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

I Knit with Ann Kingstone

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 home!) is Ann posing with her book and some of the garments that gorgeously decorated the shop for the afternoon.

Here is some of the cake. I attempted to pretend that I baked these two but I had to admit, eventually, that as I didn't have time I went to Konditor and Cook. Anyway, they were gorgeous, as were the home baked cakes from Liz, Maggie, Jan and Sevitry and thanks to Yvonne for the sandwiches. There was so much cake, as usual, that I have a bit of a sugar hangover today.
Anyway, the book! Novel Knits is fantastic and I'm so proud to know yet another fantastic British designer and I recommend this book very, very much. You can buy it from our online shop. Or if you prefer an electronic PDF version you can buy that from Ravelry! I believe that the US publication of the book is imminent, also!
This is Pemberley. It is inspired by Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. It is really stunning and I think when Ann visited us a couple of months ago, on the day of the first sock club party, she was actually knitting it.
This is Lissuin, inspired by Tolkien. Lissuin is a sweet smelling flower! This sweater is stunning, so much so that Sandra could not contain her excited so snatched it and ran to the basement only to return a minute later to model it for us.

There is so much in the book and they are all stunning, really. There are gloves inspired by the unbreakable curse from JK Rowlings' Harry Potter!

You should buy this book!

I Knit Guernsey

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 pattern copyright will remain 100% the designers, before, during and after the competition and there is even a possibility of the pattern being published in The Knitter Magazine, a leading UK knitting magazine by Future Publishing.

Entry is via the facebook page, here. If you would rather submit by email you can email me instead.

There really is no reason NOT to enter!

Visit Guernsey has lots more info, click here for there www.

Animal alphabet...

It was another busy knitting group on Thursday night, with the usual stuff going on, including the consumption of cider and the sharing of a few tips and ideas....we also started our IKL Polaroid photo gallery which you can see adorning the walls of the shop very soon. You can be included too, all you need to do is come to one of our knit nights! Welcome back to Jon, too, who we haven't seen in a while, so busy is he with making more of gorgeous Easy Knits yarn. At the end of the night we all tried to work out the conundrum emblazoned on Justine's chest:

Leave your answers here! We're stuck on X, and N...?

{EDIT}...and for bonus points...which one is the odd one out, and why?

We love local...

It's ironic, after our last post, that we woke up to discover that one of our favourite local shops has closed down. It's very easy to say 'support your local shops' and all that but go to the supermarket every day instead. We live in a flat in Vauxhall and there's a huge Sainsbury's so it's not easy to support the local shops - we are pleased to say that we do try, including some of the local Portuguese delis in the area. But we did patronise the bakery on the corner regularly...so it was a shocker when I went past this morning to see it had closed down. Kaye's Of Lambeth was literally a family-run company in Lambeth for 70 years, started in the 1930s and sadly now swiftly and unexpectedly erased from the streets of Vauxhall. Gerard, especially, will miss their rye bread. It comes at a time when we find ourselves moving into a very local street, and only days after finding the We Love Local website. It's funny how things happen all together sometimes. It's also weird timing as we did go into Sainsbury's last night and partaking of a special offer on Rosé...what struck me was that the receipt said I'd saved £5.99. But, actually, I'd spent £18 I wouldn't have spent to get the saving...so I didn't save anything. It's obvious, but I still fall for the tricks of the supermarkets!

Craig

London's newest knitting shop...

Sort of.

It's been just over two years since Gerard and I started I Knit London. Back then we were a regular knitting group, organising weekly meetings for knitters in London pubs. Every Wednesday we'd choose a pub, send out a newsletter and wait for people to arrive. So far, so easy. It's only ever worked because people came, what we did was really nothing at all. So we'd teach people how to do stuff, and sometimes they'd teach us and we all had a few drinks and got on like a house on fire, made new friends and made stuff. But there was more to do, there was a Sunday market stall at Spitalfields, a decision based on the fact Gerard couldn't buy any recylced sari silk in London, so thought he'd do it himself. Those very early Sunday mornings were very hard work and even if we didn't make back any of the stall rent, we met more knitters and we invited them along to our weekly pub meetings too. Our circle of friends got bigger and our plans did too. but, the last thing we wanted was a shop - why would we need another full-time job on top of the two we already had?

