I recorded today's podcast a bit early, in preparation for my visit to Iceland...but as you might know if you've been following along on Instagram, airline troubles meant that our Scandinavian vacation turned into a London staycation! I'm still delighted that the anticipation of the trip spurred me on to finally finish a long-standing WIP: my Reyka pullover. In this episode I share some of the helpful colourwork resources that helped me get there, recap my remaining WIPs, and daydream about something else I'd really love to cast on. Show Sponsors: 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 Northbound Knitting, Eden Cottage Yarn, the Fibre Co and many more. Show Links: Reyka Pullover by Cirilia Rose Great YouTube video by Knit Purl Hunter on catching floats Colour dominance technique blog post by Ysolda TECHknitting post on two-colour two-handed knitting Lollipop Yarn Starting Point MKAL by Joji Locatelli Pure Joy Shawl by Joji Locatelli Reyka Pullover by Cirilia Pullover Ice Cream Sundae Cardigan by Julie Sunshine The Wool Barn Granito Pullover Isabell Kraemer designs Snowmelt Shawl   Yesterday I revealed the second shawl in this season of The Shawl Society. It's called Sprite's Fen, and I'm so happy to be able to share it with you. I think it really embodies the theme of magic running through the season, and I am all anticipation to see what you do with it. Blithe, wise, and sparkling with vitality, sprites play with the power of elemental forces. Their task is to animate nature, to take lifeless matter and breathe joy into it. They watch over the forests of earth, dance on the winds and sing through fire, but the most famous sprites of all are the water sprites. Some rule the oceans as sirens, others frolick in fresh water springs and pools as naiads and nymphs, but a few choose quieter waters, making their homes in shallow marshes and fens. The idea of an animating spirit taking up housekeeping in a peaceful wetland is not as strange as it may seem. Beneath the surface, these are rich, fertile, often-overlooked scraps of wilderness. The Sprite’s Fen Shawl honours the breath of life that runs through the apparently calm waters of a fen. A generous semi-circular shape, it is rich with texture and interest. Garter ripples and streams of eyelet bubbles alternate with the gentle waves of of a beautiful, deceptively simple lace stitch. The pattern is written to work with fingering-weight or lace-weight yarn, giving you plenty of options for a lovely, lightweight summer shawl. Choose a lovely gradient to reflect the shifting shades of water under light, or go with a rich solid to call the mind the still waters which run deep beneath the water lilies. With a sprite’s passion for colour and beauty, it’s hard to go wrong. Guarded by a loving sprite, a fen works its magic as a place of safety and refreshment for small living things. It is a nesting spot, where new life can dabble in the shallow water and the shelter of reeds. It is also where water, tainted by its travels through the mundane world, is filtered and cleansed by an intricate lacework of roots. There is a thrill to be found in this quiet alchemy, something we discover again with each new project we attempt. A fistful of yarn becomes a treasured object. A grey afternoon becomes a cherished interval of stitching and dreaming. As knitters and makers, we know the sprite’s joy in taking something that is purely potential and transforming it into something full of life and love. This is the fingering weight version in Seven Sisters Arts Matrika, using the Water Gardens Varigradients Set. And here's the laceweight version in lovely Julie Asselin M...

Today's episode is short but packed! I'm getting ready for more travel...to Iceland and to the last ever spring Squam! I chat about the many projects I have on the go, and which ones I might bring along with me. I also have a litte roundup of some wonderful Scandinavian podcasts I've been enjoying lately. Show Sponsors: 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 Northbound Knitting, Eden Cottage Yarn, the Fibre Co and many more. Show Links: Squam Varigradients from Seven Sisters Arts Julie Asselin Merletto. Lollipop Yarn Box O’ Sox KAL, hosted by the Yarngasm Podcast Sock Bash KAL hosted by the Grocery Girls Podcast Yarngasm Curious Handmade KAL (for double dipping opportunities and lots of fun!) Starting Point MKAL by Joji Locatelli Reyka Pullover by Cirilia Pullover Ice Cream Sundae Cardigan by Julie Sunshine Skeindeer Video Podcast Lina Knits Video Podcast Stitched in Sweden Video Podcast Yarnesty Video Podcast Interview with Anna from Yarnesty about Swedish holiday traditions Kammebornia Video Podcast  

