This week I have an interview with Stitching Up Paris authors Keiry and Barbara, a giveaway of the book and announcements about several Knit Alongs and events! Show Sponsor: 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: New Designs: New Designs Amirisu Botan Shawl Spindrift Shawl Sign up for the Spindrift Shawl Workshop here Spindrift Shawl KAL group on Ravelry Klee Collection KAL with Renee Callahan We will be having a KAL for the Klee Collection in the Curious Handmade Ravelry group starting 9 May. I will be knitting the Angelus Novus cardigan in Blacker yarn. Renee is offering a super generous offer of 20% OFF all her patterns for my listeners with the code EastLondonKnitKAL. Blacker Yarn is offering 10% OFF any DK weight yarn from their website until 12 June using code KLEEKAL Interview with Stitching Up Paris authors Barbara and Keiry More about the book on the Stitching Up Paris website here. A great review of the book on the Secrets of Paris Website here...It was fun to meet Heather at the book signing party at L'OisiveThé Keiry Belton and Barbara Cattoni agree with Audrey Hepburn: ‘Paris is always a good idea’. They devised a guidebook in Stitching up Paris: The Insider’s Guide to Parisian Knitting, Sewing, Notions and Needlecraft Stores with tourists, expat locals or armchair travellers in mind. A Parisian for more than 30 years, Barbara has made Paris craft shops and the people behind them into a livelihood. Through her tour business, www.stitchingupparis.com, she provides individually tailored tours of Paris’s best craft addresses. Keiry arrived in Paris in 2012 and met Barbara through Ravelry’s online knitting network. She blogs about Paris and the stitching scene – including the perils of trying to speak French while knitting. Follow www.stitchingupparisblog.wordpress.com for the latest stories and images of the Paris stitching scene. They can also be found at @stitchingupparis on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Yarn Shop Day! I know of at least two events happening for yarn shop day tomorrow... A Yarn Story is going to have a speed dating style yarn tasting of brand new Yarn by The Fibre Co. called Arranmore Knitters and crocheters can try Arranmore for themselves on Yarn Shop Day at A Yarn Story. A ‘speeddating style’ yarn tasting is planned to allow visitors to try out each of the seven different Fibre Co. yarns carried in the shop. Located on Walcot Street in the heart of Bath’s Artisan Quarter, A Yarn Story specializes in hand-dyed yarns and luxury fibres from around the world. “We’re so excited to be able to partner with A Yarn Story for the world-wide launch of Arranmore,” said Daphne. “They are constantly running workshops and events that bring the community together around a common love of yarn.” Wild and Woolly is hosting the Purly Queens Popup: Join us in celebrating East London’s finest knitty talent at this year’s Yarn Shop Day in Clapton. Sweater Spotter Anna Malz and East London Knits Renee Callahan will have their trunk shows ready so you can try on samples and get inspired by their designs. The TravelKnitter and The Wool Kitchen yarn dyers will also be doing a cubby-takeover with a pop-up of their full range of spectacular hand-dyed yarns. Plus there’ll be all your favourite yarns and a few other special guest stars to get ideas from, ask advice and share some cake and wine with.  

Show Sponsor: 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: New Designs Amirisu Botan Shawl Spindrift Shawl Sign up for the Spindrift Shawl Workshop here Spindrift Shawl KAL group on Ravelry Klee Collection KAL with Renee Callahan We will be having a KAL for the Klee Collection in the Curious Handmade Ravelry group starting 9 May. I will be knitting the Angelus Novus cardigan in Blacker yarn. Renee is offering a super generous offer of 20% OFF all her patterns for my listeners with the code EastLondonKnitKAL. Stranded Magazine Stranded Magazine: Warm Weather 2016 Stranded website Interview with Aimée  of L'OisiveThé and La Bien Aimée

April is flying by. I hadn't declared a theme for the month, but one has emerged all by itself: this is a month of Travel! I've been so spoiled recently with all of these amazing journeys, so I've tried to bring back a little of the magic to share with all of you.This week's episode is another recap of a wonderful knitting trip, this time to Georgia to spend time with old and new friends at Paula's amazing Knitting Pipeline Retreat. Show Sponsor: 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: Last year's Georgia Pipeline Retreat episode. The gorgeous brown and green Curious Collective shawl with the better bobbles, knit by Irene, who is bluebirdnest on Ravelry. The amazing yarn shop we visited: East Sleep Knit The wonderful vendors at the retreat market, in case you'd like to snag some goodies for yourself: Prairie Bag Works MariaElenaBliss Bags Jan B Smiley Bags Seven Sisters Arts Snarky Llama Creations RainStorm Studios Gilding Lillies Our Hill Top Shawl KAL is going wonderfully! Thank you to everyone who has bought the pattern: it's incredible to see all the beautiful shawls popping up in the FO thread! The KAL will run until May 5th, so there's still time if you want to join us! Events: Tonight, the 15th of April I will be attending the launch party for my friend Baraba's book Stitching Up Paris We'll be having a knit night from 6pm to 9pm at L’ Oisivethé, 8 bis rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013, Paris, France. If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello! That's everything for this episode. I hope you've enjoyed coming along with me on all my travels! Until next week, happy knitting!

