This week I'm talking about the ways that the knitting community comes into designing a pattern. For many knitters, making a change to an existing pattern is their first step into the world of pattern design. It's a good way to gain a little confidence, experiment with new ideas, and flex your technical and creative muscles. I think of modification as a kind of collaboration, where a designer and a knitter are "working together" to create a perfectly personalised finished object.  Show Sponsors: Alongside an eclectic yarn range, which includes Hazel Knits, Icelandic Lopi & CoopKnits, we stock a carefully chosen selection of needles and notions. We’ve also recently launched ‘hand dyed by meadowyarn’, our very own in-house, hand-dyed yarn range. Working in our tiny dye studio, nestled in the Suffolk countryside, we are able to indulge our love of colour, producing complex tonal, kettle-dyed shades across a range of weights and bases. With regular updates our collections evolve and grow, inspired by the landscape and people around us. AYS is a wool boutique specializing in hand dyed yarns and luxury fibres from around the world. You’ll always find a well curated collection of yarns and colors on the shelves and a friendly knowledgeable staff on hand. Some of our favorite brands include Hedgehog Fibres, SweetGeorgia Yarn, Julie Asselin, Shibui Knits and The Fibre Co. You can find A Yarn Story on Walcot Street in Bath or online at www.ayarnstory.co.uk Show Links Afternoon Tea Shawl project page with hood modification Curious Collective Shawl Pattern # 1 Curious Collective Shawl Pattern # 2 Whispering Island Shawl For our Scavenger Hunt prompt this last week of camp, share a photo of a knitting pattern you've modified, a pattern you'd like to modify, or maybe something you've knit because you were inspired by someone else, as a muse! Post in the Big Participation Thread, and remember, you can fill in the prompts any time for the next week or so before I draw winners for our Camp Curious end-of-camp prizes! To make it easier to catch up, I've posted all the prompts at the top of the thread. Shawl Society News The Rune Shawl Mini KAL will run until Sept 7th (I said the 6th in the podcast but we've said the 7th before so we'll stick to that!) so don’t forget to post your FO photos in the thread whenever you've cast off! As we're getting close to the end (just a couple of months to go) remember that if you're finishing up any other shawls from this season you can still post them in the FO threads to be in with a chance to win a lovely prize in the Grand KAL at the end of the season!

On today's episode I discuss how important photography has been to growing my design business and the Curious Handmade community, and share some simple tips I've picked up along the way. Whether you want to beautiful images in order to publish a pattern, or just want to share photos of your creations with friends and family, learning how to style and snap finished objects is a valuable part of the creative process. Show Sponsors: Alongside an eclectic yarn range, which includes Hazel Knits, Icelandic Lopi & CoopKnits, we stock a carefully chosen selection of needles and notions. We’ve also recently launched ‘hand dyed by meadowyarn’, our very own in-house, hand-dyed yarn range. Working in our tiny dye studio, nestled in the Suffolk countryside, we are able to indulge our love of colour, producing complex tonal, kettle-dyed shades across a range of weights and bases. With regular updates our collections evolve and grow, inspired by the landscape and people around us. AYS is a wool boutique specializing in hand dyed yarns and luxury fibres from around the world. You’ll always find a well curated collection of yarns and colors on the shelves and a friendly knowledgeable staff on hand. Some of our favorite brands include Hedgehog Fibres, SweetGeorgia Yarn, Julie Asselin, Shibui Knits and The Fibre Co. You can find A Yarn Story on Walcot Street in Bath or online at www.ayarnstory.co.uk Show Links Makelight Studios Jarrod Flood Brooklyn Tweed Blog Alana Dakos Madder Made Laine Magazine I have announced the yarn for the 5th TSSII Shawl: Black Yarns Pure Gotland DK Blacker Swan Falklands Merino Blend DK The Rune Shawl Mini KAL will run until Sept 7th so don't forget to post your FO photos in the thread! This week's Camp Curious Scavenger Hunt is to share a photo you've taken of a finished object and some notes about what taking the photo was like: what was a challenge? What did you like about the result? Just post in the Big Participation Thread on Ravelry.

