HRYC

A long running issue with men getting into knitting has been patterns. There is a long history of men being the recipients of knitted gifts that are somewhat....ill-conceived. Said gifts are often fussy, with too many details or the wrong colour choice. Scratchy yarn is a big turn-off, as are impractical garments. There is a well-known 'sweater curse' that even has its own Wikipedia entry. 

Mike is going to be working off some his favourite patterns for the Man Made course, including some WWII standard issue patterns for knitting for the troops. Knitting for a man at war couldn't be fussy: it had to be simple, practical and highly functional. Function namely being warm. My idea of the perfect knitwear design is a harmony in simplicity. I find all too often that designers of both mens and womenswear have a tendency to add 'something else'. Something else usually being totally unnecessary and upsetting the balance of the underlying design. 

What i've learned over the years is that men don't want complicated design, they want to put on a jersey that keeps them warm. The jersey shouldn't tell the world very loudly that it is hand-knit; it should be functional garment that serves its purpose well. It comes down to: the simpler, the better. Here's my round-up of great man knits - with an attempt to include some of the best male knitwear designers around.

Turn a Square by Jared Flood

Brownstone by Jared Flood

Emilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

Seamless Saddle Shoulder Pullover by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Basic Pullover and Vest by Bruce Weinstein

(don't mind that this image shows a model wearing a sample two sizes too big for him)

This entire post could be a shrine to Jared Flood, but I've resisted that urge. Jared Flood, of Brooklyn Tweed, is an incredible design talent. I'd go so far as to say he is an knitwear architect - every one of his designs have strong foundations with the simplest and most balanced details. His success is well-earned, that's for sure. He now works with an esteemed group of designers and has his own yarn line. He's my man-knit hero.

There is still a pretty big gap in the men's knitwear pattern market, but it is slowly being filled. Unfortunately there are still a lot of hideous patterns being produced. My challenge to our new male knitters: design your own patterns. Knit what you want to wear. Let's start sending a clear message about the kind of knits that fit into your life. And wear them with pride.

There are a couple of super important dates you should put in your diary if you are in Wellington over the next two weeks. I've been frantically preparing for our biggest market yet: The trade section at the annual Creative Fibre Festival. 

The Festival is annual, but it is in a different New Zealand city each year. This is our first ever showing - with it being local, it makes it much easier for us to manage. 

Creative Fibre is New Zealand's national Spinning, Weaving and Woolcraft society. It has groups all around the county which meet regularly and work to encourage fibre crafts. They run classes, hold spin ins, and organise large events such as this. 

It is paid entry to the trade arena, however this also allows you access to exhibitions, demonstrations and whole range of other things. It's $12 on the door - or if you're super keen, there is a large range of super interesting classes being run. 

We'll be there 25 - 28 April sharing the love of great yarn - but don't fret if you want to visit the shop - we'll still be open!

The second event on our calendar is one we don't ever miss - Wonders of Wool! The wonderfully woolly themed annual market at the Wellington Underground Market at Frank Kitts.  

If you can't make it out to the Creative Fibre Festival, be sure to head on along to the Wonders of Wool market. It's on Saturday 4 May from 10am - 4pm and is always loads of fun.

For now, as I work my little tail off getting ready for both, I have this on repeat in my head. Preparing for markets as big as these two is more than a little stressful. Please don't be alarmed by my Zombie-like state if you are in the shop this week - these are the reasons!

See you in store or at a market soon! And the shop is open even if we are also selling elsewhere, don't worry :) Except ANZAC day, we'll be closed on ANZAC day. I think that's all for now...

xx

Can you feel our fizzy fizzy excitement about this year's Handmade programme? It's pretty darn fantastic with some of our all-time favourite people teaching and talking. We'll be busy as bees running the Knit Lounge with our own little exciting things planned, but the aim of the game is to learn some stuff.

Here's a run down of our top yarn picks - of classes that haven't already sold out!

Twice the fun: two-handed stranded knitting

Taught by Morag McKenzie of Vintage Purls

Have you always wanted to get a handle on fair isle knitting using both hands? TAKE THIS CLASS. I cannot impress upon you enough what a fantastic teacher Morag is, and how much you will gain. It is not for the knitting novice, however: this is for experienced knitters.

