Knitting & Crochet Guild - UK

09/07/2024

Visitors from hall at the collection last week. We showed them some pieces from the collection that may go on show there next year

02/07/2024

If Taylor Swift wants a crochet outfit the collection would be a good place to come

27/06/2024

Wonderful to welcome and her knitting holiday to the collection today. Here’s just a taste of what we showcased from the KCG collection, Fair Isle, intarsia and all sort of other colour work

22/06/2024

And here we are at the Cumbrian woolgathering providing a bag crèche and wool winding service! All raising funds for

20/06/2024

Do come along and say hi if you're attending the Cumbrian Wool Gathering this weekend!

The Knitting & Crochet Guild will be at stand F5, with wool winding for your newly bought skeins and a bag creche if your hands are too full. All money raised goes towards maintaining the Guild collection.

18/06/2024

Ganseys
We had a student visitor at the collection today who had made an appointment to see the ganseys. We have several adult size including one very fine example which was one of the 100 objects. These are most of our collection of mini ganseys knitted by volunteers to show all the different stitch patterns from different places. They are very cute!

15/06/2024

Do come and say hello if you’re at the Cumbrian Wool Gathering, 22-23 June; we’d love to see you!

The bag creche is returning this year and we've added a wool winding service! If you buy skeins of yarn, you can have these wound while you browse at the show. 💚🧶

These services are being generously run by the Knitting & Crochet Guild - UK, and you'll find them in the pens. All funds will go towards running their archives of knitted and crocheted items. You can find out more about what they do through their social media or on their website.

14/06/2024

Join the Oxford branch of the Knitting & Crochet Guild for their next Regional Day at St Anne’s College on 29 June. Look forward to talks from Lindy Zubairy, Emma Vining and Chilton Grounds Farm! Choose from a wide range of workshops, and enjoy the wonders of a Guild Collection Trunk Show, full of fascinating vintage items!

Lunch and refreshments are included. Email [email protected] for more details by 17 June to book your place.

Members and non-members welcome.

06/06/2024

Some branches of the Knitting & Crochet Guild are holding special events for World Wide Knit in Public (WWKIP) Day - everyone is welcome, so come along and join in!

Saturday 8 June, 10am-1pm, Scrap Reuse, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley.

Bring along your current WiP and join the Leeds branch in the new cafe area at Scrap Reuse, members and non-members welcome. As the Threads Textile Festival is running at the weekend, they are expecting to be busy.

We'll be running a couple of activities; finger knitting and making flowers for the Yarndale Community Project - so bring along some yarn, your needles, hooks and other bits you think you might need (scissors, needles, beads, etc).

The session will be free to attend although we ask you to support Scrap by purchasing a drink and maybe even a cake from their cafe.

On Sunday 9 June, the Leeds Central Branch will be back at Sunny Bank Mills promoting the Knitting & Crochet Guild at the Threads Festival in the 1912 Mill (home of the Great British Sewing Bee). They are also taking the opportunity to de-stash more of the yarn donation we received earlier in the year and raise funds for the Guild. Please come along and support the event.

05/06/2024

Some branches of the Knitting & Crochet Guild are holding special events for World Wide Knit in Public (WWKIP) Day - everyone is welcome, so come along and join in!

The knitters of Slaithwaite (Guild and non-Guild members) along with the Guild Collection Team will be knitting in public in the village of Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield (HD7 5HF) for this year’s WWKIP Day.

Come along armed with your knitting project, garden chair, snacks and umbrella. You’ll be able to find us from 11.15am in the centre of the village and we’ll be knitting until 2pm, so you can join us any time that suits you. Starter knitters very welcome, kits and ‘learn to knit’ instructions available along with a community scarf which you can add a few rows to. Come and learn and talk knitting with us!

04/06/2024

Some branches of the Knitting & Crochet Guild are holding special events for World Wide Knit in Public (WWKIP) Day - everyone is welcome, so come along and join in!

The Bath Knitting and Crochet Guild branch and Fringe Arts Bath invite you to join a celebration of knitting and crochet.

You’ll meet other makers, discover some knitted fine art, try knitting or crochet for the first time… all welcome! Bring your needles, hooks and yarn or come empty handed and have a go, materials supplied.

Free to attend, outside Newark Works / Mokoko Café, just over the new pedestrian bridge behind Bath College.

Saturday 8 June, 11am-2pm at 2 Foundry Lane, Bath, BA2 3DZ.

