| A Wool Market is being held for the second time at Bradford Industrial Museum to celebrate the patron saint of wool-combers, Bishop Blaise and the history of wool in Bradford. The event, which takes place at the Bradford Council-run museum on the feast day of St Blaise, Sunday 2nd February, will have stalls selling woollen yarns, textiles and hand looms, as well as fun family activities including spinning and weaving demonstrations. Delicious food will also be on offer from Café Maison Express and the Yorkshire Pie Bakery and there will be a pop up pub in the museum which will have beer from Leeds based Sunbeam Brewery, who will be service their specially brewed Blaise Ale. Entertainment will be provided by a local band and choir. Stalls at the event, which takes place from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, will include local companies selling all manner of knitting gifts. This will include hand-dyed British wool, fibres and equipment for felt making and spinning, luxury and lace-weight yarns, haberdashery, knitting patterns and accessories and products made from alpaca wool. All of this will be alongside the museum’s fantastic displays that tell the story of Bradford’s industrial past. The free event is being organised by Bradford Industrial Museum. Bishop Blaise is the patron saint of wool-combers. He was a physician and bishop in Sebastea, Armenia and was believed to have lived around the end of the 3rd or early 4th century. People went to him for cures of both spiritual and bodily ailments and he was thought to have also healed animals. He was reported to have been tortured by being flayed using pins from a wool-comb and beheaded because he refused to renounce his faith. Bradford was once known as Worstedopolis due to the number of mills and wool processing businesses, including wool-combers that operated in the district. Up until 1825 the wool-combers of the district would hold a parade through the city to celebrate their patron saint. It was a four day festival where one of the wool-combers would dress as Bishop Blaise and parade through the town. A new Bradford Woolly Heritage Community Interest Company has been set up to support the wool festival with the ultimate aim to have a major citywide internationally linked celebration of the Bishop of Blaise’s Day in 2025 which will be the 200th anniversary of the last time there was a major celebration of the saint in Bradford. There are two ‘Bishop Blaise’ coats that were worn in the parades in the collection. One is from Bradford and one from Keighley. Some other memorabilia from past parades also be on display. For more information visit www.bradfordmuseums.org |
Anne
February 2020
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Our full-colour February 2020 issue has over 12 designs. Our cover top has a matching jacket that’s perfect for mid-gauge and chunky machines. There’s a wide size range from bust 71-76 cm (28-30 in) to 112-117 cm (44-46 in) and we always show you how to knit all our designs in a different yarn on standard gauge machines. Sally-Ann Carroll gets our Spring and Summer wardrobe one step ahead of the game and Bill King tells us how to bring shape into a garment using a simple machine-knitting technique. The final part of our series on colour changers looks at double jacquard variations and Fay Butcher helps all Passap knitters to reduce their stash. If you need some Boho Chic, we show you how to yarn-bomb a child’s chair and there’s masses of help for Silver Reed LK-150 knitters. We always include news and reviews, letters, club details and great reader offers on new craft books from Search Press.
January update
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Dear Readers
As this magazine arrives at the beginning of January, we’ll welcome in the New Year with piles of sprouts replaced by even larger mounds of Easter eggs in the shops! We always have to go to press very early with this issue, so let me remind you of one or two things which may slip through the net.
The first is the very welcome news that a new club is starting up in Scotland. The Dunfermline Machine Knitting Club’s first meeting will be Thursday 30th January from 6.00 to 8.00 pm and thereafter on the last Thursday of each month. The venue is Fife College, Dunfermline Campus Media Centre, Room 7.10 and it’s open to all levels of experience. You don’t need to have a machine and you can just drop in to discover what machine knitting is all about. If you have a machine, you’re more than welcome to take it with you. It’s going to be a relaxed group, aimed at teaching and sharing in a warm and friendly atmosphere. If it’s within travelling distance, you’ll need to know more so email buttonmouse01@gmail.com for all the details. Naturally, we’ll add the information to our Clubs Directory next time, along with other recent changes and we do wish them every success.
In Newsline last month, we told you about Susan Guagliumi’s video class that’s available for streaming. It’s a companion to her book Open Spaces: Machine Knit Eyelets, Ladders and Slits. With all the decorations packed away for another year, January is always a good time to take on something new. Don’t forget that Susan is offering a huge 20% discount to all MKM readers until 31st January 2020. If you want a more flexible option, sections are also on offer along with the original video for Hand Manipulated Stitches at a bargain price and also with a 20% reader discount. If your January magazine was thrown out with all the papers to make way for visitors, don’t worry, you’re not alone! Just give me a call and I’ll let you have full details, as it’s a one-time offer that’s not to be missed. You can also visit guagliumi.com for everything you need to know, as well as find lots of free downloadable patterns, instruction and videos.
