Woolly weekends in West Cumbria

What a scorcher! It's been a HOT weekend and it's getting hotter. Where we were on the hottest weekend of the year so far? We were surrounded by fleece, having a woolly time at Woolfest; we were working on a Whopper and paddling at the seaside...

Woolfest takes place every summer in a glorified cattle shed on the outskirts of Cockermouth in Cumbria and it's our favourite knitting show of the year. With a leaning towards natural fibres there's a huge amount on offer, as well as alpaca and sheep to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at. They always look a bit bored of the camera lenses poking into their faces, or maybe it's just embarrassment at the new short back and sides. This year we spent all day Friday and a little bit of Saturday touring the stands, meeting friends and having a good natter. Gerard was especially (and surprisingly) restrained this year, although his first purchase (cashmere laceweight from Knitwitches) was enough by itself to break the budget. The portable Ashford spinning wheel was calling to him but I persuaded him that we could probably do without it right now! You can see all of our Woolfest photographs in our gallery.

We made more of our weekend away as an excuse to have a short break too. I'm a local lad so we met up with friends and spent the rest of the weekend in their back garden barbecuing veggie burgers and drinking organic pear cider and gin. It was lovely just spending time in the frsh air with only the bees, the chickens and the home-grown salads for company. And Ann and John, of course. On Sunday we made the pilgrimage along the Solway coast to Allonby, a one street village with sea views and a ninety-year-old sweet shop called Twentyman's. Their legendary Allonby Whoppers are a challenge to even the biggest ice cream fans (and the biggest gobs).

Whenever we get the chance to get away from the shop Gerard makes the most of it knitwise. As I'm the designated driver it's his chance to sit back and relax for a few hours and get some knitting done. Gerard gets his best knitting done on the M6 and it's seen some of his best work over the last few years on trips to Liverpool and Carlisle! This year is no exception. Aptly, on the journey up he made headway with Jared Flood's Girasole shawl (pictured) - for sun-worshippers everywhere, this circular laceweight shawl is named after the sunflower. He's knitting one up using a natural, undyed laceweight from Garthenor's organic British wool range. Chris from Garthenor was at the show and was delighted to see the yarn in progress. On the way back to London G started on an ambitious multicoloured intarsia hat from Charlene Schurch's Hats On! collection, using the glorious JC Rennie 4 ply that appeared in the shop last week. While I was contending with the worst hailstorm I've ever had to drive through and 3 mile tailbacks, G only had about a million ends to contend with.

Craig

Knitting in public and hunting sheep...

Saturday was Worldwide Knit in Public Day and knitters the world over were out and about doing their thing. Here in London we hosted our second IKL Treasure Hunt, sending teams of knitters and their friends scouring the streets of the capital looking for sheep, answering our tricky questions, popping balloons and knitting at all sorts of places.

The theme this year was sheep, and over the last two weeks we've been searching high and low for them. There are surprisingly quite a few dotted around London, from pub signs to historic monuments. The Treasure Hunters visited the 17th Century Painting Rooms at the National Gallery to track down Rubens' A Roman Triumph (pictured); they headed east to St Paul's Cathedral, via the historic Fleet Street and Covent Garden; north to Lamb's Conduit Street, the Lamb pub and Coram's Fields; back south to Waterloo, Lower Marsh and I Knit London. It was brilliant to see everyone - almost 100 people took part, with 30 teams traipsing around the capital. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was great to see some teams taking it so seriously!

There were some highlights of the day - Rowan, the phantom balloon burster - did his best all day with quite a few teams making it as far as the end of the street before their balloons (worth an extra 5 points!) were a goner! But he had his comeuppance in Bloomsbury Square when his attack was thwarted by the WNKers team (pictured) who were ready to defend their honour at any cost. Bottled water was involved and it was a nasty skirmish that left the enemy deflated and sodden. For those who think it wasn't worth the fight...the WNKers were overall winners by four points, so that balloon was all-important! (Just to clarify one thing...the team name refers the the Wednesday Night Knitters...OK?)

Part of the challenge was to keep knitting, and the longest scarf of the day went to Denise and Christine, with an astonishing 94 inches! Looking at their answer sheet we do wonder if they did actually do any of the other bits of the Treasure Hunt, but we have some proof they did. They are pictured here (surprised) at Middle Temple Lane on Fleet Street where they were struggling to find the answers to some fiendishly difficult clue whilst being distracted by the wine shop.

As well as answering the questions and hunting the sheep, we had knitting on Routemaster buses, knitting with naked people, knitting with celebrities (a low count this year with only Richard Madeley and Neil Pearson cornered by over-excited ladies with needles exposed), knitting on things, in things and around things. Looking at the photos when we were adding up the scores it seemed like everyone had a wild time - the naked cyclists were especially popular!

But there could only be one winner. As mentioned earlier the WNKers took the title with an amazing 83 points. It was a close call for second place but Team Amethyst took it on the tie-break with a longer scarf than third placed Team Tired. A very special mention must go to team Hobble On who were only half a point away from the medals, in fourth place...and one team member was on crutches for the whole thing! That's dedication for you. Also to The Anzacs, made up of two stragglers with no team to go to - Sarah from New Zealand, and Carol from Australia (pictured). Congratulations to everyone who took part and a huge thanks for making it such a good day.

It took a while to get the score on the doors, but, in the meantime everyone enjoyed the rest and the fresh air out on Lower Marsh, with a few pear ciders and some chocolate biscuits.

You can see all of our own photos on our Flickr page, and, if you took part please upload your own pictures (we really want to see grumpy Neil Pearson!) to the I Knit on Flickr group. If you can't do this, please email your pics to us and we will post them up for you.

Now, what shall we do next year?!

Not just knitting...

Because IKL started as a knitting group all those years ago, one of the things we've always tried to do is keep that social aspect of knitting. When we first opened the shop it was important that there was at least a little space for some bums to rest and some drinks to be drunk. That's where the Chesterfield came into play and comfy it is too. Over the past couple of years the shop has changed but we've made sure that there's plenty of other stuff going on in there as well as just selling wool.

Last night was no exception. A couple of years ago one of our regulars, Justine, suggested starting a book group. We were happy to provide the venue and see how it went. The Kniterati was born and it's been two years in the running now and with only a short break during the summer of 08, we've been having a bit of bookish banter every month. Last night's meet-up saw 18 folk knitting, crocheting and discussing Mrs Pettigrew Lives For A Day. Gin martinis were available (I think a themed drink and nibbles may well be in order for all future meetings) and when I arrived late it was all over bar the martinis! It's so reassuring to see the shop being used as we intended and to see everyone feeling at home amongst friends and strangers and yarn. We've recently opened up The Kniterati Book Group to everyone via the new blog where you can sip your own gin martinis and take part wherever you may be. Head on over there now to find out what the book for July is - the next meeting is on Tuesday 7th July...

Another one of our events looms large when Worldwide Knit in Public Day arrives on 13th June. The first time we took part in this global knit-together we headed off to Trafalgar Square and had altercations with security guards who were confused about our intentions! We said we were just knitting, they said we were performing without a licence. Much hilarity ensued. Last year we decided to take the whole thing a bit more seriously and launched the world's first ever knitting treasure hunt*. We had brilliant number of teams who headed off across London in search of celebrities, policemen, woolly things and more, all the while knitting scarves and carrying yellow balloons (as you do). So this year we're doing at again! It'll be a much more leisurely affair, with a sheepy theme. Teams of 2 to 4 people are welcome to join in. See the Treasure Hunt website for full details and come along on the 13th for a sheepy stroll through London town and back to ours afterwards for some prizes and a party! If you're not in London you can check out the WWKIP Day website to find (or start) and event near you.

So, you may well ask if we ever actually do any knitting in between all this nonsense...? Yes,we do! Maybe not as much as we want to...but we do!

*as far as we know?

Sunshine, sheep-shearing and SE1...

We've been a bit quiet of late here on the blog, mainly due to all the other stuff going on! Gerard has taken to Tweeting on Twitter and has been distracted by the new high-tech till in the shop (it does barcodes and everything don't you know?) and we're still working on getting the online shop up and running...it's coming soon, we promise.

Despite all of these distractions we've had time to hold the charity tea party last weekend which raised over £450 for Diabetes UK, from the sale of raffle tickets, cups of tea and cake! Thanks to everyone who popped in on the day and to all those who baked cake and donated prizes. It was a brilliant day all round and we're looking at hosting a regular tea party now and then as anything with cake involved seems to go really well.

We're looking forward to the summer now. It's been a scorchio weekend here in London. Yesterday we tottled over to Spitalfields City Farm in the East End for their annual Sheep and Wool Fayre. We love city farms. We urbanites should do all we can to make the most of such oasises, especially those of us who live in blocks of flats with no green space. Their herb and veg garden put our window boxes to shame! There was a bit of sheep-shearing (Sophie the Southdown looked massively relieved to get that jumper off), felting, spinning, knitting and cakes, of course. It was slightly devastating to see that a huge swathe of the farm had been commandeered by TFL for the East London line extension. I'm only ashamed to say we'd never been before.

