I Knit Day looms...

To calm the nerves of knitters across the country we can categorically confirm that tickets for this year's I Knit Day have now been posted out! If you don't believe us here's a picture of Gerard with a box full of them, all stamped and ready to go.....

For those of you who haven't bought a ticket yet get yourself one now by clicking here and make sure you don't miss out on a brilliant day. I'll be updating the website tonight with more info about who you can see, meet, buy stuff from and have a drink with on the day. We've also launched our Knit Your Own Alien! Competition and we're working our way through the ranks of sci-fi celebs for a judge (to join Yarn Harlot and Mazzmatazz)...but it's not looking good. Sylvester McCoy anyone? But we need your entries anyway - your work will be shown on the day and you might even win our prize goodie bag, including tickets to see Dr Who maestro Russell T. Davies in conversation at the National Theatre.

Everything's happening so fast that we've hardly time to sleep, but we promise we'll hold off the nervous breakdowns until after 6th September. Until then, keep knitting and save your pennies for lots of loveliness at I Knit Day!

Craig

Visitors...from Uruguay, from New Jersey, from outer space...!

Having a knitting shop in central London means we get lots of visitors...from near, from far and from all over the place. I sometimes wish we'd started some sort of album to record everyone we meet, whether at the knitting group, the shop or out and about. I think it was Quentin Crisp who once said his ambition was to meet everyone on Earth before he died. Well, we're quite far off but we do get the chance to meet quite a few folk! And knitters are generally a pretty interesting bunch. A few weeks ago we had a visit from Tom and Sue from Artesano, along with Rodolfo, general manager at Manos del Uruguay. Rodolfo and his wife were visiting the UK from, well, Uruguay, and visited a few shops sticking their gorgeous yarns. Manos is a co-operative of over 800 women, producing and supplying hand spun, hand dyed yarns and wools. It's one of Gerard's favourites. Just last week we had a visit from Doris Jenne who runs her own yarn store in New Jersey, A Yarn For All Seasons. We get a lot of yarn shop folks passing through on holiday and checking out the UK versions. We like to do the same - we popped into Knitwits in Penzance whilst on our hols last week.


One of our most regular vistors though is Mia. We're sad that we won't be seeing her much anymore. She comes in regularly to get out of the heat and/or the rain and have a quiet kip in our basement. She belongs to Andrea, lovely Andrea who sells flowers from her market stall outside the shop. Sadly Andrea's decided to give it up for now - so no more Mia. We're sad, we'll miss them! The picture is of Mia fulfilling one of I Knit London's remits - relaxing!


A few months ago we started to make a 'rogue's gallery' of our visitors to the knitting group witha Polaroid of everyone to put up on our wall - now Polaroid have only gone and decided they're not making the iconic Polaroid film anymore. It's a travesty!



Very soon we'll be invaded by visitors of a different sort. Our new Knit Your Own Alien! Competition has just been launched for I Knit Day! Originally we'd had the idea of a Dr. Who knitting competition but we've decided to shelve that idea due to recent issues with the BBC...but, not ones to give up an idea easily we've decided that knitters are far too creative to just copy other people's aliens, so why not just create your own? The possibilities are endless! Anyone can enter, any age, from any planet - you just need to get them to us by Saturday 6th September....or bring them along to the show on the day. Mazzmatazz, now something of an expert on such matters ,will join with Yarn Harlot to judge the entries and there may even be a special guest judge too (if they don't keep saying they're busy!) A super-sooper prize will be given to the winning alien entry, which we still have to decide on. Follow the link above for full details and how to take part.

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

Happy birthday to Gerard

Yesterday it was Gerard's birthday. It's not the done thing to give a ladies age away so I won't (and he's younger than me so I don't want to give that game away either!). Here he is playing with his new spinning wheel which I bought from the Handweaver's Studio near Blackhorse Road. G almost bought on at Woolfest before I talked him out of it. By all accounts he had a good day, despite being 'at work' in the shop - when I arrived just before 6 I think a few quaffs of champers had already gone down,

and a few cakes to boot. As it was Wednesday it was also knitting group night and we had cake, cake and more cake. Thanks everyone!

