Finished pOdcast hat and kickstarter project news

First of all, the podcast hat is finished....

I'm pleased with the result, especially as I spent many hours at the Harrogate knitting and stitching show today. I'd forgotten how warm it gets in there and I dressed for the outside weather. Still, I got what I went for, extra 2.5mm double pointed needles to replace the ones I keep sitting on and breaking! I also got a pattern for a waistcoat and a cord for my interchangeable needles to hold my daughters wedding shawl. I also saw several vendors I was friendly with from previous shows, so it was nice to catch up.

NEWS - ABOUT - KICKSTARTER

I'm currently applying for kickstarter funding to set up knitting and spinning beginner groups to help those with anxiety and depression. You can find out more about it here:      

 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5565008/spinning-a-knitting-yarn

It's a very exciting time, and depending on how funding goes, I hope I will have more news soon. Watch this space...

My podcast hat.

Hi there. This week I am on holiday and suffering from a bad back. So what do you do when this coincides? Well, knit of course!

I can't spin much right now, and I'm hoping my back improves soon as I have fluffy to continue with, but I decided to knit up some fibre that I'd spun from Leading Men Fiber Arts (whose podcast I listen to) in the glacial Colourway. I had spun it up in 4 separate colours and then plied them together.

I got 240 metres of Aran weight yarn from this. I have decided to knit a hat by another favourite podcaster of mine, Laura Linneman from the Knitgirllls podcast. As you can see, the colours are all over the place, but...

It does remind me of the colours of the glacier I climbed in 1982, but that's a story for another time.

I'm in the process of having a rethink of my short and medium term plans for Knatters Knits. I've decided to launch my own yarn label for hand painted British wool. This is in its infancy right now, but watch this space. 

Another project is in the planning stages, and I'll announce that fairly soon, but it's an adjunct to the sales, and is very exciting. More on that next time. 

I've also been participating in a knit along for Woolly Wormhead's latest hat knit along. Hopefully I'll be able to show you my finished article in the next week or so. You can find more out about that project at www.http://www.ravelry.com/groups/woolly-wormheads-hats. I chose to use Titus yarn in the beautiful maroon Colourway from baa ram ewe, particularly as it's made in Yorkshire.