With the temperature rising we can't wait for the festival season. We'll be off to the Lake District again this year for Woolfest at the end of June (as visitors only) then in July we're hosting Camp Bestival's knitting tent again. After the success of George, The Great British Sheep last year we're preparing for a deluge of activity. This year's line-up (as well as us!) inlcudes Kid Creole and the Coconuts and Chic. Discotastic! A knitting tent in the grounds of a castle by the sea in Dorset. What's not to love?

Visitors continue to arrive from far and wide to our little IKL. Holiday season in London brings a fresh influx of foreign fibre fans by land , sea and air. We love meeting so many knitters from far flung lands. Last Thursday's knit night was overflowing and we set up a couple of outside tables to cool off as the sun set. It's a peculiarly English thing to make the most of what you've got....we haven't got a paddling-pool yet but with a bit of knitting, a bottle of cider and a bowl of pear drops...well, just close your eyes and you could be a million miles away from SE1!

zauberball

Just as the newsletter gone out the zauberball arrived.

I love this yarn.

I'm not a huge fan of variegated yarns, especially socks but it can get a little annoying doing a whole sock or glove in a single colour. I really like the self striping yarns, for ease and my favorites are the huge stripes, like the zauberball. Its a single, which makes me love it more. It's a 4ply weight so perfect for socks and gloves and anything else small, like baby clothes, to keep the stripe. It's 75% wool, 25% nylon so machine washable - even better!

We only got 1 kilo so I doubt that will last long, Vanessa had already pocketed some and come up with 15 patterns to make things as sample for the shop.

Hayley has also made sure to stake her claim so they are reserved but that still leaves loads and more has been ordered.

We also moved the shop around a little at the weekend. We moved the sheep, again, and covered it with colinette point five. It looks great, I think you'll agree.

Two weddings and a birthday...

We've been away. For ages. Well, for about 10 days, but in our world it seems like ages.

We should've been updating the Twitter and the blog during our little sojourn but a combination of big hills, posh hotels, sheep and country pubs distracted us enough not to bother. We spent the week in Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Cumbria and it was utterly lovely.

Firstly, thanks to the blog hijackers for the birthday message. I was being pampered and preened at a spa hotel that weekend having the stress build up of 3 years of running a knitting shop beaten and squeezed out of me buy the lovely Sarah at the Losehill Hotel and Spa. Three days of fresh air and luxury; gin and tonics, smoked mackerel and scrambled eggs and lots of cheese. A visit to the local Spar for a midnight feast and the new James Bond DVD were a highlight! Pampered and preened and full of the joys of Spring we headed north into Yorkshire...

Although we were off from IKL, we were still trawling charity shops for knitting books, and visiting local wool shops to see what joys they had to offer. It was a disappointing trip to Holmfirth when we discovered that Rowan have neither a mill or any kind of visitor facilities. We were turned away at reception and sent in the direction of their local stockist down in the town. Still, we did see the caff from Last of the Summer Wine and found the cutest little button / haberdashery / vintage knick-knack shop called Winnie's, up a cobbled lane from days of yore, so quaint you'd think it was fake!

A leisurely drive through t'country and we stopped for the night in Skipton, which really took me by surprise. Lovely place, local market, shops etc and a gorgeous old cinema, The Plaza, where we had some M&Ms and watched Frost/Nixon. It felt like 1959 for a couple of hours and that's no bad thing. We spent the night in the Woolly Sheep Inn, on Sheep Street (we couldn't resist) and headed off in the morning, onwards and upwards. Tea and scones, with jam and cream saw us on our way. (I think I had more creamy, jammy scones last week than the rest of my life added together).

Two reasons why we extended our trip were invites to a pair of weddings....one in Burnsall, Yorkshire on Friday last, and one the next day in Cumbria. So it was off to Burnsall, where we stayed for three nights in the Red Lion and took advantage of the free days to take in Sheffield, Harrogate, Bolton Abbey and the open space. We couldn't spend time in this part of the world without dropping in to see Ann and Ruth (and David) at the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop near Leyburn. We've been stocking their wool for a couple of years now but haven't had the chance to call by. It was a glorious sunny day and coming upon the farm in the back lanes around Garriston was quite exciting. What a perfect little shop! Full of woolly stuff and more.



This is Beryl who is one of their avid knitters, happy to while away the day, needles clicking, making the most beutiful Wensleydale jumpers and cardis. The hospitality, and the soup, were top-notch and we spent a good couple of hours putting the knitting world to rights and in great company. We were prvileged to see Ann's collection of knitting sticks too! It felt like the best place in the world to be hanging around. If you are ever close by it's worth dropping in.

Of course, if there's one place to visit when in Wensleydale it's the Creamery at Hawes. Home of the Real Yorkshire Wensleydale, we made it along after the sheepshop, but sadly they'd stopped creaming for the day due to the amount of milk they had delivered that morning. We couldn't watch the cheesemaking, but we consoled ourselves in the gift shop and have bought enough Wensleydale to last a lifetime. My favourite has blueberries in it.




Driving back across the moors was spectacular. We took the scenic route from Hawes back through Wharfedale and over the hills. There was a chilly wind blowing and the views were astonishing. There's something reassuring about a vista like this that hasn't changed for centuries; the winding lanes; the farms and sheep; the stone barns peppering the landscape. Back at Burnsall it was a pint of local ale and fish and chips to warm us up.

So the week ended with the wedding double bill! On Friday we attended our first ever I Knit London wedding! That's the first wedding for someone we met through the knitting group. Tom first joined us about 2 years ago at a pub in Soho one Wednesday night. Always up for trying new things he thought he'd give the knitting a go. Famously his first scarf took over a year, but what's the rush?! We've been seeing him ever since, and some of you might remember him as part of the IKL Eggheads team too. Congratulations to Tom and Claire, currently enjoying Malaysia!

A late night, then an early start to drive the Settle-Carlisle route for wedding number 2 in Wetheral. For a short time we were running alongside the Duchess of Sutherland and it was like 1959 all over again (again)! (If only we were on the train instead of driving). Ann and John were the happy couple this time, Ann's been a friend for 18 years and I thought this would never happen but she stalked John so much he finally gave in. We danced til morning and Ann's particular taste in music was confirmed at the first wedding I've been to where we had Rammstein, Gene Kelly and The Good Life theme tune. Congratulations to Ann and John, now enjoying the Isle of Skye!

Gromit and bananas

Last week Celia, our Friday girl, gifted to us a wonderful Gromit. I love knitted toys so I was thrilled.

It was from a women's weekly pattern from a few years ago and it had 17 separate parts, most of which are made in Cornish Organic DK. As you can see from the picture he has found a home clinging to a tree while sat on top of the fish tank.

An another topic, how many bananas can you eat in one sitting? Well, to be part of the Go Bananas for Fair Trade world record attempt you only have to eat one! Almost 200,000 people have registered to take part already.

What a brilliant way to raise awareness, I have already registered. I don't eat enough fruit so I'm grateful for the reminder as well as glad to be part of something promoting Fair Trade.

I Knit Animals

We had a visit from Doctor Knit last night. Her real name is Denise and, with her daughter, was in London all the way from the Downtown Knit Collective in Toronto. Denise stayed to knit for a while in amongst the hurly burly of the knitting masses.

The wealth of people attracted to knitting is amazing and the generosity and and good nature is brilliant.

This is a gift from Denise. We've never met before, and I'm sure doesn't know but my favourite character in His Dark Materials was Iorek, so it's perfect!

I Love It. The pattern is available from http://www.blogger.com/www.patternfish.com

Knit a river, a small update

I was typing away at the laptop this morning (the classes and presentations for the show in September is going to be great!) when a lady shopper asked me if I was the man who did knit a river. Craig was there so I said we both were. I forgot my face was on the flyer so that's why she recognised me.
She said that a portion of the river was delivered to her husband at The department for International Development. I could hardly believe. I'm not writing his name, but I did, recognise it and I was thrilled.I asked if he still had the section of river, she said, 'Oh, yes! He has it! It's still there!'She gestured with her arm to indicate it was up on a wall!

Love it! well done knitters!!!!!

Gxx

hot wheels

We've got spinners in today. I've had a little go myself earlier but a hangover and working in the shop is getting in the way, really.
There's a few different wheels and some drop spindling.
The shop is boiling hot with all the industry!

Gxx

Twittering

Craig registered with Twitter the other week. He kept talking about it, another social network site that's kind of like a mini blog mixed with an online forum. In case you don't know, you can choose to follow, or not, any of the other people registered, and each post appears as they are written, you can even reply.


Craig kept talking about it and I kept trying to ignore it. I completely ignored it until Monday. Since then I've become very interested. I can't stop tweeting. I tweet all the time. So much so that I thought it was very funny when Vanessa found this button in our button bowl!

Thank you Vanessa, I love you. And I love my little button. And I love to tweet!

Anyway, back to knitting...

this is happening now!

this is a picture of Craig on the go.

In the middle of this picture is the divine Biggan, of Biggan design.
and heres another shot!


mwah
Gxx

classes

I just wanted to post about the classes we are offering at the moment.