Show Sponsor: 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 Notes: Curious Handmade Country House Retreat Thank you to Pom Pom Press for their door prize of the set of all three volumes of Interpretations by Joji Locatelli and Veera Valimaki. Thank you also to Bowen Gibson for her wonderful Cumbria Pendant she gave us for a door prize. Paula aka Snailgarden on Ravelry wrote this wonderful blog post about the retreat with lots of photos. Mina published this fabulous Knitting Expat episode all about the retreat too. Edinburgh Yarn Festival Eden Cottage Yarns Snail Yarn The Wool Kitchen - Interview with Helen Reed on Shiny Bees podcast here Woolenflower Events: Hill Top Shawl KAL - running until 5 May Join in the KAL here... On the 15th of April I will be attending the Launch of my friend Baraba's book Stitching Up Paris We'll be having a knit night from 6pm to 9pm at L’ Oisivethé, 8 bis rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013, Paris, France

Today's episode is just a quick little recap of the last couple of weeks, especially the Curious Handmade Country House Retreat! Show Sponsor: 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 Notes: Last week I released the Hill Top Shawl, and our KAL is going strong! There is plenty of time to join us, and the prize is lovely: one of the gift bags we put together for our retreat-goers. Susan B Anderson has now released her new Craftsy class, Toe Up Socks, which we hinted at on the last episode! I'll be taking it, and she's offering really great specials on her blog, so check it out! Here are the list of vendors from the retreat, in case any of you would like to indulge yourselves a little bit (the way we did!) The Wool Barn Maya Tomic - thewoolbarnknits on Ravelry The Wool Barn was born out of love for knitting with luxurious natural fibres. We hand pick the highest quality yarns from carefully selected UK suppliers and lovingly dye them in our home studio in Hertfordshire, England, using professional wool dyes and natural binding agents. Suffolk Socks Julie Walters - Dolly100 on Ravelry Suffolksocks is a small online yarn shop. I stock commercial and indie dyed yarns. To compliment all my lovely yarns I have a selection of bags,’projetcbagsbyjulie’ that are the ideal size to keep your latest cast on safe. An assortment of notions are available. Suffolksocks has just launched its own range of hand dyed/painted sock yarn, “tuck shop”. My early years were spent with my parents owning a sweet shop so I’ve taken inspiration from all the jars of sweets that lined the walls of the little corner shop. Mina Makes Mina Yamini - mina86 on Ravelry Hi I’m Mina a London girl who has been living in the Middle East for almost 5 years, currently based out of Bahrain with my Husband and two cats. I started my Podcast the Knitting Expat shortly after we arrived in Bahrain last year as a means to connect with the knitting community online and as an extension of that I started to make and sell Project Bags on Etsy as Mina Makes. My bags have made their way to knitters all over the world and I am delighted to have been asked by Helen to vend at her Retreat this year, and have the opportunity to bring my bags to you in person. I will be bringing a variety of bags for the market in several different fun prints and sizes for you to choose from. Little Bobbins Dani Harvey - littlebobbins on Ravelry Using whimsical textiles and playful applique, Dani from Little Bobbins creates adorable project bags for knitters with a sense of fun. Little Bobbins bags are full of thoughtful details and joyful touches: perfectly practical but also a bit indulgent (just like knitting!). LeatherWoolLinen Stewart Allen - stewartw on Ravelry Stewart Allen of LeatherWoolLinen is a former yarn shop owner turned bag crafter who still occasionally knits but can be found more often than not in front of a sewing machine. Bowen Gibson Bowen Gibson - gardenerbynight on Ravelry Bowen makes lovely hand embroidered necklaces that she sells at pop up markets throughout Colorado. Using maps or natural fibers as her background, her unique designs will suit any taste. Events:   On the 15th of April I will be attending the Launch of my friend Baraba's book Stitching Up Paris We'll be having a knit night from 6pm to 9pm at L’ Oisivethé, 8 bis rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013, Paris, France