deadlyknitshade, we’re so proud of you!

This year’s been an incredible one at The Fleece Station studio, and times have never been as exciting as now, when our fab studio mate, Ms Deadlyknitshade, has her first book coming out!
If you’re new to my blog, Lauren O’Farrell is the world’s most incredible pirate knitter; she and her huge band of yarnstormers create amazing knitted graffiti installations all around the city. The latest was for Valentine’s Day, when, by stealth, they decorated the Eros statue on Piccadilly Circus (see the photos here!) Now you may think it’s easy hanging a string of knitted hearts from the figure’s bow, but Lauren managed to find the longest telescopic pole imaginable to do it (which we had great fun playing with at the studio when it arrived in the post), and a huge crowd gathered and cheered wildly when the yarnstormers managed to loop the yarn over the statue.

Here’s the giant squid she knit out of recycled Sainsbury’s carrier bags for London’s Natural History Museum. Its name is Plarchie – a combo of Plarn (plastic yarn) and Archie (the museum’s original squid specimen) – and it’s draped languorously over Darwin’s lap. (Here’s Lauren’s blog post about the project and my post about the Stitch-a-Squid session at the museum.)

And here’s Lauren in our studio with her very first copy of the book… TA DAH!!! Isn’t it lovely? It’s in German, by the way! Lauren did all the writing (in English) and took all the photos.

Have a look at Lauren’s amazing blog, Whodunnkit, to see photos of her amazing yarnstorming projects. And don’t miss the Knit the City to find out about past and upcoming events! And if you love knitting or want to learn, sign up for the mailing list from the Stitch London website. The German book, Knit the City: Maschenhaft Seltsames, launches in Berlin on Sat, 5 March (details here).

Edit:Here’s today’s deadlyknitshade feature on Boing Boing!


Look, Ellen and I even got a mention in the dedication! Lauren thanked us for sharing our sparkling wit and deep wisdom with her… our Schaumtee und schlechten Gesang… No, actually, when we looked that up, it means bubble tea and bad singing, which is much more fitting. Oh, and I like it that we work in the von Fleece Station. Sounds a bit gothic. Or Sound of Music.

You can buy the book here!

Speaking of Fleece Station books abroad, I got a lovely e-mail from Stuart’s cousin, Andrew, in Auckland, New Zealand. He wrote:

Just thought I would let you know that Luke sent our daughter Hannah 2 of your books for Christmas (Morris the Mankiest Monster, and You Can’t Eat a Princess) She really enjoys both of them and we do too. She is in Starship Children’s Hospital at the moment and they have a play specialist that comes round with toys and books for the kids. She asked whether Hannah needed any books and told us that they had just got a new book in and whether she might like that one- it was You Can’t Eat a Princess. We felt very smart to not only tell her that Hannah already has that book but also that we know the illustrator. Just thought I’d let you know that it looks like your book will be entertaining many different children throughout a hospital on the other side of the world (if that’s not too bizarre a concept!).

And our former studio mate upstairs, animator Ian Gouldstone, wrote to say he’s spotted Vern and Lettuce in a shop in Melbourne, Australia. So exciting! That sheep and rabbit must be loving their big road trip down under.

One more thing, remember I did a drawing for that game of Consequences that Polly Dunbar is running for Booktrust? Well, fab illustrator Ed Vere has drawn the next bit, putting a fish on the end of my hook and adding some splendid penguins.

You can read about it and see some of the penguins up close over on Polly’s blog on the Booktrust website here.

And thanks to librarian Rosie Pike for sending me this photo of our comics workshop at the Bishop’s Stortford Festival of Literature. Check out those great ties and blazers! Why didn’t we get to wear uniforms when I was in school? It would have saved me thirteen years of fashion disaster.


(Full blog post about the Bishop’s Stortford festival here.)

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