I'm so glad to have a team of brilliant teachers that are offering such a lot of classes at the moment.

We continue with sold out beginners class, 3 years of beginners knitting and crochet!

Jane Lithgow is also back in the fold after an inexplicable break. Jane designed a pair of mittens for my book, Knits to Share and Care. They are fab, I am wearing them as I type.

On 4 March Jane is teaching a class on how to make them, using the fantastic slip stitch technique. I can't wait.

Gxx

Race For Life

Join I Knit London's Race For Life Team and raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Can you run, jog, skip, walk or stroll? If so you please join our team. There are events throughout the UK so it's really easy for us all to take part and we thought having a national team would be brilliant for many reasons. We could support each other through the joy of the internet, the responsibility of raising funds would be shared, you would be able to do a race that was local to you....

Each entrant would have to register for the race themselves at a cost of £12.99.

I can not take part as I'm male, but I can organise the team fundraising page and maybe even a spot of knitting at the London races with refreshments for a good long sit down after the run.

If you are willing and/or able please email us and we can register you on our team fundraising page.

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

I'm just a curio who can't say no...

I've been on the telly again this week. Working Lunch, BBC2, asked me before Christmas to be a guest on their show and talk about whether knitting is an inexpensive option compared to high street shopping, in the current financial climate. I got the impression they wanted me to say yes it is, so I did.

Knitting can be really expensive and as I own and run a knitting shop I do tend to use the more expensive yarns, I'm a little spoiled, I know. We all know there are really good value quality yarns, we sell lots of emu superwash DK and it's great, we recommend it for all kinds of people, not just beginners.

However, there are some very fabulous natural fibres that don't cost the earth, Wensleydale Longwool for example and Colinette point 5. Manos Silk Blend is also fantastic given the meterage! I could go on.

I took some wool to the studio with me, I even brought some Qiviut but I didn't tell them how much it cost.

I didn't realise that I would only be there for 90 seconds and I had so much to say that I didn't get the time to. (Polly, the researcher who escorted me to the studio asked if I was nervous. I told her I wasn't, excited but not nervous as I spend most of my time talking about knitting so I was in gear and raring to go!)

Personally, I don't think knitting and high street shopping are comparable but as the title says, I can't say no! I reckon that in the long run knitting is less expensive than buying clothes from 'hideous' high street shops. (I was impressed with myself for saying hideous live on the BBC.) I think that we devalue clothes that cost a few pounds and when they loose their lustre after a couple of washes lots of people will simply discard and replace. The big difference with handknitting is that the individual pieces are not so easily replaced and even if they could be they are so valuable that we mend, darn, repair.

The other argument, that I will not go into here, is the questionable sources of the clothes in some of the high street shops and how much the people who make them are being paid.

While I was in the studio I met a very nice man, Hamish, the ceo of the institute for practitioners of advertising. Then I met the presenters, who were great - one of them even knits, but I was still left with the impression that maybe I am not the best ambassador for knitting as I feel like a bit of a curiosity and it's becoming harder to smile through the surprise and inevitable question "but you're a man and you knit?'

Honestly, it's not amazing and I don't really think it's that great. I love knitting and I love talking to other knitters and seeing their work. Maybe I'll start saying no. But how could I say no to Kirstie Allsopp? I love her and I'd love to teach her to knit on her new channel 4 program! And Richard and Judy want to film our book group!

And I'm on Market Kitchen this Saturday at the behest of the gorgeous Amy Lamé.

Anyway, it's rather nice to be back! I'm sorry my anti Pope rant was up for so long but we were having password problems (and it was Christmas). I did lots of knitting over Christmas. I did a Charlene Schurch hat for my dad. In red and white with a Norwegian star design. He loved it. I loved that he loved it. Craig loved it and so I did him a similar hat and I have 3 other orders.

and oh my god look at Melissa's sock, it fabulous!

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

The World's Largest Tea Cosy

This morning was the press launch of the world's biggest tea cosy. We've been working with The Wallace and Gromit Foundation for the past couple of months, asking people to knit squares or strips and send them to us so we could sew then together into a huge tea cosy. It's been great working on such a fun project and the foundation does great work to help young people in the Uk so we are proud to have helped in some way.

We've been asked countless times 'does that mean you have the world's biggest tea pot?' Does the above pic answer your question? We didn't know until last night how big the tea cosy was going to be as we were still receiving contributions so the planning was a little less than we would have preferred. Inside the very heavy tea cosy is Beeci and a gaggle of Wallace and Gromitt Foundation supporters doing brilliant work with raised arms for a 40 minutes or so.

I was very excited to be in the company of two of my heroes. I'm eating wensleydale cheese as I write!

We're even more excited about our tea party this weekend to celebrate the launch of Wild Tea cozies, by Loani Prior.

Bring on the cake!

Gxx

not a minute too soon

Yesterday was the best day ever!

Jane Waller and Susan Crawford visted the shop for the London launch of the republication of A Stitch in time. Susan and Jane are two of my favourite people and we were so glad to host them at the shop talking about the book.

They brought with them all of the garments from the book and my expectations, while very high, were thoroughly exceeded!

They are gorgeous.

Jane started proceedings by talking about the genesis of the book and her inspirations, motivations and desires. Jane Waller is a very engaging speaker whose enthusiasm is clear and seemingly boundless.

Susan continued, talking about why she wanted to republish the book and followed by taking us all through the garments in the book. They really are amazing.

This swimsuit was one of the most popular as you can see from our gorgeous model.

We had lots of gorgeous models.

We sold most of the books but we have some left but I don't imagine we'll have for long, It's a truly inspirational book.

The presentation went on for ages as the interest in the garments was huge and Susan has a way of talking to people that encourages us to understand that these garments are not only relevant, they are stunning, flattering and very achievable, all it takes is casting on. Most of the garments are made in 4ply, and although some of them have intricate designs the majority of them are simple, easy to pick stitch patterns with the most beatiful finishing touches, as Susan and Jane said, sometimes there is no reason for the fancy finishing other than it's just gorgeous!

I can't wait for volume 2!

Gxx

Sticky toffee pudding and Sunday roast

Sunday saw our second Sunday Knit Roast knitting group at a pub in Soho. It's the second time we've hosted this monthly Sunday session and it was very quiet - which I put down to the rain, but it did make us wonder whether the knitting group 'thing' has reached saturation point. I mean, there are so many hundreds of groups now, and in London alone you can go to one every day of the week (almost). We'll still continue with the Sunday Knit Roasts in 2009, even if it's just an excuse for Gerard and I to have the day off and go to the pub.
It was actually really nice to have a small crowd at the weekend - much more relaxing and much more chatty. We met new IKLondoners, mum and daughter Moira and Ortrude (who was knitting from a retro copy of Brigitte, a German book which Moira remembered from her childhood). It stills stands then that there'es been someone new at every single meeting since December 2005! plus, the sticky toffe pudding always makes it worthwhile...
Here's a few pictures from Sunday's get-together. we are now realising 'party season' is upon us - we've got a party almost every week from now til Christmas! To kick things off it's the London lauch of A Stitch in Time this Saturday 22nd November...glorious vintage knits, with cake!



Craig

Franklin, my dear...

Last night we were treated to something very special. A personal visit from Franklin Habit. Franklin and his partner, Tom, are only in London for a few days and they agreed to stop over at I Knit London, meet some knitters, sign some books and give us a reading or two. It was a brilliant night. The place was packed and those arriving late found themselves chair-less, but the atmosphere was great, and Franklin was a consummate gentleman and a thoroughly nice chap.

When I finished work I headed straight for the shop and it was already filling up with eager knitters. Franklin arrived at about 6pm and hid away in the basement with Elizabeth from Simply Knitting for a quick interview, before throwing himself before us. The new book of his cartoons, and essays, It Itches, is very funny, very witty and very Franklin. For those who regularly read his blog (The Panopticon) it'll be no surprise that he has turned out a great little book. Franklin read a couple of excerpts for us, the first about Victorian knitting patterns and their sadistic tendencies (or masochistic if you choose to enjoy them!) and the second about the long-forgotten underpant knitters of Great Fussing-on-the-Wold! He certainly has a way with words...any fans of the Yarn Harlot will love Franklin's equally ironic and wicked take on the knitty world...

Franklin was happy to hang around and chat and sign the book, plus a very limited number of his Guys With Yarn calendar (Gerard was first in line to grab a copy?!) This went down a storm..and made some people VERY happy!

The personal highlight for us was our one-off cartoon of Dolores doing Britannia, from Franklin. I'm ashamed to admit that my history (and French) lessons didn't amount to much so I had to ask for an explanation of the motto. But now I get it! And the 'cupcake' bit made me laugh out loud!

Franklin & Tom, thanks so much for coming over. we shall certainly head over to Chicago and pay you a visit. Have a fabulous trip home on the Queen Mary and Bon Voyage!

Craig

Yes We Can

And we do, often. Knitting of course. I've done lots of knitting over the past few weeks. It's been great being away from the shop but we did miss it, too.

