In recent years I occassionally treat myself to something that can create that little bit of excitement - a mystery bag from a hand-dyer. I really enjoy creating one skein projects so there’s lot’s of fun opening up the packet and seeing what inspiration it contains.

The last few weeks have been very busy. Sometimes deadlines to get a pattern to press or a sample ready in time for a photoshoot or some other project or life event will clash with when I need to get the magazine I edit to press - despite my best efforts to the contrary. And the months when this quarterly mag comes out will always be extra busy anyway.

So when I saw that Irish Artisan Yarn was having a mystery bag event, decided I needed a treat in the form of three skeins of hand-dyed yarn.

Today was the day that I got to open my lucky bag and enjoy my treasures.

The top skein is a merino/silk aranwight in purple and coppers - colours guaranteed to make me smile. A single 100g skein of aran can work well for a cowl but I’m not sure yet.

The bottom skein is on one of my favourite yarn bases - baby alpaca, silk and cashmere. This will be a lacy scarf. I’m not sure if I will make myself a version of an existing design or come up with a new one yet.

But it was the middle skein that is the big prize thanks to serendipity.

In the past couple of days, when looking in a file for something else, I cam across the design notes for a DK hat that was an unsuccessful submission to Knitty when I waws starting out with my design journey.

For some reason I hadn’t gone back to this design inspired by photos of my maternal great aunts - a set of extraordinary Irish women who each trailblazed in their own way. I started looking my stash for something to work this up in but hadn’t found the right skein yet.

And then the lucky bag arrived.

Tara from IAY takes her inspiration rom the Irish landscape and often places that have meaning and memory for me. This Donegal Nep DK is full of lones that make me think of my family’s little corner of Donegal and I’m sure it is in tones that “the aunts” would have liked too - I’m sure I remember Naomi wearing some of these.

The hat is still a little way down the making list - there are four magazine patterns and another accessory idea ahead of it as it is. But the skein is paired up with the pattern notes and it is going in the current makes basket. So watch this space.

I’d love to know about your mystery yarn purchases and how you’ve used them.

The Morvoren shawl (The Knitter 230) alternates sections of garter stitch stripes with bands of lace and little nupps. It is a the first of a pair of sportweight shawls, I’ve designed for The Knitter - the yarn makes for a slightly sturdier shawl than 4-ply, but still feels light and airy. This one is knitted in Cascade Heritage 6 yarn.

My go to summer yarn for garments is Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo+Cotton. I prefer the sheen and the smoothness of the blend of the two fibres over using cotton on its own. Plus this range has a wide choice of colours which is a delight for a designer. It means knitters can really find their ideal shade for a project.

Dinah (Knitting 271) is a simple raglan tee with a little twist. A stripe of eyelet lace runs from the left hip to the right shoulder on the front and back and then on to the right sleeve because I love a little asymmetry.

In the same magazine your will also find the Tulip Scarflette, my addition to the knitted neckerchief trend.The magazine shows the longer version in a yummy light blue shade of Iolair yarn Luing a lovely alpaca/silk/cashmere blend. You can wear it draped long or wrapped twice round your neck.

The pattern includes instructions for the shorter once round the neck version which I’ve made with some left over yellow King Cole Yarn & Pattern Supplier Naturally Soft 4ply.

The long version needs about 45g of |4-ply (400m/100g) and the short one is around 25g. Both great for stash busting as well as adding a spot of colour to your outfits.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

PS Don’t forget that I will be at Unravel Autumn with a range of patterns and samples

I always enjoy the Unravel yarn shows and I have appeared there in the past as the UK Hand Knitting’s Yarn Doctor, so when I heard they wanted to have some independent designers selling patterns for the Autumn show, I was quick to apply.

And I’m really looking forward to being there. There will be some yarn dyers who I have worked with in the past, so I’ll definitely have those patterns with me. But I also plan to do some research ahead of time so I can bring patterns and samples that will work with the yarn likely to be there.

