Yarn in the City

Latest Episodes:

Episode 62: How did that happen?! Jun 21, 2017

Show notes

On this episode of the podcast we're a little bit overwhemed that this year marks the 5th anniversary of the Great London Yarn Crawl. With tickets going on sale on July 1st we have tons of news to share with you about the big event!

Shout Outs + News + Events

Huge shout out to everyone who came and joined us at The Village Haberdashery for World Wide Knit in Public Day. We had a terrific turnout and it was great to meet so many new makers! Many thanks to Annie from The Village Haberdashery for hosting with us and to SweetGeorgia Yarns for providing our door prizes!

Details on the GLYC Anniversary KAL have been released.

23 - 24 June: Woolfest gets underway next weekend in Cockermouth in Cumbria

1 July: Tickets go on sale for the GLYC on Saturday (check out the routes here)

8 - 9 July: The British Wool Show in North Yorkshire

14 - 15 July: Pomfest, celebrating 5 years of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine

15 - 16 July: Yarningham in Birmingham

29 - 30 July: Fibre East in Bedfordshire

Other event resources: Ravelry UK Event Listings and listings on the Knitter's Review

Make Happy – aka – What we're working on

Rachel is working on nada at the moment, but is trying to recover from a couple of weeks of crazy work.

Allison is working on her Joji Mystery KAL, and has been doing lots of sewing.

Celebrating 5 Years of the Great London Yarn Crawl

How did this even happen?! Time sure flies when you're having fun.

This September 9th is the 5th Anniversary of the Great London Yarn Crawl, once again benefitting Refuge and we have planned to make it extra special for you this year so we really hope you're going to join us us!

This year we've got 12 awesome routes for you, each route is named after one of the lines of the London underground.

NOTE OF CLARIFICATION: The team name has no bearing on your transport routs, and the shops you're going to visit are not only on that tube line (would that were so easy for us in terms of the planning!)

Tickets will be £20, which includes your goody bag (full of gloriousness, including a skein of yarn from one of our yarn sponsers: Erika Knight and The Fibre Co.), entry to the Mini-Marketplace and After Party (with door prizes and other cool stuff).

We will again be collecting items to donate to Knit for Peace, and will be having a raffle for a grand prize basket of goodies!

***

Many thanks for joining us for another episode! You can find the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio (please rate, review and subscribe!) and you'll find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, in our Yarn in the City group on Ravelry, or in person on Wednesday nights at our knit night at The Goat on the Rise between 7 and 10pm.

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 61: It's Knitalong Time! Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

Today we chat about what we're working on, and share details on the upcoming GLYC knitalong, including an interview with designer Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade.

WWKIP Day update!

Next Saturday is World Wide Knit in Public Day, and we'd love to have everyone come join us at The Village Haberdashery on Saturday, June 10th in West Hampstead Square! We'll be there from 11am – 2pm and all are welcome!

The event is free, but please RSVP via the WWKIP website so we have an accurate headcount and can get in touch if we have to change things due to weather.

Make Happy – aka – What we're working on

Allison is keeping up with the Joji Locatelli Starting Point Mystery KAL in SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock and it is glorious!

Rachel has been doing very little knitting or spinning of any kind as work has been completely insane. But the handspun socks are almost to the heels, and she's cast on for Raindrops by Tin Can Knits in Travelknitter's luscious Tanami in the Midnight Kelpies colourway from Edinburgh Yarn Festival.

Don't forget to show us what you've been working on that's making you happy! Tag your photos on Instagram with #yitcmakehappy so we can see your projects!

It's Knitalong Time

We share some early details about the upcoming GLYC 2017 Knitalong, which features the combined creative power of Curious Handmade, The Wool Kitchen and Travelknitter, and talk with Helen Stewart about the pattern for the KAL. Further details will be released on 10 June!

Wrap up

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 60: In Conversation With RIB Magazine May 22, 2017

Show notes

In this episode we have a special interview with Eric Lutz, publisher of RIB magazine, which we recorded at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March. We've been holding on to this interview for a while, but since the second issue of RIB will be hitting shops in early June, this seems like a good time to share the audio with you.

We've also got a quick update on our WWKIP day event on 10th June at the Village Haberdashery and what's making us happy these days!

Make Happy – aka – What we're working on

#MeMadeMay is still underway!

Rachel is still working on the handspun socks, and started spinning up some BFL for a sweater. The Kippen Cardigan has fallen by the wayside for the moment. Last episode's sock yarn is finished and plied and washed and waiting for a moment when I can cast on!

