Yarn In The City

It’s been a loooong time since we’ve recorded, and there’s lots and lots to talk about. In this episode, we’ll update you on plans for this year’s Great London Yarn Crawl, the changes in our circumstances, and what’s ahead for Yarn in the City.  News & Announcements  Over the almost six months since we last spoke to you there have been a lot of changes behind the scenes here at YITC HQ, which mean our focus as an organization is going to be changing pretty dramatically.  We talk about Rachel’s move back to the States and Allison’s work changes, and what that means for YITC as an organisation. Great London Yarn Crawl 2019 There will still be a Great London Yarn Crawl this year, but the structure and format are going to be dramatically different from previous editions.  Who: All of you! What: The 2019 edition of the Great London Yarn Crawl Where: All over Greater London When: 1-8th September 2019 How: Buy your GLYC Passport on 1 July, make plans with your friends or former teammates, and hit the streets the

It’s our final episode of the year and thanks to the joys of modern technology (Allison is in London and Rachel is in sunny Australia) we’ve been able to connect and catch up. News & Announcements We’ve joined Rosy Green Wool and designer Melanie Berg and their campaign Knitters Against Malaria. The campaign runs from December 24th, 2018 through to January 31st, 2019. If you’ve not made any holiday charitable donations yet or if you still have room to give, it only takes a few dollars to purchase bed nets for distribution in Africa to help prevent this disease. We are also tickled to have made the shortlist of nominees for Knit Now magazine’s Knitter of the Year 2018 Awards! We’re nominated in the Local Superstars category for our work creating yarn-y events and celebrating local and UK makers. Voting is now up to the public through the 31st of December so if you’re able to cast your vote for us, we’d really appreciate it! Check out all of the amazing nominees and cast your vote here. What we’ve been work

As 2018 and our year of Yarn Adventures is drawing to a close, we take the time to catch up and chat about what is coming next for Yarn in the City! What we’re working on Allison has abandoned pretty much everything she was working on pre-Yarnporium (including doing the sleeves for Weekender) and has been knitting the Clara dess from Isager (designer is Karin Vestergaard Mathiesen). Rachel finished her Carbeth (again!) after realising she should have knit it the next size up. Happily the sleeves didn’t need to be reknit! The leftover yarn is going to become a hat for Lindsey. Rach is also occasionally spindling some fibre here and there. Gap Year As with last year the podcast will be taking a brief hiatus until about March. Not least because of all of the prep involved with Yarnporium but mostly because of the exciting adventure that Rachel and her family have embarked on for the year, travelling to far-flung places! We catch up on Rachel’s first leg of the journey and chat about what this means for Yarn in t

It’s our Yarnporium 2018 wrap-up episode! Fair Warning: We are recording this literally the day after the Yarnporium so we might still be on a high from the yarn fumes and good vibes that were to be had at the show! We’ve got a full recap for you so grab your current project and your beverage of choice and kick back with us! What we’re working on + next steps We went a little bonkers the week before Yarnporium and decided to try knitting sweaters for the show. It was a good exercise in having something to keep us sane! Allison – Beton Brut + wrapping up Weekender by Andrea Mowry on the knitting machine. Just the sleeves to go! Rachel – Carbeth by Kate Davies. A valiant effort to make it to the finish line in under a week! Yarnporium Well wasn’t that a party?! *** Wrap up: Many thanks for joining us for another episode! You can find the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio (please rate, review and subscribe!) and you'll find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, in our Yarn in the City group on Ravelry, or i

We’re counting down with just under two weeks to go to the Yarnporium and it’s finally time to tell you all about our super secret project that we’ve been working on! Yarnporium Update Marketplace tickets are still available and are available for £10 in advance or £12 on the day. Get your tickets here. Workshop tickets are still available here, but will only be on sale until 11.:59pm on Sunday, October 28th. Workshop registration will not be possible in person at the Yarnporium.  If you are attending a workshop you automatically have access to the marketplace for the day of your workshop, but will need a marketplace ticket if you want to attend the marketplace on the day you aren’t taking a class. Other events: Friday – Yarn Lovers Lounge sponsored by The Yarn Collective  Book signing with Nathan Taylor - see his Guys Knit the Musical video here!   Also meet and greets with designers, yarn tasting and a big yarn giveaway, a pop-up café and seating, and a lunchtime meet up for Beton Brut Yarnporium Countdown K