And as you know I love a one skein wonder and accessories, so if you fall in love with a single skein of great beauty I can help find a pattern to match.

And don’t worry about forgetting about the show or my stand. I’m likely to mention it once or twice before then. 8-)

A Moebius loop is a fascinating geometric shape – it has two surfaces and one edge. You can create one by taking a strip of paper, twisting it once and then taping the short ends together in a loop. Or you can knit one because the twist helps a Moebius cowl to sit well, there is no sewing up and you can have a lot of fun creating reversible patterns with them.

The only thing to master is the cast on, then it’s plain sailing. But I found that a lot of explanations of this cast on seem very complicated.

When I actually worked through a tutorial I realised it really comes down to two movements so I’ve tried to simplify things here. I hope it helps.

1. Make a slip knot and slide to centre of circular needle. Coil the needle as shown with cable crossing once.

2. Holding yarn in left hand, yarn over right hand needle.

3. Insert right hand needle under cable and draw yarn back.

4. Draw yarn up to make stitch. There will be two “stitches” over the needle with the yarn looped round the cable underneath between them.

5. Repeat stages 2 to 4 sliding the stitches along the needle and cable.

6. Only count the stitches on top of needle and cable. The loops round the cable below are not counted at this stage.

   
   

7. As you cast on more stitches, slide them along the needle and around the loop.

8. Once all stitches are cast on, place marker and start working round one of pattern beginning with the slip knot. You will find that on the first round you will have to work into the front and back of stitches alternatively to straighten them out.

9. As you continue round the coil, you will pass the stitch marker hanging from the cable below where you are working. This is NOT the end of the round.

10. Continue round coil until you can slip marker again. You are now working the stitches on the cable below as well as the ones you counted for the cast on. This means if you count 50 when casting on, you will work 100 stiches in all following rounds.

11. As you continue to work the cowl it will grow between the two loops of the cable.

Click on the links in the picture caption to find a moebius cowl pattern to try.

If you have to bring it up several rows it may feel quite tight towards the top, especially if it is a couple of rows since you dropped the stitch but your yarn should even out in your repaired rows when you block your work.

Keep a close eye on what direction your stitch should be, ie knit or purl. I usually turn my work over so that the knit side of the stitch is facing me when I use this method for what would be a purl stitch on the right side.

You can also use this method the fix a knit stitch that should be a purl and vice versa. Consciously drop the stitch down to the mistake and use your crochet hook to work it back up correctly.

I started thinking about what I would make, and realised alI have a very definite signature hat style - a knitted cloche with a cabled band.

Vera was the first one and was inspired by old family photos of my great aunts from the 1920s l. I loved the look and had a go at creating something similar.

I love playing with ideas for the bands and trying different yarns for them. As well as finding interesting buttons to finish them.

And as I've been thinking about hats, I thought I’d help you all with your #woollyhatweather game.

I’ve put all the hat patterns in my Payhip store into a flash sale for the next few days.

Just click here, choose your hat pattern(s) and use the code DYLMHAT20 at the check out for 20% off. The offer runs until midnight on Sunday 28 December GMT, to help with your post-Christmas scrolling.

Have a happy chocolate, cheese and cosy knits season.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

But episode six, Statement week, had some small format changes that worked a bit better plus there was lace - and as you may know, I love lace knitting.

The first challenge was to knit or crochet a statement necklace and bracelet set. There were 10 hours for this project , which seemed achievable, and the contestants had a wide choice of materials and approaches. This meant we saw much more of their personalities in the pieces and wider range of skills. All of which was a pleasure to watch.

Lydia’s set (above) was the winner, and rightly so. It is beautiful and so well thought out.

And then there was the lace challenge - I mentioned there was lace, didn’t I.

Rather than a group challenge, each of the remaining 5 contestants had to knit the same panel of lace from a chart in the same yarn. This felt like a true skill test. They had 10 hours to knit 80 rows of 66 stitches each. I’ve done the maths so you don’t have to - averaging 11 stitches a minute would leave a couple of hours for emergencies. So apart from the high risk of RSI, again this was within the realms of possibility, unlike several of the earlier challenges.

