Knitting & Crochet Guild

An insight into machine knitting with Janet Purvis - Bath Branch - 10 January 2026
2026-01-10 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Salvation Army Citadel, Bath, Green Park Road, Bath, BA1 1XE, United Kingdom
At the first meeting of the year, Bath Branch will be exploring machine knitting.

Janet will demonstrate and talk about her craft, which is probably an enigma to most of us.

Come and see what a knitting machine is capable of, and the skills involved.Feel free to bring a project to work on while we listen to Janet.

Wool at Portsoy - 29th August 2026
2026-01-07 08:00 - 17:00 | Surrey
A celebration of all things fibre and wool held annually in Portsoy.

Fall into Textiles East Fair - 18-19 October 2025
2025-10-18 10:30 - 2025-10-19 16:00 | Rowley Mile Racecourse, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 0TF, United Kingdom
Whether you knit, sew, felt, weave, etc—or are just starting a new craft—this family-run event is for you! Our goal is to create a lively, welcoming space for textile artists to exhibit and for retailers to showcase their beautiful, products to purchase.

Tetbury Wool Fair - 12 October 2025
2025-10-12 10:00 - 16:00 | Tetbury Goods Shed, The Old Station Yard, Cirencester Road, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8EY, United Kingdom
Featuring independent yarn manufacturers, spinners, dyers, eco-friendly dyers using only naturally sourced colours, lectures, workshops and a knitting table where you can seek advice on your latest project.

woolyknit x lilykatemakes - 4 October 2025
2025-10-04 11:00 - 16:00 | Wooly Knit, Warth Mill Warehouse Shop, Huddersfield Road, Diggle, Oldham, OL32 5PJ, United Kingdom
Join Lily Kate (of Lilykatemakes) at Woolyknit for a day of special discounts, fun competitions, knitting inspiration and more.

You can find Wooly Knit at the Warth Mill Warehouse Shop above the Saddleworth Sofa Factory.

Highland Wool Fest - 27 September 2025
2025-09-27 10:00 - 16:00 | Strathpeffer Pavilion, The Square, Strathpeffer, Ross-shire, IV14 9DL, United Kingdom
An annual event with yarn and fabric vendors from the Scottish Highlands and Islands. They run a pop up cafe with delicious cakes and biscuits. Profits from the event are donated to the Highland Hospice and Myeloma UK.

Yarnstravaganza - 27 Sept - 4 Oct 2025
2025-09-27 09:00 - 2025-10-04 17:00 | Surrey
The end of September is a highlight on every crafter’s calendar – it’s time for Yarnstravaganza! From 27th September to 4th October 2025, yarn shops across the country will be bursting with colour, creativity, and crafty excitement. There’s nothing quite like stepping into your local yarn shop – whether you’re after expert advice, a squish of something soft, or just want to connect with fellow yarn lovers. These shops are the heart of our community, and UK Hand Knitting is inviting everyone to come together this autumn to celebrate them in style. Expect a week packed with special events, exciting giveaways, exclusive goodies, and the chance to get your hands on a limited-edition commemorative tote bag. It’s the perfect excuse to support your favourite shop and maybe discover a new one too. Yarnstravaganza shines a spotlight on everything we love about yarn shops – the inspiration, the know-how, the welcoming spaces where we can create, learn, and have fun. Because let’s be honest… it is always about the yarn – but it’s also about so much more. To make it easier to find your nearest participating shop and see what treats they have in store, UK Hand Knitting will be launching their special Yarnstravaganza online map in just a few weeks time – look out for announcements on their social media so you can get planning. So grab your diary, save the date, and get ready to join the party.

Yarnstock 2025 - 26-28 September 2025
2025-09-26 10:00 - 2025-09-28 16:00 | Lower Lode Inn, Bishops Walk, Forthampton, Gloucestershire, GL19 4RE, United Kingdom
Yarnstock is a weekend-long crafty camp-out set on the banks of the River Severn in Tewkesbury. Expect fibre-filled fun with workshops, a market area, community yarnbombing projects, and entertainment all weekend courtesy of GlenTertainment. Whether you’re camping, visiting for the day, or just popping in for a class—everyone’s welcome!

Mobile telephone reception is unreliable at the event, so vendors’ card machines may not work, so you are advised to bring plenty of cash.

Bath Branch - Stitch Journey Finale - 13 September 2025
2025-09-13 10:00 - 12:00 | Salvation Army Citadel, Bath, Green Park Road, Bath, BA1 1XE, United Kingdom
The September Bath Branch meeting will focus on the Stitch Journey finale and joining / Alternative project focus activity.

We’ll work in two groups: people with Stitch Journey squares and everyone else.

We’ll make this session our Stitch Journey finale for people who’ve been making squares. We’ll have a look at all of our squares and share what we’ve learned along the way – then set about joining them together.

We’ve come up with an idea for a modular approach so that you will work with your own squares to make a long strip, which could be temporarily attached to other strips to make a bigger display. But this is just one idea – please have a think about any other options for joining your squares.

