I Knit London

London Transport Museum - a special offer! EDIT

2011-09-07T11:56:00.003+01:00

For anyone wishing to join us on the journey, call this number 020 7565 7298 to book your ticket. Quote 'I KNIT LONDON@ and you will get 10% off the price.See you on Sunday!Gxx

Happy Wool Week...and sock club news

2011-09-06T10:57:00.002+01:00

This week is UK Wool Week, hurray! To celebrate we are having a Crafternoon Tea party this Saturday, from 12.30pm. As usual there'll be lots of cake - please feel free to bake a cake and bring it with you. There can NEVER to too much cake.We will also be lauching the third installment of the (not just) sock club. If you would like to collect your package please come to the shop on Saturday and

Pan. The Dog.

2011-09-02T13:07:00.002+01:00

Pan has a few nicknames. My favorite is 'chicken chaser'. She was given that name by a distraught Annabel, a friend in Devon, after Pan terrified her rather large chicken collection in her rather large garden. Anyway, she is also Pan the 'wheel sniffer'. A woman just came into the shop with her two young children. One of the children was in a pram and Pan immediate lept off the sofa to

London Transport Museum - a special offer!

2011-09-02T11:56:00.003+01:00

London Transport Museum has asked IKL to offer a group of knitters a fantastic opportunity to knit at one of their special events. On Sunday 11 September a Metro-land Heritage Vehicle Outing will 'transport you back in time along the Metropolitan Line. The Museum's 1938 art deco Tube train and Engine No. 12, Sarah Siddons, the last operational Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive, will be

www.lisasstars.org.uk

2011-08-30T12:44:00.002+01:00

I was sent a letter about Lisa's Stars last week and I thought I would share the information. Lisa's Stars was set up in 2010 to make a difference to those people who are unfortunate enough to lose a child prematurely. Initailly the organisation supported a local hospice by supplying them with premature sized knitted blankets and hats so that any baby born too early would be wrapped in love

I Knit at Camp Bestival

2011-08-01T19:56:00.007+01:00

Another brilliant weekend at Camp Bestival with another brilliant team! Meet, from top left, Heather, Lorraine, Tanya, Graham, Doug (aka Dig), Ros, Sara, Madeline, Deborah and Gair. I Knit at Camp Bestival 2011 was the best so far. This is due to the hard work of the volunteers above. We have taught so many kids and adults to knit and, new in this year, crochet (thanks to Ros and Medeline).Finger

I Knit with Amy Singer

2011-07-25T13:33:00.002+01:00

Amy Singer, editor of knitty.com, will be with us at the end of October to teach a few classes and to meet of few more British knitters. The classes, on 28/29 October, will be held at The Union Jack Club, just around the corner from the shop on Waterloo Road. This means we will be able to celebrate all weekend long with lots of tea and cake and knitting at the shop. This is Amy with Jan and Coral

I Knit or Dye, socks by Janet

2011-07-24T18:05:00.007+01:00

My friend Lorraine sent me this photo by text message earlier today.I love her legs even more than the rest of her now I've seen them clad in these fine hand knit socks! They were knit by her mum, Janet, in Cheshire using yarn dyed by yours truely! The sock pattern is also related - it's from my book, a pattern by Melissa! Her mum said that she loved the yarn. Of course she did! and she is now

I Knit (not just) Sock Club, pt 2

2011-07-22T14:17:00.007+01:00

The second part of the sock club went out last week. We've had lots of emils and calls to say how much it has been loved! The yarn is from Naturadl Dye Studio. The colourway is Sea Cabbage, which is not the colourway used for wither of the pattern you see below, it is a gorgeous green with light, almost yellow, spots. The Sock pattern below is one of my designs and is called Twisted. I love the

Dry, my pretties, dry!

