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November update

Dear Readers

I must admit to having a complete change of heart recently. As some of you know, I’ve said that Christmas would be a non-event in the magazine this year. With many of us continuing to self-distance, if not already placed in compulsory lockdown, what did any traditional Christmas have to offer? Well, by chance I came across my collection of Bill King’s Christmas cards. I don’t have his full set, but I’ve kept every one he’s sent me and I bring them out each year. He designs, knits and makes up each individual card and they’re absolutely gorgeous, as well as something money can never buy.

This year, although we’ve little chance of getting out and about, we could all make something to be treasured. Do look at Book Review, as I’ve included lots of different crafts and simple projects. I think I’ll stick with my usual cake, but I’ll need half a bottle of tipple to feed it, as it will no doubt last until Easter with just two of us eating it! With the thought of making small, personal gifts, I’ve included lots of bits and bobs for some inspiration. It’s also why I’ve decided Chez Smith will have the Full Monty this year. I usually groan about battling round supermarkets filled to bursting with Christmas, long before we’ve had the fireworks. Well, I’ve hardly seen the inside of any shop this year. We now have delivery groceries and, I can hardly believe I’m saying this in October, our Christmas slot is already booked. I won’t, therefore, have to do battle with aisles filled with Brussels sprouts, so I’ll ‘deck the halls’ instead!

Talking of supermarket deliveries, I think we need a Gigglebox in the magazine, but I need you to join in with your snippets. I won’t mention any names, especially the identity of the supermarket, but laugh along with this gem a reader passed on.

Mum We’ve a delivery coming on Sunday morning, what do you fancy for lunch? Son How about chicken? I love roast chicken, then we could have a curry with the left-overs. Great idea, thought mum, as she added it to the list. On Sunday morning the groceries arrived, with a note to say they’d run out of medium size chickens, so they’d substituted it with six eggs! Grow your own, perhaps! If you’ve a similar gem to pass on, please share it, so we can all have a giggle. For sure, we need it right now.

One tradition I keep on these pages each December issue is to send you very best wishes for a happy Christmas, from everyone who helps to bring the magazine to you each month. Keep well and stay safe all of you, but most of all, knit happy!

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January 2021

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Knitters beware!

Dear Anne

One of my students sent me this poem. She’s no idea who wrote it or who gave
it to her, but we thought everyone would enjoy it! Best wishes to all, Lidia

The Tension Square

I had a sudden brainwave, on how to earn a packet.

I sat down with pen and paper and designed a lovely jacket.

I started with a tension square, the first seemed short and fat.

My second one was long and thin so I’d had enough of that.

I decided not to bother with a tension square at all.

I carried on regardless, throwing caution to the wall.

Now, my creation’s finished, but I don’t know what to do.

I’m looking for a customer five stone and eight feet two.

So let this be a warning, have patience and take care.

When you are in creative mood, remember the tension square!

May 2020 update

Dear Readers

First of all, I hope my letter this month finds you as safe and as well as we are here. I’m fine, as are all the MKM contributors and everything is ticking over, albeit in a slightly different way than before. We all continue to be in lockdown, along with Susan in the States and Fay in Australia. Many of you have called to say how thrilled you’ve been that a number of companies who support our magazine are continuing to dispatch orders, so we’re all managing to keep things going. I’m indebted to the staff at King Cole, who have moved mountains to send us some of the vital things we need, to bring you this month’s magazine. So let me send a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone helping to keep the home fires burning.

One new thing which might be of interest is that Aldi now has a hobby and craft range, which can be ordered online. There’s lots to interest crafters such as threads for embroidery and tapestry, fat quarters for sewers, magnifying table lights and yarn for hand knitting. As you’d expect, prices are keen and www.aldi.co.uk/c/specialbuys/hobbies-and-crafts is the place to visit to check it out. As we all try to work our way through this lockdown, don’t forget that Hobbycraft always has a huge range of beginner step-by-step guides, crafting materials and lots of free downloads at www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Sally Butcher has written to tell us about her lockdown knitting and remind us about her Beginners Circle Facebook Group. If you’d find it of interest, email her at sally.butcher1@btinternet.com and she’ll let you have the details. We’ve also asked on our Clubline page if you’d let us know if you come across a new way to keep your members connected. We’ve had the sad news from Joy Hopkins that Carbery Machine Knitting Club in Christchurch is set to close, so it’s even more important to try to keep as much of our machine-knitting community going as possible. If you stay connected with virtual options such as Skype, WhatsApp and Zoom, please share. I’ve kept our website updated as much as possible, passing on requests such as knitting hearts for Covid-19 patients. Iris came to the rescue with a machine-knitted pattern and it’s in Dear Anne this month. Please email me with any ways you’ve found to keep in touch, such as the Long Buckby Machine Knitters special monthly newsletter. It’s posted on their website at www.longbuckbymk.com and available for everyone to access.

Next month we’ve a treat in store for you when we’ll be At Home with Lorna Roach in Australia. She’s sent us her step-by-step guide to dyeing yarn all the colours of the rainbow with jelly beans. Yes, we really are going to head for the kitchen and have some fun! Until next time, we’re still saying to each other… keep well and stay safe.

