As usual I've managed not to knit anything for myself for Halloween. I resolve, each year, to knit Jordana Paige's felted pumpkins from Knitty and every single year I fail to make time to do them. I thought I'd share some nice Halloween patterns with you that I've seen online. I have completely failed to make any of these either.

Rowan has a pattern for Pablo The Pumpkin. He's knitted with stripes to give the effect of the lobes of a pumpkin, then felted. He looks simple enough for relatively new knitters to have a go at.

Polarknit has a new Halloween pattern up – a witch's hat.

If you like buying patterns online, AriadneKnits is selling the pattern for Vincent the Vampire, designed by Jennie Lamond. The thing I like about him is that you can remove his clothes. No, nothing twisted about that, I'm just a firm believer that the more kids can do with knitted toys, the more fun they are, and Vincent has lots of scope for alternative outfits too! If you know a teenager into Twilight, a knitted Edward could be in order...

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is tomorrow and we've got a specially spooky blog for you today. Monster Crochet is written by Regina Rioux aka Lady Linoleum, a keen crocheter with a knack for creating eye-catching and unsusual designs.

Her designs are listed on the right hand side of her blog and include saw-dripping-blood scarf, severed fingers and an applique bat to add to any design. A mix of free and paid-for patterns with some spectacular spooky themes, they're ideal for a costume or to dress up a plain outfit for those who like a little bit of Halloween every day of the year.

Once you've finished admiring the patterns, check out the rest of the blog for a less spooky but nonetheless entertaining read as Lady Linoleum recounts the tales of her stitching adventures.

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.  

Here are the winners of the competitions from Simply Knitting 56. All prizes should have reached the winners by now – I posted the first three batches myself, two in August and one in September, and the others were sent direct from the companies supplying the prizes.

I will try to put the winner lists up regularly, but if ever you want to know about a specific competition, please do email me. (Please note: I can be slow in getting back to people during print deadline week!) All competition data is held securely and drawn by someone outside Simply Knitting, so it's all completely safe and impartial.

Alpaca Select ‘Lauren’ flower kits
Julie Johnson; Louise Simpson; June Adamson; Linda Bradley; Valerie Evans; Margaret Jones; Jill Bright; Jenny Langley; Christine Collins; Kirsty Collard

Fibrefest tickets
Sue Langley; Becky Hewitt; Tanya Bird; Louise Trewern; Karen Brown

Patons Eco Cotton jumper kits
Pamela Gossage; Mary Maull; Linda Wood

Sudoku (Prize: The Compendium of Crochet Techniques by Jan Eaton)
Georgina Ball; Elizabeth Hudson; Solange Thomas; Lorna Totton; Diane Tecklenberg; Kate Eberwein; Karen Railton; Debbie Ridley; Kat Bennett; Ann Bond

Crossword (Prize: Rowan Studio 15 pattern book)
Marian Gardener; Pat Bradford; Ann Ratcliffe; Valerie Hartley; Deborah Bird; Lynn Horey; Joanne McPherson; Lynne Fallowell; Ann Bevis; Jackie Youel; Jill Gosden; Margaret Hinch; Keely Saycell; Paul Hickman; Kathy Morrell; Heather Seward; Sally Grosvenor; Sheila Coxon; Linda Whittaker; Maria Elliott; Pamela Law; Sandra Richardson; Karen Brown; Jemima Weller; Judith Beddoes; Diane Slaughter; Brenda Scarlett; Carolina Johnson; Jay Foote; Debra Carter; Cherith Baldry; Tracey Berry; Catherine Bell; Madeline Grainger; Wendy Hampson; Rose Maxwell; Alice Matthews; Anne Mackenzie; Diane Parrinder; Adrienne Freedman; Susan Mackenzie; Marlene Sargent; J Neary; Linda Margaret; Corina Taylor; Susan Castle; A Fox; J Rycraft; Alison Farr; Christine Hay

Simply Knitting issue 61 hits the shops on Thursday 5 November 2009. Enter our great giveaways and competitions by using the links below.

Knitting Parlour goodie bag giveaway, page 6
Patons wrap kit giveaway, page 10
Peter Pan baby knitting kit giveaway, page 12
Prize crossword, page 94
Prize sudoku, page 94

If you're snowed under with people asking you to knit hats for them, then Grannies, Inc could be your savior.

The easy-to-use website lets you customise the style and stripe pattern of your hat. Once you've made your decision, pay for your order and your hat will be handknitted by one of their team of 'Grannies'.

The site is also great fun to play with as the 'Design your own beanie' section lets you play with different colour combinations and ideas – ideal if your knitting your own hats, too.

We're a bit late reporting it, but we're thrilled to see that the giant knitted poem organized by Poetry Society has been completed.

At 13x9m and with over 1,200 knitted squares it's a mammoth project – and one they couldn't have completed without the help of over 1,000 knitters and crocheters.

Click through to find out more about this epic knitting project – and find out what the poem was!

Want more? The poem is going on tour to Wales, Manchester and possibly other locations so you may have a chance to see it in person. There are also nine other knitting poems to enjoy on the site.

