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Category Archive: knitting events

Cloudy Apples – Introducing E-project by Jen Arnall-Culliford & Kyoko Nakayoshi

September 13th, 2012

September used to be a month of dread for me as a child because the school starts and I had to say goodbye to my family and come back to my boarding school. Now I love September because it is the beginning of knitting season!! No going back!

What’s especially exciting is that I can now finally talk about what Jen Arnall-Culliford and I have been doing! It’s called Cloudy Apples and we have been designing knitted accessory patterns as e-projects. It’s been absolutely fantastic and I love working with her.

Happy September!

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Stitch & Craft Show 2012 at Olympia Report

March 19th, 2012

I spent a day with The Knitter team at The Knitter & Simply Knitting stand last Sunday at Stitch & Craft Show 2012 in Olympia!

My job was to work along with The Knitter team (Rosee Woodland, Jen Storey and Miriam McDonald) as a part of expert knitter team (!) and to help visitors with any knitting queries. I have been to several shows in London but this one was the first so I was really looking forward to seeing what it would be like!

The show was bigger than expected. It wasn’t all knitting. There were areas for sewing, embroidery, quilting. One amazing thing there was the quilt display. There were hundreds of them and they were all about London Olympics!

The Knitter stand was nice. There was a large wooden table and chairs as well as sofa to chill out and knit. We all had our own knitting project. People came in and out chatting with us or asking about some techniques etc. It was pure knitting and I loved every moment!

There were many companies who had their stand. I kept going to say hi to Joanna Osborne, one of the authors of Best in Show Knit Your Own Cat – an AMAZING Book! I got the book finally as well as a kit to knit a ginger cat. The book was also signed by her .

Also there was Hooplayarn, who specialises in chunky fabric yarn (500g cone). They are so cool. I will blog about the company again in detail.

I was also in a mood of a yarn on the day and I got a gorgeous yarn from Artisan Yarn. Anne uses natural dyes to create lovely colourways for her luxury fibre. They were so beautiful and I had a difficulty choosing which one to get – But I chose the baby camel and silk blend

Martin Storey and Sarah Hatton were also doing the book signing. I was too shy to walk to them tell them how much I love them! BUT towards the end of the show, Martin walked towards us and got us some gift from Rowan. I was SO NERVOUS and SHY but had to tell him how amazing his designs are and I am a big fan (LOL!). He is such a lovely person and I am so glad that I did! Next time I will say hello to Sarah too!

So I had a wonderful time. It was so nice to spend a day and got to know The Knitter & Simply Knitting team. They are extremely knowlegeable and passionate about their work. I hope those who visited the stand was able to learn more about knitting. I also hope that I will be able to do more of the show for The Knitter. If you want to see more pictures, there are more on my facebook page.

So now what’s my plan for the week? Well, I am working of several accessory designs this week – all for Autumn and Winter collection!

Have a fab week!

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Knitting & Stitching Show @ Alexandra Palace 2011 Report

October 13th, 2011

For those who have visited this year’s Ally Pally, have you started casting on for the season? Last week as the knitters’ long-waited Knitting & Stitching Show in London. It’s been the 5th year for me and every year is different.

I think this year was not one of the best. Last year had more going on. There were however, quite a few new discoveries and I want to talk about it today

The first thing I have learnt was never to buy anything that you can buy elsewhere at the show. For example, I bought OttLite lamp so that I can see better when I knit at night. I knew I could buy the same thing on Amazon but didn’t check the price. I later checked at home and the price on amazon was £50 cheaper. I think I got conned. I will never do that again.

Now the rest is all good news: Our favourite of the day was Sit Kneel Chairs. This is a small family-run company and make kneel chairs for back and better posture. Everything is hand-made using sustainable Ash wood and you can choose the fabric. It’s fo comfortable.

Sit Kneel Chairs

We have also seen a new stall. It’s called merchant & Mills. They sell sewing notions and pattern-making stuff. It’s stylish and I liked it.

Merchant & Mills

Of course, The Knitter magazine / Simply Knitting stall. Many people subscribed on the day and it was fantastic because I do think subscription is worth it.

Lots of people subscribed on the day.

Many also brought knitted squares for Refugee charity knitting project

How fabulous are they?

