News

Hand knitting help

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Rachel got in touch with us recently, after seeing one of the posts on our website at https://machineknittingmonthly.net/news/will-knit-socks-hospice-patients-christmas/

She’s a bit of a knitting geek and makes lots of hats, socks and toys – as well as anything you’d care to mention! She thought it was a great read and tells us she’s recently written her Ultimate Beginners Guide to Knitting. If you’d like to know a bit more about hand knitting, take a look at https://hobbyhelp.com/knitting/

With so many of us knitting on the Silver Reed LK150 and no ribber available, lots of us like to combine both skills by hand knitting the ribs and transferring the stitches to the LK150 for speed. Do check it out and we’re sure Rachel would be happy to help if you’ve any queries. Thanks a million for sharing Rachel.

Machine-knitters’ knit-together

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We’ve heard this morning that Rachel Brooks is hosting a Machine-knitters’ knit-together – informal, non-commercial, social knit-along and skill-swap for Machine Knitters of any level – or those who’d like to learn.

Most participants stay for the weekend, which makes it very friendly. But if you are only able to come for one of the days or live locally and don’t want to stay over, that’s fine too. We held the first one in this venue in June/July, and hope and expect the second one to be just as good! It started in the main MK group on Ravelry, but is open to all. You must book your place ahead.

WHEN? Saturday, October 6th (10 Am – 8 PM) – Sunday October 7th (10 AM – 4 PM)

WHERE? Fladbury Village Hall, Worcestershire, WR10 2QB. Participants arrange their own accommodation, eg in one of the two village pubs.

NEAREST STATION: Evesham (4 miles) also Pershore.

PARKING: There are 12 parking places by the hall.

WHO? Primarily/originally Ravellers of any level of experience, with or without their machines. And if you have a friend who would like to come, that’s good too. Advance booking essential – we need to know numbers.

HOW MANY? That depends! Minimum about 5, maximum about 20-25, I reckon.

COST we will share the hall hire cost between us and expect it to be £10-£20 each, depending on numbers.

For more details or to book, please contact Rachel on brooks.rachel@gmail.com.

Mid-gauge magic

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 This 4+5-prong transfer tool is for 6.5 mm mid-gauge machines such as the Silver Reed LK150. The wooden tools are individually crafted and smoothly finished. Use either four or five prongs to move stitches or work wide fully-fashioned decreases along a raglan. By moving ten stitches at each decrease, you’ll have enough stitches for an edge stitch plus a stitch either side of a 3×3 cable and the decrease. With a pair of tools and a bit of bridging, you can also cross 4 or 5 stitch cables. Individual, 4 and 5-prong tools cost $18 each and the combination tool is $26 available exclusively at www.guagliumi.com

 

News & Views

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 News & Views

The Sep/Oct issue of News & Views from Country Knitting of Maine is now available on-line and includes a pattern from Susan Guagliumi, incorporating techniques from her new book Open Spaces. Dedicated to machine knitters, there are six issues a year and the full-colour PDF file is available for 60 days. Linda Williams is the only seller and the price for six issues is $46.99, around £35 in the UK. To find out more, contact Linda Williams, Country Knitting Of Maine, 351 White Schoolhouse Road, Madison, ME 04950-3202, USA.

Tel 207-696-5418

Email oth98@hotmail.com

Website www.countryknittingofmaine.com

September 2018 – Issue 248

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This is September 2018 and our latest issue.

Subscription Bundle If you order a latest issue and subscription bundle, we’ll send you this issue and the October 2018 magazine will be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 6th September.

New subscription If you chose a new subscription, it will start with the October 2018 magazine – to be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 6th September.

Open Spaces

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Open spaces

Susan Guagliumi’s ‘book that would not end’ is finished. As the cover says, there are chapters on eyelets, ladders and slits and these huge open spaces are very different from a bit of hand-tooled lace. Many samples will produce gorgeous garments, but definitely need to be worn over something if you’d prefer not to be arrested! The book is 8.5 x 11 in and by increasing the size it saved about 40 pages, which translates into lower costs. There are 225 pages with over 300 inspirational swatch photos and charts. We’ve not seen such diverse possibilities of eyelets, slits and ladders in all their extremes and variations. Susan has also included photos of fabulous garments by some of her favourite designers and the designs are awesome. Written in the style we all know, the book is suitable for owners of all brands and every gauge of knitting machine.

Looking through the book, we can see the way a machine-knitter’s mind works. Bill King often reminds us that by changing one factor we stumble upon something new and much more interesting. What if I knit more or less rows between repeats? What if I try it with an odd or even number of stitches? What if I cross the stitches in the same direction, or alternate it? There are a huge number of charts, swatches and photos and Matthew Bragg at Softbyte came to the rescue with DesignaKnit. It cut Susan’s time massively, using the pre-designed symbols and grids. There are no garments, but free patterns are on her website. The patterns, swatch photos and how-to videos on her blog will whet your appetite and all details are at www.susanguagliumi.com

News for clubs

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THE WOOL CABIN

Subject to distance, Dave and Jason from The Wool Cabin are happy to come to your club meeting and give a general talk about their life in the knitting world. They’ll also bring a selection of machine and hand knitting yarns for you to buy at special club discount prices. Fancy a day out? Why not visit them at Chesterfield Market Hall? You’ll find them at Unit 12 in the indoor section. Don’t forget they sell Wendy, Twilleys, Robin, King Cole, Stylecraft, JC Brett and Opal. Please mention the magazine and they’ll give you their best prices on the day.

The Yarn Cabin, Unit 12 (Indoor), Chesterfield Market Hall, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 1AR

Tel 07553-847483

Email Singlemalt48@hotmail.com and please put The Wool Cabin in the subject box

 

Massive sale this weekend

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The Makery has decided to close their shop in Bath and move it all online. They’ll still be running all the workshops and it will give them more energy to develop their workshops, parties and events. They’ve had a week’s crazy packing in the shop and have decided to have a MASSIVE archive sale this weekend! Literally everything in the sale must go, so they’ve slashed prices by up to 80%! They’ve included sewing machines, fabric, haberdashery, furniture, loads of vintage finds and more so go early to grab the best bargains!

Opening times are Saturday 28th July 10.00 am to 1.00 pm
Sunday 29th July 10.30 am to 4.00 pm
The Makery is at 19 Union Passage, Bath BA1 1RD

Word search

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Dear Anne

From cast off to purl, pincushion to tack, there are many words associated with knitting.  As part of the Oxford English Dictionary’s 90th birthday celebrations, we have a host of fun initiatives taking place, including a number of public word appeals.  Our latest appeal focuses on expanding the dictionary’s coverage of the language of hobbies and we would be delighted if you and your readers could help us.

A number of knitting terms are, of course, already included in the dictionary.  For example, we have recently added an entry for FROG (to pull apart a piece of knitting in order to rework it, current earliest date 1996) and are monitoring the word STASH (one’s store of wool or fabric, current earliest date 1992).

We would love your readers to tell us the words they use when they describe a particular technique or a slang and colloquial expression that has arisen in the knitting community.  How do your readers use these words?  Perhaps they have evidence of earlier usage?  What new words and phrases are coming into use?

Words can be suggested via our online submissions form or the hashtag #hobbywords.

Best wishes

Kate Shepherd