It is a tough time for everyone right now and that includes the yarn shops we love. The UK Hand Knitting Association, whose members include the largest yarn brands in the country, has launched a campaign together with five leading craft publishers to support local yarn shops across the UK – “Yarn Shop Love” As… Continue reading Our campaign to support local yarn shops
A few of you have been in touch lately to tell us that charity shops are turning away handknitted items because they cannot be sold in the stores. We got in touch with Trading Standards to find out more. Current law in the UK – which includes charity shops as well as other retailers –… Continue reading Donating knitted items to charity shops
One of the biggest talking points from the recent Hollywood movie Knives Out was the cable sweater worn by Chris Evans which has proved a big hot despite the hole. It seems that men’s cabled jumpers are suddenly very popular as a result, so we’ve found some patterns for you to enjoy. They are all… Continue reading Join the men’s cable jumper trend
One of the topics our yarn doctors are asked about most is tension or gauge. Or rather, a lot of people ask why a project has come out bigger or smaller than expected – and the answer comes down to having the wrong tension. Any good pattern will tell you how many stitches and rows… Continue reading New tutorial: Getting your tension right
Each year a panel at colour experts Pantone selects the colour of the year. The idea is the shade is something they expect to see in design this year which also embodies the mood of the time. In recent years some of their colour choices have been a bit of a challenge to knitters and… Continue reading Classic Blue – the colour for 2020
Instead of going on a diet or setting yourself some extreme exercise challenges, have you thought about making some knitting or crochet new year resolutions. We have a few ideas: Learn a new technique. Choose a technique that would allow you to tackle a pattern you’ve always admired but didn’t feel you had the… Continue reading New Year Knitting Resolutions
A huge, huge thank you to everyone who donated hats to this year’s Commit To Knit appeal for hats for homelessness charities to distribute. Whether you are an individual who made us one hat or a knitting group that delivered massive bagfuls of hats to us at a show, we really appreciate each and every… Continue reading Thank you for all the hats
Winter sweaters are getting bigger and bigger. Looking at catwalk pictures and magazine articles about winter fashion trends, we have seen lots of large textured sweaters with scarves or even belts. Big and bold is definitely the way to go which is good news for knitters because that means quick knits in chunky yarns. We’ve… Continue reading Trendwatch: Knit big this winter
This year as part of Commit to Knit we are asking people to make and donate hats for homelessness and refugee charities. We have a number of free hat patterns on our website including our basic beanie pattern. This simple pattern is easily customised: so you can use up your yarn stash by using stripes… Continue reading Stashbusting for Commit To Knit (and how to adapt a pattern from DK to Aran)
If you are taking part in Commit to Knit month and planning to knit or crochet something for charity during September, here are some events organised by retailers that might be of interest to you. Shed Load of Crafts, Enfield, Every Wednesday and Thursday in September Join Yvonne and Sandra to make hats for the… Continue reading Commit to Knit 2019 events
