Amy Singer Lessons Live and Kicking!!!!

This blog has a soundtrack:

So I've been on about this for a while and I will talk you through what's been going on behind the scenes and all of the gossip but I think the most important thing is the actual lessons (especially as I'm pretty sure there'll be lots of out-of-towners who might not be so used to my rabbiting) so business at the front, party at the back (like a mullet).

October the 3rd - 10am-1pm - Making the Next Monkey, Mr. Greenjeans or Mrs Beeton - How to get your designs published.

• I know there are a lot of you who are wanting to move on to designing your own knitted bits and I think this will be perfect for you. Amy's going to talk to you about how to present your work - the best and worst things to do - the slant will be towards Knitty of course but the workshop will enable you to present your work professionally to a knit-related audience.  

Click here to book on Making the Next Monkey.

October the 3rd - 7pm Onwards - An Evening With Amy Singer - All About Knitty.

• This is the thing that I'm most excited about actually because it's the thing that most of you will be able to come to. Amy's giving a talk on how she started Knitty and what it's like to be in the business now. There'll be a question and answer session afterwards too. The doors will open at 6pm and there'll be a bar so we can enjoy a glass of wine whilst listening to this fascinating woman. I suspect we'll head over to a pub afterwards too - that's the Knit Nottingham way... 

October the 4th - 10am-1pm - Tuscany Shawl - Making Lace Friendly.

• The perfect lesson for you if you want to start making your lace journey (or if you've already started and keep stalling). You'll discuss the process of making a lace shawl from start to finish including blocking. Please be aware that we don't have the right yarn for you (we don't stock silk) but there are plenty of places that do, ask if you want pointing in the right direction. You'll also need the book (I'll check and come back as to whether it's in the library for you). 

October the 4th - 2pm-5pm - Autopilot Socks.

• This is a lesson for people that are already pretty happy with socks - so if you've been on one of my sock lessons you should be good to go. We do have the yarn for this and I love love love love love selling sock yarn so come here and we can have a big talk about it (I promise, if you start me getting excited about sock yarn you won't regret it). The idea is that you leave the lesson with a guide in your head for making socks so that you don't have to follow a pattern word for word, it can be something you pick up and put down with ease.  

October the 5th - 10am-4pm - Plug + Play - Textured Shawl Design.

• A brill lesson for people who haven't quite hit the stage of sending patterns off to Knitty.com but maybe want to start thinking about working things out for yourself. Amy will talk you through those basics including different shapes, why they're useful and how to achieve them as well as more designerly things like photography and intellectual property. Should be a proper roller coaster of a lesson!

October the 6th - 10am-1pm - Drop Spindling Silk.

• So, I forgot to put this on the blog and facebook group when I was asking what you might be interested in but I've decided to put it on anyway because I get so much interest in spinning lessons here. Now, Amy's allergic to wool so she ended up spindling silk before anything else and it does have a tricky reputation as a spinning material which is why the class is focused on silk only. By the end of the lesson though you'll be well versed in the techniques for general spinning AND the cost includes a kit that'll take you through the whole of the session and leave you with some leftovers to spin with at home so you're not stuck with an obsession that you can't fulfill! I'm dead excited about this lesson myself - I'll be creeping into the back of the hall no doubt...

So that's that! What do you think? :)

I'm so happy and excited that I've felt sick all day and I've eaten loads of food and drunk loads of coffee so I'm on a bit of a hyper!!!! 

After my first holiday of the year I had a bout of inspiration about getting a new and bigger shop. Can you remember it? Well, the very next day Amy Singer got in contact with us about potentially hosting some classes here and when I saw her name in my inbox I was actually almost sick. I was on the phone to Cazza at the time and she was telling me something exciting but when I said 'shut up, Amy Singer's just e-mailed me' and she actually did shut up. That's pretty much never happened before. 

It became apparent that we couldn't do it at the shop - most of the classes have a limit of 18 people and the shop's limit is... uhhhh... six. Ha. So, I looked all around Nottingham to try and find a suitable place including Wollaton Hall and the Galleries of Justice and Nottingham Castle but I've settled on the Belgrave Rooms. I say settled... IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!! It's somehow part of the Masons but pretty much the less said about that the better. The room that we'll be in is around the back and it has disabled access and its own toilets and it's lovely. I was pretty blown away actually.

It's a bit lovely ain't it?

Right - so I've just had a caffeine crash and Caroline's been on the phone and put me off my stride so I'm a going to finish this tomorrow. Be there or be square. 

Love, 

Eleanor. :):):):):):)