Today on the podcast I'm looking back at the incredible time I spent in Portugal at the Laine Retreat. I chat about visiting a very special yarn shop, how wonderful it was to spend hours of uninterrupted knitting time with the interesting and inspiring women at the retreat, a furry little friend I made there, what I worked on and what I have planned. Show Sponsors: 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 Northbound Knitting, Eden Cottage Yarn, the Fibre Co and many more. Show Links: La Bien Aimée Website La Bien Aimée Instagram Retrosaria Yarn Shop RosaPomar Instagram sookbyminapark Instagram twohandstextilestudio Instagram tiinatitityy Instagram Tukuwool Instagram Tukuwool website Bousta Beanie by Gudrun Johnston I See Spring pullover by Joji Locatelli WalkCollection Yarn Pure Joy Shawl Nature's Luxury Yarn Pura Hilados Yarn Starting Point MKAL - first clue come out Friday May 12th! Wollemeise Jewitta über Berlin Yarn Berlin Knits Yarn Festival: September 9th to October 1st 2017 There are some absolutely gorgeous finished Fairyhill Shawls already! If you're one of the speedy ones, make sure you post your FO on your Ravelry project page and in the FO thread in the group. It is so inspiring to other knitters and so special for me to see them. But if you haven't become a part of The Shawl Society yet, don't worry...we have plenty of new members just starting their shawls now and everyone is happily knitting along at their own pace. There is really no such thing as "falling behind" in The Shawl Society. Join The Shawl Society Season II today! I've just sent out the yarn hints for the next pattern, which will be making an appearance in about 3 weeks...the mysteries continue! Keep an eye on Instagram for sneak peeks and information on the gorgeous yarn I've used for this one.. That's everything for this episode. Thank you so much for listening...I hope you got some vicarious joy out of this little trip to Portugal. I'll talk to you next week! Until then, happy knitting!

In today's short and sweet episode, I'm introducing the first shawl in The Shawl Society Season II, and chatting a little bit about the magical theme behind the whole collection. I'm also rounding up the WIPs I have on the needles right now...so many fun projects. It's a joy and a bit of an escape to indulge in knitting other designer's patterns in the middle of my own secret design work! Show Sponsors: 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 Northbound Knitting, Eden Cottage Yarn, the Fibre Co and many more. Show Links: Our first season II pattern, the Fairyhill Shawl, was released today! Throughout the British Isles, a rich and mysterious folklore surrounds the rumoured homes of the fairy folk: the fairy hill. This is where the fairy folk gather far beneath the stones and moss. It is a place where a curious traveller passing at dawn or dusk might hear the pipes and harps of an otherworldly band, where a visitor may step through a luminous door. Drink a sparkling goblet of fairy wine, taste the fruit of a fairy feast, and you may find yourself dancing months or years of your life away in the space of a single night. A fairy hill is a threshold to another secret world, which makes it the perfect inspiration for the first design of The Shawl Society Season II. The Fairyhill Shawl calls on these tales of a private realm where mystery and magical company beckon. Its graceful crescent shape and beautiful lace recall the flowers and leaves that flutter across the fae kingdom. This shawl will add a touch of enchantment to your everyday outfits, and with a little sparkle in your yarn or a scatter of twinkling beads it is fit for any revelry. The pattern includes two sizes: the small is perfect for a single spellbinding skein, and the medium colour-blocked version offers opportunities to experiment with bewitching colour combinations. The true magic of a fairy hill goes far beyond folk tales, and you don’t need a literal belief in the little people to see the results. These are protected places in the human landscape. Farmers will not allow their sheep to graze there and roads are rerouted to avoid angering the mythical residents. As a result, they become sheltering islands for wildlife and ecology, beacons of biodiversity, peaceful havens where nature can carry on her wild creativity, undisturbed by the demands of modern life. Our special knitting projects often occupy the same space in our lives. We carve out a sacred time and place to make beautiful things, and the results of that creation are nothing less than magic. Eden Cottage Yarns The Wool Barn The Woolly Thistle Ice Cream Sunday Cardigan by Julie Sunshine Julie Asselin Leizu DK Yarn Gramps Cardigan by Tin Can Knits Box O’ Sox KAL, hosted by the Yarngasm Podcast Apple Blossom Socks Turtlepurl Yarn Laine Magazine Pure Joy by Joji Locatelli Joji Mystery Wrap MKAL is starting on May 12 Giveaway Winner: Josephine Franz has won the physical copy of East London Knit's Zen Variations book with her comment: Hi Helen, I’d love to win a copy of Renee’s Zen Variations book!My favorite sweater is “Enzo”, I saw the one Helen from the woolkitchen made and I fell in love with this polished looking sweater! Thanks for the giveaway! Xoxo, Josephine That's all for now! Happy knitting and I'll chat to you next week.