We're back from our US trip and we're delighted to be home. We had a brilliant time and met some great people. I'm trying to think of my favourite moment but it's hard. We were introduced to people at the Stitches East gala dinner and were called up to the stage to say a few words on the mic. That was a bit scary, but brilliant.

We were taken for dinner by Kathleen and Nick Greco of Jelly Yarn. I've spoken to Kathleen on the phone a few times and the conversations were never just about business and I enjoyed them. I enjoyed meeting them very much. They are immensely genuine people and I love Kathleen's enthusiasm, she is so vibrant. They are a very elegant pair. So much so that they chose a brilliant restaurant, they even laid on a limo! I've never been in a limo before that. It was weird and discotastic!

Stitches was in Baltimore, pic of the famous harbour below. Each morning I was there I opened the window and sang out 'Good morning, Baltimore!' Well, I would have done if hotel room windows opened. That line is from the film Hairspray, a major theme of which is a segregation and human rights. It's interesting, then, that we were in America when the first black person was elected as president. I don't think you are allowed to say black, though. He was constantly being referred to as "African Amercian President Elect, Barack Obama". I spoke with my mum on the phone while I was there and she asked if we had got any souvenirs while we were there as this is history. I though that was a bit mad as I think this of it as progression. Craig agrees with my mum. I'm so glad that Obama is going to be the next President of the US and I don't really care if he's black. Maybe that's because I'm not black and I'm not American. I know it's a big deal, Craig reminded me that only 40 years ago black people had less human rights than white people in the US so the decision to make him the next president is at least historic and momentous, even if you didn't vote for him.

While we were in Baltimore we spent lots of time with delightful Eirwen, who runs Knitwitches, and Jane Sowerby, author of Victorian Lace Today. I love them both, it's official.

We also met the team from Malabrigo, they were as nice as their yarns! Too many people to mention, actually, but we have some brilliant square needles coming our way soon! When we weren't on stage, in a limo or cavorting with knitting superstars we got the chance to sip on a margarita or two.

We bought lots while we were in Baltimore. We couldn't help ourselves. We are about to make lots of orders but we had to bring back some Qiviut from Windy Valley. It's so gorgeous and the colours are amazing. It's in the shop right now and I've even started knitting with it and I love it. It's pricey, but worth it, and we have lots of patterns for scarf that only use one ball. We also brought brought back some amazing buttons, bags and shawl pins. Thanks again to Cheryl and everyone at Cherry Tree Hill for making a big deal of us, we had a great time.

Gxx

Stitches East

This morning we drove west to reach Baltimore and Stitches East. It's the reason we came over to the US this week, to visit the show, meet up with some friends, make some new ones and see if we can't find some goodies to bring back to London.

It's all been a bit of a quick day, but we got into Baltimore about 1pm, checked into the hotel and headed over to the show. It struck us immediately that it's the kind of show we aspire to in the UK. It's pretty much all centred around yarn, with a nice selection from all across the US. There's also a superb range of classes and workshops, exhaustive and worth it in their own right. We  spent the afternoon racing around the stalls which we will have more of a look at tomorrow. 

There was an abundance of beautiful lace shawls (Jane Sowerby is in attendance at the show) and a great mix of fibre. We met Jeri and Matthew from Flying Fibers who are committed to selling British yarns and it was a real surprise to see their stash of Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop and their Garthenor. Ann and Ruth (from the Wensleydale Sheepshop) even made an appearance...in a photograph pinned up in their booth! We finally got to meet Nick and Kathleen, the faces behind Jelly Yarn, who we've been chatting to on the phone for some time. We are the UK distributor for the yarn and we were excited to report to them that it's being lapped up in London. They had a few new designs on their stand which are now winging their way over the Atlantic to us.

Purchases were few today (more to buy tomorrow I'm sure), but G did snap up some suri lace alpaca from Diane at Windy Valley Musk Ox - their range of laceweight yarns goes from the $90 a ball qiviut to the more modestly priced but just as gorgeous alpaca and cotton. I think we'll have some in our suitcase for on the way home. Some really beautiful stuff all round, and not just yarns either - Signature needles, some incredible resin and glass buttons, handmade needles cases, tote bags and other accessories and notions. 

After the main show we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before the fashion show and the dinner at the Hilton. The event is organised by XRX books, who publish Victorian Lace Today and Knitter's Magazine (amongst others). Their latest publication, Knit One Below by Elise Duvekot featured highly in the fashion show. The premise of the book is to use the k1b technique, combining yarns and using this simple instruction to form intriguing and interesting fabrics. The show also highlighted the work of many others designers and yarns all of whom had booths at the main event. Not all of it was to our taste but there were some glorious knits in there too. There was a penchant for wraps and shawls, and it was noted that on the catwalks this year there was the same...an indication that handknitting has influenced the high-end Italian designers this season and not the other way aorund...?

The dinner tonight ended the day on a surreal (but posh) note! We are here as guests of Cheryl and the gang at Cherry Tree Hill, but we didn't expect an on stage introduction in front of 1000 of people. And from Alexis Xenakis no less. Alexis is the photographer for most of XRX's publications, including VLT, and is  revered here at IKL. So when he got up on stage and apologised for not introducing us at the fasion show earlier, then asked us up on the stage for a short speech we were a bit gobsmacked and embarrassed! We said something about I Knit Day and invited everyone to visit us in London! Suddenly everything went in a direction we didn't expect. It's not false modesty to admit that we didn't expect anyone to know who we were...then we're ending the night the Marriott hotel bar with XRX CEO, Ben, Jane Sowerby and Eirwen, Tobias from Malabrigo, Jane Slicer-Smith, Susie from Kollage and, no doubt, looks of amazement on our faces.

We are off in the morning to have our photo taken by Alexis! Bizarre.

Craig

New York City boys

It's our third day in New York and the gin and tonics (and the jetlag) are finally taking their toll! After Tuesday's late night celebrating the results of the election we took it easier yesterday. Much of the day spent in the village and Soho, starting with a glorious pumpkin latte at Grounded (coffee shop on Jane Street) before a meander down to Canal Street and back again. Mostly window shopping although I did get myself a new hat and Gerard bought himself a $3 dollar umbrella as the rain came down - haggled down from $5 I might add. We're the last of the big spenders! We've both been to New York a few times and the streets are becoming more familiar with each visit; this time we've taken it easy, just wandering, rather than feeling the need to fit on the stuff that, as tourists, we're supposed to be doing (although today we did queue at tkts for show tickets and spotted the Naked Cowboy, pictured - what's the point of him again...?)

We also popped into a couple of knitting shops yesterday too - Purl in Soho, and The Point, where we spent a couple of hours. I got myself a hank of blank Twinkle super chunky (not available in the UK...yet!) and whipped up a 'scarflette' together with wooden button, "hand carved in Massachusetts" so I was told. G rustled up a little earflapped hat for his nephew and it was nice respite from the walking and the rain. Having friends here also helps with avoiding the obvious and we met up with James and Ryan, had a few drinks and headed for Pylos, a brilliant Greek restaurant down in alphabet city. A few more drinks later and we were ready to head back to the hotel. we're staying over (WAY over!) on 38th and 10th Avenue, which, even though it's only a 15 minute walk into Times Square, feels like a lifetime away. But it's not bad actually, and for £70 a night (between the two of us - thankyou Priceline!) we can't complain.

Tonight we saw Gypsy, with Patti LuPone which was disappointing actually -old fashioned entertainment that didn't live up to the hype. We should've learned from our last trip when we saw Spring Awakening (which went on to win all the Tony Awards) and we hated it. I just don't think musicals are our thing. Oddly.

Tomorrow we head off to Baltimore for Stitches East.

Craig

So, why do you knit? It's rubbish!

Here at IKL HQ we get requests for all sorts of things. Do we want to be interviewed on such-and-such a TV programme? Radio? Internet? Would we be intersted in advertising in a certain magazine, or writing a short article about knitting....? Then there's the whole, "can you knit this?" for us, in a day or two for 20 quid? Usually if it's for the telly we'll have a go, but we've turned down Fonejacker, BBC's Oliver Twist, and BSkyB in the past year...the request to knit a hat for each of the Premiership's football managers, in team colours, with the face of each manager intarsiaed into the design of each hat, and with a deadline of 'a few days', still ranks as our favourite "one that got away"!

Anyway, this week we had two requests. One for an interview on the radio and one for advertising. To me it summed up the way that knitting has started to cross the usual boundaries and how it now appeals to people across a huge spectrum. On Wednesday Gerard was interviewed for Kerrang! radio...about knitting? I think they'll probably use the interview to take the piss (the very first question was, "So, why do you knit? It's rubbish", which almost made G hang up straight away), but I suppose it's the man thing. Even if Jonathan Ross calls it the new rock 'n' roll (yawn) and Johnny Borrell namechecks Stitch 'n' Bitch, I still don't think Kerrang listeners are quite ready for an interview about knitting, but it's all good. G took great pains to mention IKL, oh, about every sentence!


