This year's I Knit Day....

So, the deliberating is finally over. Thank Gawd for that! For those in our Ravelry group you've probably seen the thread about this year's follow-up to our UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day last November. Should it be August or September? Should it be a Bank Holiday? Should we get someone really special to come and take part, or wing it with just Gerard? Should we get a big grand Victorian hall in central London or hold in a concrete 1970s hotel again? So many questions.....finally we have (some) of the answers!


You know, we've lost sleep over this for the past few weeks, but we've settled for Saturday 6th September. It's the week of our second anniversary as a little knitting shop and it's just after payday (hurray). We can't say anything about who'll be there yet, because we're still asking, grovelling and begging and we're still making contact with the great and the good of the knitting world, but we can guarantee a surprise or two. The 70s hotel thing?....nah, let's go grande and get the Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster! Why the heck not? Well, it's a bit pricey, but after last year's party it'll be worth it and every knitter in the land will want to be there! (If you don't know the halls, you know that BBC One trailer with the acrobats hanging from the ceiling wrapped in orange bits of cloth?, well, that's it. It's big and beautiful). And on 6th September it'll be full of yarn...and knitters...and no doubt some lounging around and some workshops and some other stuff, like DJs and maybe even dancing.


Anyway, I'm kinda rambling on now. But, basically, I'm excited and the best knitting show of the year is coming. Run by yarnoholics for yarnoholics. We've listened to the feedback from last year - so, yes, there will be a café, and there will be cake and there'll be even more stuff to spend your money on and even more exciting guest speakers....


We'll announce updates as we have them in our weekly newsletter, and here on the blog, and on Ravelry and everywhere else. You won't be able to miss it!


Now we just need to decide on a name...UK SnB Day never really suited us!

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!

Son of Stitch n Bitch

We're almost there. I can't beleive the UK Sticth n Bitch Day is almost upon us. We've put a so much into this that I know it's going to be a great day and the tickets are selling fast!

The book arrived and it's great! I love it! This will be your first opportunity to purchase the book and the only UK opportunity to meet DS and have her sign it. DS is a great woman and she's so excited to be coming over and meeting us all.

10 November, Royal National Hotel, London.
UK Sticth n Bitch Day
tickets are only £7, they will be £9 on the day so make sure you get your in advance!!

Son of Stitch 'n Bitch is here!

I have, right now, in my sweaty little hands one of the only copies in the UK of the new Son of Stitch 'n Bitch book! Oh yes, it's here, and it's brill. We have shipped over a special batch of copies exclusively for the UK SnB Day on November 10th - you'll be able to get the book there first before anyone else, and ask Debbie to write her name in it too. But before then, is it worth it? Of course, we're going to say it is...but it really is. As a man who knits it is genuinely frustrating at how little there is in the way of fashionable men's knitwear patterns in just about every knitting magazine. Sure, most of them pay a passing nod and include maybe a boy's or man's pattern per issue, but only one, and even then they are generally pretty bland. So it is with honest excitement that I say the book is full of really sexy, gorgeous stuff (and that's just the models. Ho ho). I was walking down Oxford Street just the other day, looking in the window of BHS I was disappointd to see the usual contrast - the ladies knitwear was stylish, interesting, textured, cabled, sexy....the men's knitwear was plain, brown, bland. Why?

For obvious reasons I can't scan the images and post here but believe me if you're a bloke, or if you have a bloke, there will definitely be at least one thing here that you can knit.; from really simple hats and scarves, to socks, stylish and silly. For the more experienced knitters there are some great sweater patterns, including my favourite the Ernie sweater, by Andrew Steinbrecher in bright day-glo stripes (sounds hideous but I love it!) and a really sexy white cabled jumper by our old pal Heather who we met last year at I Knit London. Of course, Jared's stylish smoking jacket stands out too (Jared I hate you, you are a crafty genius!) All this, and cushions shaped like beer bottles, 'beer gloves', beanies, hats, caps and more, plus Debbie's 'Lucky Socks' with dice motif...now you have no excuse why you can't knit your man something for Christmas this year, and I have no excuse not to do more knitting. There are genuinely loads of things here I'd love to make, with 45 patterns in total, both knitting and crochet.