It meant we could properly see how different knitters approached the task and actually showed to technical knitting skills. I call lace the art of making intentional holes and that did prove a challenge for everyone over the panels.

That said I did shout “stitch markers” at the TV several times. The panel didn’t have an obvious boxed out repeat but there were definitely parts where the stitches could have been grouped into three sections for many rows which would have helped keep track of the stitch count and ensure the centre lace line stayed straight (something that foxed most of them).

Plus the voice over commentary did let me - and any would-be lace knitter - down over one particular issue. Twice it stated that it was harder to keep track of lace if you knitted in rows on circular needles. I would argue the opposite. Using a good circular needle for lace allows you to spread out your lace and compare it to your chart.

Lydia got into difficulties because she couldn’t find where she wasn’t able to find a missing yarn over in her panel. This was blamed on the fact she was using a circular needle - but if you watch, you can see her stitches are sticking and not sliding easily along the circular she was using which is a different problem.

I am very clear that not every yarn works with every type of needles for every person and also that not every circular needle is equal.

What I was seeing was that the linen yarn that the contestants were using was sticking on Lydia’s circular needle so that she couldn’t move her stitches easily and that the linen was also making the stitches stick together. The needle wasn’t working well with that yarn and it didn’t have a nice smooth transition from cable to needle. I’ve checked on this and the contestants had the choice between one type of straight needle and one type of circular. Tools really do make a difference.

On the other hand we did learn something about adding life lines to protect your work if you have to rip back and about blocking your work to open up the lace.

If you want to know more about these techniques as well as working from charts, I have pulled a number of articles from my archive and uploaded them to Substack to help. Just click on the highlighted sections to find them. There’s also an article recommending some starter projects.

I will also be teaching an Introduction to lace Workshop at The Yarn Dispensary in Faversham in March and am working on offering a Udemy Lace course too.

Finally, huge congratulations to Lydia this week for taking another big knitter badge thanks to her amazing jewellery pieces and commiserations to Simon who departed - he will definitely be missed.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

To turn it into the finished item you will need something to pin your shawl out on, a lot of pins and if possible some blocking wires.

A lot of people use foam matts as the base for their blocking and I recommend T-pins – these a more robust than sewing pins and easy to see as you adjust your piece.

Collect your pins, wires, matts, measuring tape etc before you do anything else – juggling wet knitting while you look for the measuring tape isn’t that much fun.

Blocking wires are often the item that make people nervous. They are simply flexible wire rods that you can thread through your knitting. The main type are straight and unsurprisingly very helpful when you want to block one or more straight edge – thread them through your straight edge and then use a few pins to place each edge. You can also find finer wires that naturally sit in a curve.

The first step in the wet blocking process is to get your piece wet. Soak it in warm water – and no rinse wool wash if you want – for at least 15 minutes.

Once your knitting has soaked, lay a towel on a flat surface. Gently lift the knitting out of the water – let water drain off but DO NOT wring it out. Gently put your knitting on the towel keeping it as flat as possible. Roll the towel to create a knitting swiss roll and then gently squeeze it to draw the water out of your lace. You will end up with a damp but not dripping piece of knitting where the fibres have been thoroughly wetted through.

Then you are ready to lay out your knitting on your blocking surface. I generally start by threading the wires through the straight edges and pinning those in place then I work on curves, the points on edges etc.

Here I want the stocking stitch section to have straight edges,
so I’ve run a wire along at that point and then I am using pins
beyond that to open the lace border with a pin at the top
of each “leaf”.

On this curved shawl I used wires for the straight side of the
semicircle and then pinned the curve at the halfway and then
the quarter way point, and so on, to help get the curve right.

Take your time to get the shape right and your lace opened nicely - you may move some pins several times. Then leave it to dry.
.
Don’t remove the pins or wires until you are sure your shawl is dry.

Happy blocking

Bronagh

You don't need to take your stitches off the needle to do this but be careful not to thread your cotton through any stitch markers.