The second request was for an ad in a magazine that has completely passed me by. Best of British describes itself as "Britain's favourite nostalgia magazine" (how many are there?) and is amazing. It nestles snugly between The People's Friend and The Lady as one of those purely British enigmas enjoyed by those who live in places with names like Much Mickle-on-the Moor and have no contact with the known universe after 1950. It's just full of cosy nostalgia from the time of steam trains, coal fires, wartime spirit, rock 'n' roll and the like, before the hoodies, iPods, immigrants and Labour government ruined the world (according to BOB). But, I couldn't help but love it. It has, apparently, over 100,000 readers, mostly over the age of 55, and it takes you back to a time when we all loved each other and even murder was cosy (Miss Marple). I realised on Friday that I was officially old when I started to reminisce about things that do not exist anymore; rag and bone men, coalmen, Hillman Hunters. Ahh, those were the days.

We thoroughly embrace all the steroetypes and we actively encourage the breaking of them in the same moment. What's unusual (to me) is that the so-called 'new' knitters (ie those under 40) are the ones who want to use natural fibres, wool, alpaca etc, which I would consider the more 'traditional' choice and most of the old ladies (who are, apparently, the 'traditional' knitters) are only ever after a bit of manmade acrylic.

Craig

Sunday Knit Roast

What a mad weekend. Busy, busy, busy. All the knitters in town for Ally Pally seemed to descend on the shop in the last few days too, checking us out. I hope we lived up to expectations. We have been sorting through stuff for our National Knitting Week sale which starts today and, blimey, we haven't had a proper de-clutter for ages!

Yesterday we had the first of our new knitting group meetings on a Sunday. We used to meet in pubs every week, then every fortnight and recently we hung up our pub night shoes and now host our own knitting group on a Wednesday and Thursday night in our shop. But we missed the pub knitting vibe so we decided to try a Sunday get-together. We'll be doing it monthly and we'll be choosing pubs with a good selection of beer, but also a good roast dinner (for carnivores and veggies alike). So, to start us off we were in The Phoenix for Sunday afternoon. It was a bit dark but we had a good turnout which resulted in the roast dinners selling out! It was lovely to meet so many new people too and we hope you can make it along next time. Eleanor solved the mystery of the 'cast on and purl 5' instruction for a pair of big chunky mittens, and Catherine brought Peter along making him, officially, the youngest ever member of the knitting group at 16 weeks. Sadly, he was forced to sit outside as the pub were concerned that the crazy drinking knitters would corrupt his innocence! He was cosy enough though in his gorgeous ickle hat and blanket.

We do want to send an apology to those who were still around when we left. We simply HAD to get up to Ally Pally before it closed to collect some yarn - and, best laid plans and all that....we just didn't have time to get back to the pub. I'm particularly cross with ourselves as a lovely bunch of ladies from Norway had just arrived with the most gorgeous Scandanavian mittens...and we had to leave. One day we will have minions to do chores like that for us! Sorry folks, I hope you still had a good day. We were there for four hours so plenty of time for knitting, drinking, Yorkshire puds and more!

Our next Sunday Roast will be Sunday 16th November from 12pm....we'll be researching pubs between now and then and will let you know where we'll be. Any recommendations happily received. Pubs should be spacious enough and light enough for all the knitters to see what they are doing, fairly central (or close to a Tube station), and have a good Sunday lunch (with veggie options for me and G!)

The Knitting and Stitching Show...

It was our day for the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally yesterday. Our main reason for going was to collect our certificate for winning the Editor's Choice Award in the inaugural Let's Knit magazine awards. Here we are collecting our award and looking well cheesy. We'll have it framed and it will sit alongside our Blankety-Blank chequebook and pen and our Alan Titchmarsh Show National Treasure 2007 Award!

We also did the rounds, dodging most of the non-knitting stalls and making a beeline for our favourites. There seemed to be less yarn than last year, or maybe it was just more spread around the three rooms? Still, we met up with a few friends and we ate some chocolate...

Knitting for the Wallace and Gromit Foundation's attempt at the World's Biggest Tea Cosy...

Elaine Jamieson and Mary MacGregor from the Shetland Islands. Mary's new book of Fair Isle knitting charts is due out in January...

Wyesue shows off the gorgeous Orenburg shawl at the Knitwitches stand. Just noticed how G gets himself hovering in the background of most photos!Big budget yarn mountain. (I was going to write 'wool mountain' but that might be stretching it a bit!)

Cheryl at Cherry Tree Hill displays her wares....

Hyperbolic Crochet in the main foyer...

...and some new bits being added.

We spent the best part of the day at the show, and our feet were killing us by the time we finished. It's so big that we didn't get to see everyone and fighting through the crowds can be just a little wearisome after a while. We got to say hello to some friends along the way and we stocked up on Cherry Tree Hill and Habu, otherwise our purchases were very modest. See above...three hanks of Knitwitches Baby Camel which Gerard bought to make a shawl for someone special, plus some rejuvenation cream, which is really what we need, not more yarn! And, of course, four bags of Linden Lady chocolates.

Here's the shuttle bus back to the station. Can you spot the odd one out?

Craig

Unfailing energy and enthusiasm...

It's been an eventful week for winning stuff: on Tuesday night Gerard and I went for our usual visit to the Retro Bar pop quiz and WON! yes, our knowledge of the lyrics to The Nolans' I'm in the Mood for Dancing helped us take a commanding lead. It leads quite nicely into our quiz which we're holding this coming Monday as part of our National Knitting Week celebrations. I'm a quiz show queen, no denying it, after winning The Weakest Link in 2001 and appearances on Blankety Blank, Eggheads and Only Connect (although I've never repeated my initial success!). What I really want to do is be the host - so, gold lamé suit ahoy, I'll be quizmaster for our NKW quiz. If you can make it along on Monday night at 7, come and join in....

Tonight it was Thursday knitting group and once again the shop was packed with new learners and familiar faces. If you didn't know it is Chocolate Week (as if we need an excuse), so we had plenty to get stuck into at the group tonight. As The Knitting and Stitching Show is in town at Ally Pally we also had the pleasure of the company of Jenna, Erica, Terri and Marnie (pictured below from left to right). Jenna is also known as The Indie Dyer, whose yarn we started stocking about a month ago and it went down a storm. She comes from good yarn producing stock, daughter of Cheryl from Cherry Tree Hill. It's in the genes! Marnie has come all the way from New Zealand where she presides over the beautiful Touch Yarns...if you're going to the show go see 'em! Yesterday we had a visit from Takako from Habu in New York too; we hope to return the visits sometime soon....

We will both be at Ally Pally tomorrow to pick up a special award from Let's Knit magazine. They have been running their first awards this year and have decided that we deserve the Editor's Choice Award for "services to knitting, in recognition of our unfailing energy and enthusiasm". I'm not going to be blasé or take the piss here (for a change). This genuinely means loads to us. I'm not sure about the 'unfailing energy' bit, as sometimes I feel like we have no more energy left to give, but, to be recognised for the hard work we put in day in and day out is a real honour. This isn't about the shop, it's about the seemingly random ideas we put into motion; the dreams of giant wooden sheep; knitting tents in fields in Dorset; thousands of knitters (and Yarn Harlot) at I Knit Day; the promotion of knitting beyond the four walls of the IKL shop in London. But everything we do is always inspired by the people we meet, and the basis for everything we do, the inspiration and the ideas is still our knitting group and all those who come. So, thank you for being part of it and long may it continue..we have so many plans that we're only just beginning!

Oh, we were also voted the 3rd Best Local Yarn Store in the UK. Cheers!

Craig

xx

A day out in the Park

A day off! They don't come around too often but both Gerard and I had a day off together today. As I work full-time at the National Theatre and G is full-time in the shop we don't often manage to get a whole day...even on Sundays we tend to be buried in work. So, we left the shop in the hands of our Friday girl, Celia, and we headed off...to Thorpe Park! I know, we're probably far too old for it but it's nice to just let your hair down now and then (even if you haven't got any).








I'd never been and at the end of the day you do wonder how hideous it must be in the height of the summer, but we had a laugh. We probably spent about 30 minutes in total actually on rides and the rest of it queueing but while we were on the rides it was worth it. The last one, Stealth, was genuinely frightening. I don't think I've screamed so much in my life (and it only lasted about 10 seconds!). I got bored of taking my camera out and having to out it away again each time but I did get a few pics. G took along his new Lang sock yarn which made the queueing less boring for him (even if he did get his nylon in a twist...)

books

I've been shopping. I've had lots of time since the 6 September - well, relatively as the shop is still very busy.

I went a little crazy on eBay. I got about 20 books in a week. All are great books, some better than others but I love them all. I think I might do some fair isle swatches and get them framed...

Practical Knitting Illustrated is brilliant and was published in 1930's I think - there is an inscription that says 1940.

this is most of my purchases!
this is Craig's only contribution! - not even if we had a dog!
I love this book. It has a section about designing sweaters and there are pages and pages of charts like the one below.

Does anyone want to manage a very busy knitting shop in central London? I have some knitting to do.

Gxx

we are the 'elite'

The Times listed us as one of the best things to do tonight. They called us London's elite!