One of our local hang-outs was the Bonnington café, where I'd meet Gerard for lunch when it was my day off from the National Theatre, and he was working around the corner for WaterAid. I don't remember when it was that I first suggested asking about the corner shop, at that time looking pretty grim with the metal shutters down and a blight on the square to be honest. Gerard was working from 8am til 4pm so we thought we could run a shop for people after work, open from 4 to 9 and still give ourselves a little time to have a life. We'd close on Wednesdays so we could still go to the pubs and knit and all would be well. We knocked on a few doors, found the owner and decided to give it a go....and it's been an unexpected journey.

Shortly afterwards Gerard was promoted and had to stay on til 5pm. It's only an hour difference but somehow 5 to 9 each night didn't seem proper, so we got someone to sit there for afternoon, usually on their own, pretending to run a shop, only with no customers. This is when we decided to get our licence to sell alcohol and decided that we'd alternate our weekly knitting group between shop and pub, giving everyone a chance to come and discover IKL and to live up to the 'sanctuary' part of the name which we'd been adamant about from the start. And so it went on....

Recently I've been hearing that because we're a 'business' we're different to other knitting groups; somehow this makes us less worthy of praise, as if our 2 years of work is somehow reaping financial rewards. I only wish! True, Gerard did, finally give up his full-time job at the end of 2007, meaning he can now spend his time and energies on his first love, but it's also true that it means from two incomes we're down to only one! I'm glad the 14 hour working days are over, I'm ecstatic that we won't have to give up our flat and live in the shop again (well, not as far as we plan it anyway) but with only two of us running the shop and the knitting group, not to mention organising SnB Day last year and this year's I Knit Day, it's still a long way from time to relax and put our feet up.

So, the last thing we need right now is more stress and more sleepless nights - but we genuine love IKL so much that we're going to do that anyway...and we're moving. Bonnington Square has been good to us, it's been a beautiful place to rest our knitty heads and it will always be part of our IKL story...but there's always time to move on. Next week London has it's newest knitting shop, at 106 Lower Marsh, Waterloo, SE1. Open late, licenced bar, gorgeous yarns and still a place for knitters to drop-in, put their feet up and have a natter. We wouldn't miss it for the world and we hope knitters from London and those visiting the city think so too.

From a weekly pub knitting group to what we consider to be a very good local yarn store, it has been a long hard slog. We won't be retiring anytime soon and we'll continue to do our best to offer London's knitters what we think they want and need. To all those who think it's easy you are welcome to have a go, and for those who think we're in it for the money - well, I can only laugh! The one thing I will say is that I am never a do-er, I'm always a wannabe! Thanks to Gerard this has been the most interesting (most stressful, most exciting, most unpredictable, most fulfilling...) 2 years of my life. If you want to do something just do it...we are no businessmen, and I still feel like I'm making it up as I go along. The clever part is making it look, apparently, so easy.

I Knit London will open at Waterloo on Saturday 15th March....until then, there's lots of painting, scrubbing and shelf-building to get done!

The KNIFTAs..(formerly the CREAK Awards!)

Never mind the bloomin' Oscars...there's a new award show in town (sort of). After our recent post about the dirge of bad knitting on the telly we've decided to create a forum where those who can manage to knit and act at the same time are rewarded for their efforts.


So, we give you the first ever KNIFTAs (Knitting in Film and Television Awards). We need your nominations as follows:

Worst knitting/crochet/craft scene

• the criteria covers everything from a so-called actor- type pretending to knit/crochet when clearly they have no idea what they are doing, to simply, bad knitwear on screen.

Best knitting/crochet/craft scene

• opposite of the above; this award will go to the turn who shows that knitting and acting are possible at the same time. Extra kudos will be given if the knitting is a symbolic metaphor for a deeply meaningful moment…

Best knitwear

• I think I know which film might win this one…but the title says it all. Nominate the film that contains a piece (or pieces) of knitwear you just couldn’t take your eyes off!

Oustanding Contribution award

• you can’t nominate for this, but we’ll be recognising the efforts of someone to keep knitting on our screens too…

It’s all a bit of a laugh and we’ll be announcing the winners later this year…you never know we might even have a ceremony at I Knit Day if we get enough votes!

