The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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.

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.

We're back with some enabling, a bit ore enabling and some socks this week. Oh, and baby bums. That is sort of enabling too. In Enablers' Corner, there is a precis of the new collection from Tin Can Knits, entitled 'Max and Bodhi's Wardrobe'. Modelled by two of the cutest kids known to mankind, both of whom have chubby baby bum on show and one of which is sporting a mohawk, it is sure to have you scouring your friends for babies to clothe, or indeed, considering expanding your own brood. Wippin' Piccadilly covers finished objects and works in progress. There are very large pompoms on babies. It's a bit baby centric in general at the moment. That isn't a hidden message by the way. The Sock Surgery is an exercise in self-striping yarn enablement, with Clare's picks of the best places to get your hands on hand dyed and commercial self stripes. Finally, we round up with a fab giveaway from Tanja at The Knitting Swede. Shownotes, as always, are on the blog. Music is provided courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys via Music Alley, with 'I Need a Drink'.

This week, I'm delighted to bring an interview with Stephen West of Westknits. I caught up with Stephen at Edinburgh Yarn Festival where he proclaimed brioche stitch to be the stitch of the year and indeed the new garter stitch, recounted fangirling Ysolda in the early days of his design career and declared Tosh Merino Light in Edison Bulb his Desert Island Skein. No swants were harmed in the making of this podcast. Shownotes for the episode are at www.shinybees.com. Music is provided via Music Alley by Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need A Drink'.

When your favourite author shuffles off his mortal coil, there's little else you can do but pay homage in a knitty fashion. Following the death of Sir Terry Pratchett, this episode could certainly be described as a knitty tribute. Enablers' Corner takes a non Pratchett-driven form with a rundown of the first quarter yarns from The Golden Skein. These were UK dyer Joy of The Knitting Goddess with the colour way 'Golden Wings Flutter By', dyed onto the Britsock base. This is a 40% BFL, 20% Wensleydale, 20% Alpaca and 20% Nylon, British sourced and spun. Secondly, there is Swiss-based dyeing duo Fides and Gaby of Siidegarte, with the colourway 'Butterfly'. This is dyed onto the Siide-Quirlig base, a heady blend of 70% Silk and 30% Seacell. Finally, there's the fabulour Michelle of Berry Colourful Yarnings, with the colourway 'Peacock's Revenge', dyed onto the Saturated Sock base. This is a 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon base and is a self-striping yarn. The pattern pick is back, with less emphasis on the comedy and more on a collation of Discworld themed patterns. A brief history of Discworld time is offered for the uninitiated. In the Sock Surgery, it's all about afterthought heels. Get that self-stripe out my friends! Clare also introduces a new book review section to the Sock Surgery. This episode is a review of Sock Architecture by Lara Neel. Clare's verdict: not for beginners, but and excellent companion book for those interested in more technical knitting aspects. There is a giveaway running for this book at www.yarnandpointysticks.com As always, full shownotes are available at www.shinybees.com

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 for two-at-a-time socks with a heelflap construction. Clare recommends a tutorial at knitbettersocks.com. Kate joins me in person to discuss how she has found her first month in the Sock Surgery and gives a precis of the Tarsi Grande pattern as well as the Hullabaloo yarn from The Golden Skein's winter 2014 club. Full shownotes for this episode are available 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'.

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 Baarmygirls in the UK. Wippin' Piccadilly is back. There ahs been some casting on. Full shownotes are available at www.shinybees.com. Music for this episode is provided courtesy of Music Alley and Adam and the Walter Boys with "I need a drink".  

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.

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 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