2011-07-20T11:43:00.007+01:00

I am loving this dyeing business. even though it is quite a palava, I absolutely love it. I have a fab set up, if I do say so myself, but I've realsied that I don't need the drying room in the summer as the shop, some days, is hotter than the surface of the sun. Or there abouts. I'm sure a lot of dyers would say drying the yarn in the shop is a bit odd but they only come upstairs at night, they

I Knit Guernsey finalists chosen

2011-07-12T10:55:00.002+01:00

I've just helped choose the five finalists for the I Knit Guernsey competition. It was very exciting to see all the entires and discuss what they qualities. I know a few people who have entered but the entries, brought over on behalf of Visit Guernsey by Sarah, were all nameless.The winners will be contacted today or tomorrow, I believe, and the next stage is to knit your sweater. I'm soooo

I Knit with Ann Kingstone

2011-07-10T15:04:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I had a great day and the highlight was the fab afternoon spent at the shop with Ann Kingstone and other friends. Ann travelled from the north to launch her new book Novel Knits. We had a great time with lots of tea and cake and knitting and a light sprinkling of cider and wine. Below (sorry about the pictures but I had to use my phone as I left the camera sim card at

I Knit a shawl

2011-07-08T19:48:00.004+01:00

I made a shawl. I love making shawls. I've been waiting to block this for a couple of weeks because I can't find my blocking wires. We sell wires in the shop but our suppliers have had a few problems with their supply so they've taken a few weeks longer to get her - they'll be here on Tuesday! Anyway, a friend brought some to the shop and I blocked!This is Deborah, in a Gaga moment, wearing the

I Knit or Dye

2011-07-06T11:28:00.007+01:00

It was so hot in the shop yesterday that I thought rather than use the radiator in the basement I would simply hang the newly dyed, still wet yarn in the shop to dry. It dried in super quick time; it was at least 24 degrees outside so must have been 28 inside. Pan and I were almost passing out by the time Coral came in at 3pm, not second before, not a second after. They look a bit sexier when the

I Knit London, panoramic!

2011-07-01T12:16:00.004+01:00

We had a visit from a google photographer this morning. He was taking shots of inside and outside the shop which will soon be available in google maps! The camera was quite impressive - I didn't take a good enough picture, though! The lens was massive and convex and it even caught the attention of a few people outside the shop.I was glad my friend Deborah was her and I decorated her with a

Battersea has cats, too, you know!

2011-06-30T14:31:00.003+01:00

'Summer is often a bad time to be a cat. Lots of kittens are ready to leave home, but no one wants to take on a new pet with the holidays approaching. Battersea Dogs & Cats Home cares for more than 200 cats on a typical summer's day, and those that would normally be rehomed in days can be stuck at the centre for months.Understandably, the cats get bored - which is why the cattery is asking

I Knit Guernsey

2011-06-29T09:38:00.003+01:00

This is the final week for submissions for the I Knit Guernsey competition.If you don't yet know about it, the competition is to design a Guernsey and the first prize is a FREE TRIP TO GUERNSEY.The best thing about this competition is that you do not have to submit a complete pattern and/or a fully knitted sweater, all we want is a sketch, drawing or photo (if you have already knitted it).The

I Knit in Estonia

2011-06-28T09:36:00.006+01:00

Early this month I spent a brilliant week, one of the best weeks ever, in Estonia with The Dutch Knitters and some of their friends. Carla and Hilly, seen in the picture below, somewhere in this butch of beautiful knitterly women. Also in the picture is Eirwen, the seriously gorgeous Knitwitches handdyer and Monica, our Estonian friend and guide for the week.I completely fell in love with Estonia

Hello again

2011-06-27T15:18:00.014+01:00

I've escaped the heat and come down into the basement of the shop. It's 30degrees this afternoon and while I do like summer I'm not a fan of this heat in the city so I am hoping for a bit of rain. It's even too hot to dye yarn!What's that, dye yarn, you say?Yes! I've started dyeing yarn and it is my all time favorite activing, so far! Apart from knitting. I Knit or Dye was launched a month or so