Rules (sorry there has to be oneor two) - all nominated films must have played in UK/US cinemas, or been shown on UK/US television in the last year or two. We’ll watch all the nominees and our judging panel will rate them…

For movie inspiration you can check out our own ‘knitting in films’ page. Post your nominations here or on the Ravelry I knit group message board, where you also argue/discuss the other nominations. I hope we can make this a funny little awards ceremony!

Pearls of wisdom

As you can imagine it's been a bit hectic so far this week. Monday we put our tickets on sale for this year's I Knit Day and they were whipped up at a vast rate of knots - but don't panic knitters, there's plenty left! Sadly our current technology means it's a laborious process this end but we can live with that. Now it's planning the rest of the show that needs our attention. It's great to hear all the great comments about Yarn Harlot's first UK trip, so thanks for that. I'm feeling much as I did last year about the UK SnB Day - can't quite believe we're doing it and amazed it's happening only a couple of years after we started the knitting group. Things constantly surprise me, and this is one of them. I don't know where we've found the time, effort and energy over the past two years to go from knitting one night in the pub to having a knitting shop and running a new annual knitting show. I don't take any of the credit though - this is entirely down to two things. 1. Gerard 2. support from all the knitters. It still feels like we're blagging it, but at times like this I always remember sleeping on the shop floor for four months on an inflatable mattress, living literally out of a suitcase, showering in our local gym (not as often as I'd have liked to!) and spending 3 hours every Sunday in the launderette and realise...there's still loads more to do!

With all the hectic-ness it was a nice respite to get out and spend some time with the Kniterati book group last night. Kniterati was Justine's idea (nowadays always to be followed by the phrase 'CaveFelem on Ravelry'). Last night was an interesting one because we were being recorded for a university project which is looking into the phenomena of the book group and how each differs or what unites them. The research has taken in a number of different types of group so far, and our knitting 'angle' made it quirky enough for inclusion. But it gave us all a chance to not only talk about the book (The Pearl by John Steinbeck) but also discuss the group itself. It was fascinating. I've never been in a book group before and don't do a huge amount of reading (who has the time...!?) and I was conscious of being inadequately intellectual to take part. That's such a ridiculous notion though, having now experienced it, and the chats are informal and educational, and sometimes heated! One of the best bits though is when we veer off the book for a while and move onto the career of Alan Dale (he's from New Zealand NOT Australia) or how scary 28 Weeks later... is. Anyway, the next book was chosen and is The Road by Cormac McCarthy, quite topical after the Oscars for the adaptation of his No Country For Old Men. Amazingly, having read only about 10 books in my lifetime, I have read one of his before, and loved it, so looking forward to this one. In fact I am taking advantage of the morphine induced mobility to go into town and get myself a copy right after this.

Craig

Curfews and cute pressies...

I've no idea what was going on last night, but every Thursday we hold the knitting group meeting in the shop. It's usually a great way to relax after work, much more chilled out than our Wednesday pub meetings and a chance to wind down. I couldn't make it due to back issues, but Gerard was holding the fort...til 1am! Blimey, I know there's always some gossip but thats got to be the latest knitting get-together we've ever had. I might have to set up a curfew, or at least limit the amount of cider we sell, especially to Gerard, or from what I hear, to some of our regulars too. Anyway, I'm a bit sad I missed it, it sounds like it was a memorable evening...

Recently I posted here on the blog about some of the negativity we've had in the past, even from fellow knitters, who for some reason can't just be happy to have another lovely yarn shop in London. It grates, especially when you put so much work and so many sleepless nights into something, not for yourself but for others too. But you can't please everyone I guess. Anyway, I wanted to post about the nice things we get too. Whenever we see a post on Ravelry from someone we don't know, but who has been to the knitting club or the shop and enjoyed themselves it obviously makes us know it's worthwhile. I've worked in a theatre for many years and have never understood the role of critics, or more distinctly, I've never understood why people would base a decision to see a play on someone else's opinion, unless you read them all to get the bigger picture. So, it's great to get good comments, but when we're slagged off it's always sensible just to take a moment and be introspective - sometimes you can get too big for your boots! Most of the negativity we've encountered so far at IKL has been petty nonsense and jealousy so, for now, we're happy, but bad feedback is probably more important than good feedback!

