We made it! However your week's gone — full-on, quiet, a bit of both — I hope you've got something nice planned for the next couple of days. I'd love to know: what's been the highlight of your week? Big or small, doesn't matter. And if this week's been more "just about survived it," that counts too — no judgement here, we've all had those weeks. A little shoutout to: @Debra Verrall did you finish that ton of work to before you went to bed? @Gayle Lunau Sherman how are you getting on with your sweater? Oh, and did you check out the beginners start here module? @Mirijam Pasquini did you resolve your foil problem? @Joy Green did you try out more lace patterns on your machine? @Glenna James how's your vintage pattern hunting going? You can always ask inside this community - pop a post and use the category questions. @Donna Mnisi have you checked out the classroom yet? The beginners start here is the best place to learn the basics. @Auli Takala what's on your knitting needles this week? I hope @June E Mackenzie is enjoying her holiday! @Jane Harbison how's your week gone? Any highlights for you? @Lindsay MacGregor I know you're having some time away at the moment, but I just wanted to check in with you and ask how your week's gone? It's not always about the knitting. @Suzanne Bell I know life is hectic for you at the moment, but just wanted to say hi and I hope you're week's getting a bit calmer for you. @Claire Amelia how's the chickens and the ducks after the sad event this week?

If you've ever held two balls of yarn together and thought "𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬?" — only to knit a whole swatch and find out they don't — this one's for you. I've built a 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 tool, and it's launching today as a 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝟰+ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 🎉 If you've reached Reading the Rows or beyond, this one's unlocked for you — and honestly, reaching Level 4 is no small thing, so consider this a little thank you for sticking with it and growing your skills with us - @Joy Green ⭐ @Auli Takala ⭐ @Claire Amelia ⭐ Here's how it works. You pick your two yarn colours using the colour wheels, tweak the sliders to match the depth and tone of your actual yarn, and the tool gives you three scores: 🔴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁 — how much the colours stand apart from each other visually 🎨 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘆 — whether the hues sit well together on the colour wheel ⚫ 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 — arguably the most important one for colour work That last one is the thing most knitters don't think about until it's too late. Two colours can look completely different in the ball but almost identical once they're knitted up — because they're the same 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩. The tool includes a greyscale preview for exactly this reason, so you can see what your pattern will look like to the eye before you commit. 🪄 It's not magic — nothing replaces swatching — but it gives you a really useful starting point, especially when you're choosing from a yarn stash and can't lay everything out side by side. 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿e Not at Level 4 yet? No problem at all — you'll find it waiting for you when you get there, and in the meantime keep liking and joining the conversation, that's exactly what gets you there. I'd love to know how you get on with it. Drop a comment below — have you ever been caught out by two colours that looked great together but didn't knit up the way you expected? 👇

Not for the kids, not for work, not for the never-ending to-do list — just for you. If the answer is "I can't remember," this is your sign. Maybe that's switching your machine on for ten minutes today, even if you don't finish anything. A swatch counts. Sitting with a cup of tea and no pressure counts. Or maybe you're not at the machine stage yet — and that's okay too. Today might just be allowing yourself to dream about it. Looking at patterns. Imagining what you'd make first. Letting yourself want this, without guilt. Wherever you are in this journey, you've spent so long putting yourself last. This is your permission slip to put yourself first today — even if it's just for ten minutes. Go on. Give yourself that time. 🧶 And let us know what you have planned to do for yourself this week. 👇 I'll check in with you on the weekend.

Hand knitters versus machine knitters — ever had to defend yourself? If you've told a hand knitter you use a machine, you may have got The Look. The slight pause. The 'oh, so it does it for you?' comment. Machine knitting has an image problem in some circles and most of us have a story about navigating that assumption. The irony being that machine knitting has its own enormous skill curve that takes years to master. Tell us your best 'defending the machine' story — and what you said that ended the conversation.

We're so pleased you're here, @Mirijam Pasquini — we hope you settle in quickly and feel right at home. A couple of things to get you started: Say hello — introduce yourself in the community: Introduce Yourself Find your feet — when you're ready, head to the beginner module I've put together especially for new machine knitters: Begin Your Machine Knitting Journey And you won't be on your own — there are plenty of other newbie members in MkH who are right there alongside you. 🧶 You'll also find a Start Here section in the Classroom if you'd like to get the lay of the land first — and if you ever have a question, there's a dedicated questions category in the community posts. Clear instructions on how to post are in the Start Here module, so you're never left guessing.