Gerard got a very special pressie at the start of the week too...but I'm not allowed to tell! I'm sure you'll be hearing all about it very soon....

We're gearing up for Elefest on Saturday where we are helping out the ladies from the In-Spire craft group with a brilliant new project called Knit the Aylesbury. The infamous Aylesbury estate in south London has stood for over 40 years but is now due for demolition - local residents and the community craft group have decided to knit a scale model of the whole estate - all 2500 homes as a lasting reminder. It's a unique project and they need your help to make it happen. There are a number of workshops throughout the summer where you can get involved, the first is this Saturday, 12th July as the Elefest festival - in St Mary's Churchyard, newington Butts, there'll be free open air screenings of archive films plus a chance to get started on those 10,000 odd windows and numerous trees! It's this kind of social knitting project that we really crave and admire. Despite our status as a shop (which some people see as an automatic bar to being involved in any type of charity/social/community projects!) we spend much of our time promoting knitting in many other ways than just selling yarn. This, Knit a River, The Great British Sheep et al. are some of the things I'm most proud of when I think of I Knit London.

See our Knit the Aylesbury page for full details.

Craig

The Great British Sheep (and the great British summer)

Today we were on the South Bank, outside the National Theatre, to take part in their annual Watch This Space festival. It was the Alternative Village Fete and it was wonderful. Things didn't bode well, I must say, when I woke up and carried a huge sackful of wool around to the NT at 9.30 this a.m. when it was pouring with rain and I got soaked through. But the unpredictable British summer saw us through and it turned out to be a lovely day, perfect for knitting with wool!

Today we launched our latest project, The Great British Sheep, which we like to call a "celebration of British wool, knitting and sheep". With over 60 native breeds, more than any other country, you'd think we'd have British wool coming out of ears...but, really, can you go to your local yarn store and pick up a few balls of it? I'm often dismayed by the cravings for foreign brand yarns which don't come close to the quality and gorgeousness of their British counterparts, but which are snapped up by knitters who think it must be good because it's number one on Ravelry and everyone's knitting with it in the States. Sure, there are some very special yarns from all over the world, but why do we have such disdain for our own homegrown stuff? Honestly, whilst collecting yarn for this project I've been amazed by the range and quality (and the price) of some our British wool, most of which you wouldn't find unless you visited the farm from whence it came. It's this that made us want to start the project in the first place, and one of the reasons we are still very proud to be the only yarn shop in the capital with a regular stock of pure British wool, from Shetland, Wales and Wensleydale to name a few.

Rant over. What a brilliant day! The sun shone, the spinners spun, the knitters certainly did knit...a lot. We thought we'd see regular faces and knitting group folk, but, in fact, most of our friends stayed away and we met hundreds of people who have been hiding somewhere, all keen and excited to get their hands on the wool. Free wool! We thought we'd have every knitting group in the city down there getting some stitches in! As it was, during the course of the afternoon hundreds of knitters joined us and took part, and to them we say "thanks". Accompanied by entertainment of the distinctly weird and wonderful kind, surrounded by vegetable sculpture, cake decorating and WI stare-out challenges, as well as guinea pigs, rabbits and ducks from Vauxhall City Farm, we covered our sheep statue in loopy stitch and more.

But, it's not over yet....in two weeks we head for Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle in Dorset where we hope to finish our sheep's 'knitted fleece'...and we need more wool! You can see a list of the breeds we still need, plus links to all our generous suppliers so far on the Great British Sheep page - but, if you have ANY 100% British wool in your stash, please send it in to us at the shop address, whether we have that breed or not. We'll be teaching more people to knit and getting more folk involved and we need more yarn!

Our first batch of photos are now online here, and if you were there you can add your own to our I Knit photo group.

As a final note for now, we both want to personally thank Yvonne, who has so brilliantly captured our idea and designed and built our fabulous sheep. Thanks Yvonne.