Once your thread is through all the stitches just ignore your lifeline and work on with your knitting.

If you get to the end of your work without needing to go back you can just pull the cotton thread out. But if you do make a mistake above the life line you will not be able rip back beyond your life line so the work you are happy with is protected.

This is why I am such a fan and recommend using a life line anywhere you are happy with your work so far and are about to start a new stitch pattern, colourwork section, shaping or anything else where you think you could go wrong.

I guess I've just added a reel of sewing cotton to your knitting bag essentials.

Happy lace knitting

Bronagh

Colourwork charts are the simplest version of charts, in terms of seeing the picture. Each square represents a stitch and they are arranged in rows. On right side rows you read the chart from right to left. If you think of all your stitches being on the left needle, you will work along them from right to left. Wrong side rows are read from left to right - you are knitting back the other directions. If you are working in the round all your rows are right side rows, so you always read the chart from right to left on every round.

Lace charts are the ones people usually find harder to get their heads round, but they are still a picture. The symbols are designed to match the stitches they represent. For example, a yarnover is represented by a circle which matches an eyelet. A k2tog decrease slopes to the right and in a chart it is shown by a line leaning the same direction.

The picture below is of the pattern created by the lace chart above. You can hopefully see the same lines of eyelets and the sloped lines of the decreases.

The red box on the chart is the one thing that makes the knitting look different from the chart. The box represents the repeat of the pattern whereas you will see all the repeats in your work. But the chart should at the very least help you to see what shapes your lace should be making.

Why not try working with this chart and pattern - A Bench in the Clearing - or some of my other shawl or accessory patterns, to practice working with charts - see more suggestions here.

Happy lace knitting

Bronagh

Yes, that will create a a very fine floaty item, but it isn't the only way to knit lace. You can use lace pattern in any yarn - for example this top I designed for Knitting Magazine features a lace pattern knitted with two strands of a cotton bamboo DK.

In fact if you are completely new to lace, I recommend going for a DK or a 4-ply pattern so you can concentrate more on getting the hang of the techniques than worrying about tiny needle or seeing fine yarn.

And while I generally say lace can be worked in any yarn you like, I would recommend avoiding something hairy like mohair for an early lace project because it is harder to see the lines of decrease and it can be a real pain to unpick, and most people will find the need to unpick when starting out with lace knitting.

As a first lace project consider some of these:

Even better the Seasalter scarf has only one line of lace to get your head round. It is a 4ply one skein wonder but you can add extra repeats across the row to make it wider and use two skeins.

Happy lace knitting

Bronagh

In the two charts above don't think about the over all pattern or the repeats but just count the number of circles (representing the yarnovers) and the number of stitches decreased (the various sloping symbols). In the top chart from the Shetland Summer Stole the two totals should be the same because it is rectangular pattern. In the second, from A Bench in the Clearing, there should be more yarnovers than decreases because the outmost yarnovers are used as increases to make a triangular shape.

If you think about your lace pattern as sets of yarnovers and decreases rather than worrying about the whole pattern all at once it can be easier to get your head around. This is true whether working from a chart or a written pattern.

Checking sets of yarnovers and decreases is also a good way of working out if you have gone wrong with a lace pattern.

You don’t have to be cold to be glamorous and neither do knits need to be twee Xmas jumpers - chose a gorgeous garment or an accessory in a special yarn to look and feel fabulous.

This December I have some new patterns in magazines that embrace the idea of cosy-glam. My Snow Queen mitts on the cover of the latest Knitting Magazine are definitely in the cosy-glam category. Their knitted in the round using Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk 4ply for a touch of winter luxury.

Also in that magazine is the Anya cardigan is a floaty, lacy extra layer - perfect over a sleeveless dress. It’s made in Rowan Yarns Alpaca Soft DK , a lovely soft yarn.