Allison finished the crocheted tie for Harrison and not a moment too soon! Everything has been all about the Joji MKAL / mystery wrap which she's knitting in the Kitsilano colourway kit put together by SweetGeorgia Yarns. She's also been sewing and working on finishing a few things, including the Cleo dungaree dress by Tilly and the Buttons that is so close to being finished!

Don't forget to show us what you've been working on that's making you happy! Tag your photos on Instagram with #yitcmakehappy so we can see your projects!

In conversation with RIB magazine

At the Edinburgh Yarn Festival earlier this year we were lucky enough to meet the publisher of new Canadian bi-annual magazine RIB, Eric Lutz. Eric and his business partner, editor Devon Johnson have created a fantastic magazine that helps to fill an often lacking niche – men's knitwear patterns. Their approach is to create an inspiring collection of patterns for men who knit, and for those who like to knit for them.

Issue 2 of RIB will be available early next month, and we share our thoughts on the pattern previews and what we're looking forward to knitting from this issue.

Wrap up

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 59: A Decade May 09, 2017

Show notes

This year is the tenth anniversary for lots of different institutions in our knitting world, but the one we talk about in this episode is Ravelry - the website that has changed the landscape of fibre arts and community. In addition, we'll have quick run through upcoming events for May and June and share what's on our needles, hooks and bobbins.

News and Events

13-14th May: Wool@J13, Lower Drayton Farm, Penkridge, Staffordshire ST19 5RE

27 May: Highland Wool and Textiles Fair, Dingwall Auction Mart, Scotland

From 1st June – end September: Exhibition of Dutch Ganseys, Sheringham Museum, Lifeboat Plain, Sheringham NR26 8BG

3rd June: Leeds Wool Festival

10th June – World Wide Knit In Public Day - come join us at the Village Haberdashery!

10-11th June: John Arbon Textiles Mill Open Weekend

23-24th June: Woolfest, Mitchells Lakeland Livestock Center, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 0QQ

Make Happy – aka – What we're working on

Rachel is onto the collar of the Kippen Cardigan (by Kat Goldin of The Crochet Project), and a pair of two at a time toe up socks in handspun Romney from the Lab Goddess Fibre Club (January 2017, Diving into the Deep inspired by geologist and cartographer Marie Tharp). She's also finished spinning up some special collaboration yarn, and is now obsessively spinning sock yarn from some Sock Blend top (50% Corriedale/25% Southdown/25% nylon in the Network colourway) to knit Kate Atherley's new sock pattern.

Allison is still working on her crocheted baby blanket, but has also started a crochet tie for Harrison for his school show. Also on needles: the Martinique Beach Cowl by Fiona Alice from Take Heart in SweetGeorgia Trinity Worsted. the Maple Leaf Shawl by Natalia @ Elfmoda and the Foolproof Cowl by Louise Zass-Bangham.

A Decade

In which we discuss the demise of Knitter's Magazine, the rise of Ravelry and what the next ten years might hold for the knitting world.

Wrap up

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 58: Colourful Collaboration Apr 24, 2017

Show notes

Rachel is back in the co-pilot seat after the holidays, and we talk about project monogamy (is that a thing?), upcoming yarn celebrations and get two of our knit night regulars to tell us about their creative collaborations in colour and yarn.

News and Events

6 May: Yarn Shop Day! A few shops have helpfully let us know that they have some big things planned for this special day

Countess Ablaze in Manchester will be having a pop-up shop featuring BritYarn, Whistlebare and The Little Grey Girl to sell their goodies! Details here.
A Yarn Story in Bath will be celebrating Yarn Shop Day and their third anniversary with cake and the launch of the colours for their bespoke yarn, Walcot Yarns. There are a few other surprises in store so be sure to pop in if you're in the area!
If you're in London, Yarn Shop Day would be a perfect day to explore the East London Yarn Triangle where you can visit Knit With Attitude, Wild & Woolly (also celebrating their three year anniversary) and Fabrications.

10 June: World Wide Knit in Public Day on Saturday, June 10th! Check out their website to find an event near you.

Make Happy

While on holiday, Rachel finished the shawl design that was kicking her butt (and freaking out her yarn support!), which will released shortly. The only other project she took with her was her Kippen Cardigan, and she's now working on the second sleeve with a lot of collar to go. This past week she also started spinning up some fibre for a collaboration with two colleagues of the woolly variety, which is slated for release this autumn.

Allison is anxiously awaiting the delivery of her SGY Joji Mystery KAL kit from Vancouver (she got Kitsilano) and is in the meantime working on a baby blanket for friend.

