amy's off to Malaysia for a couple of weeks to write for The Times, and Tom, who's birthday it is on Tuesday, flies off to Sri Lanka. Nice. Meanwhile we'll stick to London, hoping that the weather stays balmy. Tom's riding high at the moment after been discovered by chance at Vauxhall station last month by a TV director. He's landed a part in an up-coming TV series based around a set of football supporters, which will hopefully make it onto the BBC later this year. Shows you that hanging around Vauxhall of an evening can be an exciting experience! Happy 71st Tom T. We expect you back from Sri Lanka with your Giotto scarf compete and raring to get onto the next project....three scarves down, how's about a change? I know you like this pic!

Tom arrived at about 5.30 last night and after starting him off on his new project we went off to our new local - The Vauxhall Griffin. This used to be a dodgy local called Wyvil's, tucked out of the way down a nondescript side street. But it's taken on a new lease of life. It's a bit like the Retro Bar, only it's 2 minutes away from our flat. I can see we'll be in there quite a bit!

It's a quiet day here at the National today (just as well, too much beer last night). Gerard is manning the shop and hopefully enjoying a few glasses of red with fellow knitters. Meanwhile I'll console myself with a sneaky peek of Daniel Craig who's coming tonight to see one of our plays tonight.

Craig

Film night, yak yarn and Dolly (not the sheep)

I forgot to mention Gerard's gorgeous woven tape measure bag, purchased from Knitty City. Here's a pic:

Just wanted to mention it because we love it and he loves carrying it around like Maggie Thatcher (but nicer), and people actually stopped in the street to talk about it.

It's been all go since we got back to London. I lost my tank-top pattern somewhere along the way, but luckily kept the original and am happily getting on with it. OK, I know it's not fancy (for that check out Jon's Fair Isle tank-top - see below) but I'm proud of it and it's going to be finished before I start anything else. I know it's de rigeur to have a list on 'what's on the needle' but that just gets me frustrated. I will finish it! And I've got a big list of what's coming up next...

This is a pic of the 50% yak / 50% merino yarn I purchased last week. It's much more gorgeous than it looks - I like the minimalist approach, and this is very black with some grey flecks. Haven't decided what to knit yet - I'm guessing it'll just be a hat or something but it'll look super. What's really surprising how soft it is, I always expected yak to be a bit hardier, although I suppose the merino helps. We might get some for the shop - soon we'll have a yarn zoo going on! Actually, that's not a bad idea...I'm ordering some giraffe hair tomorrow! (That's a joke.)

As previously noted, I Knit Londoner, part-time shop worker, and generally gorgeous good egg Jon is working his way through a Fair Isle vest top. I never quite know whether he has some kind of access to a time machine (he is a Dr. Who fan) because he just seems to always have something on the go and gets through his knitting like a demon! Not content with just the knitting though, he's dying his own yarns, and now he's got his own blog as well. Jon, please, can we have some of that time of yours because ours just always runs out! Check out his site at www.easyknits.co.uk, marvel at his dying efforts but don't laugh at the photos of him in his Tapestry hat (although they are quite funny).

We had agreat IKL meeting at the shop last night - nice to see old and new faces, and the drinking and knitting went on til at least 11, until the curry & chips arrived. While away we were a bit extravagant, but when the exchange rate is so good it just feels like you're saving loads but not spending - looking forward to this months credit card bill. We got ourselves a projector and tonight we had our first film night at IKL. Well, we enjoyed it, and it will be the last time I ever mention on this blog that I was in The History Boys...I promise. I'm not a wannabe actor, by the way, just someone who works at the National Theatre and popped along for the day. Here is my 15 seconds of fame:

I'm the one one the left (twice).

One last bit of excitement today - bought 2 tickets to see Dolly Parton next week. If I was any more excited I might just explode. G will be wearing his official Kenny Rogers corduroy jacket as a tribute. Isn't she glorious?