After chatting with @Jan Appleton yesterday evening on the live 'meet up' , today I knitted a small swatch with cables, using UK 4ply acrylic, T8 on my standard gauge machine. I left the stitches next to the cables out of work. I did the transfers every 8 rows. One photo shows the texture up better, and the other photo shows the colour better, very pale grey.

I still remember not really knowing what to expect — whether anyone would come, whether the idea of a proper pathway for machine knitters, from complete beginner to confident maker, would actually mean something to people beyond me. Turns out it did. In three months I've watched people knit their first rows on a machine they'd been scared of for years. I've watched people come back to a craft they'd put down and forgotten how much they loved. I've had conversations with members about problems I've spent decades solving, and had the genuine pleasure of watching that knowledge actually land and help someone. It hasn't all been smooth — building something like this on your own means every module, every video, every resource is built in the gaps of everything else, and there have been plenty of days I've wondered if it's making a difference. But then someone shares a finished piece they never thought they'd be able to make, and I remember exactly why I'm doing this. We've grown and changed a lot in three months, and there's a lot more coming. But today isn't about what's next — it's just a thank you. To everyone who's shown up, shared their wins and their stuck moments, and trusted me to help them along the way. This is only the beginning. 🧶

Confession time. I want to share this because I think it's important for you to see that mistakes happen to all of us, no matter how long we've been knitting. After scouring my wool and creating my tension swatches, I always give them a light spin in the washing machine before drying them flat — it's part of my usual process. Except this time, busy mind and one too many distractions meant I forgot they were still in there. The next day, without thinking, I threw in a full wash. You can guess what happened to my poor swatches. Yes — they shrunk. Properly shrunk. Straight back to square one, and I'll need to knit them again. But here's the thing — they're not going to waste. I'm going to turn them into a couple of appliques, so even this little disaster gets a second life. If you've ever felt frustrated when something goes wrong with your knitting, please know it happens to every single one of us — even after decades at the machine. The difference isn't avoiding mistakes, it's what you do with them. 📷 In the photo you can see how the acrylic waste yarn is ruffled to the shrunken wool -one positive no floaters on the back of the plaid. Anyone else got a "well, that didn't go to plan" knitting story? I'd love to hear them below 👇

I knitted these 2 dropped sleeve tops in 2020 for 2 of our grandchildren - they loved them!! 😍😍 I used Woolyknit (UK) 4ply acrylic. NECKBAND I cast on in 1x1 rib, knit the rows required (I did test pieces first to get the correct 'look and feel' for the rib) , transferred stitches to back bed, knitted one row (don't know if this row was necessary) hooked up the neckline with right side facing me, and knit 3 rows on Maddie's and I believe 4 on Thomas’s. Took off on waste. Then back stitched through the last row of loops (think that's it lol...)

Knitted using punchcard 18M on my KH881. Tension dial 8, using some 4ply acrylic from Woolyknit in the UK, that I bought several years ago. I decided on a square neckline so I wouldn't have to do any decreasing, but I did shape the shoulders to give them a slope. I knitted straight up from the marker I placed at the armholes, I hand knitted the neckband, and picked up the stitches at the hem and did a picot hem ( I had cast on with waste because at the time I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish the hem) I only found one dropped stitch a couple of inches from the edge at the front when I was sewing it up but I managed to pick it up with a bit of spare yarn and hide it lol... AND... IT FITS!! HOORAY!! 😍 I was very careful to get the stitches right at the side seams so they wouldnt show up too much - spot the side seam!! I was really pleased about that! 🙂 I sewed all the ends in on Thursday afternoon at our French ladies' knitting, crocheting etc group at our village bar/cafe and tried it on - they were all congratulating me lol 🤣🤣