The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast (Jo Milmine)

We're welcoming Linda Lencovic of Kettle Yarn Co to the podcast to tell her story and introduce us to the Boardwalk Collection. Linda is based on the South Coast of England and specialises in glorious colourways on yarns that are extensively wear tested, for those who believe in fashion that lasts.

This episode of the Shinybees podcast is sponsored by Yarn In The City. Yarn In The City creates experiential, yarn-centric events for knitters and makers, designed to bring people together through a shared love of craft. Yarn In The City organises the Great London Yarn Crawl taking place this year on Saturday 5th September 2015. For more information go to www.yarninthecity.com

Linda has just collaborated with some of the hottest designers on Ravelry to produce the Boardwalk Collection, designed in her Islington DK base, a heady blend of 55% Superwash Bluefaced Leicester and 45% Silk.

You can find links to the collection lookbook, details on where to find Linda as well as our sponsors in the shownotes at www.shinybees.com

Ever wondered what it is like to write a knitting book whilst you homeschool your 3 children? Wonder no more, as Sally Cameron aka PinkHairGirl joins us from South Africa for an interview about just that. Learn about some of the trials and tribulations of how she accomplished writing a knitting book as well as picking up some top tips in general. She also kindly offered a copy of her book as a giveaway prize.

Wippin' Piccadilly returns with mentions for the Lapsang pattern by Clare Devine, Hipster by Tin Can Knits and Cardamom Rose by Thea Colman.

On our yarn shop travels, I review Nairn Wool Shop, aka Calendonian Craft Connections and Wool on the Brae.

Show notes as always are available at www.shinybees.com

I'm joined in this episode by Tania Ashton Jones of TJ Frog to talk all about Dorset Buttons.

Tania and I met a few years ago now when she was at the start of her business journey in the yarn world, having previously been in the Royal Navy for 22 years. She came back to knitting via a retreat in France and was hooked. After a happy coincidence where she was introduced to Dorset Buttons via a workshop with her friend, Tania became obsessed with making them, and set about learning about the history of the button.

Tania described some of that history, from the original tiny sheep horn buttons, through metal and linen buttons and into the more common types found today. They come in a variety of designs and can be made from any sort of yarn. Originally from Dorset herself, Tania never learned about the button making as a child at school, although happily she reports that some schools do now teach this. 

Tania currently lives in a small community on the Isle of Skye, and uses her surroundings there, as well as her heritage in Dorset to inform and inspire the products she makes. Knitting still features alongside the Dorset Buttons, and Tania has a very special range of yarns that she created with some very high provenance wools from Dorset and Skye. Indeed her latest Cheviot yarn is grown at the end of her driveway!

Along with the yarn, Tania also has project bags and needle holders, which are made of linen and are a nod to the linen fabric originally used to make the Dorset Buttons. These are sewn by a company in Edinburgh, and again reflect Tania's commitment to products with a story and collaborating with other businesses.

If you've ever been curious about the Isle of Skye, you should give Tania's podcast a try. Along with the weather (a constant and ever changing source of conversation for us Brits, but particularly so on the West Coast of Scotland!) she talks about what she is making, creativity as well as interviewing textile related businesses on Skye. It's the perfect way to armchair travel to Scotland, so give it a listen!

Tania has very kindly offered 10% off all items in her shop until 10th November 2020 with the discount SHINYBEES10.

You can find Tania at http://tjfrog.co.uk
Full show notes and links at www.shinybees.com/160

Edinburgh Yarn Festival is on the horizon and all of that wardrobe planning you did to make sure you were impeecable turned out in beautiful knitwear for the day should be upon you. And me. but it's not, because my knitting is not finished. Is yours? Don't worry if not, because in today's episode we discuss methods of overcoming your wardrobe malfunction in Enabler's Corner (warning: contains enabling). 

The Sock Surgery returns with Kate and Clare, discussing what to do when you have finished those socks. The merits of blocking your socks and how to wash and care for them are important subjects to consider if you don't want all your hard work to go to waste!

Full shownotes for this episode are available at www.shinybees.com.

This week we have a close encounter of the rhinoceroidal kind. There is a podcast news update and we are joined by Justus for the South Africa section to make some Malva Pudding before we wrap up. You will definitely need a cup of tea to wash that down! Pull up a chair and enjoy.

Socktober continues to inspire in this episode where I have a pattern pick of ten colourwork sock pattern ideas to share with you.

This week sees Jo joined by special guest stars Nic and Aimee from Yarns From The Plain and KnitSpinCake podcasts. A break from the usual schow format, we discuss all things Yarndale. Mistly, we talk about Stuff Nic Bought. Prepare to be enabled! Shownotes at www.shinybees.com.

Today’s episode is all about repairing hand knit socks. I have a pair of socks that I have accidentally worn through the heel of, and I wanted to repair them. I’ve collated some resources and options for repairing knitted items. If you’re struggling with existential crises/dread/ennui as a result of over-thinking everything, Dr Shiny’s recommendation is vigorous consumption of comedy videos and memes. And Tiger King. Link to Bits n Pieces by Artemisia Methods for Fixing Hand Knit Socks The easiest way to repair worn-through hand knits, is to repair the thin patch before it actually wears through completely. You can do this using several different methods. Using reinforcing thread is a popular way, where you follow the pattern of the stitches to make the existing ones more sturdy. You could also use the same yarn you used initially, if you have any available. You could go in-between and use a finer gauge yarn to duplicate stitch and strengthen the yarn. This method is known as Swiss darning or duplicate stitch. It’s helpful to have a darning mushroom or egg to do the repair, to spread the stitches out to make them easier to see. It will also help to avoid sewing the two sides of the sock together! Apparently an incandescent lightbulb will also suffice as a stand in. If you've already worn through the fabric and are the proud owner of a holy sock, you're going to need a different approach. This will take the form of making a patch of some sort. You can either pick up stitches and knit a patch, or knit a patch and sew it on. There are a few options that are a combination of the two as well. There are videos linked in the show notes. Full shownotes and links at www.shinybees.com/141

Knitting, gin, books and a lucky scarf. This week's show is dedicated to Liz Marley aka @greensideknits, dear friend and listener of the podcast. An epic knitter and all round awesome, kind and witty person who will be very sadly missed. There's a general update to get us started, with the tale of Liz's Lucky scarf and how it continues to bring me good luck years later. The podcast will be on the move again in summer to Surrey. Knitting-wise, I've been working on my #DeliciousLIttleJoysKAL project which still isn't finished. After a false start where I re-learned the lesson that one is never too old for a lifeline, I'm focusing on getting at least one row a day in on that project. I'm also working on a modular blanket project using West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK to make a Nintendo themed blanket. Gin-wise, there's a recipe for a refreshing sloe gin fizz. On the book reviews, sticking to the Fantasy/Steampunk angle we have a review of the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carrier, Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw and The Stranger Times by CK McDonnell. Full shownotes and links at www.shinybees.com/175 Music is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink' used with kind permission.

This week we hope to leave Narnia behind and experience something approaching summer after jinxing the entire season by talking about summer knitting in the past few episodes. 

News-wise, the Great London Yarn Crawl will be taking place on 5th September 2015. There'll be a marketplace too this year with all proceeds from the event going to Refuge. A Yarn Story in Bath has moved to new premises. BritYarn threw open its virtual woolly doors on 2 June 2015. Go and check it out!

Enablers' Corner highlights our very own Clare Devine who has juts opened pre-orders on Sock Anatomy II. Get socks for the whole family!

The pattern pick is on the subject of 'Sun' (or lack thereof) and has a comedy perfume review for good measure.

Finally the Sock Surgery returns where Clare brings us some inspiration for funky heels to try.

Shownotes are at www.shinybees.com

This week we welcome the fabulous Emily Wessel of Tin Can Knits and Rainbow Heirloom yarns to the show to chat about all things yarny. Max and Bodhi's Wardrobe will be available in print copy from 11 June 2015 and Emily and Alexa have very kindly offered a giveaway which will be hosted on the Shinybees Ravelry group.

Emily came to knitting whilst studying Architecture in Western Canada and met her business partner, Alexa Ludeman whilst they were both working at their LYS. Emily now lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband and seriosuly cute son, Max, who was half the duo who inspired Max and Bodhi's Wardrobe (Bodhi being Alexa's daughter). When not designing for Tin Can Knits, Emily also hand dyes at Rainbow Heirloom. In this interview, she talks in depth about her design process and the influences she draws upon, as well as giving some great advice for those looking to get into the industry.

Shownotes as always can be found on the blog at www.shinybees.com. Emily Wessel can be found at www.tincanknits.com and www.rainbowheirloom.com.

The tonne! A century! Episode 100 is upon us and a hearty thanks to all of you that have listened, do listen and are new to listening. Welcome one and all.

Two topics of conversation this week, one of which contains zero knitting and a lot of the young Wigan version of Paul Rudd and his fit-for-his-age Dad. Don't ask...

To celebrate episode 100 (and total credit to one Countess Ablaze for this idea) I am instigating The Great Shinybees Hexipuff Amnesty. Got Hexipuffs? Want to donate them for a good cause? Post them to Countess Ablaze's studio in Manchester then clear your diary for the Great Swinton Sewing Bee (keepers' Quilt).

In support of Monthly Gift Mcr, all proceeds from the raffled off Beekeepers' Quilts (and party) will go to the supply of sanitary products to this charity for distribution to homeless women. #hexipuffamnesty and #sodhexipuffs are your hashtags of choice. I am team #sodhexipuffs, but for every 100 that arrive, I'll actually knit one of the buggers. 

Show notes of crazy (and Paul Rudd) at shinybees.com.

Music for episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink.'

Command and Conquer it ain't. Well, maybe. This week sees the latest happenings in my world, along with a quick virtual canter through this year's trip to Yarndale. In Wippin' Piccadilly, the Lush cardigan by Tin Can Knits in Blacker Swan is complete, and Quadratic by David O Kelly at Eden Cottage Yarns is on the needles. A new section is announced in the podcast: the Sock Surgery with Clare Devine and Kate Read. There is a giveaway PALOOZA jointly sponsored by Ginger Twist Studio and Yarn and Pointy Sticks designs. Finally, we have a one on one interview in the Ginger's Hand Dyed studio in Edinburgh, with the ever fabukous Jessica James. Join us as we chat Brigantia, red acrylic and sweaty little piece of chocolate.

Shownotes as always at www.shinybees.com. I am Shinybees on Twitter, FAcebook and Instagram. Enjoy!

Jane Murison of Yarnison joins the show this week, talking about knitwear design, fish and chips and the urban landscape as an inspiration.

Jane began designing a couple of years ago, and has several knitting patterns now, that are a homage to the post industrial landscape of Manchester, that she sees every day on her walk to work. A UX designer by profession, Jane enjoys bringing together design inspiration, techniques and the user (knitter) experience in her designs. Not one for 'quiet' yarns, she enjoys working with bold colours and neons to create striking pieces.

Her approach to design is to make things that she herself likes to wear, but struggles to find in the mainstream pattern world. This results in quite quirky and recognisable pieces that can be made as bold or as quiet as one desires, depending upon the colours chosen to make the pattern.

One of my favourite of her patterns is the Urban Hero shawl, which was inspired by the neon yellow flashes of hi-vis vests on the builders working all over the city. There is almost constant construction work, and these vests pepper the (often grey, it's Manchester) landscape with pinpricks of colour.

We discussed the juxtaposition of chevron lace, hi-vis and Batman's cape in this pattern and Jane explained how her approach has ben reflected in other designs, such as Boomtown Beanie.

Builders came up again when discussing how the domestic arts and quite traditionally male construction roles are actually very similar skills when you break them down. Plastering is, in fact, exactly the same thing as buttercream icing.

We also discussed the traditional Friday meal that is fish and chips. Eye-opening.

Jane's favourite yarnies to work with are Countess Ablaze, The Knitting Goddess, Five Moons, Riverknits and Rainbow Heirloom.

In terms of tips for embracing the crazy bright and variegated, Jane recommends pairing with a semi-solid or solid, and avoiding too much detail in the stitches, if you want the detail to be seen. Texture can sometimes work well if you are wanting to play with the colour and create unexpected pops, as she does with her Manhole Cover sock pattern.

In terms of designers that make good patterns that are suitable for pairing with variegated yarns, Jane recommends Curious Handmade's Helen Stewart and Martina Behm (Strickmich).

From her own designs, Urban Festival was specifically created to work with the variegated yarns.

You can find everything about Jane's patterns over on Ravelry and she is @Yarnison on Instagram.

Full show notes, images and links for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/110

Alice Elsworth, our guest mohair expert, returns to the podcast for an interview to talk about life as a farmer in rural Northumberland in the UK. Alice keeps a herd of mohair goats at Whistlebare Farm and her four young sons keep a flock of Wensleydale sheep!

Alice has her yarn spun into a Mohair/Wensleydale blend and hand dyes the yarn herself on the farm, which is sold at various shows and online under the brand Whistlebare Yarns.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to live and work on a small farm, this interview is for you.

In the news section there is some beadalong chat along with a call for those who fancy knitting some advent Frankensocks. Details are in the Ravelry group.

You can find Alice at www.whistlebare.co.uk where there are links to all her social media as well as details of shows and where you can find the farm to visit in person.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink'.