For everyone else, the session is an opportunity to make some headway with another project and to swap useful information.

Here are some suggestions:

Bring a project you want to focus on, and tell the group why you chose it and how it’s going.

Choose either a pattern, a book, a website, a designer, a yarn or a shop – show the group and talk about how it has inspired you. What might appeal to others in the group?

Recap and practise Tunisian crochet from July’s workshop.

Bring a problematic project and ask other members’ advice on solving it.

What to bring for Stitch Journey:

Your completed squares

Any questions or problems you’d like to share

Your observations and what you’ve learned

Yarn to use for joining. Suggestion: use yarn that you’ve used for one or more squares, either one of the neutrals or one of your rainbow of colours. If you’re not sure which yarn, bring a selection.

Either the relevant size of crochet hook for joining, or a tapestry/yarn needle

Scissors

Optional:

large blunt-ended pins to hold squares while joining

Anything else you’ll need for joining in your chosen way.

What to bring for project focus activity:

A current project, and whatever else is relevant to your chosen activity.

Annual General Meeting 2025
2025-09-07 09:30 - 10:30 | High Leigh Conference Centre, Lord Street, Hoddeston, Hertfordshire, EN11 8SG, United Kingdom
Save the date.We expect that the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Knitting & Crochet Guild will be held Sunday 7th September 2025 at High Leigh Conference Centre, Lord Street, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, EN11 8SG5

Further details will be published in the summer of 2025.

The Longest Yarn 2 - 2 Aug-31 Aug 2025
2025-08-02 10:00 - 2025-08-31 17:00 | Chiltern Open Air Museum, Newland Park, Gorelands Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, HP8 4AB, United Kingdom
Knitted War Scenes from the Longest Yarn 2 will be on Display at Chiltern Open Air Museum this Summer

A wool art exhibition featuring knitted scenes of wartime Britain will be unveiled at Chiltern Open Air Museum, Chalfont St Giles, in August. The Britain at War exhibition – The Longest Yarn 2, will feature 61 knitted and crocheted scenes made by over 200 volunteer knitters from across the world. It will be on display at the open-air museum from 2 to 31 August.

Britain at War examines how Britain navigated the war from September 3, 1939 to VE Day on May 8, 1945. The panels show all aspects of life, rationing, evacuees, The Blitz, terrible headlines, when Britain was looking at ‘The Darkest Hour’, to end with the euphoria of peace.

Founder, Tansy Forster and her team of volunteer knitters and crocheters have created the new installation to follow on from the great success of The Longest Yarn, an 80-metre, 3D wool art depiction of the D-Day landings in France on June 6, 1944, which toured the UK last year and is currently touring America.

More than 1,000 knitters and crocheters from across the world contributed to the first project, which snowballed from Tansy’s initial idea of a display for a garden wall at her home in Normandy.

Tansy Forster said, “When I first had my lightbulb moment, I really had no idea that it would lead to this incredible rollercoaster that I’ve been on for almost two years. 250,000 people have visited the first exhibition and raised the same in monetary terms.”

“Through our efforts, we have actually strengthened the relationship between the historical remembrance and local engagement, demonstrating that celebrating history can also yield remarkable economic benefits.”

“We are so excited to have this amazing exhibition at Chiltern Open Air Museum.” Said Helen Light, General Manager. “The detail and skill used to create these scenes is incredible and a great way of bringing history to life.”

This remarkable exhibition will be at Chiltern Open Air Museum from August 2 to 31. You can find out more and book tickets at www.coam.org.uk. The exhibition will then continue to tour around the UK. By September 3, at Southwell Minster, all 80 panels will be on show. The exhibition then travels to Stoke on Trent Minster in October, Sherborne Abbey in November and Leek in December.

In 2026, the tour heads to Kilkeel, Northern Ireland in January, Enniskillen in February, Penrith in March, Belfast in April, Lichfield Cathedral in May, Peterborough Cathedral in June, Nothe Fort, Weymouth in July, Gosport in August, Welshpool in September, Wrexham in October and Chorley in November.

Bath Branch - Tunisian crochet for beginners - 12 July 2025
2025-07-12 10:00 - 12:00 | Salvation Army Citadel, Bath, Green Park Road, Bath, BA1 1XE, United Kingdom
Tunisia Crochet for beginners with Sharon Carter from Dragon Hill Studio

Bath Branch are delighted to be hosting Sharon Carter to show us how to get started with this intriguing technique.

Come and explore a completely new skill with an experienced tutor. Tunisian crochet is sometimes seen as being a hybrid of knitting and crochet, and produces some lovely fabrics.

This session is suitable for beginners. You will learn how to cast on and work Tunisian Simple Stitch, how to increase, decrease and cast off. You will also learn to work with two colours (this produces lovely effects with very little effort!). You will be able to work at your own pace to learn a variety of Tunisian crochet stitches.

Requirements: Suitable for beginners. Some experience with knitting or crochet is useful but not essential!

