News

September update

Dear Readers

As news has come in this month, I’ve had to make a few changes to the magazine… and my editorial is no exception! If I don’t pass this on now, it will be too late for the October issue. Shaun the Sheep first appeared in Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit short film, A Close Shave, 30 years ago. (In truth, 2025 may be his 30th anniversary, but Shaun is eleven years old in sheep years!) To mark the milestone, Aardman has joined forces with British Wool (britishwool.org.uk), the Campaign for Wool (campaignforwool.org) and Craft Forward (craftforward.com) to unveil ‘Can Ewe Knit It?’. ‘Blankets for the World’ is a joint project to distribute warm, handmade blankets to different areas around the globe.

We’re asked to knit or crochet a Shaun inspired 20 x 20cm blanket square using any yarn thickness or stitch. There are free patterns to download at https://aard.mn/CanEweKnitIt, or we can make our own totally unique design. British Wool’s involvement in the campaign encourages us to please use real wool. We’ve to post our 20 x 20cm squares to Craft Forward, 3 Space International House, 6 Canterbury Crescent, London SW9 7QD by 30th September 2025.

Craft Forward supports ‘Blankets for London’ and hosts regular knitting and crochet workshops across the city. It’s a chance for people to come together, learn a new skill and make new connections, because arts and crafts can be a catalyst for social change. It can also have a big impact on people’s mental health and well-being. The ‘Can Ewe Knit It?’ campaign runs until 28th October 2025, when there will be a ‘Blankets for London’ event at The Mills Fabrica in Kings Cross, to bring the blanket squares together. Entry is free but spaces are limited so you need to sign up (shaunthesheep.com/can-ewe-knit-it). Each blanket will be given to an unhoused person in London, to bring warmth to some of the most vulnerable in society. It’s also worth mentioning that there are other local ‘Blankets for the World’ volunteers such as Blankets for Glasgow, Teeside, Liverpool, Barnsley, Sheffield, Coventry, Ipswich and Brighton, as well as London. We all have a stash and we can all manage a 20 x 20cm square, so let’s help to spread some warmth this winter as we keep knitting our way!

NEXT ISSUE October 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 4th September

On sale Thursday 11th September

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

August 2025 (Issue 331) with Clair Crowston, Bill King & Nina Miklin

The summer top on our August 2025 cover has a great size range and is in our mix of patterns for standard and mid-gauge machines, including lots of summer tops. Clair Crowston has a gorgeous design with three sleeve lengths and Nina Miklin’s classy slipover adds a touch of casual appeal. Alison Dupernex is an invaluable support and Bill King adds some textural interest in a third colour to regular Fair Isle designs. Susan Guagliumi’s expertise lives on in the Machine Knit Community, the new custodians of Susan’s invaluable online content. Joan Lafferty shares some useful hints and tips rarely found in instruction manuals and we revisit programming Brother electronic machines and finding the hidden patterns. It’s another packed issue including 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!

AIDS quilt on show

 UK AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT GOES ON SHOW IN TATE MODERN’S TURBINE HALL

From today until 16 June 2025, Tate Modern’s visitors have a rare opportunity to see the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt. Begun around 1989, this vast work consists of 42 quilts and 23 individual panels which represent 384 individuals affected by HIV and AIDS. Laid out in a grid across the entire floor of the Turbine Hall, echoing how it has previously been shown outdoors, it continues to raise awareness of the ongoing AIDS pandemic.

The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt is one chapter of the largest community art project in the world. It began in the USA in 1985, when American activist Cleve Jones started inviting people to create textile panels to commemorate the friends, family and loved ones they lost to AIDS. These individual panels were sewn together to create larger quilts, which were then shown outdoors as a form of protest to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. In the late 1980s, Scottish activist Alastair Hume visited San Francisco, where he witnessed an early display of the quilt. When Hume returned home to Edinburgh, he began coordinating the creation and display of a UK version, as many others did around the world. One of its largest public showings was the ‘Quilts of Love’ display in June 1994 at Hyde Park Corner, London, presenting selected panels from the US and the UK, alongside sections created by fashion designers.

UK AIDS Memorial Quilt

12–16 June 2025

Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG

Admission is free

More information at tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

Follow @Tate

Readings of the names featured in the Quilt will take place in the Turbine Hall from 11:00-12:15 and 14:00-15:15 on Saturday 14 June 2025, opened with a poem from Bakita Kasadha.

July 2025 (Issue 330) with Alison Dupernex & Bill King

The summer cardigan on our full-colour July 2025 cover has a great size range (from 82-127cm, 32-50in) and is in our mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines including a pretty kid’s bolero from Anne Baker’s Karabee Collection. Alison Dupernex is an invaluable support and her stunning Fair Isle design uses lots of oddments of different yarns and colours. Bill King creates some intricate diagonal effects with eye-catching samples and after her retirement, Susan Guagliumi’s expertise lives on in the Machine Knit Community, the new custodians of Susan’s invaluable online content. Joan Lafferty gives everyone the courage to use their charting device and we’ve an interesting look at punch lace together with 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!

June update

Dear Readers

A couple of weeks ago, many of us  thought Spring had finally arrived… and it did for a week! Despite that lovely sun, we’re now back to bitterly cold winds and rain by the bucketful. If this weather is the best the south can do, I’ll need every thick sweater I can pack, for one last essential trip we’ve to make to Scotland in a week or two.