Finally, we’ve had a hurdle or two to jump over, but plans are now in place for our 2020 shows. Bournemouth takes place on Saturday 3rd October and Nottingham’s date is Sunday 5th April. West Park Leisure Centre now has new owners and undergone significant alterations, so we’ve a different path to tread and we’ll need to make a few small changes for this year’s show. Do give me a call for the most up-to-date information.
Now the visitors have gone for another year, it’s time to turn the ‘temporary’ guest bedroom back into a knitting room. So, until next time, let’s all enjoy a happy return to machine knitting.
NEXT ISSUE
March 2020
Subscription copies sent out Thursday 6th February
On sale Thursday 13th February
December update
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Dear Readers
As you’ll see this month, everyone is helping us to keep warm and cosy through the winter. We’ve classic patterns for all the family and lots of yarn offers in case you’ve used up your stash! Sally-Ann shows us how to add extra layers in style and Helen Lewis shares some great ideas and easy patterns. Whilst mentioning Helen, some readers have asked so I’ll explain her name changes. Her world turned upside down when her husband of 25 years died suddenly and she became a widow at 47 with sons still at school. Somehow they all kept going and, many years later, she married John MacLeod. For 16 years they shared their lives and during this time she wrote her book Inspirational Machine Knitting. Sadly John then became terminally ill and died. With both sons married and grand-children coming along, the publisher who had originally commissioned her book changed their mind, so she decided to self-publish as Helen MacLeod. After seven more years on her own, she became Helen Lewis when she married for a third time. Tragically her husband had a stroke and died when they’d been married for less than eight months. Helen has had great sadness in her life, but an equal measure of blessings and joy. She now takes each day as it comes and enjoys sharing her expertise and love of machine knitting with us, as Helen Lewis.
We’ve the first treat of the New Year with a six-page feature of Nina Miklin designs. They’re all quickly made from oddments of Milan super-kid mohair and we love the versatility of her designs. If you can’t wear mohair, you can easily substitute many of her other yarns and she’s happy to offer you a personal service. Write to Nina at PO Box 71930, London NW2 9QZ, call 020-8455 1996, email nina.miklin@virgin.net or find lots of ideas and advice on her website at www.exclusiveyarns.co.uk. It’s also the place to see all her yarns, colours, exclusive patterns and books.
Susan Guagliumi’s new video class is now available for streaming and it’s a companion to her book Open Spaces: Machine Knit Eyelets, Ladders and Slits. Until 31st January 2020, Susan is offering a huge 20% discount to all MKM readers. In addition to the 7-hour class, Susan offers each section individually for those who want a more flexible option. These sections are on offer as well, along with the original video for Hand Manipulated Stitches at a bargain price and also with a 20% reader discount. Turn to Page 00 now for all the details. The address you need for everything is guagliumi.com where Susan shares lots of free downloadable patterns, instruction and videos.
At this time of the year, many of us reflect on the recent past and look forward to the Spring. I do wish you all a very happy New Year, which is filled with good health and contentment throughout 2020. Until next month, my compliments of the season to you all.
NEXT ISSUE
February 2020
Subscription copies sent out Thursday 2nd January
On sale Thursday 9th January
Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy now!
January 2020, our new issue
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Our full-colour January 2020 issue is now on sale. Our cover top is a pretty 4-ply party jacket that’s quick-to-knit and with a wide size range from bust 71-76 cm (28-30 in) to 112-117 cm (44-46 in). Our mix of well over 12 designs this month includes a supplement of cosy hats ‘n’ scarves from Nina Miklin and we always include details for converting patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Joan Lafferty’s advice on the best machine to buy is as relevant today as when she wrote it and Sally-Ann Carroll gets our wardrobe in line for the coming spring and summer. Bill King experiments with the potential of Argyll patterns and it’s time to look at patterning on the double bed in Part 5 of our series on colour changers. You won’t want to miss huge 20% savings from Susan Guagliumi and great reader offers on new craft books from Search Press.