What’s included:

yarn

stitch markers

class notes

Tunisian crochet hooks available to borrow or purchase on the day (or students can bring their own).

What to bring:

Tunisian crochet hook, 5mm (if you have a set of hooks, you might want to also bring a smaller and larger size as well)

scissors.

Oxford Regional Day - 5 July 2025
2025-07-05 10:30 - 16:00 | St Anne’s College, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6HS, United Kingdom
Now fully booked (but do register to be put on the waiting list if you would like).

The Oxford Regional Day is on Saturday 5 July at St Anne’s College. We have two excellent keynote speakers, Dr Barbara Smith (the Guild’s Publications Curator) and designer Mary Henderson, plus a super choice of workshops.

Make a weekend of it and join our optional free programme on the morning of Sunday 6 July, focusing on historic textiles in Oxford.

The Programme

Keynote Speakers

Barbara Smith: The Evolution of Aran Style. Barbara Smith is Publications Curator for the Knitting & Crochet Guild. Since2011 she has been sorting and cataloguing the magazines, pattern bookletsand leaflets for the Guild’s Collection. She writes regularly about knitting history

Mary Henderson: A Fair Isle Journey. Mary Henderson is a well-known designer with her patterns published regularlyin ‘The Knitter’ and ‘Simply Knitting’. She is an expert in colourwork and is particularly known for her Fair Isle designs.

Workshops

Knitting intarsia in the round

Designing a knitted mini-lace shawl

Knitting complicated cables

Fair Isle tips and techniques

Knitting negative spaces

Click on the image below to view the full programme.

Booking

Book online at https://forms.office.com/r/yTy2bBKPEX (if you would prefer a paper form, please email us).

A meat-free buffet lunch and refreshments are included in the fee for the day (£58 Knitting & Crochet Guild (K&CG) members/£63 non-K&CG members).

Optional overnight accommodation

St Anne’s has some accommodation available if you wish to make a weekend of it – all details and a special booking code are on the online form. (Other rooms are available here: https://www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/city/oxford/home/, as well as in local hotels of course.)

Special for this year

We have a very special raffle this year with great prizes including a £50 gift card for the Oxford Yarn Store, ten balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Alhambra, and much more.

Northern Regional Day - 28 June 2025
2025-06-28 09:30 - 17:30 | The Watershed, 22 Bridge Street, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, HD7 5JN
We are delighted to announce that the branches of the North of England are organising their first “Northern Regional Day” on Saturday 28th June 2025. It will be hosted by the Huddersfield branch.

Note: places are limited.

At the Regional Day you will experience

Talks

Workshops

Marketplace

Tours of the Collection

and more…

Image credit: Kandy Diamond

Keynote

We are delighted that our keynote speaker will be Kandy Diamond.

Workshops

Continental knitting

Brioche for beginners

Yoga stretches for crafters

Tapestry crochet

Sanquhar fingerless mitts

Shetland lace

Embroidered knitting

Crochet for beginners

Personalised stitch markers

Talks

Emma Townsend (Woolyknit)

Sarah Hill (Hazeldene Flock)

Dr Barbara Smith

Other activities

Guided tour to the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection (limited accessibility)

Select marketplace

Specially curated raffle

Knit & natter

Download the flyer

Refreshments will be available from 9:30 am.

More information and registration

You can register or get more information from Tricia using the email address tricia.basham@kcguild.org.uk.

Please note that places are limited.

Our Collection at Colne Valley Museum - 17 May - 29 June 2025
2025-05-17 12:00 - 2025-06-29 16:00 | Colne Valley Museum, Cliffe Ash, Golcar, Huddersfield HD7 4PY, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD7 4PY, United Kingdom
The Collection Team is holding an exhibition at Colne Valley Museum on Saturdays and Sundays from 17th May to 29th June 2025 between 12.00 hrs and 16.00 hrs.

Entry to the exhibition is free but there is a £5 entry fee to the museum.

The museum is well worth a visit for anyone interested in textile history. See www.ColneValleyMuseum.org.uk for more info on the museum

Soft Power: lives told through textile art. 16 May - 10 Aug 2025
2025-05-16 10:00 - 2025-08-10 17:00 | Royal West of England Academy, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1PX, United Kingdom
This exhibition celebrates the skill and craftsmanship of textile artists with a series of spectacular and intimate works that tell stories about our lives and connect people across time and place.

The exhibition is curated by internationally-renowned textile art pioneer, Professor Alice Kettle, with curator of international textiles Professor Lesley Millar MBE.

Exhibiting contemporary artistsAnurita Chandola, Mona Craven, Sarah-Joy Ford, Enam Gbewonyo, Shelly Goldsmith, Kani Kamil, Sabine Kaner, Alice Kettle, Reiko Koga, Phillipa Lawrence, Lise Bjorne Linnert, Lasmin Salmon, Amneh Shaikh-Farooqui, Kari Steihaug, Susie MacMurray, Erin Riley, Maryam Wahid.
