If I didn’t write a blog soon I think Emma K might have tied me to my chair and forced me to do it under threat of torture. I love writing the blog, but somehow time got away from me. So here I am with nearly two months of gossip; two birthdays, one engagement, one Knitting member turned model, one Stitches show, two issues and the Knitting team nearly being thrown out of a restaurant. Where do I begin?

Okay, I’m going to begin on a high note, literally. Knitting sales figures are on a steady increase. Our January issue has the highest sales figure of any issue of Knitting ever. We haven’t got all the figures back from February yet but it’s looking pretty good, so we’re obviously doing something right. Thank you for all your feedback and keep it coming!

February was a crazy month. Trying to keep the fact Claire’s boyfriend had secretly booked off Valentine’s Day for her, to whisk her away for the weekend, was nearly impossible. What do we live for, if not for office gossip? Valentine’s Day rolled around and was a relatively sedate affair this year. I missed the only bit of excitement when Emma B received a dozen beautiful red roses from, she assumed, her fiancé. When he denied all knowledge and demanded who they were from we thought Uh-oh. Until he admitted he was kidding. Cruel joke? Yes. Pretty funny? Oh yes.

We’ve snuck a bonus pattern into our April issue for you. Unfortunately we forgot to take it with us for the main gallery photo shoot earlier in the month, so were left in the predicament of a jumper with no one to model it. After a lot of convincing Claire agreed to model it. The office became a make-shift beauty parlour with Emma K doing hair and make-up (as you can see in the photo below) and a few outfit changes. Yes publishing really is glamorous.   



Claire came back from her romantic weekend away flashing a huge great sparkler on her left hand – and we haven’t heard about anything else since! Last week was Emma B and my birthdays (the grand ages of 29 and 26 respectively). To celebrate the birthdays and engagement (and the fact we’d just got April’s issue done and dusted) we decided to grab Anna from advertising sales and go out for dinner in the picturesque town of Lewes we work in. Apparently Lewes is not ready for a whole Knitting team on the loose. I for one don’t believe in celebrating good things half-heartedly and the rest of the team apparently agree as we were asked to keep the noise down in the restaurant, even though we were squeezed into a corner in the basement!

So celebrations aside, I’m really pleased with our March ‘green’ issue and April is looking just as good. Trying to tackle that transitional period of unpredictable weather and temperature around this time of year is notoriously difficult but with a selection of pretty coloured layering pieces I think we managed to get it spot on.

In our March issue of Knitting, the designer of the hat on page 19 (also seen below) should have been listed as Diane Mulholland. Apologies Diane!

Last month, we brought you the first in our series of design competitions. Delighted, though not surprised, by the fabulous entries we have received, we are extremely excited to offer you the second one in the series. All winners will have their creations published in a design supplement out later this year.

Continuing with this issue’s theme of Organic and Natural, we have teamed up with Sublime for this competition. Sublime has just launched its own range of Organic Cotton. It comes in a range of eight beautifully soft colours and would lend itself to a wide spectrum of projects. Maybe you feel inspired by Sirdar’s Cabled Yoke Cardi, or perhaps the simplicity of Rowan’s Morning Glory pattern. If you prefer a home knit, it could be a fabulous throw. The choice is yours. All we ask is for you to think ‘organic’ and let your imagination flow. As with last month’s competition, send your sketched designs to us by 29 March 2008 along with the entry form at the bottom of this blog update. Knitting and Sue Batley-Kyle (Brand Manager for Sublime) will choose three finalists who will then be sent the yarn to knit their completed design. We will be looking for, amongst other things, use of colour, technique and originality of design. However, bear in mind that if the winning design is a garment, it will be photographed on a model, so all finalists will need to knit their piece in a UK size 12 with supporting patterns sized up to 16.

Here are the colours of Organic Cotton DK available for you to choose for use in this competition:

Bone

Borage

Clay

Maize

Nutmeg

Pea Pod

Rice Pudding

Scrumble

First prize is £250 worth of Sublime Yarn, with both second and third prize receiving £50 worth of Sublime Yarn. Click here for a printable entry form which you can cut out and send to us, along with your sketched designs. Good luck!