Just one more!

With all the excitement of meeting our awesome volunteers and getting the goody bags ready for this weekend we almost forgot to tell you about one more wonderful door prize for our after-party!

Our good friend Kathleen Lawton-Trask loves knitting at the movies and has put together a fantastic collection of knits inspired by the moving image in her new book, Silver Screen Knits - due out imminently!

Kathleen has pulled together an incredible group of designers for this book including Ann Weaver, Veera Valimaki, Karida Collins and Danielle Romanetti. The patterns take their inspiration from various classic films but modernly-styled photographs and yarn suggestions show how these pieces are truly timeless. There's even a couple of classics for the guys!

L to R: Meryl Streep Chevron Lace Cardigan, Katherine Hepburn Fancy Trouser Socks, Faye Dunaway Traveling Top

Kathleen (who has a sweater in Deep Fall 2013 issue of Knitty), also makes a contribution with her Marilyn Monroe Cables Sweater. 

Cozy cables for comforting pre-winter knitting

The book, available in print or as a download will be available in late-September but TWO lucky winners on Saturday will win download copies for their digital knitting libraries! Kathleen will also be joining us on the day on the Purple route, so be sure to say hello, or knit with her over a pint at the after-party!

See you Saturday!

Ready, steady...go!

All route information is now available! You can find links to pdf downloads of route details on the Routes page, but we'll save you a click and give them here are as well:

Blue Route
Green Route
Orange Route
Purple Route
Red Route

Details regarding starting points and meeting times are included. The shops know when you're coming, and are look forward to your visit. You've got a fantastic group of volunteer Team Captains who will be leading you on your yarny adventure. And the clock is ticking down...

We hope you're all getting excited - it's going to be a great day! See you all on Saturday...

The newest yarnie on the block

Here we are, one week out from the Great London Yarn Crawl, and we've got one last sponsor to tell you about. 

Linda is a brand new voice on the UK yarn dyeing scene, and already she's making a big splash. Colour has always been a huge part of her life. As a child, she was the always the one elbow-deep in the finger paints, glorying at the amazing way colours would mix. As an adult, she made the move from Canada to London for a masters degree in Fine Art Painting at Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2006.

In 2013, she found the perfect combination - mixing subtle, glowing paint glazes with her steadily growing passion for knitting and all things yarn-y. She initially began dyeing for her own projects but with repeated requests for custom colours this quickly grew into dyeing yarn for others. And at the beginning of this month, she opened her own shop - Kettle Yarn Co. - and hasn't looked back since.

Linda's colours are amazing - rich, luscious, luxurious and captivating are adjectives that spring to mind. And she stocks an amazing collection of luxury bases sourced from British mills, with fibers that range from Bluefaced Leicester to alpaca to silk to camel. Yarn crawlers are going to find an extra special sample of one of Linda's buttery soft luxury yarns in their goody bags. She's also one of our fabulous Team Captains, so those of you on the Orange Route will have a chance to pick her brains to your hearts content.

Linda is offering GLYC-ers a special 15% discount off their first order until the end of October if they sign up to the mailing list - just send her a message from the Kettle Yarn Co. Etsy shop and include your email and your route to get your discount code.

You can find Linda online at her blog, From the Purlside, and on Ravelry, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. And a special huge thanks to Linda for her support - she was the first person we approached about volunteering, and her enthusiasm has been unbelievable. 

We've got one week to go to the event, and we hope you are all getting excited - we are! See you soon.

Gorgeous accessory knits from Scotland

The first pattern of Ysolda's that I ever saw was also, coincidentally, the cover pattern from the first issue of Knitty I ever discovered - Arisaig from Knitty Fall 2005. I fell in love with this sweater - the delicate lace, the deep ribbing at the waist, the contrasting edging and the long ties...even more then the sweater, I loved the story of her knitting grandfather, and of her knitting this sweater with yarn that she inherited from his stash.

The elements that characterise Ysolda's designs - quirky, unexpected, detailed, with a sense of history - have carried through her vast portfolio of self-published designs, as well as the patterns she's contributed to Knitty.com, Twist Collective, and numerous books.

When we contacted Ysolda about being a sponsor of GLYC 2013, she enthusiastically agreed, and has sent us a signed copy of her self-published "Whimsical Little Knits 3".

This collection of nine accessory patterns runs the gamut from socks to hats to shawls to mittens. There's even a toy robot to knit.

My current favorite is Oxidize, a hat with raised knit columns winding across a reverse stockinette background that can be done in one or two colors. I desperately want to knit this in silver grey and charcoal for someone for Christmas...

