On today's podcast I'm chatting about all the many things coming up: trips to Berlin and Rhinebeck, a few KALs, and lots and lots of upcoming design work...including the return of our beloved Knitvent! 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.com Show Links We have our winners from last week's giveaway! Winner of the Clark Socks Pattern: Julian Brina Thank you for hosting this giveaway! I love your patterns The three things I am grateful for tday: 1) Listening to your podcast!; 2) A stranger smiling to me on the street early in the morning; 3) The book I am reading in the moment (The Vet’s Daughter, by Barbara Comyns). Lots of love from Germany! Winner of the Oracle Shawl Pattern: Alene Mazzuca  1enjoyed my young grandson for an overnight visit and waffles this morning he’s a joy. 2finishing up the string “baby gift for the new grand due next week 3sitting outside a glorious day and knitting my granito There is a KAL going on for Oracle right now, hosted by the Comfy Red Couch Podcast and the Little Bobbins Podcast: The Spirit of Autumn KAL is running on Instagram with the hashtag #SpiritofAutumnKAL Curious Handmade Newsletter Sign Up I'm running the Wildflower Hill Shawl KAL over on the Curious Handmade Ravelry Group! The KAL is running now until the end of October! The Wishmaker Shawl Mini KAL is running until October 5th, so don't forget to post your finished shawls in the FO Thread Arranmore Light from The Fibre Co. Tundra from The Fibre Co. Blacker Yarns Falklands Swan DK Blacker Yarns Pure Gotland DK We are having a giveaway of 3 balls of the fabulous Blacker Yarns Limited Edition Birthday Brushwork yarn so listen to the episode to find out how to enter! Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival Kristy Glass Knits Clio pullover by Elizabeth Doherty Indie Untangled Needles Up AndreSueKnits Legacy Fiber Artz Voolenvine Yarns Hue Loco Jill Draper Makes Stuff Daughter of a Shepherd That's all of our links for this episode! Have a fantastic week, and happy knitting!

On today's show I fill you in on all the fun details of the Curious Handmade Country House Retreat, introduce the new retreat shawl design, and share a few beautiful new patterns I've been stalking, with information on how you can enter a giveaway to win a copy of one for yourself! 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 Arranmore Light by The Fibre Company Today I'm releasing the shawl pattern I created for the retreat, Wildflower Hill The Wildflower Hill Shawl celebrates the beautiful flora of Cumbria’s countryside. Created for the fourth Curious Handmade Country House Retreat, Wildflower Hill was designed to showcase Arranmore Light, a gorgeous DK weight yarn from our retreat sponsor, The Fibre Co. From early spring into the last days of autumn, blossoming wildflowers and herbs are woven into the tapestry of Cumbrian hills. The tiny flecks of colour in this lovely yarn make me think of the scattering of flowers that adorn every corner of the country. Marsh orchids inhabit the peaty lowlands while delicate alpine species cling to the rocky outcrops at the peaks of the fells. Many of these flowers have ancient medical and magical uses, but mostly they are a feast for bees and butterflies, and a glorious sight for anyone with the time to slow down on a stroll and look. This two-colour asymmetrical triangle shawl features bold colour-blocked stripes and a simple lace stitch pattern that recalls the rolling, flower-strewn hills of Cumbria. Warm and cosy but lightweight with a beautiful drape, it is a perfect companion for a windy hill walk at almost any time of year. Norah George Suffolk Socks A Yarn Story Bunkhouse Belle Socks by Julie Waters Sew Sweet Violet So Faded by Andrea Mowery Confetti Pullover by Veera Välimäki Starting Point Shawl by Joji Locatelli Clark Socks by Jaclyn Salem Brooklyn Knitfolk Podcast Malabrigo Sock Oracle Shawl by Kristin Lehrer of Voolenvine Yarngasm Podcast Find out how to enter for a chance to win a gorgeous knitting pattern by listening to the Podcast! That is everything for this episode...I'll talk to you next week, and until then, happy knitting!  

