From Tuesday 31 August, a ‘walk into the shop again’ sale is starting at Knit One… !
We are having a reorganisation and massive ‘serve yourself’ clear-out sale of full bags, part bags and odd balls of yarn. There will be some real bargains to tempt you.
Opening times? From Tuesday 31st, Tuesday to Saturday, 10 – 4.
We look forward to seeing you – diolch yn fawr!
(On entry to the shop, please wear a mask, use the hand sanitiser and bear in mind social distancing advice.)
This year sees Rowan Yarns celebrate their 40th birthday and Knit one… is joining in.
There’s a mini exhibition all week, starting on Saturday 3rd, featuring previous Rowan magazines and garments knitted from them:
And on Monday, 5 November – the shop is normally closed on Mondays – Knit one… is open, with a taster session (plus tea and cake) taking place between 1 – 3pm.
There will be some lovely, lovely yarns to try out and, in addition, there are some great Rowan patterns free with yarn purchases, like the one for this hat in Valley Tweed:
Plus, there are some of Rowan’s discontinued yarns available throughout the week at a discount. Just saying.
On Tuesday, there’s a free talk on the textile history of Dolgellau (if you’re visiting, just look up – there are signs of the towns wool heritage everywhere, from hoists for bags of wool to long upper windows, which gave better light for looms).
It should be fascinating…
Wednesday sees another drop in and have a go session in the afternoon, with a chance to chat to our rep, Katie:
which may (or may not, because cat) also be graced with the presence of Bramble, here supervising the display of previous Rowan magazines. Don’t worry, she’s sitting on the shop copies. Of course.
Did you know Kate Moss started as a knitwear model? She’s in Issue 10.
Oh, and needless to say, the shop is open as usual between 10am and 5pm each day.
On Thursday evening, there’s a special Rowan fashion show. This doesn’t only feature the gorgeous knits which have been lent by Rowan, but also many which have been made by some of our very talented local knitters. It should be a great evening, but you do need to book, and it’s £5 (which includes a glass of wine; the show is in the brilliant Dolgellau wine bar, Dylanwad Da):
There are some special things to purchase as well, quite apart from yarn. Project bags, a mug (handy for all that tea), the special book which Rowan have created to mark their birthday – it’s pictured on each of the information sheets above, and contains 40 of their most popular and interesting patterns – and some notebooks which contain knitters’ graph paper as well as lined pages for notes:
We look forward to seeing you all (oh yes… nearly forgot: during this week, until and including Friday, 9 November, Rowan’s shade cards are available for consultation and inspiration. We can order whatever yarns you want – and you’ll get 10% discount on any orders placed…
Here’s a quick summary:
There’ll be lots of posting on our Facebook page, no doubt!
It’s been so long, and for ages Angharad has been unable to knit, but she’s back on the needles now, so let’s have a look at the WiPs (works in progress).
Here’s a child’s sweater from Rowan in Softyak double knitting (the pattern is called ‘mussell’ and is from Rowan Magazine 61),
Once this is blocked it will look even better, and the yarn is lovely to knit with. Oh yes, and there are some socks. Always socks!
Here’s another children’s garment, but for younger ones this time. It’s a pattern from the First Sublime Evie baby hand knit book, design 18. It only takes two to three balls,
and look at the cute button…
In the window at the moment is another Rowan knit, from the book ‘Rowan Loves Softknit and Handknit Cotton’. The pattern is called Victoria, and this is the long-sleeved version; there is a shorter one.
And, just to complete a trio of Rowan projects, Kate is knitting Rover from the old (and fabulous) Magazine 48:
It’s the man’s pattern on the right, designed by Erica Knight (we love Erica Knight’s patterns), and is in Cocoon, a chunky yarn, so it’s knitting up quickly. Like the pattern book, the yarn is also from Kate’s stash: this colour has been discontinued. But there are some lovely replacements!
There’s a sale going on:
of some of Sirdar’s yarns, including many from their premium Sublime range. And they are delicious!