It was great to see Fyberspates too. Their yarn is gorgeous. Mary got a skein

Fyberspates sparkly yarn. I so want to knit something with it.

And Jamieson’s of Shetland. There were loads of people around the area which is good too.

New shade cards are coming out next month for Heather and Marl.

It was also nice to see a Japanese knitting & crochet notion brand called Tulip. They were doing some demonstration on crochet on a jumbo knitting needle.

Crochet and knitting notion brand Tulip from Japan.

Lots of new publications but one which drew my attention was the “Stitch London” book. I thought it was really lovely. Also IKnit London was there. They had a book there which I was really interested in, but we just didn’t have time!!!!

Some more photos of the day

Colourful roving for felters.

Jumbo knit - a couple of stalls were there. This one had circular needles!

Super cute crochet plush. Amazing that someone can actually think of a pattern for these amazing creatures.

Also soap making was new this year. I would love to try it.

Lots of knitting stuff going on at the moment. Make sure you keep you hands moving!

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Knit Nation London 2011 Report

July 18th, 2011

Hello! Hope you all had a great weekend. I went to Knit Nation with Mary this weekend. The weather in London was very strange (sudden burst or rain and then sunny) but the event was so inspiring that it didn’t matter at all.

Lots of knitting-related photos today. I loved all the stands there. Also it was so nice to meet and make new knitting friends! There were many great stands and designers including Loop London (OMG they had amazing yarns BTW) and Ysolda. I spoke to Alice who is the organiser for this event. She said that Knit Nation might not happen next year mainly due to Olympics but will resume from 2013. So I was very lucky to be able to attend to the even this year.

There were so many amazing stands and I could not put all of them. So here are selected fun-knit-images. All images can be clicked and you will go to their website.

Gorgeous shades and quality of yarn. I loved their contry-chic display.

Helen from Crossway Patch showed me how to dye a skein of yarn. I learnt so much from her on Saturday. She wrote a book called Dye One Knit One which shows you exactly how to dye a yarn so that it would knit up the way you want.

Helen wrote a book called "Dye one Knit one" which shows you exactly how to dye a yarn so that it would knit up the way you want.

Such amazing colours!

Walking further down, there was Jeanette Sloan Designs. Lovely knitting patterns and yarns!

Sweet selection of shades. It felt like I was in the magical English garden. Juno Fibre Arts.

Naturally dyed yarn from Reinassance Dying. They had this really cute kit with mini skeins to make crochet or knitted shawl.

Beautiful original knitting needles from The Little Knitting Company. I am waiting for them to re-stock Namaste knitting bags.

So pretty! Liberty tapes from Selvage.

Fabulous Natural Dye Stuio. They dye all their yarn in the most environmentally-friendly manner. It’s very difficult to get the beautiful colours with natural dyes but Amanda has conquered this challenge and her yarns are gorgeous!

Fabulous colouration. All from Natural Dye Studio. Lovely colourway. All from Natural Dye Studio.

If you are looking for rustic and environmentally friendly yarn directly from a farm, check out Well Manor Farm. A great British wool that is fun to knit with.

For a serious fashion inspiration for knitted garment, you have to check out Tiwsted Angle. Annyal subscription is £9 a year and you get a really great information about the knitting industry. I read three issues which I picked up on the day and they are all very good.

Two more things (but I did not take photos!). If you are a CAT LOVER (which I am), you would be soooooo happy and amazed to see a new book called Best in Show: Knit Your Own Cat. So far, I could not find any great knitting pattern book to knit realistic and cool cats. But this is THE ONE to have. I am so stupid because I forgot to pre-order it at the show…

Also, if you pattern your own knitting designs like I do, check out Cathy Scott’s Stitch Mastery. It’s so clever and useful. Next month there will be a Mac version so I am totally getting it

Phew, so much knitting, so much fun!

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Fyberspates’ “The Scrumptious Collection” Launch Party & Book Review

May 31st, 2011

Have you knitted with Fyberspates’ Scrumptious yarn yet? You won’t regret it! Last Saturday, Mary and I attended Fyberspates’ Scrumptious Collection Launch party.

The Scrumptious Collection Vol.1

The party was held at Dancing Hen’s Studio. When we arrived, there were already many people there. There were people from The Knitter magazine and many accomplished knitters who I so wanted to meet for a long time! It was truly an amazing day for me.

