Taunton Machine Knitting Club is holding a Knit-a-Long Workshop with Anne Lavene on Tuesday 20th August from 2.00 pm. There will be a shared meal where everyone brings something and an evening demo by Anne, finishing at around 9.00 pm. The cost is £20 for the day or £8 for the evening and five spaces are available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. For further details of what to bring and so on, contact Mary on 01823 442453.
Knit To Finish
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Nina Miklin has a new design (M216) with a scallop trim featured in her new Book No. 4. Knitted in stocking stitch with plating gives a beautiful mottled effect. The fabric is compact, but very light. Most machines have a plating feeder and here’s a great opportunity to use it. The pattern is in four sizes from small to extra-large and suitable for standard gauge single bed machines at £5.40 for a printed version and £4.50 as a PDF email attachment. Book No. 4, with 39 colour pages, is £14.50 for a PDF download. Email Nina for more details or to order.
Special reader offer For a short while, the PDF pattern and yarn is available as a kit (£42) for MKM readers, to include 250g of Roma Extra Fine Merino Wool wound double in each of two colours, Shade 08 Black, Shade 17 Soft White plus 40g in contrast for the scallop trim. (The full shade range is on her website.) For lots more details or to order, write to Nina at PO Box 71930, London NW2 9QZ.
Tel 020-8455 1996
Email nina.miklin@virgin.net
Website www.exclusiveyarns.co.uk
Learn to machine knit
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Learn how to use a machine and make your own knitwear in a four-hour, one-to-one lesson with designer Ria Burns. She’ll teach you the basics and talk about the different machines available. If you’ve a bit more experience, she can tailor a workshop to suit, such as punchcard pattern design. Workshops are in Ria’s studio at Bristol Textile Quarter at a date that’s convenient for you. Email hello@riaburns.co.uk for details. Bristol Textile Quarter is at Ground Floor, 1A Barton Road, St. Philips, Bristol BS2 0LF.
July 2019 Subscriptions
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This is July 2019 and our current issue.
New subscription If you select a new subscription, it will start with the August 2019 magazine, to be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 4th July. If you’d like to start with this July issue, you need to order a Subscription Bundle.
Subscription bundle If you select a subscription bundle, it will start with our current July 2019 magazine and we’ll send you a copy straight away. Your magazine will then be mailed direct from the printer on the first Thursday of each month and the August 2019 issue goes out to subscribers on Thursday 4th July.
June update
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Dear Readers
On behalf of all the exhibitors, the first thing I’d like to do this month is thank everyone who supported the Nottingham Show this year. Our talks were popular and we’d a very enjoyable day. The staff looked after us well and, once again, The Olive Pot provided some excellent refreshments. Many visitors placed Wendy Piper in a dilemma, urging her to rethink her decision to close her business. Knits ‘n’ Bits has been well-liked by many machine knitters and it will be a blow for our craft to lose Wendy, so we sent her home with lots of thinking to do in the weeks ahead.
Since last month, I’ve been in touch with Linda Jackson of Artika Designs. Reader Sheila Thody found a tatty chair in a local secondhand shop and, using her Brother 836 and a punchcard design from Artika Designs, she’s transformed it into a great piece of furniture. In the August issue we’ve full step-by-step instructions with photos to show you how Sheila renovated her chair. To encourage you to get going with home furnishings, Linda will offer a set of any three books chosen from Tartans Tweeds and Checks, Designs for Interiors, Fabric Weaves, Eastern Promise, Optical Illusions and Colourwash Fabrics. You can see all the designs in the collections on her website at www.Artika.co.uk so start looking now, to whet your appetite and take your machine knitting in a slightly different direction.
Thinking about different things to do with our machines, we’ll also include an exclusive design from Tony Bennett of Dormani Yarns next month. Tony returns to the UK in September, to end the courses held at Metropolitan. This a the last opportunity to take part in a Tony Bennett course in the UK, so call 01270-628414 now or email metromachineknit@btconnect.com to ask if any places are still available. Sadly Carol and Mark have both suffered from serious health problems in recent times, which prevents them continuing to run Metropolitan. Tony’s visit is to be the final event and will bring Carol and Mark’s 30 years of trading to an end, on a special high note. Turn to Page 11 for full details of where to find Metropolitan and what’s still on offer. Do please support them, before their doors finally close in September.
With summer on its way and much to tempt you next month, it’s time to ‘keep knitting’!
August 2019
Subscription copies will be sent out
Thursday 4th July
We’re officially on sale
Thursday 11th July
Ask your newsagent to
Reserve a copy now
July 2019 – Current issue
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Our cover design is a pretty summer top in King Cole Opium. There’s a similar sweater design, both are easy to knit and cover a large size range from 72-76 cm (28-30 in) to 112-117 cm (44-46 in). We’ve 10 designs and a co-ordinating cardigan and sweater for Passap machines. As always, we include details for converting all our patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Sally-Ann Carroll reminds us to add one or two key pieces to freshen up our summer wardrobe and Bill King has come up with a brand new basic pattern. Fay Butcher’s Passap knowledge will help anyone using a double bed machine and Tony Bennett uses up cone ends for a couple of fashion pieces. A new feature this month is to use a knitting machine for home comforts and you’ll love our easy blackout blind for the summer months. We always include news, books and fashion and have great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.
