| Relishing time out to Knit, Grow and Harvest! |
| My last show of 2024 was the amazing Tasmanian Craft Fair in Deloraine, which again exceeded all expectations: a truly wonderful finish to my year |
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| We drove to the Craft Fair every day past the fields above. I wish I'd met the farmer to congratulate them on ploughing perfection and ask what crop they're planting & how many years they've been harvesting! It looks very Zen. |
| 15% off knitting kits and yarn |
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| To help kick off the season of holidays and gift-giving I'm offering a lovely 15% discount off all my kits and yarn before the studio closes over Christmas and New Year. Order now for pre-christmas delivery! |
Go to Signatur Handknits on Shopify
to order your kit or yarn and claim your discount |
| Combining knitting and growing vegies. How? |
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| On socials I combine knitting with my every day, which now includes horseplay and harvesting from our veggie plots. Above aren't needles & green yarn, it's my first batch of garlic scapes: the flower stem of garlic that you remove and sauté for a mildly garlicy veggie addition to any pasta dish. Yum.... |
| Facebook & Instagram @signaturhandknits |
| A beet of many colours & tastes |
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  A few days ago I videoed my 2nd Heirloom Beet harvest & joked about dyeing yarn with Beets. So, whilst making relish, I experimented with a small hank of cotton, a hank of wool, a strand of Anny Blatt ribbon & a crinkled cotton. It really was a bouquet garni of yarn and a great way to make the most of your veggie scraps!
Yarns (left) were popped into water as the mixed colour beets boiled, ready to skin, which took the wool to mustard & the ribbon to yellow. I put yarn (right) in with red leaves from the Beets: these are the colour I excepted. I'll keep the green & gold leaves next time as well as my red cabbages.
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| It was a fun project that produced beet, apple & onion relish, with a touch of chilli. I wonder if I could dye with chilli's? Maybe that's next... |
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 I first saw a lady in Cornwall, England, dyeing with leaves in a cast iron bath tub with a fire underneath, my memory has her in a paddock too - a field in England.
At a 1980's Melbourne Sheep Show, a stall holder used an awesome copper cauldron over a flame to dye her hank-dyed yarns with onion skins, moss & who knows what else: naturally stunning colours.
On the right, my relish from the mix of Golden and Red Beets, the short jar is Crispy Red Cabbage pickle which I've never found in OZ. |
| Graduate to your own colours |
| I did a lot of hand dyeing for my graduation collection in the early eighties, using those fantastic twin tub washers that could heat the water to a boil. I dyed Silk, Wool, Alpaca and Lurex. Looking back those 4 years of Knitwear design was such and indulgence, designing and pattern cutting for both woven and knitted fabrics. |
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| The final graduation collection developed over three months from sketching and swatching, to eventually dyeing yarn in the twin tubs sufficient yarn to complete garments for my collection. One piece was machine knit but the remainder were hand knitted. I also dreamt about knitting wallpaper.... |
| 2025 knitting classes & talks |
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Grampian Textures annual retreat March 2025
Early bird booking prices ends November 30! |
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Grampian Textures annual retreat have asked me to teach two classes, held in Halls Gap in Victoria. Class and accomadation classes are available, with accomadation from cabins to airbnb, brilliant way to connect to like minded crafters and makers.
Two day class Saturday 15th & 16th
Four day class Monday 17th to Thursday 20th
I have created classes to give you a skillset from knitting techniques to understanding your garment construction, simple tricks to achieve well fitted garments without too much math!
Follow this link to learn more & book
Grampiantextures |
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| The Endless Winter |
| Every year for 15 years I enjoyed two winters: from March to September in Australia and then I'd head off to the USA or the UK for my second winter fix! |
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In the UK I exhibited & sold at the Knitting & Stitching Show in London, Harrogate & Birmingham. So much fun!
In the USA I designed for magazines and for Barry at Trendsetter Yarns. I taught at Stitches events, Vogue Knitting days and in yarn stores from Dallas to Seattle, Long Beach to Long Island. I even discovered Cornwall on the Hudson!
My book Swing, Swagger, Drape - Knit the Colors of Australia is not just knitting patterns, in the back are lots of tips and tricks for design and fit, plus how to make your own buttons!
The Newcastle Machine Knitters & Hand Knitters have asked me back to talk 'Fit and Style'. The dates will be set Saturday 12th July 2025. |
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| Winter 2025 Markets, Shows & Events |
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  March 2025
Coal Loader Artisan Market
Grampian Textures retreat
Handmade Market Canberra
April 2025
AQC Melbourne
May 2025
Fibre Forlic Mulgoa
Old Bus Depot Canberra
June 2025
Coal Loader Artisan Market
Handmade Market Canberra
Sydney Quilt & Craft Fair |
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| nothing quite as special as a handmade gift |
| 15% off Accessories & Verve 12ply until 12th December |
This lovely lady bought the Wicked Hat and Wave Wrap both knitted in 8Ply Wool Fleck. Thanks for letting me take a photo.
Already have a pattern? No probs - you can purchase yarn only. Or if you want a complete kit see accessories on Shopify.
If you want to knit the same hat twice simply order one kit and then buy balls of yarn for the second kit.
Shop with 15% off on Shopify |
| Hats, wraps & accessories |
| Perfect small projects, whether they're single colour, flecked yarn or multi-colour combinations |
Verve 12 ply is 70% Wool & 30% Acrylic with 90m to 50g. Available in four colours the long drifts of colour are showcased beautifully in the Wave Wrap kit above.
Read about short rows in Jane's Dec 2022 newsletter Short rows |
 Verve is also available as kits for hats, with the patterns written for both 8ply and 12ply yarn. Hats require 100g ( 2 x 50g) of yarn.
15% off all Hats, Wraps and Accessories, kitted in either Verve or Wool Fleck. The Muffin Top & Wicked Hats are two separate patterns, though the fundamentals are similar.
Hat patterns can be knitted circular or on striaght needles.
Wool Fleck Mustard Wicked Hat &
Wool Fleck Stone Muffin Top below.
Also 2 shades of Denim are available. |
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Stories and Videos on Facebook and Instagram...
...altering a favourite garment's shape or size |
Facebook.com/signaturhandknits
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Thanks to everyone who contributed since September 15, 2007 to any of my 150 Newsletters. My textually visual 'podcasts' have kept me in touch with 1000's of the knitting faithful over the last 17 years, as I migrated from snail mail to email and have now evolved into daily socials. Thank you all!
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| If you'd like to discuss anything about knitting, please email Jane. Thanks for your support: Laura, Annette, Petra, Philippa, Helen, Cathryn, Stephanie, Dodie, Anne & I look forward to seeing you in the knitting circle! |
