Image Details: ‘Lace Shawl #4’ by Gina de Villiers, via Flickr.

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Intro

Hello and welcome to episode 69 of the podcast, from a new location, in England! This week, there’s a bit of chatter about moving house – again – and the calamities that come with that. Jo catchup complete, there is a plan afoot to visit Countess Ablaze at her studio on Swinton on 5th December 2015. All welcome, but please let me know if you are coming, so I can give the good lady Countess notice of numbers. If you can’t make it, I strongly encourage you to check out her shop online.

Socks for Men

Rachel Coopey rejoins us for some chatter about socks for men – for those who knit for men and those who are men who knit. Colour-wise, it’s all about asking what is appropriate for a non-surprise recipient and doing some detective work for those who don’t know they are being knit for.

Self-patterning yarns are a good option for maintaining the interest in a plain stockinette stitch sock for those who are well endowed in the foot department. Also, consider buying 150g of yarn (3 x 50g skeins) to ensure you have enough yarn without getting stuck with large amounts of leftovers.

Listener Q&A with Alice Elsworth of Whistlebare Yarns in Northumberland on Mohair

Thank you to all the listeners that sent in questions regarding mohair yarns and use thereof for knitting and other things. Alice covers why mohair isn’t itchy these days, spinning techniques, uses of different age of mohair amongst other topics.

Beadalong

Want to try your hand at beaded knitting? Step into the #beadalong.

Sign up in the thread on Ravelry and pop over to the chat thread to take part in the beaded fun.

Cast on will take place on 16th November 2015 at 8:30pm live on Periscope with me (@Shinybees).

The KAL/CAL will med on 10th Jan 2016.

Patterns for the KAL are as follows:

Kunye by Clare Devine.

The Kunye Shawl, Designed by Clare Devine for TGSONEKAL and modelled by the fabulour Jess of Ginger Twist Studio.
Image Copyright Clare Devine, All Rights Reserved.

Be With You by Boo Knits.

Image Copyright Knittingfiona, via Flickr.

Winter Wander Shawl by Helen Stewart.

Winter Wander Shawl. Image Copyright Helen Stewart.

And for the crocheters, Lisa’s Shawl by Shireen Nadir.

If these patterns are not for you, fear not! You can take part with any beaded design – the main thing is that you have something you are highly motivated to make, for when it gets a bit tricky.

Special Offer Discount Code For KnitVent 2015 from Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade

Knitvent2015 is upon us and if you’re looking to take part in the advent fun, I’ve a cool discount code for you which will get you 15% off the whole collection. Each Thursday from 5th November, a different ‘door’ on the advent calendar will be opened, and you’ll receive another glorious pattern in your Ravelry inbox. The first pattern is Winter Wander Shawl (shown above) and the collection contains another 5 patterns including another shawl!

Helen has very kindly offered a discount code for listeners of the podcast, which also applies to the Candlelit Shawl (shown below) which would be another great choice for the beadalong. Simply enter the code SBKNITVENT15 for 15% off.

Candlelit Shawl by Helen Stewart. Image Copyright Helen Stewart.

Wrap-Up

I’m running a listener survey. Please go here and let me know what you’d like to see from the podcast!

Also, I’ve started a mailing list. You can sign up here and I’ll send you all the latest podcast news, along with the occasional comedy dog in knitwear.

That’s all from me this week. As always, thank you for listening. Feedback is always appreciated, and you can email me or message me via Ravelry or social media. If you enjoyed listening today, please consider leaving an iTunes review, to help others find the podcast too. Happy crafting!