Knit the Shopkeeper's Friend mini hot water bottle cover in our new knitalong.
Are you ready for another No Frills Knitting KAL?
Any visitor to the real life No Frills Knitting shop in Bedminster, Bristol will know just how much we bloody love our Shopkeeper's Friend. Meg designed this knitted hot water bottle cover a couple of years back as a woolly cost-effective solution to our very chilly shop and trust us when we say, we couldn't get by without them. These little cuties can be tucked into the back of your trousers, keeping you toasty all. day. long.
As knitting projects go, it’s a great stashbuster knit, perfect for using up bits of surplus 4-ply found in the depths of your yarn stash, but the OG hot water bottle cover was knit up and designed using the leftovers of a skein of Woolmatters sock yarn. So when Alice (aka Woolmatters) mentioned the idea of knitting up hot water bottles around the campfire on her summer holiday, Meg had a brainwave and suggested the collab of dreams during a lunch break. Naturally, the answer was an immediate and enthusiastic YES! and the wheels of a woolly great knitalong were set in motion.
As with every knitalong we do, we've put together some of the most beautiful knitting kits with Woolmatters skeins in a choice of 5 exclusive Bristol-inspired colourways, all hand-dyed by Alice herself using plants from her garden in Clevedon. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, each skein contains enough yarn to knit up a total of two hottie covers - cracker!
First up, let us explain what a KAL is.
A KAL, or knitalong is a community knitting event where knitters from anywhere and everywhere unite to knit the same project from start to finish. These can be done in person or take place virtually, like our Campfire KAL. We don't have any rules here - all you do is turn up, so to speak, and knit up the most fabulous hottie cover you'll ever own. You don't need to live in Bristol and you're free to knit as many as you like, in whatever time you have, with whatever you have. We also have a Campfire KAL WhatsApp group you can join too, so it’s a lovely crafty event to take part in to make new knitter friends, share pics of your knitting progress and enjoy being a part of the knitting community. Plus, you’ll have a cute hot water bottle to keep you cosy just as the temperatures start to drop.
Want to join our knitalong?
Of course you do! Here’s everything you need to know to get knitting.
We love our Shopkeeper's Friend mini hot water bottle so much that we have 3 in the shop all knit up using Woolmatters handdyed yarn, including one in our exclusive 'Bedminster' Bristol colourways.
What is the Shopkeepers Friend?
The Shopkeeper’s Friend was designed by No Frills Knitting's very own Meg for knitters with experience knitting in the round or those ready to take on a new challenge.
The knitting pattern includes several techniques such as:
- Magic Loop in the round (small circumference knitting, in the round, on a long cable)
- Judy's Magic Cast On
- Directional increases
- Directional decreases
- I-cord bind off
If you're a beginner knitter, you might not have come across some of these knitting techniques before, but fear not! The free knitting pattern on our blog contains various links to helpful video tutorials on Youtube to help you out with some of the steps, ensuring you have all the knitting knowledge you need to create your hot water bottle cover.
What do I need to knit the Shopkeeper's Friend?
As I mentioned, the Shopkeeper's Friend is a top notch stashbuster knitting project. It was designed for a fingering weight yarn (Meg used the Woolmatters sock yarn) to meet a gauge of 28 stitches x 38 rows to 10cm. We recommend 2.5mm needles (and that's what we include in the knitting kits), but as we always say, swatch swatch swatch to make sure you're hitting the stitch count.
What Will I Get in My Campfire KAL Knitting Kit?
As usual, our special edition knitting kit contains all the essentials you need to start knitting your hot water bottle cover in one convenient package. You will get:
- Your choice of 50g cake of Woolmatters yarn in 1 of 5 specially dyed Bristol-inspired colourways (that’s enough yarn to make 2 hot water bottle covers!
- A matching mini 500ml Hot Water Bottle to pop inside your knitted cover
- A printed postcard with a QR code that takes you to The Shopkeeper’s Friend Knitting Pattern on the No Frills Knitting blog.
- A card with the WhatsApp QR code so you can join our KAL group (and share your knitting progress and support your fellow knitters as they work on theirs).