Colourful Collaboration

Our knit night includes a whole bunch of wonderfully creative and inventive people, and we are thrilled to have been able to get two of them to come talk to us for the podcast! Lola Johnson, otherwise known as Third Vault Yarns, and Kate Bostwick, who designs under the Cowtown Knits label, tell us about their relationship with colour, their sources of inspiration, and their collaboration which has produced two gorgeous kits - Lambton Panes and Chainlink Mitts - with more to come!

Wrap up

Many thanks for joining us for another episode of the podcast and super huge thanks to Lola and Kate for being with us! You can find it on iTunes and Stitcher Radio and you'll find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, in our Yarn in the City group on Ravelry, or in person on Wednesday nights at our knit night at The Goat on the Rise between 7 and 10pm.

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 57: A Yarn Shop Buyer's Road Trip Apr 09, 2017

Show notes

Rachel is away at the moment so Carmen from A Yarn Story fills in as co-pilot to Allison on this episode.

We realised after we recorded the podcast that we didn't explain very well about being at H+H, the craft trade fair that happened this past March 28-30 in Cologne, Germany. Allison was there on the SweetGeorgia Yarns stand and Carmen was helping out as German translator and answering questions about having the yarns in her shop in the UK.

Now that you have that as context, this episode includes chatter about things we saw at the show, along with our usual bits of news and events and what we're working on.

News and Events

April 23 - Spaces are still available for the upcoming coach trip to Wonderwool from London with the London Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. Click here for more details and to book your space if you'd like to join us.

May 6th - Yarn Shop Day is back! This is great opportunity to show your love for your local yarn shop (LYS). It's also the three year anniversary for A Yarn Story and Wild & Woolly!

June 10th - Join us at The Village Haberdashery for our World Wide Knit in Public Day event. We'll have more details for you soon!

Make Happy - aka What We're Working On

Carmen, who regularly wishes she was an octopus so that she could have more things on the needles is working on a second neckerchief to match the one she made for Allison for their matching dresses that they wore on the SweetGeorgia stand in Cologne. She's also been finding her fade this week and working on the hot shawl of the season. Carmen also has a few things needing sleeves before they can be completed.

In addition to sewing a matching Moneta dress for Carmen, Allison has finally finished the sooper secret project and talks about the special Lucca lace pi shawl that she knit in honour of a friend's wedding. She also cast on a new project out of SweetGeorgia yarn so that she could knit on the stand at H+H and is knitting the Foolproof cowl out of deliciously yummy Cashluxe Spark.

A Yarn Shop Buyer's Road Trip

In this segment we get into a bit of a geeky craft business behind the scenes discussion about various ways that shop owners find yarns and other interesting bits for their shops, as well as some of the trends and things that we think are coming down the pipe for the later seasons this year.

Wrap Up

Many thanks again to Carmen for co-hosting this episode!

You can find the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio and us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, in our Yarn in the City group on Ravelry, or in person on Wednesday nights at our knit night at The Goat on the Rise between 7 and 10pm. Everyone's really friendly and we hope to see you there!

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 56: Coffee and Colour Mar 26, 2017

Show notes

On today's podcast we're chatting about two new books that we were asked to review at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. We've got a review of Coffee with C.C. (and Dami too!) – more coffee-inspired patterns from C.C. Almon and this time with her daughter Dami as well. And we also take a peek at Knit the Rainbow, a collection of accessories designed for gradient sets by Joy McMillan. Joy of course, is also known as The Knitting Goddess and she really knows colour!

News and Events

The Countess Ablaze Dye Studio is now newly reopened in their brand new space in Manchester's northern quarter. They are now open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and wow – the space is amazing! Congrats to the Countess and run, don't walk to see her new space – and a new yarn too!

23 April - the London Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers coach to Wonderwool on Sunday, April 23rd. Tickets are £39 and include round-trip coach and entry to the show. Get your tickets here.

Saturday May 6th - Yarn Shop Day

Saturday, June 10th - World Wide Knit in Public Day. We're excited to tell you that we will be co-hosting an event with The Village Haberdashery at their new location in West Hampstead.

Make Happy – aka – What we're working on (#yitcmakehappy)

Rachel is finally past some serious designers block on a new shawl design in Kettle Yarn Co. Beyul DK (in murky chartreuse of course...). She's also made progress on her Kippen Cardigan by Kat Goldin.

Allison's Sooper Sekrit Project is SO close to being done! Koolhaas is done, her jacket needs sleeves to be hemmed and buttons sewn on, and she's swatching for Raindrops. She's also totally distracted by yarn in my stash tthat would be PERFECT for Shusui by Susanne Sommer, who we were lucky enough to meet at EYF.

