Tag Archives: Yarns

On the needles…

Knitting, Rowan Yarns, Yarns, , , ,

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!

Smashing Sirdar sale!

Knitting, Sale!, Yarns, ,

There’s a sale going on:

Knit one

of some of Sirdar’s yarns, including many from their premium Sublime range. And they are delicious!

sale yarns window selection

Let’s have a closer look:

13907107_512304775626064_5117070823936589694_n

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

The Boss likes to keep an eye on things (and has a lovely new collar).

Fluffy yarns aren’t just for Christmas…

Crochet, Knitting, New in!, Winter, Yarns, , , ,

… 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:

BouffleIt 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!

FlutterbyFlutterby 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:

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!

Sirdar TouchThere’s a bright pink example in the shop window, where it’s attracting a lot of interest…

New yarns for the UK, part two…

Knitting, New in!, Yarns, , ,

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.

Herriot DK

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,

Herriot DK patterns

but they’ll knit well to anything appropriate.

The other Herriot yarn we have is the the 4 ply, Herriot Fine:

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.

Herriot Fine patterns
Juniper Moon book

The other new yarn in stock is from Lotus and it’s called Tibetan Cloud Fingering:

Yak yarn. Really.

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:

soooo soft

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:

Patterns 3

The two waistcoats are particularly effective, and are proving popular. Perfect for what might be (hopefully) a mild winter…

New yarns for the UK – part one…

Knitting, New in!, Yarns, , ,

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.

Findley Dappled

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:

crochet FD

(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:

knitted FD

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.

Findley DK

We do have some Juniper Moon patterns for this yarn:

patterns

but it’s a fine double knitting, and can easily be used in any appropriate pattern.

More soon!

Newly in!

Katia, Kits, Knitting, Winter, Yarns, , , ,

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:

Katia kit

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:

Katia cowl kit knittingIt 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.

Katia cowl knitting kitsAnd 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!

 

Knit one … is taking part in Yarn Shop Day!

Crochet, Knitting, Wool, Yarns, , , ,

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 …

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 Wool

Knitting, Wool, Yarns, ,

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:

Wool

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.

Rowan linen yarns

Linen and cotton and silk

Crochet, Rowan Yarns, Summer Yarns, Yarns, , ,

Rowan 57 is at last in the shop. I have been tempted by one of the designs and seduced into learning how to crochet properly. There, you now know my secret. I cannot follow a grown-up crochet pattern yet. But am I going to let this stop me? NO! And why is this? Because I have been taken over by the luscious colours of the Pure Linen range Rowan offers.

Rowan linen yarns

This is the pattern that has tempted me away from my usual knitting activity, as you see I am working on my crochet using scrap yarn ‘cos I don’t want to muck up the delicious linen while I learn.

rowan 57 crochet

Now, where is my friend Eileen – mistress of the hooked needle? I am hoping she will correct my tendency to misread instructions. Surely she will, she adores lovely yarn. I will keep you posted on my progress.

It’s still very cold!

Knitting, Our patterns, ,

I know it’s supposed to be cold at this time of year, but – brrrrr anyway! Very late on a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago snow was in the air, a regular customer blew in asking for a quick garter stitch hat pattern to keep her ears warm while walking her dogs. None of the patterns we had available suited her needs … she said she had a big head and wanted a huge turn up. It also had to be a sideways knit, simple for her to make.

So we made a pattern up just for her! We had very little time and worrying about the accuracy of our pattern I quickly knitted an identical one myself using Debbie Bliss Riva. Good job I was quick because the following week in she came proudly wearing our design.

Knit one pattern
I do not know who either of these women are – I am told the little one is me, but I don’t believe it.

If you are interested in this pattern just pop into the shop or contact us, and we can quickly describe how to knit it in any type of yarn you like.