… 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…