April update

Dear Readers

My month started on a rather sombre note, when her husband called to tell me that Yvonne Knapman had passed away. In her time, she was truly a master of Double Jacquard on Japanese machines, producing some wonderfully ‘classy’ designs. Old hands may have bought her patterns, or her excellent book The Beginner’s Guide to Double Jacquard Knitting on starting the technique, which yarn to use, tension guides and how to convert Fair Isle to Double Jacquard. There are still machine knitters using her Jac-card holder to help with Double Jacquard. When she retired she took on some exceptional work for the charity Heather’s Hair. Back in 2015 it helped people with hair loss due to chemotherapy treatment or illness, but sadly had to close in 2018. We’ve been friends for a very long time and chatted a lot, so her passing came as a big shock for me. I send my sincere condolences to her husband Chris, their family and many friends.

Now do please turn to Page 8, to read the news that another dear friend, Susan Guagliumi, has decided to retire. For almost forty years, our paths have been linked and I’ve spent a working lifetime alongside Susan. The machine knitting scene was as vibrant in the USA as here and we became great friends. At one time, I was going to America almost every month and Neil and I had a wonderful holiday with Susan and her husband in 2017. Her knowledge and expertise are immeasurable, so I rejoice that her legacy is passing to a safe pair of hands. Flip over a page or two to News Extra for the full story.

Our ‘good news’ story of the month, on Page 52, has to be that Irene Krieger’s fundraising for cancer research has reached almost $13,000. Irene’s Bravery Beads and continuing efforts have played a huge part in getting clinical trials off the ground. She also reads the magazine from cover to cover each month and shares her thoughts on the inspiration she picks up from our pages.

Finally, I’ll mention that the digital version of the magazine is up-and-running. It’s early days, of course… and we’re still on a learning curve. Each issue from January 2025 is now available as a digital download in the shop on our website. The great news for many readers is that huge postal costs and customs delays in some countries are now a thing of the past. Find us at https://machineknittingmonthly.net/shop/ and knit happy!

NEXT ISSUE May 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 3rd April

On sale Thursday 10th April

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy or order a subscription NOW!

High quality digital version

NEW DIGITAL VERSION From the January 2025 issue, you can now buy the digital version of the magazine. New high quality downloads of January, February and March 2025 are also available. Just head for the SHOP and select either the hardcopy or downloadable option. The downloadable magazine is just £4 (sterling) for each issue and available straight away. It saves the huge expense and wait for overseas postage, so check it out NOW!

New hard copy subscriptions

NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS Our magazines are mailed to subscribers on the first Thursday of the preceding month, so our April 2025 issue went out on Thursday 6th March. You’ll find full details of the April magazine in the shop.

If you’d like a new subscription, it will start with our May magazine. No money is taken with your order and May will be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 3rd April.

If you’d like to start with an earlier magazine, please buy it as a back issue and you’ll find lots of choice in our shop.

NEW DIGITAL VERSION From the January 2025 issue, you can now buy the digital version of the magazine. Just head for the SHOP and select either the hardcopy or downloadable option. The downloadable magazine is just £4 (sterling) for each issue and available straight away. It saves the huge expense and wait for overseas postage, so check it out NOW! Please note that, as yet, we don’t have a digital subscription available.

April 2025 (Issue 327) with Alison Dupernex, Bill King & Nina Miklin

The boxy jacket on our full-colour April 2025 issue is the perfect all-year-round cover-up and we’ve our usual mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines. We’ve a California Knit-In with Nic Corrigan and the Machine Knit Community and a knitted Easter wreath from Iris Rowe. Our patterns include a slip-on-and-go design from Alison Dupernex and a stylish Nina Miklin jacket in all-over tuck stitch. In Masterclass, Bill King inspires us to reach new dizzy heights, playing around with ideas, colours and yarn using swatching techniques and Irene Krieger shares her wonderful achievement from Australia. Our news of the month has to be Susan Guagliumi’s retirement and the new custodians of Susan’s invaluable online content from April 2025. As always, we’ve all the usual advice, news and reviews.

NEW DIGITAL VERSION From the January 2025 issue, you can now buy the digital version of the magazine. Just head for the SHOP and select either the hardcopy or downloadable option. The downloadable magazine is just £4 (sterling) for each issue and available straight away. It saves the huge expense and wait for overseas postage, so check it out NOW!

March update

Dear Readers

It seems a while since I was ‘back in the saddle’ bringing you a monthly update and my news this month has to be that Neville Bramwell has passed away. Yes there are tears, but ‘happy tears’ that he lived to his 92nd year and was alert and lucid almost to the end. He slipped away peacefully with his children Alison, Tony and Peter by his side.