Now Ally Pally's gone by, we're waiting for our next big outing and drooling over all the stash enhancing people have been doing at Rhinebeck. Today's blogger, Cara at January One hasn't posted an update since she said she was setting off, so we've got something to look forward to.

If you're new to Cara's writing, it's a fun mix of chatty personal (mis)adventures and – of course – knitting. Cara is a professional photographer, so the shots are good quality and she has a lovely open writing style which makes her blog an engaging read.

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. 

If you're a UK resident you'll already know this is happening, but for SK readers and subscribers outside the UK it may be news: we're having postal strikes here in Britain right now. This means that everything from subscription issues to reader letter prizes (which I send out, so if you're ever missing a prize, please get in touch with me) could be delayed.

If your subscription is late, please give it a few extra days before contacting the subscriptions team. We don't have access to any of your personal data here in the Simply Knitting office so we can't help with subs enquiries. You need to email future@subscription.co.uk or ring 0844 848 1602 (UK).

If you're planning to do lots of posting for Christmas, best get all items in the post earlier than usual this year.

Today is Apple Day, celebrating the diversity of British apples so don't forget to pop to the shops and pick up an apple. And if you don't like your fruit covered in pocket lint, keep it safe with Stringativity's Fruit Sock knitting pattern.

There are more than 2,000 different kinds of apple, so there's a flavour to suit every taste. Common Ground organised the first Apple Day in 1990 as a response to the rapid loss of British orchards. From their website:

Data from Natural England shows that the orchard area throughout England has declined by 63% since 1950. Wales lost 94% between 1958 and 1992. For some counties the impact is devastating. Devon lost 89% of its orchards between 1946-2003 and Kent 92% during the same period.

In 2007 we imported nearly 70% of our apples (Defra Basic Horticultural Statistics 2008).  Apples from the southern hemisphere and other far away places fill our supermarket shelves – even in autumn, the height of our apple season.

Anyone can organize an Apple Day event – perhaps next year there'll even be some knitting related ones!

You can find out more on the Common Ground website and there's a good article at The Ecologist titled How to celebrate British apples which breaks it down into bite-size chunks.

We're used to seeing knitting in the news. Articles ususally focus on one of four things: knitting for charity, 'stunt' knitting, like the gravestone cosy or knitting as a frugal fashion tip so we were interested to find a piece in the Daily Mail titled Cast on for comfort: Why we're all becoming fans of knitting.

The author, Lorna Martin, learned to knit at school in Shetland and knows one end of her needles from the other. Dismissing the oft-touted frugal-chic illusion, she says:

"It's far cheaper to hand over your credit card for a ready-to-wear sweater, than to buy good wool and invest hundreds of hours in making one. But this is all part of the pleasure. Knitting something slowly and with care for someone else or yourself is a real labour of love."

And while it's certainly possible to knit lovely things on a tight budget, we think this is well said and well worth saying. Check out the rest of the article and let us know if you agree with Lorna's other points in the comments.

Ellen Page to write comedy series for HBO trumpets the article at Yahoo!

What caught our attention, however, is the title of the series: according to Yahoo! it's going to be called 'Stitch N' Bitch'.

Which means – we hope! – that there might be some knitting involved although as different reports use different spellings of the title and are all rather vague it's impossible to say if there'll be any link to Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch movement.

We'd love to find out a bit more about the proposed series, so do email us or leave a comment if you find anything!

Name sounds familiar? Ellen Page was nominate for a 'Best Actress' Oscar for her role as pregnant teenager Juno MacGuff in the 2007 film Juno.

Splendor is a knitting blog written by two men who knit and happen to live in New York City, USA. While life in the Big Apple is always fascinating for those of us living in a small city like Bath, it's the knits which really make this blog stand out.

David Castillo and Homero Luna both started knitting because they wanted to wear something they couldn't find in the shops – and then started altering and designing patterns when they wanted to knit something they couldn't find.

The quirky original designs rub shoulders with lovely from-a-pattern knits, so the archives are a great place to browse if you're looking for fun and wearable men's knits.

Both David and Homero update the blog, and as their writing styles are quite similar it can be a little confusing as projects develop but it's easy to check the bottom of a post to find out who wrote it.

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. 

Take a few minutes away from whatever it is you should be doing and find out which breed of sheep you are.

Just-for-fun, the quiz has been written by an American author so you may discover a new breed or two – while 'Shropshire' sounds rather familiar, 'Navajo-Churro' sounds rather more exotic to us British knitters.

The quiz is taken from The Knitter's Book of Wool by Clara Parkes which came out yesterday. We haven't got our hands on a copy yet, so we can't say much, but if the quiz is anything to go by, it'll be a fun and informative tome.

Knitting is afloat, reports the Burnley Citizen in an article headlined Wool traders turn back clock on Lancashire canal.

Two enterprising traders, Carole and Colin Wareing have spent the summer months selling yarn from their narrowboat as they slowly travelled from Burscough to Leeds and back.

The article is a quick and interesting read and includes fascinating contextual details about how the canal was used – and how few floating shops there are today.