One of the nice things that's happened over the past two years is that we've met some great new people, some who have become friends, and we've received some lovely pressies too! being ill always brings the charity out in people! This little fella, "Lamby" is from regular Lynsey. I've always been conscious of the knitting group becoming a clique where newbies won't feel welcome - but, although we do have a close group of friends, they are actually only our friends because of the knitting get-togethers in the first place. I think we do manage to keep our group open and friendly. Lynsey came to us early last year, and joined our beginner's knitting class. She has become an IKL mainstay, a regular at the meetings and has even graduated to shop girl on occasion. Lynsey is brilliant - the way she's taken the yarny challenge with so much enthusiasm is a bit inspirational actually. She's obsessed with it and has done about a billion more projects than I have. The fact that Lamby Lamb Lamb here is wearing his own bespoke IKL jumper, knitted especially for him by Lyns is, frankly, gorgeous! And those letters are knitted into the work not just sewn on top y'know. She also made me the little cat in the picture below to cheer me up while I've been off. Bless you Lynsey, you are marvellous. Another marvellous knitter is the much-missed Esther. She's away on the other side of the world right now but there's always a presence, especially in the shop as she has showered us with pressies and postcards since she first started coming along the meetings. There are some people you just like as soon as you meet them, and you always remember when and where that was. With Esther it was at the pub knit night, at The Wellington on the Strand. Not a great pub but it was summer of 2006 and we sat outside till it got dark. A great group that night, among them Esther. If you're lucky
enough to come to a shop meeting and Esther's there you can guarantee she'll bring some cakes and chocolate. Everytime. Recently she gave us this tea-towel (kitsch? how very dare you?). If you can't read it it's The Knitter's Song by Marjorie Carrier (I've copied it out below) I love it's retro cheesiness (and I mean that in a nice way, I do really love it). Weirdly it reminds me of a competition I entered at primary school - someone collected tea-towels and brought in about 50 of them. They were hung up on the wall of the assembly hall. We had to look at them for a minute then turn around and write down as many as we could remember. What a bizarre memory that has literally just come back after never bothering my little head for 28 years!

Talking of being cheesy - the best present has been kept til last though. When we got confirmation from Stephanie that she was coming to do our show in September. That made me nearly wet meself with excitement. When things like this happen, when you spend months trying to sort things out, when you have sleepless nights thinking it's all going to go arse up it's a big relief! Not that I've stopped worrying - no, this is just the start. I will be stressed out every day until 7th September now! Luckily, Gerard is much more philosophical and a little calmer than I.

Craig


The Knitter's Song by Marjorie Carrier

Clickety clack, clackerty clack,
The knitters at work - knit and purl back.
In two-ply or three-, mohair or double,
the knitting keeps growing, without any trouble.

Sometimes machine, often on pins,
the knitter is busy and has no sins!
The garments are splendid admired by all,
"Knit one for me" is everyone's call.

The colours are gorgeous, in all sorts of hues,
they cheer all those who suffer the blues.
"So keep on knitting", is everyone's cry,
"For we love knitting!" is our reply.

Marjorie Carrier, 1990, for The Button Lady

I Knit, in 2008, with...

..Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.
In our ongoing endeavours to bring the UK the best of everything knitty we are delighted to be able to announce that the Yarn Harlot will be with us at the I Knit Show on 6 September.

Stephanie will be with us for a talk and a booksigning. We're thrilled that Stephanie will join us at the show in what will be her first UK appearance. Her new book looks to be as great as, if not better than, her previous books!!!

The tickets will be on sale first to our mailing list members, early next week. Visit our website, http://www.iknit.org.uk/newsletter.html , to put yourself on the list!

The Big New Year Knit-In

Last night we held the first I Knit London meeting of the new Year, and saw a big bunch of knitters, crocheters and one loom-knitter all gathered at the Royal Festival Hall for a really good night. It was brill to see so many new faces, and we got a few new knitters on the needle too with some basic tuition....lollies and chocolates went down well too! We took over quite a large area, rearranged the furniture and settled in for the night. We've got another get-together tonight in the shop and we're looking forward to a whole other year of weekly knitting groups for newbies and oldies alike!