It's a new year so naturally, there's a lot of chat around about challenges, projects and planning. Today's episode is about knitting challenges. Are you taking part in any for 2021? Don't worry if you aren't; hopefully this episode will still be useful for you, and there is no lack-of-challenge shaming! There are plenty of variations on the theme of challenges, when it comes to knitting. Knitalongs would fall into this bracket, along with projects like Make 9, where you select 9 things to make during the year (not all of which have to be knitted). Dear friend of the podcast Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade Podcast is running the 20 for 2021 challenge. This is more flexible as far as challenges go, and is almost a series of prompts, designed to encourage you to try different things in your knitting, without any pressure. There's a hashtag to go along with it #20for2021 and you can tick off multiple prompts for one project, which means you don't need to do 20 projects to take part. A temperature blanket is another idea for a year long challenge. Louise Tilbrook of Everyday Knitter completed one of these in 2020, and has an ebook available, should you wish to create your own version. Here are my top tips for knitting challenges. 1) Don't feel like you have to do a challenge. It's your knitting. Do what you want. 2) Avoid the FOMO. Don't get swept up with the latest knitting celeb MKAL for a garment or accessory you're never going to wear. this about what you would love to have knitted. Break down what you need to learn or practice in order to be able to do that project. Choose mini projects to help you learn those skills in a more achievable and quick way. Use materials that make you excited and inspired to work with them. 3) Cut yourself some slack. If you don't keep up, so what? It's your hobby and it's the thing you are trying to learn and it should be fun, not an obligation. Enjoy the process. Full shownotes and links at www.shinybees.com/169 Music with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys.

How do you go from psychoanalysing serial killers to wool shop maven? Leona-Jayne Kelly of Fluph in Dundee joins us this week to answer just that question. It's a little more straightforward than you might think, and of course, it involves knitting.

The camapign to win the UK Podcasters' Award continues, so please head over to the shownotes for details.

The Shawl of Awesome is ongoing and progressing well. It will be finished in time for the awards!

Events: I'll be at Great London Yarn Crawl and Yarndale in September.

You can find Leona at Fluph at 164 Blackness Road, Dundee or online at www.fluph.co.uk

Shownotes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is provided via Music Alley courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink'.

Today there is a review of Knit Accessories: Essentials and variations as well as some DK pattern ideas for sweaters and some random chat. I have found my way back to my knitting this week. This may have been due to admitting I was struggling with finding the mojo for the knitting. I realised part of the problem was that knitting, for me, is a way of ordering my thoughts. This became apparent when the thoughts immediately began to race upon picking up the needles. I decided to sit with the feeling and luckily, it appears to have abated and I can knit again. Love for Podcasting I am really enjoying being back behind the mic on a more regular basis. It seems that podcasting is a form of reaching out for me. When I started the show, I lived in rural Limpopo in South Africa and was quite isolated. It was hot, not many people knitted and the knitters that were in SA were a long way away in Joburg or Cape Town. I feel like this recent inspiration is connected to that – once again, I am physically isolated, despite being at home and near friends. I love that it is a running joke about how I know someone wherever we travel. These friends are – more often than not – as a result of the podcast or knitting. I also love how I can ‘be’ with people all over the world via the podcast. Just this week, I’ve been on an oil rig in the North Sea! Audio is a conversation and I love the idea of keeping you company. DK Weight Pattern Ideas Feedback I have just brought back a sweater quantity of Nurturing Fibres Supertwist DK in the colourway Sapphire from South Africa. I have found that there weren’t many patterns that were appealing to me on Ravelry. I asked the lovely listeners of the show for some suggestions for patterns. Laura Stephens suggested to look at patterns by Libby of Truly Myrtle. Lori Hathaway suggested to look at the patterns by Kim Hargreaves. Then there was a big confusion about Kim Hargreaves (knitwear designer) versus Kim Catterall (bird on Sex in the City). Oops! There also was some chat about Rowan Kidsilk Haze which surely must have reached the stage of being knitting nostalgia now. I have settled for now on one of two patterns for this yarn. The choice is between Cloudburst, which was originally part of the Drift Collection for Eden Cottage Yarns. The other option is Orchidaceae, which is by Susan Crawford and is part of her new collection, Evolution, which is available now. I was intending to buy this collection anyway, so I was pleased to be reminded about this. Habitation Throw Is knitting anything like a garment beyond you right now? If so, Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade has just made her Habitation Throw free for the month of April 2020. The pattern is still for sale and all proceeds from sales of this pattern will be donated to the UN Refugee Agency. Yoga Don’t compete with other people or yourself is the main feedback for yoga. If you fancy something different for the kids, they can try Cosmic Kids Yoga. Sammy’s Calamities I have great ambitions of writing a series of childrens’ books based entirely on the calamities of Sam. These are all true stories of actual perils experienced. Podcast Recommendations We Fix Space junk Diary of a Space Archivist Review of Knit Accessories, Essentials and Variations by Kate Atherley This book was originally published in 2012 and was re-released last week. I offered to review this as I am getting a lot of requests for suggestions of how to get into knitting at the moment. This book is ideal for that purpose. The book begins with a section on ‘before you start’. I know that when I got back into knitting, it was lead entirely by some somewhat dodgy yarn found in Poundstretcher. I like how the recommended yarns include indie and commercial yarns, hitting all the budgets. It also has a section on substituting the yarns for non-wool yarns and different fibres. Swatching is covered in a decent amount of detail. This is a subject that ca often be skimmed over in beginner-suitable books. Let’s face it, swatching isn’t fun and you can usually get away without it for accessories. The necessity of the activity is explained and there are instructions for how to alter your needles if your gauge is off. The side notes that accompany the patterns are solid and really help to draw attention to the important points. My favourite aspect of the book is the addition of the ‘design your own’ element for each group of patterns. This takes all the maths out of making alterations to your projects, particularly for yarn changes. The book contains lots of examples of projects knitted in different weights and dye styles of yarn. In summary: Pros Design Your Own sections in each group of patterns Cheat tables for the yarns and lengths Cons Would love to see some DK in the patterns Links to videos or tutorials for the techniques would be great additions Full Shownotes at www.shinybees.com/140

Hello and welcome to another slightly strange episode of the Shinybees podcast. This episode has not followed my usual inspiration and research process and I think at the moment, that’s ok. I have some knitting patterns for you today, and I will be talking a bit about what I’m up to. I’m going to try and keep away from labouring the finer points of the virus, as we’re all hearing enough about that from other sources.

I will talk about some of the things that I am doing and thinking, in the hope that it might help you. Either way, it will record some of this for the future when I forget all about it, much like the mishaps that I have blanked from memory that I have shared with you in the past. Shoutouts This episode I have shoutouts for Maureen Dubary in Johannesburg, South Africa and Jennifer O’ Brien in Australia. I’m working on getting a shoutout from Joe Wicks for the kids on Joe’s PE Lessons. I’m going to try having an unusual name, unusual location and timing the comment to be one of the top ones when it gets to the break. I shall keep you updated of my success or otherwise in this noble quest.

If you would like a shout out on the podcast, just send me a message. Everyone loves a shoutout.

Listener question – school I received a question from a long time listener, Daniele, regarding what I am doing about school for my kids. My children already follow a sort of distance home school package, and are being set work by their teacher, like a lot of other kids right now. I’m not worrying too much about getting it all done, and am prioritising physical exercise, eating well, staying well and adequate rest over anything else. I am not going to stress about getting the school work done with everything else going on. Nobody in the world is really at school right now, so your kids won’t be behind. It’s not a priority right now as far as I am concerned. I’m teaching them lots of other stuff we don’t usually have time for, such as cooking, nutrition, life skills. For PE you can join the lessons with Joe Wicks. If you want extra sheets or resources, Twinkl is great. You can also download Sal’s recommended websites here.

Community - I’m still looking at a community platform for us to get together whilst avoiding Facebook etc. I’ll be doing Virtual Knit Nights as well – look for details on those soon. Knitting Patterns for DK Jumpers I’m still struggling to find nice DK patterns for a jumper. Whilst there are a lot of colourwork patterns around, I’m looking for a single colour pattern and there isn’t much around. Suggestions welcomed!

Virus Patterns - As I’ve been scrolling the Rav database at length recently, I’ve stumbled across a couple of patterns that are aiming to help foodbanks during the current crisis. Lockdown by Robynn Weldon of Studio Miranda. This is a free pattern to learn brioche – there is a suggested donation of $10 to the Trussell Trust or Food4kids. Don’t Touch Your Face by Nicola Susen of Nicolor Designs. This is a free pattern for a cowl and is part of a wider #solidarknitty collaboration between German designers and dyers to assist German food banks. You can find out more about that here. Covid19 Coronavirus Stuffie by Randi Marchant is a pattern for a replicas of the coronavirus. It’s $3.60. I found it very anatomically correct and therefore quite impressive. The Coronavirus Cloth by Alli Barrett is a pattern for a knitted dishcloth. It’s $2.40 and all proceeds will go to local foodbanks near St John, NB.

That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or your favourite podcatcher. Music for this episode is by Adam and the Walter Boys, available on iTunes.

This week there's a little news about the Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl in Edinburgh at the weekend. In Enablers' Corner, we're all about the kits, 'bout the kits, no trouble with Latvian Mitts and Yarnundyed-knits. In the Sock Surgery, we welcome back Clare Devine to review Coop Knits Socks Vol II by British deisgner Rachel Coopey. Finally, due to popular request, there's a perfume review of Tribe, by Coty.

Shownotes and links are at www.shinybees.com. Clare Devine can be found at www.yarnandpointysticks.com.

Music for the episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink' available via Music Alley.

Ever wondered how to choose needles for your first attempt at knitting socks? Want to hear some more about those other methods you might not have tried yet? Clare Devine returns to give us the low down on needle choices for knitting socks, ably accompanied by Kate.

We also have a review of a new knitting book from South Africa, by Sally Cameron. Msanzi: South Africa on my Needles is a knitted journey from the beaches of the south to the baobabs in the north. Fifteen patterns for all the family are accompanied by breathtaking landscape photography from Cape Town based Andre van Rooyen.

Giveaway for this episode is kindly sponsored by Linda of Coach House Yarns, a new to the scene UK indie dyer. The colourway reviewed is 'Tiger Tiger' in the Everyday Sock base. Check out her shop on Etsy, where you can also find a range of colourways inspired by the film Labyrinth.

Full shownotes with links are available at www.shinybees.com

This week it's all about lace and felt on the show (still with a smattering of mohair after our focus on the Diamond Fibre of late). 

Enablers' Corner welcomes the Felt-Ed Kit Club 2016. Introduce yourself (or your children) to the wonders of wet felting with this monthly club. With 12 projects, it would be a great rainy day project or ideal Christmas gift for kids. It's also an ideal intro to the craft for adults curious about making felt. The monthly kit is accompanies by a worksheet and a video tutorial to accompany the project, created by a trained teacher. You can find out more at www.felt-ed.co.uk.

Then we have a review of 'Lace Knits: Magical Methods for Openwork Knitting' by Ann Kingston. For those not familiar, Ann is a Yorkshire-based knitting designer and author, with an armful of books to her name. There is a precis of the patterns as well as my thoughts on the techniques section and the book as an overall offering. Spoiler: I like it. It is available at www.annkingstone.com

Show notes are available at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.

The RAF Comforts Committee was formed by the Air Council in October 1939 to determine the type and quantities of 'knitted comforts' required for the RAF as well as arrange for their collection, storage and distribution through their depots. Inspired by a random eBay purchase of an RAF Comforts Committee pin badge some years ago, and recently rediscovering said badge, this episode delves into a little of the history of the RAF Comforts Committee. Full show notes at www.shinybees.com/157 Music for this episode with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys, with I Need a Drink, available from iTunes

Dublin is the destination for this week's show. It's a new format where you can join me and (lots of) friends live-is from Woollen in Dublin. The festival took place at the end of May and you can join us there now.

There were lots of great vendors and big name teachers attending on this inaugural festival.

Full shownotes and links (there are a lot of them!) will be available at www.shinybees.com/113

This week we take a turn around Kwa-Zulu Natal and visit Durban and Swaziland. There is food in the form of the Bunny Chow, weddings in the snow and a trip to Ngwenya Glass. There is the usual on and off the needles section in Wippin' Piccadilly and the South Africa section is spread across the whole episode. Finally, there is a review of the International Quilting Convention Africa before Marlaw plays us out with 'Missing My Baby (Pii Pii)'.

Full shownotes and links can be found, as always, at http://shinybees.wordpress.com.

It's a yarn, comedy and sock knitting palooza this episode as we review WTF Knits and welcome Clare and Kate for the Sock Surgery.

It's time for your luxury yarn fix, with the latest offering from The Golden Skein. Check out our yarns from Knitsch in New Zealand, BaT'at in Yorkshire and Eden Cotatge Yarns in Yorkshire. There's also an announcement of the #tgsonekal, a knitalong to the pattern "Kunye" which was designed for us by Clare Devine. Details over at The Golden Skein group on Ravelry. There will be prizes. Very nice prizes.

Interested in weird and wonderful knitting patterns? I review WTF Knits: Weird Adventures in Wool by Gabrielle Grillo and Lucy Sweet, published by Bantam Press. Available now, it's a cracking little stocking filler that is sure to have you chuckling into your knitting. Want to win a copy? Enter the giveaway over on the blog at www.shinybees.com

Finally we have Clare and Kate back on the show for the Sock Surgery, discussing the pros and cons of toe up and sock down for knitting socks. We also revisit the needles choice aspect of episode 25, with feedback and discussion from out lovely listeners.

