'You can't always get what you want,' sang the Rolling Stones back in the 1960s, and I'm afraid that's true of the pattern for the vintage top we pictured in issue 70, which we've had a few enquiries about. Originally published by Sirdar in the 1960s, it was redone for issue 8 of The Knitter, and your only way to get that pattern is to find a secondhand copy of either the original pattern or issue 8 of The Knitter (which is not available as a back issue, but you could try placing a free reader ad in our 'Exchange and Knit' section).

We do sometimes get asked for photocopies or PDFs, and we can't provide them because in most cases we don't own the copyright on the patterns we print. That remains with the designer, who gives us permission to print the pattern once, so making further copies, such as photocopies, would be a breach of copyright.

However, if you do like this style of top, have a good rummage in charity shops and at car boot sales, because it's amazing how many vintage knitting patterns you can find. (If you have friends or family who love car booting, get them on board – I have relatives looking for pre-1960s patterns for my collection.) If you can't find exactly the one you like, you may find a different one you like even better.

As for online resources of vintage knitting patterns, I have bought patterns from The Vintage Knitting Lady and was very happy with the service.Yesterknits have a massive pattern archive, but I have not bought from them myself.

Errata for Issue 21 of The Knitter including Minarets and Muriel Shawl. ...

Sorry about the infrequency of updates - I've been off on my holidays and we're still a bit under-staffed. You may have been wondering what we're all up to, apart from making your magazine each month. Well, I'm really excited because Deb and I, and Jen from The Knitter, are all off to KnitNation. (And Deb and I are going on the Saturday, so there's no bunking off out of the office!)

Taking place in London from the 29-31 July, KnitNation is very much class-based, with a really excellent workshop schedule. Deb is going on the Advanced Lace Knitting full-day workshop, which has sold out, and I'm going to the Aran Cardigans from the Top Down workshop, which still has spaces available. I've never made anything from the top down apart from socks, so I'm hoping to learn plenty on the course, and some friends from online who I've never met in person will also be going so it would be great to meet them if there's time.

Are you going? If you are, what courses are you taking?

If you've bought issue 70 of Simply Knitting from a shop, you'll have received a booklet of patterns for Alan Dart's Nursery Rhyme Mice with your issue. But wait! You could get ANOTHER mouse pattern (Little Miss Muffet) and a pack of yarn containing exactly what you need to knit ALL the Nursery Rhyme Mice. Subscribe to Simply Knitting before 31 August 2010 and quote the offer code below and as well as your favourite magazine we'll send you a yarn pack and exclusive Alan Dart pattern.

As a subscriber, you'll:

• Save 23% on the shop price
• Get your special cover gift with every issue
• Get subscriber-only pages every issue
• Exclusive access to our special subscriber website
• Get 13 issues a year of your favourite magazine – with FREE delivery to your door
• Benefit from a 60 day money back guarantee.
  

Subscribe online at http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/skm/SKNW11 or call our subscription hotline on 0844 848 2852. Please quote code SKNW11 to receive your special offer.

This offer is for new UK subscribers subscribing by Direct Debit. Offer ends 31 August 2010. Visit MyFavouriteMagazines.co.uk or call 0844 848 2852 for full terms and conditions. You must quote the offer code or use the link above to receive your offer. Please note this offer is limited to the first 150 subscribers.

Simply Knitting issue 70 hits the shops on Thursday 15 July 2010. Enter our great giveaways and competitions by using the links below.

Katia Big Bang giveaway, page 6
One Ball Gifts book giveaway, page 10
Stitch & Creative Crafts show, Esher tickets giveaway, page 12
Prize crossword, page 94
Prize sudoku, page 94

We've had a query from a reader with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: "Carpal tunnel syndrome has made it extremely hard to knit to gauge. There are supposed to be gadgets to help with this. I have tried smaller needles and English style to no avail."

My guess would be to try successively smaller needles to get the correct tension, but if the needles get too small they won't be very good for the lady's hands so that's not always going to be practical. Do you have any suggestions? Do you know of tools that help with tension?

Back in issue 68 of Simply Knitting we mentioned Cardiff University's School of Psychology looking for knitters to help with their research on knitting and memory. Now researchers from Cardiff University and Stitchlinks need 1,000 knitters to take part in an online survey which will help them investigate the links between knitting and wellbeing (both physical and social).

Click here to be taken to the survey. If you've already filled out the questionnaire on knitting and memory, it's okay to fill out this one as the questions have been written taking into account the results of that survey.

The survey organisers say the questionnaire "asks you for some demographic details, for example your age, gender, ethnicity and nationality followed by questions about why you knit, how knitting impacts on your mood and feelings, your skills and social life. The questionnaire should take about 15 minutes to complete." The results should be fascinating!

