Have you heard of Knit Stars? Over the last few years, I’ve been aware of Knit Stars in the background. It seemed like a really interesting idea. From the comfort of your own home, you get to travel the world virtually and meet all these wonderful knitting instructors. You get to see their spaces and their lives outside of knitting. Learn about their inspirations and designs as well as taking a masterclass with them. But this year is different. This year Knit Stars CEO and founder Shelley Brander asked if I’d like to be part of their ninth season: ‘Permission to Shine‘. As you can probably im ..read more

I am in love. This year our spring seasons pattern is the Fennel Shawl and was designed by Bristol Ivy. The beautifully soft ‘Angel Sock’ yarn paired with the subtle lace pattern is a match made in heaven. This is the style of lace I really love. The knitting flows from one motif into another seamlessly and feels really cohesive. As a shawl, it’s also deceptive. The stitch patterns and charts look complex, but each stitch pattern builds on the previous one, so once you’ve mastered the first repeated stitch, you know that you’ll be able to do everything in the shawl. If you are new to lace pat ..read more

Woolly and I have been friends for a VERY long time. We immediately clicked. Perhaps it’s because we both have engineering backgrounds, which add a distinctive style to our knitting patterns. You can see why short rows are such a huge element in both of our designs. They allow you to change the shape of your knitting without ever changing the stitch count. That’s a little bit of knitting magic, right? So, last year when they asked me to be part of their Short Row Colourwork book, I jumped at the chance. About Woolly Wormhead & Short Rows Woolly Wormhead has been playing with combining colo ..read more

Are you ready for a garment knit-along inspired by gansey stitches with options for a warmer or cooler weather knit? Oh, and it’s got saddle shoulders, set-in sleeves and, as always, some interesting construction methods. Sound good? Then let’s dive right in! For the spring of 2024, I’m playing with a few of my favourite things, unusual construction techniques combined with some wonderful fabric textures. The top-down saddle shoulder construction is one of my favourites. You can tweak the size for your shoulders and bust as you work to suit your body shape. Plus, look at all those lovely shape ..read more

It’s always exciting to come to the end of a mystery knit-along because I can finally reveal the completed shawl to you! I’d love to tell you all the nitty-gritty details about the shawl as well as explaining my process of putting a mystery design together. Whether the pattern is a mystery or not, what is always most important is that you will love and wear your finished knit. Pattern Design for Mystery Knit-alongs. Creating a design for a mystery knit-along has many challenges. The design needs to be both a cohesive whole and also have several distinct sections that can be released as ‘clues ..read more

It’s always exciting to launch the first patterns for the Celtic Knits Club. I get to play with the brand new colours, work with cables and translate the club’s inspiration into my knitting. I didn’t want to play favourites, so I used both yarn colour options for these installment samples. The Sherkin Hat is knit in the ‘Jade’ colour and the Sherkin Mitts were knit in the ‘Lime’. I love seeing how colours develop, moving from skein to needle. There is so often an unexpected surprise! Island Inspiration This year, the islands of Ireland inspired the Celtic Knits Club. In this accessory set, I w ..read more

Have you ever wanted to take an in-depth lace knitting journey inspired by the gentle breath of a warm spring day? One that combines luscious, custom hand-dyed yarn with an extremely talented designer? Then you won’t want to miss our Seasons Club this spring with Bristol Ivy! I have so much admiration for Bristol Ivy’s designs; interesting constructions, well-written patterns, and wearable striking designs. She has created a design for us once before for our Cosy Knits collection, and I’m delighted to be working with her again! Bristol is a knitting designer, teacher, and author from Portlan ..read more

Have you ever wondered what would happen if I knit another designer’s cabled patterns? You did, didn’t you! Then look no further than our 2024 Blanket Club! This year we will be joined by Thea Colman, a designer I’ve got huge admiration for. Her wearable designs and mastery of cables are out of this world and I can’t wait to share the textured cabled aesthetic she has brought to our Blanket Club. It’s so much fun to collaborate with other designers. We all think, design, and knit slightly differently, so it’s a big opportunity to learn for all of us! Post Table Of Contents 2024 Blanket Club ..read more

Are you ready for our annual Mystery Knit-along? This year we have multiple yarn options, a shawl shape that is one of my personal favourites, and, as always, free step-by-step pattern tutorials and clue prizes to keep you motivated to cross that finish line! When we run a mystery knit-along, we want to give you enough details so you can feel confident and excited to join in. The final shawl pattern will be a mystery, but you’ll feel pretty good about what’s going to be released. If you’re unsure, you can have a look back at our previous mystery shawls from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019. And ..read more

This Seasons Club is a bumper edition, with 4 patterns coming your way by Irish designer Eimear Earley. Fortunately, there is 300g of yarn in this installment, so plenty to work on all the patterns if you so desire. These bright twinkly patterns will bring a spark of light to dark winter days. Even the names of the patterns reinforce this: Léas is Irish for ‘glimmer’, (pronounced lace / lay-us, depending on dialect) and uses motifs inspired by twinkling fairy lights and flickering candle flames. Réaltra (pronounced as rail-trah) is the Irish for galaxy or group of stars. Three of the patt ..read more