Here is the News……..

March 15, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

It’s been so busy here of late that I’ve had no time to post, sorry.

It was, as most of you know Stash Dash, which is so full on that I tend to feel a little wiped out for a few days after. We’ve also been trying to launch our Knit Happens campaign all across the county and beyond (newspaper interviews included, terrible photo though).

So I wanted to give you a quick run down on a few new bits and pieces that have come in over the last couple of weeks, apologies though as some of you may have already seen them.

First up are the three beautiful new colours in the Mode Chunky from Wendy. A good basic 50% wool, 50% Acrylic yarn.

Also in were 2 more shades in Wendy Candyfloss, which is proving really popular with our chunky knitters too.

Chunky again, it’s three new shades of Stylecraft Harlequin to add to our existing range of colours.

Double knit this time in the form of Stylecraft Alpaca Double Knit which is one of my current favourites. I defy anyone to be able to tell that there is only 20% Alpaca in the fibre and it has some serious meterage – 240 metres/262 yards per 100g ball.

Lots of bright, cheerful buttons came in too, they’d be ideal for jazzing up kiddies clothes. There’s multicoloured hearts, playful animals and flowers in primary and pastel shades too.

Just in case any of you managed to miss the Facebook post or my Instagram pic

The lovely scarf yarn is back in from Cushendale in a rainbow of colours.

We’ve also taken delivery of 3 new yarns and new colours for Spring/Summer in many of our favourites too. There are lots of new patterns and design books and we’re trying to expand our haberdashery ranges with more bias bindings, felt, trims, etc. I shall pop up more information on all that is new next week, including our delightful range of Sheep greetings cards that I’ve managed to find.

I’m looking forward to having my children’s group back this morning and then it will be time to unpack the box of buttons that arrived yesterday (squeal)

Happy Knitting!

Stylecraft Stars

February 24, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Stylecraft have come up trumps again with their latest yarn Stars.

Reflecting the latest fashion trend for sparkling and lustre effects, Stars is a lightweight blended yarn with a metallic filament and small Payette sequins throughout to bring a beautiful sheen together with a subtle sparkle to your knitting. Made up of 75% Premium acrylic, 10%Polyester, 10% Metallic Polyester and 5% Sequin.

Stylecraft has taken care while developing this DK yarn to ensure Stars is soft and brings a delicious drape to the designs knitted in it. The colour palette focusses on icy pastels, from stellar white to quartz pink and aqua blue with the addition of amethyst and noir for those who like a bit of drama.

A couple of the large spinning mills have released similar versions of this yarn and on first look they might seem like a more economical purchase however, you have to look at the meterage. Each 50g ball of Stylecraft Stars costs €4.80 and contains 150 metres of yarn in comparison to another I can think of that only has 110 metres.

Knitted as a standard double knit there is a great range of designs to support the yarn too including a beautiful bolero that would work beautifully as a Communion Cardi.

Happy Knitting!

Sirdar Peekaboo

February 13, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Snuggly Peekaboo DK is a gorgeously soft baby yarn that comes in softly printed, dappled colours that look extra cosy for girls and boys from Sirdar. It is in the same designs wonderfully soft blend as Snuggly DK – 55% nylon and 45% acrylic.

Each 50g ball contains 179yds/165m and knits to a tension of 22 stitches to 28 rows on 4mm for a 4″/10cm square and costs €4.45.

There are 6 beautiful shades that are reminiscent of the original, paler colours that Sirdar Baby Crofter came in when it was first released.




As is the norm with Sirdar they have created several beautiful designs to compliment the yarn although any standard double knitting pattern should work equally well.

Happy Knitting!