NEXT ISSUE

July 2020

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 4th June

On sale Thursday 11th June

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Reserve a copy – see page 61

Could you knit a blanket to help cats during lockdown?

If you’re looking for a new project while the country is on lockdown, an RSPCA cattery in London is hoping you can help!

RSPCA Friern Barnet Adoption Centre – located within a new Pets at Home store at the Friern Bridge Retail Park in North London – is calling on creative and crafty people to help provide some knitted blankets for its cats. Nicole Grover, from the centre, said: “We give all of our cats a knitted blanket when they arrive here. It’s something warm and cosy for them to curl up on in their pods and when they find their forever homes it means they have something to take with them with a familiar scent. This helps the transition from our centre to their new home much easier and less stressful”.

“While there are lots of people spending more time at home during the current Coronavirus lockdown we thought it would be a great opportunity for anyone who knits or crochets to make a blanket for our lovely cats.”

The centre is asking for blankets around 30 to 40 cm in size, made out of machine washable yarn. “Some of our wonderful volunteers have also been making dangle toys and toy mice to keep our cats entertained and to make their pods more fun,” Nicole added. “We’re incredibly grateful to all of our wonderful supporters who spend time creating toys and blankets for our cats so we’d like to say a big thank you”.

  • Please send your donations to Pets At Home, Friern Bridge Retail Park, Pegasus Way, Friern Barnet, London N11 3PW.
  • For more information, visit the RSPCA Friern Barnet Facebook page. 

Celebrate St Blaise at a wool market in Bradford


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

Exquisite embroidery on show

Saturday 28th September is the opening date of a one-off retrospective exhibition of exquisite embroidery art by Royal Academy artist Teresa Forrest, who is now a resident in Stratton Village in Cirencester.

Teresa’s works have been hung twice in the Royal Academy in 2012.  There will be over 30 pieces on show during the week-long exhibition.

A skyline scene called Oxford at Dawn will be for sale via silent auction during the exhibition and any donations given with the profit from the auction will go to the scholarship fund at Blackheath High School in London, setup by Teresa and her husband Jack in memory of their late daughter.

August 2019 Subscriptions

This is August 2019 and our current issue.

New subscription If you select a new subscription, it will start with the September 2019 magazine, to be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 1st August. If you’d like to start with this August issue, you need to order a Subscription Bundle.

Subscription bundle If you select a subscription bundle, it will start with our current August 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 September 2019 issue goes out to subscribers on Thursday 1st August.

August fun day

On 10th August, from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, V V Rouleaux will be at The Makery in bath with Sewisfaction and their fabrics to hold a pop-up shop. There will be a selection of £5 workshops all day long and V V Rouleaux will also have lots going on, including goodie-bags with every purchase. Oh, and there will be cake! The Makery is at Beau Nash House, 19 Union Passage, Bath, North East Somerset BA1 1RD or call 01225-581888.

March 2019 – Contents

Here’s a detailed list of the Contents in our March 2019 issue.

Patterns

All our patterns now give details for knitting on standard gauge machines.

16 Coffee ‘n’ Cream MKM pattern for chunky machines

19 On The Border Two Carl Boyd designs for standard gauge machines

22 In Two Parts MKM pattern for the Silver Reed LK-150 and all machines

28 Country Boy Anne Baker Karabee Design for standard gauge machines

32 Under The Hood Two MKM patterns for Silver Reed LK-150 and all machines

38 Dinosaur Park Iris Rowe toy pattern for all machines

 

Features

10 Clubline We’ve news from home and abroad this time and some diary dates of special interest

12 Dear Anne Take note of our letters page this month, because readers have passed on invaluable help and advice

14 Style File It’s the start of the new season, time to show your knits a taste of summer and your knitted wardrobe is in for a treat says Sally-Ann Carroll

47 DesignaKnit Rachel Mayer returns to help us work with Original Pattern Drafting in this fabulous software

52 Spotlight On… Edie Ashley and her design tribute to her grandmother, Laura Ashley

53 Look At Life Joan Lafferty isn’t suggesting spring cleaning, because we’re certain you won’t want her to remind you!

56 Masterclass Bill King reminds us about an enormous time saver for even small pieces of fabric

 

Regulars

4 Subscriptions Delivered to your door each month

6 Newsline Our monthly look at people and places, patterns and new yarns plus lots of ideas for inspiration

8 Book Review This month’s book is packed with every bit of information a machine or hand knitter would ever wish to find – and there’s a reader offer, too!

27 Back Issues Every copy is a vintage so complete your collection or take a lucky dip

31 Binders Keep all your copies safe this year with the tidy answer that looks good on your bookshelf

37 Clubs Directory Form Spread the word, write in and get your club noticed

41 Machine Knitting LIVE! It’s time to order tickets and make a diary date for our Nottingham and Bournemouth shows this year

44 Mini Mart We’ve re-stocked our mail order shop this month, so look out for bargains

45 Knitting Buddies Readers’ help just when you need it

58 Clubs Directory List The latest details and updates to find your nearest knitting club

60 Market Place Browse around in the comfort of your own home

61 Coming Next Month Reserve next month’s issue now

62 Pattern Information Lots of practical help, abbreviations and easy pattern conversion

 

NEXT ISSUE

April 2019

Subscription copies sent out

Thursday 7th March

On sale

Thursday 14th March

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy now