Standing still for a moment...

My October teaching tour is now finished, and I have to thank the folks of Bath and Inverness for their hospitality! I got to see some beautiful parts of the UK and share in the love of knitting techniques, especially that of circles and knitting sideways.

I fell ill over the weekend at Lock Ness Knit fest and I'm still in bed trying to shake this lurgy. I got back to the bus 2 days ago and have barely moved from this spot, and it's confirmed that I need to slow down with teaching, and maybe even grind it to a halt for a while.

Don't get me wrong - I love teaching. I love sharing what I know and seeing that knowledge spark new ideas. But I've been through teacher burnout before, when I used to be a full time teacher in schools, and I promised myself that I wouldn't let that happen again when I started teaching privately.

I don't teach often - during this season I'll have taught a total of 23 x 3hr workshops (or 12 full days) across 6 venues, with a weekend spent at each. That's a lot less than many teach but it's too much for me right now. Given how easily I get exhausted and how painful it is trying to travel with two frozen shoulders, I've decided to not teach at all during Autumn/Winter 2018. Travelling is also difficult with a specialist diet and I get such anxiety about eating out (fear of being dosed again) and it'd be nice not to worry about that, too. After I'd completed my year end accounts I saw that financially, I could afford to teach less and indulge in more creative studio time (which is where most of my income is generated); thanks to Elemental, this year is going to be even better and I'm going to use that to buy myself some time off.

(who am I kidding? I'll still be in the studio, working. But I'll be buying myself some time off from travelling and planning and preparing for workshops)

So, that's my plan. From May 2018 until Spring 2019, I'll not be teaching anywhere. I won't stop teaching altogether; I've retired a few workshops that I no longer enjoy teaching, and added a couple of new ones that I know I'll love. I've updated my T&C to be kinda to me, which was really hard as it feels less kind to small shops, and I'm hoping they'll understand.

Internet access was limited whilst I was travelling and the SquareSpace blog app decided not to work (or at least it keeps crashing as I try and write a new post...) so I'm way behind with emails and stuff to share! Be prepared for an onslaught of posts ;) 

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The photo above is the crown shaping swatch for Circled 2. It's one of my workshop samples for Art of the Knitted Circle and Turning Sideways classes, and will also form part of the new Advanced Kitchener class. I've been thinking about circles a lot lately (more than usual, at least) and I'm really excited to have some studio time in the near future. It feels like such a luxury to have this to look forward to.

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Before I go, my November teaching tour kicks off in just under 4 weeks, and you'll find me at the Devon Sun Yarns retreat in Lyme Regis and at Purlescence for a whole weekend of knitting sideways! See you there? Otherwise, the only other places you'll be able to take a workshop with me for the foreseeable is Edinburgh Yarn Festival and the Woolinn in Dublin.

I'm teaching at Edinburgh Yarn Festival again!

With the workshop sign-ups opening very shortly, I though I'd give you a quick run down of what I'll be teaching? I'm excited to be going back again - it's an incredible well organised event, with so much to do and see (possibly too much?!) and I can't wait to see everyone again.

My classes include An Introduction to Short Row Colourwork (ala Elemental!), An Intoduction to Kitchener Stitch (sensing a theme here?), Advanced Kitchener Stitch (you know you want to) and Hat Design, where we'll design our own custom fit beanie (with or without slouch). This latter class is similar to my Hat Design Masterclass, but as it's only 3hrs instead of 6hrs, we'll focus on specific shapes and structures to ensure everyone achieves a Hat.

And you can find all of my classes on the EYF website!

For the last few years, I've provided professionally printed and edited workshop booklets, so you have something comprehensive to work from and a nice souvenir from the class. I'm a bit shameless showing off about these, so forgive me ;)

it's Mystery Hat time!

whoop whoop!

There are two patterns! Two entirely different patterns.