And congratulations to Claire and Tom (below centre) who got themselves engaged just before Christmas (after a very protracted, well-organised and romantic proposal!). Some IKL regulars may recognise them from previous get-togethers, or you may have seen Tom on the telly when we did Eggheads. Also, congrats to Tom on starting his latest project!

If you come along to the shop anytime soon look out for this new Vodafone ad which is positioned very aptly at the end of our street. Aww, cute little smiley balls of yarn!

Y Viva Espana!

We've been away for Christmas and have avoided (almost) the interweb for the whole two weeks! But now we're back and raring to get knitting again! First things first, thanks to all who came to our Christmas party on the 20th - we really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great night. Thanks for all the Secret Santa pressies and the food. Crikey, there was enough to feed an army. We'll be adding some photos form the party and from our Christmas break onto our Flickr today.... Meanwhile, we managed to get around to knitting (and finishing) a number of pressies this year, the pièce de resistance being this poodle wine bottle cosy which I made for my stepmother as a bit of a joke. I actually didn't take enough yarn with me for the pom-poms, so we scoured the local town (Torre del Mar) for a knitting shop....and found two. That's why his pom-poms are a bit darker than the rest of him. He took pride of place in the centre of our Christmas dinner table!

We spent our holidays with her and dad in their Andalusian villa in the hills of Axarquia. Oh yes! It was lovely (despite powercuts, torrential rain and thunderstorms, plus swimming guinea pigs - the most memorable Christmas for a while saw me giving the kiss of life to a guinea pig, by candlelight on the kitchen counter!) To be fair, the torrential rain, thunderstorms and power cut only lasted one night and the rest of the time it was sunny. Getting back into the UK on New Year's Day was a bit chilly. It was a very refreshing, relaxing time away from everything, after a year of much organising, planning and drinking! We are ready for 2008 and we're both really excited about what's in store for I Knit....

One of the things may very well be a Wii Tournament! We treated ourselves to a Wii for Christmas and have become a little addicted to the tennis and the bowling. Our aim is to get everyone on the mqachine to have a bash at games night. Let the games begin....! Whilst away we did some of the real bowling too (although after one strike my back gave out). Here's G getting a throw in. We realised that playing bowling on the Wii is just as strenuous - both our arms were killing the next morning.

We also made a short day trip over to Tangier, which we expected to be full of Arabianm charm and mystery. It looks nice in this pic, but, frankly, it was a grim experience.

Happy New Year to everyone, see you knitting in 2008! If you haven't been along recently there are a few of our badges left with our New Year motto "I Knit for life not just for Christmas" - get 'em while we have 'em at ther knitting group meet-ups or in the shop.

Cx

Taking it nice and sloe....

When Gerard appeared on The Alan Titchmarsh Show last month ( a now legendary TV moment) he met Jonathan from Sloemotion. This small company, based in Yorkshire, handpick sloes from hedgerows and steep them in vodka, whiskey and gin to make their gorgeous, syrupy drinks. G sampled some live on the show and it was only a matter of time before it arrived, by the case load, at IKL. G has been sampling all week (in the interest of customer service, of course) and can safely say it's worth the £15 a bottle price! We'll be dishing out shots at the Christmas party next week. Yesterday, we had some friends over for a Christmas lunch (our flat is so small it's nice to have a knitting shop to do this in!) and the sloe gin and champagne went down a treat, alongside G's famous salmon en croute. It was a lovely afternoon, and we got our first handmade card of the year courtesy of Hannah - you can't beat a bit of glitter glue and plastic diamante.

The 'sloe' pun is slightly misleading as, actually, we are both knitting furiously having left Christmas pressies too late yet again. I've just finished the Chulo hat in Artesano Hummingbird alpaca for an old friend, Ann (can't show a pic cos she reads the blog and it'll spoil the surprise), Gerard has started a shawl for his stepmother-in-law in the new Habu stainless steel and silk laceweight (below), and I'm now working on a really cheesy Poodle wine bottle cover from Erika Knight's New Knits book (although I've seen this particular pattern in many an old knitting pattern book from the 60s and 70s.

