A NEW OFFICE

The MillaMia office/studio has been firmly located in a spare room at home since we started the business back in 2009. It was a relatively small operation back then, and in terms of the space MillaMia the business required to operate in the early days, the office was more than adequate to house everything.

As we grew and evolved - publishing more collections, taking on more stockists and staff, expanding into the US and Australia, it's fair to say that the 'bijou' MillaMia office did not. I ended up with cartons of yarn and piles of books spilling out into the hall, having to conduct meetings in the dining room and taking over vast swathes of our parent's house for storage! I understood, as did my very tolerant husband that starting a business meant many sacrifices in the early days, and it's fair to say that we both looked forward to a future with me running MillaMia successfully from somewhere other than our home.

Our first move was when we switched the fulfilment of our orders to a third party warehouse in Hampshire - enabling us to focus less on picking and packing and more on customer service and product development. But the strain on the office side of things was really felt by the end of last year.

A corner view of the new MillaMia office as we moved in

Happily MillaMia is thriving and with our third child arriving 8 weeks ago, making space for my family and the business became somewhat of a priority. We took a deep breath and made the decision to move MillaMia to a shiny new office. As you can imagine the upheaval and disruption was immense - it's hard to believe we EVER managed to squeeze everything into such a small space - but it was also cathartic and incredibly exciting. We ruthlessly cleared out and 'reassigned' stuff that had accumulated, honing everything down and packing it into boxes. I ordered new office equipment, made sure we had the tech support we needed for a smooth changeover and booked some very helpful guys to do all the heavy lifting - it really wasn't long before we were almost properly installed in our lovely, bright new office.

It feels like a real milestone to me personally, and a truly uplifting and motivating way to start 2013. I know I'll remember this move as something momentous - and I'm sure my husband will look back more than fondly on the day he got his home back!

You now can contact us at: 136-144 New Kings Road, Fulham, London, SW6 4LZ

(posted by Katarina)

EXPLORING SHAPED INTARSIA

In my last post you may have noticed that I was VERY impressed with an article by Daniela Nii in knit.wear magazine. The technique in this tutorial is 'Shaped Intarsia' with the intent to show knitters another method of changing colours in order to avoid the jagged edges often found on the diagonal lines. Having avoided intarsia knitting to this point, in part due to the ugly diagonals (and also because my first attempt at 'wrapping the stitches' resulted in more holes than less), I was thoroughly excited at the prospect of finally mastering this colourwork technique with Daniela's method. I was due, I thought, for another colourwork epiphany.

Pia Cardigan from Little Rascals

As I re-read the article in order to understand it better, it occurred to me that I should think about where best to apply my newly acquired technique (once, of course, I had actually mastered it), and I was struck by the idea that it would be nowhere better suited than to an argyle pattern. Argyle, by it's very nature is a series of diagonals and diamonds, and in theory, should be the perfect pattern for some trial swatching. In a moment of inspiration, I recalled the Pia Cardigan from Little Rascals and set about casting on some 50 stitches in order to first learn and then practice Daniela's method.

The premise of 'smoothing' these diagonal lines as you change colour, is to use sets of increases and decreases either side of the colour change. For example, a right slanting line involves knitting to 2sts before the colour change, decreasing by k2tog or ssk, twisting or 'wrapping' the 2 colours and then using a left lifted increase or a m1l to make up for the decrease and so keep the stitch count correct. For a left slanting line the principle is the same whereby you knit to 1st before the colour change, do a right lifted increase or a m1r, k1, twist the 2 colours and the decrease by ssk or k2tog. I will say at this point that your choice of increase and decrease will affect the 'look' of the edge as Daniela fully explains in the article - you will end up with 'decorative' or 'subtle' edges.

Now, in principle, this all sounded very straight forward to me, but as I began my swatches I realised that I hadn't grasped the technique at all. You can see my initial attempts below - the wraps are correct but my increases and decreases are disastrous and completely wrong where I didn't follow the instructions exactly and in my infinite wisdom misunderstood what she meant by 1st or 2sts before the colour change. You may think that this seems like a very simple and clear instruction, and it is, except that I began to overthink the process and ended up increasing a stitch and then knitting another stitch in the new colour, effectively colouring 4 stitches per row with the contrast colour, rather than the 2 stitches required.

