The Shinybees Knitting And Yarn Podcast

If you like to knit your socks both toe up and cuff down, you're probably already familiar with British designer Louise Tilbrook. If not, listen in for her take on all things yarn and running a business within the industry by night, and working as a scientist during the day. In Enablers' Corner, there;s a quick rundown of Edinburgh Yarn festival purchases, with mentions for Knockando Woolmill and Whistlebare Yarns. The main interview segment is with Louise, where we cover all the usual questions that you hear in the entrepreneur interviews. Finally, Clare Devine rejoins us with her top tips from knitting toe up socks in the Sock Surgery. Shownotes, as always, are availabel at www.shinybees.com. Music from this episode is from Music Alley and is 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.

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.  

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.

It's all about the socks this week. Clare and Kate return to discuss different methods for casting off top down socks as well as a brief overview of cast-offs for toe up socks. In Enablers' Corner, I announce a new, one-off collaboration between The Golden Skein and Edinburgh Yarn Festival. Based on the format of the Power of 3 Club, the Linne Foirthe (Firth of Forth) Club is a celebration of the Edinburgh Yarn Festival and the Scottish yarn scene. Edinburgh is home to an array of wonderful designers, dyers and yarn shops and the photo draws its inspiration from the iconic Forth Bridge, which is 125 years old this year. The club is on sale on 15th February 2015 at 1900 GMT at The Golden Skein website. On the sock front, Kate and Clare discuss casting off, with Kitchener Stitch and cinching of the toes being the two main methods of casting off a top down sock. Clare loves Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off as her go-to for toe up socks. In the Agony Aunt section, Clare answers a question on using magic loop f

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.

It's very socktacular this week with the return of the Sock Surgery. The show kicks off with a review of the 9.5" (9") / 23cm asymmetric circular needles from Kinki Amibari, kindly given for review by Rachel at www.tangled-yarn.co.uk. Clare will also be reviewing these on her blog in the near future. My verdict: quite good fun for knitting socks, very disco handbag friendly. If you want to be in with a chance to win a set of these, head over to the Ravelry group to enter! Sock Surgery this week covers how to fix common things that go wrong when you start knitting socks, chiefly the losing of stitches singly or in multiples. Finally, the Agony Aunt section covers resizing of socks to fit you, chiefly how to go about making patterns suitable for 56sts size socks. Full shownotes are available at www.shinybees.com. Music for this episode provided via Music Alley: 'I Need a Drink' by Adam and the Walter Boys.  

Lots of Edinburgh Yarn Festival news this week for you and there's a pair of weekend tickets up for grabs for a lucky listener. The Podcast Lounge is shaping up to be a fun area to chill out over the weekend of 14-15 March 2015. Clare, Kate and I will be hosting a Sock Surgery drop on Saturday 14th. If you have any sock knitting woes, come and see us to get help with them! I'll be hosting an informal Q&A on the Sunday which is being referred to currently as 'Enterprise Enabling' to answer any questions you migth have about starting your own business. I'm a huge fan of enabling in all senses of the word and more than happy to share my experience with any of you. The Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl is back for its second year. Date for you diaries is 13 and 14 June 2015. Yarn And Knitting are opening their bricks and mortar shop in the North Laines in Brighton. Their Grand Opening party is Saturday 7 Feb, 2-6pm. In the Enablers' Corner, there are two new to me podcasts for you; Wooldiaries of South Africa and The Ba

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

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!

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

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 welcom

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 soc

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

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

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.

Hello and welcome to a special bonus Hallowe'en episode of the podcast. Take a break from the tedium of opening your front door to little kids dressed in black and high on sugar and e numbers to go for a quick canter through the history of the day. To go along with this, the infamous pattern pick returns with the somewhat apt theme of pumpkins. As always, shownotes are found at www.shinybees.com. Enjoy!

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!

This week the episode has nothing at all to do with card games and everything to do with yarn. We have a quick intro from my new house, creaks included, followed by a bit of knitting news. Then, there's the triumphant return of the Wippin Piccadiily section, in which we hear why you should listen to Clare Devine and not some random lady on YouTube. Then, the bit you've all been waiting for: an interview with the ever fabulous Victoria Magnus of Eden Cottage Yarns, recorded at Unwind Brighton. She talks all things yarn and business and gives a real insight into her journey into the business, spidery cottage and all. As always, shownotes are at www.shinybees.com.

This week we finally round-up Unwind Brighton, which took place on 12-13 July 2014 in the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. There is also a run-down of the progress of the #lushpodkal Lush knitalong, by Tin Can Knits. I'm using Blacker Yarns Blacker Swan yarn for this - use the code LUSH5634 for 10% discount until 14 September 2014. There's also an interview with the ever fabulous Clare Devine of Yarn and Pointy Sticks designs and George of Yarn Garden, about yarn, the universe and everything. George is in no way like Heisenberg of Breaking Bad, it would seem, but he does like a slice of passion cake. Possibly not as much as Clare enjoys lockable stitch markers. Listen in to figure out exactly what I'm talking about. Shownotes are available at www.shinybees.com and music is provided by Adam and the Water Boys, via Music Alley.

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 delig