Or you could choose a dramatic shawl option. This is Morning Frost. A triangular shawl uses slip stitches, cables and garter stitch to create the geometric design. I was thinking about art deco pottery as I designed this and these frosted colours come from that inspiration. But you could equally choose vivid colours and a strong contrast for a dramatic effect or perhaps black and white. I’d love to see your colour ideas.

It is knitted in Jamieson & Smith Shetland Wool Brokers 2ply Jumper Weight and the pattern can be found in the current issue of The Knitter.

I pretty much believe in cosy-glam as a key wardrobe option all year round so you’ll find lots of designs in my pattern stores that I think are a fit.

It is all about finding the combination of a yarn you love and something you will love wearing - feeling good is key to looking good.

You can find the designs above and many more on PayHip and Ravelry - and because it’s peak cosy-glam season you can have 15% off all my PayHip and Ravelry patterns until the end of 10 December with the code COSYGLAMTIME.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

I am one of 90 designers taking part this year and we are all offering 25% off patterns until 4 December. Use the code FO2025 in either my Payhip or my Ravelry pattern store - all my patterns are eligible for the discount.

The idea is that over the couple of weeks you choose a pattern or patterns from one or more of the designers. Then the aim is to turn one of your pattern purchases into a finished item to be eligible for a prize. Prizes include free patterns from the participating designers. You can find out more about taking part here.

There are games, prizes and online events through out the rest of this month and December. Check the schedule on the website.

You can join me, Aoibhe Ni and Jen aka Synaptic Stitches on Zoom for a stitch Stitch and Chat sessions on Friday 28 November 10am EST/3pm GMT - check the FOYAL website for details closer to the date.

Please enjoy the discount and let me know if you’ll be joining the yarn along. I love to see what you are making.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

I really fell for it because it made me think of the sea so much. I couldn’t stop thinking about it , so I designed, made and created the pattern ahead of some other items.

The Seasalter scarf (named after a local beach) is made in two parts using a variation of Old Shale lace stitch and a ridged stocking stitch. The two pieces are grafted at the end to give you symmetry. It measures 22.5cm wide and 172cm long, so can be worn in different ways.

A one skein wonder that’s ideal for a beautiful hank of hand-dyed that sings to you, as well as being a restful knit, the pattern is now available on Payhip and Ravelry.

Enjoy!

Other new patterns

I am in the process of adding a number of other patterns, previously published in magazines, to my pattern stores. The first of these is the pattern for my Gordale Mitts featuring garter stitch stripes and a colourwork cable pattern.

These snuggly hand warmers are great stashbusters you will only need less than 40g of the main colour and 25g for the contrast stripes.

Colourwork cables like this use slip stitches alongside normal cables to create the effect - a small project like this is a good way to try them out.

Find the pattern on Ravelry and Payhip.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

This meant that we were able to learn more about the contestants’ individual styles and strengths as they crafted fancy dress outfits for a pair of Italian greyhounds. The main rules were that there needed to be a coat and a hat and that they must include both knitting and crochet. We saw stripes, moss stitch, tinsel yarn, mosaic crochet and knitted lace (thank you Lydia).

My personal favourites were Holger’s striped “performance art” outfit (left), Lydia’s carnival lace coat (right) and the fun of whimsy of Ailsa choosing to depict Glasgow’s famous statue with a traffic cone hat.

The team challenge to knit 80s style mohair intarsia sweaters – something I’ve sworn never to do again – showed some interesting differences in design approaches and skills. But again the lack of space in the programme for technical information and constructive feedback meant not all of that was made clear.

With that in mind, here are three areas that I think could have benefitted from more detail.

Meadow’s twisted stitches

In the programme Shiela and Di pointed out that Meadow had twisted stitches on every other row and asked why. She was surprised and replied that it was just the way she knitted. From then on twisted stitches were presented as “a common mistake made by new knitters” rather than us seeing feedback on how to avoid it (I understand the feedback was given, but not shown).

