Tag: king cole

New For Us In February

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Patrick

I have at least a couple of posts for you this week, this being the first it’s supposed to be about this months woolly and not so woolly, additions to the shop.  However, I’ve been so moved by the movie I saw last night that it would seem slightly criminal not to mention it.  Especially as I was dreaming about it last night and haven’t stopped thinking about it all day either.

My first visit to the Triskel in Cork City was yesterday to see Patrick’s Day – wow!

Patrick’s Day if you haven’t heard, is a film about a young man (Patrick) with Schizophrenia and the lengths his mother will go to to ‘protect’ him.  It throws up loads of things to ponder, not least the right for every man or woman to experience an ‘adult’ relationship and by adult I’m not necessarily talking about a sexual relationship it could be friendship or love. Regardless of how the relationship between two adults manifests itself there is always an emotional side and it’s this aspect that the film centres on.

The cast were fantastic particularly Moe Dunford who plays Patrick, his performance was outstanding.  There were several parts of the film that made for uncomfortable viewing, but compelling none the less.   I urge you to pop over to the Patrick’s Day Facebook Page and watch the trailer to see what all the fuss is about for yourself. The relationship between Patrick and his mother is central to the film and trying to put yourself in her shoes, is painful to say the least.  We’d all go to great lengths to protect our children from the moment they’re born, but are our decisions always the best for our children?  I can’t wait for knitting on Wednesday night so we can debate the whole thing over tea, cake and stitching.

Moving on to matters less serious and more woolly.

The shop sale has drawn to a close and I now have my kitchen/classroom back which means the return of Saturday knitting group -hooray 🙂  As you might expect there are still sale balls of wool remaining, so I’ve filled up the €3 baskets at the top of the shop and we will continue to use the Green Bin concept to bring you a super bargain or two.

At the moment the Green Bin contains Rico Glow Worm for €4 per 100g ball.

country tweed

Last week we took delivery of Country Tweed DK from King Cole in six beautiful shades.  Country Tweed has been around for a little while now but I thought it filled a variegated double knit shaped hole on our shelves nicely.  Each 100g ball contains approximately 280 metres/306 yards of yarn made from a blend of acrylic, wool and viscose and costs €6.99.  It’s a standard double knit yarn so will work with most dk patterns, but I’ve chosen a good few designs that specifically use the Country Tweed for you to peruse.  Personally, I’d like to find some time to have a go at using Broomstick Crochet to make a scarf with the yarn.  If you’re not sure what I’m talking about pop over to the photo tutorial by Ashley Little here on Craftsy.

Does anyone else fancy having a go too?

merry go round

We’ve also taken delivery of a couple of shades in Stylecraft’s Merry Go Round yarn to see what the response is like.  It’s a basic 100g ball of fun, colourful acrylic, specifically aimed at smallies.  I could only find a photo of one of our shades but it’s a pretty one 💗

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There’s also been a delivery of something really rather un-woolly, but they smell heavenly.  Whilst at the City Hall Christmas Craft Fair I couldn’t resist making a few gift purchases from the Celtic Candles stand.  I ended up burning one of the gifts 😄 in the shop over Christmas and a good few of you commented positively on the aroma, so I thought ‘why not?’.

Celtic Candles are an Irish owned, family run company that produce candles, reed diffusers, lip balms and other products, but it was their Organic Range of candles that caught my eye (should that be nose?).  Anyway, think essential oils, think 100% plant based wax and then select your aroma.  Maybe you want to Relax with Lavender, Geranium and Tea Tree or what about Recharging with Neroli, Clementine and Geranium?   The 20CL Aromapots have a burn time of up to 50 hours for €16.99 and the 9CL Votives should burn for approximately 25 hours for €6.99.  Interestingly, you can use the candle oil on your skin as a massage oil 🎂

I’m off to get a few rows of knitting done, hope you are too?

Happy Knitting!

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December Chill

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Following on from my Ophelia post, a good few of you asked about the pattern for the hat Dina was wearing.  Ever organised 😕 I obviously had the pattern written up.  To be fair I did, but it was on Post-it Notes rather than on the computer and it was no where near ready for anyone else to have a look at.