Read the article to find out more or if you're in the area, email Carole and Colin at colinandcarolescreations@yahoo.co.uk to find out where they'll be stopping next.

Did you make it to Alexandra Palace last week? I went on the Friday, along with Jess, our graphic designer. You may be one of the people we grabbed – we were asking people what they'd bought. I didn't get any time to shop for myself, which makes my husband very happy but I wasn't so chuffed with. After all, who knows when I will get the chance to buy more yarn? I may have to rely on my stash. (Never mind that at the speed I knit I could live off my stash for a couple of years; it's a modest heap but I am slo-o-o-w.) If you went, I hope you had more shopping luck.

Jess and I spent most of our time on the Knitter/ Macmillan Cancer Support stand. Lots of people were keen to knit squares for the blankets, so we were directing them to Macmillan's website, where you can download square patterns. Some amazingly generous people brought whole blankets, while others more limited in time or yarn terms brought wonderful squares. Knitters are fab people. (That's YOU I'm talking about!) You're probably sick of me saying it, but I'm always touched and amazed by how kind and generous so many knitters I encounter all. Who cares about shopping for yarn? I found big hearts and decency at the show!

We made a mistake printing the contact details for the Mili silk knitting bag in our Great Gifts feature.

If you've been oggling the gorgeous Mili 'Dumpy' bag featured on page 32 of Simply Knitting issue 60, then you need to contact Milistyle (not Hantex!) on 0844 879 4719 or visit www.milistyle.co.uk where you can see the full range and order online.

They're even offering free UK delivery on orders over £20 right now, so it's a great time to do a bit of Christmas shopping!

We like a bit of glamor when we can get it, and there's nothing more elegant than the smart looks in vintage ads and knitting patterns.

Luckily, Bygone Knits, a blog dedicated to admiring – and knitting – these long-lost looks is there to help us through the day.

The author, Honore McDonough Ervin says she is "attempting to live a gracious, elegant life" and this site chronicals the knitting side of it.

A great mix of vintage style inspiration and knits from vintage patterns.

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. 

The November issue of Simply Knitting hits shelves across the UK today, so look out for your copy! We've got more Quick & Easy Knits in our new section and two stylish shawl pins to keep your knits in place!


Click for a larger image.

Winter weather is a boon to knitters and we've got 25 stylish winter knits to help you keep your needles clicking and keep you and your loved ones warm and snug.

We've got great knits for you to use your shawl pins on, and they look really smart.



We've used them on our soft, multi-textured jacket (shown on the cover) and this simple but stunning lace wrap (below).



For more casual layers, try our longline waistcoat and top with pretty textured details

If you're ready to start your gift knitting, we've got some great ideas including a classic man's cardigan and a fab Christmas-themed kitchen set.

Our new section, Quick & Easy Knits, is back and is packed with 11 gift ideas this issue, including five scarves and neckwarmers.


Click for a larger image.

We've also got two Alan Dart patterns for you this month, and we think you'll recognise both of them!

BBC Children in Need takes place on Friday 20 November this year, so you've got plenty of time to knit a Pudsey to help your fund-raising efforts. You could raffle him off, or hold an auction – or knit some to say "Thank you!" to your best supporters.



Alan has also designed another well-loved character for us. Rudolph is looking forward to Christmas as much as we are and he'd make a great addition to your decorations – or a fab gift, if you can bear to part with him!



Other great things to look out for in issue 60 include: 

• Hannah Simpson knits up her favourite film characters.
• We catch up with Janet Markwell and the alpacas in her garden.
  
• Rachael Matthews explores the meaning of life – and craft.
  

And don't miss any of your usual favourites: we've got all the latest knitting news, gorgeous winter yarns and lots of your letters.

Two local charity knitting efforts have made the news, and both could do with a helping hand from keen knitters.

The Lincolnshire Echo has published Midwives' plea for knitted breasts to be used to help new mothers learn to breastfeed.

Find out more about how and why knitted breasts are used and knit your own.

The Isle of Wight Country Press is encouraging readers to Knit to help the Red Cross. Their sponsored knit-in takes place from 12-18 October 2009 and as well as raising money for the Red Cross, knitters will be creating items to be donated to orphanages in Africa. Scroll down to the bottom of the article for details of how to get involved.

Simply Knitting issue 60 hits the shops on Thursday 8 October 2009 – and we've got a special treat for you in this issue.

Nine of our advertisers are each giving away a Great Gift for Knitters so nine lucky winners will each be able to try one of their fab products. Turn to page 32-33 to find out more about the products they've chosen and find the keywords for each give away then click on the links below to enter.

Knitted Bouquet 'Dizzy Daisy' kit giveaway
Black Hills 'Touch Yarns' kit giveaway
Krafty Koala lace yarn giveaway
Hantex 'Dumpy' Mili silk bag giveaway
Toft Alpacas 'Hottie' kit giveaway
DermaGuard hand cream giveaway
Jamie Possum Denise Interchangeable Needles set giveaway
Viridian KnitPro starter set giveaway
Gift in a Tin 'Lace Scarf' kit giveaway