I can’t have Kate getting all the parcels - so I decided to intercept a few in transit.

Yesterday I attended the I Knit London Stitch n Bitch Day in Bloomsbury. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends, squidge skeins and collect a few more yarns. I still find it amazing that so many people are keen to support us right from the start. We are sure we’ll deliver a fantastic magazine, but it’s so humbling to realise that a lot of other people out there think it as well.

Jeni from Fyberspates had dropped me an email earlier in the week so I was itching to have a chance to pop by the stall at the earliest opportunity. I came away with 2 skeins of her Scrumptious DK and patterns to go with them (seriously Kate, do we have to give these yarns away??)

Afterwards, I had a chance to have a nice long chat with Amanda from The Natural Dye Studio. I’m not sure how she managed to part with these beauties, I promise I will guard them well!

3 skeins of Ariel pure silk laceweight, a skein of the scrummiest-coloured Mirage merino/tencel sock yarn and a lovely, fuzzy Mohair Loop.

I want them all.

I also chatted to lots of other people, there were many small businesses there selling the most amazing yarns. I’m really glad that we’re going to have the opportunity to promote some of these smaller companies and get the word out to everyone that they are there.

Go check out Devon Fine Fibres and Oxford Kitchen Yarns. I almost fell seriously for the cashmere but was being very good.

While we love using yarns from all over the world, we also want to promote British yarns in The Inside Loop. The internet means that almost no yarn is unobtainable in the UK, but that doesn’t mean ignoring the yarns on our own doorstep. We’re slightly yarn obsessed and think we know almost every UK yarn out there, but there are probably still more that we haven’t come across. Even Diane can’t have them *all* in her stash…

So it’s over to you! Which UK yarns would you like to see featured in The Inside Loop? Which yarns are your favourite? Are there any gorgeous yarns out there that deserve more attention? Whether it’s a mass-produced yarn from a large company or one-off colours from an Etsy seller, we want to know about it.

I have the BEST job. I am officially Receiver Of The Yarns and all yarn donations for The Inside Loop come to my house. As you can imagine, it’s very hard not to spend all day fondling the yarny parcels that are starting to arrive. Plus I can’t just sneak them into my own stash, or Diane will attack me with dpns. Just look at the gorgeousness that arrived yesterday:

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and Suri Lace, both available from The Woolly Workshop. *drools*

If you would like the chance to win yarns like these, you need to join our Yahoo! Group. Everyone that joins the group prior to the launch of Issue 1 will go into the Big Launch Prize Draw, to be drawn once the issue is live.

Submissions are open for Issue One which will launch in February. We’re looking for layerable spring knits, small accessories and inspiring articles.

Click on the link at the top of the page to read the submission guidelines, and of course, if you have any more questions just let us know!

We’re very pleased to be able to offer a nice remuneration package thanks to our supportive sponsors

Welcome to The Inside Loop, the online magazine dedicated exclusively to knitting and other fibre arts in the United Kingdom.

We have a wonderfully rich culture and heritage of wool and fibre arts here in the UK. Long-established quality yarn companies, along with an expanding number of talented dyers and artisans, are inspiring British knitters to create beautiful and original projects.

The Inside Loop brings you patterns which particularly showcase high quality yarns from the UK, along with features and articles about small businesses, designers and knitters, proving that the art of working with yarn is flourishing just as strongly here in the UK as it is in any other part of the world.

We are very excited about our first issue, set for publication in February 2008, and invite you to join us in the lead-up to the big launch. To receive updates and scoops on what’s happening at the publishing desk click here to join the Yahoo mailing list. Members will be entered into a prize draw, with a chance to win fabulous yarns and special offers from our sponsors.

Kate and Diane