Children 1st Gingerbread Man Appeal!
Tue 14th Oct 2008
Knit George and help support Children 1st!
Knit our yummy George the Gingerbread Man this autumn and help us to support CHILDREN 1ST, one of Scotland's leading child welfare charities (www.children1st.org.uk).
For more than 120 years CHILDREN 1ST has been working to give every child in Scotland a safe and secure childhood. They support families under stress, protect children from harm and neglect, help them recover from abuse and promote children's rights and interests. A key part of their work in helping children is helping their parents. Their free helpline, Parentline Scotland (0808 800 2222) supports parents so they can provide the best possible care for their children.
Keeping children safe is everyone's responsibility. Join us in helping children and young people who need us.
This autumn we are asking you to make George with our free pattern, below, designed by K1 Yarns own Sarah Stanfield! You can make George out of any yarn and it is a great way to use up left over scraps!
Send or bring your George to us at either our Glasgow or Edinburgh shop during National Knitting Week, 12 - 19 October. All of our Gingerbread Men will be made into Christmas ornaments that will be sold to raise money for Children 1st in the run up to Christmas! Look out for our special Gingerbread party at the beginning of December!
But that's not all! K1 Yarns will also be launching an exclusive, limited edition Gingerbread Man sock yarn from our favorite purveyor of Scottish hand dyed yarns, Old Maiden Aunt!! K1 Yarns staff is already drooling over the preview of this special sock yarn which looks and even smells like gingerbread!!! Proceeds from the sales of this very special yarn will be donated to Children 1st! Watch out for the launch of this limited edition yarn during National Knitting Week and get yours while limited stocks last!!
Win a free skein of Old Maiden Aunt's Gingerbread Man sock yarn (worth £17.99)! To enter our fundraising raffle just include your name, address and phone number with your knitted George the Gingerbread Man donation. Your Gingerbread man must reach us by 15 November for your name to be entered in the prize draw.
George the Gingerbread Man Pattern
By Sarah Stanfield
Materials:
We used Harris Tweed DK yarn in colour Peat (approximately 25 g), and 3.75 mm double pointed needles. You can knit George with any yarn, but you will have to adjust the needle size to accommodate the yarn you are using. Use a needle size that will give you a nice tight knit. The size may vary depending on the yarn and needle size used.
You will also need:
Stitch marker
Toy stuffing
Scrap yarn for eyes, smile and arms
Darning needle
Gingerbread biscuits to eat while you knit (optional)
Head
Cast on 5 stitches and divide between three double-pointed needles. Join to work in the round, making sure that the stitches aren’t twisted. Place a marker at the beginning of the round.
Round 1: knit into the front and back (kfb) of the first stitch. Repeat to the end of the round, doubling the number of stitches (10 stitches).
Round 2: knit
Round 3: *k1, kfb. Repeat from * to end of round (15 stitches)
Round 4: knit
Round 5: *k2, kfb. Repeat from * to end of round (20 stitches)
Round 6: knit
Round 7: *k3, kfb. Repeat from * to end of round (25 stitches)
Rounds 8-12: knit
Round 13: *k3, k2tog. Repeat from * to end of round (20 stitches)
Round 14: knit
Round 15: *k2, k2tog. Repeat from * to end of round (15 stitches)
Round 16: knit
Round 17: *k1, K2tog. Repeat from * to end of round (10 stitches)
At this point you should fill the head of your Gingerbread Man with stuffing.
Body
Round 18: kfb of each stitch (20 stitches)
Round 19: knit
Round 20: *k3, kfb. Repeat from * to end of round (25 stitches)
Round 21: *k4, kfb. Repeat from * to end of round(30 stitches)
Rounds 22-36: knit
At this point you can start to stuff the body
Round 37: (k13, k2tog) twice (28 stitches)
Round 38: knit
Legs
Knit 14 stitches, and then put the next 14 stitches onto scrap yarn and leave these for the second leg.
Divide the 14 stitches for the first leg between three double-pointed needles and join to work in the round.
Knit 12 rounds, gradually stuffing the leg as you go
Next round: k2tog. Repeat to end of round
Next round: (k2tog) 3 times, k1 and push through the final leg stuffing
Cut yarn and pull yarn through the remaining 4 stitches, weaving the end inside the body
Divide the 14 stitches on scrap yarn onto 3 double-pointed needles, reattach yarn and repeat the above steps for the second leg.
Finishing
Sew up the hole on the legs.
Using black scrap yarn, sew on eyes.
.
Using a lighter colour scrap yarn embroider a smile or a facial expression of your choice, and then sew a dividing line to outline the arms at each side of the body (see photo).
Weave any ends inside the body.
Please send or bring your completed Gingerbread Men to K1 Yarns Knitting Boutique, 136 Queen Margaret Drive, Glasgow G20 8NY or 89 West Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JP.
Art of Knitting at the National Museum of Scotland
Thu 9th Oct 2008
Drop by the National Museum of Scotland on Friday 17 October and don't forget your knitting needles!
Find out all about the history of knitting and Scotland's wool industry. Enjoy a spinning demonstration and join in for a grand knit-in! Bring your own knitting or help knit one of our George the Gingerbread Men with some free yarn donated by K1 Yarns! Join in the fun at the Museum of Scotland and you will even get a discount coupon for K1 Yarns Knitting Boutique, cleverly located just 5 min walk from the Museum in Edinburgh's Old Town.
Scotland's Wool Industry
Duncan Dornan, General Manager of the National Museum of Rural Life, considers the development of the wool industry as a result of the industrialisation of agriculture, the economics of wool and teh products it has contributed to. Includes a demonstration of the art of spinning.
