I Knit or Dye Ziggy Stardust and Howlin' special offer

I'm really excited that I knot is 10 years old this year and I've planned lots of small celebrations to happen throughout the year.

The first is to offer a new colour way in Ziggy Stardust and Howlin' at the reduced price of £12 per 100g.

I love this new colour and I hope you do to.

I'm just about to finish a Match & Move shawl using this colour with a purple. Here are a couple of pictures... you can buy the yarn at www.iknitshop.org.uk

In The Footsteps Of Sheep

In the Footsteps of Sheep by Debbie Zawinski is a brand new book published by Schoolhourse Press.

We are delighted to be able to offer the book for presale! Dispatch will be approximately 20 October.

Through the course of a summer, Debbie travels to all corners of Scotland to personally gather fleece from 10 extant Scottish breeds. A longtime spinner and knitter, Debbie designs and knits socks to reflect the characteristics of each breed and the spirit of her journeys.

She writes beautifully and movingly about her travels; the landscapes explored, the sheep and people she meets, weather both foul and fair, and an intriguing island of feral sheep. A Welsh-born Scotlander, Debbie has a real connection to the land, its people and animals, magnified by her main method of travel: on foot, with tent, spinning stick and needles packed in her rucksack.

A wonderfully illustrated travel adventure through Scotland, with 11 original sock patterns included. 

buy the book here >>> www.iknitshop.org.uk 

Knit for Calais

I Knit London is hosting an event organised to help the displaced people in the camps in Calais.

We’ll be knitting and crocheting and collecting hats, scarves, gloves, blankets … anything that might help people keep warm as the weather changes and we move into winter.

CalAid have asked for hats for men as a priority. If you can help people join us on Tuesday 29 September 5pm - 9pm. Anything made an collected will be taken to the CalAid collection point so they can take it to Calais. If you can not make it to the shop and want to help please send anything to the shop in Waterloo and we can pass it on. Or you can send directly to CalAid. www.calaid.co.uk

I Knit at Camp Bestival

We had a marvellous time at Camp Bestival again this year. There was a definite increase in the number of young people wanting to learn knitting and crochet. Lot's of happy faces and some that look not so happy but that's only due to the levels of concentration while finger knitting for the first time!

Pompoms were well and truly on the agenda, as usual. Who wouldn't want to look as beautiful and amazing as this young camper?

There was also lots of finger knitting, as usual. We encouraged people to plait the finger knitting and make things like hats...

...or mats...

 ...or coasters.

I taught this reveller to make moss stitch and she was very proud of her new skill! This is picture and story is a little misleading, however, as I work with a team of volunteers who help me run the knitting tent at Camp Bestival. They all work so hard every year and I'm so grateful for their help, skills and friendship. Ros, Annette, Gemma, Nikki, Angela, Heather & Seb, and Mike - thank you for being amazing and making the knitting tent fabulous!

Camp Bestival is an amazing festival for families. There is so much to keep the young people entertained all through the day, not just on the main stage, with lots of treats for adults thrown in. This is the 7th year we've been at Camp Bestival running the knitting tent and we are there because the organisers want us to be. It's amazing to teach young kids (and adults!) and share our love for knitting and crochet and to be given the opportunity to do this at Camp Bestival every year is a testament to how fantastic Rob and Josie Da Bank are. They are helping to engage an army of young people in knitting and crochet and I know this because we get to see lots of regulars who return every year and when they ask to learn something new we are thrilled. Thank you to the Da Banks, your festival is marvellous.

And now it's on to Bestival in September, which is a an entirely different festival! And I can't wait.

I've recently added a few new colourways to the Ziggy Stardust collection. The speckled effect is really popular so I thought I'd have a go and base it on song titles from David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars album.

Below are the first four colours. There are four more to come, I just haven't been as happy with the colours as I'd like to be so I'm still working on them. I reckon I'll be happy by next week, though, and so they'll be ready and online for sale.

buy them now at www.iknitshop.org.uk

Lady Stardust

Soul Love

Five Years

Moonage Daydream

I Knit or Dye STRIPES

I've been dyeing sock blanks for a while now to offer I Knit or Dye self striping sock yarn. They are a bit messy and take a little longer but I love the effect. I love the way the colours interact with each other when the sock blank is re-knitted into socks, I call this yarn Lazaretto. The most popular colour has always been the freedom rainbow flag. However while the Lazaretto is fab I have always dreamed of doing some 'proper' self striping sock yarn.

A few weeks ago Catriona tasked me with dyeing her some self striping sock yarn, she wanted purple and lime. Cat was a volunteer for me at Bestival in our knitting tent last September and so I couldn't refuse, really. Or rather, I couldn't resist. It took a while to get the right colours but it took a little longer to reskein the yarn and dye it and then ball it up!

This is my first Grotbags colourway sock. Cat loves the yarn, btw.

It was a matter of moments before I thought about dyeing red and white to make my dad some Liverpool FC socks!!

But the main event is really the freedom rainbow flag colour way, Love Wins. This is a super duper duper set of colours and I love it.

All these colours, plus a couple more, are available in our online shop, www.iknitshop.org.uk 

Gxx

Different Class Pool Party 4ply

I Knit or Dye Different Class Pool Party is a 4ply weight yarn that is perfect for all kinds of different garments. It is 100% British Bluefaced Leicester - born, reared, sheared, spun and dyed in the UK.