I often went to Bramwell’s offices in Clitheroe, while they were there for ten years, but everything took off when they moved to a huge warehouse in Altham, Lancashire. It was opened by the late Mary Weaver, a long-term friend from the 1970s. Back then Mary had written an article about using three ends of 2/30s high bulk acrylic. She’d bought a few odd cones (on which they lost money!) and suggested to Neville that if he could produce something similar as a single strand on a 500g cone, it would sell. After many visits to Weaverknits at Sutton-on-Hone in Kent, Bramwell’s Fine 4-ply was launched around 1972/73.

The company went on to develop other finer and fancier yarns such as Duo Magic, Hobby and Artistic. Mary was a fellow pioneer in the knitting machine industry. She visited Japan, learned the language and translated many of the machine knitting books and patterns. Mary Weaver’s Machine Knitting Technology, known as the ‘bible’ to many machine knitters, was one of the best-selling books. Bramwell would order five to ten thousand at a time!

The Altham factory had 30,000 square feet and employed 32 people. Bramwell had 808 retail customers in the UK, with a distributor each in Belfast and Dublin. It’s probably hard for newbies to know that in the heyday, machine knitters had the choice of 84 shades in Acrylic 4-ply. A carton held 24 cones and a forty-foot container held 800 cartons. As fast as they could pack the orders, forty-foot containers were shipped to Canada, both Perth and Sydney in Australia and Russia.

Over the years, Mary and her husband Alan became great friends to Neville and his family. Neville told me he always had a great admiration for Mary’s determination and business awareness. He was always grateful for the great trading years they enjoyed together.

So it now really is the end of an era as we say bye-bye to Neville. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed a long and happy friendship with him. I’ll miss his cheery calls, when we’d chat for hours about life and the industry. My heart, though, is filled with joy as I remember the funny stories he would share. Rest in peace, Neville, knowing your contribution to domestic machine knitting was huge. I send my sincere condolences to all his family and anyone who knew him.

NEXT ISSUE April 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 6th March

On sale Thursday 13th March

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy NOW!

NEW DIGITAL VERSION From the January 2025 issue, you can now buy the digital version of the magazine. Just head for the SHOP and select either the hardcopy or downloadable option. The downloadable magazine is just £4 (sterling) for each issue and available straight away. It saves the huge expense and wait for overseas postage, so check it out NOW!

March 2025 (Issue 326) with Bill King

The jazzy cover design on our full-colour March 2025 issue will brighten up any day and we’ve our usual mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines. Our patterns include one of Anne Baker’s Karabee designs with a lovely rolled edging and Clair Crowston returns with a design from her much-loved collection. We also have a man’s comfy crew-neck cardigan, with step-by-step diagrams to produce ‘magic cables’. In Masterclass, Bill King amazes us all, by producing cables on the machine without using transfer tools. We shine the spotlight on Werner Hafenbradl and Easy MachineKnitting. It’s an inspiring platform for both beginners and enthusiasts and readers can enjoy a month’s use of the website FREE! Marie Bruhat, a French knitwear designer living and working on the remote Scottish island of Fair Isle has a special reader offer for her new Fair Isle Academy. We’ve a pattern for knitting light and lacy scarves on a Passap and Joan Lafferty reminds us how to create thicker garments without using a chunky machine. Alison Dupernex and Susan Guagliumi (https://susan-guagliumi.teachable.com/) are a constant help and support and we’ve all the usual advice, news and reviews.

NEW DIGITAL VERSION From the January 2025 issue, you can now buy the digital version of the magazine. Just head for the SHOP and select either the hardcopy or downloadable option. The downloadable magazine is just £4 (sterling) for each issue and available straight away. It saves the huge expense and wait for overseas postage, so check it out NOW!

February update

Dear Readers

Each year I’ve to finish this issue in the middle of December, so let me tell you about one or two things which may slip through the net. Sadly, Jo Newton, a dear friend and well-known name in machine knitting has decided to close both her website and design business. Jo’s intarsia designs captivated many of us for years. She was a frequent exhibitor at shows and a highly-respected, major contributor to most magazines including MKM. For a short time, her books will still be available, but you need to be quick. If you’d like any of them, send me an email with your phone number and I’ll ask Jo to call you before she finally hangs up the ‘closed’ sign.

I must also let you know about two recent bereavements and the first is a designer knitters will remember from Modern Machine Knitting days. It’s Terry Armitstead, who was a major contributor back in the early 1990s. He was a popular club speaker, often joining forces with Jane Huntingford. They’d talk about intarsia motifs, garment patterns and geometric designs for punchcard and electronic machines. Terry really could squeeze everything possible from (what looked like) an ordinary, rather boring stitch pattern. I’m certain Terry’s collection of samples was second only to Bill King!

My second bereavement is someone known to most machine knitters in Northern Ireland. ‘Old hands’ who’ve read the letters in Dear Anne over the years, will recognise the name Joan Wilson. Joan was 103 and will be very sadly missed by everyone who knew her. She’d been machine knitting since 1955 and I’ve kept in touch with her since 1986, when I first published the magazine.