Once I had worked it through (after many rows of more jagged edges than the standard method would have produced), I could see where I had gone wrong and rectified my mistake. It was definitely a useful exercise in the disciplined following of instructions for me, and so I thought you'd like to see this appalling first attempt! It's clear that the sections between 4 and 5 and between 2 and 3 are horribly wrong whereas in sections between 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 I had finally managed to master the technique.

In the following photo, you can see that I have completed 2 diamonds, one using Daniela's method and the other following the standard intarsia technique. Having the 2 to compare, I have to say that I'm not now entirely convinced that the smooth edges add anything more appealing to the overall effect. I'm pleased with the result, and yes, it is a beautifully smooth edge BUT there seem to be some other issues that I hadn't reckoned on. Firstly, the smooth edge comes at the expense of some quite accentuated bumps or ridges where the decreases sit and secondly the diamond is noticeably smaller than the 'standard' one. Thirdly, I had real trouble at the bottom of the diamond when I only had a single stitch and needed to increase and decrease in this very small area neatly - I may be able to work through this problem satisfactorily with some practice but then when I came to the top point of the diamond, decreasing from 3sts to 1st I had to use re-use a stitch I'd already knitted to provide a st to pair for a k2tog. This is rather untidy, and also made me consider how this might also impact on a series of diamonds in an argyle pattern - would each point at top and bottom prove problematic? I confess that my inexperience in this method may very well be the only issue here, but I think I still need some convincing.

On a more positive note, I can see many other applications for Daniela's method. In my copy of knit.wear, there is a picture of a beautifully executed circle and I imagine that other, similar motifs would work equally well. The method in itself is sound, and impressive in it's ability to eradicate those irritating jagged lines, and I'm glad to have added it to my arsenal of advanced knitting techniques. I just need a pattern now that plays to it's strengths - some sort of colourwork that would benefit from smooth edges in a geometric design . . . oh! hang on . . . Kaffe Fassett is the KING of geometric colourwork . . . Now, where did I see that pattern for an intarsia blanket . . .

(posted by Max)

MILLAMIA in knit.wear magazine

As you may all know, these last 2 months have been a whirlwind of activity at MillaMia HQ. We've launched a new adult collection - Colour Coded, exhibited at 2 major trade shows and 2 retail shows and one of us has had a baby! It truly has been the busiest, and most rewarding couple of months, and with so many more exciting new developments in the near future, it seems that we won't have time for a breather just yet.

Alongside these major events, we've run a considerable advertising campaign to support the launch of our 2 adult collections - Country Escape and Colour Coded. I'm certain most of you in the UK will have seen at least 1 or 2 of these adverts - the amazing double pages in The Knitter and Knitting magazine, the full pages in Knit Now and Knitting and Yarnwise. But, did you know that this month has seen our first ever advert in a US magazine? We are so excited to have teamed up with our US distributers - the wonderful Classic Elite Yarns to produce this simply stunning full page advert in one of America's premier knitting magazines, knit.wear. (Our photo by talented www.emmanoren.com as always)

knit.wear is actually one of my personal favourites from across the Pond - a magazine that truly focuses on beautiful, wearable and interesting handknits. A special publication from the people at Interweave Press, knit.wear states that they are concerned with 'simple handknits for the thoughtful knitter' which I have certainly found to be true. The designs are cleverly constructed, with intriguing techniques that would inspire even the most experienced knitter, yet produce garments that are aesthetically pleasing and immensely wearable - a rare thing indeed. Designers featured in the latest issue - Spring 2013 include Courtney Kelley, Kate Gangnon Osborn, Norah Gaughan, Laura Zukaite and Cecily Glowick Macdonald - a veritable heavyweight selection of incredible talent.

Whilst I applaud the pattern content, my standing ovation must go to the superb technical piece on shaped intarsia written by Daniela Nii. This article, full of detailed photographs, clearly written technical advice and tips is a true knitting gift to help us all create beautifully shaped intarsia motifs without the jagged diagonal edges. What a revelation! Thanks to knit.wear and Daniela for this super-helpful tutorial.