June 2019 – Issue 257
Posted onOur cover design is one of two chic patterns, with or without sleeves, in 4-ply cotton. Both are easy to knit and cover a large size range from 71-76 cm (28-30 in) to 112-117 cm (44-46 in). We’ve 14 designs, with lots in 4-ply, and we include details for converting all our patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Sally-Ann Carroll reminds us that floral prints are out in bloom and Bill King can already hear the purists ‘tutting – but let’s live with his great ideas. We welcome Fay Butcher from Sydney, Australia, as a new regular contributor and her expertise will help all Passap knitters. Joan Lafferty confesses all and we pass on ideas, tips and how to knit 3, 5 and 7 stitch cords in Dear Anne. We always include news, books and fashion and have great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.
May 2019 – Issue 256
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Our May 2019 cover design and short-sleeved version in this lovely summer yarn are easy to knit and cover a large size range from 71-76 cm (28-30 in) to 112-117 cm (44-46 in with the actual measurement 128 cm, 50¾ in). We’ve 15 designs and we also include instructions for converting all our patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Iris Rowe introduces a new friend to the Toy Box, Sally-Ann Carroll reminds us to ‘think pink’ for spring and Bill King creates open fabrics on machines without a lace carriage. Karin Rogalski has designed some great hats to use up left-over yarn quickly and Helen Lewis helps newbies, step-by-step, to knit their first sweater. We’ve masses of ideas, top tips and golden oldies in Dear Anne and we always include news, books and fashion. We also have a special reader discount on new craft books from Search Press.
New machine-knitting course in Basingstoke
Posted onGillian is a fashion and textiles technician in the Art & Design department at Basingstoke College of Technology in Hampshire. She tells us that they’ve recently started to run evening courses covering various disciplines including sewing, crochet, painting, screen-printing and pottery. A new machine knitting course is running in May. Taught by Antonia Sullivan, knitwear designer and owner of Sprig Knitwear, this course is four weeks in length and will take place on Thursday evenings from 6.00 to 8.00 pm. Costing only £125 and with a small class size (enrolment is limited to 8) it’s a great introduction to machine knitting. Here’s the link for more information and online registration https://www.bcot.ac.uk/subject-areas/art-and-design/FEBC030.
May 2019 – Dear Readers
Posted onDear Readers
If you live within travelling distance of Nottingham, do join us at West Park Leisure Centre in Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton NG10 4AA. This year our show is on Sunday 14th April and Guest Speakers are Sue Booth at 11.30 am and Erica Thomson at 2.00 pm The lectures cost an extra £1 each and I look forward to seeing all those who can join us.
As we put the finishing touches to our Nottingham Show, I need to let you know that this will be the last time we’ll see Wendy Piper with her Knits ‘n’ Bits. After enjoying just one grandchild for many years, two more popped along a short while ago. Both mums and babies are now well, but there was a huge scare for the family when one baby almost didn’t survive. We all know that Wendy has had her own health problems over the years and she’s absolutely fine, but now wants to spend as much time as possible with her family. She’s talked it over with her husband and they’ve decided to cease trading. To this end, she’s already closed down most of her business and no longer has a business card machine or bank account. I’ve asked her to come to Nottingham to say bye-bye to us and she’s agreed. She’ll bring remaining stock and if you’d like to take advantage of huge discounts and bargains one last time, you’ll have to come along to the show with cash.
I chatted to Karin Rogalski recently and we both wondered what had happened to the weather. After the unseasonal heat in February we’ve been plunged back into some pretty chilly days, so she’s designed a very quick and easy hat using oddments from her stash. It takes Karin half an hour to knit one and join the seam. Use any small border design from your pattern library and remember to adjust the number of rows you knit on the back of the hem for the correct length. The shape of the hat won’t destroy your hair style and your stash will be pleased to part company with a number of cone ends.
Talking of cone ends reminds me to mention that Nick Traylen will happily find a new home for all your empty cones. Simply pile them in a bag and hand them to him at a show, or when you visit Uppingham Yarns. It really is worth a day out, as there’s much more to see at the shop than Nick is able to bring to the shows. My treat is to go on market day, when the town centre is a hive of activity. Although it’s been a Charter Market since 1281, trading has no doubt taken place there since the Middle Ages. Over the years the products may have altered, but the market’s popularity remains as strong today as it was centuries ago. It’s in a lovely part of the country with lots of places for lunch and a great day out. So, if you’ve not yet been, do call Nick on 01572-823747 for more details or visit www.wools.co.uk
If you’re a Passap knitter, look out for our next issue when we welcome the highly respected Fay Butcher as a regular contributor. She’s been running a Duo 80 knitting club each month since 1984 and she started the first E6000 club in Australia in December 1988. Fay did a Technical And Further Education (TAFE) course in Australia many years ago and you’ll perhaps recognise the initials. Over the years, Tony Bennett has introduced some of his exceptional TAFE students to us in his Down Under articles. Fay’s course included pattern writing and she also gives out notes on the topic of the month at each club meeting, so we’re sure to glean a great deal from her articles and patterns.
Finally, my sincere thanks to Karin Rogalski and to Helen Lewis for their excellent articles this month, as well as to all our regular contributors for helping me to keep the magazine going into its 34th year. The clocks have gone forward and it’s officially Spring, so let’s all knit happy!
NEXT ISSUE
June 2019
Subscription copies sent out Thursday 2nd May
On sale Thursday 9th May
Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy now.