2010-08-27T11:29:00.003+01:00

We've just added a couple of extra classes for the Weekender. The number of places is strictly limited for this class which is extremely popular!Miriam Tegels, Speed Knitting.Gxx

Stitchlinks Memory study at I Knit Weekender

2010-08-23T15:55:00.003+01:00

Betsan from www.stitchlinks.org will be with us at the Weekender. One of the projects Betsan is working on is a knitting related study about memory.Betsan has been working on the project with volunteers throughout the summer in Cardiff. Many potential volunteers are based in London and were unable to make it to Cardiff on the designated dates. Betsan has a message for you, whether you live in

better late than never

2010-08-20T14:06:00.002+01:00

Coral is 21!HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Her is the birthday girl admiring her beautiful community knit birthday gift blanket.Coral writes her own blog. Just sayin'.Gxx

I Knit Weekender 2010

2010-08-18T12:54:00.002+01:00

The Weekender is almost upon us. It’s an exciting, exhilarating and rewarding time. It’s also very welcome because it means we are just about due a little holiday. Friday 10 and Saturday 11 September. Woohoo!We’re thrilled to have so many fantastic names attached to the event again this year. Some of the finest names in

I Knit Weekender Traders

2010-08-18T12:18:00.003+01:00

We can't wait, there'll be so much yarny fabulousness...Hedgehog EquipmentThe Herdy CompanyThe Natural Dye StudioKnitwitches YarnBart and FrancisEasyknitsKal MediaI Knit LondonKnitting 4 FunDutch Knitters Cafe Ingrid Wagner Rug & Art CreationArtisan ThreadsHalifax Spinning CompanyWell Manor FarmArtist Palette YarnsDebonnaireTall Yarns ‘n’ TalesAnova BooksTextile GardenThe Toft Alpaca ShopNatural

WWKIPD Treasuer Hunt

2010-06-07T17:14:00.003+01:00

Our annual World Wide Knit In Public Day Treasure Hunt is this Saturday.I really can't wait because I love this event. It's been (still is) quite hard work putting it together but fun, too, and I know it's going to be fun.There is a bingo theme this year! There will be 90 pieces of knitting - graffiti knitting - around London each with their own number. Hunters will have to find all of them to be

This blog has moved

2010-03-18T20:06:00.001Z

This blog is now located at http://iknitlondon.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://iknitlondon.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

I Knit Weekender AND Design Competition

2010-03-18T19:23:00.006Z

We're made up, as we say in Liverpool, that the I Knit Weekender tickets are now on sale. We're a bit later than usual, because we've been so busy and also because it's kind of our birthday this month.Happy Birthday to us! We're four. Well, four and a bit, really. It's hard to beleive. Sometimes it feels like eight years, other times it feels more like 4 minutes.So much has happened in the past 4

I Knit at The Brits

2010-02-24T16:50:00.005Z

I Knit is well used to the unusual nature of the requests we get such as a toilet seat cover for Phil Tuffnell or a badly knitted pink jumper for Danny Wallace or life size monsters (made in 4 days) for the premier of Where The Wild Things Are.Some of the requests I sadly have to turn down because people really do ask for life size versions of the monsters from Where The Wild Things Are to be

Haiti Fundraiser Tea Party

2010-01-26T16:03:00.003Z

It's been so long since we blogged, I can hardly believe it. To offer a brief explanation, running I Knit takes a lot of time and effort and it's difficult, sometimes, to keep up with all the the blogs tweets, ravelry, updates, newsletters, organising events, managing events, stocking the shop, selling in the shop... we love it, though, and we wouldn't change any part of it - except maybe the

Woolly weekends in West Cumbria

2009-06-30T17:06:00.005+01:00

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.

Knitting in public and hunting sheep...

2009-06-13T15:01:00.005+01:00

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

Mickey Mouse knitting...