28/05/2024

Collection volunteers are getting a lace trunk show ready for some branches. This knitted lace table cloth is breathtakingly beautiful, just one of many in the amazing collection. It’s a Herbert Neibling design, Fruhling if you want to have a look on

20/05/2024

You may well wonder what the pictured luggage has to do with the …. However these were the containers of the very first KCG collection trunk show in May 2014. Those of us who went on the train to the Sheffield KCG branch can hardly believe it either! The collection volunteers always welcome an opportunity to get the collection out there, whether it’s a trunk show, a talk or a visit. If you swipe you’ll see a fabulous knitted on Fair Isle cardigan (visibly mended) and a rare vintage magazine

07/05/2024

Just a few of the mending yarns we have in the collection. These were being catalogued today by one of the team of dedicated volunteers who give their time these essential tasks

03/05/2024

If you’re interested in knitting or crochet as art, it can be tricky to know where to see it. Exhibition details and website listings don’t include every item in the show, and generic descriptions like ‘textiles’ are all encompassing and often don’t give much away about the types of textiles disciplines you might encounter.

Here’s a roundup of three exhibitions that include knitting that you might like to visit over the bank holiday weekend.

1. Llantarnam Grange - Alice-Marie Archer and Lou Baker both have knitted works in the current version of ‘A Visible THREAD’, a travelling exhibition by seam textile collective (closes 4 May - that’s TOMORRROW, so be quick if you want to see this one).

2. Arnolfini - there’s a kevlar knitted dress by Cassie Arnold in the current exhibition ‘Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood’ (closes 26 May).

3. Hastings Museum and Art Gallery - Lorna Hamilton-Brown RCA MBE (and Knitting & Crochet Guild patron) has curated the exhibition ‘Black Joy! Up Close and Personal’, which also includes new work by her (opens tomorrow, 4 May, and runs until 25 August).

If you’re in Bristol over the early May Bank Holiday, you could also pop along to the Spike Island Open Studios to see the work of this year’s Dreamtime Fellow, Lou Baker, and her neon wool fort (tickets required for the opening tonight, or just drop-in Saturday and Sunday).

Do let us know if you’ve come across any current exhibitions that include knitted or crocheted items, we’d love to hear about them!

Image: work in progress by Lorna Hamilton-Brown

28/04/2024

If you’re heading to the Textile Society Antique & Vintage Textile Fair in Manchester today, do stop by the Knitting & Crochet Guild stand and say hello! Our volunteers will be there showcasing the work of local branches and encouraging people to take up a hook or needles and get making.

Full details >> https://www.textilesociety.org.uk/event/manchester-antique-vintage-textile-fair

TODAY
Sunday 28th April
Armitage Centre, Manchester, M14 6HE
Opens open 10am for General Entry

05/04/2024

TOMORROW: The Knitting & Crochet Guild’s Collections Team, in conjunction with the Leeds branch, are hosting a yarn sale, 10am-2pm, at Britannia Mill.
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We have the opportunity to sell stash from two former members – there are some amazing one-offs available – everything from indie dyed to chunky acrylic! Something for everyone 🧶⁠
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Proceeds will be donated to support the upkeep and development of the Knitting & Crochet Guild’s Collection.⁠
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Visitors should be aware that access to Britannia Mill is only possible by using steps and stairs.⁠ Directions and other details about visiting are available on the Guild website > https://kcguild.org.uk/preserving/our-collection/visiting-britannia-mill/

See you there!
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03/04/2024

The Bath and Bristol branches have been busy preparing for The Sodbury Yarn Over…

They'll have learn to knit and crochet kits for beginners to take away (and yes, they’re FREE). Inside you’ll find a hook or needles and a ball of yarn, and how to find our step-by-step instructions on the Guild website. The pouch everything comes in is perfect for keeping all your knitting and crochet tools and notions in later.

A small number of our exclusive Knitting & Crochet Guild tote bags will be for sale. Normally these are only available to convention attendees so get in quick if you’d like one. They’re great value at £3.50 each too! Cash only, please.

They'll also have back issues of the Knitting & Crochet Guild journal, 'Slipknot', too. The journal is unique in that it is written by members, for members. These copies are free to take away or you can make a small donation to support the work of the Guild. If you’d like to receive 'Slipknot' four times a year, consider becoming a member of the Guild.