November update
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Dear Readers
After my confessions last month about the Silver Reed LK-150, let me start with some fabulous news. For more years than I can remember, Susan Guagliumi has used and continues to sing the praises of the LK-150. She’s sent us some designs and articles for the magazine, which I’ll start to feature in the New Year. For a while she’s been working on a new video class and it’s now available for streaming at susan-guagliumi.teachable.com. The class is almost seven hours long and includes 42 unique lessons. She’s included all the charts she uses on screen so if you don’t already own the book, you’ll still have everything you need. Without a doubt, it will hugely increase your understanding of the methods she shows us in the book, but it also measures up as a stand-alone course. Her class materials include a number of Open Space sweater designs, as well as exclusive patterns and offers. Susan tells me she has plans for some shorter and less expensive classes in the future. She’s also very good at posting short videos on her blog and it’s the place to go for some amazing hints, tips and ideas such as making your own garter bar. If you don’t already do so, you need to visit https://guagliumi.com where you can sample her new class and find loads of the goodies she shares so freely.
The magazine’s New Year also has treats in store from Nina Miklin. Her new Knit To Finish Book 4 has masses of detail about modern trimmings and applications, such as calculating the exact length of bands and placing buttonholes accurately. The book has 39 colour pages and a colossal amount of information. The cost is £14.50 for a PDF download. Email Nina now for more information or to place an order at nina.miklin@virgin.net. Her website at www.exclusiveyarns.co.uk has details of all her patterns and yarns. Nina has sent us a selection of trims to knit, as well as patterns for hat and snood designs to keep us warm this winter. I’ll feature the first of them next month, so stock up now with her Milan Super Kid Mohair. You’ll need something like 60 to 80 grams, perhaps a little more, to knit some gorgeous last-minute gifts.
Finally, let me mention another new website at http://elainecater.com. It brings together Elaine Cater’s patterns and books and all except two can be downloaded. (Simply Garter Stitch and Simply Slip Stitch are bound books and can only be sent as hard copies.) It’s been a huge amount of work and is the best place to see and order Elaine’s designs. She includes an impressive amount of detail about each pattern and book and you can read more in Newsline.
In six weeks’ time, we’ve to turn ourselves into a kitchen Dream Queen, so let’s chill and do a bit of festive knitting. One thing’s for sure – if we run out of time, boxes of mince pies will be buy one, get one free by then!
NEXT ISSUE
January 2020
Subscription copies sent out Thursday 5th December
On sale Thursday 12th December
Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy now!
December 2019, our new issue
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Our full-colour December 2019 issue is now on sale. Our cover sweater is a gorgeous quick-to-knit party top. There’s a choice of length and wide size range from bust 76 cm (30 in) to 122 cm (48 in) with an actual measurement of 81 cm (32 in) to 141 cm (55½ in). Our usual mix of over 12 designs includes details for converting patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Fran McCarthy reminds us how to reduce ur stash and Sally-Ann Carroll is here to help in the countdown to Christmas. Bill King reminds us that many simple ideas are often overlooked as we’re seduced by more sophisticated technology. We make liners for wellie boots to keep feet warm as well as dry and we’ve news of how to by-pass the console to send patterns directly to the E6000. It’s time to look at the double bed version in our Colour Changer series and we always include news, books and fashion plus great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.
December 2019 Subscriptions
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This is December 2019 and our current issue.
NEW SUBSCRIPTION If you select a new subscription, it will start with the January 2020 magazine, to be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 5th December. If you’d like to start with this December issue, you need to order a Subscription Bundle.
SUBSCRIPTION BUNDLE If you select a subscription bundle, it will start with our current December 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 January 2020 issue goes out to subscribers on Thursday 5th December.
Machine knitting in Cardiff
Posted onIf you live in the area, did you know that there’s a weekly machine knitting class in Cardiff? Rumney Machine Knitters meet every Tuesday morning from 9.30 to 11.30 am at the library in Llanstephen Road, Rumney, Cardiff. It’s a very friendly group of mixed abilities and they’d love to welcome any beginners or new members.
Stop press They’re holding a hands-on Double Jacquard day from 9.30 am to 4.40 pm on 19th November. For more details about the club or the Double Jacquard day, call Val now on 07818-065392.
November 2019, our new issue
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Our full-colour November issue was mailed out to subscribers on 3rd October. We’ve a gorgeous chunky sweater on the cover for Silver Reed LK-150 and chunky machines plus a similar jacket design and the usual mix of over 12 designs for all machines including Passap. Don’t forget we include details for converting our patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Claire Newberry reviews the new DesignaKnit 9, with upgrade details at www.softbyte.co.uk and Sally-Ann Carroll checks out the new autumnal prints and hopes you and your knits are feeling square! Bill King shows us a new twist for this season’s favourite fashion look and we highlight some amazing fibre art Carole Redlich has produced on her Passap. (Check out http://www.caroleredlich.com.au). We always include news, books and fashion plus great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.