2009-06-07T14:24:00.005+01:00

No, we're not being rude! Today we had a visit from the delightful Debbie, all the way from Florida. We knew Debbie was on her way as she posted in the Ravelry group and got quite a few folk excited about the prospect of bringing over from the States a supply of Cinnamon Tic Tacs. She brought those...and a special gift that could only be Floridian: a set of Mickey Mouse knitting needles and a

Not just knitting...

2009-06-03T13:49:00.002+01:00

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

Sunshine, sheep-shearing and SE1...

2009-05-25T15:01:00.004+01:00

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

Diabetes UK

2009-05-16T10:09:00.004+01:00

Today we are celebrating Diabetes UK 75th year with a tea party (including lots of cake) and a raffle to raise some well needed funds for the charity.Without hardly enough time to breath after the Race For Life event - for which the I Knit team have so far raised £4,000!!! - we begging for money again.To entice the £££ from you we have managed to secure some brilliant prizes.gold dial phone and

Designer Knitting

2009-04-23T17:15:00.004+01:00

Designer Knitting arrived in the shop today and is packed full of brilliant patterns as usual. There's lots of big (dare I say - easy looking) shawls and wraps. Some of them are almost blankets but being lace, they are perfect for Spring.There is a small article on the KNIFTAs which was a nice surprise. It's sets us up for planning the 2nd annual awards...The online shop is still pending but all

zauberball

2009-04-14T14:19:00.005+01:00

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

NZ knitters and Sox Stix

2009-04-09T14:28:00.004+01:00

It was a relaxing evening at the knitting group last night. Easter holidays have started so there was little more room than usual. If you're thinking of coming down tonight then you might be in luck with a bit more elbow room. We'll be closing tomorrow (Good Friday) and also on Easter Monday but if you need a knit-fix over the weekend come and see us on Saturday when we'll be open as normal (we

Cryptic conundrums

2009-04-07T15:57:00.004+01:00

We all know that knitting stimulates bits of the brain which supposedly means all of us knitters are brainier than anyone else. Or something like that. Well, maybe some of you could help out...I have a penchant for the crossword of the cryptic kind. Every Saturday I have a bash at The Times and The Guardian with various degrees of success, but even if I don't finish it passes the time and

The recent Facebook debacle...(and Ravelry too)

2009-04-05T13:27:00.004+01:00

Over the past few weeks I have been sorting out the number of websites I subscribe to. It was all getting a bit much there for a while and I wanted to take stock and clear out the virtual clutter! You know sometimes when you feel like there's too much going on in your head to cope with? It was bit like that....too much to do, too many log-ins to remember, too many places to go and update profiles

Two weddings and a birthday...

2009-03-31T13:26:00.013+01:00

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

A Special Message .......

2009-03-21T12:06:00.004Z

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY toCraigfrom all the Staff and Knitters X (Apologies for the Blog Hijack!)

I Knit Weekender, September 2009

2009-03-06T11:56:00.003Z

The tickets are onsale and we're raring to go!We are so excited, guests include Alice Starmore, Debbie New, Susan Crawford, Lucinda guy, Pat Ashforth, Stitchlinks...I could go on but I'll leave it for you to discover yourself.Gxx

Gromit and bananas

2009-02-26T10:06:00.005Z

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

And the winner is....

2009-02-23T10:27:00.003Z

Whilst the big boys were handing out gold statuettes in Hollywood last night, here in London we were handing out something much more coveted - the first ever Knitting in Film and Television Awards! The KNIFTAs were conceived one night in 2008 and are a celebration of knitting and crochet on screen - the good, the bad, the weird. Last night's party saw tears of joy and emotion, competition was

Rockpool Candy's Big Crochet§

2009-02-20T10:29:00.003Z

My friend Inga is just the most marvelous crocheter in the whole of Norn Iron, and probably beyond. Inga, or Rockpool Candy, had a lot of work in last year's crochet coral reef exhibition at The Royal Festival Hall's Hayward Gallery. In fact much of the exhibition was her work. I was astounded then by her work; it's so amazing that I just stood dumbfounded by the creative energy that obviously