  Today in Camp Curious we take a look at the finishing touches that can completely transform a shawl. Borders and edgings add a lot of character to a shawl and can change its shape and the way it hangs. I chat about how I choose a border for a shawl, some technical considerations, and a few resources that I turn to often Show Sponsors: Alongside an eclectic yarn range, which includes Hazel Knits, Icelandic Lopi & CoopKnits, we stock a carefully chosen selection of needles and notions. We’ve also recently launched ‘hand dyed by meadowyarn’, our very own in-house, hand-dyed yarn range. Working in our tiny dye studio, nestled in the Suffolk countryside, we are able to indulge our love of colour, producing complex tonal, kettle-dyed shades across a range of weights and bases. With regular updates our collections evolve and grow, inspired by the landscape and people around us. AYS is a wool boutique specializing in hand dyed yarns and luxury fibres from around the world. You’ll always find a well curated collection of yarns and colors on the shelves and a friendly knowledgeable staff on hand. Some of our favorite brands include Hedgehog Fibres, SweetGeorgia Yarn, Julie Asselin, Shibui Knits and The Fibre Co. You can find A Yarn Story on Walcot Street in Bath or online at www.ayarnstory.co.uk Show Links: The little garden cardigan pattern by Junko Okamoto Moeke Yarns Heritage FiberTrek Video Podcast Curious Handmade Bath Retreat News Sign Up Talisman Shawl Candlelit Shawl Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein Knitting over the Edge by Nicky Epstein Cast On/Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor Boo Knits Midsummer Haze by Joji Locatelli Miss Winkle Shawl by Martina Behm Leftie Shawl by Martina Behm Exploration Station by Stephen West   For today's Scavenger Hunt prompt, I'd love to see an edging that has caught your eye recently. Post a photo in The Big Camp Curious Participation Thread with a little message about what you like in a shawl edging. Is sweet and simple your favourite or do you like a dramatic finish? As always, feel free to jump in and complete your prompts at your own pace for a chance to win a prize at the end of camp. That's everything for this week! Happy knitting!

This week on the podcast I introduce you to the latest Shawl Society design, the Rune Shawl, and then dive into a discussion of the many amazing types of stitch patterns that can enrich a shawl design. Lace, colourwork, cables...stitch patterns are an endless source of interest for me. I share some of my favourite stitch dictionaries and resources and chat about the challenges and joys of working a stitch pattern into a new design. Show Sponsors: Alongside an eclectic yarn range, which includes Hazel Knits, Icelandic Lopi & CoopKnits, we stock a carefully chosen selection of needles and notions. We’ve also recently launched ‘hand dyed by meadowyarn’, our very own in-house, hand-dyed yarn range. Working in our tiny dye studio, nestled in the Suffolk countryside, we are able to indulge our love of colour, producing complex tonal, kettle-dyed shades across a range of weights and bases. With regular updates our collections evolve and grow, inspired by the landscape and people around us. AYS is a wool boutique specializing in hand dyed yarns and luxury fibres from around the world. You’ll always find a well curated collection of yarns and colors on the shelves and a friendly knowledgeable staff on hand. Some of our favorite brands include Hedgehog Fibres, SweetGeorgia Yarn, Julie Asselin, Shibui Knits and The Fibre Co. You can find A Yarn Story on Walcot Street in Bath or online at www.ayarnstory.co.uk Show Links: Twisted Finch Yarn Super Stitches Knitting stitch dictionary Vogue Knitting Stitchionary series Harmony Guides to stitches (knit and crochet) Lace and Eyelet: 250 Stitches to Knit by Erica Knight Up, Down, All Around Stitch Dictionary by Wendy Bernard Knitted Cable Source Book by Noarah Gaughan Mary Jane Mucklestone's colourwork books My interview with Mary Jane Mucklestone Curious Handmade Ch 127   I've just released the 4th pattern in this season of The Shawl Society, The Rune Shawl. Found carved into ancient artefacts, monuments and standing stones scattered across the north, runes carry stories across thousands of years. Every rune was much more than a simple letter in an alphabet. Each one was also a symbol of power, revered as magical, used in divination and charms. To inscribe or invoke a rune was to invoke the force for which it stood. In several old languages, the origin of the name “rune” hints at their true purpose. Whether the word is traced back to a Germanic root, Old English, Welsh, or Old Irish Gaelic, the old meanings are evocative. Secret. Whisper. Mystery. Miracle. Intention. Inspired by such beautiful words and the depths of their hidden meanings, it seemed only fitting that the second season of The Shawl Society should feature a Rune Shawl. Our fourth shawl has been imbued with a little of that ancient mystery. This is a shawl full of subtle detail and secret features. Knit in two colours with a deceptively simple garter and eyelet pattern, there is more to Rune than meets the eye at first glance. The angular elegance of runic alphabets are reflected in the elongated triangle shape, and the shawl’s increases are hidden in the centre lace motif: there if you know how, and where, to look. The Rune Shawl is a gorgeous accessory to wear on the days you’d like a little reminder of your own inherent power. Millennia after the first runes were used, we can still understand the magical charge of creating something with a powerful intention and a deeper meaning. Just like a rune, a handmade object is always more than the sum of its parts, and always carries a message. To ourselves, to others around us, and maybe to the generations who will treasure it long after we are gone. The yarn I used for the sample was the Fiesta Fingering base by Circus Tonic Handmade, in the Cape Barren Goose and Laughing Turtle Dove colourways. Since I'm in Australia for this release, I've taken the opportunity to pair up with Circus Tonic Handmade for a speci...