Do stop by and say hello, peruse the handiwork of the Bath and Bristol branch members, ask any questions, have your new purchases wound into balls, find out more about our branches and what it means to be a member of the Guild; we’d love to see you! Find out more and buy tickets > https://thesodburyyarnover.co.uk

The Sodbury Yarn Over

27/03/2024

The Knitting & Crochet Guild’s Collections Team, in conjunction with the Leeds branch, are hosting a yarn sale on Saturday 6 April 2024.

We have the opportunity to sell stash from two former members – there are some amazing one-offs available – everything from indie dyed to chunky acrylic! Something for everyone 🧶

Proceeds will be donated to support the upkeep and development of the Knitting & Crochet Guild’s Collection.

Full details > https://kcguild.org.uk/event/yarn-sale-6-april-2024/

09/03/2024

What are your top tips for attending a yarn show?

Do you love the surprise of who will be exhibiting, or do you have a list of who will be there and stands you must visit? Do you go with a budget in mind of how much you’ll spend? Do you book workshops and take note of when other events and activities are happening? Are there gaps in your stash you want to fill? Do you take a packed lunch, have a particular outfit or shoes you wear, or maybe you take an empty suitcase with you so you can easily carry all your purchases?

Tell us all your top tips below, and we’ll collate them into an article for our website. We can’t wait to hear your ideas!

04/03/2024

Unfortunately the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection Open Day at Britannia Mill planned for Saturday 9 March will not take place.

Watch this space (and the Guild website) for news on further events coming soon!

NB. The yarn and garment sale at Spectrum (Stylecraft) Yarns is still going ahead.

18/02/2024

Tune into the BAFTAs tonight to find out if 'Visible Mending', the short animated film highlighting the therapeutic benefits of knitting and how it helps us embrace life's messy imperfections, is a winner.

You can watch all the action on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7pm, although there is an hour's delay between the live event and the broadcast.

If you haven’t seen it yet, this short animated film highlights the therapeutic benefits of knitting and the ways we repair ourselves through knitting, even when we can't be fully mended > https://vimeo.com/827066711

Film by Samantha Moore. Narrators and contributors include Betsan Corkhill and Knitting & Crochet Guild Patron Lorna Hamilton-Brown.

09/02/2024

Angharad Thomas has been invited to give the inaugural lecture for the Center for Knit & Crochet in a series arranged for their 10th Anniversary. The online talk will take place on Sunday 11 February at 6pm.

Angharad will talk about her research and new book, 'A Knitters Guide to Gloves', and also the Knitting & Crochet Guild and our collections.

The talk is $20 for non-members, although Guild members can benefit from a $5 discount (code available when logged into the website), full details are available on the website > https://kcguild.org.uk/news-items/a-world-of-design-at-your-fingertips-by-angharad-thomas/

Alternatively, anyone can join the Center for Knit & Crochet and become a member for $10 and attend the talk for free > https://centerforknitandcrochet.org/membership/

Angharad is the volunteer Textile Archivist for the Guild Collection, a retired university lecturer in art and design, a scholar, geographer, designer and maker who lives in Yorkshire.

Guild members can purchase copies of Angharad's book and those by other member authors published by Crowood Press at a discounted rate. Full details on the website > https://kcguild.org.uk/benefit/crowood-press-guild-authors/

11/01/2024

This Day we're highlighting the amazing work Tricia Basham and her team have done for our ‘100 Objects’ heritage project – made possible by support from National Lottery Heritage Fund

In 2020 Tricia and her team organised the release of the ‘100 Objects from the Collection’. The chosen objects represented the wide range within the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection. Each object was painstakingly prepared and styled for our photographer with interesting information to accompany the online posts. This project proved popular with members and non-members alike.

Tricia was also a joint winner in the 2023 Heritage Crafts/Marsh Volunteer of the Year award > https://kcguild.org.uk/news-items/guild-news/heritage-crafts-volunteer-of-the-year-award-winner/

Find out more about the '100 Objects' project > https://kcguild.org.uk/preserving/our-collection/collection-100-objects/

05/01/2024

Over the 12 Days of Christmas we’re saying thank you to the different groups of volunteers that keep the Knitting & Crochet Guild running…

Members are crucial to the Knitting & Crochet Guild; your support for and participation in all of the Guild's activities, volunteering for the many roles that are needed to keep the Guild going, and for sharing a love of hand-knitting, machine-knitting and crochet through our branches and with other members. Thank you, it's all very much appreciated.

