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This week has whooshed by: I’m not quite sure how. Lots going on as always! So many projects…it’s a blur of creativity and day-to-day work, and sometimes you just need a moment to stand back and take it all in. I thought I’d take this opportunity to catch you up on the things that are happening in my world these days.
Show Sponsors
Today’s show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their beautiful Acadia yarn. If you want a preview of the magical way this yarn knits up, you can see in in action in the two tone sample of my pattern Whispering Island!
Acadia is named after the oldest American national park east of the Mississippi river, a place of natural beauty where the sea and mountains meet, slopes are densely forested and wild blueberries abound. Acadia National Park is in the state of Maine, The Fibre Co.’s birthplace. The yarn inspired by this beautiful region has a rustic look and a soft hand. A subtle tweed effect is created by the silk noil that is combined with a heathered base made from fine merino wool and brown baby alpaca. The yarn is a classic DK weight and makes a beautiful textured fabric that is perfect for next to the skin accessories as well as garments.
You can get your hands on some Acadia of your own at our other sponsor’s shop, Meadow Yarn:
Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It’s a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, the Fibre Co and many more.
Show Links
Since today’s show is a little informal, this is a bit of a mix of WIPs, KAL progress, and things that have my attention this week.
Times Square: Still really enjoying this pattern by Norah Gaughan. I think I might need to change needles, since my super-sharp lace needles might be slowing me down. Any ideas?
Summertide MKAL: As always, the threads on the Curious Handmade Ravelry Group are full of great chatter, fun, and questions. The #SummertideMKAL hashtag is full of amazing WIPs on Instagram, but it’s all spoilers so keep that in mind before you look! We also have a new sponsor for the MKAL! Maria Elena Bliss is joining Meadow Yarns and Skein Australia as sponsors for the Summertide MKAL! Maria Elena makes the most beautiful project bags (I have a few myself,) and she’s very generously donated one as a prize! Whoever snags this one will be very lucky.
Curious Handmade Wardrobe Challenge: I got to do some sewing this week, finally! I worked on the adorable Dress Shirt by Merchant and Mills. I’m almost finished, which is very exciting.
Speaking of a handmade wardrobe, one of my heroes in this area is Karen Templer from The Fringe Association. (She gave us a brilliant interview here on the blog a few weeks ago.) Karen is launching Slow Fashion October, an intoxicating and inspiring idea that has a lot of fun and important crossover with the Curious Handmade Wardrobe Challenge. She’s really going deep into the reasons many of us are interested in making our own clothes. I encourage you to go check it out, I think you’ll love it.
The Pebble Beach Workshop: I did a photography course recently at Makelight Studios: one of several photography courses that have been really creatively rich for me. I love the space that Emily Quinton has created so much that when she announced that she was opening it up to other creators I jumped at the chance to host a workshop there.
So on Friday the 23rd of October I’ll be running a lace-knitting workshop based on Pebble Beach. Emily will also be on hand to help us photograph our work, which is really exciting, and may even get you thinking in a new way about your knitting (I know it has for me.) Places are very limited, so if you’re interested, please do book early!
A chance to help with the refugee crisis by doing something you love:
For the month of September, knitting designer Maria Magnusson is donating all profits from all of her pattern sales to charities working with the Syrian Refugee crisis. This is tremendously generous, and it’s a win-win: you get a beautiful pattern while knowing that your money is going to an excellent cause.
I mention two of her patterns specifically:
She has many gorgeous designs, so please have a look and see if anything catches your eye. There’s just under a week left in September, so now’s the time
That’s all for the show notes this week! Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, happy knitting!
