Well, there's a definite nip in the air, and the evenings are getting shorter so autumn is just round the corner, and you know what, I'm ready for it. I love autumn; the rich colours, the abundance of British fruit ripe for the picking (I made a blackberry and apple cake just the other day from Sussex hedgerow goods and the products of a friend's garden), and that lovely golden sunlight you get in the afternoons.

It was a beautiful day for our shoot for this month, set in an apple orchard on a lovely estate on the Sussex Downs, and our  two models made everything look effortlessly romantic and nostalgic. Here's a sneak peek at the rustic colours and warmer knits you can expect from this issue...

Norah Gaughan designed this beautiful yoke detailed sweater just for us! Fabulous colour too.



Everyone fell in love with this Rowan jumper, the soft palette and the fluffy haze from the Kidsilk Aura made us just want to snuggle up to it.



We also wanted to snuggle up to this...



We're really pleased with this issue. It has great garments, a distinct autumnal feel and some meaty articles. It also has these, so don't miss it!

• For the Love of Lowie – Meet Bronwyn Lowenthal of handknit label Lowie, plus exclusive 'pocket scarf' pattern from her brand new book


• Reading your knitting  – Learn how to never lose your place again


• Exclusive Sarah Hatton Kimono sweater


• 'Greengage' fairisle fitted sweater


• Design a scarf competition

And, of course, the best reviews of the latest books and yarns to hit the shops now!

Here it is, the official schedule of authors/designers who will be signing books on the Knitting stand (G14) at the K&S show at Ally Pally this October. The Knitting editorial team will be on and off the stand (lots of schmoozing to be done, you see) so come and say hello!

Woo hoo, I finally can tell you about my amazing trip to Iceland that I went on about a month ago! Well, I can't tell you everything because there will be a full write up in the mag in our December issue, but I can share with you a few sneak peeks at what I got up to and what I saw and how on earth I ended up there in the first place.

Introducing...ICELAND! The land of THIS...



...and THIS...



Check out the beautiful Nordic jumper...sigh...if they hadn't cost approx £90 I would have had one myself...

We were invited, about a week before the event, to fly to Reykjavik to cover the country's first Nordic Knitting festival – a week long festival of events including workshops, lectures, markets, art exhibitions, quizzes and knit graffiti, unbelievably, never before witnessed in Iceland, a country with a rich cultural heritage of knitting! As it was a 'Nordic' knitting festival, not just an Icelandic one, this also meant involving people from Sweden, Norway and Finland to name just a few.

I took along my friend Amy, a budding photographer who jumped at an all-expenses paid trip to the land of hot springs, geysers and lopi and off we went, without really any idea what to expect at all. Do they speak English? Is it as expensive as people say? Is the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa as fabulous as it looks in the guide book? The answer to all those questions is...YES. So here we go, a tantalising peek at my trip...

This is the lovely Ilmur Gísladóttir who works at Nordic House Cultural Centre. She not only invited us to the festival but organised the whole thing.

(Random Icelandic fact: Everyone is listed in the phone book by their first names as ALL women's surnames are named after their father's first name ie Gisladottir means literally daughter of Gisla. If she had been a boy she would have been Gislasson)



This is Amy and me just hanging out. Everything in Iceland is so freakishly big! Just kidding, it was a sculpture outside the Nordic House. It's also about 11pm at night – June is one of the months of the Midnight Sun and it never got darker than this. Ever.



There was a fantastic soft sculpture art exhibition. Check out these felted 'seal pelts'.



And these gruesome insects!



Ah yes, and me in the infamous City of Stitches by Isabel Berglund.



Smile for the camera at all costs. I think I look quite casual considering just how HEAVY this yarn jacket is.



Well, that's all I'm going to share I think for the moment as I need to save some of it for the article, but I wanted to share a little bit with our readers because, frankly, I WENT TO ICELAND – how cool is that?!