Book Reviews: Coffee and Colour

Coffee with C.C. (and Dami too!) - find all the patterns on Ravelry here. You can also find C.C. and Dami on their videocast and blog - Geeky Girls Knit.

Knit the Rainbow by Joy McMillan - find all the patterns on Ravelry here, and find Joy's yarns at The Knitting Goddess.

Wrap up

Many thanks to C.C. and Joy for providing us with copies of their books to review. We hope you'll check them out and find as much inspiration as we have.

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 55: EYF Chatter with La Bien Aimee Mar 15, 2017

Show notes

If you've been under a rock lately or haven't listened to our latest episodes of the podcast, EYF of course is the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, the 2017 edition of which wrapped up this past Sunday. We were there and back in a whirlwind of 4 days and have so much to tell you about, including an interview that we were lucky to have with Aimée Gille, owner of L'Oisive The and La Bien Aim é e in Paris.

We've also got the wrap up of the Blacker PodKAL, some upcoming events to keep an eye out for, and an update on what we've been working on and what's making us happy.

Blacker PodKAL wrap up

It was amazing seeing so many gorgeous handknits in person in the Blacker Yarns Podcast Lounge at EYF. The Blacker stand was pretty spectacular too! We've come away with samples of Blacker's latest yarn Samite that we talked about on the last episode and we'll be working with that and reporting back on what it's like to work with.

Huge thanks to Sue and Sonja from Blacker for supporting the Podcast Lounge, and for putting up a prize skein of Samite for our winner of Team YITC for the Blacker PodKAL! We're delighted to announce that HDayananda – Helen – was our winner on Ravelry and that she picked a gorgeous colour of Samite (and an accompanying skein!) to work up into a shawl. We can't wait to see what you make Helen – maybe at this year's Yarn Crawl?

News and Events

Don't despair if you missed EYF, there's plenty of woolly things coming up to tempt you…

Week of 20 March: Countess Ablaze is re-opening her studio in central Manchester. We're getting an advance sneak peek and will report back to you with all of the Countess' colourful news.

8 April: the new Spring into Wool show is happening in Leeds

22 - 23 April: Wonderwool Wales on April 22 and 23. Come join the London Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers who have organised a coach again this year on Sunday, 23 April 2017. Tickets will be £39 for round-trip transport and entry to the show. Tickets can be booked via Paypal, and all are welcome!

9 September: the 5th anniversary of the Great London Yarn Crawl will happen on Saturday, 9th September. Tickets will go on sale on July 1st and as in previous years all monies raised after expenses will be donated to Refuge, a UK charity that supports women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

Make Happy - #yitcmakehappy

Allison's Sooper Secret Project is SO close to being done! Her alternate project is the Koolhaas Hat by Jared Flood.

Rachel started the Because Sock Yarn scarf for Dev's birthday

We'd be remiss if we didn't talk about the Edinburgh Yarn Festival and the glowing yarn fumes and delirium that we seem to have come away from the weekend with. If social media is any indication, there are a lot of yarn lovers and vendors still on a high from the weekend and slowly coming down to reality this week.

Things we loved about EYF:

Meeting folks and catching up with everyone (although there are still so many we missed!)
The ceilidh
YARN!
The Blacker Yarns Podcast Lounge (and huge thanks to Louise Scollay for organising it so we could be there)
The volunteers and their smiling faces

An interview with La Bien Aimée

EYF was also a great place to see yarns and chat with vendors that we don't get to see very often, like Aimée Gille, an American transplant to Paris who has been running Paris' most popular yarn shop, l'Oisive Thé for the last 9 years. Two years ago Aimée and her business partner Hiroko Payne started dyeing their own line of yarns, called La Bien Aimée, which have exploded in popularity thanks to social media. We had a chance to sit down with Aimée while we were at EYF. Here's that interview.

You can find La Bien Aimée/L'Oisive Thé on their website, on Instagram, on Twitter and on Facebook.

Wrap up

Many thanks to Aimée for joining us on the podcast and congratulations once again to Jo and Mica on a successful show.

ou can find the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio and us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, in our Yarn in the City group on Ravelry, or in person on Wednesday nights at our knit night at The Goat on the Rise between 7 and 10pm. Everyone's really friendly and we hope to see you there!

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 54: Stash Season Feb 26, 2017

Show notes

Now that the wool festival calendar has really kicked into high gear, and with Edinburgh Yarn Festival fast approaching, we thought we'd take some time today to talk about Yarn Show Strategy. We'll also have an update on the #Blackerpodkal, where you can find us in Edinburgh, what's making us happy at the moment, and more!

