Having dipped our toes in the water with our first Knit and Natter held in 2011, the Middlesex Machine Knitters have taken the plunge and dived in again for a second time. This year on July 7th we are creating an even bigger splash!

On the main platform will be special guest speaker Iris Bishop, well known for her inspiring, informative talks and imaginative garments. We are also very excited to have an exhibition of creative garments, accessories and experimental art pieces from Morley College's machine knitting students, some of which will be on sale. How would you like to own an exclusive one off item?
We are delighted that Heathercraft, Sue Castro and Nina Miklin will be attending again this year and welcome new exhibitors Anne Smith, editor of Machine Knitting Monthly, Uppingham Yarns with a wide range of yarns, and Erica Thomson knitting with wire.
Liz Holness will be sorting out any knitting problems that visitors have; Janice Engall, from our club, will be showing how to create Dorset buttons, and Barbara Logan, also from our club, will demonstrate her Victorian sock knitting machine. You are welcome to have a go.
All those who apply for advance tickets will be sent a FREE hand knitting pattern for a child's bag and a FREE surprise machine knitting pattern. Please knit these up and bring along to the Shooting Star Children's Hospice table. Alternatively, bring along anything that you have knitted, as long as it is brand new. Everything will be sold to raise money for the Hospice. The more the merrier. If there is anything left unsold, then it will go to the Hospice's charity shops.
Try your luck with the raffle (prizes supplied by the exhibitors) and test your knitting knowledge in the Knitting Quiz. Don't forget that we will also be giving away FREE 'How to' leaflets.
If July 7th turns out to be a scorcher why not enjoy your picnic lunch in the Church Hall's garden. And to quench your thirst - coffee, tea and soft drinks will be available throughout the day.
All Saints Church Hall is only eight minutes from the M3 and located on The Avenue in Hampton, TW12 3RG, West London with no parking restrictions. Buses 111 and R70 stop nearby. Entrance is £5 and for students £4. For advance tickets please send a cheque made out to Elaine Cater to 31 Watergates Lane, Broadmayne, Dorchester, DT2 8HA. The ticket will be held for you at the door. Also please provide your email address so that the FREE patterns can be emailed to you.
If you want any more information email
We look forward to seeing you and hope you will have an enjoyable day!

Dear Readers
Wow! A huge thank you for all your support to everyone who came to Machine Knitting LIVE! in Bournemouth this year. For both exhibitors and visitors, it was a fabulous show.

The day had started with rain, but the clouds soon lifted and when we opened the doors early to welcome the queue, the sun was shining. Iris Bishop was our Guest Speaker and she simply enthralled the audience with her amazing talent. I didn’t know until the day that she actually had a concert the same evening, so she deserves a special thank you for an early start at the beginning of a very long day. I had wondered if there was still a hunger for the shows and I’m thrilled that you voted with your feet for Bournemouth to continue. As you’ll read in Newsline, we raised almost £550 for the Talbot Division of St John Ambulance. The Cadets and Badgers have asked me to pass on most grateful from them all. So, let’s make a date for the first Saturday in March next year and it will be 2nd March 2013. Our show has now become a major event for the school and they always look after us very well. They can arrange parking attendants for next year and it’s an offer we’ve gratefully accepted.

Fashion Show I need to set the wheels in motion for next year’s fashion show and it’s an ideal club project. If it’s of interest and something you think your club may like to do, then please get in touch and I’ll give you more details. If you feel it’s too daunting to do on your own, but you’d like to take part in conjunction with another club, then please also give me a call. It’s not much different to putting on a club show and, by our combined efforts, we’ll make next year’s show even better.

At Bournemouth, we missed Anne Baker at Karabee and Dave Hampson who were both recovering from surgery. Hilary at Busy Bee is going through a bad patch with her health right now and we wish them all well. Although Carl is feeling fine, I told him not to set back his treatment programme by undertaking the long journey from Penzance. Many of you asked to be remembered to him, so we send our best wishes for a full and lasting recovery. Once again thank you so much for your amazing support, which is greatly appreciated.