Jeni, the person behind Fyberspates.

It was lovely to meet Jeni. She is so nice and is the kind of person who is really fun to chat with. And of course she is passionate about her yarn.

Challow - designed by Jen Hewlett

This pair of gloes are so well-thought design. I tried it on at the party and it felt so nice.

Hinksey - designed by Lily France

There are 20 patterns in the book; 4 patterns each for lace, 4ply, dk, aran and chunky weight. Usually if I find a couple of patterns that I like in a book, that is considered as a good book (a bit like a music album). I was so impressed to find many designs that I would definitely knit in this pattern. I guarantee you would love the book.

Arncott - designed by Jen Arnall-Culliford

The designs are feminine, yet not too girly. I could see they were all carefully chosen and designed for knit-ability, wear-ability and practicality.

Alvescot - designed by Jen Hewlett

I love the fact that the book is created by people who are all passionate about knitting. The patterns are all well written and Technical Editing was carried out by Jen Arnall Culliford (JenACKnitwear) who also designed some of the garment and is a pro.

I tried some of the garments and fell in love with them.

Hethe - designed by Judy Furlong

Tirrold - designed by Jen Arnall-Culliford

So inspirational and thank you for such a wonderful day!! Happy knit week!

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Knitting & Stitching Show London – Report

October 11th, 2010

Hope you had a great weekend! This year’s Knitting & Stitching show was absolutely amazing. It was busier and there were lots more exhibitors at the venue.

I arrived 10am on the dot and there was already a long queue at the car park. By 10.30am Mary and I had to queue at the entrance to get in! The first place for me to go was of course, Jamieson’s of Shetland. I worked so hard for getting the patterns ready so was soooooo proud to see my patterns made into kits. They were so beautiful!

Cotton & Cloud patterns made into kits!

Sample garments. There will be new ones in my shop soon.

So happy to see many people interested in the patterns.

There were loads of new exhibitors this year. Many of them were really good.

Wonderful Scottish yarns from JC Rennie. There were amazingly wonderful cashemere tweed yarns. I love them!

When I saw "Koigu", I was soooo happy! I have been waiting for this day to see Koigu in the UK

I spent literally 30 min chatting with the Taia from Koigu about hand-painted yarns and how their company evolved.

There were many not just yarn companies…

So Crea Stitch from France. They had handmade buttons... Soooo pretty

Amazing hats from Deidre Hawken

Lots of cuteness...

Other great exhibitors included:

Mrs. Moon – Yarn and haberdashery

Black Hills Yarns – Specialising in yarns from small UK producers

Purl Alpaca Designs – Lovely knitting patterns and alpaca yarn

Sarah Kerry – Super cool biscuits cushions and accessories. I want them in my new place! She has a market stallk in Greenwich

The Yarn Store – As it says (LOL)! Lots of lovely yarn there.

Les Designs – Gorgeous embroidery kits available. I think I mentioned this shop last year. I really want to make something out of their kit.

I would highly recommend checking their websites. So… what did I buy? I bought 4 skeins of Koigu yarns to make a nice baby cardigan for my niece. I also bought a quilt (!) kit of Hungry Catterpillar (though I won’t open it for a while until I am good at quilting).

Can’t wait to start a new project!!

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Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace London – Report

October 13th, 2009

This is the fifth year that I have been to the knitting and stitching show in London (second year to go with Mary ). This year was busier than the last one which is a good news as knitting seem to be coming back again. We arrived at the venue exactly the same time as the last year but we had to queue for a long time to park. By the time we got into the building (it was only half an hour after the door opened) there were already some crowds of knitting enthusiasts walking around each booth.

My babies at the Jamieson's stand! yay :D

My patterns at the Jamieson's stand! yay

The first place we headed was, of course, the Jamieson’s of Shetland. I had to drop off the kit. I was able to see my “babies” on the show stand and I was so proud and happy. Jamieson so super kindly displayed my kit on the front table and everyone was checking it out.

We then checked out EVERY SINGLE booth. There were new companies, new products, new everything! So here are some of our favourites:

Loop – The own brand new baby cardigan kit. It’s so new so I couldn’t see it on their site yet. They use blue sky alpaca yarn… mmm yum.

