Workshops at Gather

Some late Autumn workshops will be held at Gather in Napier.  To register or for any enquiries,  email us at the shop. 

Shop Gloves

A fresh batch of hand-dyed fingerless gloves from Pene Durston have arrived in the shop,  all the way from Melbourne.  Knitted in an Angora/Wool blend, each one is unique so get in here quick before your favourite colour disappears.

Wooli Stockists

Just sent some nice big shipments of Wooli to Koskela in Sydney and Est in Melbourne, for those looking for local stockists.

The Shop's 1st Birthday

The Gather Shop has just had its first birthday last week, and I'd quite forgotten to celebrate, until I received flowers and messages from friends and customers congratulating me on my first year of trading.  This prompted a little celebration, and some reflection.  Small town culture takes quite some acclimatising; Seriously, some people still peep through the windows and either run away when I see them, or come in with great trepidation; or actually tip-toe in!.  Then there are other moments, that with gratitude I soak up; such as the elated customer (to have found such an awesome knitting shop in the middle of nowhere), engaging conversation, a fleeting meeting of minds, a kinship of spirit, some culture from other places.  While there's plenty of provincial and uncharitable commentary, believe me!, all these other moments actually make up for it.  Yesterday was Earth Day, I'm celebrating that this week, because I'm so glad to be part of a bigger world.

CHUNKY Knitting

I've created some Chunky Knitting projects for the shop.  Massive 35mm knitting needles made from recycled pine, and 100% Wool slivers with a pattern for a Chunky Cable Rug.  Apart from being able to whip this up in no time; this is the way to use wool; raw, snuggly, chunked and cosy. You can buy the needles and the Chunky Wool on our Gather Online Store.

Knitting Symposium at AUT

Auckland University's Knitting Symposium was a whole day of presentations on Research in Knitting, held at the new Auckland City Art Gallery. Even for non-knit nerds, it was fascinating!!!: Professor Sandy Black from the London University of Arts spoke on the development of knitting from its origins to present day, and still asserts that "handknitting skills continues to inform the development of new knitting technology."  Ben Schaffer from Nike skype presented from Milan, and told us all about the product development process of the new Nike Flyknit Shoe.  The shoes are on the market now - a pair was passed around to have a look at.  A point was raised that the Nike logo was printed on the shoe, and not knitted in!!  I think they need some knitwear designers on their product development team.  Dr Jenny Underwood from RMIT, spoke about her research project, involving a Copenhagen Bio-Chemistry team for the development of a knitted structure for architecture, and she's certain that one day we will be able to knit a building.  I spoke about the development of the Construction Knitting Pattern product, and the process of creating a product that's designed to reflect our current culture as opposed to nostalgic craft.  A knitting pattern being the object of design ephemera can reposition the notion of knitting and improve it's social value.

 

Handspun Silk, Natural Dyes

I have a range of beautiful handspun tussah silk in the shop, hand dyed by myself with a selection of our natural dyes.  The silk is from a wild-silk farm, a family run business in Indonesia, and it has been handspun for us especially by Han from 'HanMade Yarns' in Wellington.

Shop Garden & New Products

We've created a little outdoor garden around the shop bike, hoping that will now prevent people from climbing, and trying to carry it off, even though it has a lock on it, with a sign 'Gather' below a shop window with the same name. Crikey!  Anyway, for those who realise the bike is a shop prop, and are enticed by it and our lovely garden to come in to the store, we promise we have lots of exciting new products; chunky felted yarn, pom-pom garlands; and more!!  Have a look at our new products page online here.

Crochet Easter Eggs

A nice alternative to chocolate!, Our Amigirumi display in the shop should inspire an interesting Easter hunt this year.

Easter at the Shop

We've created an Easter 'Amigurumi' display in the shop.  If you're not familiar with this craft, it is a miniture style of Japanese knitting and crochet, super-cute and strange.  We also have pattern books including 'Knitting Mochimochi', and 'Kyuuto, crocheted Japanese crafts'.  On another bender we have the new book in by Swedish knitting duo, Arne & Carlos; 'Easter Knits; Eggs, Bunnies and Chicks with a Fabulous Twist'. 