There is more than one reason for why a twist can happen unintentionally. Some people naturally wrap the yarn the “wrong” way round the needles on either the purl or the knit row when holding the yarn in their right hand. This means the stitches sit on the needles the opposite way to you would expect on the next row and if you insert the needle in the conventional direction you will end up with a twisted stitch. This is something I’ve come across especially with people who are left handed. Some decide they like the look of the natural twist in their fabric and stick with it. Others try different knitting techniques.

Another common way to end up with twisted stitches is due to the combination style – one of the variations of knitting with the yarn in your left hand. In this style the way you pick up the yarn in the purl stitch turns it to sit the wrong way round for the next row. Experienced combination knitters, knit into the back of the stitch on the next row to untwist but it can catch people new to the style out – especially if they mainly knit in the round and rarely purl. Since the show Meadow has made a video that shows this is the closest explanation.

Intarsia technique

Twisting is also a key word when it comes to intarsia. “Intarsia” was mentioned a lot but not really explained. It is a colour work technique where you use individual balls of yarn for separate areas of colour. For example, if you were putting a motif of a single ballon on the back of a sweater, you would have a ball of background colour for the row up to the motif, then one in the motif colour for the balloon, and then a second ball of background for the rest of the row. For every additional motif and colour detail, you add in more balls of wool.

As you move between balls/colours you make a single twist between the two strands to link the areas of knitting together – not twisting can cause a hole but twisting multiple times can cause your knitting to snagg and pull , also causing gaps and holes.

I think missed twists or overtwisting were among the mistakes some contestants made but it wasn’t explained. Is you’d like to know more, here’s a video I made to UK Handknitting.

The more detail you add to your intarsia pattern and the more complex shapes, the harder it gets and your could see it in the three team sweaters. Team Guitar had a lot of detail and the most mistakes. Team Balloon discussed adding extra detail and sensibly rejected it in the time given – but they did have some problems with the curves of at least one motif.

Team Checkerboard created this:

A very clever choice. Diagonals and small geometic patterns are easier to get right. Well done to Holger, Lydia and Tracy for coming up with an attractive design that was also achievable.

The sweater that got turned about

The other learning moment from the show was when Team Guitar’s front and back didn’t match up.

I have written in detail about how it is possible to get confused between the left and right of a piece as you are looking at it and the left and right of the piece when it is on the body. Read all about it here.

This is particularly important to double check when you are making an asymmetric garment or one with a diagonal motif where you want the diagonals to point to the same shoulder on the front and back.

When creating designs like the ones pictured, I will repeatedly check and put my fronts and backs against each other to check they line up.

Unfortunately in this team Meadow was sloping her motif and neck to the right shoulder, which is to the left of the front when you are looking at the actual knitting. But Ailsa was sloping her motif and neck line on the back to the left shoulder, the actual left of her section. Maybe because they were working separately off camera – we don’t know how most of the 10 hours knitting is spent – or just through a lack of communication, this wasn’t checked early or often enough.

Other things I liked

1. Lydia’s good humour in refereeing minimalist Holger and embellishment queen Tracy on the same team.

2. The greyhounds’ refusal to wear hats for any length of time.

Other things I didn’t

1. More time was given to an explanation of Holder’s commedia dell’arte inspiration than what moss stitch is or why it may (or may not) be difficult.

2. This terrible graphic used in an explanation of the differences between knitting and crochet – an AI fail perhaps? At one level this is a bit funny but at another the lack of checking that this image was right, suggests the producers don’t really care about the craft. And that’s sad.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

“Fair Isle in super chunky!!!!”

The Game of Wool, aka Sewing Bee/Bake Off for knitters, has launched on Channel 4 in the UK and the knitting blogs and social media are afire with comments and criticism.

But I’m still going to add to the noise. I am, as you know, a knitting designer, teacher and writer but I also have a background in making TV programmes, so hopefully my take holds some value.

I am not going to pass over all judgment on the show from one episode and I have mixed feelings right now so here are my positives and negatives from episode one.

What I liked:

1. The contestants. The producers have found 10 interesting and creative people from a range of ages and backgrounds.

2. The contestants’ sweaters. The contestants were wearing a fabulous collection of handmade cardies, sweaters and shawls. One of the pleasures for me is definitely going to be stalking the contestants to find out more about what they are wearing.