Craig

Woolfest memories

Straight after Thursday's knitting group meeting Gerard and I travelled oop North for our first Woolfest. I'm a Cumbrian boy, born and bred, but we hadn't had the chance to get up to the show before. Ooh, the excitement was barely contained! After a stop off at a motel outside Preston (nice) we arrived on Friday morning and headed straight for the venue. It was a brilliant event - beneath the metal roof of a giant cowshed were yarns, fleece, sheep and alpacas, angora goats and rabbits, spinners, dyers and fibre fans from all over the place. We spent almost the whole day there, feeling up the fleeces. Gerard had a go with the world's biggest knitting needles (below) (you can have a go too, when Ingrid comes along for I Knit Day in September) and he gained a healthy obsession with the curly Wensleydale sheep and bought his first drop-spindle with a view to being a beginner spinner sometime soon. It was great to meet so many familiar faces and meet up with loads of people who we only know as Ravatars! We saw the sheep shearing and felt compelled to buy a fleece - no idea how we'll wash it, perhaps it'll be a 'gift' for someone...and we scrounged our way around the stands collecting for The Great British Sheep project with some success. Thank you to everyone who got so enthusiastic about it and watch out for our first photos from the fete this weekend. Personally I fell for the Herdwicks (pictured). I want one!

We stayed at a lovely hotel in Cockermouth, the Allerdale Court, and noted that it was pretty much full of knitters too...ProbablyJane's name we spotted in the signing in book, there were little knit sessions in the hallway outside our room, and in the evening knitting in the bar. Even at breakfast we saw the Freyalyn witch (sans hat as the ceilings were too low). We loved it so much we went back on Saturday for more! Our boot was stuffed by the end of it all and our pockets a bit lighter.

But this being my 'home country' there were friends to catch up with, family to visit and amazing views to be taken in, plus sampling some local beer here and there. On Sunday we headed off to the fantastic Kirkstile Inn in Loweswater for a post-Woolfest knitting group meeting. If anything it was worth it for the drive and the spectacular location, nestled at the foot of Mellbreak and with stunning views...and the sun even came out for us! A perfect end to the weekend, and thanks to those who made the journey there to join us. Heading back to the motorway we both felt like we were hoping for a reason to make us turn back.

You can see all of our Woolfest Weekend 2008 photos now in our Flickr gallery.

summer festivals

I am only a little disappointed to say that I am not going to Glastonbury this year.

It's not because I'm too old it's because last year was a bit of a nightmare and by day 4 I couldn't wait to get home. The rain and the mud are not what made it a nightmare but the volume of punters. It was incredible. There must haved been about 3 million people. At least it felt like it.

The mud just got worse and worse because of the number of feet trudging through it. My legs were bionic by the end of the weekend. I was working back stage for WaterAid last year and I felt really let down by the number of hay bales that were delivered to the backstage bar to ensure people like Donnie Dickhead and Peaches and FiFi Trixythingy didn't get too much mud on their designer wellies while outside people were losing tents etc etc. Shocking.

Anyway, I should be telling you about the festival I am going to really. Camp Bestival in Dorset looks amazing. I really can't wait for this festival - Chubby Checker is one of the Headliners! - and I Knit London are hosting the festival's very first knitting tent!!!

Camp Bestival runs from 18th to the 20th July and so I'm packing shorts, deck chair and sun cream - oh and some yarn and needles.

We'll be teaching and using the knitbits to construct a glorious knitted sculpture. We'll need all the help we can get so if you are going to be at the festival come and say hello and do some knitting and maybe even a little piece for our sculpture.

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

clapotis

I'm making a clapotis. It's my first and a bit over due. I was making it for myself initially but it's soon to be a special day for a special woman so I think this will just have to be another thing I don't keep. I've used Manos silk blend and I'm about half way through and I've only used 1 hank. This stuff is amazing, it is so and easy to knit and it just keeps on going. You can't really tell but the colours are gorgeous, different shades of emerald green with white.

Gerard

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!