Several colours are available online now, www.iknitshop.org.uk

The finished garments are soft and feel gorgeous against the skin and as you can see below, I've made lots of Hitchhikers. Hitchhiker by Martina Behm is available to buy in revelry.com.

It's called Pool Party because it poooooools!!!! Pool Party is so entertaining to due to the way the colours continually change and and interact with each other.

a hitchhiker

Jan with 2 hitchhikers

another hitchhiker

A cardigan made by Brenda

Shop Christmas opening times

I Knit Christmas Party

I Knit Christmas Party 18 December 5.30pm - 8.30pm

Celebrate Christmas, knitty style, with I Knit on 18 December at our Christmas party. There'll be nibbles and cake to go with your wine and cider!

The Secret Santa is always a massive part of the party so please do join in and bring a gift, minimum £15 spend, and you will be rewarded with a a stunning gift in return; many of the gufts are hand knitted shawls and scarves! Anything is welcome, though, the rule being as long as you are happy to receive this gift someone else sure will also.

Merry Christmas!

I Knit for Text Santa

This Morning and TextSanta Christms jumpers...

For the past few weeks I've been working on a special project for This Morning and TextSanta appeal. I was asked to make the final three chosen designs of the This Morning Christms jumper competition. Viewers submitted their deigns, Gok Wan chose his top three and then I Knit made them.

I only had 10 days to hand knit the three jumpers so I receuited the help of some super, amasing people. Very special thanks to Brenda, Coral, Jan, Jan, Maggie and Ros.

Without you the jumpers simply would not have happened. I'm so grateful for your hard work and super knitting skills. You are all amazing.

me and two volunteer models

Fyberspates Vivacious Pattern collection launch at IKL

We are super excited to welcome Jeni from Fyberspates to shop on Saturday 29 November.

Jeni will be with us to launch the new Vivacious pattern collection. Jen will present a trunk show of all the new garments for you to squish and squeeze and you can talk to Jeni about the patterns and yarn and it will be lovely.

Hard copy books will be available and a code for you to download your own electronic version will accompany each book sale!

Everyone is welcome! We'll have nibbles and cake and tea and cider and, of course, loads of time to knit and crochet.

Vivacious is one of my favourite yarns and one of IKL's best selling. That's because it's gorgeous! Superwash merino with a high twist in 4ply and DK, the yarn is soft and squishy and the colours are amazing! You can see some of the colours below.

So come and see us on Saturday 29 November and buy the book and craft with us.

sock club

The next installment of the sock club is due in the next few days so I thought I'd share the previous installment sock pattern. 'Honey Jan' is one of my designs and I'm quite pleased with it. It's a simple lace repeat and so very quick to knit. The yarn was dyed while thinking about fire because it was so cold in January. It got mild just after I sent it. It's got cold again, though.

 



 

I Knit or Dye

I've been dyeing a lot this week and the colours are a little outrageous, for me anyway.

This is some I Knit or Dye sparkly sock yarn called Ziggy Stardust and sock weight silk called At Last.

I Knit BOOK GROUP

For the past few years IKL has hosted a book group on the first Tuesday of each month. It has a small but committed number of people attending every month. It would be great to see more people at the group knitting and chatting.

The next meeting is 4 Septemberfrom 6.30pm. The book is Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I read this book years ago and although I've forgotten most of it I remember that I loved it. Dennis Potter wrote the BBC TV series, made in the 1980's, but I don't think I ever saw that.

I'm looking forward to reading it again, I'll probably start it on the train up to Liverppool tomorrow for my cousins wedding.

Everyone is welcome to the book group, all you have to do is read the book, or some of it, and come along with your knitting!

See you there.

Camp Bestival 2012

IKL and a troupe of volunteers spent last weekend at Camp Bestival in Dorset teaching and army of kids to knit. As usual (we've been to Camp Bestival every year) we had a brilliant time and we taught approximately 150,000 kids to (mostly finger) knit. OK, it probably wasn't that many but it felt like. Thanks to Deborah, Angela, Ros, Tania, Lorraine, Graham, Nicky, Heather and Becky, you are stars and I love you and I appreciate all your hard work. And so do the kids and their parents.

Camp Bestival really is a great festival. There's so much for the kids to do, the organiser really put a great deal of thought and work into it, then at night we get to dance and sing along to Kool and the Gang and the Happy Mondays!

There are so many photographs, here is a small selection.

This was our view.

Tania teaching. It's so rewarding when a person as small as this gets it and become a knitter.

I wont lie, several bottles of Pimms was consumed, after hours.

Ros, a vetaran CB Knitting Teacher, was only ever to be seen surrounded by 1000's of kids.

Lorraine (on the left) is teaching Lucia. I was thrilled to see Lucia and her mother Michelle. Michelle owned the Bonnington Square shop

Heather in pink t-shirt and Angela in black surrounded.

Graham teaching.

Graham always brings his spinning wheel. Sadly it saw no action this year as we were too busy.

The tent was gorgeous, I think you'll agree. This is the best use of a bird cage I have ever seen. The ceiling of the tent was covered in crocheted doilies.

We took the sheep and asked people to cover it in bits of finger knitting.

Deborah became obsessed with finger knitting.

Nicky, left with pink bandana, lost her voice from all the hard teaching!

just a little ciggie break.

see you next year!!!!