3. Some beautiful and creative colourwork designs for the first challenge. I particularly liked Lydia’s, Issac’s and Ailsa’s. But sadly, one or two would have worked better in a thinner yarn – Simon’s egg timers for example.

4. The start of some great conversations on why people knit, attitudes to knitters, knitting in public, etc. I’d love to see more of that.

5. Colour on our TV screens – I just love colour.

6. Team Ombre coming to the help of Team Sunset in the sofa challenge. This had a lovely supportive knitting group vibe to it.

7. The acceptance that some people don’t hug.

8. The dry humour of Holger.

What I didn’t like so much

1. The casting off the losing contestant pun. I know why they did it, but do the non knitter viewers?

2. Everything being superchunky or beyond. I understand that this let them fit those two challenges into the time constraints of the programme. But like Holger, I struggle with using larger needles for long periods of time and they can be tiring for a lot of people. I’ve also found that some beginners have trouble controlling needles larger than 6mm so I worry about giving the impression that superchunky and large needles automatically means speedy knits.
That said, through my work with yarn shops I know that the numbers of customers looking for superchunky yarns was up on the day after the show aired.

3. Sitting and knitting for many hours. As much as I love to knit, I know that sitting and knitting for long hours without breaks isn’t a great idea. Whether or not that’s what the knitters did, that’s the impression the edit gives and that’s not a healthy message.

4. Not enough explanation. I’d have loved to see a bit more showing the technique – may be an extra 90 seconds showing the stranding on the back or the judges looking at the back of some Fair Isle and talking about it. Also, Tom’s voice over saying “garter stitch, a beginner friendly stitch” without explaining what it is, is not inclusive of beginners.

5. Lack of technical critiques from the judges – on other shows of this type a judge might say you have this problem because of xyz or if you had used abc – I felt this was missing from Game of Wool.

6. All of which brings me to the thing I liked least about this episode – the demonising of steeking. This valuable technique is already demonised in the knitting community as scary, risky, etc. If you watched the show with this impression or with no idea why Gordon was taking his scissors to his work, I think you would have gone away with the impression he had made some dreadful error or used the wrong technique. Rather than misjudging what he could get done and running out of time, which was his actual downfall. In Bake Off terms his gooey stuff didn’t set rather than he poisoned Prue.
Gordon has actually made a useful video about what he was aiming to do, why he chose steeking as an option and demonstrating the technique. Find it here.

7. The unmentionable pocket. During the judging, you could see a hole in the body of Gordon’s tank top and some stitches on a holder. If you have placed pockets in a garment, you will have recognised this as an unfinished pocket, if not it just looked like a terrible error. It wasn’t mentioned in any way. All we needed was Sheila or Di saying “oh you didn’t have time to finish the pocket either”.

Most of the problems with the show come from the tight time scales and it is interesting that in terms of actual broadcast time the show is about 20% shorter than sister shows Bake Off, Sewing Bee or The Great Pottery Throwdown. That leaves a lot less time for technical critiques and explanations.

I think the producers have struggled somewhat with the fact there is a lot less running with scissors than in the other crafts. In other words, the process of knitting is very still and static in TV terms whereas the sewing contestants do a lot of rushing between machines, cutting tables ironing boards etc, etc. In the baking and pottery formats you have the visuals of constructions collapsing or the jeopardy of carrying fragile creations.

And then there is the issue of balancing a show for knitters versus non knitters – I may not be the audience.

But hopefully some of the problems will be ironed out in later episodes and it generates some new interest in our wonderful craft.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

I was really excited to go and came away feeling so happy and inspired which has made me think about why I love yarn shows so much.

Part of it is being surrounded by colours and textures - going from stand to stand, I start to get ideas for new designs, fall for new yarn blends and see clever ideas that make me love my craft all the more.