The Campaign for Real Knitting

There's a famous story about Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. Whilst making the film Marathon Man little Dusty had to film a scene where he'd been incarcerated, run-down and looking a bit shabby. The story goes that he went a few days without sleep and ran for some time so he was physically drained and looking a bit of a state. When Sir Larry saw him and enquired as to why he looked so bad he said to him, "Why not try acting, dear boy?". It's probably apocryphal, but it's a good line anyway.


The Method has been used for years by many actors keen to impress with their realistic performances, from Brando to Daniel Day-Lewis. I'm quite keen on it - ham-dram. What's this got to do with knitting then? Well, two nights in a row this week we've been watching telly and been confronted with some so-called knitting that leaves much to be desired. If Ed Norton can learn to perform magic tricks for The Illusionist, or Hilary Swank go through training sessions for Million Dollar Baby, then why can't actors at least have the good sense to learn to knit instead of pretending? It might look good to them, but, seriously, it looks crap and we can tell when it ain't real!


This week's situations were on Friday, in the TV comedy 30 Rock Jack McBrayer was supposedly kniting a bikini - as if! Although distracted by trying to work out what's happened to Alec Baldwin's face we still spotted it was a crocheted bikini top with a needle stuck in the end. Lame. You can't fool us! There's also a situation here of gender stereotypes which is far too big a subject to go into here, but just cos he's camp doesn't mean he has to knit, you know? Exhibit 2 - Saturday night film Demolition Man. Sly Stallone knits a lovely red jumper for Sandra Bullock, overnight!? Not as bad as the McBrayer episode, at least we don't see Sly pretending to knit, but we do have to believe he's done it, which it quite difficult. Actually, this is another contender for a gender-stereotyping theses, but, again, no time right now to get into that. The film is redeemed a little by the brilliant line, "I'm a seamstress? - That's great. I come out of cryo-prison and I'm Betsy-fucking-Ross..."


So, here starts the Campaign for Real Knitting (CREAK). We already have our knitting in films page (which needs another update) telling you where you can see the great art on screen, but if you see a situation of pretend knitting or crochet we all have a duty to write to the actor in question. Would they take speaking the lines of the Bard with such idle contempt? Learn to knit, you just look silly otherwise.

Craig

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!)

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!

Golly! Is this offensive....

This blogpost isn't meant to offend or upset anyone, but in the last few days a debate has been stirring over here at I Knit towers over our friend here (on the left). Recently we started to stock a range of patterns by Sandra Polley, who designs knitted teddy bears, toys and other accoutrements. Amongst them was a pattern for a golliwog. What's interesting is that we didn't question this or have any conversation about gollies, we just put the patterns in the rack. This week Sandra sent us a couple of samples, pictured. Teddy, who is mega cute, with his button arms has been sitting on the table being pawed over all week.....but golly has been in a drawer. And so the debate started.....

For what it's worth, I personally don't find gollies offensive. But then, why would I? I grew up in the North of England in the 1970s an 80s with a golly toy and I had the infamous Enid Blyton book, The Three Golliwogs, too, which I remember fondly and enjoyed reading. Of course, I am not so naive as to not realise that these days gollies have all but disappeared from children's toy boxes, and I realise the connotations and reasons why this is so...but is this just over-sensitive political correctness, or is it blatant racism, or is it simply too much for our 21st century sensibilities?

I am genuinely intrigued at the response from the few people I've spoken to about this in the shop, so please, feel free to comment.....

Here's a couple of links to some articles on the subject for those who, like me, didn't know the background and the history of this much-maligned figure:

Wikipedia

Article by David Pilgrim, Ferris State University

Article by Juliet Savage, The Golliwog Collector's Club

I think there's some interesting points in all three articles, and please note that the article by David Pilgrim does contain some images and words that some may find offensive.

Craig

In praise of our local....

We'd like to take a moment to say a few words about our local. Not our local yarn store (although, of course, we would highly recommend supporting those too) but our local pub. Friends and fellow I Knitters will know by now that we have a penchant for a bevy or two. Our knitting group nights aren't the same if the wine/cider/beer (delete as appropriate) isn't flowing. It might sound like we're turning into alcoholics, but, really it's just a nice way to relax after work - a bunch of like-minded knitty folk, sharing some banter and a few drinks to wind down.