We went to the launch of Susan Crawford's new book, Vintage Gifts to Knit, at Jelly in Reading a couple of weeks ago. I won't spoil it by telling you all about it here as we've got some lovely photos for you in issue 70, but it was really inspirational. I love vintage patterns, and I know Simply Knitting readers do too because we do get letters asking where people can find particular patterns or what yarns they need to use to knit an old design. Susan's books take the hard work out by resizing the designs for larger modern figures and using current yarns. I'd been considering getting A Stitch In Time, a large collection of reworked vintage knits by Susan Crawford and Jane Waller, and after meeting someone wearing a lovely cardi at the book launch I went out and bought it.

Anyway, I decided to do something with my vintage pattern collection other than flick through it (a great way to spend a wet Saturday afternoon!) and had a go at knitting something in the evenings. It's only a small thing, but I'm really pleased with how the tam o'shanter at the bottom of this post turned out. I tweaked the colours, mainly because there wasn't any primary-coloured DK in the stash. I might actually wear this - something I didn't expect when I started it, as it was really a bit of an experiment.

Have you tried knitting from vintage patterns? How did you find it?

Also on the events front, I went down to London for Loop's shop opening as they've moved to a super new location. The shop is light and airy, with lots of really nice yarns on show, including some American brands that aren't easy to get here in the UK. (I bought a skein of Berocco laceweight to make a Victorian stole for a steampunk friend.) The whole area felt really artsy, with lots of antique shops and little stalls dotted around, and I'll definitely go back if I'm in London and have spare time.

Errata for Issue 20 of The Knitter, including Frost Flowers Jacket and Homestead Cushion. ...

Errata for Issue 19 of The Knitter, including Wailua and Triton Socks. ...

Errata for Issue 18 of The Knitter, including Umoo. ...

Our readers are a generous bunch, and we know just how much you love to use your knitting skills to help fundraise for good causes. As you may know already, The Knitter's charity of the year for 2010 is Mencap and we have lots of exciting ways that you can get involved.

First of all there are patterns to download from the Mencap website, including fabulous hat designs from celebrities Lynda Bellingham and Mathew Horne. All you have to do is make an online donation and the patterns are yours to download right away!

We're also delighted to let you know about our nationwide event which we have called Make and Bake for Mencap. I know how much my knitting group love to get together - any excuse and we will stop by for a cuppa and a piece of cake! So why not turn this into a fundraising event for Mencap? There is a great pack to download on their site and with Learning Disability Week from 21st to 27th June, the timing couldn’t be better to plan your event.

The pack has lots of ideas about how to raise funds and some yummy recipes - the cinnamon banana bread is delicious. It also gives information on Learning Disability Week – please do have a look and let’s see if we can really make a difference to this amazing charity.

Juliet Bernard,
Editor,
The Knitter

Crocheter Helle Jorgensen's blog Gooseflesh contains heaps of awe-inspiring projects. Using the coral reef and nature as her starting point, Helen crochets amazing creations such as sea-creatures and jewellery, usually from recycled materials. Yarn made from old plastic bags features heavily in her work such as her art piece, The Rubbish Vortex, created for a New York exhibition and based on the debris which currently litters the sea floor in the North Pacific Ocean.

Helen spends around 40-50 hours a week making yarn or crocheting, so her blog is packed with colourful project after project, interspersed with updates from her homelife.

Unique and inspiring, with over three years of jam-packed archives to browse through, this blog may well have you itching to get creative with your crochet!

(Posted by Lucy Evans)

 

Read a great blog? Write a great blog? Tell us what it is and why you like it, and you might see it here next Friday.

Okay, so it's not knitted like Sackboy, but I thought you'd love this preview of the Wii game Kirby's Epic Yarn. Kirby is a pink spherical character who appears in a number of Nintendo games. I must admit, back when I worked on a Nintendo magazine he wasn't the most popular character around – in fact, he was probably the least popular of all the mainstream Ninty characters, to the point where people rather loved beating him up in Super Smash Bros. Poor old Kirby. His new game has a lovely embroidered and appliquéd look, and I'm sure it would be easy to embroider a Kirby on a hat, mittens or even a jumper.

You can read more about the game on our sister site, Gamesradar.

Abakhan have asked me to let you know they've got a Summer Sale Preview coming up. The discounts apply to store shopping only, and there's a minimum of 20% off everything from 6pm-9pm on Wednesday 30th June, and 15% off everything all day on Thursday 1st.

If you can't make it to the preview, the summer sale starts on Friday 2nd online as well as in the shops, and there's a minimum of 10% off. Abakhan sell fabrics, trimmings and needlework supplies and papercraft supplies as well as yarn and crochet thread, so you could save money on all your crafts. (There are some exclusions in the sale, which should be listed in store or on Abakhan's website.

EDIT: for some bizarre reason, the software we use refuses to allow me to link to Abakhan's site - no matter what I try, it's not having any of it. (It's done this is the past too.) The URL you need is www.abakhan.co.uk - sorry for any confusion.

Simply Knitting issue 69 hits the shops on Thursday 17 June 2010. Enter our great giveaways and competitions by using the links below.