Image: Knitting belts are traditional in many places and are still made and used in Shetland today. A knitting belt helps the worker by providing support for a double pointed needle. A Shetland knitting belt is usually worn with the pad to the right and the number of holes allows the knitter to find the most comfortable one for the length of the needle being used.

This example, from the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection is in brown leather. From Shetland, its pad measures 20cm/8in in length, by 7.5cm/3in deep. The waist belt is 70cm/28inslong. It came into the Collection in 1992, having been used as an aid by a knitter who had lost the use of one hand, following a stroke.

This item is object 62 in the ‘100 Objects’ project, which was made possible thanks to National Lottery players.

If you’d like to find out more about any of the objects shared over the 12 Days of Christmas, or in the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection generally, do take a look at our online catalogue > https://kcguild.omeka.net

04/01/2024

Over the 12 Days of Christmas we’re saying thank you to the different groups of volunteers that keep the Knitting & Crochet Guild running…

Debbie Abrahams, Jane Crowfoot, Kaffe Fassett, Sasha Kagan, Lorna Hamilton-Brown and Louisa Harding are all successful designers and artists. They are also our Patrons; lending their names and expertise to support and raise awareness of the Guild. Thank you for all that you do.

Image: Waistcoat by Louisa Harding in Yarntelier Cashmere Lace. Designed in 2016, this sleeveless, edge-to-edge waistcoat is hand knitted in pale blue cashmere. It has an all-over pattern of leaf lace stitch panels alternating with cables. Picots in garter stitch edge the neck and fronts.

It is knitted in “Yarntelier” Cashmere Lace, shade 102 ‘Air’. This is an exclusive yarn developed by Louisa Harding, collaborating with local spinners and dyers, and drawing on the rich heritage and expertise of the woollen industry in Yorkshire.

This item is object 97 in the ‘100 Objects’ project, which was made possible thanks to National Lottery players.

03/01/2024

Over the 12 Days of Christmas we’re saying thank you to the different groups of volunteers that keep the Knitting & Crochet Guild running…

Board member Amalia Liguori manages all the general enquiries we receive from members and non-members alike. If she doesn’t know the answer, she knows who to pass the query onto. Thank you!

Image: Shade cards - samples of Patons Yarns. These shade cards are for yarns that are specified in the Coats-Patons donation and date from the 1960s. From the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.

03/01/2024

Over the 12 Days of Christmas we’re saying thank you to the different groups of volunteers that keep the Knitting & Crochet Guild running…

Thank you to the convention team who work tirelessly to make this happen each year and ensure we have a wonderful programme of inspiring speakers and interesting workshops, alongside making sure the logistics and behind-the-scenes tasks are taken care of.

Planning for the 2024 convention is underway. Save the date, 6-8 September, and check the Guild website for further details as they're released > https://kcguild.org.uk/sharing/meeting/convention/

Image: Fair Isle tams pattern. The Coats Patons Donation (which is part of the Guild Collection) contains four Fair Isle tams which inspired these patterns.

01/01/2024

Over the 12 Days of Christmas we’re saying thank you to the different groups of volunteers that keep the Knitting & Crochet Guild running…

The membership team ensure the smooth running of Sheep, our membership database, dealing with all member queries and any new member or renewal issues. Thank you!

Image: Fingered gloves with a Fair Isle band and ribbed cuffs, hand knitted in wool - from the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.

31/12/2023

Over the 12 Days of Christmas we’re saying thank you to the different groups of volunteers that keep the Knitting & Crochet Guild running…

Thank you to Liz Holness, who manages all of our machine knitting enquiries, and to Board member Alison Peck who produces Across the Needlebed, our quarterly machine knitting publication. Together they ensure our machine knitting audience is well catered for.

Just like Slipknot, Across the Needlebed is written for members, by members. If you'd like to submit an article or have ideas for future topics, please do get in touch > https://kcguild.org.uk/the-guild/publications/across-the-needlebed/

Image: This machine knitted women’s jacket is made of black and white wool, the white perhaps having some angora content. It has a very 1980s silhouette, indicated by the drawn in waist and the gathered sleeve head, complete with shoulder pads. The peplum also was a fashion feature of the time. The diamond pattern has an 8 stitch repeat, indicating it was very likely made on a 24 stitch repeat punch card machine. The waist is shaped by the ribbing.

This item is object 55 in the ‘100 Objects’ project, which was made possible thanks to National Lottery players.