Musings of a Knitter - Di Gilpin's blog

I am really excited about all the new events coming up at the Bothy and the great new selection of yarns we are sourcing…the Humbie yarn is now online and we have taken a lovely selection of Aragon yarns from Sissinghurst too at the studio. The newsletter with all our news and some of the exciting techniques we developed over the winter is almost ready and should be sent out this weekend…..here are a few photos of new yarns etc:

 

 

 

The Humbie yarns knits brilliantly to lace but also the colours blend so well together they are wonderful in intarsia as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lorna had the great idea of knitting 2 strands of the Humbie yarn in all the different colour combinations…changing just one  colour at a time and edging the shawl with ribbon…..pattern available to knitclub members in the Spring newsletter!

 

Here is a new design I finished this Spring in the Humbie coral …a great pattern and a wonderful yarn!

 

Hi guys, here are some of the great photos of the Bothy group working on the London Fashion week commission…now I am back from my extensive travels I wanted to share them with you all! so here goes…..

[caption id="attachment_723" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sheila and Caroline...you were brilliant!!!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_726" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Thanks everyone who took part - it was a monster commission and a real achievement for us all! xx"][/caption]

 

Hi everyone, back at the Bothy after a crazy few months what with London Fashion week, knitted tights, New York ‘Dressed to Kilt’, meeting Paulo Nutini (who is now wearing a pair of cashmere stags horn wristwarmers I made – “great for wearing at Festivals this year”)going to a wonderful wedding in NZ, being inspired in Korea…where to I start? Well first of all back with Knitclub on thursday and I can’t wait to see everyone again! I will be uploading loads of photos from my travels over the next week and looking forward to hearing from you all again…I am really inspired to start work on a whole new collection now and get my needles back to work…..dixxxx

Di’s feet have barely touched the ground and she’s off again! 

Di arrived home late tuesday night from her trip to New Zealand and after grabbing some much needed sleep and a new hairdo is busy getting ready to fly out to New York on Sunday morning for Scottish Week where her designs will be promoted to designers and buyers by the Scottish Executive. Another fantastic opportunity for Di and Scottish knitwear

It really is all go at the moment but you’ll be happy to know that Knitclub will be starting back up on Thursday evening 6-8ish even though Di won’t be there.

And we’ve got a new meeting place!….don’t worry it’s not to far away….we’ve relocated Knitclub to Di’s lovely little entrance hall in the house so that we can have more workspace in the studio.  There’s plenty of comfy seats, it’s got it’s own wee log burner, it’s closer to the loo and the kettle and it’s away from all the workstuff so we hope it will become a happy little knitty place to meet. The studio will be open as usual for you to have a peek at the new work, find patterns, buy wool etc…. you just won’t have to climb over it all to get a seat..haha!

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Mx

 

 

At long last it’s here, yes, spring has finally sprung! I love spring, it’s my favorite time of the year. It always feels like a time of new beginnings and fresh starts, a time to clear out and make space for new things, a time of great hope and anticipation at what’s just around the corner. Such an exciting time don’t you think?

We have some very exciting news to share with you…..Di is thrilled to have been invited by The Scottish Executive to produce several outfits for a fashion show at Scottish Week in New York in April.  She was approached shortly after the success of the Meadham Kirchhoff show in London and the positive media coverage that followed . The designs are already in the pipeline and Di will be heading out there later next month. Another fantastic opportunity to showcase the beauty and skill of our Scottish hand-knitting heritage.

If you’ve been along to the Bothy this week you will have seen some springtime in action!…..While Di’s away at a family wedding in New Zealand we’ve been spring cleaning and re-organising the Bothy. The poor woman nearly had a heart attack when we suggested it the week before she left!!  With some reassurance that we’d help to put it all back if she didn’t like it , we got the green light. Well, I think its looks lovely and next time you’re visiting please do take a moment to look up and admire the cobweb free rafters…it’s amazing the things you can do with a Hoover!!!

And whilst we’re talking of fresh starts and new beginnings we do have a bit of sad news to share with you, Di has made the very difficult decision to close the Perth shop . After nearly 5 years in Perth it’s been a sad but necessary decision for her to make to enable us all to concentrate on the design element of the business. The Bothy is a hive of activity these days so that’s where we’ll be focusing our energies working on new designs, books, workshops and everything you’ve come to love about that quirky little place.

We do hope you’ll come and visit us sometime soon, in the meantime we hope you enjoy the milder weather and get a chance to do a bit of gardening….if you can put the needles down for long enough!

Bye for now

Mandy x

We’d just like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone that has worked very hard and often long into the night to put together the collection for London Fashion Week, it has been an immense challenge and we really couldn’t have done it without you.

There are some wonderful pictures of the collection on the Vogue website that allow you can zoom in for a closer look at the detail, do pop over and have a look if you have the time.

Di will be in touch very soon to all those that participated to offer her personal thanks and to update you on the latest news and what is next in store for The Bothy.

In the meantime we will be having Knitclub as normal tonight and hope to be able to play the very brief catwalk show, it was spectacular! See you at 6pm if you can make it.

Mandy x

 

The Bothy is bursting with knitters today as we make the big final push towards our looming deadline with Di and Rona travelling down to London with the remainder of the finished garments first thing on Monday morning.

We are all here finishing off; we have people knitting, pressing, sewing…..lots of lovely home baking thanks to Rona and Denise and lots of hilarity…….or is it hysteria?

The short deadline for this commission applied pressure  from the start;  it has definitely been a challenge and one we have truly risen too thanks largely to the help of knitters from all over the world who have jumped in to help get all the pieces finished in time – Scotland, England, USA and the fastest knitter in the world from Holland has been flying through the designs for us too. It really has been all hands to the deck.