I Knit Animals

2009-02-19T10:39:00.003Z

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

Handknit Heroes

2009-02-18T14:04:00.005Z

OMG Handknit Heroes arrived in the shop today. I love it. It by a whole bunch of talented people - Stephanie Bryant, Marc Olivent and Errsie Major! It's very exciting to have a comic book full of handknit heroes! Of course we always knew we were heroes, (me especially - see post below, thanks for your supportive comments, much appreciated).You can buy it here.I can hardly wait for issue two!Gxx

don't mess with the best

2009-02-16T15:42:00.004Z

I've really been trying to post every day but there is just too much to do at the moment that I keep running out of time. I've just noticed that there is 1% left on the battery so this will take even longer to complete than I thought. Don't worry, I wont waste the time, I'll do the post office trip while the battery is charging.So, I blame Twitter and my iphone and applications called Fish Tycoon

Knit a river, a small update

2009-02-12T11:02:00.004Z

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

hot wheels

2009-02-07T13:52:00.004Z

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

Sunday Knit roast

2009-02-06T11:52:00.003Z

I thought I would share a couple of photos from our last Sunday Knit Roast. The photographs were taken by Debbie who is putting together a student magazine.The next Sunday Knit Roast wil be combined with the Knifta's Awards on 22 February at The Crown and Two Chairmen, Dean Street, Soho, London from 4pm.Gxx

Twittering

2009-02-04T19:06:00.003Z

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

classes

2009-02-03T11:31:00.003Z

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.

Race For Life - update

2009-02-02T14:41:00.003Z

we now have a fund raising page which is a, waiting for you to add your name to it, b, waiting for you to add you sponsorship to it, or c, both.www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/iknitraceforlifeGxx

Race For Life

2009-02-02T11:52:00.004Z

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

I've been knitting presents

2009-01-23T10:32:00.004Z

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

aren't they lovely?

2009-01-17T12:52:00.003Z

Thank you all for your comments. I know I'm part of a community of brilliant people and I appreciate your support and sentiment. I'm sure the person who took the hat was not a knitter. How could they be?This is a picture I took on Thursday night. Aren't they gorgeous?! We had a special visitor from the North. She brought good tiding and fabulous hand made wood buttons and shawl pins. Chris, just

at times like this I used to say, 'I hope you fall down the stairs'

2009-01-13T13:49:00.004Z

I'm very sad today.When I closed the shop yesterday I noticed that the beautiful green and pink cashmere beret from my book was not sitting on the blonde wigged poly head at the front of the shop near the door.It is nowhere.It's been stolen from the shop.I was so upset that I ate a whole packet of biscuits, thanks Juliet for bringing them. Craig and I are very sad.Gxx

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

2009-01-07T19:05:00.003Z

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

2009...

2009-01-05T17:02:00.008Z

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

merry knitting christmas

2008-12-23T14:30:00.002Z

It reassuring to know that the Catholic Church is still promoting hatred, especially at this festive time of year.I shouldn't let it but it does upset me very much that these people are allowed to make speeches like these.It's ironic that we are such a threat to humankind, I've never heard of any homosexuals going to war and killing lots of people because of their prejudice and hatred of people

knits to share and care, part 2

2008-12-09T13:31:00.002Z

In my excitement, I didn't write very much in my last post. There was much I should have written.Craig and I are extremely excited that the book is out. The decision to use only my name on the book now seems odd. Everything that I do is entirely a collaboration with Craig. This book is no different. This book is By Gerard Allt and Craig Carruthers.The book the sum of it's parts. The book would

knits to share and care

2008-12-04T17:17:00.004Z

finally! the new book is here.hurray!

tea party

2008-11-30T22:49:00.003Z

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

are you a tree hugger?

