Well here we are in October. I cannot quite believe it to be honest. The weather has become truly autumnal, the leaves are turning and the nights are drawing in, giving us all a bit more time to knit. And Strictly Come Dancing is back, which means that my Saturday social life, such as it was, will vanish completely until December. This is my peek into what we are doing in the shop this month.
Our main event for this month is a talk being given by the Mid Norfolk Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers about the History of Spinning on the afternoon of 11 October – I am very much looking forward to it. There are still a couple of spaces left. I must say that I am enjoying these small talks, and Mandy and I are busy planning more for the future, along with creating our workshops for 2026.
While I am on the subject of workshops, we are starting an Absolute Beginners Knitting course today which is fully booked, and we have a Beginners Crochet Course starting on Saturday 25 October which still has some places available. I will be teaching a Brioche Knitting course over two Saturday mornings, which starts on Saturday 18 October – brioche stitch is a favourite of Stephen West, he of the amazing shawls – and is very effective, creating a reversible pattern. We will be knitting a cowl and the pattern, yarn and needles are included in the price of the course.
Our Social Stitchers sessions for October are as follows:
Tuesday 7 October 11am to 1pm
Tuesday 14 October 2 – 4pm
Saturday 18 October 2 -4pm
Tuesday 28 October 7 – 9pm
As always, the cost is £2 per head and tea/coffee and cake are provided, along with chat and assistance with tricky projects.
October is also known as Socktober – it is the month for knitting socks if you are planning to give them as Christmas presents. Currently I have 3 sets of incomplete sock pairs lying around my house, together with the yarn for another 3 pairs. I have a horrible suspicion they will not be finished in time for the festive season, as I have three big projects on my needles, but who knows? Perhaps Socktober will push me into action. Anyway, we have some lovely sock yarn in the shop – from West Yorkshire Spinners reliable Signature 4ply, Opal Yarns 4ply and DK for thicker socks and Schoppelwolle Zauberball Crazy to Venetia’s hand dyed BFL Sock made from durable British Blue Faced Leicester wool with a little bit of nylon for strength. Now is the time!
Stephen West’s latest MKAL, the Musikal shawl, is under way. The first clue dropped on Thursday. I had absolutely no intention of doing it, as I am still working on the Glittering Snowscape, but when I saw the first clue, I caved and I am now head down and knitting furiously. If you are interested, come and chat with us. We can get the pattern for you and help you choose yarn for it as well.
Next month will be the shop’s fourth birthday. Amazing! We are having an event to celebrate it on Saturday 29th November including a pop up shop by Blue Fern Yarns, cake and possibly even some fizz to celebrate and show our appreciation for our amazing customers. We are also encouraging people to come to the shop wearing one of their favourite knits made from yarn purchased here over the last four years. I am very much hoping that I might have finished that Halibut Sweater by then, although I have been side tracked by the Stephen West MKAL.
It will be a busy month!