Anyway, back to our local. There are a few pubs around by the shop in Vauxhall - in fact the very first I Knit London meeting was held at The Beehive, just around the corner from where, at that stage, the shop wasn't but would be, if you see what I mean. There's a couple of poncy gastropubs too, and a nameless number of very local boozers that we still haven't visited for fear of our lives. But the one we'll miss the most (if we move...) is the Vauxhall Griffin. When we moved to the area four years ago this was a shadow of it's current self and we steered clear, but after last year's remodelling it's a genuine local pub that's serendipitously positioned between the shop and our flat. We don't end up in their as often as you might think (or as often as we should) but when we do it's always a nice end to the day. At weekends it manages to be a packed club night, yet on weeknights it's just right...and on Tuesdays the weirdest pub quiz you'll ever encounter - if only we closed early enough to go! We did manage on Tuesday gone (I sat there on my own for an hour, struggling) and came away with a prize! Gerard was very excited as he says he never wins anything. (It's a set of toy cars, in case you were wondering). One of the best bits is that one round of the quiz is creative - we used to always use our knittiness but I think Rob got wise to this and isn't impressed anymore - I can't say what we won this prize for except to say we had to draw our 'worst disease'. Some may be offended, although if you see Gerard one night please do ask him to share.

So, hurray for The Griffin. They even sell pear cider, and the jukebox is brilliant (about 90% of the time).

Craig

Liverpool 08...

We had a short one-night stay in Liverpool over the weekend. it's gerard's hometown, of course, so we do go up quite often to see the in-laws. I finally got to meet Louis, who was bundle of gorgeousness, especially in his Liverpool hat. So cute! Gerard knit this for him last year, from Artesano Inca Cloud alpaca. It suits him perfectly and I love the way the rim curls up and the little 'umbilical cord' on the top. He's only 5 months old, but you can imagine how much knitwear he's got already! We were dropping off Christmas presents while we we there and Louis got a whole selection of stuff, including a pair of red Converse pumps and a Nenuco denim jacket. He's the best dressed kid in the city.

If you hadn't noticed, Liverpool is European Capital of Culture 2008, so there's loads going on. We visited the Albert Dock on saturday night. The new Echo Arena was an amazing sight, with a halo of blue lights, sitting on the bank of the Mersey. Funnily enough in the cold light of day it was less impressive, mainly because they were still building it round the back!

The thing I always notice the most about Liverpool is the mix of old and new, especially now, with the Dock Road area completely regenerated, with new buildings going up every week. Only a short walk away stand the old warehouses and derelict pubs that have all the character. But the place is an astonishing mixture of both contemporary 21st century architecture and Victorian gothic. We paid a visit to the Anglican Cathedral, which I haven't been to since a school trip when I was 10 years old. It towers above the city and, like Gerard said, wherever you stand you are always miles away from it. We wandered around the graveyard in the rain, which was romantic and spooky in equal measure.

It wasn't all sightseeing though. We popped into the Grand Central Hall to have a nosy at Purlesque, a tiny little knitting shop packed full of stuff. Gorgeous buttons and accessories and some homemade and handstitched pinnies that you may well be seeing at IKL soon. It's a quirky place and worth a visit if you are in town. Check first though....there's a secret rumour that they may be moving soon....

Back in London now, and it all seems so much greyer.

Craig

13th January 1908...

Ever since I was about 10 years old I've been fascinated by putting together my family tree. I remember I started with a big sheet of paper and wrote all the names on it with lines in between. I kept that bit of paper for years and added stuff to it, but it was never really that complete. A few years back I started again and have been doing it on and off since then whenever I have the time to spend in front of the computer, looking at old census records and the like. It's quite therapeutic and actually quite exciting bringing these folk back from the dead. My family are spread thin and we're a disparate bunch so it's tricky tracking down relations I've never heard of. In some respects it's easier though - Gerard had a go at remembering his own close relatives and gave up - his mum and dad have about 20 siblings between them!