2008-11-26T19:12:00.003Z

About one million years ago I did a 5k run in Battersea Park (in fact I think I did it two years in a row) to raise money for Trees For Cities. It was a terribly stupid thing to do as I don't spend a great deal of time running or anything remotely similar. I did it though and I raises a couple of hundred pounds.With that in mind I had to post about The Woodland trust and their new new project,

The World's Largest Tea Cosy

2008-11-26T17:01:00.003Z

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

not a minute too soon

2008-11-23T13:01:00.005Z

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

Sticky toffee pudding and Sunday roast

2008-11-18T11:23:00.005Z

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).

Franklin, my dear...

2008-11-13T23:28:00.005Z

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

Yes We Can

2008-11-12T11:32:00.005Z

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

Stitches East

2008-11-08T05:02:00.005Z

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

New York City boys

2008-11-07T04:29:00.004Z

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

The times they are a-changin'

2008-11-05T13:44:00.006Z

Gerard and I arrived in NYC yesterday (Tuesday) at about 10.30am. There's always something special about taking a taxi from the airport, through Queens and under the East River, emerging into Manhattan. But what a day to be here! Despite the jetlag we met up with a schoolfriend of G's, James, and stayed out very late celebrating with the rest of New York. After a few bars we ended up in a new

Alright, so?

2008-10-30T11:47:00.007Z

We've been away. Last week we took a short break to Ireland and it was, officially, the first time we'd been away that had nothing whatsoever to do with I Knit London since records began. It was lovely. We were staying with a friend, Lorraine, in Mallow, a town just north of Cork. Lorraine helped us out at I Knit Day and Gerard met her at Dartington college in Devon back in his student days.

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

2008-10-18T17:34:00.006+01:00

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

Quizzy rascals

2008-10-14T10:24:00.003+01:00

Here at IKl we very rarely need an excuse or much encouragement to come up with an idea or two to get knitters together. This week is UK National Knitting Week so we decided to put together a few extra events during the week to persuade lapsed knitters, wannabe knitters and non-knitters to come along and join in. Sunday's knitting group was the first event, and last night was NKW Part 2 - the

Sunday Knit Roast

2008-10-13T12:35:00.004+01:00

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

The Knitting and Stitching Show...

2008-10-10T21:31:00.009+01:00

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

Unfailing energy and enthusiasm...

2008-10-10T00:03:00.004+01:00

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

striped hat

2008-10-06T09:59:00.004+01:00

This is the second thing I made this weekend from Erika Knight's new book Men's Knits. It was very easy and looks really good, especially on Craig. It done on 4.5mm with artesano alpaca/wool aran.gorgeous.The next two pictures, of Craig and myself, are taken with us wearing the gifts from Erika. Craig is in a huge Blue Sky Alpaca jumper and as you can see he is excited and looking forward to

The Cable Guy

2008-10-05T12:24:00.004+01:00

Only a few hours after Erika left us, Gerard had cast-on his first project from her Men's Knits book - the chunky Cable Scarf. This is what happens when you have a bit of inspiration. He cast-on to Strictly Come Dancing, and he cast off this morning at about 9 o'clock. There was a post in the Men Who Knit Ravelry group recently about whether cables are 'girly' - I don't think there's anything

I Knit...with Erika Knight

2008-10-04T16:22:00.003+01:00

We were privileged today to have Erika Knight visit the shop to talk about her design career, her inspiration and her ideas, alongside signing copies of her new book, Men's Knits. Gerard and I have been enamoured with Erika for years - before all of this knitting took over our lives Erika's New Knits book was already on our bookshelf (we've both made the retro poodle wine bottle cosy from it!),

A day out in the Park

2008-10-03T23:08:00.002+01:00

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

thursday is for socks

2008-10-02T19:24:00.004+01:00

We had another delivery today. Lots more sock. This time it's Lang, a fab German yarn that's come in so many colours and different blends that I was exhausted just looking at the shade card.There is also lots of shades of self patterning which are fab, and they are all machine washable.I managed to so a little of one of them, tiny, tiny, tiny sock!Then all of these people turned up and now I'm in