Full shownotes for this episode are available at www.shinybees.com

We’re back after a regrettable rain and laptop-based accident, which caused an unplanned break in the schedule. If you decide to do yoga outside, remember to bring your computer back in when you are finished. If you live in the North, it’s probably going to rain, even if it is cracking the flags currently. A two-week break from any sort of work has encouraged me to pick up the needles again. I’ll tell you about that a bit later. Interiors and Decorating I’ve made the most of the unscheduled break by having some decorating work done in the house. Farrow and Ball’s Stiffkey Blue is the colour of choice for my spare room/office/podcast ‘studio’. Stiffkey is a dark blue, which I had colour matched at Valspar as it’s more cost effective than buying Farrow and Ball paint. I’m a massive interiors fan. The current options for styling are an Edwardian Gentlemen’s Club vibe or something a little softer. Being a huge lover of Victoriana, Scots Baronial architecture and bank lamps, I’m sort of leaning towards the Gentleman’s Club approach. Interiors I am looking to source more locally since lockdown. I’ve been a supporter of provenance in knitting yarns for a long while. As long as we know the provenance of yarn, it allows us to make informed choices about what we purchase. Taking this forward, I’m looking to expand this care and attention to supply chains and sustainability to everything I bring into my house. Yarn-wise, you should definitely listen to Ep with Joy McMillan, where we discuss yarn provenance in great detail. This is one of my all-time favourite interviews. Labour Behind The Label This campaign group has written a report about the state of some of the factories in Leicester that are supplying fast fashion online retailers such as BooHoo and ASOS. You can find the report here and they are @labourbehindthelabel on Instagram. Unclear Labelling and Misleading Marketing I bought a cupboard this week from an online store that gives a very ‘British’ appearance in its marketing. When the item arrived, it said ‘designed in the UK’ on its box, but said it was ‘made in PRC’. This annoys me, because many people don’t know that PRC is the full name for China, and it feels like it is deliberately trying to hid the fact that it is manufactured there. It’s more sustainable to have locally-manufactured things, so I’m actively trying to do that. I’ll be joined soon on the podcast by UK Manufacturing expert and champion Kate Hills, from Make It British to discuss the UK wool manufacturing industry. What I’m Knitting Still working on the Compass Sweater by Tin Can Knits. I’m now on the sleeves and am really loving the result so far. It’s going to be really cosy. It’s knit in Excelana DK, from Susan Crawford Vintage. Future Knits I’ll be casting on Orchidacea by Susan Crawford in Nurturing Fibres Supertwist DK. Eight Bit Geekalong by Lattes and Lamas has massively caught my imagination. It’s a free pattern for a mystery knitalong for a colourwork sweater. The swatch clue is already available and the first proper clue is dropped on August 2nd. This pattern is only available on Ravelry [WARNING: there have been some problems for users on the Ravelry website and the Epilepsy Foundation has issued a seizure warning for the website. Do not use it if you may be at risk]. The Queen Bee Pullover, also by Lattes and Llamas looks to be in my future. Surely the Shinybees needs a bee themed colourwork pattern! Susan Crawford Vintage New Website I’ve been revisiting a lot of Susan’s back catalogue recently as I’m planning to re-embrace the tank tops I was so fond of wearing in my earlier years. I used to be very fond of vintage clothing, so I have been looking at some vintage style patterns. There are some really nice patterns, such as the Jan Sweater and the Sun Ray Ribbing Sweater. You can find these and all her other patterns at susancrawfordvintage.com Full shownotes are at Shinybees.com/151 Credits Musis for this episode is with very kind permission of Adam and The Walter Boys with ‘I Need a Drink’

Here we are at episode 150! This week's planned content has been rejigged so it's a little later than planned. There have been some issues with accessibility on Ravelry which meant it is unwise at this stage for me to add any further links to the site. There's lots of information out there about the problems. TL;DR the new site design is giving people visual disturbances, migraines and in some cases, triggering seizures. At the moment, the Ravelry team don't appear to be communicating that they are listening to these valid concerns, so for the time being, I will not be adding new links to the site from here. I am - at this stage - not removing existing links as that sends traffic and pattern sales to designers and dyers - some of whom also fall into the circle of being negatively affected by the recent design changes on Ravelry. I will review this regularly and will remove existing links if it becomes apparent that the potential for harm will remain indefinitely. I have many links to Ravelry on my site and all of us knitters have been long term users and benefactors of the site. I implore Ravelry to listen to the feedback and make the changes that are needed in order for us all to continue to benefit from the site, without excluding disabled people. In lieu of knitting content, I talk about resin jewellery and review a kit I bought from Resin8.co.uk. Full shownotes are at shinybees.com/150 Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

Male knitter? Want to knit socks for the man in your life? Rachel Coopey joins me this week to discuss the finer points of knitting for men, particularly in the sock department.

There's also a Q&A with Alice Elsworth of Whistlebare Yarns in Northumberland, who keeps a flock of her own Angora Goats and produces yarns from their own animals, which she hand dyes on the farm. 

The details of the #beadalong are announced. Cast on is 16th November at 8:30pm GMT, live on Periscope (@Shinybees) and the end date is 10th January 2016. Three patterns for knitted beaded shawls have been nominated in the thread in the Ravelry group along with one crocheted section. You can choose any beaded project you like, though, if none of these patterns work for you. Use #beadalong on social media so we can all follow each others' progress. Sign up in the thread on Ravelry.

Show notes as always are at www.shinybees.com.

Music is provided by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink'.

This episode is fairly light on the knitting chat as my creative exploits this week are mostly focused around creating a vision board for 2021. My word for the year for 2021 came courtesy of Gery Cinnamon and his song 'Canter', which I heartily recommend checking out. Make it the radio edit f you have kids around, as the original is tagged explicit. The lyrics really called to me and I decided from that to make my word of 2021 'Canter'. Along with this there is some chat about vision boards and their utility. I have done vision board exercises with my business retreat attendees for years. Having discussed them this past week with my current coaching group, I chat some more about them in this episode. Have you ever done a vision board? I'd love your feedback and any good resources you would recommend. If you haven't made on before - are you considering it? Full show notes are at www.shinybees.com/168 Music for this episode is with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink', available on iTunes.

Socktober lends its inspiration this week, where I have a rundown of ten previous banging' Shinybees episodes that cover some great sock themed content. There are a couple of interviews, as well as some expert advice from Clare Devine on the Sock Surgery, all handily signposted from this episode. You'll find all the links in the shownotes at shinybees.com but here is the shortlist: Ep 27 - Toe up or Cuff Down For Socks Ep 29 - How to Make Socks That Fit Ep 33 - How to Fix Your Socks When They Go Wrong Ep 35 - Cast Offs For Socks Ep 38 - Louise Tilbrook - Everyday Knitter 'Science by Day, Socks by Night' Ep 43 - Short Rows for Socks Ep 53 - Knitting Socks for Summer Ep 62 - Kate Atherley - Custom Socks Ep 68 - Socks Yeah - Rachel Coopey In other news, I've completed my Snawheid and had the sewing machine out to sew up a split crotch (not mine). I've welcomed in a new family member to Shiny Heights - Dave the Mini - and have been drawing unnecessary police attention. Also in this episode is some information about Developmental language Disorder. I've just signed up to be an ambassador for raising awareness of DLD. You can find more at RADLD.org. Music for this episode with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink', available from iTunes. Full show notes at www.shinybees.com/159

A change of location this week, and a permanent one at that, from South Africa to the UK. There is an update of news since the last episode, along with some musings on the subject of change. I introduce my new domicile and the Wippin' Piccadilly section returns with not a lot done to be fair. The famous Shinybees Pattern Pick makes a triumphant return. Will there be snakes and dog sweaters today?

Welcome to the first show of 2016! This week it's all about planning your knitting calendar when it comes to attending shows. What are the top tips for survival? I'll share mine with you today!

Podcast news, there's more detail on both the podcast Patreon and the Shinybees Swagporium. Also, check out my interview with Kathryn Bryant on the Podcast Divas show.

Enablers' Corner features Katya Frankel's new mini-collection, Flatland: Adventures in Geometry.

There's a giveaway of Ann Kingstone's Lace Knits.

In a new segment, I give you the yarn events for this month - Waltham Abbey Wool show on 17th March. In order to prepare you fully for this year's yarny festivities I've also included my top tips for surviving a yarn show.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys and 'I Need a Drink'.

After a longer than expected podbreak, Jo is back and talking about turning the wheel when life gets in the way of creativity. Sometimes you just need to get the things done and that doesn't always leave a lot left over for your craft, and that's ok.

How do you keep the creative energy high? The way back to the knitting for me has been through a very simple pattern and some special yarn, to make a gift for a dear friend.

Full show notes at www.shinybees.com/134

How do you keep the creative energy high? The way back to the knitting for me has been through a very simple pattern and some special yarn, to make a gift for a dear friend.

Full show notes at www.shinybees.com/134

Shanghai is the destination for this week’s podcast, when I take a trip to not one, but two yarn shops in the area to check out the local knitting scene and the yarns on offer.



The podcast theme music is now available on iTunes for purchase for 79p. The track is ‘I Need a Drink’ by Adam and the Walter Boys, who allow me to use it on the podcast with their kind permission. If you’ve ever wanted to listen to the whole song, go ahead and download it now.



New Project

. My new project is currently being built and some of the details have been sent to the VIP waiting list members, who have kindly agreed to help with testing of the site. If you would like to be one of the first people to get access to the site when it launches, you can join the waiting list and have advance notice ahead of the main launch. 

The site helps you find the perfect yarn for your project in one place, quickly and easily, so you can spend more time knitting. If you’ve ever been in the situation where you need a certain colour of yarn on a certain fibre blend base yarn and struggled to find it, this one’s for you. No more needing to go and search through multiple websites or take a chance at Etsy roulette when trying to find that perfect match. I’ve built the site to have specific search algorithms which will only serve you the yarn and colours you want, instead of a load of random tat a la Etsy. 

I’ll give you more details and the name of the site in the coming week or two but for now, if you want to get in there early, you can request access here.



Yarn Shops in Shanghai



First up I declare my undying love for the efficiency of the CRH railway system. 
I visited two yarn shops in Shanghai this weekend, one at either end of the market. This was a fascinating experience and I would highly recommend checking both out if you find yourself in the area. Both are under 15 minutes from the Bund are easily reached via a Didi or the Metro.



Heng Yuan Xiang Yarn Shop



Address: 358 Jinling East Road, Huangpu, Shanghai The company was founded in 1927 in Shanghai as a silky yarns company and produces a variety of goods including wools, knitting yarns, knitted apparel and home textiles. It is the largest annual seller of wool sweaters in China and has more than 100 factories. The brand covers more than 90% of the municipal market in China and became a state-owned enterprise in 1956.

 The knitting wool brand started in 1991 and in 1997 the brand expanded into sweaters, wool underwear and other knitted products. 

The company has 5800 sales outlets which run as franchises, with 375 million products available through these franchises.

This shop is definitely on the bijou end of the scale, although it is easily identifiable from the street, unlike some yarn shops, which can appear to be ladies wear shops until you actually go inside. It is an Aladdin’s cave, literally full from floor to ceiling with bags and boxes of yarns.

 Yarns in these shops are usually displayed in boxes with clear plastic covers, which I assume are there to protect the yarn from dust or atmospheric pollution. There were a wide variety of blends of offer including merino, cashmere, yak, cotton, raccoon (!) and man made blends.

The Beast selected a 70% cottony viscose and 30% wool in a fetching spearmint shade, at RMB48 or around £5.49 for 300g. 

I went for a 100% Australian Merino yarn in a guessing by eye DK weight at RMB 102 or £11.67. When in China it is rude not to try their yarns, so I decided to give it a bash and see how it performs for research purposes.



Lotus Yarns Flagship Store (Yarn Avenue) Shanghai


Lotus Cashmere Ltd started in 2007 with the Lotus Yarn brand being established in 2009. Lotus Yarns is the distributor for a low of western brands including Noro, Opal, Louisa Harding, Brooklyn Tweed, KnitPro, Brittany etc.

 The next yarn store was in the high end Western Joy City Mall. It is a new store which opened in January 2018 and is found on Level 6, the Creator level.

 It is set up in a very similar way to any western yarn shop in that all the yarn is open on the shelves in hanks or skeins, in easy feeling distance. This makes sense as it is inside a climate controlled mall so it is not subject to as much risk from dust etc. 

There was a good selection of samples as well as a wide range of notions on offer from familiar brand like KnitPro, Brittany, Clover etc.

There was a workshop ongoing at the time I visited which prevented me from reaching the Lotus Yarns as they were behind a large table where the workshop was taking place. Also, it was not obvious who were the staff in the shop as they didn’t appear to have a uniform or clear name badge, and nobody came to assist us.

 It is definitely worth a visit as it is close to the tourist areas but expect to pay premium prices for the yarn on offer here, particularly if it is imported.

Full show notes and links at www.shinybees.com/119

Music for this episode with kind permission: Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink' available from iTunes.

We’re all about enabling this week on the podcast. The latest knitty news is on the agenda, along with some world class enabling and the official announcement of the Sock Surgery Year of Socks.

New Year's Resolutions. How do you do yours? Do you have crafty resolutions each year or do you go down the word of inspiration route? I am a big proponent of just making changes when they need making rather than waiting for New Year. This year I will stop knitting knitwear that is too big and knit to my proper size!  2015 is the year of knitting to my figure. Waspish waists and 50’s styling are go!

#FreeYourSkeins2015. This is The Golden Skein’s take on Project365. Want to get a one skein pattern suggestion per day to enable you to knit your lovely skeins in stash? Walk this way my friends! We will be doing a post a day over on the Golden Skein blog, which we will share around on all the usual social media. Feel free to join in with the hashtag #FreeYourSkeins2015 and show us what you are making or pattern suggestions to be included. 

Edinburgh Yarn Festival is taking place on 14 and 15 March 2015 at Edinburgh Corn Exchange, there will be a huge marketplace, workshops and the podcast lounge amongst other exciting things. There are some great vendors that you don’t see everywhere as well as a great Scottish contingent!