There are a number of other fantastic US magazines that you can easily source here in the UK, and which give you a wealth of information about the handknitting community in the US as well as a variety of patterns which have a subtly different style and feel to those we see in the UK magazines. Interweave Press offers a wide variety of textile based magazines - Interweave Knits, Interweave Crochet, Knitscene, a 'Weekend' edition of their knitting magazine, as well as some more specialised magazines. There is also Vogue Knitting (known in the UK as Designer Knitting) which totes itself as 'the ultimate knitting experience' - full of patterns that push the boundaries and touch at times on knitted art.

These magazines are available from good yarn stores across the UK (I have found the Interweave selection at Rainbow Silks and all of them at Get Knitted but your local yarn store may also stock them), and some are also available in good newsagents.

(posted by Max)

YUMIKO visits Wool House

Last week I was thrilled to be able to visit the Wool House exhibition at Somerset House. It is a celebration of wool presented over 12 days by
The Campaign For Wool and curated by Arabella McNie who has over 20 years experience as a designer and stylist in the world of interiors. The event was presented 'a vision for wool as a modern, versatile, lifestyle fibre' and featured a showcase of interiors, fashion and textiles along with a hi-tech educational suite.


Situated in the west wing, which has recently been renovated, the exhibition was to transform it into a home made almost exclusively from wool. Featuring 7 rooms created by leading interior designers who aimed to showcase the incredible versatility and unique qualities of wool, Somerset House had a truly awe-inspiring makeover.


The featured designers were Donna Wilson, Ashley Hicks,
Josephine Ryan, Anne Kyyrö Quinn, Mary Fox Linton of Fox Linton Associates and Kit Kemp. As well as these super-talented interior designers, there were other artists who showcasing their unique work and incredible skill.

This beautiful 100ft runner is the work of Cristian Zuzunaga:

and this stunning, if slightly scary crochetdermy bear is by Shauna Richardson - life-sized and entirely crocheted!

Jason Collingwood, a rug weaver of enormous talent was the artist in residence.

One of the things that caught my eye was the special educational room. This room featured everything from sheep to manufacturing and there was even a piece of wool roving under the all tablets!

I love these details as it unified the atmosphere of the whole room whilst adding a unique quality and warmth to the high-tech products which are naturally opposite to the beautiful natural fibres.

Personally I also enjoyed the movie which contains lovely hand drawn sheep animation and an introduction to all types of woollen products. If there is a DVD, I would love to buy it!

Apparently school children from around the UK were invited to visit the event and I believe they would love this room, as I would definitely have loved this myself as a child. I'm already imagining what next year will be like . . .

(posted by Yumiko)

EASTER PROJECT - use up your scraps!

If you're anything like me, you will have bags or bowls or boxes filled with oddments of yarn from the various projects you've knitted over the years. If you're anything like me and you've been knitting for a very long time, the scraps that you've accumulated will be making up a substantial part of your stash of yarn AND be making you feel guilty every time you come across them!

I'm always on the lookout for clever, innovative ideas to use up these oddments of yarn, not only to ease my guilt but to make useful, pretty gifts. I can appreciate the practicality of knitting squares from leftover sock yarn for one of the many, many sock yarn blanket patterns available, and I even fell prey to the 'hexipuff' phenomenon that is The Beekeepers Quilt, but for me these leftover pieces of yarn are yearning to be made into something small and quick and giftable.


During a lengthy browse on the internet one evening, I came across the latest book from Arne and Carlos - Easter Knits (RRP £8.99). I was immediately enchanted by the idea of knitting Easter eggs and baubles as I had been eager to knit some Scandinavian baubles at Christmas, but had run out of time. I ordered the book and before it had actually arrived I was stockpiling all of my MillaMia odds and ends, confident that whatever yarnweight the patterns called for, I would be able to use it.

Luckily for me, Arne and Carlos suggest using a sportweight yarn for most of the baubles and eggs (which I had in abundance). There are other very cute patterns in the book including an Easter Bunny, Hens and Egg Cozy Sweaters (which are definitely going to be my next project), but as I had decided whilst waiting for the book that these were going to be a gift for my best friend in the US, I wanted to knit only eggs.

All of the eggs and baubles are knitted in the round on DPN's which can be a little tricky to start with, but as the increasing begins straight away, the knitting gets easier very quickly. Each colourwork pattern is charted and the techniques used are fairisle with a little Swiss Darning or duplicate stitch in places to complete small patches of coloured stitches. The increase used is a 'lifted or raised increase' which produces a very neat and almost invisible increase, although I knitted the stitch through the back loop to ensure that I had no holes.