Does this mean that we are the biggest and the most briliantest and the bestest knitting group in the whole wide world and the universe?

Nah, it just means that we're great! Being in the newspaper is great but it's not really validation we need, is it? I always knew you were the elite. I say this a lot, the knitting groups are only great because of the people who come. It's great to hear you all chattering away and showing off your knitting and getting excited about other people's knitting.

One of my favorite things about working in the shop is regulars to the group who come in looking for something they can't quite find and they ask for help - "there was a woman in here the other night night and she was knitting the most beautiful shawl out of sock yarn and I can't stop thinking about it so I want to make one."

Gxx

a blog a day...

...well, I'm going to try anyway. I doubt it will last long.



Here are a few pics as I have Craig's camera! (I've lost my camera and the cable that connects my phone to the computer!) I think we are moving the shop around tomorrow - that'll be the second time this week - so I might find them both!


this is a picture of my favorite knitting at the moment. It's going to be a glove with Icelandic heart pattern from Hélène Magnusson's Icelandic Knitting. I was thrilled that Hélène came to our show the other week and I fell in love with her as I had fell in love with the book. Hélène wrote a special message to me in my copy of her book. Also, I'm really glad to say we sell the yarn used in the book, Lodband Einband from Istex, pure Icelandic single ply lace.

we got lots of Malabrigo last week. This is the lace merino and omg it's gorgeous. We have very little left, actually!this is the sock yarn. it's really amazing and it's been flying out. It's a 3ply superwash merino, kettle dyed, loads of colours.

new in this week is Woolcraft with Wensleydale which was also at our show the other day. I love this stuff. It's amazing. The sheen is extraordinary. It's pricey, mind, but there are only a few of the sheep left, especially the dark colours.

Guess what my Mum's getting this Christmas. If she's lucky!

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

Gone (but not forgotten) with the wind...

One of my favourite pastimes is catching up on the recently deceased by way of newspaper obituaries. Now, I know how that sounds. But it isn't morbid fascination with the once famous, more a sign of respect. I think one of the highest honours you can have is to be, at some point in your life, deemed significant enough to warrant an obituary in The Times (I choose The Times simply because their scope and coverage is greater than that of most other daily newspapers when it comes to remembering the dead). What's respectful is that the choice of subject isn't dictated by any celebrity status, rather by significance. This means that those remembered are the famous, the infamous and the obscure, all of whom have contributed to their field - from science and sport, education and the environment to music and movies. I'll admit to being most fascinated by the passing of once celebrated film actors and actresses whose stars have either faded or ascended into legend.

Recently, whilst taking in my daily dose I spotted a sad trend...Fred Crane, not a household name but an actor who goes down in history as having the first line in Gone With the Wind, passed away only a month after Evelyn Keyes, who played Scarlett O'Hara's sister in the same film. With only the genetically-prosperous Olivia deHavilland still with us for the main adult cast (her sister Joan Fontaine still going strong too) it's another door closed with that link to "Hollywood's Golden Age" (ask me about my obsession with Luise Rainer next time you see me!). Gone With The Wind is glorious. I remember seeing it at a screening in Sydney to mark it's 60th anniversary, in the same cinema where it was screened back in 1938 and there was a real sense of occasion. A film with an interval! Imagine that these days with the attention span of most audiences. Yes, it's a soap opera, but it's top notch soap.

Whilst our blog isn't all about knitting, there's a good reason to bring it up here too! GWTW does contain a couple of great knitting scenes (and there's plenty to get excited about if your just into pretty frocks). Whilst Rhett and the gang are out raiding the shanty town there's a brilliantly tense scene of the ladies waiting back at home for their return. Quite a bit of knitting going on there and it drives the scene along, the women busying themselves as the menfolk are away. It's interesting that Scarlett, ever the black sheep, does a bit of cross stitch instead! There's also a very moving scene of what I call Unfinished Garment Syndrome. This is a device I've spotted employed in films and telly, using knitting, where someone embarks on a project for someone else. Generally this means either the knitter or the knittee isn't going to make it to the end of the film, the Unfinished Garment being a symbol of the character's untimely demise. It happens here when Mrs Meade clutches her Unfinished Pair of Gloves for her son, recently killed in the war. There's nothing more poignant than a project languishing on the needles, never to be worn by the intended. Watch out for the UGS - it'll having you weeping into your WiP.

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

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

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

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!

Seagulls, sailors, stitching and bitching...

Sunday I spent in the company of friends at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Whilst Gerard had hat designing to do at home for Innocent, I had the job of representing IKL at this knitting session in conjunction with the museum's Sailor Chic exhibition. We caught the great film featuring the incomparable Gene Kelly before heading upstairs to knit...there was lots to do, and a good turn out, and we saw some familiar faces. Our sea themed knits for the day included this fabulous seagull, which adorned my cap for the rest of the afternoon, by Sue, a mini sailor's cap and a ship's bell and ship's cat too. We also did some teaching had some gorgeous cakes and homemade biscuits courtesy of Melissa.

Before and after were fun to - I got myself a gorgeous pink duffel coat in the market, a fair isle tank-top (which I might pass as my own handiwork!), and a new perspex pink and brown ring that matches both. Fate.

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tits

we are knitting tits. as I write! we are raising money for breakthrough breast cancer, too!

thank you felix.

thank you to Sue.

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!

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Gerard Allt: a National Treasure

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

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

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

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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!

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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

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Simply Shetland 4 at Tomales Bay

This book is gorgeous! Well worth the wait, we had an exciting package delivered today - in it, more Spindrift rom Jamieson's of Shetland and the new book Simply Shetland 4. Love it!

It's one of those books that really inspire you to knit something - I know I am the laziest knitter ever, but I look at the stuff in here and just think 'I'm going to make that'....mmm, we'll see. There's 21 patterns for men, women and childen, including my favourites...the Autumn Rose pullover by Eunny Jang, the amazing Tomales Bay skirt and the not-quite-decided-yet Passive polka dots by Carol Lapin. It's such a pleasure to see a great British yarn used by some great designers and shown of to great effect. G and I are having a well-earned break over Christmas and I think I've just seen where I want to go - Tomales Bay, California.

Yesterday we also got the new copy of Knitting magazine. I know there's a lot of consternation about the range of magazines for UK knitters, but this one, for me, is always the best. It's published by the Guild of Master Craftsmen (who have a great portfolio of craft books, and sponsor/organise National Knitting Week) and I find it so much more readable than the alternatives. It looks good, it's well laid out and the patterns are versatile and wearable. We're still a way from having a UK 'Knit.1' but Knitting is the best of the bunch in my view, but seems to be overlooked when anyone discusses the state of the UK knitting mags. We'll have to wait and see if the new Let's Knit, due out this week isa departure from the 'safe' route that most Uk mags go down. I'm not just saying this because the latest issue has an interview with Debbie in it, honest!

Last night, another IKL knitting club here at the shop. Great night, as always, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. We have new stock in the fridge too - the delightful Kopparberg pear cider (4.5% - I think the strength of your alcohol is just as important as your neede size when you are knitting) which tastes like pear drops with an extra kick. Yummy. G is over at Ally Pally for the next few days setting up the WaterAid stand and laying out the knitted river. Go and say hello to him - and sign the cards to End Water Poverty... I stil haven't ever been, so might make it on Sunday...

Craig

Postcards (and patterns) from the past...

Another turn up from the charity shop trip last week (apart fom Dame Edna records) was a couple of extra books for the shop's knitting library. It's fair enough to say that much of the stuff in our out-of-print book collection is out-of-print for a reason, including this latest gem from a book called First Knits. Michelin springs to mind, or maybe, as he grows up it just expands - defo value for money. What's interesting about these 'old' patterns is that most of the stuff form the 50s and 60s is so wearable that you can't help but think "will this ever come back?"


A friend we first met in our knitting group sent us a brilliant set of patterns that she found in flea market in New York, the highlights of which are a great mittens/glove booklet, totally usable now, about 50 years later, plus this incredible 'Pineapple' booklet. With Gerard's new-found lace compulsion I expect we'll have a few of these adorning our table-tops very soon. And if you ever needed proof of just how life-affirming a bit of crochet can be...check these two out. They're loving it! (Thanks Hailey for the package, a great surprise!)


If this isn't retro enough for you...go back a bit further. Well known for my geekiness (and proud of it I say!) I've been collecting postcards too...and starting a nice little collection of sheep and knitting. If you've been in the shop you might have seen

some of them around the walls...this one's a Manx woman and her cat, with a sock on the go, from 1924. So if you see any knitty, woolly cards do send 'em in! I'm hoping to eventually add them to our Flickr collections at some point. I've also discovered the brilliant Postcrossing site for those who want to be a bit random...

We're having a bit of a retro couple of weeks actually, with, right now as I type, The Talented Mr Ripley on for our new Friday night film night, and next week it's Far From Heaven, which, if I remember correctly, has some quite nice knitwear in it! I think I'm going to enjoy our Fridays from now on...

Craig
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Bye-bye boys' night...but hello to bog roll covers and book groups...