The Handknitter's Yarn Guide

'The Love of Knitting Blog' has an interview and competition to win a copy of 'The Handknitters Yarn Guide'; a book I wrote in 2011, which was published by St Martin's Press in New York and Murdoch Press in Australia.  We have a copy of the book in Gather, for those who aren't in America to enter this competition.  The book was a time-consuming project, but extremely rewarding; and the project became the inspiration to open a yarn shop.

Wooli Online

My new bespoke yarn; Wooli is now available on my Online Shop.  And a reminder that if you're not motivated to knit yourself, I do have made-to-order Construction garment service also.  Garment colours are in the new Wooli 2 shades.

Wooli Back in Stock

Finally..... a new batch of Bespoke Yarn,  Wooli is in stock; it will be in the Gather shop this weekend, and available on our Online Shop by the week.  Thank you for your patience customers, but I think this batch is well worth the wait; made with recycled wool, alpaca and mohair, this yarn is gorgeous and I have some exiting new colours; MAGENTA, NATURAL, INDIGO and TEAL; and the old favorite CHARCOAL.  I have to say I've come a long way since my very first Bespoke Wool, which was soon after succeeded by my recycled Wooli yarn, of which the first batch of 2000 balls didn't last that long.  So don't delay your Construction Knitting Project  any longer, or try knitting up a new colour from your existing Construction Pattern.

Auckland University Knitting Symposium

I will be presenting at the AUT Knitting Symposium, 'Stretching the Limits' on 11 April 2012.  My last minute abstract was accepted by AUT, which includes me in the line up of industry and academic speakers; Ben Schaffer of Nike (USA), Sandy Black from University of Arts, (UK), Dr Jenny Underwood from RMIT (Melbourne) and Dr Suzette Worden from Curtin University (Perth), plus research staff and post-graduate students.
This is a 1 day symposium focused on research and development in knitted applications. Nike are presenting their new flyknit shoe, a high performance athlete shoe that feels as light as sock, with some pretty amazing knitting engineering!, and Sandy Black is the author of the book 'The Sustainable Fashion Handbook', amongst many other titles written on Knitting.  Jenny Underwood from RMIT presented at the last AUT knitting symposium and showed fascinating design development using whole-garment technology - smart cookie!!  Can't wait to see what she's got in store this time.  I will be presenting the development of the Construction Knitting concept, in new development phases of a book publishing project, and how the method is being applied as an open-ended design exercise in learning institutions.

Goodbye Melbourne

I love you!!!!!!!

Triangle Knitting Construction Pattern

This is an exciting new project, having collaborated with Australian Country Spinners this winter.  These new Construction Designs are now available at all Spotlight stores in Australia and New Zealand.  While in the past I've designed patterns with squares, and rectangles; this is a different approach using Triangles in the most basic knit stitch; super easy!!  Just knit triangles in Cleckheaton Country Naturals Wool, and follow the diagrams in the pattern to join them which will make an awesome garment.

Inside Out Magazine

Gather's online store has a little editorial in the new edition of Inside Out Magazine.

Mohair Silk Colours

New Winter, Mohair Silk Jumpers , made - going to Taylor Boutique. Even the mound of waste threads are too pretty to throw away.

Bon Voyage!!

This is Alex who has been working at the studio for 10 months. Alex is a graduate of a BA in Textile Design from Massey University, and she's leaving us to go to London, having acquired an internship with Selvedge Magazine. We're going to miss her, and I think my customers will too!! I will be lucky to find a replacement with the same enthusiasm for textiles and knitting!!

Deserted Beaches

All the beaches close to us are black-sand/pebble beaches, so this is where we go for a white-sand beach swim. It's less than an hour's drive, and we have it all to ourselves! This is my idea of a beach experience, we usually take a picnic, some fishing rods, and spend the whole day out here.