Absolute Beginner's Crochet Necklace

Taught by Sofia Moers (our very own crochet class teacher!)

If you haven't the time to commit to our two-session set of beginner's crochet classes, give this one a go. Taught by our very own crochet teacher, Sofia, you will walk away knowing the crochet basics. Again, Sofia is an excellent teacher (there's a reason we keep asking her back) who will generously share her expertise with you. 

Ply on the Fly

Taught by Frances Stachl 

Fancy yourself a bit of alright with a drop spindle? Frances will teach how to ply as you go, rather than waiting until the very end of spinning all your fibre. If I had a spare couple of hours up my sleeve I would most certainly be getting along to this class. It's also wonderful that Frances can make it back to Wellington to teach for Handmade weekend now that she is no longer a local (which makes us very sad!)

You can find more information on all of these classes in the Handmade Yarn section of the programme. If you have any questions at all - such as if your skill level is right for a class - just ask us :)

We highly recommend you book as soon as you possibly can. Classes are selling out incredibly quickly this year and being disappointed is always sad. Last year we had occasion to make up this tasty morsel due to Morag's Twice the Fun class selling out:

Next up: our picks from all the rest of the programme!

A couple of weeks ago, Mike happened to be in town at the same time a Hutt News reporter wanted to chat about our Man Made sessions.

Would you believe it, this week who is on the front page of our local paper, but Mike? Our knitting teacher extraordinaire.

 Despite all my skepticism, we now have some brave souls signed up. There is plenty of room for more!

At the same time, I feel remiss in that I haven't yet blogged about Handmade. It's coming up super fast and word is from the organisers that classes are selling like CRAZY. And I mean CRAZY in all caps. I've had more than a few people approach me lately asking for beginner lessons, and, man or woman, there are in fact beginner knitting lessons being held at Handmade. 

Belinda of Blendy Knits fame is going to be in the Knit Lounge (hosted by us, joyfully once again!) teaching regular beginner sessions for the cheap and cheerful bargain price of $10. Scoot down to the bottom of this page to see details.

I will be doing a much more comprehensive post on our picks for Handmade weekend very very soon. However this completely random and fractured post is brought to you by a fried brain thanks to dyeing a crazy (there's that word again) amount of Knitsch Sock in preparation for the Creative Fibre Festival next weekend. Holland Road Yarn Co will be there as part of the trade market, but there is plenty to see as well as lots of shopping to be done :)

Better take the fried brain off for a glass of wine and some crochet. We have a crazy (I said it again!) amount of stock arriving this week so there will be lots of excited noises coming from this direction as big boxes of yarn are unpacked and distributed amongst shelves. And I promise the next post from me will hold some more sense. 

xx

When Libby from Ashford visited me last year, I was treated to an early squish of the brand new version of Tekapo. Safe to say in a previous life I really wasn't a fan of this yarn - I found it coarse and scratchy and the colours mighty average. 

That we now have it on the shelves is testament to what a different yarn this now is. Lofty, bouncy, squishy and inifinitely softer than it once was. We ordered in 11 colours to start with in 12ply, but will be adding to this selection very quickly. The great thing is with Ashford being based in New Zealand, we can order this in anytime we please! If you need more, or fancy a different colour, it's no problem at all for us to order it in for you. It's also a fantastic alternative to the only other 12ply we usually stock, Cascade Eco (which will be returning to our shelves soon).

Ashford Tekapo 12ply comes in generous 100g balls, with 134m each. It is hand wash and comes in a glorious range of 29 colours.

It's pretty gosh darn perfect for a few of our favourite bulky yarn patterns:

Owls by Kate Davies

Aidez by Cirilia Rose

and

Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood

The hemlock ring blanket is the most likely project i'll first knit with Tekapo, as it's been lingering in my queue for ages. Already it's gone off to new homes intended for man hats and slippers - and keep people cosy and warm this winter. We've got it up for sale online if you can't make it into the shop for an in-person snuggle. We promise you won't regret it!