There's nothing like a national catastrophe to bring out the warped British sense of humour – and these definitely made me giggle. I give you...Knitted Political Finger Puppets! Or as RUBBISH magazine, whose limited edition finger puppets these are, say, Give politics the finger. Apparently they are guaranteed 'NOT to pull the wool over your eyes'.

It's good to see knitters wielding their needles as political activism tools (I think we can all agree the point here is to mock, rather than admire). Re-enact the election with your own desired outcome...

Good bye Mr Brown



New BFFs Dave and Nick

 

And because I actually live in the Brighton constituency who now have an official Green Party MP...

...Hello Caroline



These limited edition finger puppets are £10 each and are available from www.rubbishmagshop.com

Well our June issue is in the office, and we're quite excited to see what you think of it. We tried something a little different this month...June is...The Real Issue!

What started out as a 'wouldn't it be fun if we did this...' idea in the office actually came to fruition this month as we decided to give over the design reigns to a group of real women, with the aim to show when it comes to knitwear, fashion, dressing for your age and body shape, what real women really want.

Our group of gorgeous women relished the chance to design a knit they felt would best show off their good bits, while hiding the not-so-good bits (oh we all have them, this we have learned!) and we followed them the whole way, from meeting designer Sian Brown to discuss their ideas (and then meeting pattern writer Penny Hill to point out the practicalities – zebra print is pretty hard in knitwear!) through to getting hair and make-up done for our final photo shoot, in our 'Behind the scenes' feature. Get a glimpse into how the magazine process works!

We hope you like this departure from our normal routine. It's good to shake things up a little every now and then!

Introducing Rhona; blonde, gorgeous, quite busty. A statement collar draws the eye to where you want people to look. Ahem, up here Mister. 



Meet Liz; classy and classic. A beautiful textured top, fitted to give the illusion of curves, with the always-flattering 3/4 length sleeves (the dignified way of flashing the flash)



Ah lovely Aline; good things come in small packages. Neutral colours allow natural dark colouring to shine. Attract the eye with sexy neck and shoulder details whilst super long sleeves are both lengthening and slimming. 









Also, don't miss in this issue...

– Meet American knitwear designer Norah Gaughan and try out her her gorgous Bright Star throw

– How to knit frills, try it out on our cute retro apron pattern (then go and make cup cakes).

– Sailor stripe beach bag

– Design competition winners patterns

 And the best news, reviews and product round ups on the market.

Part 2 Sirdar



So, our adventures with Sirdar began with the aforementioned gorgeous village pub and outrageously expensive food. We met Caroline and Sue from Sirdar in a tiny little village surrounded by beautiful Yorkshire stone (I know I keep going on about how lovely Yorkshire is but I'm a south coast girl through and through and wasn't expected to be quite so taken with anything this far north!), green fields and an endless sky. We had a look at the menu, took a couple of gulps, then decided this was what work expenses were for and we'd just have to 'take one for the team'. Oh, it's a tough life.

The next day was our official visit to Sirdar headquarters in Wakefield. Of course we got lost. But this time I mean really lost. 45 minutes of driving round the hell that is the one way system in Wakefield city centre lost. I couldn't believe my trusted iPhone Sat Nav was failing us and was mightily relieved when Caroline told us later that their post goes directly to the main post office, which was the postcode provided and so the one my poor Sat Nav was trying to take us to. It was with relief we eventually arrived at Sirdar headquarters, looming at us from behind huge iron gates, or like Emma put it, like Thunderbirds HQ on Tracey Island. It wouldn't have surprised us if a rocket suddenly appeared out the top.

(For such a big place, as demonstrated by our tour of the yarn storing warehouse, yarn send out warehouse, design room and knitting up area, we were impressed by how the company does seem to be like a big family, with everybody from managers to fork-lift truck drivers jumping into the factory floor to help pack exhibition equipment and stock) 

Sirdar's press room, like their photo shoots and colour palettes, is a centre of calm, a zen setting in cream.

