In the Fruity Knitting Podcast Episode 22 we are delighted to be joined by Ann Budd.  Master Geologist turned knitting editor, designer, author and instructor, Ann shares her wisdom, experience, a gentle charm, and a few good tales of projects gone wrong.  Our guest on Knitters of the World is the scraptastic Dayana of Dayana Knits, yarnbuster and tinkerer extraordinaire.  We also meet Henry VIII, and see one sock.  Everything you need for your knitting pleasure.

Ann Budd – “Publishing sounds like fun”

Knitting seems to have provided a refuge for Ann Budd.  When Ann was swept into a Swiss school at age 12, classes in knitting were a chance to belong despite the language barrier.

Knitting continued to be an escape and a treat as Ann completed a Masters in Geology and went on to a successful professional career, until it became clear to her that she was in the wrong place.  Ann finally quit what she had thought was her dream job, and when asked what she was going to do, her answer was, “Publishing sounds like fun.”

Ann’s abilities led her quickly to a position as editor of crafting magazines and then books, giving her extensive exposure to knitting, spinning and weaving.  At the time, the range of both patterns and yarns was limited, so knitters often struggled to bring a yarn and pattern together to make a garment that fit them.  Ann saw the gap in the market and published her first books, the knitter’s handy book of patterns and the knitter’s handy book of sweater patterns, with the byline “Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges”.


Ann has gone on to publish 16+ books, including a small library on socks alone.

I suspect Ann’s writing is the product of her scientific talent, together with the knowledge, discipline and clarity gathered from years of editing professional patterns. Here’s what Kay Gardiner of Mason Dixon Knitting wrote about one of Ann’s sock patterns:

I wholly admire the way this pattern is written. No word wasted. Everything clear, with meaningful landmarks called out just at the moment they are needed. All hail Ann Budd!

We wholeheartedly agree.  Check out Ann’s Knit for Fun Retreats to enjoy her company and benefit from her experience, along with other knitting designers and instructors.

You can also find Ann at:

• annbuddknits.com
• On Ravelry as Designer Ann Budd

Dayana Knits – Knitters of the World

Our second scientist for the Episode is Dayana, creator of the blog dayanaknits.com.  Dayana applies her creativity to modifying existing patterns rather than creating her own from scratch.  Her blog contains a wealth of detailed information on modifications she has done, with plenty of pictures of the results.  Dayana knows her own tastes and will take whatever measures are necessary to get the look she is after.

Dayana has a few particular knitting habits.  Stashbusting – creating desirable garments out of leftover yarn fragments – is one occupation, leading to her Scraptastic series.  The Scraptankus top below was created from scraps of yarn bought at a Goodwill shop.

A slight variation is creating elegance from bargain yarns.  Dayana’s Dollaramy Sally is made from $7.50 worth of yarn from a Dollarama store, yarn content not specified…

Catch Dayana for loads more knitting fun at:

• dayanaknits.com

From the Archives – Eala Bhan by Alice Starmore

Andrea showed us her Eala Bhan by Alice Starmore, taken from the Alice Starmore Aran Knitting Book.  The yarn is the Hebridean 2-ply from Virtual Yarns, in the Poppy colorway.

This is an elegant cable design, made even more so by the waist shaping.  Decreasing within a cable pattern can be tricky, but this design included 12 reverse stocking stitch sections, which allowed Andrea to make the garment slimmer without getting into the cable sections or changing the look of the design.

It’s a beautiful garment – light and elegant but with the interest of the cables.

News

Edinburgh Yarn Festival

Andrea and I will be going to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival.  We would love to meet any viewers, so if you see us, come and say hello.  I’m looking forward to meeting people and to seeing Edinburgh, which I have always imagined as a very groovy city.

You can let us know if you are coming on the Fruity Knitting Edinburgh Yarn Festival thread.

Cable Garment KAL

As announced earlier we have extended the end date for the Cable Garment KAL to 28 February, and we are enjoying seeing the finished garments coming in.  Cardigans are the clear favorite, and why not?  We would love to feature you in our the Cable Garment KAL Collage, so see the finished objects thread in the Ravelry group for details on how to submit your twenty second video.  Closing date for video submissions is 5 March.  Please note that due to the time involved in getting all videos ready to go on the show, we may have to be strict with the closing date.

Fair Isle Accessory KAL

The Fair Isle Accessory KAL is closing on 31 January 2017 – shortly after this Episode goes to air.  Thank you to everyone who took part in the KAL.  We have seen a huge range of entries and enjoyed watching the chatter on the thread.

Über den Traum

The online shop überdentraum (which means “over the dream” in German) has donated one of the prizes for the Fair Isle Garment KAL.

They are also offering viewers of the Fruity Knitting Podcast a discount of 15 percent on all products until 30 April 2017.  The discount code is fruityknitting17.

Guest Index

If you have only discovered the Fruity Knitting Podcast recently then you should at least check out our Guests page.  This page shows you all of our interview with knitting designers and other industry professionals, and all Knitters of the World guests at a quick glance.  You can jump directly to the segment within our back episodes.  All of our guests are wonderful, so check it out.

Credits

• J. S. Bach, The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude No. 3 in C sharp major, BWV. 848, performed by Kimiko Ishizaka, Creative Commons Atribution 3.0 License
• Heftone Banjo Orchestra, Music Box Rag, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
• Montana Skies, Gringo Flamenco, Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0