Introducing the Stash Appreciation Society

With advent and festive preparations in full swing it seems weird to be thinking ahead to the New Year but if I’ve learned anything from my few years in business, it’s that December vanishes in the blink of an eye. One minute you are getting out the advent decorations and planning your Christmas card list and the next minute you blink and everyone is talking about New Years Resolutions and Dry January.

So I wanted to briefly mention a new project of mine now - before the tinsel bedecked craziness of the next few weeks hits us.

Something new I’ve been dreaming about for a while now, something that I hope will become a fun new part of your knitting life - The Stash Appreciation Society.

A monthly membership club where we will most definitely not be undertaking any form of yarn diet. The Stash Appreciation Society is all about enjoying your stash, appreciating it and making the most of it.

It’s hub will be a dedicated facebook group and there will be the choice as to whether to pay a monthly subscription (for the price of a posh coffee) or go for the years membership at once.

Each month will see a new challenge or focus as we aim to end the year with a better relationship with our stash than when we started it. January will kick off with a DIY yarn club where we will aim to pair up yarn/patterns from our stashes and to make some plans to liberate all that amazing yarn we have hidden away from the world.

There will be KALs, swaps, and random acts of kindness-type events, geared at building a friendly, inclusive and warm woolly community. There will also be a few exclusive patterns from me along the way and you’ll also be the first to hear about my exciting plans for a 2020 podcast.

If this sounds like your kind of thing please do make sure you are signed up to my email list - further details and early sign-ups will be available in the next few weeks - and I’d love to see you there

Louise

xx

The season of giving

I’m doing an advent sale this year but a little differently. I’m aiming to keep it as relaxed and fuss free as possible. I’ve created a sale bundle on Ravelry and each day until Dec 12th I’ll be adding a new design of mine into the bundle.

Each design in the bundle will be half price and they will stay there until Dec 13th - so you can buy as many as you wish, all at 50% off.

I know that at this time of year a lot of people like to do little random acts of kindness - often by gifting Ravelry patterns, but at the minute there is no way to apply a coupon code to a gift purchase.

With that in mind I decided to make anything in my advent sale bundle automatically half price - with no need for faffing.

So please do take a look, and pop back during the next few days to see what other treats are added. There’s no limit to how many purchases you can make so you could buy something for yourself and for a friend.

A Friday FO

It isn’t often that a Finished Object coincides with a Friday but here we are with a genuine FO.

A combination of illness and a super addictive project - thank you to Amy van de Laar and the Ravelry Giftalong - meant that this Beeswax Hat practically flew off the needles.

Just complex enough to hold my attention, but intuitive enough that my sleep deprived brain could follow along. It was perfect knitting from start to finish.

I enjoyed it so much that I also bought and cast on the matching Beeswax Shawl - so I’m sure there will be photos of that along shortly too.

If you haven’t heard of the Ravelry Giftalong please do check it out. It’s a week long 25% discount sale from nearly 300 designers - covering 1000s of their selected patterns. Far more than a sale though, it’s a whole community. There is a Giftalong Group on Ravelry with KALs, competitions and much more running through to the end of the year.

You can find the mega bundle with all the sale patterns here

And you can find my bundle here

If you do join in please do wave and say hello - and more importantly do let me know what you are knitting. I’m nosey like that

xx

It's Indie GAL time again

Louise Tilbrook Designs

I’m not entirely sure but I think this is my 4th time, taking part in the chaos, the fun and the sheer exuberance that is the Ravelry Indie Giftalong. Almost 300 knitters have come together to offer a 25% discount on a selected range of their patterns in a week long sale, designed to give your holiday knitting a boost.

The sale starts on 26th Nov, 3pm UK time and ends on Dec 2nd but the fun continues long after that in the Ravelry group. There are competitions, chances to win prizes, and more chatter than you can possibly keep up with. To me, it sums up the fantastic, woolly knitting community that we are lucky enough to be a part of. This year there is also an Instagram challenge running - look for @indiegiftalong and also follow the hashtags #indiegiftalong and #gal2019 for more details.

You can find all the participating designers and chat on the GAL Group

You can find my sale bundle here

Hope to see you there? Once all the chat kicks off it’s a busy group but you can usually find me somewhere plodding along in the slow lane thread and making plans to knit All The Things.

Boundaries and putting yourself first

It’s been a busy and exciting week as I launched my new knit-along - the Boundaries Blanket KAL and the dedicated facebook group has been humming as we have all been discussing yarn choices, colours and of course, a few personal boundaries.

Week 1 went out on Wednesday (20th Nov) and as it’s going to be a relaxed bi-weekly KAL there’s still plenty of time to join in if you wanted to (you can find the pattern here). I know that some people have signed up but intend to save the patterns and make a start on them in that lovely relaxed Twixtmas period between Christmas and New Year, which seems like a fine plan to me.

I’ve been really encouraged by the positive response to the KAL and so many people have taken the trouble to get in touch and say how much it has resonated with them. One theme that has struck me throughout these comments is the number of people saying that either they don’t usually do KALs, or that once joined they rarely stick to them.

And it dawned on me - as indeed it had dawned on some of those who contacted me that this is just another example of where boundaries can be drawn. All too often we allow ourselves to put aside what we really want to work on, in favour of something for someone else. Whether it’s a birthday gift for a friend that we think we ‘have to’ knit, or a pair of socks for that relative that we just can’t say no to. 

Even though we might be happy to oblige, there’s often a small part us, tucked away that feels secretly resentful or, at the very least it feels neglected and not listened too.

By doing the opposite, picking a project that we really want to work on. Picking something that really speaks to us - whether it’s the yarn, the colour or the rhythmic pattern what we are really doing is putting ourselves first. Telling that small part of us that we really do matter - as much as, if not more than the cold footed uncle who would really like some socks. 

Of course, it’s nice to knit for others but it’s so easy to fall into the guilt trap of only knitting for others, or somehow feeling guilty for knitting for ourselves - but that’s a topic for a whole other blog post.

For now, why not just grab a favourite beverage, your yarn and needles and relax - making something just for you. At the risk of sounding like a cliched cosmetic advert - you really are worth it.

Knit for Yourself this Christmas

In the past I've written about both a minimal knitters Christmas and also about gift knitting - and specifically about giving without constraints or expectations - “If you knit something set if free”

But it occurred to me that there's another aspect to gift knitting - primarily whether folks are worth knitting for in the first place.

I don't mean that in a negative or derogatory way at all. But rather, unless someone has at some point expressed an interest in or a desire to have a hand-knit item, they why would you assume that they want one.

If someone has expressed a desire for a warm woolly hat for example then by all means - all speed to your needles. Knit with a passion, a love and a burning desire to keep that loved one's head warm. If they haven't, why not save yourself the time, trouble and possible anguish and just buy them one? They won't know the difference and you will saved valuable time - and yarn

Let's face it, knitting takes time and effort and it's a deeply personal thing to do. It's an expression of our love and obviously as knitters we see that. But the average person with little or no appreciation of handcrafts might not, almost certainly will not.

You have to weigh up your time - after all that’s the most precious resource here. Even the simplest of knits can take a few hours to make and most items - scarves, shawls, cowls etc can take considerably longer. That’s time you can’t get back. Time you could spend knitting for someone you know will really appreciate it - YOU