Sock Surgery Year of Socks will be kicking off in episode 31, due out on 18th January and casting on the following day, 19th January. The socks for the first month will be top down heel flap construction and Kate will be following Clare’s Tarsi pattern. For those who would like to try something different but still with that construction, Clare will be doing a pick of 5 patterns at various skill levels to enable you along no matter what your experience levels! The hashtag for this will be #SockSurgery. Come and join us!

Full shownotes for this episode can be found at www.shinybees.com

Pokemon is the theme of this week's episode as I delve deep into the bowels of Ravelry's pattern database to bring you a pattern pick of joyous wonder. If you've been sucked into the Pokemon Go craze (or PoGo to the cool kids) and you need some suitable patterns to accompany your meteoric rise as a trainer, I have you covered.

From head to toe. In yellow acrylic.

How does a Terry's Chocolate Orange fit into this madness? You're going to have to listen to find out!

Also in the mis we have some Enabler's Corner action with the ever fabulous Boo Knits. She has a new collection out - Boos for Beginners - which will take you from zero to hero. Also entirely appropriate for the more seasoned professional, this is sure to be a great collection for the library that you will find yourself returning to again and again. Want to be in with a chance of winning a copy? Head over to the group on Ravelry and tell me which is your favourite Boo pattern.

Also in knitty news, there is the Cheshire Fibre festival which will take place on 1 Oct 16 as part of the wider North West Fibre Arts Trail. Deets in the show notes at shinybees.com

Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

How do we get the entire world knitting? It's a mission of mine and today we discuss the five pillars of knitter assimilation: marketing, self-belief, tools and materials, medium and motivation and access to decent resources.

Of course, this are the Shinybees Pentagon of Knitting Assimilation and I think these are the things we need to be considering if we do want knitters to take over the world. More specifically, if we want the entire world to knit. Think how awesome that would be.

Pillar one is marketing. No, it's not just for sleazy snake oil salesmen and here's why: knitting has an image problem. Every man and his dog this that knitting is for Nanas and pregnant ladies and the media and film do nothing to change that view. Everything people see is stereotyped like this and that is a big issue. 

Knitting needs to become more relevant and desirable if we want everyone to do it.

Pillar two - self belief. Sit in public and knit and you will get an array of comments like 'oh, I could never do that' and 'I tried to learn when I was a kid and I was terrible at it' and 'It looks so hard!'. Curiosity os the first step to learning, but we also need to deal with the issue of self belief in order to get people to actually try and learn the skill, instead of telling themselves repeatedly that it is too hard.

Pillar three - materials and tools. Very often, a first foray into knitting is a cheap kit with low end acrylic (not all acrylic is created equal) and bendy plastic needles. The instructions are almost always total pants and the whole thing is set up to encourage failure.

Yes, this may be cheap failure but failure is not what is needed for assimilation (see pillar two). We need to be setting newbies up with better tools and nicer yarn, to encourage continuing, and to make the end product worth it.

Pillar four is medium and motivation aka Death to the Dr Who Scarf. How many times have you seen others to have been yourself taught to knit using the Whovian method? Let's just all knit a massive boring scarf that will take forever and hope they stick at it!

Yes scarves are easy and allow for (a lot) of repetition but they are so large they are insurmountable. We need to be bringing the Shinybees Trifecta of project awesome into this: a quick win + right level of complexity + desire for finished item = knitting dreams.

Pillar five is access to decent resources. Most of the freebie videos on YouTube are crap. They are too fast, badly lit, too far away to see what is going on or lately, have an alarming array of props in there. Learning is not about perfectly styled shots; it's about getting the information across in an accessible a way as you can. We need decent resources to point newbies towards.

You can find full links and show notes at www.shinybees.com/111

It's finally arrived! Casting on our wonderful socks in the Sock Surgery is upon us and this week we welcome back Clare Devine and Kate Read to discuss that most crucial of techniques: casting on. If you want help for the whole year on your sock knitting, you're in the right place.

The episode opens with the Enablers' Corner, a new official segment, where you'll find all sorts of enabling to help you achieve your crafty goals. Having made the realisation that I am a knitting 80%er, I asked the gurus of the Stash Heap Challenge group on Ravelry for some tips on how to overcome this. These go from the slightly laissez-faire finishing projects as you need the needles for somethign new, through to full on organised spreadsheets and indivisual criteria. Move over, Eurovision! If reducing your WIPs is an ambition of yours, there is plenty to go at here.

In the #SockSurgery we are talking all things casting on. There is also the first Sock Surgery Agony Aunt question, which discusses how to adjust your pattern for a narrow heel. Got Agony Aunt questions yourself? Come over to the Shinybees Ravelry group and post them in the discussion thread.

As always, show notes are available at www.shinybees.com. You can find all things Clare Devine at www.yarnandpointysticks.com.

Music for this episode is provided courtesy of Music Alley and is 'I Need A Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.

You may or may not have heard before about the infamous folklore that is the Boyfriend Sweater Curse, also known as The Sweater Curse. The Love Sweater Curse occurs when a knitter undertakes to knit a jumper for a significant other, and this leads to the breakdown of the relationship - sometimes before the recipient has even received the gift! In a 2005 survey, 15% of knitters reported having experienced this very curse. 41% believed that it might be true. SO it's worth knowing about, even if you don't believe in it. This subject came up as I am about to -finally - undertake knitting a jumper for my massive husband. On the way to the knitting, the topic of Wiganese food is covered in some depth, including the Wigan Kebab, Babbie's Yed and Smack Barm Pey Wet. It is via this high carb and extremely beige route that one's Southern husband - who has some very questionable chip habits - came to earn the honour of having his very first jumper knitted for him. Remember - it's a barm cake. It's not a bap, bread roll, bread cake, cob, muffin or any of that nonsense. We'll have no trouble, here! Full show notes at www.shinybees.com/162 - bread based controversy on any social where I'm @Shinybees. Music for this episode is 'I Need A Drink' with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys and is available to download via iTunes.

Mitch of Surfing Ducks is my guest on the podcast this week, where we discuss a plethora of things that spiral slightly out of control and end somewhere around knitted, transferable 'tramp stamps.'

Yes...

Mitch designs sock patterns with a particular twist; every heel flap is adorned with a quirky design. This led to the brand developing into an almost secret society under the #HiddenHeels theme. The idea is you can have these socks on, and have a heel that is usually hidden from view, but then is brought out on show at exactly the right moment. this moment may well be to secure access to some underground speakeasy with a gin urn.

Mitch is several patterns in now (more have been added since this interview was recorded a few months ago) and each time a new one is released, there is a badge to go along with it. Be one of the first to finish and share pictures of your #HiddenHeels design and collect your limited edition badge.

I don't know about you, but I want all those badges.

We also discuss how Mitch balances her design work against her demanding day job. She began her foray back into socks a couple of years ago after previously finding them difficult. A chance meeting with the lovely Christine Perry of Winwick Mum at Sirdar led to her catching the bug again, thanks to Christine's infectious enthusiasm for the medium of socks.

Mitch had also worked in customer support for a large online retailer and was the pattern support specialist. Through the experience, she was able to gather lots of knowledge and learn exactly what sort of thing trip knitters up when knitting a pattern, and has been able to bring all that to her design work. Her aim is to make knitting easy, and each of her designs adds one new technique, to ease the knitter into developing their skills in an easy feeling way.

Although her patterns look complicated, only the small heel canvas contains the colour changing. Because it is so small, it can be a great way to introduce techniques without it feeling too overwhelming. Brand new sock knitters have knit several of her patterns and had success, so if you are even a little bit intrigued, chances are you will be able to do them.

For her design work, Mitch uses Stitchmastery and Stitch Fiddler (snigger) although she also advocates Excel as useful for charts. 

All of her patterns are available via Ravelry, and there are plans to produce ebooks of the collections at a later stage. Mitch is already teaching socks knitting and would love to do more of this as her business expands.

You can find Mitch at www.surfingducks.com.

Links and full show notes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/109

This week Gemma Dudley of The Little Grey Girl joins us ahead of her first ever show at Edinburgh Yarn Festival. Purveyor of stylish, handmade bags and notions, The Little Grey Girl is the perfect place to find a beautiful receptacle for your knitting.

Gemma opened The Little Grey Girl in October 2015 and runs it as a side-business from her main day job. A creative at heart. TLGG allows Gemma to explore this and escape from the office environment she inhabits during the day.

A huge lover of hand dyed yarns and the colour grey, you'll find her at www.thelittlegreygirl.com.

Shownotes for the episode are at www.shinybees.com

Music is by Adam and the Walter Boys - 'I Need a Drink'.

Sometimes, when something really gets to you because of its inherent unfairness and solid foundations in utter bollocks, you need to speak out. This episode is one of those times. In a departure from the usual format, this week we share the story of a small girl who wanted to be on the school council. Unlike the boys in the class, the girls had to undergo a separate, extra selection level, because they were not boys. I share the full story of how this went down, as I believe that if we have a platform, and we have something to say, we should say it, particularly in current times, where it is a struggle to have women's voices heard. Knitting stereotyping and inclusion also make this conversation, as well as the Slight Edge principle of doing the things that are really easy to do, and really easy not to do, every day, to make things better and effect the change we want to see in the world. Music from this episode is 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys, available via iTunes.

Nothing to do with James Bond and everything to do with the return of the pattern pick this week, on the theme of Octopus. Octopi?! We have a round up of the lattest knitting news and anouncements, with the eagerly anticipated Unwind Brighton festival taking place on 12-13 July. There is also the launch of a fabulous new collaboration between Clare Devine of Yarn and Pointy Sticks and Sock Anatomy fame and the wonderful Jess of Ginger Twist Studio, who is dyeing the yarn for the colection. Keep your ears open for Scotland's answer to Unwind - The Edinburgh Yarn Festival. There is some knitalong news from P-Hop, who are running a Commonwealth Games KAL and from my good self, as I am teaming up with the Louises of Caithness Craft Collective and Knit British podcasts and the ever amusing Aimee of KnitSpinCake podcast. We're going to be doing a Lush Along of the Lush cardigan by Tin Can Knits. Lots of lovely prizes lined up, so come and join us.

The pattern pick, as mentioned, covers a variety of cephalopod delights. I review Fluph in Dundee for our Yarn Shop Review and then there is a quick Wippin' Piccadilly update to ease those of you who are worried about the state of my knitting mojo.

It's the last day of 2014 and the last podcast of 2014. I simply couldn't allow you all to fall into the cold, harsh light of January without a comedy knitting and yarn podcast episode to cheer you along. Excuse my lemsip induced dulcet tones and slightly dulled reactions during this quick-step instalment of the podcast.

The giveaway for WTF Knits by Gabrielle Grillo and Lucy Sweet is ongoing. To enter the draw, leave a comment on the blog post for episode 27.

Wippin' Piccadilly

It's been a finishing palooza over here at Shiny Heights! Off The needles we have the Cardamom Rose cowl by Thea Colman. Also off the needles and onto the head is the Hipster Hat by Tin Can Knits. 

Still ongoing is the Quadratic Shawl by David O' Kelly for Eden Cottage Yarns. Also new on the needles is the Kunye shawl by Clare Devine, which is a pattern that was designed to celebrate a year of The Golden Skein. The KAL is ongoing and there will be prizes. Hashtag is #tgsonekal and the details are over here on Ravelry. Anyone is welcome; if you have 400m of fingering weight yarn and 4mm circular needles, get yourself over there!

Review of Yokes by Kate Davies

My copy of the latest book by Kate Davies arrived a few weeks ago, and I am now sufficiently familiar with it to give you my informed opinion. It's a collection of 11 designs along with essays that covers all kinds of yokes from countries all around the North Atlantic as well as interviews on the subject. RRP is £19.99 and it is available now from Kate Davies or a variety of local and online knitting emporiums.

That's all of this episode and for 2014. A big thank you to you all for listening this year; I hope you've enjoyed the direction the podcast has gone in and will join us for 2015. There are lots of big plans ahead for the year of the sheep!

As always, feedback and comments are always appreciated. Happy Hogmanay!

Because you know it's all about the stripes, 'bout the stripes...

This week I am pleased to welcome Michelle Berry of Berry Colorful Yarnings onto the podcast to talk about all things self-striping. Based in New Mexico in the United States, Michelle is a indie dyer who specialises in wider self striping yarns. Longer colour changes give options for patterns beyond the usual socks (although they do knit into wonderful socks too!) and sets her yarns apart from the majority of self striping yarns on the market. She often themes here colourways around films or books, with the latest collaboration with Lara Smoot - the Potterful Kits - are an homage to a certain boy wizard. She was a featured dyer in the Spring 2015 instalment of The Golden Skein Yarn Club.

You can find Michelle at www.berrycolorfulyarnings.com

Shownotes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is provided via Music Alley and is courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys with "I Need a Drink".