Many thanks to Ysolda and her team for their contribution to the GLYC after party prize pile! We can't wait to send all these lovelies home with the lucky winners!

A little bit of Max's World is coming to the GLYC

Artist Max Alexander of Max's World takes her knitting to a whole other level - turning it into jewellery, and sculptures and even award-winning knitted stop-motion animations that she calls knitimations.

A graduate of the Camberwell College of Arts in London where she studied sculpture, Max enjoys the creativity that comes from taking yarn and a set of needles and making something that wasn't there before - just like the rest of us!

Max's famous knitting octopus!

While some of Max's projects have a darker twist (like a severed demon's head!), most of her projects embrace a sweetness of spirit and unexpected whimsy that are sure to bring a smile. Her most popular? A knitted octopus that made the rounds of several blogs a few years back and is now available as a pattern on Ravelry.

We're very grateful that Max got in touch when she heard about the Great London Yarn Crawl and offered some of her wonderful creations as door prizes for our after party. 

Two lucky winners will win one of Max's jewellery creations, along with a notecard of the knitting octopus!

The Brooch: For the Fashionable Knitter

Who says knitters can't wear bling?

We also have some coupons for 10% off your next order in Max's online shop. There are only 20 though, so they'll be randomly tucked into the goody bags. Make sure to see if you're one of the lucky ones to find one!

GLYC Update

Well, it was a whirlwind weekend at GLYC headquarters here in SW London. After much discussion and debate, we decided to cancel the Yellow Route, as it was severely undersubscribed. Those Yarn Crawlers very graciously agreed to switch to other routes, so we ended up with four routes more-or-less sold out, and one route two thirds filled. We are thrilled that there's been such a great response, and we are really looking forward to a fabulous day out!

Upcoming this week and next: more details will be posted here about the rest of our fantastic sponsors. We will also be posting the details of the timings of the routes and start-up meeting places next week,so stay tuned. Finally, this weekend we will be meeting up with all the volunteers to go over how things will run on the day, and get everyone psyched up for some fabulous enabling!

There's lots of chatter going on the Ravelry boards for each team, so go over and join in the conversation. There's some serious stash enhancement in store for some of our crawlers - they have grand plans!

A custom colorway for the GLYC

One of our most recent yarn prize sponsors is the lovely Tanja, the dyer behind The Knitting Swede.

Tanja grew up in Sweden, but has been living in the UK since 1996. She dyes beautiful tonal semi-solids, bright variegated blends and fantastic gradients that slide gently from one color to the next. At the moment, most of the yarns in her shop are BFL, one of my all time favorite fibers. 

When Tanja responded to our initial email, she let slip that she had been inspired to dye up a special colorway just for the GLYC - she's offering up this skein as a door prize.

 In addition to this gorgeous skein of yarn, she is also donating a copy of her gorgeous shawl pattern, Rubies and Steel.

The GLYC colorway would be perfect for the accent color in this shawl, right?

Many thanks to Tanja for her generosity - she's said she might be able to join us at the after party on Saturday at The Mulberry Bush, and you'll be able to talk to her about her gorgeous yarns in person.

Handmade in the UK - a newcomer's romantic view

Emily Wessel is one half of Tin Can Knits – the modern knit design company that brought you the Pop Blanket, Antler Cardigan, and loves to size their adorable seamless sweaters from baby all the way up to adult 4XL!

 

Two years ago, Emily arrived in the UK, on a quest for adventure with a plan to grow her knit design company from a part time pursuit to a full time career.  Adventure (and plenty of late nights!) ensued - she is now married to an adorable Scot, has a kitten and a lovely home office, and has published four books: 9 Months of Knitting, Pacific Knits, Great White North, and most recently Handmade in the UK.

Handmade in the UK is a very special collection – it features yarns from amazing UK indie dyers including Juno Fibre Arts, The Uncommon Thread, Old Maiden Aunt, and Skein Queen, and sketches of the inspiring cityscapes and landscapes that Emily loves in her new home.  The lace designs are complex, organic, and delicious to knit, but also wearable and elegant.

As a newbie to the UK, Emily is still exploring the knitting and design scene, and will be joining in on the Great London Yarn Crawl – You'll see her on the Orange Route, or at the pub afterwards!  Be sure to introduce yourself and say hello (she's happy to sign books!). You can find Tin Can Knits books and patterns at Loop and at other knit shops.

Each Yarn Crawl goody bag includes a code for a free copy of either the Antler Cardigan or Lush Cardigan pattern.  And if you join us in the pub for the draw, you have the chance to win one of 3 copies of Handmade in the UK!