Now that we're back from our Australian holidays and have settled back at home in London, the autumn weather has arrived, bringing with it some ambitious daydreams about sweaters and cables and the wooliest of woolly projects. In today's episode I chat about my visit to the Great London Yarn Crawl, my new fantasy knitting queue, some of the realities of constant design work, and more details about the exciting new retreat I'll be hosting in May in the glorious city of Bath. 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 I have drawn three winners from our Camp Curious Big Participation Thread! Winner of the Maria Elena Bliss project bag, a skein of Australis Sock from Skein Yarn in the Sterling colourway and a Shawl Society enamel pin is madelienewindsor with Post 69 Madeline's new podcast is Kingfisher Knits Podcast Winner of the Prairie Bag Works project bag, a skein of Jumbuck base by Dingo Dyeworks in the Catherine colourway and a Shawl Society enamel pin is shpizl with post 16 Winner of the Danica Studio project bag, a skein of Phyllis Sock by Hue Loco  in the Wood Sprite colourway and a Shawl Society enamel pin is emrubin with post 154 Hue Loco Podcast The Yarn in The City Great London Yarn Crawl Erika Knight Fireflies Rising Shawl The Wool Kitchen Travel Knitter Refuge Knit for Peace Clio pullover by Elizabeth Doherty Rhapsody in Cables by Joji Locatelli Arranmore Light by The Fibre Company Fruity Knitting Podcast interview with Daphne from the Fibre Co Right now I'm deep in the thrilling details of planning our new luxury knitting retreat in Bath, which will go on sale tomorrow. You can read about all the details and get on the VIP mailing list here! That's all our notes for this week. Happy knitting and I'll talk to you again soon!      

I am finally back from my family holiday in Australia, and in this episode I catch you up on all the fun we had, and all the yarn I brought home with me. We're also chatting about the latest pattern release for The Shawl Society Season II, and I reveal a bit more about the spectacular luxury knitting retreat I'm planning right now. 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 Maria Elena Bliss Prairie Bag Works Dingo Dyeworks Skein Yarn It's not too late to join in with the Camp Curious The Big Participation Thread for your chance to win some great prizes before I draw next week. The Yarn in The City Great London Yarn Crawl Firelflies Rising The Wool Kitchen Travel Knitter Refuge Knit for Peace Skein Sisters Hedgehog Fibres Wren and Ollie  One Tree Hill Collection Yarn Rune Shawl Circus Tonic Handmade   Yesterday I released the 5th pattern of Season II: The Wishmaker Shawl Hidden deep in a forest in Yorkshire, not far from a tumbling waterfall, sits a mysterious shelter known as “The Hermitage.” The hollowed out cave is just big enough for one very shy dweller to live tucked away from the rest of the world, surrounded by the whispering of trees and the scurrying of little woodland lives. It must have taken enormous effort to carve a tiny house out of a gigantic boulder in 1790, but someone did it. This astonishing home is mysterious enough, but another surprise awaits. Climb up to the roof and you’ll find two curious chairs hewn from the same rock. Legend says that these are the Wishmaker’s chairs, which will grant your heart’s desire if you take a seat and make a wish in one, and then hop over to sit in the other. It is a beautiful bit of magic concealed in an enchanted corner of the English countryside. Our 5th shawl shares something of the character of the Wishmaker’s chairs: the marriage of work and whimsy, a break from the busy world, and a reminder that wishing and dreaming is an important part of even the quietest existence. Wishmaker is an asymmetrical triangle shawl knit from cosy DK weight yarn. Its rustic textures of garter and eyelet borrow from the natural world, while deep stripes of three colours keep the eye moving across the shawl. It’s the perfect accessory to wrap around yourself for a peaceful wander through the woods in your own company. There is something beautiful and poignant about a hermit’s retreat which features not one, but two Wishmaker’s chairs. Perhaps the maker of the Wishmaker’s chairs wished for something more than solitude. To withdraw from the world in the hopes of being alone, and then carve out a place for a companion to sit may seem strange, but it reminds us of the balance we seek in our own creativity. We create first and foremost for ourselves, but the sharing of the things we make is where the true magic resides. I used two amazing DK weight yarns from Blacker Yarns to create the samples for Wishmaker. Blacker Yarns Gotland DK