Continuing our year’s theme of Yarn Adventures we’re delighted to have a chat with Kate Gagnon Osborn and Courtney Kelley of Kelbourne Woolens. They share a bit of their 10 year yarn adventure with us – which has culminated in the release of their brand new yarn Germantown, and a special appearance at our upcoming Yarnporium! Thanks to our sponsor: The Yarn Collective This episode of the podcast is sponsored by The Yarn Collective, a fibre and design company focused on working with independent designers to bring you luxurious hand-dyed yarns in a range of inspiring colourways. These international designers represent the best of modern knitwear design and include Bristol Ivy, Melanie Berg, Carol Feller and Michele Wang. Each designer has created and curated a distinctive and wonderful line for The Yarn Collective. You can find out more about the yarns by visiting www.theyarncollective.com.  Yarnporium Update Hopefully you’re not completely sick of hearing about the show yet and have got your tickets and are ge

On this episode of the podcast we’re counting down to the Yarnporium - only five weeks to go now. Eep! We’ve cast on for the Yarnporium Countdown KAL - are you joining us? Thanks to our sponsor: The Yarn Collective This episode of the podcast is sponsored by The Yarn Collective, a fibre and design company focused on working with independent designers to bring you luxurious hand-dyed yarns in a range of inspiring colourways. These international designers represent the best of modern knitwear design and include Bristol Ivy, Melanie Berg, Carol Feller and Michele Wang. Each designer has created and curated a distinctive and wonderful line for The Yarn Collective. You can find out more about the yarns by visiting www.theyarncollective.com.  Yarnporium Countdown KAL The Yarnporium Countdown KAL officially kicked off a week ago. Thanks to those of you who joined us on Instagram Live for the cast on and huge apologies for the loss of sound at the end. We’re still getting used to the whole IG Live thing! If you want

On this episode we give  a recap of the 6th annual Great London Yarn Crawl, the Yarnporium KAL (whoop!) and a woolly yarn review. Plus the usual update on our projects and general goings on. Thanks to our sponsor: The Yarn Collective This episode of the podcast is sponsored by The Yarn Collective, a fibre and design company focused on working with independent designers to bring you luxurious hand-dyed yarns in a range of inspiring colourways. These international designers represent the best of modern knitwear design and include Bristol Ivy, Melanie Berg, Carol Feller and Michele Wang. Each designer has created and curated a distinctive and wonderful line for The Yarn Collective. You can find out more about the yarns by visiting www.theyarncollective.com.  GLYC Recap 10 teams, 18 volunteers, 12 door prizes, 12 shops, £341 for Refuge and two big bags of handknits plus another bag of supplies for Knit for Peace. Thanks to all the shops, our sponsors - Willow & Lark, Blue Sky Fibers, Debonnaire, Liberty, Loop

The warmth of summer is quickly fading and it’s almost the new year on the knitting calendar… when we start fresh with new projects and new hopes and plans for sweater weather, maybe a little Christmas project making – you know what we’re talking about! Yarnporium Update Day tickets to the Yarnporium are now available through our website. If you are attending a workshop on the day your admission is already included. We’re super excited about our Makers Walking the Talk series featuring The New Yarn Barons, Your Pattern in Print and The Story of Laine. More details here!  What we’re working on Allison has taken Praline out of time out and she is getting back to her super secret project! Rachel finished Study Hall and is working on not losing her mind being back on the Kippen Cardigan by Kat Goldin. Anticipation Planning for fall and winter knitting, and can we say the C-word yet? *** Many thanks for joining us for another episode! You can find the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio (please rate, review and

We are both in North America on our summer holidays, so on this episode we chat about our holiday knits, exciting new (and old!) shops we’ve visited, and new creative inspirations. We also have some Great London Yarn Crawl and Yarnporium updates! Thanks to our sponsor This episode of the podcast is sponsored by The Yarn Collective, a fibre and design company focused on working with independent designers to bring you luxurious hand-dyed yarns in a range of inspiring colourways. These international designers represent the best of modern knitwear design and include Bristol Ivy, Melanie Berg, Carol Feller and Michele Wang. Each designer has created and curated a distinctive and wonderful line for The Yarn Collective. You can find out more about the yarns by visiting http://www.theyarncollective.com.  Great London Yarn Crawl 2018 – Update GLYC 2018 is now sold out! If you missed getting your ticket, please check our Ravelry boards for ticket swaps. We look forward to kicking off the autumn knitting season with you