At GSOY I was once again captivated by mini skeins. These little jewels of yarn allow me to try out products from new (to me) dyers and to play with small projects without a lot of waste.

Stalls like the colourwall at Wee County Yarns can intrigue me for ages.

And yes I did come away with some of these for a new accessory idea.

Then there are the new yarn bases. As I walked round the show, I suddenly wanted to find some lace for a new wrap design that was starting to form in my head but at first I couldn’t quite see what I wanted.

Then I came across Twig on the Wollenflower stand.

Dyer Julia was able to show me swatches and projects using the yarn and tell me about the yarn and her dyeing. This soft glowing Logwood shade seems ideal for a spring wrap and I’m looking forward to swatching soon.

My chat with Julia brings me to the other reason I love yarn shows - the people. Or rather being around so many happy people. The yarn, the colour, the being around other people who share your passion - all of this makes people joyful as they explore the show. They want to show off their purchases to friends - or complete strangers. The vendors want to show off their latest ideas and the teachers want students to get as much as possible from their hobby.

It feels like a yarn show is somewhere for crafters to truly feel at home.

Purposeful yarn buying

Not all my purchases at GSOY were moments of sudden inspiration. That day (18 October), the one thing I was definitely looking for was a skein of yellow aran yarn. I like bright colours in the winter and my much loved yellow cowl had developed a big hole (not for my head). Plus I’ve been meaning to rework my On Track Cowl to be a one skein wonder.

I found just the yellow from Unaroo Designs - a colourway called Tercini on a White faced Woodland wool (from a rare breed sheep). I really didn’t want this skein to languish in the “knit soon” box - as that can be renamed the “damn I really meant to…” box.

So fast forward a week and I cast on the moebius cowl on the evening of Saturday 25 Oct. The 26th involved quite a bit of time on trains and rail replacement buses, with the upside that did mean plenty of knitting time.

And on Monday, I was able to finish it, weave in the ends and block it.

So yarn show to neck in 9 days.

Now I just need to be as purposeful in getting the updated pattern online.

Happy knitting

Bronagh

We were planning the Leeds to Stirling leg when I realised that the Wensleydale Sheep Handcrafted History exhibition was still going to be on show at the Dales Countryside Museum.

The traveling exhibition is organised by the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders’ Association promotes Wensleydale Longwool by combining images of the history of the breed with work by almost 40 textile artists throughout the UK using Wensleydale wool from the breeders.

Although I am one of the artists, I hadn’t yet managed to get along the exhibition on its travels, so a smallish detour to see my shawls hanging in a museum was added to our itinerary.

And it was made particularly special as getting there involved driving through Wensleydale itself.

I designed the Heritage Connection shawl in collaboration with two prize winning Wensleydale sheep producers, Chilton Grounds Farm and Longcroft Longwools, using modern colourways and a Victorian influenced lace pattern. We created three versions for the exhibition.

It was lovely to see the three of them hanging alongside images from sheep competitions at county shows and similar. It was even better to hear someone commenting on the lace in the shawls as I walked in. In fact, it was a very emotional experience.

It was also fabulous to see so many inspiring knitted, woven and crocheted pieces showing off the versatility of this wool as well as the talent of all the artists.

Sadly, this was almost the last day of the exhibition in the Dales and it isn’t clear where it might appear next. But when I know, I’ll make sure I let you know so you can enjoy it too.

I knitted the ‘Yule Flower’ design in a Christmassy red and cream combination of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply (Cherry Drop and Milk Bottle) - but if the festive season isn’t your thing why not go for some floral shades.

The pattern band is stranded colourwork and there’s a reinforced slip stitch heel to give your socks longevity.

I always enjoy trying a new yarn and I’ve had the opportunity to test out Solstice, also from WYS, a blend of Falkland wool, cashmere and lyocell, recently in a wrap and now in a garment.

Sycamore is a waist length cardigan with a leaf motif created with elongated cable stitches, that I envisaged as a layering option for autumn and spring. Personally I love a light cardigan I can wear with jeans, a skirt or over a short sleeved dress.