- KnitPro Basix 2.5mm 80cm Circular Knitting Needles.
You may also want 2x different clip-on stitch markers (one for the beginning of the round, one for the halfway point) if you are relatively new to working in magic loop. Our stitch markers come in a mixed-colour tin, perfect for this.
The Campfire KAL knitting kit contains all the handdyed yarn, knitting needles and bits you need to knit up a cosy hot water bottle cover to keep you warm this winter.
Can you tell me about the Woolmatters handdyed yarn?
Of course I can! We have a whole selection of Woolmatters hand-dyed skeins in the shop including full sized hanks in both solids and variegated colourways plus cute, mini skeins for colourwork projects, too. HOWEVER, Alice has created 5 Bristol-inspired colourways especially for us to pop in our knitting kits!
Consisting of 20% Grey Exmoor Blueface and 80% Romney, this yarn is sourced and spun in Devon, then hand-dyed in small batches by Alice from her home in Somerset. It doesn’t get much more local than that!
Our Bristol based colours include:
- Harbourside
- St Werbughs
- The Downs
- Bedminster
- Redland
Please note: because of the nature of hand dyed yarn, no two skeins will ever be exactly the same, even if they are from the same dye lot.
And if that wasn't enough, each skein has also been pre wound into a neat little cake so you can get knitting straight away.
Alice at Woolmatters has created 5 exclusive Bristol inspired colourways especially for our knitting kits. (L-R: Bedminster, Harbourside, The Downs, St Werburgh's, Redfield)
How Can I Take Part In The Campfire KAL?
The Campfire KAL is open to any knitter who fancies it, wherever you are in the world. There are no rules, just join in and knit. Buy a knitting kit, use up your 4ply/fingering scraps, knit one, or knit a dozen. Whatever floats your boat. Oh - and the free knitting pattern can be found on the No Frills Knitting blog just here.
Join our Campfire KAL WhatsApp group.
I said there were no rules, but it would be nice if you joined our WhatsApp group so you can share your progress photos and ask your fellow knitters for help and advice should you need it along the way.
Join the Campfire KAL WhatsApp Group
Join in the fun on Instagram
If you love to post photos and upload stories of your knitting projects as you go, don’t forget to use our hashtag #CampfireKAL on Insta to share your progress and to see how others are getting on too. Tag us in your photos too - we love to see!
Find No Frills Knitting on Instagram
Campfire KAL FAQs
If you have any more questions, hopefully we'll answer it here. Otherwise, the WhatsApp group is a great place to start with everyone's collective knitting knowledge.
Why is it called Campfire KAL?
Because it's the perfect size knitting project to take with you on your UK camping holiday to knit around the campfire, of course!
Have you got any mini hot water bottles in store?
We do indeed. We have the mini 500ml hot water bottles for the KAL in red, blue and white (stock levels dependent!) plus the larger 2l hot water bottles in red, blue, white and purple if you fancy bending the rules slightly and knit up a Homebody's Friend instead.
How much yarn do I need?
You'll need approximately 85m of 4-ply/fingering weight yarn
What's the gauge?You'll want to be getting 28sts x 38 rows per 10cm in stockinette. We used 2.5mm knitting needles, but you'll want to swatch to make sure that's the correct size for you too.
Can I buy the yarn without getting the knitting kit?
Alice's Bristol-inspired colours are exclusive to the Campfire KAL Knitting Kit, but we have plenty of other Woolmatters hand-dyed skeins. One large hank will do you at least four hotties, or you'll need two minis to make one.
Can a beginner knitter join? I have knit your 100 stitch snood.
Absolutely! I think it's a great easy-ish knitting project for beginner knitters. If you have experience knitting in the round, or your ready for a bit of a challenge, this one ticks all the boxes. There might be some techniques you haven't done before like:
- Magic Loop
- Judy's Magic Cast On
- In/Decreases
- I-cord bind off
but we have included some tutorial links in the pattern to help you out. As with anything, take your time to practice and you'll be knitting up hotties with ease!