Let’s have a closer look:
That Simply Recycled is a lovely yellow, for instance – other colours are available – and knits up very nicely. Or then there’s Smiley Stripes (at the front of the previous photo), a Sublime yarn with bamboo supposedly for baby and children’s knits, but which looks equally good made into something like a simple summer cowl for a grown up… sigh!
The holiday season for some is coming to an end, but for others it is just starting, and September is a great time to visit this area, incidentally, when we often have gorgeous weather, so much so that there’s a phrase for it: haf bach Mihangel, St Michael’s little summer. And it’s worth remembering that yarn bought when you’re on holiday doesn’t count as adding to the stash. Ahem.
And, as you might expect, the whole sale has been well supervised:
The Boss likes to keep an eye on things (and has a lovely new collar).
… but they really help when you’re thinking about presents, especially when they’re chunky and knit up quickly!
Every year there are some ‘novelty’ yarns, and every year many of them sink without trace. But there are always some that have lasting value, and here are three which are going down well. Very snuggly.
First comes one that looks as though it’s been sprinkled with snowflakes, Sirdar’s Boufflé, a cotton, acrylic, wool and nylon mix:
It sells at £3.75 a ball, and there are 100 metres to each 50g ball.
Then there’s a new addition to the popular Flutterby line from James Brett, called ‘Animal Prints’. This red one is so strokeable – well, they all are, but this seems particularly appealing!
Flutterby is particularly popular with people who crochet, incidentally. It really looks great, and the texture is brilliant in whether you prefer to use sticks or hooks (OK, knit or crochet). It’s £3.99 a for a 90 metres, 100 gram ball.
And this last one is another from Sirdar, Touch, one of the best of the ‘fur’ yarns. It’s incrrrrrredibly soft:
It knits up on 10mm needles, so a simple cowl (one skein, and the pattern’s included) can be done in an evening. Perfect, and at £4 for a 100g and 67m skein, pretty much ideal!
There’s a bright pink example in the shop window, where it’s attracting a lot of interest…
And there’s more yumminess. There are two more delights from Juniper Moon, and one amazing yarn from Lotus Yarns. First, here are a couple of tempting delights from Juniper Moon’s Herriot range.
First up is their Herriot DK. This is possibly the softest yarn in the shop (possibly – testing may be needed) as it’s 100% baby alpaca. Each 100g skein has 200 metres of yarn and sells for £13.95.
We did have five colours but one sold out almost immediately – a deep jade / petrol blue. These, refreshingly after their Findlay range, have simple numbers: 1002, the maroon; 9, the natural; 1016, the almost-limey green; and 1019, the mid-blue.
Again, we’ve got some patterns specifically for them,
but they’ll knit well to anything appropriate.
The other Herriot yarn we have is the the 4 ply, Herriot Fine:
This is also in 100g skeins, each one 420 metres long, and is a mix of 75% alpaca and 25% polyamid (for strength). Again the colours are numbered. From the top: 2001 is the grey; 2004 is the soft brown; the soft denim blue is 2010; 2011 is the maroon and the lovely charcoal grey is 2006. The retail price is also £13.95.
And yes, again there are patterns. There’s also a Juniper Moon pattern book, which has some lovely designs in it.
The other new yarn in stock is from Lotus and it’s called Tibetan Cloud Fingering:
It’s a laceweight. As you can see, there’s a lavender (shade 14), a soft grey (02) and an olive green (13), and it’s – wait for it – 100% yak. Spinners may have encountered yak fibre and will know how very soft it is, but this is probably new to most knitters. Let’s have a close up:
Beautiful. Now for the details: the skeins are 50g, 450 metres long, and sell at £11.95.
And yes, there are also patterns for this:
The two waistcoats are particularly effective, and are proving popular. Perfect for what might be (hopefully) a mild winter…
After a really busy summer, It’s wonderful to be able to just concentrate on a couple of new finds. Juniper Moon are a small American company (you can find some information about them here) whose yarns are just becoming available in the UK. They are gorgeous. See what you think!