A few years back I was speaking to my gran who remembered clearly some of her childhood in Eaglesfield and Eccclefechan and I realised there was nothing like personal stories to give these names on bits of paper flesh and blood. My gran was born excatly 100 years ago today, on 13th January 1908. I always thought she'd make it to 100 but she didn't manage it - she died in 2004, aged 96. I wanted to remember her today. It's fascinating and a bit scary to think how different the world she was born into was to the world she left - within a single lifetime everything can change beyond recognition. If you've still got the chance, listen to your grannies and grandads, they have a few good yarns to tell.

Happy birthday Nana, wherever you are....

...still knitting in her 90s!

Agnes Carruthers (née Johnstone): 13th January 1908 - 2004

Saturday night's alright

On the way home from the shop tonight I decided I fancied a little glass of rosé wine.

I never know what to buy though. Sainsbury's is not Oddbins. I was busy trying to decide when I noticed a rather glamorous woman in the same aisle. I was distracted by what I thought was her 'Britt Ekland trout pout'. Did you see the pictures in the papers recently - she was on a TV program or something. The woman was slightly scary but she pounced on a couple of bottles of rosé.

If it's good enough for her, I thought...so I picked up the same two types of wine. I'm a little happy right now after drinking a couple of glasses, in fact.

Anyway, I remembered that Craig needed a new scrubber for the dish washing so I went and got some of them and there, again, was the same woman, also looking at scrubbers. I had a better angle this time and I noticed the signs of a bad face lift and then the sunglasses and then the fur lined floor length coat. I was so drawn to the weird shaped lips, I couldn't stop looking. It was then that I realised that it was Britt Ekland.

Mad. You see all sorts in our Sainsburys. Floella Benjamin was my favorite. She's about 12 foot tall.

Anyway, I'm making a scarf.

The scarf I am wearing is a prototype, really. The idea belongs to Susy. She is quite choosy, apparently, so I thought it must be good. In fact I think it's great! Susy had some Paul Smith ribbon and said she was going to copy the colours knitting a length ways scarf. She gave me some of the ribbon and I made a scarf. I'm keeping the first as it's thin and too short but I like it so I didn't unravel. I'm making another for a belated Christmas gift.

I'm knitting on 3.75mm addi's, using Artesano's new DK Alpaca in pretty much all of the colours.

I've no idea how many stitches there are - life's too short to count 'em, so I don't know how long it'll be but I'm sure it'll be grand. I've got about 8 or 9 more rows left, I can't wait to finish. I've a feeling that this is going to be one of those gifts I find hard to give up.

Gxx

Hooray for me...knitting in the round at last!

Now, this might come as a shock to some, but I've never knitted in the round AND I've never usd DPNs either! While Gerard has the enviable ability to pick up sticks and seemingly knit whatever he wants without stress or turmoil, I have major issues with patience and mathematics which means I often play it safe. In these times of resolutions and new knitters I wanted to say that we are not all woolly wizards. I am happy to admit that I continue to learn new tricks and despite my little tantrums and impatience it's worth it in the end.



Before Christmas I decided I needed a pair of gloves. It's got to the stage now that I feel like going out and buying knitwear is a bit of a cheat so I'll go about freezing while I wait to get my a*** into gear and knit me own. I started but ran into problems trying to adapt the pattern (for chunky) to DK yarn, whilst trying to work out how many stitches etc to make it fit. Eeek. Maths and mechanics were never my strong point and knitting uses both in surprising large bundles. I've finally found Marnie MacLean's Hooray for Me gloves online and am ready to get started. Now it's just to get my head around going round....somehow my brain (and a couple of years of knitting backwards and forwards) have left me unable to understand keeping going round and round and round...

Anyways, here they are (I might not be able to pull off this pose mind you). I'm doing them in Hummingbird alpaca from Artesano and if you see me on the bus, or at the knitting group, concentrating like a man possessed please take care...if you interrupt when I'm counting I get a bit stressed! ;))

Cx

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!

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