Uncommon mini skeins from The Uncommon Thread

Our second Brighton-based mini skein donating yarnie is The Uncommon Thread. Ce's yarns are spectacular, complex color treats. Those of you who go to loop on a regular basis may have seen their collection of The Uncommon Thread's yarns - every time I go in I find myself getting stuck petting the skeins for untold minutes.

A hat knit by Rachel and modeled by Allison in The Uncommon Thread BFL light DK

Ce has generously donated mini skeins in three of her bases: Uncommon Everyday (100% superwash merino), Merino Fingering (also 100% superwash merino) and Silky Merino Fingering (75% superwash merino/25% mulberry silk). The colors showcase the range of her color palette - from the cool Plata, to the rich shades of Seascape to the vibrant and o-so-aptly-named Pow!

We are so excited to have The Uncommon Thread on board as a sponsor, and for those of you unfamiliar with this indie dyer, we hope we've introduced you to a new addiction! You can find The Uncommon Thread on their website, on Ravelry, on Facebook and on Twitter. Thanks so much Ce for your generosity!

Mini skein madness from Lioness Arts

The goody bag goodies are starting to mount up, and we think you're going to be excited to see what's included. We're going to keep some of the details a surprise, but we've been lucky enough to get a couple of local-ish (as in, Brighton-based) independent yarn dyers on board with samples of their gorgeous yarns. Our first mini skein contributor is Lioness Arts.

When we reached out to Dani about potential sharing some of her lovely colorways with GLYC participants, she responded enthusiastically, with mini skeins and with a pattern that uses small amounts of yarn - both will be in the goody bags on the 21st of September!

There's a Lioness Arts group on Ravelry where you can see lots of projects using her gorgeous yarns, and you can see more of her dyepot magic in her Etsy shop sales listings. We are thrilled to have Lioness Arts on board as a sponsor, and those of you on the Blue Route will be able to pick Dani's brain in person as she's joining us for the day. Thanks so much Dani, and we'll see you in a couple of weeks!

PS - Don't forget, there are only a few days left to get your tickets. Registration closes at midnight this coming Saturday, and we don't want you miss out! Get your tickets now.

Another GLYC Update!!

Is everyone getting ready to pet some yummy yarn? We know we sure are...

Quick reminder that this is the final week to get your tickets to the inaugural Great London Yarn Crawl! Registration closes on Saturday, 7 September at midnight!

Two-thirds of the event's tickets are already gone - with half of our routes pretty much sold out. Each of the Green, Orange, and Purple routes only have one ticket left on each!

Luckily, the Blue and Red routes are still only half full and there's lots of room on the Yellow route.

Next week we'll be posting info here on the blog (as well as on our Ravelry group and Facebook page) your meeting point info and times! For right now (and your planning purposes) you should give yourself enough time to get to the vicinity of first shop on your route about 20 minutes before the official start time for your route:

Red and Blue routes: Meeting time 10:00am (start time at 10:15am)
Green and Orange routes: Meeting time 10:15am (start time at 10:30am)
Purple and Yellow routes: Meeting time at 10:45am (start time at 11:00am)

If you're thinking about joining us "at the last minute", you'll miss out! We've got a lot to organise once ticket sales are done (hello, goody bags!), so once registration closes, that's it!

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

PomPom Quarterly - Handmade Chic

Do you love pompoms as much as I do? There's something inherently fun about these little yarn-y blobs of colour that just add a little bit of extra cheerfulness to whatever they're adorning.

So when I got my first issue of PomPom Quarterly before moving to London (their inaugural issue as it turns out!), I was immediately smitten. Their patterns are modern but styled with a vintage twist and the stunning photography shows them off beautifully. 

Those green mittens from the latest issue? Yep, totally knitting myself a pair.

In additional to the drool-worthy knits and photography, PomPom also features a lovely article or two. My recent favourite? A behind-the-scenes at John Arbon Textiles by Canadian transplant Emily Foden in the summer issue. Then of course there's always something extra - like the recipe for tea cakes or instructions for making a hand-bound journal that appeared in the spring issue. And each print copy also features a unique Ravelry download code. Perfect!

PomPom Quarterly are very generously donating a year's subscription to one lucky winner at the after-party for the Great London Yarn Craw. All subscribers of the magazine receive their issue beautifully wrapped with a handwritten note. Something wonderful to look forward to in your mailbox!

Admission to the after-party and your chance to win this fabulous prize is only possible with your ticket to the GLYC, so why not join us for a day out of yarn-y fun? This is your last week to get tickets, so don't delay - registration closes on Saturday, 7 September at midnight!