The first one is a beautiful variegated laceweight called Findley Dappled. It’s in fat 100g balls, with an amazing 750 metres on each ball – meaning that one ball has easily enough for a whole lace shawl. It’s 50% merino, 50% silk, it’s sooooo soft and it’s £16.95.
and these are the five colourways in Knit one… They are Aurora, Roast Turkey (!), and here you can see what Roast Turkey looks like as crochet:
(who comes up with these names?), Macaw, Sea and the rather more descriptive ‘yellow/green/pink’. Well, it’s a better name than Roast Turkey.
Here’s what Findley Dappled looks like when it’s knitted:
Beautiful!
The other yarn from their Findley range in stock with Knit one… is Findley DK. This is a 50:50 mix of extra fine merino and a mulberry silk blend; there’s a generous 199 metres to each ball and it retails at £6.95. It’s lovely to knit with, by the way – and one ball will make a pair of fingerless mitts like the ones below (pattern from Knit one…).
It’s available in Green (an olive shade), Garnet, Graphite and – wait for it – Rappahannock (otherwise known as a beautiful petrol blue). The light in the photograph doesn’t really do the colours justice – they are beautiful.
We do have some Juniper Moon patterns for this yarn:
but it’s a fine double knitting, and can easily be used in any appropriate pattern.
More soon!
Just a quickie post to introduce two new – well, things.
The first one isn’t just a thing, it’s clearly going to be a ‘Thing‘ with a capital letter, inverted commas and italics, given the number of people who seem to be producing – er – things along similar lines. It’s a kit – well, let’s have a picture, and then everything will become clearer:
These kits – cat kits – are from Katia (appropriately!), who generally have their finger right on the pulse of what’s about to happen. What you get is a ball of wool and some pre-made parts: the cat head, legs and tail. You then use the ball of wool to either knit a cute hat or scarf, or crochet a sweet backpack, and attach the parts in the right place according to what you’ve knitted (or crocheted). They are rather cute, and come in different colourways. They’re £13.50 and are perfect for any small girls in your life!
(And – incidentally – no sooner had some gone in the window, than one sold – to a doting grandma, to knit up into the scarf for Christmas. )
Also from Katia is this cowl kit:
It will be a really quick knit, and a very satisfying one. Katia do these self-striping yarns so very well (we – everyone who visits Knit One as well as those who work there, including Bramble – all love their sadly discontinued Tobego, which we sometimes manage to get, cough, cough), and this should be another winner.
And a satisfyingly swift one to complete, too – and again, bang on trend, as they say. Apparently BIG cowls – and big knits all round – are going to be in this winter. You heard it here – if not quite first, then early enough to get those needles out!
On Saturday 2 May 2015 yarn shops up and down the country will be opening their doors to celebrate the continued existence of Independent Yarn Shops … I’ve always called them Wool Shops though. Mind you I’m told wool shop rules out the possibility of selling silk, bamboo, cotton, aloe vera and acrylic and others. Therefore ‘yarn shop’ it is I guess (in my heart it is still ‘wool shop’).
Back to Yarn Shop Day …
We, Kate and I and not Bramble (recent star of Twitter @WoolShopCat) will be providing a Knitting Hospital A & E Service between 1.00 and 3.00 pm on this special Saturday – 2 May 2015.
If you have a knitting query that is baffling you, or you have forgotten a technique, or want to learn a new one, bring your knitting in to us. We will do what we can in the time we have.
We might have to operate on first come first served basis if we are buried under a mountain of WIPs (works in progress).
Watch this space – more to come!
If you are not in Dolgellau and want to support your local Yarn Store there’s a map of other shops participating in the day here.
Easter is almost upon us … how about a break from the chocolate and transfer those wishes for yummy egg-shaped goodies for yummy egg-shaped wool confections like this one:
I shall be making more yummifirous egg-shaped wonders for my Easter window this next week. I love this time of year.
A note about my Easter opening times: In addition to the usual hours (Wednesday to Saturday 10am – 4pm) I shall be open on Easter Monday, 6 April 10am – 4pm. Hope to see you then.
Knit one… Dolgellau 