*** Audio alert: we're both away on holidays so this podcast was recorded remotely. Sadly, due to technology it's not our usual high-quality audio and there is some background noise occasionally. We'll try to find a better solution for the next episode! *** On today’s episode we talk about knitters using their powers for good, both individually and with their communities to back them up. There have been some amazing happenings in the wider woolly world recently and we couldn’t be more impressed with a couple of examples, the East London Knitters #sayballstotrump banner and The Tits Out Collective, headed by Countess Ablaze. Great London Yarn Crawl 2018 – Update Can you call an event sold out when there are only 5 tickets left?? We’d like to think so. With only a handful of tickets left on the Bloomsbury and City of London routes, the GLYC takes place on Saturday, September 1st and tickets are only £20. Plus we’ll be collecting handknits for Knit for Peace and holding our popular raffle for Refuge too. More de

On today’s episode we’ve got a lengthy chat with Milli, owner of Tribe Yarns, a new shop opening in Richmond-Upon-Thames just outside of London later this summer. In fact, Tribe will be opening just in time for the Great London Yarn Crawl on September 1st! Our conversation was all over the place and got a little colourful in areas, so be warned! This is not our usual squeaky clean podcast. Great London Yarn Crawl 2018 – Update Geez you guys! We are just over 80% sold out after less than a week of selling tickets! If you’ve been thinking about joining us this year, don’t wait too much longer! At the time of this recording there are literally less than 20 tickets left, so get them before they’re gone! We’ve got great stuff in the goody bags like yarn from Willow & Lark, and amazing doorprizes from Loop, Knit With Attitude, Tribe, Blue Sky Fibers, Kelbourne Woolens, Debonnaire, and more! The GLYC takes place on Saturday, September 1st and tickets are only £20. Plus we’ll be collecting handknits for Knit for

We can hardly believe that it's almost time for this year's Great London Yarn Crawl tickets to go on sale! On this episode: Great London Yarn Crawl 2018 Update We have fewer routes, only 10 this year, to make things a little easier organizing the GLYC alongside Yarnporium. Sadly, I Knit and Fringe won't be taking part this year but a new shop is opening that will be! Willow & Lark is also on board as our yarn sponsor and we've already had some pretty lush door prizes pour in from Blue Sky Fibers. Routes will be announced on or around June 15th and tickets will go on sale on July 1st as in past years. What We're Working On  Allison has been a sewing and making fiend and has whipped up two Linden sweatshirts while also crocheting a French Market bag in linen. She's also started knitting Praline by Dani Sunshine and also whipped up a Lilly baby sweater on her knitting machine for a friend's new arrival. Rachel hasn't finished her Lilly baby sweater yet as focus has been on wrapping up her Marginalia sweater

Announcements: It’s the big Yarnporium announcement you’ve been waiting for! Workshops! We are SO excited about the roster of teachers that we’ve got lined up for you at this year’s Yarnporium. And quite an international roster too! We’ve got teachers from the UK (of course!), Scotland, Ireland, France, Finland, Canada and the USA too. Here’s a run down of who’s coming: England: Renée Callahan, Jane Lithgow, Nathan Taylor Scotland: Karie Westermann  Ireland: Carol Feller  France: Julie Dubreux (aka Julie Knits in Paris) Finland: Jonna Hietala and Sini Ellen from Laine Magazine Canada: Kate Atherley USA: Courtney Kelley and Kate Osborne from Kelbourne Woolens Tickets for the workshops will go on sale on June 1st. You can find all the class details as well as bios about all of our teachers on our website. What we’re working on: Allison is now on sleeve island for her Mon Manet by Jonna Hietala, in La Bien Aimee Merino Aran in Grellow and as always happens at about this point in any one of her projects is now th

