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
Advance tickets cost £5 or 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 Readers
Things are coming along nicely for Machine Knitting LIVE! at Bournemouth on 3rd March.

More details are on Page 16 and you'll find a list of this year’s exhibitors in the News section of the website. Click on News, then on Events or follow the link at the right. We’ve fingers crossed that Hilary can make it with her Busy Bee patterns. I’m so pleased that Iris Bishop can come with her amazing work and inspiration. I’m sure we all look forward to her talk as our Guest Speaker. Ann Brown won’t be there because she’s a ‘big birthday’ and is off on holiday to celebrate. Unfortunately Anne Baker at Karabee Designs and Carl Boyd are unable to join us for health reasons.

If you care about dedicated machine knitting shows continuing, please make every effort to come to Bournemouth. We no longer need to plan months ahead to buy goodies for machine knitting, because the Internet gives us access 24 hours a day. However, ordering on the computer is a solitary affair and I compare it to grocery shopping on-line. It takes me just as long to decide what I want then add it to a basket and check out, as it does to wander round a supermarket and pop things into a trolley. There’s also the advantage of seeing other folk. Attending an exhibition with like-minded people shows us that machine knitting is far from dead. If there’s support for the shows, then of course I’ll keep Machine Knitting LIVE! going, as will Alan Hunt with the Nottingham Show. However, if numbers continue to dwindle then we’ll have to call it a day.

I’ve had some very sad news from Wendy Clark. Many of you will remember her running Knitmates in Crawley until she retired. She moved with her husband David and dogs to Llandudno and sadly, David passed away on Christmas Eve after suffering a stroke. As Wendy put it so well, “after spending the last 15 months fighting against his cancer, it seems strange that something other than his cancer should be responsible for his death”. I know that very many of you will join me in sending our heartfelt condolences to Wendy at this very sad time. We’ve also lost Pat Nixon from the Knitwits Knitting Club and Alma Gregory from the Romiley Knitting Club in Stockport and more details are on Pages 10 and 11.

Let me end on a brighter note by telling you that designer Alison Dupernex is opening her studio at the beginning of June. Visitors can look round her studio, or just chat, but raid the piggy bank because Alison will also have some of her knitwear and yarns for sale. Full details are in Newsline and finally, as one reader reminded me recently, ‘it’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice”. Happy knitting.

NEXT ISSUE
April 2012
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Thursday 1st March
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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

During November there will be Saturday knitting courses at Arts Alive, Crickhowell in Wales. Please see the link for full details. http://artsalivewales.org.uk/wp/2015/machine-knitting/

I am trying to create interest in using the knitting machine as a creative tool. I also run sessions at my workshop, please contact me for details.

http://www.melissawarren.co.uk
http://www.lemonblues.co.uk
http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/melissawarren

Hi
Are there any machine knitters or would be machine knitters within travelling distance of Ayr?

We start back after the summer break on Tuesday 6th September for show and tell, demonstrations and anything related to machine knitting. We're a friendly group with a wealth of knowledge and experience in machine knitting and look forward to welcoming you to our club. Meetings are held at Kyle Academy, Ayr and please e-mail Maggie at for further information.