Hello everyone...yes, I am still in the land of the living, although my bulging discs have slowed down my socialising somewhat I am satiated with my current diet of internet, daytime TV and quiz shows. Physio continues but no real improvement (although I've come off the painkillers at last). If only sitting down was possible rather than having to spend all my time lying on my right-hand side, which restricts activity just a bit. Anyway, thanks to m'colleagues at the National Theatre who sent me these gorgeous flowers (and choccies too, not pictures cos they didn't last long enough!) They are beautiful, but I daren't get too close as, mentioned in the last post, sneezing is like stretching my sciatic nerve the entire length of my body. Ouch.

Readers of the newsletter will have seen that there's a-change a-coming at I Knit London, with a shifty around of our knitting group night and other stuff. It's all down to 'popular demand', honest! The Wednesday night meetings at the shop are getting very popular and we realised that meeting on the same night every week left some people with no chance of experiencing IKL...and that's just not fair is it? So, we'll still be having the fortnight in the pub (if anything just to keep G & I sane - we've spent more time in the last year in the shop than we have at home!) finding all the best alehouses for knitting, and we'll also be at IKL every Wednesday in between. No change there, but from 4th October we'll be having it on a Thursday too. Every Thursday at IKL from 6 as usual for those who miss the Wednesday. This means that film night (left) finds a new home on a Friday - which seems like a perfect start to the weekend. We've had some good films in the last few weeks, but numbers dropped - probably because they weren't too well known - but it's always a good night, and genuinely relaxing (if you can sit down that long. Ouch). We kick off with The Talented Mr Ripley on Friday 4th October...which links nicely to the book group, another new venture!

I put my hand up and admit that I haven't read a book for almost TWO YEARS! I know, shame. I got bogged down in a biography of Arthur Rimbaud and, being an anally-retentive, pedantic geek I felt I couldn't start another book until I'd finished that one. Mmm. Well, thanks to Ravelry we discovered a desire for a knit-friendly book group and offered ourselves up as a venue. We can't take any credit for it, but we're really excited to host it, on the last Tuesday every month, and I have just finished the book (The Cry of the Owl, by Patricia Highsmith - that's the link to Ripley, by the way, if you didn't get it). We're called The Kniterati and anyone can come along. We've put a page on our website to keep folks up-to-date with meetings and books. It has dawned on us that in order to have 'a life' we need to include everything we do into IKL - that is our life, and pretty much everyone we know we've met through the knitting group, some great new friends and some brilliant times.

Sadly, in amongst all this shuffling around something had to give...and it was the Friday night men's night. I think we're both proud that for over a year we hosted the only dedicated knitting group for men in the UK (?). We were never trying to make any kind of statement, we were just offering a place to go and enjoy a few drinks without those weird looks - believe me, we still get them, and unless you've been a part of ANY minority group it's probably quite hard to understand that feeling of freakishness you get when fingers are pointing. Happily, we've always enjoyed being freaky. We never thought we were different, better or worse than anyone else but the men's nights have been some of the best knit nights I've had, and, again we've made some close friendships that will last. Next Friday, 28th September, is the last ever. Join us if you can, whoever you are and whatever you've got.

One more thing to mention before I go and lie down (on my right-hand side, ouch) and it's these two books...

After the phenomenal reaction to the Jean Greenhowe booklets we chose Tea Cozies as our 'book of the month'. It's gone down a storm. I am now realising that for all the overstyled Rowan magazines, the glorious Erika Knight (love her!) books, the expensive hand-spun silk yarns and the unfathomable-but-beautiful Victorian lace shawl patterns there's a whole host of us knitters who just like the simple things in life - and what could be cozier, more English and more useless (which makes it a must-have in my book) than a cozy for your bog roll or a woolly jumper for your teapot? Gerard's messing with nature and knitting this sheep cosy (below) with alpaca, and Tom hasn't lost a fight with a very small Tommy Cooper impersonator, he's actually modelling the very latest in 'crocheted top hat toliet roll cozies'.

And, very finally, if you didn't think they were cute, you surely will this...a new pattern from Artesano's Hummingbird range this papoose is possibly the dinkiest, cutest and most adorable thing I have ever seen. Baby not included...

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!

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

alpaca blanket and last night's Retro Bar...

I've just finished this baby blanket. I think it is among the top 5 of my favorite knitted things. Not just because it's so simple!

There is a moss stitch border to the central stocking stitch panel, 110 stitches on 44mm needles - simple as that. I used Artesano Hummingbird 100% alpaca in Woodpecker. It's designed to be a thick sock yarn but I need a blanket. It is so soft that I think I might have to cover my pillow with it!

The colours are amazing, you can see the pattern is incredible! It came out all on it's own! People keep talking about why knitting is so popular at the moment - it's due, at least in part, to the amazing yarns available that not only look and feel great but they are exciting to knit with, too!

Gxx

Last night's knitting group met up at our favourite bar in London, Retro Bar, down George Court. This is our local when we're not knitting (even if it's not actually that local!), but the upstairs bar is a great place to snuggle up in the booths and get the needles out. It was a good laugh last night - we taught Phillip the barman how to cast on, cast off, knit and purl all while he was in between serving up the drinks!

I have a sneaky suspicion he's done it before because he picked it up like a natural! It's always great to meet new knitters and the best thing about the meetings for me is that it's got really nothing to do with I Knit London - - everyone just turns up and gets on with it, meets new knit mates and has a laugh. So, thanks to all the old and new faces who popped in during the night - as always a few hearty souls managed to knit all the way to last orders....

Ann, Donna (aka Dolly) and Jo

Tanja, who we haven't seen for a while, was there and I just had to share her ingenious double-magic-loop method for knitting socks. She said that she once knitted from the top down down but on one pair of extra long socks she got to the end of sock 2 only to run out of yarn. Since then she's knitted from the toe up, both socks at the same time from the same ball of yarn! The mind boggles but it makes so much sense - both socks will be the same length AND all the yarn is used up. I love it, and it probably eliminates SSS (second sock syndrome)

!

Craig
xx

Knitting karma and Glastonbury stress...

I don't know about you but knitting seems to just be generally good for your karma. I take my needles everywhere with me and try to get a bit of stitching in when I can, and it just seems to make people want to talk to you (in a nice way). I was sewing up bits for the river in the canteen at the National Theatre the other day and I was soon chatting away to folk who just found the whole thing fascinating...then there was the unexpected celeb moment on the Tube on the way home from Dolly (see previous post)...and then tonight I was at the Donmar watching a dark and brooding Ibsen play (John Gabriel Borkman, which, incidentally, opens with Deborah Findlay crocheting a fetching shawl) so got my knitting out in the interval. Had a lovely lady sitting next to me who said it was so nice to see someone knitting. It makes me feel all warm inside, it surely does! Usually people won't talk to anyone in this city - so get your knitting out wherever you are and get busy making small talk, it's good for you!

Speaking of which, I wanted to mention the Stitchlinks questionnaire - get on their website and fill it out and show your support for those who have come through hard times, or beaten poor health with magic needles. They are hoping to present their anecdotal evidence for the therapeutic effects of knitting and raise awareness of just how good it can be for those in emotional or physical stress.

Talking of stress...the tank-top is coming along, slowly. I did hope to finish it in time for my birthday but as that was 2 weks ago and I've just finished the back I think maybe Christmas is more likely. Still, I ain't giving up and will start on the front (and do the neck, and then do the armholes)...soon. I've got my next project lined up and it's my first socks, using the gorgeous hand-dyed yarn from Jon...

I'm still emotionally distressed from the 3 hour ordeal of trying to get Glastonbury tickets on Sunday morning too! No luck...but all is not lost. I will see Dame Shirley if it's the last thing I do! Gerard is already there, backstage, working with WaterAid, so he may have to wheel me in in a suitcase...

Craig IKL

Gerard in the Lords and the death of morality.

Gerard called me earlier today from the House of Lords. He was standing in a room of that imposing building looking out across the Thames towards Guy's Hospital and said it was a strange feeling, gazing at a view that many of us will rarely see, despite our paying for it. He is visiting the Lords on behalf of WaterAid (his 'proper' job when not running a crazy knitting shop), but I'm sure he'll go into detail if he makes a new post later. This is quite a funny story though to go with his visit: last year Keira Knightley did some work for WaterAid and an email was sent asking if Keira would be coming along to the meeting today - an email from WA top brass said, "No, unfortunately Keira Knightley will not be coming....I will be coming along with Gerard Allt". How his star is rising. I suppose it's reassuring that they allow groups like WA an audience in the closetted House of Lords, and having a democracy is something to cherish. We are lucky, even if it does mean that having a democracy allows freedom of speech to those who in some respects we'd rather didn't have it - yesterday there was a demonstration outside parliament lamenting new laws to allow the gays more equal rights - a horse drawn hearse displayed the words 'a good day to bury morality'. I suppose their morality is different to mine, but I thought homophobia was a criminal offence these days?

