Marching on into Spring

Colourwork

I’ve had a few goes at colourwork in the past, made hats for my immediate family a couple of years ago unicorns for one granddaughter, dinosaurs for the other (and those who know my granddaughters will know which one was which). Lately, however, it has taken over my whole life. Let me explain.

One evening towards the end of last year I received a message from Clare, a handwritten, hand drawn pattern. Obviously, I was the chosen one to try out a new pattern that had sprung forth from her brain. Wrist warmers. I could do that. Chose a couple of balls from my stash and set to.

Well, from that moment I was hooked. To make things even worse, my brain joined the party and started thinking about other patterns that might work. That in turn led to ‘The Doodle Knit Directory’ which I already had tucked in my library. Add to that a couple more books which I didn’t have at the time but do now on Fair Isle patterns, and I was off and running. Little did I know how all-consuming, frustrating, and ultimately satisfying, the whole process of bringing a pattern to fruition would be.

The result of this collaboration between my brain and Clare’s is a range of patterns that will shortly be available to purchase, along with kits (we know our customers love a kit), in your favourite Yarn Shop. These will include wrist warmers, hats and cowls, and I’m pretty sure that won’t be the last of our ideas to become patterns.

Wrist warmers and hat made by Debbie in Scheepjes Merino Soft

Meanwhile in other news, Linda and Karen have been rearranging the shop to make it more customer friendly. They have done a brilliant job, especially around the front door area. So much more welcoming.

Come and browse our patterns in their new home. Plenty of space to mooch.

Some of the new spring yarns are beginning to arrive, including some new colours in the ever-popular Stylecraft Special Dk. In addition, two new ranges have been introduced by Stylecraft , Serene and Cotton Twist. From James C Brett you will find Undertones, Aurora Chunky and Big’un. And boy is Big’un big! King Cole’s Firefly, which sold out almost immediately, has been re-stocked and moving briskly again. They have also introduced a baby version of Fjord. From Scheepjes we have their new Stonewashed Flow and Flow XL. These are gradient yarns, designed using existing stonewashed colours. In addition to the Malabrigo Rios we introduced late last year, we now have Malabrigo sock which is just as delicious as the Rios. Finally, the latest designs from Opal in their 4ply sock range have arrived. Linda and Karen are currently the Kraft Work Yarn Tetris stars, making space for all that lot, and still finding time to produce garment samples for the shop.

Child’s poncho - Stylecraft Serene. Crocheted by Karen.

By utilising Malcolm’s fabulous artwork (as seen on this Website), we have been able to create our own line of useful bags. They come in 4 sizes, from a zipped pouch to a small project bag, large project bag, and finally a tote. We are extremely proud of them and excited to see them being used by our wonderful community. In purchasing one of these custom bags, you are showing the wider audience your support for our shop. It’s a win win situation.

Our wonderful new project bags - this is the small drawstring bag, perfect for a couple of balls and essential bits.

Thank you for taking the time to read the blog and happy March to everyone. Here’s hoping the weather is kinder and our yarn sales keep blossoming.

Deb x