Of course all this means that my own Cobblestone Pullover by Jared (from IK Fall edition) will probably have to wait until the New Year, although we are going away to Spain for Christmas so I could start whilst lounging by the pool! In fact, Jared's a bit of a favourite at the moment, Gerard is working on the amazing Koolhaas hat too. Could it be for my Crimbo? Mmmm, probably not. Looks like my Secret Santa at work will be getting a quick knit Rowan Big Wool chunky scarf too so there's lots to be getting on with over the next week. I must remind myself to take my knitting along to the knitting group at The Cock this week - last pub meeting I grabbed my bag and discovered on arrival that I was both witless and knitless.

Our Sunday ended in the same way as many of our nights seem to end these day - in the Vauxhall Griffin. It's our local and it's a great antidote to going home and being sensible. If the Aspall's blush cider wasn't enough we are now completely addicted to the Carry On Quizzing game on the quiz machine....oh, and we get a few rounds of pool in too....

Beautiful Bonnington Square...

G is away in Liverpool for a couple of days, visiting family and friends, and staying out til 4am according to his phonecall this morning. At our age that's a bit reckless. Anyways, I opened up the shop this morning and upon entering the world of Bonnington Square came upon this fragrant steaming pile. Now, we've been in the square for over a year now and it throws up some bizarre sights every so often, but piles of giant dinosaur turd, fresh, isn't a regular occurence. For anyone who has visited the shop they'll know just exactly what the square is like - an oasis, a sanctuary, a surprise. It's also home to the small but perfectly formed 'pleasure garden', a piece of reclaimed land that serves as a community garden, children's playground and refuge from the rest of Vauxhall. This is all in zone 1, just yards away from the six-lane South Lambeth Road, railway bridges and packed Vauxhall bus and Tube terminal. I remember first discovering the place a few years ago, meeting G for lunch in the brilliant unpretentious café and just being in awe of the place - not just the quietude, but the totally unexpected community feel, the jungle-like streets and the exotic flowers and plants. It's only because of the café that the shop, as it is, and where it is exists. We have often talked about the square here on the blog and at the knitting group but I don't think we've ever really given it, and it's people, enough credit for what they have created and for what that gives to us at I Knit London. We're the only shop anywhere near and some might say it's a business nightmare...but for us, our little knitting shop and sanctuary seems the perfect fit.

So, back to the pile of poo...the tireless garden association were having one of their regular gardening days today, hence enough manure to save the Amazon rainforest piled in the street. One of the wonders of the square is the upkeep, the spirit that keeps the square 'local'. Here's Draeyk, one of the first to pop his head round the door when we opened and a constant inspiration. If you've never visited the Bonnington Square café try Vegan Thursday - superb food, more than you could imagine and all fresh too. Apart from watching the squirrels playing in the square in summertime, the other thing that makes me smile is Draeyk cycling past on his way back from the allotment with a bike rack full of veg, knowing a few hours later it'll be served up to a packed crowd in the café!

The square is a model of how to still remain a community in the heart of a capital city and everyone who takes part in this community should be rightly proud. If you come along to any IKL event at the shop you must add a trip to the café to your visit - real food, great atmosphere and nastertiums in your salad!

(Thanks to Lynsey for the pics)

Craigx

Here we go round the Mulberry Bush...

I always find it difficult to get out of bed of a morning, especially on days like today. One of those gorgeous winter dawns where the sun is shining but the air is crispy and curling up under the duvet is like being back in the womb. Sadly, needs must and up we got.

I have a knitting hangover today, thanks to another great I Knit London knitting group night at the pub. Our alternate Wednesday pub nights continue apace with new knitters, old knitters and some crocheters too. Last night we met at The Mulberry Bush, a Youngs pub on the South Bank and were well met by a packed bar, Winter Warmer Ale and some smily knitting faces.
This was a new pub to the IKL club and it suited well. Good enough light, three choices of ale, plus the usual light pub grub. The evening was a little surreal as the venue is opposite the London Studios and The Graham Norton Show were filming 'ladies taking off their bras without removing their tops' at the front of the pub. I've been reliably informed that this is actually quite an easy thing to do, although none of the knitters felt the urge to get up and do it on the telly. I'm slightly bemused by this obsession gay men have with breasts - G, can you explain?
Another highlight of the evening was a FWIP moment (finished work-in-progress) - Alix held aloft her majestic lace shawl and it was a sight to behold. Still, after two years of doing all this pub knitting it's still surprising that our little gatherings are seen as so eccentric by some of the other drinkers. But, deep down, we love the attention!
More of the same in the shop tonight, and twice a week for the forseeable future!