Time: 14:00 - 15:00
Venue: Dunfermline Room, National Museum of Scotland
Cost: Free for members, Non-members tickets cost £5 (adult) or £4 (conc). Book your tickets now on 0131-225-7534
Knit In!
Time 13:30 - 16 -30
Venue: Hawthornden Court, National Museum of Scotland
Cost: FREE!
Autumn Newsletter
Fri 3rd Oct 2008
Knit yourself happy!
Feeling the chill? Fuel prices getting you down? There has never been a better time to get knitting! Cozy socks, warm chunky jumpers, glamorous capes and shawls! This autumn save on heating and look fabulous at the same time!!
Leading the way in the fight against the autumn chill out is Jenny Watson. With her third Noro book on the way Jenny's designs are the hottest sellers this season. Her Noro Mini Knits book is still our most popular seller for a second year running (Mini Knits 2 is due out just before Christmas!), and not least because her fantastic designs seem to use miniscule amounts of wool! Cuddle up in her warm chunky cardigans, or her fantastic cozy bed socks! Loads of fast and easy ideas for presents as well.
There is lots of news on the new pattern front this season! We are very excited that the long awaited patterns for one of our staff's favorite yarns of 2008, Artesano Aran Alpaca are finally on the way. It is not difficult to see why this yarn is so hugely popular. So soft and warm and yet in a fast to knit aran weight it looks great in either plain or textured knits. The new pattern range, due in next week, will also feature several patterns for men, in case you have a special gentleman on your Christmas list!
Manos del Uruguay is also moving into autumn with a stunning new range of patterns by Jean Moss. Jean's talent for producing sculptured, flattering designs works so well with Manos beautiful and colourful yarns. The Silky range is a soft blend of silk and wool, with great yardage and subtle colourways. The popular Classica range is a chunky pure wool that will drive away the most icy chills!
On the sock front, we have some very exciting news! K1 Yarns is the exclusive Scottish supplier of Fyberspates new range of self-striping sock yarns. Painstakingly produced in the Fyberspates laboratories using sophisticated techniques, these supersoft and superwash sock yarns are truly to dye for (sorry, couldn't resist). We had a very small sneak preview of these yarns (only 10 skeins) last summer and they disappeared in a matter of moments. If you are a fan of Noro Kuryeon sock yarn then these Fyberspates yarns will be your dream come true! Unfortunately, due to the large amount of time and technical craftsmanship required to produce these very special yarns, our quantities at any one time are extremely limited. Therefore, for the moment these yarns are only available in our Glasgow and Edinburgh shops and not currently online (sorry). Fyberspates sock yarn will be available at K1 Yarns Glasgow and Edinburgh shops from October 7. There may be some left on October 8, but we cannot guarrantee it.
If our courses are any indication, learning to knit and crochet are more popular than ever! Following the launch of our Autumn classes in Glasgow and Edinburgh last month we were flooded with bookings! Most of our courses are now fully booked until Christmas. If you are interested in booking a knitting class in Edinburgh with Ysolda Teague, please hurry as only a few places still remain in late November and early December. If you have missed an opportunity to book one of our courses don't worry, we hope to have our 2009 schedule online in the next month. Plus, we may have a surprise addition to our knitting course schedule for this autumn shortly!!
If you already knit or crochet but are looking for the same fun sociable atmosphere, why not come along to one of our regular knitting meetup evenings! Big Knit Out, our friendly knitting group in Glasgow's West End meets on alternate Wednesdays at North Star Cafe, (see our Big Knit Out page for dates) home of the worlds best scones! This group is going into its 4th year and we still get new faces showing up almost every week!
If you're in Edinburgh, why not come along to K1 Yarns Knitting Boutique at 89 West Bow on Thursday evenings. We are open to 9 pm on Thursdays and after 5 o'clock the shop becomes a cozy knitters haven, with tea and cake to boot (try the Chocolate Chai)!
So much yarn, so little time! As usual I have not enough space to describe all of the new things we have in store this autumn. But I do want to take a little space to invite you to join our George the Gingerbread Man campaign. There are many reasons for you to knit a wee Gingerbread Man and donating it to our appeal, not the least of which is that you will be helping to raise money for Scotland's Children 1st charity. However it may help that you will also get a free exclusive pattern for Sarah Stanfield's amazing Gingerbread socks (only available to people who donate a George to the appeal), and a chance to win a skein of our very limited edition Gingerbread Sock yarn by Old Maiden Aunt (see details below). For more details about our George campaign and a free George Gingerbread Man pattern please see the news items below.
We are looking forward to seeing you soon!
Old Maiden Aunt Gingerbread Sock Yarn: Very Limited Edition!
Wed 1st Oct 2008
Gingerbread Sock Yarn
If you have been following our Children's 1st George the Gingerbread Man campaign (see below) then you will have been waiting to see the first pictures of our very special, exclusive and Limited Edition sock yarn from Old Maiden Aunt! We will be donating proceeds from our sales of this yarn to Children 1st, Scotlands Society for the Protection of Children.
Specially invented by Lilith (aka Old Maiden Aunt), this yarn is made up in her famous supersoft, superwash Merino wool and will even smell like gingerbread!
We will have extremely limited stocks of this special yarn and like Christmas, once it's gone you will just have to wait another year. However, if you knit and send us a George the Gingerbread Man for our Gingerbread sale (see news item below) then you will be entred into our draw to win a skein of this yummy yarn!
And if that's not enough to get you knitting our free George pattern (below) then you will be even more excited to hear that our original Gingerbread Sock Pattern (pictured), designed exclusively for K1 Yarns by Sarah Stanfield, will be given free to everyone who donates a knitted Gingerbread man to our fund raiser! You may use any Gingerbread knitting or crochet pattern you like to knit your gingerbread man, including the free pattern below and feel free to use any yarn from your stash! Happy Knitting!
