We are a national educational charity dedicated to UK hand knitting, domestic machine knitting and crochet, run by volunteers and supported by subscriptions and donations.
Community is at the heart of our ethos and we aim to bring together enthusiastic yarn creatives from across the Globe. We are passionate about taking our crafts into the future while respecting the traditions and skills of the past. We look to encourage, inspire and be inspired by amazing makers at local level through our branches and the wider Guild community. We are here to facilitate learning new skills and about the history of knitting and crochet.
Please take a look at what makes us special and come and join us.
The Guild's Heritage Lottery Fund Project - The Collection in 100 objects is on our news pages. We'd love to hear your comments and feedback.
Events: Please do visit our Events pages. Although a lot of your favourite annual shows have been postponed, some have gone online.
We realised that many of our members would be uncomfortable attending a large residential event in September, and so we ran another online Un-Convention from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th September 2021.
We are adding recordings of events to the as they become available.
Slipknot is our quarterly publication for members.
The September edition is available to members online.
Out printers have run into a technical problem with their presses. We expect the print version to be printed in the second week of September.
You can see a list of past Slipknots here, and the page has links to versions that members can download.
The fifth edition of our publication for machine knitters is now available to members from the Members' area (you need to log in to see it).
Not a machine knitter? It is still worth a look - looking at how machine knitters do things might inspire you to look at your hand knitting or crochet in a different light - you might even be inspired to machine knitting for yourself!
Find out more about our Collection on our Collections pages.
Have you seen the first episode of the BBC Four series "Fabric of Britain"? Called "Knitting's Golden Age" it looks at how knitting has evolved over the last couple of centuries.
We are proud that the segment on knitting for children was led by Dr Angharad Thomas, the Textile Archivist for our Collection. Angharad explains the context of several items from the collection, including matinee jackets like the one shown here (that we showed you as day 49 of the 100 Objects project last year), and several knitted toys.
If you live in the UK and have a TV licence, you can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer until 3 September.
This is a difficult time for everyone and it is affecting us all in very different ways. For us, as a Guild, it has meant that there is a delay in dealing with membership applications and renewals. Our volunteers are working as hard as they possibly can, so please do bear with us. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible but, in the meantime, do take the opportunity to either learn a new skill or use your stash. You could have a go at any of the Knit or Crochet Alongs - links on the Facebook page or here on the website. Although our branches are not holding face-to-face meetings, coordinators are finding other ways to keep in touch with members. The important thing, however, is to stay safe.
Now that yarn shops are open again, please do make an extra effort to support them.
During Lockdown, we probably all got used to doing all our yarn shopping online but they really need us to return to them. There is nothing like seeing the true colour of a yarn or feeling it between your fingers - and you cannot do that online! If we don't use these shops, they will disappear.
All Guild members receive a fantastic range of benefits, from local meetings with like-minded enthusiasts to exclusive pattern downloads and discounts - and plenty more!
Join Today
Would you like to meet other crafters? Find a Branch, yarn shop or non-affiliated group near you on a map. Select a marker on the map and it will show you a link that gives more information about it.
Find branches
Janet Collins leads a discussion on unusual knitted and crocheted items.
Watch - members only
Coronavirus has hit yarn shops particularly badly and they really need your support. Click here for our list of yarn shop members. Click on the image above to read about the YarnShopLove campaign being run by the UK Hand Knitting Association in conjunction with 5 major craft publishers.
The Guild has branches around the country and you'll be more than welcome to come along to any meeting to see what we get up to. Click on our interactive map to find a branch or a yarn shop member near you.
A great way to use up your stash and give you an exciting little knitting project to get your needles round! Learn more here. The mystery blanket is made up of knitted squares - you can download a file with only the latest squares here. If anyone would like to do the same thing for crochet or machine knitting please let us know.
Together, the Guild's members possess a vast collective knowledge, practice and expertise about the crafts of hand knitting, machine knitting, and crochet.
In 2019 members of the Guild of Machine Knitters joined with members of the Knitting & Crochet Guild under the banner of the Knitting & Crochet Guild.
