Episode 29: The Do-Over

Yarn in the City

Now that we’re a few weeks into 2016 we’re curious as to how you’re all doing with your resolutions or goals for this year. We’ve also been doing some thinking about our own plans for Yarn in the City this year and had our own thoughts that we wanted to share with you.

Shout outs:

C. C. from the Geeky Girls Podcast.

The Dublin Brooks Hotel Knit Night, who introduced Alli to the beers of Galway Hooker. Best. Brewery. Name. Ever.

What’s Happening:

30th January - Renée Callahan of East London Knit will be teaching Brioche Basics and Brioche Next Steps classes at A Yarn Story in Bath.

30th January - Woolly Wormhead is teaching two classes at Knit With Attitude, a Knitting in the Round Masterclass and her Turning Sideways class.

31st January - there is a Learn to Darn class happening at Wild & Woolly. Participants are encouraged to bring a woolen garment that needs mending and will learn both invisible and decorative techniques by a professional Japanese clothes mender.

4th-7th February – the annual French stitching show L’Aiguille en Fete takes place at the Porte de Versailles in Paris. This show is jammed with all kinds of inspiration!

5th – 7th February – Purlescence is hosting a weekender featuring the KNITSONIK Colourwork and Bespoke Yokes workshops with our good friends Felicity Ford and Brenda Dayne. If you missed Gwlana last fall, Felicity and Brenda are cramming their classes into two full days (and a Friday evening kick off) at Purlescence’s new location in Oxfordshire.

6th - 7th February – Rachel is teaching an Introduction to Drop Spindling and How to Knit a Sexy Sweater class at A Yarn Story.

10th February – It’s the next Late Night Knitty Lock-in of 2016 over at Wild & Woolly. Check out the details on their website.

13th - 14th February – Cécile Balladino is teaching her Eclectic Gipsyland crochet class at Loop. These are the same class but offered on two different days. The class will teach Cécile’s techniques for lace motifs, joining as you go, surface crochet and more. This is not a beginner’s class and you will be expected to already know how to crochet.

20th February – For those of you up north, Karie Westermann is teaching her Two-Handed Colourwork for Fair Isle and Nordic Style Colourwork class at Be Inspired Fibres in Edinburgh.

19th - 21st February – Unravel is happening at Farnham Maltings. We will be there with two stands – a joint Porpoise Fur/Yarn in the City stand where we will be debuting the London Craft Guide! We’ve just found out that our stand will be located in the Barley Room, so we do hope you’ll come and say hello!

26th - 28th February – Joeli’s Kitchen Retreat in Manchester. Featuring classes with Kate Atherley, Karie Westermann, Joeli and other great teachers, as well as a mini marketplace on the Sunday that will include Countess Ablaze.

Giveaway:

Speaking of Unravel – we still have a pair of tickets to giveaway. To enter, leave a comment in the show notes for Episode 28 and let us know what you’re looking forward to seeing at the show. We’ll draw a name on February 1st and announce the winner on the first podcast episode in February. Contest note: this pair of tickets is for a single day’s entry to the show and does not include any travel to Farnham. Good luck!

Save the Date!

We’ve finally figured out the date for this year’s Great London Yarn Crawl,which will be held on Saturday, 10th September. Mark the date in your calendars now and stay tuned for more details this spring!

What we’re working on:

Rachel is working on a sample of the Waterloo Mitts, our pattern from the London Craft Guide, in Eden Cottage Yarns Whitfeld DK. She is also working up her Knit a Sexy Sweater class sample by knitting the Middlefield Pullover by Melissa LaBarre from New England Knits, in Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky. She's finished knitting her Dark & Stormy, but the buttons and grosgrain ribbon are still to be done. She's finished spinning for the first Unravel hat and is almost ready to cast on. The first stage of the project is in her Design Diaries segment on her blog.

Allison has her first FO of 2016 off the needles – the Quaking Aspen shawl by Courtney Kelley. She’s also finished spinning some Porpoise Fur handspun from the Lab Goddess Fibre Club and is working it up into the Grown Up Booties by Ysolda. She is also almost finished with her She’s a Waterfall shawl by Dani Sunshine.

2016 - The Do-Over:

After last episode’s chat about themes for the year and having a focus for this year, we decided that we wanted to come up for one for our year. There are already lot’s of things out about being creative this year, all of which are great. But we were wondering if there was something we could do that would tie in to what Yarn in the City is all about. We also wanted it to be something that anyone could take part in, no matter how big or small, and in whatever way felt right and personal to them.

We’ve been inspired by Calgary, Canada’s mayor Naheed Nenshi, who challenged his council and the citizens of Calgary to do Three Things for their community as a way to increase civic engagement (an overview here). The idea was simple: if there are over a million people in the city of Calgary and every person did three things to make the city better –image how amazing an already great city would be.

When we were thinking about what we wanted to focus on in 2016 we looked back to the things and themes that resonated with us last year. And they were stories of people within our yarn and fibre community doing great stuff that makes it better for everyone. Whether it’s people who are spreading the passion of wool like the Wovember team, or podcasters likeShinybees and Curious Handmade, who demonstrate than knitting podcasts can build community, or show organisers like Jo and Mica who saw a void in their own community and created the Edinburgh Yarn Festival to fill it.

As a community we’re sharing knowledge and learning from each other and asking questions. So this year we want to encourage you to do three things for the world wide yarn and fibre community. Think about what is important to you. Think about what you’re good at. Talk to your friends and figure out how you can make a difference, however small.

Then we’d like you to do those things, and tell us about them on a dedicated Three Things for the yarn and fibre community thread on our Ravelry board, or on our Facebook page. You can even tweet or Instagram at us. Use the hashtag#3thingsforyarnlove so we can see what you're up to and cheer you on! And once you've done three things, do three more, and three more, and three more...

As always, please let us know what you think by tweeting, liking, or loving our posts when you see them go up on Twitter,Facebook and Instagram – or even better, leave a comment in the shownotes, post on our Ravelry board or send us an email at [e-mail].

You can find us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio (and please consider leaving a review for us!), or download us directly from the Yarn in the City website.

Our Knit Night is every Wednesday from 7:00pm to 10:00pm at The Goat on the Rise in Clapham Junction. We'd love to have you join us!

Music credits (all available on NoiseTrade)

Howlin' At Nothing (Live in Denver), S. O. B. - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night SweatsBright Lights and Amplifiers - American OperaLove in the World - Devon Heath