Guess What? It’s Stash Dash Time

February 8, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

For those of you that have been before you’ll know what it’s all about, the rest of you would probably best to read this previous post here http://knitmidleton.com/2012/07/23/everybody-keeps-asking-me/

Basically, we cover up all the shelves and lay out as many tables as we can fit into the shop; on top of these we put all the yarn we’re discontinuing. There could be whole ranges of yarn, shades of yarn and some you might not have seen before. There will be odd balls, several balls and packs of balls, no matter what, all balls are €3 each. (All sales are final, no returns)

There are things to consider: you have to book your slot if you’re coming in before 1pm. You only have 20 minutes (you’re timed), you have to prepare, dig out the patterns, check your favourites on Ravelry, make sure you know how much double knit/aran/chunky you need. There is nothing else available to purchase on the day and there isn’t usually the time to help you calculate yarn amounts, suitability, etc. You get the most out of the day if you’ve already worked out what you’re looking for.

Have a look at the post linked above if you’re not sure and make sure you book your place for the morning if you want one, quickly before they all go.

This is what you should be expecting.

Happy Knitting!

Have a Look at Wendy Duo

February 6, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Last week in my post about Hatti the new knitting concept from Peter Pan, I mentioned that Wendy had an adult version which I was knitting up. The Yarn is available in 5 shades each with a co-ordinating pompom and is made up of 78% Acrylic, 12% Mohair &10% Polyester. Each 100g ball has approximately 200m/218yds of lightweight yarn and costs €9.95

There’s a pattern for the hat and a matching scarf on the reverse of the ball band the hat is lovely and can be worn as a slouchy hat or more like a beanie with a fold over band.

Having seen the scarf though I think it looked a bit mean, so I experimented a bit and decided a neck warmer made the best use of the yarn.

If you’ve bought a ball of Duo and you fancy knitting up the neck warmer here’s the instructions.

Be sure to make your hat first as per the instructions on the ball band, you’ll find it much easier to use a different yarn to sew up the hat and the neck warmer.

With the remaining yarn and 7mm needles cast on 52 stitches loosely and knit in 2×2 rib (Knit 2, Purl 2) until your work measures approximately 20″/50cm. Cast off stitches loosely and sew cast on edge to cast off edge using a different yarn. Sew in ends.

I used 8mm needles to cast on and cast off as it’s important to keep your stitches nice and loose for seaming.

Happy Knitting!

Peter Pan Hatti

February 1, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Peter Pan have embraced the idea of ‘quick knits’ with their latest woolly release Hatti. (technically there is no wool, but you know what I mean)

Hatti is aimed at kids although the knitted hat fits me. Each ball comes with a free knit and crochet pattern on the ball band and one ball makes one hat complete with colour coordinating pompom for the top!

It’s made from 80% Acrylic / 20% Polyester and there’s aapproximately 95m / 104 yds in each 50g ball. The knitted hat uses 5mm needles and I had it made within a couple of hours. It’s a lovely simple pattern just 2×2 rib with no shaping.

Hatti is available in 4 shades and is €7.15 per ball.

There’s another similar yarn and pompom knit called Duo which I’m knitting up at the moment. I’ll post about it as soon as I’m done.

Happy Knitting!

Notes From Week Ending 25th January 2014

January 27, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Wow! January will be over in a few days, how did that happen? I need to catch up quickly, does anyone have a magic ‘get everything done’ potion I could buy?

Rushing quickly on.

There were several deliveries last week most of which was restock although there were a few new goodies. Unfortunately, in my haste to unpack them I forgot to take photos of most of them although I did manage a quick snap of the new Candyfloss yarn from Robin.

Sadly, there’s one shade missing, if memory serves me correctly it’s a bright pink mix. Candyfloss is being sold as a super chunky with a recommended needle size of 10mm’s but it’s most definitely not. You could probably use up to an 8mm for scarves and neck warmers but for garments and hats I’d treat it as a standard chunky yarn and use 6.5mm needles. I hope to get a sample of the yarn knitted up for the shop so you can see what it’s like as there are no designs to go with the yarn.

The bright colours make it an obvious choice for children and it’s 100% acrylic so it’s easily washable. The 200g ball has approximately 280 metres/306 yards and costs €6.95.