Cascade Quick Knits kits giveaway, page 6
Buttonbag Vintage Corsage Kits giveaway, page 10
Homemade book giveaway, page 12
Prize crossword, page 94
Prize sudoku, page 94

Miriam McDonald Simply Knitting's Production Editor

Issue 69 has gone to press now, and I'm having a hard time remembering that June has only just started. Working in magazines gives a skewed sense of time, but working in the yarn industry, things are done even further ahead. We're planning a photo shoot for tomorrow, and while a lot of it's for issue 70, the August issue, there are a couple of garments ready for issues months in the future, from yarn companies' AW 2010 ranges. We're already seeing AW yarns and designs from major firms, and of course the yarn buyers/ spinners and pattern designers will have worked on those ranges for months. Essentially, they're nearly a year ahead, and all those designers are already looking at trends for next Spring - spinners may be thinking of Autumn 2011 by now.

I can't tell you what the yarn companies are bringing out as most information is embargoed until the official launches, but having seen what's coming out on the high street this winter, it does look like the second half of 2010 is going to be a very fashionable time to be a knitter. There's going to be lots of rustic knitwear in the shops: stranded colourwork like you'd associate with Fair Isle and Scandinavia, but in neutral colours, and patterns from further afield like South America and Central Asia. Chunky knits are also going to be in pretty much every shop, again in a lot of neutral and dark shades, especially grey. Last year's AW yarn releases contained bouclé yarns from several manufacturers - well, with all the fleecy, woolly textures around this autumn, if you whipped up a hat in Wendy Origin or a scarf in Sublime Woolly Merino, you'll be the envy of every dedicated follower of fashion (not to mention warm).

Of course, the best thing about being a knitter is that no matter what's in fashion, you have the skills to make and wear exactly what you like. Maybe I will finish the GREEN JUMPER OF DOOM in time for this winter. (It's been on the needles so long it deserves the capitals!) Will you be starting anything for winter soon, or do you have too many WIPs already?

From issue 19, The Knitter will joining Simply Knitting on sale in Sainsbury's. If you haven't encountered The Knitter before, it's our sister magazine, aimed at knitters who like more of a challenge in their projects, and it's more geared towards high fashion than we are. Where Simply Knitting is full of easy-to-wear, uncomplicated knits, fun toys and gifts, The Knitter brings you eyecatching pieces for experienced knitters.

Issue 19 is a super issue. There's an asymmetric dress by Jean Moss in lacy stitches with a deep v-neck (the young and daring will wear it over just their undies to party in, I'd pair it with a slip but it is really lovely). Sasha Kagan has designed a cropped cardigan with panels of intarsia peonies between panels of lace. Both those are exclusive to The Knitter, as is the Jennie Atkinson halter top that you can see on the cover. If you really like a challenge, there's a pattern by Elizabeth Lovick for Jamieson and Smith, a scoop-necked Fair Isle jumper knitted in the round and then steeked. All those, plus a lacy tunic, leafy shrug, top-down in-the-round summer top, fab socks and more. The Knitter doesn't come in a bag, so why not have a flick through it next time you're in Sainsbury's? There's sure to be something you'll like!

With so many amazing handpainted sock yarns around nowadays, it can be easy to overlook mass-produced sock yarns. There's a lot to be said for them, though: they're usually hardwearing, and the colours are well fixed. When what you want is a basic, hardworking solid, Cygnet Wool Rich 4Ply is as good as anything else. Because it's got a fairly high nylon content – 25% – it's probably not a good otion to wear against delicate skin. If you want a 4ply to knit into a Fair Isle cardigan, for example, opt for a yarn containing softer fibres, such as Merino wool or alpaca, but this is fine on the feet. The nylon makes the yarn hardwearing, so you won't be darning your socks after a couple of months' of wear.

I've been using the black colour (2066) as a contrast to handpainted yarns. Here it is knitted up into a pair of Jack Sparrow's Favorite Socks (pattern from Katydid Knits):



It's best to use yarns of similar fibre content for a project like this, even if they're not the same brand, as they will wash and wear similarly. Some 4plies are bulkier than others, too, which could lead to sections of pattern being slightly raised above others.

I'm really pleased with this yarn; it's extremely good value for money and I'll definitely be buying more in the range for making everyday socks.

(Yes, sock blockers would make these socks look better!)

Music-loving readers will be interested to hear about a unique opportunity to combine a visit to a live concert with your passion for knitting. Sia is an Australian jazz-style pop singer who just so happens to be knit-mad herself and Sony Music have a very special prize up for grabs to celebrate the release of her new album, We Are Born.

The lucky winner will receive tickets to Sia's sold out London concert on 27 May at The Roundhouse. Not only that, but they will also get the chance to sit on-stage whilst Sia is performing and knit a patch during the show. The patch will be added to a huge patchwork blanket, which will be auctioned off to Sia's favourite charity.

Sony music will provide the yarn and needles, so all you have to so is knit away while you enjoy the show!

We know that this prize will sound like the best knitting fun ever to many of you, but you'll have to hurry to enter as the closing date for entries is the 22 May! For your chance to win, visit the online competition link for details on how to enter. Good luck to all - and if you're lucky enough to win, don't forget to tell us all about your evening at the show.