Joan started with an early second-hand Passap, progressed to a Silver Reed SK840 electronic and knitted on everything from every manufacturer in between. With advancing years she’d moved into a care home. There was no room for her machines, but not long before her 100th birthday, she’d an LK-150 set up and was learning to knit on it. As she put it: “I need to keep my brain working”! In both our younger days Joan would often scold me, but always in a constructive way to help me improve the magazine for all machine knitters. It’s been my pleasure to remain in touch with a woman who will have inspired more of us than she ever realised. Joan kept her love for machine knitting right up until the end. She was still knitting clothes for her great grandchildren. I send my sincere condolences to everyone who knew both Terry and Joan. They both died in loving, peaceful surroundings.

Joan’s letters were always beautifully hand-written and this month I can think of no better way to sign off than how Joan ended every letter to me. “I’ll be glad to hear from you. All the best healthwise and good luck otherwise.” I send you all my very best wishes and hopes for a happy, a healthy and a prosperous year ahead.

NEXT ISSUE March 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 6th February

On sale Thursday 13th February

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy or order a subscription NOW!

February 2025 (Issue 325) with Alison Dupernex and Bill King

The cosy cover design on our full-colour February 2025 issue has a comfy fit and high roll neck. We’ve our usual mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines. Our winter classics include five pairs of gloves and mittens in DK, ideally for the LK-150. Alison Dupernex brings us a feast of colour block throws and blankets, plus beautiful Fair Isle throws and cushions. In Masterclass, Bill King gives us inspiration to try something new and interesting with racking. . We shine the spotlight on Halyna Shemchuk, the journey of a Ukrainian machine knitter and Marie Bruhat, a French knitwear designer living and working on the remote Scottish island of Fair Isle has a special reader offer for her new Fair Isle Academy.  Susan Guagliumi (https://susan-guagliumi.teachable.com/) is a constant help and support and we’ve all the usual advice, news and reviews.

January 2025 update

Dear Readers

Throughout almost 39 years as your Editor and Publisher, I’ve not often written about my personal life, but last September was a special highlight. Back in February 2024, I had an invitation to a wedding. Someone I’ve worked with on the magazine, every week of every month for 16 years, told me that he was to be married. I’ve known Nick and his partner Cora since August 2008, when Nick took over as our Graphic Designer. He asked if Neil and I would like to come to the wedding, but quickly added that it would be in Germany. It took me no time at all to accept. The dates were a long way ahead so we’d lots of time to plan, especially as both of us needed to keep the magazine on schedule.

The last time Neil and I had a proper holiday was in June 2017, when we headed back to America to stay with Susan Guagliumi and her husband. So we decided to combine the wedding with a holiday and made plans to go up into the Austrian Tyrol, to a health spa in the mountains. As excited as I was, I decided to keep things under wraps, except for telling one other person on the magazine. Not having been to a wedding for many years, I’d need something to wear. As our Fashion Editor at the time and one of my best friends, who better to help me find the perfect outfit than Sally-Ann? Around this time she became a little unwell, but we giggled with glee at the prospect of a shopping expedition. We decided we’d turn it into a Style File feature for the magazine, but little did we know that we’d never make that shopping trip. Her untimely death in June 2024 was a huge shock for us all.

As you’ll read on Page 10, the weather did its utmost to disrupt the day. However, there was never a chance Storm Boris would win and I didn’t let the side down. Yes, my new wedding outfit stayed in the suitcase and machine knitting won the day! At the last minute I’d packed a much-loved outfit Iris Bishop made for me a while ago and it kept me toasty warm from morning till night.

I know you’ll all join me in sending our warmest congratulations to Nick and Cora. May their next 20 years be filled with as much love and joy as their first. To be sure, as one year draws to an end and another begins, let’s all wish each other a happy and peaceful New Year, filled to the brim with good health and good fortune.

NEXT ISSUE February 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 2nd January

On sale Thursday 9th January

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy, or order a subscription NOW!

January 2025 (Issue 324) with Bill King and Marie Bruhat

The cover design on our full-colour January 2025 issue is a warm gilet, with lots of options for mix and match. We’ve our usual mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines. Our winter classics include a cosy chunky oversized cardigan, measuring 52 or 62 inches all round. In Masterclass, Bill King enjoys some partial knitting using a technique many of us will remember and it’s the final Part 4 of our mini series on Charting Devices. We shine the spotlight on Marie Bruhat, a French knitwear designer living and working on the remote Scottish island of Fair Isle. She’s launched a new Academy to teach the intricate craft of Fair Isle to a global audience and we’ve a special reader offer.  Alison Dupernex and Susan Guagliumi (https://susan-guagliumi.teachable.com/) are our constant help and support and we’ve all the usual advice, news and reviews.