What's making us happy:

The Blacker Yarns PodKAL continues and we are winding down to the last week! How's your project going?

Some instagram highlights from #TeamYITC:

Mariette694 has finished her cape of Tamar and Cornish Tin and it is spectacular!
And then there's Josh (breiwerken on Instagram) has finished her gorgeous colourwork jumper in Cornish Tin!
A latecomer to the podkal is @yarnesty who has cast on a cabled hat also in Cornish Tin V2.0

#TeamYITC prize: we will post in the Ravelry thead what the prize is and who wins! Winner will be drawn on 6th March, so make sure you get your projects up and tagged with #BlackerPODKAL and #TeamYITC.

Allison is working on her #BlackerPODKAL project in St. Kilda lace.

Rachel finished the Christmas sweaters for her kids, but is now working on her #BlackerPODKAL project, the Inglis Mitts by Ysolda Teague in Tamar.

Stash season:

Tips for making sure you don't get overwhelmed by the wool fumes and end up having to mortgage a kidney to buy yarn.

Make a list
Stick to your list
If sticking to your list is going to be tough, set aside a set amount of money that you can splurge with and when it's gone, it's gone.
Only take cash and leave the credit cards at home.

More generally – really think about what you're buying. You don't have to have a specific project in mind, but think about whether you already have five skeins of blue and purple 4-ply yarn in a box at home?

And we've put together a handy downloadable tip sheet for you too.

Wrap up

Have a great couple of weeks and we'll chat with you soon!

Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Episode 53: Yarn Love Feb 06, 2017

Show notes

On this episode of the podcast we chat about what's making us happy at the mo, including an update on our progress with the Blacker PodKAL for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival and the new #yarnlovechallenge on Instagram. We also find out what happens when you love yarn so much that it leads you to making your own. For that conversation we'll be chatting with our friend Carmen from A Yarn Story in Bath, who's been working with Sharon from Great British Yarns on a new joint venture, Walcot Yarns.

Grab your favourite beverage and your WIP and let's go!

What we're working on (aka Make Happy):

The Blacker Yarns PodKAL continues apace! Allison has her SSS well underway, and Rachel is casting on for her Inglis Mitts as we record (better late than never!)

The projects shown on Ravelry and Instagram all look amazing and there are some truly speedy knitters out there! We have some special kudos too, for those of you who have come on board #teamYITC:

Hdayananda is knitting with a gorgeous green Cornish Tin for her In the Pines Pullover
Mariette694 is making a capelet/wrap of her own design in both Tamar and Cornish Tin that is look stunning already
And then there's Josh (breiwerken on Instagram) who is also making his own colourwork design out of Cornish Tin that is nothing short of amazing!

If you want to join in with the Blacker PodKAL, it's not too late! Here are the details:

Any design or pattern you want (some great freebies on the Blacker Yarns website)
Must be knit with Blacker Yarns to be eligible for prizes and discounts at EYF
Can be used in combination with other yarns too
Chat thread in Blacker Yarns Ravelry group
Tag with#BlackerPodKAL on social media & Ravelry
Cast off date is 4th March (just in time for EYF!)
If you wear your FO at EYF you can get a discount on more Blacker Yarns!
There are multiple teams and you can be on more than one – we hope you'll tag your projects with #teamyitc so that we can see what you're working on for the KAL (we'll have a special #teamYITC prize too!)

In other make happy news, Allison has been working on a (gorgeous!) super secret deadline project, and doing lots and lots (and LOTS) of sewing.

Rachel has been working on a design for Walcot Yarns, but has managed to finish her Vestvember project (again, better late than never). She's also been doing lots of #spinningSundays.

Yarn Love Challenge

Okay, the #yarnlovechallenge is something that you've probably seen popping up on Instagram in the last couple of day and it's pretty fun so we wanted to let you know about it. It's a daily Instagram photo challenge put together by @oharethey and @maryheatherb from Ravelry to celebrate the idea that "Yarn is Love". We agree!

Yarn Love

There are fewer things we love more than a new yarn. And we were particularly excited when we found out that our friend Carmen was working on a brand new bespoke yarn – Walcot Yarns.

If you haven't heard us mention Carmen before, she is a North American transplant like us and the owner of A Yarn Story – a specialty yarn boutique in Bath that is stuffed with gorgeous yarns from around the world. Aside from the yarn itself, what got us really excited to chat with Carmen is that she developed this new yarn with in collaboration with Sharon from Great British Yarns – also in Bath.

We got Carmen to chat with us and tell us more about Walcot Yarns and what exactly is involved with bringing your own yarn to market.

Wrap up

Music credits (all available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

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