I hope you’ll start to smile when you read Clubline on Page 10. Chris sent me the photos you’ll see, from the Easter Yellow challenge Janet had suggested for the Rumney Class & Club. One-by-one the pictures popped into my inbox and I was beaming long before they’d all arrived. Chris said that every club member was smiling as they arrived and unwrapped their items. There’s something very appealing about lovely shades of yellow and we all love Clair Crowston’s gorgeous top on Page 14. She’s included instructions for both Brother and Silver Reed machines with a lace carriage. If you’re just starting your machine-knitting journey and Clair’s design is too much of a challenge, do try her chain stitch cast on edge. It looks great and lays flat. She’s explained it in full and we’ve included step-by-step instructions for a latch tool cast on in Purls of Wisdom on Page 17.

Are you in the habit of going for a walk, especially in woodland? You might like to turn to Page 50 to see what you can do with a handful or two of young, waxy ivy leaves. Google and YouTube will whisk away any scepticism. I’ve only to walk to the end of my garden for ivy in abundance and you’ll read that Joan Lafferty manages a similar number of steps to her knitting room in Magical Memories this month! At the end of Joan’s feature, you’ll notice that Macmillan’s coffee morning for cancer support is on Friday 26th September this year. Bill King’s tea cosy is enduringly popular and if you join the seam completely, it makes a cosy hat to keep out piercingly cold wind. I’d better knit one quickly, as I’m sure to need it on our trek North. Until next month, knit happy!

NEXT ISSUE July 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 5th June

On sale Thursday 12th June

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

June 2025 (Issue 329) with Bill King & Clair Crowston

Clair Crowston’s sweater on our full-colour June 2025 cover has a large size range and instructions for both Silver Reed and Brother lace carriages. We’ve our usual mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines including an Anne Baker prem baby cardigan from her Karabee Collection. You’ll want to make our eco-friendly laundry soap and knit Bill King’s tea cosy for cancer support. We look at finishing rib edges, working a lacy seam, pressing acrylic and quilting on Japanese machines. Alison Dupernex is an invaluable support and Bill King looks at single bed techniques that can be expanded for double bed knitting. After her retirement, Susan Guagliumi’s expertise lives on. If you’ve not found it already, check out Nic Corrigan and the Machine Knit Community, the new custodians of Susan’s invaluable online content. Joan Lafferty looks as if she might try a bit of physical exercise 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!

May update

Dear Readers

It’s been a busy month and you’ll remember me telling you that my dear friend, Susan Guagliumi, has retired. We all know that her knowledge and skills are immense, so I’m very happy her library of online classes is in the safe hands of Nic Corrigan and the Machine Knit Community. (The full story is on Page 8.) The MKC is an exceptional online space for machine knitters of all abilities around the world. Nic is a designer with a studio in West Yorkshire. She offers step-by-step classes, modern designer-level knitting patterns, self-paced workshops, masterclasses and much more, along with an online support network at mkc.community

The MKC is a safe place to meet and be inspired by other machine knitters and it’s open for membership just three times a year. As we go to press, the next opportunity to join is in April. So make haste if it’s something you’ve been meaning to do, or you’ll have to go on the waiting list until September. The MKC encourages us to get the most from our machines so we can inspire, motivate and learn from each other. It’s packed with activities from monthly challenges to live events and classes. Many of machine knitting’s finest tutors and designers share a wealth of experience and knowledge, including our own Bill King.

As you’ll read on Page 8, the MKC is now the custodian of Susan’s invaluable online content. It will be available to MKC members in different formats within the online platform and makes sure her classes remain available to as many machine knitters as possible, for the foreseeable future. This change doesn’t affect Susan’s Craftsy classes, which are still available through Craftsy.com and it doesn’t impact anyone currently enrolled in her Teachable classes. You’ll still have access to the classes on Teachable, but no new classes will be sold on that platform. You’ll find their new home at mkc.community. All Susan’s free videos remain on YouTube and her books will continue to be sold at Amazon.com

Lastly, I’ll mention again that the digital version of the magazine is now up-and-running. Each issue from January 2025 is available as a high quality digital download at machineknittingmonthly.net/shop/. It’s a big file, so do make sure you’ve a good Wi-Fi connection! Until next month, keep knitting our way!

NEXT ISSUE June 2025

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 1st May

On sale Thursday 8th May

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

May 2025 (Issue 328) with Bill King & Nina Miklin

The comfy sweater on our full-colour May 2025 issue has a good size range and is ideal worn with jeans or leggings. We’ve our usual mix of patterns for standard, mid-gauge and chunky machines. You’ll want to try Ruth Horrocks’ in-depth look at rolled edgings, for a lovely front edge on cardigans and jackets. We’ve also some inspirational knitting notes, written on the island of Fair Isle, with a very healthy population of knitting machines and knitters! By popular request, we’ve repeated Nina Miklin’s Top Class striped sweater, not available on her website. It includes her step-by-step instructions, with photos, for an absolutely perfect seam. Alison Dupernex is an invaluable support and Bill King has us ‘racking and rolling’ and after her retirement, Susan Guagliumi’s expertise lives on. If you’ve not found it already, check out Nic Corrigan and the Machine Knit Community, the new custodians of Susan’s invaluable online content. 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!

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!