Buffalo Gold Premium Fibers – Amazingly lush and soft buffalo yarns. I wanted to get some lace yarns but they were all sold out!

Polar Knit – Another amazing fun yarn made of fleece materials. Perfect for making slippers.

I also saw my old boss at Rowan. It was so nice to see her again. I didn’t realise she has written SO MANY books (BTW I realised I had one of her books!!!! It is an amazing book for all knitters). She has knitted for major movies like Harry Potter etc. I don’t know how she manage to organise her schedule. Well done Sharon!

So here are some photos of the day. I think you will like the knitted fish…

Knitted fish... They are so cute!

Knitted rats... they are living under the ship on the shore.

The mermaid knitted dress. How excellent is this?

It was such a wonderful time. I felt exhausted but with full of ideas and energy. …:D I am already looking forward to the next year!

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So this is Christmas…

December 19th, 2008

I can’t get over how quickly this year went. Many things happened craft-wise and I enjoyed every minute of it… and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone (that is you who is reading my blog! ) for supports, encouragements and inspirations throughout the year. I couldn’t have done it without you.
W and I are not doing much during this holiday except spending time with families. There is no plan for the New Year so I might try to make some Japanese Osechi New Year’s meal….
There are quite few Christmas knitting I completed and would love to post on this blog but just in case any of my friends and family see them I will post after Christmas (I promise).
Anyway….Have a good one!

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WeMake London Christmas

December 7th, 2008

This is why I usually avoid going into central London during Christmas period….
But it was totally worth it today. We visited WeMake London Craft Fair in Tottenham Court Road….
… to support and say hello to Mary. She and Grace had a table called Scrublicious selling gorgeous and the yummiest cakes and sweets.
I have never had such nice cupcakes, carrot cakes, cheese cakes and chocolate cakes (yes W and I ate them all) for SUUUCH a long time. I mean, look at these yummy things!
My favourite was the “green tea cup cake”.
I have to say, there were lots of really good crafters there. I was impressed with all of them. I bought a hand embroidered T-shirts from My Mums a Hippie for my sister’s BD present.

I have now finished with my Christmas gifts for friends and family, so I am not going back to the sea of people again for a while.

Back to my old craft crib…

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Knitting and Stitching Show 2008 at Alexandra Palace

October 13th, 2008

Mary and I went to Ally Pally on Saturday. The weather was nice and we had a picnic outside the palace. We had a fantastic day, I really enjoyed it. It was the day that we both did not knit, but saw a lot of knitting stuff… like this giant circular knitting needle..
and this amazing Sanguhar glove… I bet it would take years to knit this.
There were more shop stands and a lot more happening than last year. We walked every single stands, chatting, discovering, sometimes we had to be pulled out of the crowd by each other to prevent from being squashed and to spend too much money!!! (we had a set budget and we kept it under).

I have selected few shops I came across. I would say that these are our favorite, and highly recommended checking them out!
Scandinavian Knitting Design – This is a web-based shop specializing in Scandinavian knitting. I fell in love with Kauni effect yarn. It is a MUST! I want to knit either a great lacy shawl or a sweater out this yarn.

Les-Designs – Beautiful artistic embroidery. You can get books, kits and supply from here. We fell in love with this amazing chicken and bugs. I was nearly sucked into this huge black hole into the world of embroidery but thanks to Mary I am still sane.

The Old Book Shop – Where you can get antique knitting and sewing books. For those who love old knitting patterns and books, this is a must.

Clothkits (photo below) – This one is for dressmakers. They sell funky printed fabrics and kits to make clothes. Their website is very good too. When my niece and nephew are a little bigger, I will make something from here.
So what did I get (I have been so busy and I still haven’t taken photos of what I bought)?
I bought two books from Sublime yarns. Really wonderful patterns. Great yarn company. I am currently knitting with organic merino DK. More on this yarn in later post.
Addi turbo circular needles 100cm (2.5mm and 2mm). Thinking of knitting a long alpine pattern socks for myself..
Yarn forward magazine issue 13. I fell in love with the exclusive Martin Storey cable sweater. Something for Wesley in future. A really nice magazine (there is a sewing version too).