They cost £3.50 each here, or you can get both for £5.50. On Ravelry they are $5 each or $9 for the pair. The newsletter is going out shortly to let everyone know, but the patterns won't be further discounted so do go ahead and sign up if you're a subscriber! (the patterns are already discounted, and the bundle feature makes them even cheaper if you sign up for both)

This year I've collaborated with two fantastic yarnies - Stolen Stitches and Miss Babs - and each has a thank you offer inside in the Introduction files (this is the first file you'll receive after signing up) - do support these yarnies if you can, and we've allowed plenty of shipping time.

Installment dates are a little different this year:

Pt. 1 – 1st November
Pt. 2 – 8th November
Pt. 3 – 15th November
Pt. 4 - 22nd November
Final pattern release – 29th November

There are 4 installments, not the usual 3, as our Hats are a little different and allow us to work with weekly challenges. There's a mix of construction methods, a mix of stitch patterns, and a mix of yarns.

Hat A is a slouchy beanie, but can be made as a regular beanie - notes will be included.

Hat B is also a slouchy beanie, but not the same shape as Hat A, and there are notes for altering this one, too. If you're thinking more beret like, Hat B is the one for you.

We've already for a discussion thread going so do pop over there with any questions! As always, every inch of help is available via the forum, and I won't be able to answer questions via other avenues - thanks for your understanding :)

See you there?

Another Hat in need of a name!

You'd think I have a store of suitable names, right? I used to have, in my old phone, before it died...

You may have seen this one over on Instagram, when I shared a shot straight after the shoot. I was so pleased with how these photos came out that I just popped one straight up, unedited.

We went with a different kind of styling with these shots, and I think it worked - the formal jacket with it's strong collar and harsh shoulders isn't something I'd normally use, but I'd been given this jacket and wanted to try it somewhere. Molly suits the classic look well, and especially suits smarter suit-like jackets. It's not a style I want to use too often, but I think we pulled it off OK (there are something other photos, of something Mystery, where the jacket looks even better)

This Hat is knit sideways, using a garter stitch lace pattern and all the short row shaping incorporated. It's an awful lot simpler to knit than it looks! When the pattern is published - end of October - I'll share more about the details but I will say it's knit in Miss Bab's Yummy 3-ply and it makes good use of the skein.

This Hat is packed FULL of texture! That stitch pattern really adds dimension and makes the most of the yarn and stitch properties.

Want to fire away with name suggestions? There's a copy of the pattern in it for you, and a very big thank you from me :)

ps/ please leave comments on this post, not elsewhere around the internet - it makes it much easier for me to keep track! And don't forget to leave your email addy in the relevant field so i can let you know you've won. ta!

pps/ don't forget to sign up to my newsletter to hear when it will be released! You can also sign up at Miss Babs too, as there may be a mention from them :)

5 years owned

It's 5 years since the Princess decided that our bus was going to be her home.

We were happy sharing the vagabond and communal cats; we didn't want a cat of our own again for so many reasons but this lady changed all of that for us. 

After she'd been with us for about 5 or 6 weeks, when we knew she was here to stay, I wrote this post back in 2012 to introduce her:

We've been adopted

She's not the mature cat we thought she was - she's barely aged or changed that much. We've still no idea where she came from, what her previous life was like or how old she might be. She's been slow to trust humans and fully fit into the family pet role - it was well over a year before she'd even stay sitting on the sofa when Tom and Aran came into the bus - but just a few weeks ago she started cuddling up on my lap and I could not have been happier.

She's very comfortable in her territory; she'll not wander outside of her patch but she'll defend it with all her might, even from dogs. Yet for such a settled, home-bound cat, she seems to tolerate us wandering..  she's got used to the idea that we always come back. The community help us by keeping an eye on her when we're not there, and keeping her well fed and watered.

And she's got quite the fan club over on Instagram.

Here's to another 5 years, Princess Fi. Thank you for gracing us with your presence and for making our lives that much brighter.