Included in this delivery there was also 4 shades of the mohair yarn ‘Air’ from Wendy which is made up of 70% Kid Mohair, 30% Nylon and knits to a tension of 18-24sts x 23-34 rows depending on your chosen pattern. The 25g ball has approxamitley 200m in it and it’s €7.25 a ball.

It would be an ideal yarn to use for my Easy Lace Scarf

I’ve already started to knit a little communion bolero sample for the shop, it only takes 2 balls so I am aiming to have it finished by the end of the week.

One last thing before I go, with all of the controversy surrounding all things charity at the moment I thought I’d share the receipts and card we received for money collected from the bags of buttons on sale in the shop for St. Vincent de Paul. As promised the full price of the sale goes to the charity. (sorry for the bad photo)

Happy Knitting!

The Final Count Is In – Didn’t We Do Well?

January 18, 2014 LeftFootDaisy3 Comments

My shop looks rather bare now because as you can see from the photograph I gathered all of the blankets for Armenia from their hidey holes in order to pack them up ready for Global Missions Ireland to collect them.

I’m not sure the photograph shows everyone’s efforts off to full effect. What you cant really tell is exactly how tall each pile is, or that they’re 4 deep. (Tom Hardy looking on in the top left hand corner can though – Yum)

Global Missions Ireland will hopefully be taking them over to Armenia in the very near future and we’ve been promised photos which I’ll pop up for all to see.

In the mean time after gathering, folding and bagging and most importantly COUNTING, there are ……………. no you’ll have to wait just a little longer…….

118

Yes you did read that right, 118 blankets. Everybody that took part should feel very proud of themselves, we did great.

News about our next collection will be coming very soon, but for now.

Happy Knitting!

New Year – Time For Change?

January 2, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

Two days in to 2014 already and my brain has been working overtime on things to do in the coming year. I’m not a New Year Resolutions kinda girl, so whilst I’ve made a mental note to quit the indulgences of the past couple of weeks, get back on my anti-inflammation diet and try to do more exercise in the coming year I’m not going to be too upset if I fall off the wagon, so to speak.

There are however, things I am going to try to alter in the hope that some little changes will allow me a little more time to do some of the more important things like, dare I say it – Exercise more 😦

Top of my list is to get more organised, already I can hear my family groaning. I do try really hard to set myself deadlines, but it’s sticking to them that’s the problem. My head gets so full of ideas for the shop, designs, kids crafts, etc that I easily get distracted. So I’m going to get better at writing things down, that way hopefully, I won’t be constantly running through my ‘list of possibilities’ in my head.

I’m also extending this writing it down thingy to my ongoing projects too, as I’ve been slack with posting them onto Ravelry and have wasted at least a couple of hours mentally running through what I made in 2013.

From what I can remember I made the following, but I know I’ve missed some things.

1 cardigan for me

1 jumper for Dina

2 waistcoats (1 for the shop, 1 for me)

2 pairs of socks and 2 single socks (need to make a 2nd lace one and I’m now half way through the other 2nd sock, see below)

12 hats

8 scarves/cowls

Moody Blanket (must do icord border)

Poncho

Wrap

3 – tea cosies

6 Crochet bunting triangles

5 knitted/crochet brooches

Christmas Angel

4 Baby Cardigans

sample squares for the shop

Blanket squares for charity

Innocent Smoothie hats

If I’m honest, it doesn’t seem like a lot of knitting, must try harder. As a little extra note to self “should also knit from my stash a little more”.

Starting as I mean to go on here’s my last/first project of 2013/2014. I’m just about to start the heel flap so it should be finished by the weekend.

I’m also going to start another Il Grande Favorito with some beautiful Sirdar Connemara from my stash.

All sounds very good so far, but I have a small confession ……..

Whilst waiting for the photos for this post to upload I decided to clear up my email inbox a little and now I’ve become distracted by this lovely DIY Fair Isle Hat deigned by Meg Myers for Classic Elite Yarns.

Which yarn would work best now?