HRYC

Lucky us, we've had visits from both Tracee of Maude & Me and Matt of Wabi Sabi Fibres in the last 2 days, and ohhhhh....such beautiful colours!

Maude & Me

Maude & Me

Maude & Me

(We love that some of the Maude & Me labels feature Maude the cat!)

Maude & Me

Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi

A few weeks before heading to the land of tea and scones, Michaela got in touch to organise the crazy knitting rabble that formed the Knit Nation crew. Michaela is one supremely organised lady. We had a colour coded spreadsheet, work times and jobs all assigned to us well in advance. Being a process geek, I had a suspicion she would be my kind of person.

Turns out I was right.

We got on splendidly, and spent lots of time chatting about knitting shiz. (The first thing we talked about was the fact her cat had, just that morning, peed on her knitting bag.) Micheala has a very science based background - which going by the number of knitwear designers with a similar foundation should lead to great things.

Having not done my research (ahem), I was oblivious to the fact Michaela has been referred to by the BBC as a ‘fashion expert’. Going by the fantastic shoes gracing her feet, and the amazing work she has done as part of the MODO Fashion Society, the reference seems entirely justified.

Michaela’s 2011 knitwear collection has me all aflutter. I would rather like to own (or knit) her ‘Falling Down’ dress. This is what modern hand knits should be - delicate, strong (a theme I’m going to keep coming back to) and with real sass.

Take a look at her ‘Koho’ pattern (above) - one that admittedly I would never consider knitting. Then I saw the construction schematic. YES PLEASE. There is nothing that stokes my knitting fire like interesting construction. Not only that, Koho doesn’t say ‘hi, i’m a knitted vest.’ More like ‘Hi, there’s every chance I was purchased from a high end fashion store. I can be worn with sexy as hell skinny jeans and kick ass boots.’

I really can’t wait to see what Michaela comes up with next.

(PS - all images from Michaela's website - click on them for more info x)

Seeing as my brain is still quite mushy from only being back for 24 hours, here are a few pics from the last few weeks:

(it was pretty freaking incredible as far as trips overseas go!)

Coraline in spectacular gold on Ysolda's sample rack

A fabulous coffee and plastic yarn from Prick Your Finger

Best cupcake of my entire life thanks to Sandy

k1 yarns, Edinburgh

Promise for fuller, interesting posts over the next couple of weeks! x

We have a new winter workshop schedule all ready to roll - pop over to the workshop page to have a nosey, and flick Tash an email if you would like to join in the fun!

We're hosting classes covering everything from lace to cables to socks - the perfect opportunity to learn something new and give yourself a wee push.

xx Tash

Finally, Ysolda Teague's new book Little Red in the City has arrived!

We've been waiting on this for ages, and so a very excited Tash rushed the boxes from the post office to the shop mere hours before leaving for London. In such a rush that she didn't even have time to open a box and nab one for herself.

It is worth the patience! There is a comprehensive section on sizing and adjusting patterns to fit you perfectly. One of our favorite things though is the incredible size range covered in each pattern. From the itty bitty teeny tiny girl to the lady with more to love, we're certain you will find a pattern that not only will fit well but be flattering too.

This first shipment of books is available at the excellent price of $40, however once we're out of this batch and a new lot arrives its going to be a wee bit more.

So, head on down to the shop and grab yourself a copy.

Also in the shop this week will be our crazy huge shipment of knit pro and, all going well, more of the beautiful Stansborough Mythral.

Have a great week! Hopefully there will a post or two about knit nation over the next few days - wifi dependent. xx