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:

Another very busy week for Curious Handmade, and this episode is about all the things I've been up to! The most exciting thing was my trip to the New Media Europe Conference and the UK Podcast Awards over the weekend. To make a long story short, we won! It made my year, and it's all thanks to you. I couldn't do this without you, and you inspire me every day. Huge congrats to my fellow knitting podcaster Jo Milmine, host of ShinyBees! She took home the gong for Most Engaged Audience, and I'm so thrilled for her. Two knitters sweeping the awards caused a bit of a stir! Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their beautiful Acadia yarn. If you want to see how fabulous this looks in a project, take a look at 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 I talked a bit about some of the wonderful podcasts that inspired me to start the Curious Handmade Podcast: Stash and Burn Knitmore Girls Doubleknit iMake Hoxton Handmade - Electric Sheep Podcast A Playful Day Knitting Pipeline   I have a long discussion about my journey towards organising my house and life, inspired by this book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing If you’ve tried this, I want to hear about your experiences! How are you doing? Does your house stay organised? Please leave me a comment with your tips! What’s in the WIP Times Square by Norah Gaughan I brought this along to the conference with me and I'm making great progress! It's such a fun knit. Summertide MKAL The KAL is roaring along! We have close to 700 projects on Ravelry, which is just amazing. Join us in the chatter thread to see what everyone’s up to, find encouragement, and share your progress! The group very lively and supportive, and it's honestly not too late to join the fun. We'll be going until the end of October, and we still have people just starting the first clue. Curious Handmade Wardrobe Challenge I didn’t get any sewing done this week, but I’ve been enjoying the treasure trove of advice and information that’s going on in the Ravelry thread. There are a lot of conversations about creating better fitting clothes. It’s something we’ve covered a bit on the podcast before, so here are some people and resources who can help: Amy Herzog Her great Custom fit patterns My interview with Amy   Elizabeth Doherty Her book Top Down: Reimagining Set-In Sleeve Design (do you want an affiliate link?) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Top-Down-Reimagining-Set-In-Sleeve/dp/0985299088 My interview with Elizabeth   Cal Patch Her new Pattern Drafting With Knits course on Creative Bug My interview with Cal Contest winners! Back when I posted my interview with Elizabeth, she kindly gave me two copies of her new book to give away to my listeners. I have an ebook and a signed copy.

It's a very fun filled week here at Curious Handmade, with the launch of the Summertide MKAL, the continuing Handmade Wardrobe Challenge, getting ready for the UK Podcast Awards, along with all the regular bustle of everyday life. Because of all that, this is a slightly short episode, where I mostly catch up with the many many things in my WIP queue. Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their wonderfully sweet and soft Acadia yarn. If you want to see how beautifully this knits up, take a look at 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 Project Paddington Facebook Page Yarn and Pointy Sticks and the Knit Share Love KAL What's in the WIP Cave Point by Paula I'm loving this and I'm thinking I'll extend the border, because I have extra yarn and also because I'd love to keep this addictive knit going a bit longer. Times Square by Norah Gaughan This is part of my Curious Handmade Wardrobe Challenge. I'm using The Fibre Co's Knighstbridge in the Beaverdon colourway. Earl Grey Hat by Clare Devine. This is adorable and I need a new hat! The Summertide MKAL, of course! That should just about do it for this "minisode." If you haven't come on board for the MKAL or the Curious Handmade Wardrobe Challenge yet, just come visit us in the Curious Handmade Ravelry Group. We're a very friendly and supportive bunch and I find inspiration there every day. We'd love to have you join us!  

Show Sponsors Today's show is sponsored by The Fibre Co, and their wonderfully soft and gorgeous Acadia yarn. If you want to see how wonderfully this knits up, take a look at 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. Introduction I talk about an article in the Independent - 5 practical ways you can help refugees trying to find safety in Europe Also the Childhood Bags fundraising effort. What's in the WIP? Hold on to summer with 8 weeks of knitting, camaraderie and mystery! Summertide MKAL Curious Handmade Wardrobe Challenge  Announcements September 5th is the Great London Yarn Crawl! There will be a special pop up marketplace, and there's going to be an Indie Designer Spotlight stand. Several up and coming designers will be rotating through, and I'm lucky enough to be among them. I'll be there from 4pm to 5pm at the Chelsea Old Town Hall. Stop by! It's going to be a really fun event. Thanks again for listening! Happy knitting ....until next week.  * * * * *  I am a Craftsy affiliate so if you would like to support Curious Handmade when you are buying supplies or a class, click through the Craftsy banner below: it means I'll get a small commission. Thank you so much.