NEXT ISSUE
June 2012
Subscription copies sent out
Thursday 3rd May
On sale Thursday 10th May
Ask your newsagent to
Reserve a copy – see page 61

Dear Readers
First of all I need to mention a couple of important things. The first is that the very popular waterfall jacket Angel Falls on Page 27 of the April issue needs 2 ends of Yeoman Fine Crêpe and 1 end of Yeoman Supersheen to knit it. The second is that copies of December 2011 with Bill King's gorgeous jacket are running very low, so you need to order soon to avoid disappointment.

It’s been a strange month in the South East and we’ve seen temperatures plummeting to minus eleven one morning and soaring to twelve degrees by lunchtime the next day. I’ve never been more thankful for all the knitted clothes in my wardrobe, because I’ve certainly needed to add an extra layer to keep warm. My first choice is always a warm gilet Jane Woodward designed for us in Cashmere for the August 2009 issue. It always reminds me that yarns such as Lamb’s Wool, Cashmere, Alpaca and Mohair keep animals warm and they do the same for us, too. They may be more expensive than man-made fibres, but usually only small quantities are needed and it can be well worth some occasional self-indulgence.

If you live within travelling distance of Nottingham then please turn to Page 6, where we’ve 20 free tickets to give away for the show on 15th April. We’ll have the usual Lucky Dip, so please send in a self-addressed and stamped envelope as soon as you can. Don’t forget to mark the top left hand corner of both envelopes with ‘Nottingham’ and I hope you’re one of our winners. Guest speakers this year are Sue Booth 11.00 am, Iris Bishop at 1.30 pm and Erica Thomson at 2.30 pm. The lectures cost an extra £1 each and numbers are limited, so book in advance. There’s more information about the show and contact details on Page 33.

Carol Hocknell tells me that a few places still remain for this year’s Dream Week from 3rd to 7th September. It’s probably the annual highlight event in the machine knitting calendar and visitors flock to Cheshire from all over the world. There are some wonderful tutors this year including Iris Bishop and Bill King and I’m always very pleased to be asked to join in the fun. If you’d like more information about Dream Week then give Carol a call now on 01270-628414.

Finally, let me remind you that March has five Thursdays so you’ll have to wait just a bit longer for your May magazine. It will be mailed out to subscribers on Thursday 5th April and it’s officially on sale on Thursday 12th April. By then Easter will have come and gone, I’ll be heading for the Nottingham Show and I hope to see as many of you who can join us. Until then happy knitting.

CURRENT ISSUE
April 2012
Subscription copies sent out
Thursday 1st March
On sale Thursday 8th March
Ask your newsagent to
Reserve a copy – see page 61

Once again Machine Knitting Monthly invites you to join us at Bournemouth School for Girls, Castle Gate Close, Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH8 9UJ on Saturday 3rd March 2012 from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

The school is on the A3060, Castle Lane West. Once you reach Castlepoint Shopping Centre on the right, continue straight. East Way is first left and Castle Gate Close is second left. Everything is on one level so disabled access is easy. Organised by machine knitters for machine knitters, Machine Knitting LIVE! really is a friendly event that welcomes everyone. This year we’ve some new exhibitors, so please support the show.

ADMISSION
Pay on the door and entrance is £6 for everyone. Children are admitted free as long as they’re supervised throughout.

DESIGNERS
This year our leading names include Iris Bishop, Sue Castro, Elaine Cater, Clair Crowston, Beryl Jarvis, Nina Miklin and Fiona Morris. Hilary also hopes to bring her collection of Busy Bee patterns.