All of the new yarns, their patterns and selected garments modeled on mannequins were on display around the room and we took them all in at a leisurely pace, with many anecdotes about behind the scenes of photo shoots (freezing temperatures on a mountainside in Tenerife standing in for hot and sunny mid-west America) and information on how and why new yarns have come into being (from trends at Piti Filatti to best sellers).

Sirdar always do great kids patterns, from cool and trendy modern styles (that loop style jacket has been seen in Topshop!)



...to gorgeously retro vintage styling (check out the boy's ski sweater, how cool?!)



But my favourite was the batwing-style jumper in new yarn Indie, which has a gorgeous, almost unpredictable colour change in varying widths, and some fantastic colourways (can you see the limey mustard green and pink in the background?)



The big roll necks and bat-wing sleeves are going to be big this A/W, and with the deep waist ribbing, are very flattering.

And over at Sublime, big chunky knits in wide, sculptural ribs and exaggerated collars were held in by skinny belts, giving a flattering silhouette.



The trends for this coming season are definitely textured knits with at least one stand out feature – wide ribs, 3D bobbles, with an emphasis on either huge collars, roll necks or sleeves (note, try just one textured stitch with one stand-out feature or it might become more am-dram costume than sartorial statement).

And, again, colour. This A/W we will not be fading into the background succumbing to the shorter days and darker nights, but making ourselves feel good with bright pops of clashing colour and random self-striping.

I'm looking forward to it already!

Ooops. Apologies to those of you who are trying to claim your free book by joining up to our forum. Our rebooted website, with new free patterns, up to date yarn reviews and downloadable how-tos is designed to go live on 13 May, our News Stand on sale date. Yep, we forgot about you lovely, loyal subscribers, who, for your loyalty, get the magazine a week early. Sorry! xxx 

After being invited by Rowan to their A/W10 Press Day up at the mill in Holmfirth, Emma and I decided to visit Sirdar whilst we were in their neck of the woods, and so began a three-day, fun-filled, Sat Nav-reliant trip to Yorkshire. (no seriously, without the Sat Nav we would have been done for)

Part 1 Rowan

It all began with picking up Erika Knight, who was hitching a ride up with us as she was actually presenting the Rowan Press day, and five hours later (having planned world domination and discovered how AMAZING the Sat Nav and google earth on my new iPhone are) arriving at our hotel to the sounds of silence, the odd sheep baaing and this view. Not bad huh?





The next morning we were off to the mill. Somehow on a supposed 7-minute journey we got lost. (This will become a recurring theme)





What a gorgeous place to go to work to every day. You can't see it but the stream is trickling away just behind me.

It's lovely inside too, with wooden floors, exposed brick walls and garments exhibited everywhere...



...which Emma couldn't resist trying on. Brand new Gedifra! Texture is going to be BIG this Autumn.



The tea and biscuits never stopped flowing and it was great to meet some of the other knitting magazines' representatives. The presentation by Erika was great. Trends for this A/W – cables (huge sculptural ones), shoulders and sleeves get interesting, texture is going to be quite out there, and colour, lots of it (the more clashing the better). You heard it here first!

Sneak peek of these textured yarns I speak of...



We got to try them all out too!



The press day was finished off with a wonderfully funny catwalk show modeled by varying-levels-of-enthusiasm members of staff...



...and a nice goodie bag to take home!

Well, I can tell you, Rowan won't disappoint come Autumn. I think they translated the catwalk trends into beautiful, wearable garments incredibly well. And with 4 new Rowan yarns, 5 Gedifra, new Regia and Patons, you won't know where to start come the new season.

After an unsuccessful attempt to find the picturesque town of Hebden Bridge (interesting fact no.1 home of Alan Dart, no. 2 self-proclaimed lesbian capital of Britain, no.3 outstandingly pretty) we got lost (told you, recurring theme) and went back to our hotel.

We finished off the evening in a gorgeous village pub, eating outrageously expensive food and being amused by young, enthusiastically camp waiters with broad Yorkshire accents. But that was with Sirdar so will be continued tomorrow in Part 2 Sirdar...