Arne and Carlos advise to sew in the ends as you go which I too would recommend as the egg shape inhibits access the further up you get. I would also say use plenty of fibre fill or wool roving to stuff these out nice and firmly - the shaping provided by the pattern really does make a believable 'egg' shape, it will also help to even out your fairisle tension and show off the beautiful motifs to best effect.

The addition of a crocheted chain to hang these up is a great idea, but if you aren't so confident with crochet, you could always add some pretty ribbon instead. I decided to present mine in an egg box with some 'toast' sticky notes which I hope my friend finds as funny as I do!

Remember, if you'd rather knit a sheep (or indeed a whole flock!) for Easter, our lovely Milly The Sheep pattern is available to download for free.

Happy 'scrap-busting' and Happy Easter!

(posted by Max)

OLYMPIA - Knitting and Stitching Spring 2013

We were on the road once again this past week - making an appearance at the newly branded Spring Knitting and Stitching Show (formerly Stitch and Craft) at London's Olympia.

The Show took place from Thursday 14th through to Sunday 17th March in the newly renovated Olympia Two and West Hall and boasted 150 exhibitors from knitting brands and haberdashery suppliers to niche stores and bead stockists. The essence of the Show was 'Making' as described by the organisers, Twisted Thread and there really was a plethora of inspiring fabrics, textiles and yarn as well as 'how to' courses to help every visitor find the perfect craft project for them.

There was much more to do than merely shop - some of the most popular features were a Dressmaking factory where you could join a production line to help make a simple garment as well as a 'Home Sweet Home' making area that aimed to provide inspiration for pretty crafty interiors. Though if you were there with shopping in mind (and a carefully managed budget!) there was ample opportunity to purchase almost anything for a textile based project.

I saw, amongst many others - the very talented Sue Stratford of The Knitting Hut and Knitted Meercats fame, Erika Knight helping Lucy Bush of Woolaballoo on her stand, those incredibly helpful guys at Knitting4Fun, Kate Heppell, editor of Knit Now, Karen and Susan from the beautiful Mrs Moon and I drooled over (and purchased) the gorgeous fabric and haberdashery at Ray Stitch. I could have spent most of my weekend frequenting these and many other amazing stands, but luckily for my purse I really didn't have time!

We were a little under-staffed for the majority of the weekend due to Katarina being on maternity leave and Helena damaging her knee during a skiing trip. Apologies to anyone we kept waiting - it was SO busy that customers were standing 3 deep at our stand at some points!! Huge and grateful thanks to Yumiko and Maja who stepped in to help out at what was a first retail show for both of them - you did brilliantly! Thanks too to all of you who visited us with pictures of your projects, and for all the lovely, generous comments about our yarn and patterns - we NEVER get tired of hearing just how much you love to knit with our merino yarn.

The Show was another great experience for us with regards to how well recieved the adult collections have been. You all love the newest collection, Colour Coded, with many of you tempted to purchase yarn and patterns there and then for specific garments - I know of at least 2 ladies who were so excited that they were going to cast on as soon as they got home! I hope you are both making good progress, and please send any pics of your projects to info@millamia.com or post them on our group page on Ravelry - we'd love to see them!

(posted by Max)

An amazing gift

Since the birth of my son just over 2 weeks ago we have been overwhelmed by wonderful gifts. The hand knitted ones of course being among my favourites. There is never a lot of time with a newborn in the house so I apologise for the brevity of this post - but I wanted to share some of the pictures of these gorgeous items with you. 

Thank you to Margaret for knitting this wonderful babygrow and matching hat in our MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino yarn in one of my favourite colour combinations - Forget me not and Daisy Yellow!  This really knocked my socks off when it arrived - so stunning and such a treat to receive.

And not forgetting the sweet clogs knitted by Max before he was even born. He has very big feet so them might not fit him for long but here they are on warming him up in an unusually cold March here in the UK:

I think all the patterns are from Ravelry for these items but Max will no doubt post a link in the comments section if you would like more information - or see her previous blog post from when she was knitting the clogs!

Posted by Katarina