EXHIBITORS
Apologies that at the last minute Anne Baker with Karabee designs and Carl Boyd can't attend for health reasons. As we go to press, we look forward to welcoming the following exhibitors:

Arnold Bennett with amazing buttons
Busy Bee Hilary hopes to bring the full range of patterns to the show
Iris Bishop will have her fabulous designs and she's our Guest Speaker
Sue Castro has innovative ideas and help for club leaders
Elaine Cater designer patterns and books
Anne Croucher will run our Knit Clinic and offer help and advice on all machines - she has 50 of her own!
Clair Crowston and her designer patterns
DesignaKnit with expert advice including the new DesignaKnit 8 from Carol at Metropolitan
Guild of Machine Knitters Frank Dineen launched the Guild at our first exhibition in Bournemouth in 1998 and it’s gone from strength to strength
B Hague & Co bring their selection of linkers, twisters, winders and accessories for all machines
David Hampson is new this year with packs of major branded yarn including Wendy, Twilleys, Stylecraft, King Cole and JC Brett. He’s hopefully recovered from his back injury
David & Phyllis Hilton bring their intarsia expertise and designs
Beryl Jarvis brings her designs, Info Sheets and DVD
Knits ‘n’ Bits Wendy Piper brings a large selection of used machines, accessories, books and patterns
MKM will bring current and back issues, Anjo patterns, La Rivière dust covers, American patterns plus binders
Metropolitan has a huge selection of machines, books, accessories and yarns including Metro Crêpe
Nina Miklin brings her luxury yarns and designer patterns
Fiona Morris has innovative patterns, yarn and notions
Silver Reed new machines and accessories are available at Metropolitan
Uppingham Yarns always has a wide range of yarns

FASHION SHOW
This year, our show is staged with lots of help and support from several clubs.

FIRST AID
In case of difficulty, members of the Talbot Division branch of St John Ambulance will be on hand all day.

GUEST SPEAKERS
We’re delighted to confirm that our Guest Speaker this year is Iris Bishop.

LEFT LUGGAGE
Members of St John Ambulance organise the Left Luggage point and your donations to their fund-raising efforts are always much appreciated.

MACHINES & ACCESSORIES
There will be new and second-hand machines, together with a wide range of accessories for all machines. If you’d like to find out more about buying and using a knitting machine or linker, come to Bournemouth for expert advice from the long-established and highly reputable Metropolitan plus B Hague & Co. A newcomer this time is Wendy Piper with Knits ‘n’ Bits - a large selection of used machines, accessories, books and patterns

REFRESHMENTS
The school’s caterers provide drinks and refreshments at very reasonable prices. We use the school dining room, so there’s lots of seating available.

TRANSPORT
Parking again is right outside the door in the school’s playground and we reserve spaces for disabled travellers just by the entrance. Coaches and mini-buses usually drop knitters to leave the driver free to look around Bournemouth. The main bus route is on the road right outside the school.

YARNS
Local stockists with a good supply of coned yarn are in short supply so if you’d like to re-stock your knitting room, you’ll find lots to tempt you. Nina Miklin brings her fabulous luxury yarns and Metropolitan will have a large range including Metro Fine French Crêpe. Uppingham Yarns always has a wide selection of popular yarn and hopefully David Hampson has recovered from his back injury. He’ll bring Wendy, Twilleys, Stylecraft, King Cole and JC Brett yarns. Arnold Bennett is now the ‘haby man’ with his button collection. It’s looking good, so please make every effort to join us this year. This is the only MK LIVE! show in 2012 and the craft really needs your support if it’s to survive.

Dear Anne
I think I may not have told you that I organise the Crafters' Market every Tuesday in the car park at the Taverners in Godshill.

We also do a lot of summer fairs and fêtes so my knitting machines are working constantly, especially the garter carriage and I just hope they don't wear out! Since I’ve been doing the Crafters Market selling my knitwear, lots of people have said, “I have a knitting machine but haven't used it because I couldn't get on with it”. My reply was simply, buy Machine Knitting Monthly and they could soon be knitting garments like the ones I am selling. I always take a copy with me and there was quite a bit of interest in the magazine so let’s hope the sales will go up!
Best wishes from Linda Collins on the Isle of Wight