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
With the weather we’re having at this time of year, it is easy to get caught out and discover your lovely cosy knitted hat is nowhere to be found in a cold snap. This one of the many reasons we love chunky yarns – you can turn out a warm accessory or two in very… Continue reading Quick chunky knits
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
Have you ever knitted or crocheted your own Christmas decorations? These can be great stash busting projects (which, let’s face it, we all need once in a while!) as a lot of decorations are small items so don’t take much yarn to make. The larger projects on this list still don’t require a lot of… Continue reading Stashbusting Christmas decoration patterns
We were asking on social media recently about how many hooks and needles people have and how they store them. The answer to the first part seemed to generally be “a lot” while the storage options included jam jars, pringle tubes, Tupperware boxes and biscuit tins as well as handmade needle rolls and special cases.… Continue reading Love your needle stash as much as your yarn