Announcements: We will be releasing the teachers and workshops for Yarnporium starting 15 May, so keep you eyes on the blog and Yarnporium page for more details and ticket info. The Great London Yarn Crawl is happening again this year! Save the date for 1 July when tickets go on sale – routes will go up a couple of weeks earlier. What we’re working on: Allison finished her Impressionist MKAL from Helen Stewart, knit from Madeleinetosh from the deep layers of stash. When the picot bind off became too much, she cast on for the Mon Manet by Jonna Hietala, in La Bien Aimee Merino Aran in Grellow. Rachel finished the first sleeve of Marginalia in the post-heat wave rainy miserable weather that cropped up in the last couple of weeks. To celebrate the gorgeous May bank holiday weather, she’s woven up two handspun scarves over the weekend, but all that is now chopped liver as her new knitting machine has arrived and is operational, thanks to a detailed info dump from Alli! Rise of the Machine: We’ve always been handk

We are super excited to be chatting with you today as we have another interview that we recorded during our time at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival last month. Nancy Marchant joins us as our special guest today to talk to us about tuck stitches, texture, and of course brioche too! Announcements: First up, a shout out to Charlotte Parfitt who was the winner of the pair of weekend passes to Woollinn in Dublin What we’re working on: Allison has been plugging away on and (mostly) monogamous to her Impressionists MKAL by Helen Stewart. The final clue has just been released so only 20% left to go! When the project has been too big to travel with Allison has also had a pair of Rose City Rollers ankle socks with her and she’s mostly finished sewing a pair of wool trousers – that it is now too hot too wear. Rachel has been flying through Marginalia (or was until this week and 27 degree weather!) She’s finished the body and made a start on the first sleeve. She’s dug into some deep deep fibre stash and found some silk/wool

Following on from our last episode where we recapped the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, we’re making plans to check out a new yarn show on the horizon: Woollinn Dublin coming up at the end of May. We chat with organiser Lisa Sisk, who is also one of the owners of Dublin’s beautiful LYS This Is Knit, about what it’s like to put on a yarn show.  What we’re working on: Allison is feeling pretty smug after finishing her Gradient Pullover and Winter Dawn shawl so she also busted out a new toque (Pull the Wool Over) out of her souvenir yarn purchase from Vogue Knitting Live in New York. She’s now working on Helen Stewart’s Impressionists MKAL and using Martina Behm’s Strickplaner 2018 to try and wrangle the rest of her projects and WIPs for Q2. Rachel cast on her Marginalia pullover in Triskelion Arthur DK and finished a hat in Bloomsbury DK from The Yarn Collective. And has been spinning up a storm. And thinking about quilting… MORE yarn show hijinks: We have a good idea of how challenging it is to plan a yarn show. So

We’ve just come by from a phenomenal trip to the 2018 Edinburgh Yarn Festival, where we saw amazing yarns, caught up with friends old and new and generally soaked up as much colour and inspiration as possible! We recap EYF on today's episode, including an interview with someone who traveled a very long way to get to Edinburgh! We also review the new Jacob yarn from Blacker Yarns. What we’re working on: Allison was desperately trying to finish her handspun Gradient Pullover (by Amy Miller) over the weekend, and has 5 inches of the second sleeve left. She’s also working on some sample knitting for her upcoming trade show. Allison's EYF stash enhancement: A previously ordered kit for the Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry in La Bien Aimee Comfort DK. Also  a sweater quantity of fingering weight yarn for Sunset Highway by Caitlin Hunter (mostly House of A La Mode from A Yarn Story), project bag, random sock skein (House of a la Mode in Redmond, a custom colourway dyed in honour of Carmen's dad). Rachel finished h

Hello and welcome back to the Yarn in the City podcast! We are thrilled to be back and chatting with you guys again after our brief hiatus. On today’s episode we’re chatting about our theme for the podcast in 2018, Allison interviews our first special guest of the year and of course we get to catch up on our knitting projects in anticipation of the upcoming EYF too. What we're working on: Rachel is knitting Incunabula by Karie Westermann from This Thing of Paper in Valley Yarns Northampton in Sage Heather, and is on the sleeves after having to start over again due to choosing the wrong size at the beginning. True to form, she's made the body longer and decided to change the sleeve shaping. As you do. Allison has been machine knitting up a storm, with her fabulous Union Jack Cardigan by Brandon Mably, and a bunch of awesome swatches from numerous classes (see short row eyeballs below). She also took a class in Bohus knitting when she went to Vogue Knitting Live last month, and we discuss Poems of Color by Wen