Today we’re having a bit of a catch up, with some knitty chatter along with some discussion of recent reads during lockdown. I’m also gardening quite a lot at the moment, so I talk about that. There hasn’t been a huge amount of knitting at Chateau Shiny. I’ve noticed on social media that this seems to be a fairly common problem for knitters at the moment. As such, there has been a lot of planning and looking on Ravelry, and not a lot of knitting. I’m taking the attitude that this is like an athlete preparing for a race. More of a mental approach to knitting. As there hasn’t been a lot of actual knitting to discuss, today, it’s more of a covid time capsule of what’s going on here. My hope is that I can keep you company for 30 minutes or so, a little bit of light entertainment with a side of knit. Life in lockdown continues. The children continue to alternate between being bored and being too tired to do any school work. The Beast produced some choice Covid artwork, declaring her death from ‘bore’. It was terribly Victorian of her. Not Charlie Dimmock Gardening has featured in the creative pursuits over the past week. I’m not the most accomplished gardener, so it’s been trial and error, including the regrettable purchase of four Buxus balls. What I didn’t know from Pinterest, is that English Buxus smells of cat pee. Joy. I’ve also been accidentally ordering massive plants from the local garden, due to not having any pictures or dimensions. I’ve been planting some Begonias into hanging baskets and playing frost roulette. They’re not supposed to be planted out yet I don’t think, but I went for it as the weather is due to be good for the next couple of weeks. As long as it isn’t frosty, it should be fine. If you have any good recommendations for gardening people to follow, who aren’t too serious, please let me know! Mini Driver Lockdown has reignited my love for driving. A new car is high on the list for post-covid life. My current ride is called Norman. Remember the Twix advert that was all grey, and the main character was Norman? He had a very grey and boring life, until he ate a Twix. This is how Norman the car makes me feel. The speakers are – frankly – inadequate for singing along to Tiffany. Wholly lacking in bass, despite being the upgraded speaker pack. You can hear about how Norman tried to kill me in the pod retreat 2 episode. Poppy the Naughty Nova features in the first car story. My Mum is an absolute demon when it comes to running cars on fumes. The Nova was once stolen and used in a smash and grab at Debenhams. Despite me thinking my second car was called Rob, I remembered afterwards it was actually Derek. Curry has also been bringing me deep joy in lockdown. My favourite curry house has reopened and is providing the fine people with excellent curry. Gratitude has been high. Lockdown has recreated a semi-permanent feeling of post-China come-back, where when you find a little victories in being able to get things easily. Or read signs. What things can you do today to get a little victory? Knitting-wise, there hasn’t been a lot, as afore-mentioned. It’s difficult when knitting is a method for grounding and calming the mind, or as a creative act. I’ve found it strange that I don’t want to knit. This is also for no good reason; it’s almost a mental block. I’m not at a hard point in the pattern, I’ve enjoying the yarn, I just can’t be arsed. Not being able to be arsed isn’t really a feeling I am accustomed to associating with my knitting. Instead, I have taken to researching what patterns I will be knitting when the mojo comes back. I have just purchased Evolution by Susan Crawford. Orchidacae is definitely my pattern for the Nurturing Fibres yarn. I also love Denby, which is part of the collection. This is a colourwork hat with both a beanie and slouchy option. You can order the printed book at susancrawfordvintage.com and you will receive all the pdf patterns as they are released, followed by the printed book. Beaded knitting seems to be calling to me at the moment. I might need to knit a Boo Knits pattern when I can get some beads. A lot of people don’t enjoy the stop-start nature of beaded knitting, but I just love the fancy sparkly effect. Enquiries have been increasing from people looking for baby knitting yarn. I’ve also had a lot of people asking about learning to knit resources. I will cover these in the next episode as the free resources can be incredibly hit and miss. I’m also planning to crochet a African flower blanket. Reading I’ve read the following recently: Recipes for Love and Murder – Sally Andrew Death on the Limpopo – Sally Andrew Old Baggage – Lissa Evans Unnatural Magic – C M Waggonner The Last Smile in Sunder City – Luke Arnold You can find me on Goodreads if you want to connect there – www.goodreads.com/jomilmine Music for this episode is by kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys, available on iTunes.

After the revelation of Ep 146, where I talked about seriously considering a Full and Complete destash, which may or may not have been a mid-Corona crisis, this week I review a method for creating a stash that fits. It's not some ghastly attempt at enforcing small stashed and yarn diets - far from it. The StashFit process is a well designed method for achieving a stash that creates joy and excitement, instead of guilt and dread. Cate Carter Evans of Infinite Twist is the dyer behind the system, and she surveyed and worked with many knitters to refine the StashFit process, as well as determine the optimal stash size. Full shownotes at www.shinybees.com/148 Music for this episode is from Adam and the Walter Boys, with 'I Need a Drink', used with kind permission.

Getting used to a new normal is tricky. This week has been challenging for most people and today there is a little bit of chat about that, along with a review of Wist Tha Bahn by Joy McMillan. You can hear more from Joy in her interview on the podcast at shinybees.com/118. This is a collection of 6 multi-colour shawls with Northern roots designed by Joy. All the patterns use British wool produced in the UK and dyed by The Knitting Goddess. Full Shownotes at www.shinybees.com/139

This week we have a return to some old favourites. First of all we have a run-down of recent happenings in Limpopo, followed by a reattack on Episode 3 - The C Word. Random musings feature the theme 'FEAR' and in Wippin' Piccadilly, I share a very special recent project. A trip to Stellenbosch to taste wine is our SA section and then there is the return of the Shinybees Pattern Pick.

Enjoy!

This week, we're all about the cats. Despite being a non-cat lover, it is hard to deny that there are some great patterns out there for cat themed - well - everything! Whether you are looking for knitting or crochet, fine yarn to heavy yarn or even cat hair, there is a suggestion for everyone today. 1) Cat in a Corset by Anna Hrachovec 2) Cat Love by Sweater Freak 3) Cat Hair Finger Puppet by Kaori Tsutaya and Amy Hirschmann 4) Cat in the Night Mittens by Lumi Karimitsa 5) Slouchy Cat Hat by Maria Gilligan 6) Cat Lover Blanket by Marken of the Hat & I 7) Cats Love Sweaters by Christine Landy 8) Dinosaur by Sara Thomas 9) Cat Window Valence by Christine Nault 10) 095 Cat Sphynx Findus with Wire Frame Amigurumi Full shownotes at www.shinybees.com/145 Music for this episode with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

I'm delighted this week to have Helen join us on the show to tell us about her journey into dyeing. I've admired her work for a long time (and asked her to collaborate with The Golden Skein twice as a result) and always enjoy the way she tells the stories of the yarns she creates and the way she's inspired to do so.

Helen is based in Assynt in the Scottish Highlands and finds endless inspiration in her surroundings and the traditions in the area. She grew up in Southern Africa before moving to the UK in her late teens and has always been surrounded by making and crafting. She began Ripplescrafts after she and her husband, Stevan, moved to live in the Highlands full time from the Scottish Borders.

You can find her at www.ripplecrafts.co.uk

Shownotes for this episode are at shinybees.com.

Music this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink.'

Staying home has encouraged a wave of new and returning knitters. After receiving many knit-related requests over the past 6 or so weeks, this episode is a compilation of my favourite ones. Finding good resources, particularly free ones, can be a bit tricky I find. I'm also massively fussy about certain things that probably don't bother many people! My favourite resources are: Sheep and Stitch, Very Pink Knits, Purllinknitting, Knitty Grotty by Aneeta Patel and Knitting 1010 - Knitting For Beginners at Paradise Fibers. With that caveat, you can find links to all the resources at shinybees.com/143 Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink' - available on iTunes.

This week we're exploring the evolution of yarn festivals through the past year or so. Many of the festivals were forced to cancel their in person offer and have looked to alternative methods of putting on their event. After discussing the idea of online events this week, Unravel Festival's hybrid approach piqued my interest. Having not been a fan of the endless parade of vendors on Instagram live as an alternative to the traditional yarn show, I was interested to see how they are looking to combine an in person element with an online offer. This will be both on the vendor offer, as well as workshops being offered online and in person and a series of talks on offer. Whilst I don't think Instagram live yarn shows offer a great user experience, a show hosted on a specific platform focused on offering a show-like feel could add a lot of value to the industry. You can find all the details for Unravel at https://farnhammaltings.com/events/unravel-2021 Full shownotes - www.shinybees.com/176 Music for this episode is 'I Need a Drink' used with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys, and is available from iTunes.

Hello and welcome to the pilot episode of the Shinybees podcast. British girl Jo talks about knitting, sewing and crafting from South Africa, along with a liberal helping of South African language, food and culture. Grab yourself a rooibos, a glass of Amarula or the Cape Winelands' finest and cosy up for a bit of chatter.

Alpaca is under the microscope this week as a fibre focus for the next few episodes. Before we move onto that thought, I have news for you as always.

First up, the podcast is up for two New Media Europe Awards. Please follow the link in the show notes to cast your vote BEFORE 29th May, when the first round of voting closes. If you want your award back (you are an award winning audience after all!) then you need to get involved.

Also in news the #RewindKAL is ongoing. I have just cast on my Lush Cardigan, so plenty of time to join in still over on Ravelry or on social media with the #RewindKAL. I have some great prizes lined up from Suffolk Socks, Knitting in France and The Golden Skein with some more in the works.

There will be a break in the podcast broadcast schedule following next week's episode, so there will be no episode on 24th and 31st of May. The show will return on 7th June.

In Enabler's Corner we have Lezley Taylor's awesome crochet hook keyrings and stitch markers. Head over to Ravelry to enter the competition to win one of these as well as a set of stitch markers.

Finally we look at alpaca as a fibre as a quick overview before diving into more of a focus on it in the coming episodes. There is a mention for Sir Titus Salt who introduced the fibre to the UK in 1836 and I direct you to the British Alpaca Society's Alpacapedia.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is provided by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

This week I am pleased to welcome the lovely Helen Stewart onto the show. Designer and voice of the award winning Curious Handmade podcast. 

Originally from Australia, Helen is quite the nomad and loves travelling. She began designing when she moved to London. It was a part-time venture for a while, until after he second daughter was born. Having become increasingly unhappy in her corporate role and keen to create a situation where she could have flexibility to be with her girls, she took the big leap into designing as a business at the end of 2013. She launched the Curious Handmade podcast around that time and has hosted the weekly show ever since.

She finds inspiration for her designs in many ways but most frequently whilst travelling. High points of her journey have been winning an award for her show, as well as having the opportunity to meet so many interesting and influential people.

You can find everything about Helen at curioushandmade.com and her podcast is on iTunes and Stitcher.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music is 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.

This week we're indulging in a current affairs panel TV style format... without the panel. It's just me and three recent knitting related stories that have come to my attention and some thoughts on all of them.

First up there is the story from Dundee of a woman given knitting as a punishment for a road rage related assault. Adamant she was a keen knitter, and that punching a woman in the face was just a momentary old of control before heading into The Knitting Pin, she was tasked with providing 'not a meagre amount' of knitting for charity before December.

Warning - I get a bit cross about this.

Then we have an excellent example of using local resources to overcome service gaps by the Faroese, who have strapped 360 degree cameras to five sheep in an attempt to encourage Google to agree to come and map the place properly for them. You can get a sheep's back view of the Faroes via videos uploaded by the local tourist board. This is magnificent.

Finally we have unexpected fifteen minutes of fame for DyeForYarn, our German friends Nicole and Cordula, who attracted considerable attention his week due to their quirky choices of yarn names. The mugs didn't get it.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is from Adam and theWalter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

This week it's a chatty catch up for the most part, with some news on renovations/maintenance issues at Casa Shiny. Roofers: know your limits!

Enablers' Corner directs you to the sale at Whistlebare Yarns. Get 20% off mohair lovelies over at www.whistlebare.co.uk, hand dyed and produced on the farm. Want to meet this small producer? Check out episode 72.

There is also some chat about a visit to the Countess Ablaze studio in Swinton, Manchester. Her hand dyed fabulousness knows no bounds; I'm a fan girl and I am not sorry.

Wippin' Piccadilly returns with a brief canter through ongoing knitty projects including Owligan by Kate Davies, Be With You/Voodoo by Boo Knits and some socks that cannot be elaborated upon yet, as they're in yarn from the most recent quarter of The Golden Skein.

I wrote for Wovember! If you like wool and you haven't already, go over to www.wovember.com.

The Shinybees celebration yarn and podcast swag should be available this week. Get on the mailing list to be the first to hear about it.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music is 'I Need A Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.

Ever wondered what it's like to crowdfund a book? Susan Crawford, knitwear designer and fashion historian is my latest interview guest on the show. Purveyor of all things vintage and woolly, Susan has published 4 books already, which are stocked in the V&A, Waterstones and the British Library.

Four years in the making, Susan's latest project, the Vintage Shetland Project, is about to come to fruition and she is in the midst of a pubslush campaign to fund the initial print run of the book. This amazing project brings vintage knitwear from the Shetland Museum archives to life, with 25 items featured in the book, all with patterns transposed from the original garments and graded for size, to make them available to be enjoyed by knitters today.

Come and get to know Susan in this laid back episode and hear about Nana Ruby, Susan's sprightly Zwartbles and how she'll never audition for The Island...

You can find Susan over at www.susancrawfordvintage.com where you'll also find links to her social media. The Pubslush campaign is here.

Shownotes can be found on the blog at www.shinybees.com as always.

Music is provided courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink'. available from Music Alley.

With all the joy sucked out of life at the moment, it's time to turn festive up to 11! As a massive Christmas fan, I'm always one to have the real tree picked out, chopped down and in the house by the last week in November. This year, I'm planning to go a little bigger on the decoration front and add quite a bit more to interiors to get in the spirit. After all, it's not like we're going to be anywhere but indoors for a while. And when it comes to fairy lights, more is always more. So this week I have a pattern selection to share with you for knitted Christmas wreaths. I'm aware some of my lovely listeners don't celebrate Christmas, so I've been sure to add some suggestions that are suitable for you too. As always, there's a mix of free and paid patterns. Where possible, links go to designer's own sites. Be aware some links go to Ravelry if you have accessibility difficulties on that site. Pattern Pick - Knitted Christmas Wreaths 1) Woolly Wreath & Garland by Church Mouse Yarns and Teas 2) Awreatha by Rachel Kluesner 3) Woodland Wreath by Frankie Brown 4) Hampstead Wreath by Wendy Baker and Belinda Boaden 5) Merry Knitmas Advent Wreath by Sue Stratford 6) Christmas Jumper Wreaths by Zoe Michel Images and links to these patterns are in the full show notes at www.shinybees.com/164 Credits - Music for this episode is with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink' available on iTunes.

