World Cup Knitting Injury

Many people don't like the World Cup in football. I do. It makes for great sample knitting company (especially because I have no stakes in this tournament) and I can zip through my to-do pile a lot quicker than if I were stuck watching TV series or films. And, honestly, I find assorted Tumblrs and various memes hugely entertaining. On that note, I would like to share my own World Cup injury. It seems as though there is apparently such a thing as too much knitting. Won't stop me from applying bandages and heading back onto the pitch. After all, I have matches to watch and things to finish.

PS. button brains, I am looking for seven dark wooden buttons roughly 18mm - any good UK suppliers I've missed? The usual suspects of Textile Garden, eBay and Etsy have failed me.

Taking Stock

Just over a fortnight ago I waved goodbye to my part-time job with Rowan Yarns. It took me a few days to get used to my new routine and, crucially, having more time to do my own work. There was some initial panic (which briefly me led to consider an art school degree!), then my stomach settled down, and I got on with work.

Right now I am working on winter designs - both commissions and my own work. Publishers tend to work around 4-12 months ahead, so I have been knee-deep in Christmas things since April.

I find myself marvelling at how quickly I get through work when I now have long sustained periods of time on my hands. My working routine used to be stop-start-stop-start. Things that used to take weeks now take just days. I can get through my all my emails in one fell swoop rather than take days to reply to queries.

No matter where I go or do in the future, I think I have already learned important lessons about how my working week needs to be organised. In short: I had no idea just stressed I was until now - I need sustained periods (not pockets) of time to feel energised.

In other news, I met up with the most excellent Louise Scollay of Knit British. We went to The Queen of Purls before settling down for a good, long chat at Mono. We are both advocates of a more thoughtful approach to knitting: it is not a blinkered, parochial passion where we shout "you MUST  knit British!" but rather a desire to make people think about where their yarn is produced, how it is processed and what stories they are telling via their knitting needles. We also discussed future plans (thanks for the enthusiastic shrieking, Louise!) and exchanged thoughts on the British knitting community. All good stuff.

This weekend I am heading across to Edinburgh for the inaugural Indieburgh Yarn Crawl - it's another exciting addition to Edinburgh's line-up of knitting events. Actually, I am a bit of a spoilsport as I won't really be doing the yarn crawl as much as I am meeting up with a future collaborator/editor. Okay, I may be doing some yarn crawling too. The three shops taking part are: Ginger Twist Studios, Kathy's Knits and Be Inspired Fibres - GTS is colourful and vintage-inspired, Kathy's centers on locally sourced yarns, and Be Inspired is high-end luxury yarn. It promises to be good.

Not long to go until Unwind Brighton either! My class on Continental Knitting is sold out, but there are a few spaces left on the Beading class and the Beginning Crochet class. I am still overwhelmed by the sheer quality of the line-up: Bristol Ivy, Kirsten Kapur, Carol Feller, Asa Tricosa, Olga Buraya-Kefelian .. and that is just the start of it. The vendor line-up is also unbelievable AND there is the PomPom Seaside Shindig featuring John Arbon DJing. I'm still wanting to sew myself a new dress for the event (Brighton Frock, anyone?) but time is running out. Ahhhhhh, so excited about being part of what promises to be an absolutely amazing event. Huge thank you to Dani Sunshine of Lionness Arts for organising everything.

So, it's all good and I still cannot believe that this is my life now.

Save the Date: Knit Works

Keep an eye on  the National Museum of Scotland, The Danish Cultural Institute and the Edinburgh Fashion Festival websites for more information. Yes, I am involved and, yes, it has an incredible line-up, and, no, I am not allowed to tell you more right now.

Trip to Glasgow's Newest LYS: The Queen of Purls

Glasgow is a relatively big city, but we have a decided lack of yarn shops compared to many other places. I was delighted when I learned that a new yarn shop was about to pop its doors open in the city centre. I went along to meet Zoe and her shop, The Queen of Purls.

Zoe has a background in art and textiles which is evident as soon as you enter her shop. The chair cushions are embroidered; the open/closed sign is needle-felted; and there is a real eye for textured detail in the nooks and crannies of the shop. As always, I was pleased by the attention to colour in the set-up and while Zoe has only just opened (and is still getting supplies in), there is a strong hint of personality to Queen of Purls. That is always a good sign!

I had a nosy around the yarn - of course I did. A friend works for Garnstudio and had emailed me that very morning to tell me about Queen of Purls being a Drops stockist - and Zoe does stock a lot of the popular Drops qualities: Alpaca, Kidsilk, Lima, Nepal, Lace and the workhorse yarn of all workhorse yarns, Karisma among others. Personally I was really thrilled to see a big selected of Garthenor yarns (you may remember I have used one of their yarns for my Ronaes shawl) - I am such a big fan of their rustic, crisp yarns and it is great to see them represented in a local yarn shop. Zoe had also ensured a touch of luxury with Malabrigo and Manos (and another luxury yarn starting with M is due to arrive any day) as well as a beautiful selection of Jamieson & Smith yarns. I was pleased to see the perennial Ravelry favourite, Fishermen's Wool, a cracking 100% wool from Lion Brand on the shelves too - it is incredibly versatile and beautiful.

The Queen of Purls also stocks a variety of sock yarn, books, accessories, and knitting needles/crochet hooks. It's one of the few places I've seen to stock a huge variety of needle-felting accessories including a really staggering amount of fibre (and, trust me, Zoe knows her fibre!). As it has only been open a fortnight, stock is still arriving and Zoe advises that you check in on a regular basis. She is also happy to handle stock enquiries and some special orders. There are plans afoot for knit nights and workshops, so keep an eye on her website, Facebook feed, and Twitter for more information. I really enjoyed the hours(!) I spent in there and, yes, I did buy some yarn.

The Queen of Purls is located in city centre (easy access for all you city centre workers and people in Glasgow for a day). The address is 91 Saltmarket which is just around the corner from Glasgow Green and a ten minute walk from the Central Station. My own knitting group meets regularly at Tron Theatre which is about three minutes away from QoP (and, yes, damage has already been done). It's a great little neighbourhood with galleries around the Tron area, vegan food at the amazing Mono cafe/bar/record shop, and delicious cakes at Once Upon A Tart.

I'm looking forward to seeing QoP grow over the next few years and I'm very excited by the latest addition to the Glasgow knitting landscape. Yay!

Wardrobe Decisions

I need to make a decision about which colour to wear .. and that got me thinking: any rich colours I haven't used for a shawl? Any recs?

Mended

I caught my Alva shawl in a zip about a month ago. Being in a bit of a hurry, I accidentally tore a hole in the edging at the worst possible point: the tip of the edging. So, I put the shawl into time-out whilst I tried to decide what to do. Today, I decided to mend Alva and this is what I did:

• I cut off the entire edging. The hole was so big it ran across four rows and the centre stitch had unravelled.
• I then picked up along the cut edge. Rowan Kidsilk is thankfully a very sticky yarn which made picking up stitches easier than if I had to watch out for accidental laddering.
• I then knitted back an entire row to make sure I had picked up evenly and that I was not left with any fraying yarn.
• Looking at the colours in my Alva shawl (which was knitted out of one ball of Rowan Kidsilk Stripes), I picked up a matching solid-colour ball of Rowan Kidsilk Haze (I love the Jelly colourway, nom. My Picycle is knitted in that colour) and I knitted two rows.
• I then used a crochet cast-off to make lovely little fluffy loops along the edge and decided to add some extra crochet loveliness by extending the edge with fan stitches.

And there you have it. How to mend a shawl Karie-style if you have been silly enough to get it caught in a zipper. It's as good as new.