Last night's knitting/birthday party petered out into a drunken karaoke mess, but those who stayed the course were treated to Jon's rendition of some random Shania Twain song I've never heard of before and my celebrated "Maniac" from Flashdance. I got some gorgeous hand-dyed sock yarn for my first pair of socks which will begin after the tank-top is finished. Pictures are coming soon....
Top pic is what was left at the end of the night...second pic is myself having a go at 'Scandalous' by Mis-Teeq. Oh dear.

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?

Knitting in New York

Last year (before we had a shop and two full-time jobs!) we booked a trip to NYC, and last week, we took it. Neither of us were NY virgins, and it turned out to be a great trip, completely changed by our knitting experience, and full of drinking, dancing (a little), knitting, eating, walking (lots of it) and spending. All par for the course, really.

We arrived on Friday afternoon, 2nd March, and got the first cab straight into Manhattan. No matter how many times you've been, the view of that skyline as you drive through Queens from JFK is always awe-inspiring. Dipping beneath the river and up again onto the island is like entering some kind of other-world, a secret passageway into an imaginary place...looming large and proud. It doesn't take long to realise that it's just like any other city, only bigger and better and bolder and brasher! We were holed up in a huge hotel on 8th Avenue, central and comfy enough but our budget didn't stretch to the Park Plaza! We didn't spend much time there in any case...

The knitting started on the plane (all hail Denise knitting kits!) - Gerard finished one of his Monkey socks, I got on splendidly with my retro tank-top, and the air stewardesses chatted us up no end! Bless. Anyway, we just about covered every yarn store in Manhattan, from the sublime (The Point) to the ridiculous (Walker & Daughter - more of that later!). They are really spoiled for choice too, but we'll list our faves in this blog in a sec. If we weren't fondling yarn, we were usually drinking cocktails or spending on 5th Avenue (yikes). In fact, we were very excited by the Abercrombie & Fitch store, which came over like a gay disco - loud music, no lighting, photos of semi-naked boys all over the walls (most of whom weren't actually wearing many of the clothes they were advertising). Came out of there fully loaded on Sunday and not a little disappointed to find when we got back to London that they are opening their first store on Saville Row in a few weeks' time! We can be trendy and ahead of the crowd for a fortnight at least.

Our first night we had a quiet one at the cinema, which feels like an anticlimax, but after a long flight, watching Jake Gyllenhaal in Zodiac seemed perfect. (G met him once in a shoe shop in Covent Garden y'know, buying the same shoes, but that's a different story!). We made up for the slow start on Saturday though.

We arranged to meet our pal, Leonne, in Public, a bar/diner in the East Village where we sipped our first champagne cocktails, and our second and our third etc. Leonne was the hero of our stay - we met her first at an I Knit London meeting last year, and she became a regular, but, sadly (for us) she had to return home to Harlem. But we arranged to meet up when we came and did just that, a few times. Thanks Leonne, for making our stay so cool and for making us feel all international-like! Actually, I overheard a conversation in that bar with some jet-setting model-looking types telling each other just how "great it was to see so-and-so", "last time we were in London / Florida / San Francisco blah blah" and felt a bit jealous! Then relaised we were meeting our friend from Manhattan, seeing another two pals who live in Brooklyn, and had a meal with a colleague of G's who'd flown in from Washington DC. All very high-life and glam. Plus we made so many new friends over the course of the week, and we were both accosted by a alcohol-fuelled Goddess....

Saturday rounded off with an impromptu visit to see the Scissor Sisters at Madison Square Garden Theater. This is below the actual MSG as their home crowd haven't taken to them the way we have over here. Although it was packed and loud and filthy/gorgeous. Strangest support act I've ever seen though - Wigs On Sticks - hilarious! We left late, made it back to the hotel and slept til morning....

Sunday was action-packed too, and by the end of the night it felt like we'd done enough to last a week before we'd even started. Shopping on 5th, modern art at MOMA (left) (Craig says dull, dull dull!)(Gerard says "open your mind and have a dialogue with it(right). We also called in over the road to the MAD Museum where the Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting exhibiton was going on. As we'd planned a trip here later in the week with friends from Pennsylvania we skipped it and just raided the shop. More trawling up and down 5th Avenue looking for a pair of jeans that would safely get up past my thighs and that wouldn't take all the spending money in one day. I failed. We made it back to the knitting exhibition on Thursday, sadly minus our expected group as they were snowed in and couldn't get to New York. Still, a fascinating show, mostly awe-inspiring exhibits. We couldn't take any photos inside but the website does have some sneaky peeks at some of the work on show.

If you're wondering who the Goddess was, she is Miss Kiki Durane, one half of Kiki and Herb, chanteuse and friend of Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco. I first encountered the deranged cabaret duo about 5 years ago at the Soho Theatre and have since seen them when and where I could. Couldn't quite believe they were on in NYC while we were there. Joe's Pub is a great venue, seedy, small, intimate and the show was a corker. The delightful gin-soaked Kiki made our night by lounging in my lap and offering herself up to G (although helping herself to G's red wine was crossing the line!). If only I'd had my camera! Not quite accustomed to the NYC 24 hour way of life (why oh why does the Tube close in London?) we still managed to last til the bitter end around 1.30am and back in a cab to the Milford Plaza.

Monday morning, back to reality and a first for me - walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Prior to that we wandered through Chinatown which confirmed that we probably wouldn't be going to eat there anytime soon. We have friends who moved to Brooklyn last year and arranged to meet up on the other side of the East River for a long round of drinks and catching up. Richard's currently appearing in The Crucible in snowbound Vermont, but made it back for a perfect night - hung around their locals in the Park Slope area, much Mexican food and many, many tequilas later we were stuffing our faces with Dunkin' Donuts and on the Subway home.

Tuesday was when the knitting really started in earnest. We set off early and headed for the Upper West Side. Those knitters in the know will have heard about Kate Jacobs' book The Friday Night Knitting Club, based on her experience of being a member of a knitting group at a Manhattan yarn store. Walker & Daughter was set up by Georgia Walker and her daughter Dakota, and is located above Marty's Deli. Every Friday a group of women meet to knit and chat, and share their life experiences. The book is about to filmed with Julia Roberts playing Georgia, so we just had to pop in, say hello, and check out their group and the shop...only snag is the website (linked above) doesn't give the exact address. All a bit mysterious, and only after a couple of hours of roaming the streets, asking passers-by for directions to Marty's Deli or the knit shop (all of whom were nonplussed) we decided to stop off in an internet cafe. When it finally dawned on us that the place is a figment of Jacobs' imagination we had a few drinks to get over the embarassment! But, great publicity from the publishers is all I can say!

That night we made the real knitting group at The Point. This was the original Stitch n Bitch group, founded by Debbie Stoller and still going strong. We had some cake, cherry soda and settled in for the night. Everyone made us very welcome and we headed off afterwards for more drinks at the bar over the road with Chris and Robert (right). The Point was gorgeous, full of yarn you just wanted to dive into. Probably our favourite store of the visit, and closest to the vibe we have at IKL, very social! But during the week we also popped into Knitty City (below left)(W79 St between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave) which was just packed to the gills with everything you'd ever need. Pearl (yes, she owns a knitting shop and she's called Pearl, honest!) was a delight and we came away with some Lorna's Laces and a knitting bag made from woven tape measures. In Downtown Yarns (right) I bought a couple of balls to make myself a hat, as the snow was heading in, although it didn't get started while I was away, and we got ourselves a wooden swift for our wool winder from Purl (bottom left). Three others stores deserve a mention too - School Products (1201 Broadway), on the third floor of an office block is a real find. A treasure trove of yarn in the heart of the Garment District, it has stacks and stacks of cashmere and merino, as well as random amojnts of yarns of all types - many odd skeins leftover from the nearby fashion houses. Here I got myself some yak/merino skeins but haven't decided what exactly to do with it yet, and then there's Habu, the Japanese textile and weaving store, again, hidden away on the 8th floor of a block on W35th St. This was the most fruitful excursion and we came away having made a huge order for their unique laceweight silk yarn which will be winging it's way over the London very soon. The last shop we called in at was downtown in the East Village - Knit New York, another cafe/yarn store. I think by this time (Friday) we were just about knitted out so we were less enthusiastic about the place than the others and came away empty-handed.

Add to this, on Wednesday evening we joined Booze n Yarn for their Wednesday night knit at the Luca Lounge, again, in the East Village. A bunch of knitters, lots of drinks, and pizza too. We loved it! We hope that everyone who made it to meeting in London had as good a time as we did!

For much of the rest of our time, it was lots of walking, Central Park in the snow, cinema, a visit to the theatre which we'll never forget: if you ever ask anyone "If we only see one show while we're here what should it be?" and FOUR people recommend the same musical how can it be wrong? The answer we got was Spring Awakening, and, despite a standing ovation it was possibly one of the worst things we've ever seen. As G said, "I blame Simon Cowell".

All in all it was fabulous. The shop was left in very capable hands of of our various new members of staff - we should introduce them here soon! Thanks for that, took a lot of the stress out of leaving our 'baby' behind. For now, here's some more of our pics...if you've been to any of the stores, or seen that Godawful show, then please do leave a comment!

Cream cheese and salmon, with a bit of bagel. Breakfasts came in quite large portions.

Gerard in the G