Just a quick note to say I haven't been around much this week — I'm feeling pretty poorly and needed to take a step back. So if you've posted something and I've gone quiet, that's why, not because I'm not interested! Fingers crossed I'll be back to full strength for next week, because I've got a lot planned for MkH in September and I'm excited to get stuck in. In the meantime, how's your week going? What have you been making, learning, or wrestling with on your machines this week? I'd love to hear.

Five members levelling up in one week — I love to see it. 🧶 @Ruby Dack and @Wendy Merchant have reached 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝟮 — 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. Your Level 2 gift is waiting in the Classroom. Welcome to the conversation! 🌿 @Philomène Cauchois — what a start — has already hit 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝟯 — 𝗜𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄. Your Headband Dynamic Pattern is in the Classroom ready and waiting. That's some serious momentum for a new member. ⭐ @June E Mackenzie and @Jane Harbison has climbed to 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝟰 — 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 and the Interactive Colour Checker is all yours. This is the level where you can explore your ideas. Go to the classroom to find your free gifts waiting for you. Celebrate these five in the comments — they've absolutely earned it! 👇

We're so pleased you're here, @Philomène Cauchois & @Wendy Merchant — we hope you settle in quickly and feel right at home. A couple of things to get you started: 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 — introduce yourself in the community: Introduce Yourself if you haven't already. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁 — when you're ready, head to the module I've put together: Begin Your Machine Knitting Journey And you won't be on your own — MkH members are right there alongside you. 🧶 You'll also find a 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 section in the Classroom if you'd like to get the lay of the land first — and if you ever have a question, there's a dedicated questions category in the community posts. Clear instructions on how to post are in the Start Here module, so you're never left guessing. Welcome aboard — and remember, the more you engage, the more MkH grows around your machine knitting journey. 🧶

It started with a simple realisation: machine knitting wasn't getting anywhere near the coverage it deserved, and I had decades of experience sitting there that wasn't doing anyone any good just staying in my head. I'm not getting any younger, and at some point that stops being a passing thought and starts feeling like something you actually have to act on. So I decided it was about time I shared what I know and did my bit to help this craft find a new generation of people who love it as much as I do. What tipped it from an idea into something I had to build was looking at what was already out there. There's plenty of machine knitting content on the internet and social media, but so much of it is people showing what they can do after years of practice — which is lovely to watch, but it doesn't actually help someone who's stuck, or just starting out, or who's got a machine in the loft they haven't touched in months. Nobody was really breaking it down into a path anyone could follow. I wanted one place people could go to find what they needed, exactly when they needed it. And I won't pretend it's easy. The work that goes into building the modules and the videos alone is a full-time job on its own, and there are days when the community goes quiet and I sit there wondering if any of it is worth the time. On those days, what brings me back is remembering why I started — the love of the craft, wanting to see it grow again. It's watching someone knit their first rows and seeing how much that means to them. It's the members sharing their wins, and just as often their problems, trusting me with both. They're who all the background work is actually for, even when they can't see it happening. There's so much more I want this to become. But it's just me building it, no team behind the scenes, so the thing I keep having to remind myself is patience — good things like this take the time they take. 🧶

The carriage is snagging. Stitches are dropping. Something is clearly wrong but you're not sure what. We all have a default troubleshooting instinct. Do you: 👉 Immediately check the yarn path, adjust the tension dial, clean and oil the needle bed? Or, 👉 Close the whole thing and walk away and grab a cup of tea? Vote for your first instinct and tell us in the comments: has that approach ever actually solved the problem?