Debbie will be holding a workshop at 10.30am at the SnB Day to work on the Argyle scarf featured on the cover of the book. We expect this to be oversubscribed, so we plan to choose ticket numbers for this workshop beforehand at the show. It seems the fairest way! And, if you're still waiting for your tickets they are in the post as we speak!

Cx

Cx

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

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

about last week

Sorry for not posting for a few days. We've been busy as ever. My main excuse for not posting is camera problems! I can't find the battery charger part to the bleedin' camera! So no pics. I have been knitting, though. I'm half way through a pair of socks using Easyknits. The colourway is inspired by Rufus Wainwright and called Release the stars. It's yellow and brown and orange and it's gorgeous. I will post pictures in the next few days.
I've also done some of the flowers from the scarf on the cover of the latest Vogue Knitting. They are so easy. I'm not making the scarf, just the flowers for a bit of decoration. I made a huge version out of colinette point five and it's all peaches and cream - pink and that! It's gorgeous.
I've started on a tea cosy, too. It's from a new book we got to the shop. It's called Tea Cosies, funnily enough. I'm doing a sheep tea cosy. I've only done the sheep's head and the ears, in artesano alpaca, and it's also fab. I've decided that it's my Saturday knitting so I can't wait to spend some time doing the loop stitch this weekend.
In other news - Thanks to Amy, my social life has seen lots of action this week! Last Friday I went as Amy's plus 1 to Hell's Kitchen. Nothing much happened, to be honest, but it was still rather marvellous. It's strange having a camera 2 inches from your face when you are trying to decide which starter to have. I got all confused and nervous and forgot I had to order a main meal, too! It may have been the champagne and the gin cocktail we had before we ordered, actually.
So, if you have been watching you may be familiar with the menu (I've only seen 1 episode and it was after I had been), I had scallops to start. They were amazing. I'm not used to dining so well so Amy helped me decide and they were cooked perfectly! I gave them 10/10. They even came with a bit of pastry!
Then I had dover sole. It was a little salty with a tomato salsa and anchovies but I love anchovies and salt and the fish was cooked well so I was happy again!
Then I had raspberries that were built into this castle with sugar wafers. That was very sweet, gorgeous. Amy's dessert wasn't that nice, an undercooked soufflé, so she sent it back and we were ready for action. The maitre'd was really nice and said 'I'll bring you another.' I was a bit disappointed to be honest, I wanted to be kicked out full of lovely food and lots and lots of wine. There were loads of people there, I met the Puppini Sisters who are almost edible themselves.
This week I went to the press night of the new cast of Spamalot. It was marvellous. Craig has seen the show a few months ago and loved every minute of it and talked about it for weeks so I have been really keen to see it. There were so many famous people there, including half of the Coronation Street cast. I was desperate to talk to Cilla in the party later. We didn't stay long though.
Will Young was also there. Now, one of the more interesting things about having a tracker on the blog is seeing that certain websites are sending a lot of people your way. One of those is williamyoung.biz. I'm rather dim and didn't put 2+2 together so couldn't work out why, until I went there and discovered that William is long for Will. I mentioned him in a post about Glastonbury and the Will fans found it and told other Will fans to come over and read. Anyway - Will looked lovely.
In real life - thanks to everyone for your well wishes for Craig's speedy recovery. He's seeing a physiotherapist and spending a lot of time lying on his side and he's feeling much better for it.
The UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day is almost here - I can't beleive it! We've got so much planned, and so much yarn will be there, including Wensleydale Long Wool Sheep Shop and Garthenor. Debbie Stoller keeps telling us that she is so excited - she can't wait to meet the UK's knitters!
Gxx

Harry Potter

Recently I have been using this blog as way of confessing, remember - Hello, my name is gerard and I am 34?
Well, today I would like to tell those reading that I love Harry Potter. I've read eveyone and I was very excited to be purchasing the last book last Saturday morning. I sat on a very busy train and sank out of a hangover as I dived straight in. I have ben reading the last book very slowly - I can admit to crying, cheering and biting my nails with anxiety, jubilation and dread.
I am about 150 pages from the end of the book and while I want it to go on forever I can't wait til I get to the end!
other big news this week - Craig is on ravelry. Whatever! Oh and SnB, did we mention that? we've barely slept all week.
Gxx