Following Ep 171 about great patterns for baby knits and Ep 172 about good yarns for kids and baby knits, this week is a roundup of all the community feedback on both these subjects. I’m also asking for some suggestion on behalf of Kat, a lovely listener, who is undertaking a fairly arduous physical challenge. She’d appreciate some suggestions on how she can record this with an accompanying knitting project. All of the chat for this feedback occurred within the Shinybees Podcast Community. You can join for free at shinybees.com/community Kat’s Project Hey Jo, do you remember the interview question 'What yarn would you take on a desert island'? I have a similar dilemma: I'm planning to embark on a long distance hiking journey from Belgium tot Santiago the Compostela (2400km). Not in one go, spread over different holidays. Not sure if I'll ever make it but I like the clear focus. I'll be starting hopefully in March with the first stretch from home to the south trough Belgium. That should fit in the current Corona regulations. Being a Knitter, I find myself contemplating the travel knitting almost as much as the actual walking :D I can't take a lot of yarn to keep weight down. I plan to take two projects: * A recreational lace shawl * A project that captures the memories of the journey day by day. Could be as simple as one garter ridge per km. Or I'm thinking some sort of modular knit with every small module representing a day. I don't really know what I want to track yet: weather (sun, rain, cold,...), feelings, distance, landscape. I don't think I can take colours to represent the different items because it's hard to predict how much yarn I would need per colour. Maybe texture is better. Anyone got ideas? Yarn, patterns, textures? Which items I could track? Yarns for Baby Knits Continued From the community, here are some further suggestions on great yarns for baby and kids knits. Helen Swann suggested Sheepjes Colour Crafter as a good alternative to Stylecraft DK. It’s 100% acrylic, like Stylecraft DK, but squooshier, with a fair amount of drape. At £1.99 per 100g and in 94 shades, there’s bound to be shades you will like. Wendy Dinnage has been knitting for a couple at work who are expecting a baby. They’re vegan and very environmentally aware. Wendy decided to use Nurturing Fibres Eco Bamboo as it has great eco credentials. Patterns for Baby Knits A perennial favourite, Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket from The Knitter’s Almanac was suggested by Helen Talbot and Linda Hartley. Knitted With Love by Jane Ellison is a favourite of Nichola Nolan. It’s currently out of print, but most of the patterns are available as single patterns from Purl and Jane. Nevis top-down cardigan from Marianna’s Lazy Daisy Days was suggested by Laura Stephens. This designer also does some lovely preemie sizes too. Alison Naylor’s favourite is the Overalls with Cable Detail and Dorothy Helen baby blanket by Oge Knitwear. Leafy Abby Blanket from Silk and Wool by Leyla Alieva was suggested by Maureen Bulger. She’s knitted it a number of times and it’s gone down really well. A couple of bonnet suggestions – from Anna Friberg, the Sunshine Bonnet by Katarina Lindhagen, and the Beloved Bonnet by Tin Can Knits was suggested by Laura Stephens. Jade Hawson, who is a new listener, did a fantastic Mosaic Blanket (Purl Soho) using a colour changing gradient yarn, which looks fab! Anna Jordan suggests the Gramps Cardigan by Tin Can Knits. Anna Grim likes to make Allsorts the Owls for new parents. Linda Hartley favours the Troublemaker Cardigan by Kathryn Folkerth. Shownotes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/173 Credits Music for this episode is by kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with ‘I Need a Drink’.

This week’s episode is inspired by a recent decision I made to try and knit a hat in a weekend. This was partly prompted by a sudden ten degree drop in temperature here (doesn’t a chill in the air make you want to cast on all the things?) and inspired me to look for a nice, easy pattern. The hat is complete, and I’ve also picked out another four potential hat in a weekend patterns for you to take a look at, in case you feel the need to cast on this weekend.

First up is a bit of news, and I’d like to shout out all the people who have emailed or messaged me since episode 134 was released, expressing their delight at me being back behind the mic. It is truly appreciated, so I hope you won’t mind indulging me in saying thanks to them. It is easy to forget that it isn’t just me, sat in a bedroom, talking to no-one; there are literally thousands and thousands of listeners worldwide. I’m very grateful to each and every one of you, even if you only listen to one episode ever. Thank you!

In other news, I was contacted by a listener of the show, @Zencrafter2 on Twitter is undertaking a challenge leading up to her 50th birthday on 7th December 2020. After hearing about the Knit A Square project, she has decided to try and make 500 squares to donate to the project. That’s over 1 a day – amazing! Let’s all encourage her along (or join in if you wish over on Twitter – her handle is @Zencrafter2.

In other news, I’ve had several requests for some stories from here and a bit of armchair travel. As such, in this episode I share my endeavours to learn Mandarin. I’ve always (up until now) been quite good at languages – or Germanic languages, anyway. Chinese is proving to be a bit more challenging than either of those. I struggle to hear the tones of the language, which is a pretty fundamental part of being able to understand and speak it. There are four tones and two of them sound the same to me, which makes me worry about saying a word and getting the tone wrong and actually saying something rude by mistake! I’ve learned how to say ‘steamed bun’ and can order beer and soda water, but otherwise my vocabulary is limited to words associated with yoga (more on that in another episode) and some very specific work-related words that will be of no use to me in everyday conversations. I am really keen to be able to talk to people here (who are extremely friendly) as well as generally understand what is going on. I would imagine this is what illiteracy is like, as I can’t read Chinese either. It’s hard, but I am determined to be better and not just do the lazy English speaker thing.

I’ve picked out 5 pattern suggestions for knitting a hat in a weekend. These are in thicker yarns with straightforward patterns for maximum speed and satisfaction. Tag me with your projects if you decide to get involved with this or hashtag it up with #hatinaweekend. The first pattern is the one I have knitted, Classic Beanie by Woolly Wormhead. I interviewed Woolly in Episode 61 and encourage you to listen to it. I chose this pattern as I really liked the way the ribs herringboned together as they reached the crown. It’s a free pattern for worsted weight yarn on 4.5mm needles, with multiple sizes. I’m knitting it in Morris & Co Empire 10 ply in the colourway Absinthe. You can download it from Ravelry here. The next suggestion is the Classic Cuffed Hat by Purl Soho. Again, this is a free pattern for a basic worsted weight beanie, the classic design with a bobble on top. It’s really straightforward no-thinking-required knitting and the simple pattern allows for lots of playing around with yarns. Most dye styles will work with this pattern. You can find the pattern here. Swirlwind by Nicole Vanderlee is a worsted weight toque with a ribbed brim and a swirling slipped stitch pattern on the body. It’s a padi pattern at CAN $6.00 and is available from Ravelry. This pattern affords some experimentation room in terms of yarns; it will look great with solids and variegateds alike. The colour changes in the variegated yarns will pop on the slipped stitches. Likewise, striped yarns look great, especially if the same colour is always slipped, as this creates an almost brioche looking effect. Slef striping yarns would also work well. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry here. The Tchaikovsky Hat by Helen Stewart is next on the list ad this pattern is taken from Knitvent 2017. If you aren’t already familiar with Knitvent, it’s an annual collection of gift knitting pattern that Helen produces each October/November, usually around a theme. The theme for 2017 was The Nutcracker, and you can either buy the pattern separately at £5.34 or as part of the 6 pattern collection at £15.54 here on Ravelry. It’s a DK weight hat, with a ribbed brim and a simple repeating textured stitch pattern, that adds interest for the knitter without it being too ‘out there’ texture-wise for a gift recipient. You can find Helen’s podcast, Curious Handmade, on all podcatchers and at Curious Handmade, and you can listen to her interview on this podcast in Episode 90. Finally we have A Useful Diversion by Elizabeth Felgate. This is a paid pattern (£3.70) doe a deep cuffed 3x3 rib hat with a textured stitch pattern that runs (or diverts) around the body of the hat. It’s described as being just enough to be a useful diversion for the knitter and I think it would look great in a nice, high-twist, solid or semi-solid yarn. You can find the pattern on Ravelry here.

Getting out of a funk: I asked for any tips from listeners as to how to get out of a funk. It seems to be a pretty common thing at the moment, probably due to the amount of stuff that is going on in the world. Anyway, Nichola Nolan got out of her funk after recently meeting Christine Perry of Winwick Mum fame. She decided to crack through some small projects and ‘pull her finger out’. Aimee Croke has got back into the swing of things by carving out time earlier in the day for her accountancy study by getting up early. She knits along on a simple project whilst watching training videos. Carving out the time is the key, and making it a priority, regardless of whether you want to knit, learn a new skill or anything else. That’s all we have time for this week. If you’ve enjoyed the show, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or your podcatcher of choice. Music for this episode is by Adam and The Walter Boys and is available for purchase on iTunes.

Hybrid Yarn festivals continue in this episode where Jo is joined by Aimee of KnitSpinCake podcast to review her experience of attending Unravel's hybrid yarn show. Aimee took part in the social aspects, saw some of the vendor showcases and, after attending one workshop with Bristol Ivy, promptly booked onto another with her the next day. Aimee covered the organisation of the show and we discussed some of the technical aspects of how it was run, from a visitor's point of view. She shared her views on the workshop offerings as well as the vendor spotlights. You can find Aimee @knitspincake on Instagram and the podcast at http://knitspincake.blogspot.com Full shownotes are at www.shinybees.com/177 Music for this episode is with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink' available from iTunes.

Story time this week where there is a roundup of all the happenings at PodRetreat2015, including patio chairs, statues of Elvis and fuse box infernos. If you want several good reasons why you shouldn't buy French cars or Welsh farmhouses, you'll find them here.

In Enablers' Corner, we visit New Lanark UNESCO World Heritage Site in Scotland and learn a bit about the mill and social impact it had. There's a quick description of the facilities on offer there as well as inforation about the yarn they spin, which is the main thing we all want to know about, after all.

Finally, the Famous Shinybees Pattern Pick returns and it's a bit of a crazy one on the subject of 'ball'. Warning: may cause you to laugh so hard you urinate.

Show notes as always are on the blog at www.shinybees.com.

This week is a quick chat on Scotch Eggs and a surprising fact about Scotch Egg knitting and crochet patterns.

Special guest Kate Davies, of Kate Davies Designs, joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her journey as a designer and writer, from her previous life as a university academic to the current day. She shares the highs and lows of running your own enterprise as well as a glimpse into her everyday life as a designer.

You can find Kate Davies online at www.katedaviesdesigns.com, as well as on Ravelry, Twitter and Instagram.

As always, full shownotes are available at www.shinybees.com.

This week the show returns after a short hiatus. I'll give you a few funny tales from the past couple of months to get you in the mood for some Shiny On Form thought the episode. Pulling an octagenarian and gatecrashing a funeral are amongst the highlights.

In Enabler's Corner, I enable you to the Tiny Tea Hat collection, which is the mini version of the most popular hats from Clare Devine of Knit Share Love's Tea Collection. It contains Chai, Everyday Brew, Lapsang and Liquorice.

This is where it went off on one for the first time and I enlighten the world to the fact that the latest Hot Right Now craze for Ponytail Hats on Ravelry is in fact nothing to do with Facebook and everything to do with the Manbun.

After this, I review Woolly Wormhead's Painted Woolly Toppers for Kids. Edgy, fun, a little subversive plus impossibly cute kids and interesting hat construction = a winner for me. 

Shownotes for this episode can be found at www.shinybees.com, along with highly amusing photos of Vladimir Putin with a man bun.

Music is from Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

This is the multi-award winning(!) Shinybees podcast, winner of the Best UK Podcast of 2016. 

Thanks to everyone who voted for the show. If you want to see the video of the acceptance speech, it's in the show notes. 

Knitting wise, I have been working mostly on Helen Stewart's Talisman Shawl from her Shawl Society club. It's being knit in Urban Hints 'Blood Orange' from The Wool Kitchen.
The #RewindKAL has completed from a prize point of view, but we can keep going with the chat thread as I'm still nowhere near done. I have realised that I am not a slow knitter, I just don't spend enough time knitting.

The Golden Skein's Summer Power of 3 Club featured Eden Cottage Yarns, Dublin Dye and Triskelion Yarn. You can find all details at www.thegoldenskein.com. Signups are open 1-7th July for the Autumn quarter 2016.

Show notes are at shinybees.com

Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

Susan Crawford joins me this week and we take a journey through the past three years since Ep55.

The Vintage Shetland Project was officially published in February 2018. The culmination of 8 years of painstaking work, the book is an absolute triumph, both as an academic work, but also as Susan was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer just prior to the original planned publication date.

In this episode we talk about the realisation of The Vintage Shetland Project into its paper form, and discuss a few of the amazing stories that have come out as a result of this research. This includes a hitherto forgotten knitting historian from 1930, whose work was destined to be lost forever until this project and a daring WW2 pilot who believed the Fair Isle sweaters knitted by his doting Aunt kept him safe from the Luftwaffe.

Next, Susan talked about another project, connected to her diagnosis: The Knocker Jotter. Susan was very open about the details of her journey through cancer. This was a creative project that came about with members of her cancer support group, and was very empowering for the women involved.

Finally we return to the present, with exciting plans for Monkley Ghyll Farm. There are naughty Shetland sheep, retreats, workshops and jam and gin on the horizon.

You can find Susan at www.susancrawfordvintage.com

Full shownotes and links at www.shinybees.com/116

If you have a knitter in your life, you'll appreciate this roundup of knitting gift ideas, that isn't more yarn. In this episode, we'll cover some suggestions for six alternative ideas for gifts for knitters. 1) Adidas Samba Fox trainers 2) A wool blanket 3) Project bags 4) Sheepy themed toiletries 5) Stuff to protect the yarn 6) Sheepskin producers, slippers or moccasins. Shownotes and all links at www.shinybees.com/174 Music as always with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys - 'I Need a Drink', available from iTunes.