Craigxx

The morning after the Stitch 'n Bitch Day before...

How was it for you?

From the first excitement back in April when Debbie first asked if we'd like to host an event "around my new book and my first trip to the UK" right up until Friday's night's set up I think we both were still pinching ourselves, feeling like a bit of a fake and wondering how did this happen?"!

From an original germ of an idea, something like Debbie in a room, a pile of books and a few pens to sign them with....we expanded...and expanded and settled for what happened yesterday. What did happen yesterday exactly?....ProbablyJane summed it up brilliantly on her Ravelry post this morning - it was like a big knitting party! Those who know us or come to our knitting group meetings will, I hope, agree that we've always wanted I Knit London to be more than just a shop, or a knitting circle. The social aspect is key to making everyone feel welcome and everyone feeling like they are part of IKL - and everyone is. Yesterday would not have been possible without the cool knittersand fabulous friends who turned up and stayed for the day - settled down, shopped,had a drink or two, met new knitty friends and learnt new stuff in the workshops.

For me, it was just thrilling to see everyone having such a good time, and a genuine 'buzz' about the place (thanks must go especially to the Shellacs for looking glorious as ever and providing the perfect backdrop to the day). I guess we need to thank everyone, from Debbie all the way down to the very last knitters who stayed to the bitter end....

We've set up a Flickr group for y'all to share any pics from the day (did anyone get some of the fashion parade - we'd love to see those!) Feel free to join the group and post away....

We especially liked to see our name in lights at last!! (Even if they did spell 'stitch' wrong - German girl input this apparently.) Come to this week's knitting club night at the Mulberry Bush on Wednesday for more SnB Day backstage gossip!

...and despite running around like headless chickens for most of the day, Gerard and I really, really enjoyed ourselves! We must do it again sometime...

Origins Ginger Knits stand

Knitting!

Pom Pom International!

Knitted hamsters!

...and lots more!

Crafty soirées and The Rottweiler...

We hosted the first meeting of the new Kniterati book group last night. It was a nice night, with some considered chat and chocolate cake! I think I like the idea of this monthly meet-up, as , like our film nights it gives G & I the chance to stop work for a while and be part of the group - sometimes at the weekly knit meetings it's all a bit too much responsibility! It was a lovely group who braved a sudden downpour - I know from Ravelry that there were a few others reading the book who didn't make it along so I hope you can get down next time. We chose the book last night, and I was picked out of the hat - apologies as it's another crime novel, but much newer: The Rottweiler by Ruth Rendell. The next meeting is on Tuesday 30th October, plenty of time to get yourself a copy and read it - and don't scared about not knowing what to say, you can happily sit there and knit whilst the rest of us blether on.

A few weeks ago we were visited by Marissa at Hodder books clasping a preview copy of Jane Brocket's gorgeous book The Art of Domesticity. G nearly wet himself. It wasn't even a book, it was just the proof copy pages - but even then it looked tasty. Now the book is due out it is a thing of beauty. We agreed that Jane should be part of the UK Stitch 'n Bitch Day, but before then she's coming down to the shop to have 'crafternoon tea', sign the book, share some inspiration, chat and be generally celestial and goddess-like. If you've haven't seen her blog take a look here - I always want to just crawl through the computer screen, like I'm entering another world - the photos themselves look good enough to eat!

Jane will be at the shop on Saturday 20th October from around 12.30pm - it's free and, of course, we'll have the book available for sale and signing.

These meetings, film nights, events at the shop have really made us proud about IKL. Our dream of a knitting shop and sanctuary (both parts equally important) have been realised. After only a year it's sometimes quite emotional to see that all the hard work, long days (and nights) and quite a few sacrifices have been worth it. The place really comes alive when it's buzzing with people, and we are so chuffed that it is a 'sanctuary' as well as a shop. We will be extending our knitting group nights to two days from next week, with a meeting on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and we'll always be looking for the chance to hold a crafty soirée or knitting 'do'...and in 2008 expect some exciting ones!

Craigx