The Women

2008-09-30T09:34:00.005+01:00

we went to see The Women the other day. I'm not a massive fan of Meg Ryan and I hadn't read any reviews or anything but I was looking forward to it. I thought it was going to be some kind of indie style, philosophical, female driven depiction of female empowerment. It really wasn't. It was fun, though, and the performance were good but it centred around a man you never met. It was great that it

books

2008-09-29T11:52:00.005+01:00

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

knit and lace blocking kits

2008-09-25T18:12:00.003+01:00

The most fabulous blocking kits arrived today. I'm a bit of a sucker for a gimmick - I know that you can use any old metal rods and pins but you can't beat a bit of kit that was specially made for the job.They are by Take It Personally by Gifts By Tip and they are fab.The kits consists of twelve 36" rigid wires, two 24" flex wires, twenty steel T pins, blocking instructions AND a yard stick. It

we are the 'elite'

2008-09-24T10:42:00.004+01:00

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

the largest tea cosy in the world

2008-09-23T18:04:00.001+01:00

dream workshop?

2008-09-22T17:25:00.003+01:00

the blog a day idea didn't last long!We're busy planning for national knitting week. We have lots going on, with presentations and book signings -Knitting and Crochet Guild presentation on Wednesday 15 OctLise-Lotte Lystrup, author of Vintage knits will be with us on ThursdayFranklin is coming on 14 November!We also have the launch of A Stitch in Time on 22 November.AND, just as a little tease!

Knitters 0 Non-knitters 2

2008-09-17T13:45:00.003+01:00

After last year's attempt to beat the Eggheads we were up for another challenge and a few months ago we entered BBC4's newest quiz show Only Connect. The Knitters teams was made up myself and Tom, reprising our roles from Eggheads, and new member Esther. The episode was broadcast on Monday night and you can still find it on BBC iPlayer if you're quick. Actually, it's funny how you misremember

a blog a day...

2008-09-16T19:19:00.003+01:00

...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

did I say relax?

2008-09-15T17:50:00.004+01:00

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,

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

2008-09-12T17:41:00.005+01:00

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

Mikes, t-shirts...and the secret of good vinaigrette

2008-09-11T11:21:00.003+01:00

Everything is learning. I always think if you don't take something away from every situation then you're doing yourself a disservice. Learning a useless bit of trivia, or learning something about yourself (or others) that makes you change your way of doing stuff. It's all the same to me. For me it's usually the trivial stuff I like to store and my collector's mentality means I'm always up or

...

2008-09-08T12:32:00.002+01:00

...and relax...Gxx

I Knit Day 2008

2008-09-08T12:11:00.005+01:00

It's been a whirlwind week. Back in February we confirmed that I Knit Day was happening, we'd chosen our birthday weekend and we'd heard from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee that she'd come over as our special guest. From that day to this it's been a bit hectic. Sometimes we've wondered why we're doing it, sometimes I wonder where the days have gone. With Gerard as I Knit's only full-time 'member of staff

The final countdown.

2008-09-05T20:02:00.009+01:00

Get your air guitars out! Diddle-der-der diddle-di-di-der! It's the final countdown....We've been to-ing and fro-ing form the Horticultural Halls all day in our big van, loading, unloading and stopping off for a couple of hours for lunch with the Yarn Harlot. Stephanie, it was really very nice to finally get to meet you in the flesh and I hope you find your knitters tonight...or maybe you've

Pete Waterman, pop genius and train fan

2008-09-04T09:44:00.009+01:00

It might not come as much of a surprise to learn that I, Craig, used to be a trainspotter. I had all the books and everything, wrote all the numbers in a little pad and got really excited when the APT stopped at Kingmoor Marshalling Yards in Carlisle (which was just over the field from the house where I grew up). This might not mean much to those uniniated in the whys and wherefores of the