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