We are all so proud to have been involved in such a fantastic commission and hope that those that have helped feel the same way, we know it’s been hard work but the prospect of seeing a piece of our own hand-knitting on the catwalk has been a huge incentive for many.

 

Sorry we’ve not been on touch for a wee while, life and work at the Bothy has taken an unexpected turn with a fantastic commission from a top London design team. We’ve been asked to produce an amazing knitwear collection to appear on the catwalk at London Fashion Week towards the end of February!

It’s an incredible opportunity to put hand knitting right at the heart of British fashion. That’s right guys…..hand knitting…..all 40+ pieces!!!

That’s were you come in. We currently have around 25 -30 knitters working on pieces for us but we need more and quickly! We’re looking for experienced knitters who can work fast and accurately to a pressing deadline. You’ll be knitting patterned tights in the round so it would be better if you at least have experience of socks, I’m sure there’s not that many out there that have knitted a pair of tights!

If you’re interested please contact Di by emailing her at di.gilpin1@gmail.com or calling the Bothy on 01334 840431. Please don’t note your interest by commenting on the blog, we simply don’t have the time to check it out  but we do have someone working on emails throughout the day so we can respond quickly.

We’re also planning to have an open day …..when the dust settles! ….so that you can come along to the studio and see how the project evolved, see the original designs and the beautiful hand drawn charts that we’ve been creating. We’ll let you know the dates as soon as they’re available.

Bye for now and thanks for popping by to see what we’re up too.

Mandy x

It’s that time of year when everything seems to be going too fast…..except the things that you really must get done!….Do you know what I mean?

I go to bed at night thinking where did the day go? How come I don’t feel as if I’m getting anywhere? ……. Can someone press pause for a minute while I play catch up?

I’ve been knitting and crocheting Christmas presents since the summer and I’m still not finished! I’ve got 1/2 a blanket still to do for my nephew and each day that passes I get that sinking feeling it’s not going to be ready. But that’s not all…..I still haven’t bought the presents for the people who aren’t getting a piece of knitted joy and worse still…..I haven’t a clue what to get them! I’m sure i’m not alone.

For the first time in a couple of weeks I made it into the studio on monday morning and was welcomed by  a very happy smiley Di sitting at her computer in the studio ONLINE….yeah!!….gremlins slayed….well, for a few hours anyway! By the end of the day it had blipped again and I left Di’s lovely partner preparing to go to battle again….I wonder who won?

It’s been busy at the studio this week working to more deadlines with Di finishing off some new designs and samples for Adriafil for winter next year, it was a great day….I went to work and was told to sit down in front of the fire and knit all day!!!! Oh such toil…if only my hubbie knew just how hard I work…..hahaha!

Di had a fantastic day on sunday with the creative colour workshop – instead of making christmas decorations they all ended up making wacky tea cosies knitting several strands of unusual yarn at once. It’s a great way to use all  those odd balls of funky yarn you’ve bought on the spur of the moment without any thought to what you’re going to do with them….you know the ones i’m talking about!….they live in the darkest places of your yarn stash and don’t get much light and they NEVER get introduced to new friends when they come to visit for tea and cake and a nosey at your stash! That’s right……we’re talking about the embarrassing ones that scream bad taste!! ….but somehow when you put them together and play dress-up with a teapot they look wonderful. Give it a go, you don’t need a pattern, just make it up as you go along, sew it together and as if by magic you’ll have your very own ‘designer’ tea cosy!  We’re hoping to get some photo’s from the weekend to let you see, so don’t be shy, give it a go and send us your photos.

I hope that Christmas deadlines aren’t causing you too many worries and that you get a chance to sit and relax a while. With more snow on the way it looks like we’ll have no choice but to slow down again so here’s my plan of action:  You can only do what you can do. If it’s not finished, delivered or bought in time give an I.O.U! If they love you enough they’ll understand…..if they don’t then ask yourself this…..Why are you bothering to give them a present in the first place?

Happy knitting and if I don’t get round to posting again before that mighty deadline…Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Mandy x

Hi everyone,

Di has some gremlins that have been misbehaving with her internet access for the past couple of weeks making it difficult if not impossible for her to get online and keep in touch with you all, in the meantime she’s asked me to post a message to keep you all up to date until she can get the problem solved.

It will surely come as no surprise to learn that the weather has been causing more than it’s fair share of problems too. Sadly the Extravagansey event last Thursday was cancelled (hopefully to be re-scheduled), the Perth shop was closed all of last week because the staff were unable to get to the shop, the Knitclub at the Bothy was cancelled and last weekends workshop had to be cancelled at the last minute when the weather and travelling conditions hadn’t improved.

Di has decided to re-schedule the Creative Colour Workshop to this Sunday 12th from 12-4pm (weather/travel conditions permitting) to give you a chance to have a bit of woolly fun making some Christmas decorations and experimenting with color. Do come along if you can, it will be such good fun.

The weather is also having an effect on the postal service both in terms of Di being able to get to the post office and deliveries; she’s doing her very best to get orders out as quickly as possible but please be patient. Sallie, Di’s administrator, is checking her emails regularly to help keep everyone updated.

Finally, we’re really sorry if any of these difficulties we’ve been experiencing have impacted you over the past week or so, please know we’re doing everything we can to keep our woolly world ticking over but sometimes you just can’t win!

I hope you’re able to find time to enjoy this winter wonderland, if nothing else it’s a good excuse to sit by the fire and knit!

Mandy x