This week is sponsored by Back to School, specifically the absolute abomination that is school shoe shopping. Despite indeed having no school for the kids, I decided to brave Clarks and get the pre-requisite footwear on a special early morning appointment. Sadly, this did not prevent the usual dick move behaviour when shopping for shoes from my dearly beloved offspring. Naturally, this inspired a back to school themed Pattern Pick. Full show notes at www.shinybees.com/156 Music for this episode with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink' available from iTunes.

This week is a bit of a catch up as I share my Far East adventures so far. I'm in China, and I share some of the funnier/more unusual observations I've made so far being here, including crotchless baby clothes, sleeping in public and appreciative eating.

Also involved is a marching column of riot police.

On the knitting side, we revisit ep 114 (Yarn Snob) and I share some of the submitted entries for the remaining three categories of yarn snob.

Full show notes and links at www.shinybees.com/117

Music for this episode used with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys - 'I Need a Drink' - available on iTunes.

Learn the basics of what to consider when choosing yarn for socks this week with my guest hosts Clare Devine and Kate Read. We chat about fit, durability and aesthetic and why considering each of these for your project is important. There is a rundown of the latest instalemtn from The Golden Skein Power of 3 Club, Autumn Harvest. This included yarns from Sylvan Tiger, Hartlam and Kettle Yarn Co.

Finally, we have a preview of the latest yarn to be offered from Blacker Yarns in Cornwall. West Country Tweed will be available in 4 shades, undyed, blue, purple and olive and comes from sheep from just two farms in Devon and Somerset. It will be available from 14th November 2014 at www.blackeryarns.co.uk

Full show notes are available at www.shinybees.com.

Nic Rudd, dyer behind Yarns From the Plain and voice of the popular podcast of the same name is our guest this week on the show.

Based on the Cheshire Plain in north-west England, Nic began her career as an industrial chemist working in the nuclear industry, before moving into what could be considered an equally hazardous environment as a primary school teacher. Having been curious about dyeing for some time, she began to sell her excess stock at local guild meetings, before taking the leap into it as a business, alongside studying for an HNC at Bradford.

A fan of all things British, her yarns are no exception and you can find some interesting blends amongst the Stanley range, which is available in 5 weights.

She has lots of tips for making business work that she freely shares, along with her unbridled passion for Microsoft Excel.

Listeners can get a juicy 15% discount in the Yarns From The Plain shop with the code SHINY15.

You can find Nic and links to all her social media, as well as the blog and podcast at www.yarnsfromtheplain.co.uk.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

You can become a Patron of the podcast and join our Virtual Knit Night at www.patreon.com/shinybees

Music is by Adam and the Walter Boys and is 'I Need a Drink'

It's a chatty and fun episode today with the enigmatic Leona Jayne Page of Rusty Ferret/Fluph. Voted back onto the show as a guest for the second time, Leona tells us about how she moved from yarn shop owner into hand dyer.

Rusty Ferret was, when we last met Leona, in the closet as a 'local dyer'. Well, the worst kept secret in knitting was uncovered and Leona was revealed as the dyer behind Rusty Ferret. Rusty is a steampunk gentleman and Leona draws upon all kinds of things for inspiration.

We cover a number of topics in this episode including commercial yarns, DPNs vs magic loop and the economics of Primark clothing. Ever fancied getting into Art School? Leona has the scoop on that.

You can find everything about Leona at www.fluph.co.uk

Full show notes are at www.shinybees.com/120

Music for this episode is used with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys, with 'I Need a Drink', available via iTunes.

Where do you lose knitting time and how can you go about carving out more time to do it? In this week's episode, I talk about the idea of cutting out mindless phone scrolling time to increase your knitting time, and the associated benefits of doing so.

Also we have a news round up for the start of the month, including information about the #titsoutcollective run by Countess Ablaze (along with her new YouTube channel), the Great London Yarn Crawl from Yarn In The City, the Indie Burgh Craft Crawl in Edinburgh and Fibre East.

Full show notes and links for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/115

This week we have a friendly catch up post Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I reassure listeners that knitting on a train with beads is indeed a perfectly safe activity. Come and hear the rundown of Scotland's premier knitting festival. It's not done to death, just a few highlights including my notable mentions for Beyond Measure, Cowtown Knits and Tilly Flop Designs and the Best In Show... which is like Crufts, only without dogs.

We round up with the three dyers from the spring quarter of The Golden Skein. Go and check out Whistlebare, Snail Yarn and Sparkleduck.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

Welcome in to another episode. This week we have some yarn based news for you. There will be a trunk show at Fluph in Dundee on 27th May 2015 with Nic from Yarns From The Plain, from 2pm-8pm. Also, there's a new group on Ravelry for those hopelessly overcommitted types; The Hotel For The Hopelessly Overcommitted. Come and join the fun there if you ever feel slightly stretched on the knitting front.

In Enablers' Corner I announce the collaborative project between myself and Louise Scollay of KnitBritish podcast: Make It Fit 2015. It's going to be an investigative piece looking at lots of different aspects of knitting to fit, with the aim of empowering you to tailor garments to your requirements. It will take place mostly on the blogs and you can contact us at makeitfit2015@gmail.com.

There are a couple more yarn recommendations for summer knitting courtesy of lovely listeners.

Finally, Wippin' Piccadilly is back with not a great deal of progress! How do you keep your knitting on track?

Shownotes with all links are available on the blog.

Music is provided courtesy of Music Alley with Adam and the Walter Boys and 'I Need A Drink'.

Rachel Coopey is our guest of honour in this episode. Rachel is a British knitwear designer and author, with somewhat of a penchant for socks, having written three books on the subject. Also fond of accessories, she has designed for a number of UK and overseas knitting magazines and publications. Her most recent book, Toasty 2, was launched at Yarndale 2015 and is a collection of patterns in Baa Ram Ewe's Titus yarn.

You can find Rachel at www.coopknits.co.uk.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com.

Music for this episode is by Adam and the Walter Boys and is 'I Need a Drink'.

What will be the knitting trends for hand knitters in 2021? Not that I am in any way an authority on the finer points of craft fashion and popularity, but these are my predictions for what will be a knitting trend in 2021.

Knitting Trends For 2021

1. Intarsia It’s not the first time Intarsia has featured in my list of predicted trends for the year, and it’s not quite fulfilled its promise as yet in terms of reaching that top knitting trend popularity. There have been a few notable patterns, but it has still to reach mainstream appeal. I think this is because the patterns haven’t been quite ‘must have’ enough, but also it’s a bit of a fiddly and more involved technique. Once one of the big designers gets in on this, I think it Intarsia will become a bigger trend.

2. Texture We’re all in need of some comfort as we slide into a second year of restricted living. As such, I think a big knitting trend this year will be chunky texture. Think big, thick comforting cables, heavier weight yarns and any project you can wrap yourself up and cocoon in.

3. Textured Yarns Hot on the heels of the knitting micro-trend of holding mohair yarns double with a smooth yarn, I think textured yarns will be more popular. This may be in the form of novelty yarns (ok just me). More likely, it will be as an interest in different yarn constructions in natural fibres. Bouclé, chainette and fringed yarns will emerge in popularity. Designs will also feature bigger textured elements, such as fringing, tassels and frills.

4. Tank tops Once the preserve of the 70s, then the 90s, tank tops or knitted vests are going to be a catwalk trend this year. As such, expect them to become a hand knitting trend this year too. Whether it be stranded knits or more utilitarian pieces, expect more patterns for knitted vests.

5. Checks and Plaid Hand knitted checks will become more popular in 2021. Whether it is a tartan style, plaid, checks or argyle, it will emerge as a knitting trend.

6. Sophisticated Loungewear High quality knitted loungewear that’s a bit fancier than athleisure will be a big trend. Not necessarily hand knitted versions, but commercially available knitted garments as opposed to synthetics.

Yarn trends for 2021 I think more interesting yarn constructions will increase, particularly in natural fibres. Stash usage will increase as stock backlogs from Covid and Brexit delay distribution. What are your thoughts? What do you think will be a big knitting trend in 2021? Let me know in the comments below!

What do you want to hear on the podcast? Finish this sentence: “If I could get Jo to make a podcast on anything, it would be…” – put your answers in the comments or email me at info@shinybees.com

DeliciousLittleJoysKAL The Delicious Little Joys KAL has come to a close. Prizes will be given out over the next week or so. It’s been great to see all the finished objects. The everyday Delicious Little Joys have been fun to join in with, especially right now when there isn’t much going on. I’m still working on my Glitz at the Ritz shawl by Helen Stewart. It’s a free pattern you can find on Knitty. Full Shownotes at www.shinybees.com/170 Music for this episode is with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys, with I Need a Drink, available from iTunes.

Custom Socks a go-go as we welcome author, technical editor and pattern designer Kate Atherley to the show. If you're interested in learning how to write clear patterns that any knitter can use to recreate your design for themselves, Kate has some great tips and lots of experience to share. Likewise, she provides us with her top sock knitting tips in anticipation of returning to the Sock Surgery to close the interview.

In news, the Shawl of Awesome is progressing nicely. Also, Sally Cameron of PinkHairGirl Podcast has released a pattern to help raise funds for the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. The Phoenix Hat pattern is available vis Ravelry and there is a video embedded in the shownotes, where you can hear Sally and her daughter Rachel talk about the project.

Shownotes for this episode are available are available at www.shinybees.com

Kate Atherley can be found at www.kateatherley.com

Music for this episode is as always provided via Music Alley courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

How do you decide what knitting to take with you when you travel? Do you spend more time choosing what yarn to take than which clothes to pack?

This week we tackle the thorny subject of holiday/travel knitting. A source of much anguish for the average knitter, choosing what to take with you, and what to leave behind, can be like picking a favourite child. Even a short getaway can lead to stash packing that would enable you to survive a zombie apocalypse.

So, today we discuss some ideas for how to decide what to take and what kind of projects lend themselves particularly well to travel knitting. Towards the end of the episode, we are joined again by Leona Jayne of Fluph, with some outtakes from her episode in 120.

Here, she discusses which projects she will be taking on her trip, which includes a 10 and 12 hour flight just to get there. Music for this episode is by Adam and The Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink', available on iTunes.

Full show notes are at www.shinybees.com/121

This week it's a quick catch up after an unscheduled break in programming thanks to contracting pneumonia. First up, I mention the recent discussion around racism, inclusion and diversity in the knitting community. This podcast has not been as inclusive as it should be in the content produced up to now and I apologise for that.

News-wise, I share a new podcast interview I did that is released now on The InDependant Spouse podcast with Jess Sands, which is a podcast that shares stories from military spouses and veterans in business.

After this, there's a round up of knitting and creative projects that I've been taking part in. Spoiler: I've almost finished writing a book! Shownotes at www.shinybees.com/133

Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys, I Need a Drink.

This week I bring you lots of things to be inspired by. The reference to Paula Abdul is not covered within the show but encompasses the idea of 'two steps forward/two steps back'.

First up there's news about Shiny's Hive, and a party to be remembered at Countess Ablaze for Yarn Shop Day on 30th April 2016. Come and join lots of us fun folk between 10am and 5pm and get involved in the fun. Isla of BritYarn will also be there with a trunk show. British Wool a gogo.

I review Yarn In The City's London Craft Guide. It's a crafty guide to London, with lots of insider tips for food and refreshments along the way. It comes with 11 patterns for ghat all important holiday crafting too. You can find everything to do with the book at www.yarninthecity.com

Finally, we have Wippin' Piccadilly with Voodoo by Boo Knits (yes, still) and Frisson by Brittany Wilson. Lush by TinCanKnits for the #RewindKAL.

Shownotes are at www.shinybees.com

Music is by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'

The enabling continues at pace this episode, where there is lots of #FreeYourSkeins2015 chatter, along with the introduction of the Stash Heap Challenge group. Want to join a group with lots of ideas of how to get control of your yarn collection? These are your people!

There is a bit of a discussion about feminism, the fact Loose Women is the worst TV programme ever made and the lack of any artistic merit in R&B music. It gets a bit shouty. You have been warned. Have you ever been sterotyped from a knitting perspective?

We welcome Sarah Chy of www.knittingsarah.com to talk about her experience of setting up and growing an online knitty community. 

Shownotes can be found on the blog at www.shinybees.com. Come and join the Shinybees Podcast group on Ravelry and join in the fun!

Short rows are for life, not just for Christmas. We embrace the short row this episode in the Sock Surgery, where Clare Devine joins us again and we start our new sock for April.

In Enablers' Corner, we chat about the #hapalong being run by Louise Scollay of KnitBritish. Ever been interested in traditional Shetland knitting? Now's your chance to learn a little more!

There's a giveaway of a skein of Wollmeise to members of the Shinybees Ravelry group. To enter, hop over to the thread on Ravelry and tell me what your favourite bit of the podcast is.

The Sock Surgery introduces the short row heel and different methods for doing short rows. Clare also reviews Big Foot Knits by Andi Smith and there is a giveaway on her blog at www.yarnandpointysticks.com.

To ensure you never miss an episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or your podcatcher of choice, or on the blog to receive notifications straight to your inbox.

As always, shownotes are at www.shinybees.com and music is provided by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink' via Music Alley.

