Episode 15: Merrily We Knitalong

A somewhat meandering and caffeinated podcast for you this time around.

What's going on:

13th June - the tenth anniversary of World Wide Knit in Public Day! Check their website for events near you.

20th June - Brighton Knit and Make Social! Tickets are still available, so come join us!

26-27th June - Woolfest, Cockermouth, Cumbria

1st July - Tickets go on sale for the 2015 Great London Yarn Crawl and the Pop Up Marketplace.

25-26th July - Fibre-East, Ampthill, Bedfordshire Marketplace.

What we're working on:

Allison has finished her test knit of Rachel's new cowl in Kettle Yarn Co Islington DK (color: Parapadschada, otherwise known as eye-searingly bright pink). She found the project bag containing her long-lost Mind the Gap socks, for which she's using Kate Atherley's Classic Toe-up Pattern. She also has grand intentions of getting back to the Skulls sweater (otherwise known as Robin) by Lina Olofsson, and has baby sweaters in mind for casting on soon. She's also finished the singles of her Rocky Mountain Dyeworks fibre in True Turquoise.

Rachel finished her handspun sweater that she was so frantic to finish last episode, and managed to get it blocked and photographed (by Allison) in time to submit to Knittyspin for the next issue. She's also pick up her Belted Herdwick Mittens (so named because they look a bit like Belted Galloways), which she cast on for the YITC Not-a-KAL KAL (which closed on Monday). So no prizes for here! She's also been working on spinning a wool/flax blend from Spunky Eclectic, and is really enjoying how different it is to spin from a straight wool fibre.

Merrily we knitalong:

We announce the winners of our Not-a-KAL KAL, and talk about why we like knitalongs. Congratulations to the winners!

We also reveal our new KAL - the GLYC 2015 KAL - inspired by the concept of the Rhinebeck Sweater. For this KAL, we will be working on projects to wear and show off at the Great London Yarn Crawl/Pop-up Marketplace on 5th September. Here are the details:

Cast on: Monday, 15th June

Cast off: Tuesday, 1st September

Restrictions: Your KAL projects have to be newly cast on - no WIPs please! You do not have to restrict yourselves to yarn acquired at previous editions of the GLYC. It should probably be something you'd like to wear on the day, but we make no predictions about what that might mean to y'all.

There will be prizes (TBD) - 1 prize for an FO, and 1 prize for general participation in the KAL thread. And for those of you who are cold sheeping, and are working on a one in/one out type of framework, here's the complete Pop-up Marketplace Vendor list in case you need a bit of a carrot to get yourselves inspired.

We also get pysched up (Ok, maybe that's just Rachel) for the start of Tour de Fleece. We encourage all you spinners out there listening and reading to sort through your stash, decide on some goals, and get those wheels and spindles ready! The peloton starts off on 4th July from Utrecht, and finished in Paris on 26th July. If you're looking for a team, please come join us on the Porpoise Fur team - everyone is welcome! 

As always you can find us on Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback with us, and please come say hi at any of the events we're attending if you get a chance! Everyone is welcome to come join our Wednesday night knit group from 7-9 pm (or longer) at The Goat on the Rise, Clapham SW11 1EQ.

Music credits (all available on NoiseTrade)Loneliness & Alcohol - Jars of ClayEverything You've Done Wrong - SloanFierce Flawless - Ani DifrancoCounting Down the Days - Northcote