The #DeliciousLittleJoysKAL is coming! Having not hosted a KAL for a long time, I was inspired to do one given we are now in the second, not that exciting sequel to the original lockdown part one. Delicious little joys is the theme and the idea is to embrace the idea of looking for delicious little joys in the every day. Indeed, it’s about actively building in joy to your day. It’s gonna be miserable in the Northern hemisphere soon, so finding ways to bring joy will be a positive thing. Yarn is any that brings you joy. Pattern is any joyful pattern. We start on 15th November and will continue until we don’t need any more joy (which might be around 1st February 2021. It can be a fresh cast on, or one you have had around for a while. Sewing, Crochet or any other craft is welcome, so long as it is joyful. All the chat will take place in the Shinybees Podcast Club on Mighty Networks (shinybees.com/community to join) and you can use the hashtag #DeliciousLittleJoysKAL on social if you like. Things to help with joy: Chase gin #Ginabled Yoga With Adriene Early morning brews with a fantasy book Chocolate Brownie Cake Honey Flapjacks Knitting The For Fox Sake jumper yarn I had originally planned to use – West Yorkshire Spinners Croft – is reported to be a bit pilly. As a result, I’m now considering Eden Cottage Yarns Milburn DK or West Yorkshire Spinners Bluefaced Leicester, if I can find enough balls in the right colours. Books I’m now up to #7.5 in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. They continue to suffer from the plot-dropping-off-a-cliff in the last 20 pages. Once I accepted this would be the case, I could just enjoy the books for what they are. Winterblaze by Kristen Callaghan was a surprise library find and I enjoyed the strong female protagonist in this book. It’s set in Victorian London and the world building and plot were good. It’s a bit racy in parts, but not at the expense of a great story. Worth a look. Infinity Son by Adam Silvera was dreadful. I’m glad it was a library book, or I would have been rather annoyed. Zero worldbuilding for the first book in the series, meandering ‘yoof’ dialogue and sterotyping, boring and predictable. Abandoned at page 85. Avoid. A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende. Heartily recommend this interesting historical fiction set in the Spanish and Chilean revolutions. Full showotes at www.shinybees.com/165 Music for this episode with kind permission of Adam and the Walter Boys with ‘I Need A Drink’ available from iTunes.

It's Zoolander-aplenty this episode as I come rip-roaring (sort-of) back from having the flu. Zoolander 2 is out on 12th February and Zoolander is one of my favourite films of all time. I a bit love Ben Stiller. Imagine my surprise, then, that there are indeed no patterns on Ravelry for anything Zoolander themed. Not one. Not even a cheeky little amigurumi Hansel...

So, don't kill the president of Micronesia. Just chill out a bit more. Relax, Derek!

In Enabler's Corner, courtesy of Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade and Paula of Knitting Pipeline, I enable you to the Fish Lips Kiss Heel pattern. Let's get the Sox Therapist and her kids together for a big reunion. Breast cancer ain't fun. I am offering to gift a pattern to the first ten people that reply to the thread in the group on Ravelry.

There are a pair of Edinburgh Yarn Festival tickets up for grabs in a giveaway on the Ravelry group. I'll be attending and taking part in the Podcast Lounge again. You can find all the details at www.edinyarnfest.com

Wippin' Piccaddilly has Owligan by Kate Davies, Voodoo by Boo Knits and a pair of afterthought heel socks in yarn from The Golden Skein. Future knits are pretty much any hat by Clare Devine (Tea Collection) and Frisson by Brittany Wilson, available from Ravelry.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.

News-wise, it's all about events this week, with Highland Wool Festival taking place on 23rd May at Dingwall Mart. Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2015 will be happening on 13/14th June 2015 in Edinburgh, organised by Jess James of Ginger Twist Studio, in collaboration  with Kathy's Knits and Be Inspired Fibres. Clare Devine will also be teaching workshops over the weekend; you can find details at www.yarnandpointysticks.com.

In Enablers' Corner, there's a round up of Linne Foirthe Club. Check out Scottish-based dyers Ripplescrafts, Ginger's Hand Dyed and Rainbow Heirloom.

Make It Fit 2015 will be kicking off with a measure-up. More details to follow.

In the Sock Surgery, Clare and I review The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet Vol II by Hunter Hammersen. You can win a copy of this over at Clare's blog.

Full shownotes available at www.shinybees.com.

Some patterns to comfort or soothe might be what you need right now. This episode has five patterns with that cosy, comforting feeling for you to check out. Also there are three resources for finding great podcasts by BIPOC and/or Women of Colour on all kinds of subjects. It's not always easy to identify podcasts made by hosts from a more diverse range of communities due to siltation on search. Luckily, there are great directories out there to help! Full shownotes and links at www.shinybees.com/147 Music for this episode is by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink' available on iTunes.

Hello and welcome to all new and returning listeners! I planned for today’s episode to be a short one, however, once I got into the flow of chatting, it ended up being a full lengther. There’s been lots of chat in the Shinybees Podcast Community on Facebook. I’m still looking for a new home beyond Facebook. I’ve found social media and the news to be extremely negative at the moment. I’ve responded to this by judiciously muting and blocking of overly negative people and content. This has been an overwhelmingly positive thing. Sidenote – school whatsapp groups are the work of the devil and should be avoided. I’ve also been taking part in Home by Yoga With Adriene. This is a 30 day freebie program on YouTube for a daily practice. She’s non-judgy and it feels quite achievable. Be kind to yourself, dear listener. You’re trying your best, and nobody is running the same race that you are. Kitty Couches are the order of the day, in particular the Kitty Couch – Green Sofa pattern by Candy Clayton. You can get this belter on Ravelry for $1.99. Give your cat the personal sofa they truly deserve in one of three exciting shapes! I did a pattern pick way back where I had a pattern pick with cats wearing hats, including a pimp hat (I think that was called ‘my pimp paw is strong’) On the knitting front, I’m still working on the Compass Sweater by Tin Can Knits. This pattern is being knit in Susan Crawford Vintage Excelana DK, which is a great workhorse yarn. I would love if the pattern had options for waist shaping, which they usually are in Tin Can Knits patterns. Even a recipe for the shaping in the notes area would be really useful. I’ve also finished my Lush Cardigan in Countess Ablaze Grande Merino DK. I’ve finally found suitable buttons to complete the garment, courtesy of Jess at Ginger Twist Studios. These are from Incomparable Buttons, which manufacture handmade ceramic buttons in South Africa. The company has a strong focus on economic empowerment. The colour of the yarn is great, but I think the merino is too soft; it’s already bobbling at this gauge. The other two Lush cardigans have been plumper DK and the resulting fabric has been thicker, denser and harder wearing. What I’m reading… Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Saltwater by Jessica Andrews Wonder by RJ Palacio A Discovery of Witched by Deborah Harkness. You can find me over at goodreads.com/jomilmine Full shownotes are at shinybees.com/144 and music from this episode (with kind permission) is Adam and the Walter Boys with ‘I Need a Drink’.

Hat mania descends upon the podcast this week as I welcome hat architect Woolly Wormhead to the show. Woolly is a knitting designer who is obsessed with all things hat. Author of 8 books dedicated to all things hats, she delights in exploring the extremeties to which you can take the humber hat. Drawing on her background as an engineer and Fine Art student, she focuses on the sculptural aspects of hat design.

She's a hat architect and she'd like you to be too.

You can find Woolly, her patterns, blog and links to her social media at www.woollywormhead.com

This episode is sponsored by Yarn In The City. For more information visit www.yarninthecity.com

Shownotes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is courtesy of Music Alley and is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

Tune in for the latest knitting news on upcoming events in Brighton and Edinburgh. There is a rundown of all the gossip from The Golden Skein and a yarn shop review of The Woolly Brew in Pittenweem. Finally, the pattern pick returns on the theme of 'bunny'. No cats were harmed during thr production of this podcast. Keep an ear out for a slightly vocal cohost!

This week it's an interview episode and I am chatting to the vivacious duo that is Alison Thistlewood and Rachel Brown, the ladies behind Yarn In The City and the Great London Yarn Crawl. Both businesswomen in their own right with their own separate businesses, they are here to chat about all things yarn and business. There's also some agonising over the Desert Island Skeins and some stash chat, amonst all the usual interview questions.

Tickets for the event are now on sale.

You can find Allison and Rachel at www.yarninthecity.com

Shownotes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com

Glasgow-based knitwear designer and purveyor of super-cute stitch markers, Amanda B Collins, is our guest on the podcast today. Amanda has been designing for a few years, producing patterns for the UK knitting press, including Knit Now Magazine and Pom Pom Quarterly. She has also released her own designs in self published collections as well as a series of shawls inspired by Glasgow. Spoiler: 'Bru' is a favourite of mine.

A doctor by day, she designs in the evenings, when she's not playing Wacky Races in her yellow Fiat 500. We discuss all manner of things, along with the usual questions you'd expect in the interview section. Be warned, there is some deviation down quite funny rabbit holes.

Interview starts at 2:30.

You can find Amanda on Twitter as @owlprintpanda and she blogs at www.owlprintpanda.blogspot.com

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

Who likes Angel Delight?

This week's episode is definitely on the delight end of the pudding scale as opposed to a seven tier unicorn cake and that's often a good thing. It's a low tariff canter and catch up with no big questions asked or answered and instead we have some light and fluffy as air fun.

In community news, I invite you to come and join the #shinybeescolourworkchallenge  over in the Facebook group and try your hand at some stranded knitting. If knitting with more than one colour has been intimidating to you in the past, now's the time to cast that aside and give it a crack. There will be helpful hints and tips posted in the group throughout the month and the occasional Shetland Pony in Fair Isle. Obvs.

In Enabler's Corner I enable you to two not quite yarny but definitely fun (depends on your version of fun for the latter, but I like it) things to try. First up we have the delightfully witty Amy Nolan of Ginger Rainbow who does the most fantastic illustrations and doodles. She's very witty and manages to bring situational humour out in her quirky drawings. I am a big fan. Secondly, we have #hotelroomview, the fun adventures of working on the road and seeing a lot of hotel rooms, hosted by the wonderful Bexx. It really shouldn't be that exciting or gripping, but there is something about these hotel room views that has captured my imagination. It's a bit like looking at house porn on Rightmove.

In Wippin' Piccadilly, I have finished Helen Stewart's Spindrift Shawl and the Everyday Brew by Clare Devine. I'm never knitting with black yarn again. Future/fantasy knit searching has taken me to the Prism hat by Tin Can Knits which is part of the Mad Colour collection which was released in August. This versatile pattern gives oodles of opportunity for creating a one-of-a-kind hat, and is really more like three patterns in one. Also catching my eye from this collection is 1999, a sweater with a masculine lace (that's a thing) panel down the front. The collection itself comprises 16 patterns and is available from Ravelry for $21.60 USD.

Shownotes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com

Music is by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink.'

Helen Reed of The Wool Kitchen is my super-fun sidekick this episode. Helen is a hand dyer based in Walthamstow in East London, although originally she's a Northern bird, albeit from the wrong side of the Pennines (Yorkshire).

She worked in retail prior to becoming a mum, and once her kiddies were going to school, she decided to start The Wool Kitchen as a business to indulge in her creative side.

A colour addict, you can expect wild and vivid skeins from Helen. Even the pared down colour ways are still bright and lively. The colours need to be released from her head onto the yarn, to allow her to be more colourful and be more creative.

Helen was encouraged into yarntrepreneurship by her evil accomplices at Knit Night and hasn't looked back. She loves to meet new people both in real life and virtually, so you'll find her hanging out most on Instagram (or by her brightly coloured yarn on her stall).

Helen has foolishly offered her Desert Island Skein up as a giveaway this week (let's hope she isn't shipwrecked anytime soon) and you can enter via the thread on Ravelry in the Shinybees group.

You can find Helen as @thewoolkitchen on Instagram and Ravelry as well as her shop on Etsy.

Show notes are at www.shinybees.com.

Music is courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

National Knitting Week is upon us: what's on your needles? This week's episode has some podcast and knitty news to kick off proceedings, followed by a chat about Yarndale 2015 and a round up of current and finished knitting.

In parish notices for the podcast, I will be moving house back to The Money Pit in the very near future. The podcast is planned to remain on schedule throughout this geographical disruption. Also, I have set up a newsletter for the podcast, which you can join at http://eepurl.com/bBMENL and will include all the latest podcast news along with some dogs in comedy knitwear.

Also, there's a listener survey for you to take part in. I'd love to hear your opinions, and will be offering a yarny giveaway incentive. Look out for this on the blog and social media for the link.

In woolly news, it's Wool Week in the UK between 5-11 Oct, with most of the activity being focused around London (typical!). The UK Hand Knitting Association is promoting the Commit To Knit charity knitting project as part of National Knitting Week. The Knit A Square charity is in dire need of financial donations to support their operations in South Africa. 

The Highland Wool and Textile Fair is happening in Inverness on 17th October 2015.

Yarndale is reviewed with my top tips being Rachel Coopey, Town End Alpaca and Laura's Loom.

Wippin Piccadilly has a finished Owls jumper by Kate Davies and Out Of Darkness shawl by Boo Knits. Ongoing is a Lush by Tin Can Knits.

Shownotes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is provided via Music Alley courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys, with 'I Need A Drink'

Polish deisgner Justyna Lorkowska is in the hotseat this week, chatting about her journey from private primary school teacher, through motherhood and into knitting designer. Designing under Lete's Knits, Justyna has a wide portfolio of patterns, from accessories to garments and for all age ranges, as well as a few for the men in your life (or yourself!). Majoring in chunky texture and cabled details, she's designed some of the  favourites of Ravelry, such as Alecia Beth, Alice in Wonderland and most recently, Florrick. She collaborated on a special edition kit for Edinburgh Yarn Festival, designing a shawl pattern, Aisling, for Eden Cottage Yarns.

Shownotes as always are at www.shinybees.com

Justyna can be found at www.letesknits.com

Music for this episode is provided courtesy of Music Alley and is 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.