Since then it’s been typed up, test knitted and corrected and is now up on Ravelry Here for €2 but it’s free to download on Ravelry until Midnight on Christmas Day with the checkout code Ophelia.  (Enter it before you checkout.)

It only took the one ball and a couple of hours to knit up and should work with most chunky yarns or even 2 strands of double knit yarn held together like this one.

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I used 2 strands of King Cole Galaxy Double Knit.

Happy Knitting!

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It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

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I’m ♥loving♥ this pair and they’re doing an excellent job of adding a festive feel to the shop counter.  I do have a confession though…..my friends Noreen and Liz made them for me along with the Tinsel Owl below.  Big thanks to both of them, they are without a doubt, skilled when it comes to making knitted toys.

The snowmen are made using Sirdar Snowflake (dk for the smaller of the two, chunky for the larger) and Stylecraft Special DK for the accessories  The biggest chap stands approximately 11 inches tall whilst the shorter one is about 8 inches high.

snowman sirdar

The design has been created by Sue Jobson for Sirdar, pattern 4513 and the girls assure me they’re a fairly straightforward knit.  As with all toys, it can be easier to sew as you go, otherwise the task can seem a little daunting if you leave it all to the end.

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Loving the addition of the red on the robin’s breast, much more appropriate me thinks 💡

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Here’s the afore mentioned owl, he’s a rather big boy and is the largest size on the pattern.  He still only took the one ball of King Cole Tinsel and he’s proving even more popular than the hedgehog at the moment.

Owls

As you can see it’s pattern 9022 I think they’d make a lovely little present for someone, especially as owls are so popular at the moment.  I think I’d rather like a little white Snowy Owl perched on our Christmas Tree.

Happy knitting!

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The Bear With No Name

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This is Knit’s latest addition to the Knit Family Menagerie, there’s only one problem though – he doesn’t have a name yet 😯

 

Bears

I knitted him up using pattern 9019 from King Cole Yarns, however the wool Luxe Fur,  is impossible to purchase because it’s completely sold out EVERYWHERE 😦  Undeterred, I decided to try knitting the design up using Tivoli Husk as a substitute instead and I think you’ll agree he’s turned out great?

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He’s the baby bear and there’s also a mummy and a daddy bear (medium and large) on the pattern.  He was fairly simple to knit up and the trick is not to stuff him to firmly with toy filling, otherwise he won’t be so cuddly.

The pretty knitted garment hanging behind our friend the bear is called The Pheasant Shawl by Julie Ferguson which I’d spotted in issue 73 of The Knitter in June and instantly fell in love with.  A naughty purchase of yarn for said garment happened on a trip to York during the summer and I managed to find some time in amongst knitting all the other projects to get it made up.  The yarn used is a double knit from West Yorkshire Spinners from the New Country Birds Collection and  is 100% Blue Faced Leicester.

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Unfortunately, I ran out of the multicoloured yarn several rows before I’d completed the main part of the shawl, which means the shawl is slightly smaller than the size specified on the pattern.

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The colours are beautifully autumnal, unlike most of the clothes I own O_o

2014-11-20 14.03.55Nigel maybe?

Happy Knitting!

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Crochet World Record Attempt in Aid of Essex Children’s Hospice

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craft club 1

 

I know we’re smack bang in the middle of trying to get all of our lovely stockings knitted for the Knit Happens campaign but we’ve been asked for help via Instagram by The Craft Club who are busy preparing for a ‘magical’ yarnbomb in the gardens of The Little Havens Hospice.  The Havens Hospice cares for children from across Essex in the UK with life-limiting illnesses by providing respite breaks, managing pain and caring for them at the ends of their lives.

craft club

Helen Thomas, Gabby Atkins, Kelly Holcombe, Claire Whitehead, Becky Burton and Emma Curley are seasoned yarnbombers, they understand the joy of collaborating on projects which raise a smile or inspire others to have a go.

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The Little Havens yarnbomb is inspired by children’s book The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton and the group hope to create their version of the land at the top of the magical tree in crochet.  In doing so the team hope to break a Guinness World Record for Largest Display of Crochet Sculptures which currently stands at 4061 crocheted items.

The finalised project will be displayed on the 25th August 2014 in the Little Havens  garden which is an event for the parents and families but it will be covered by the regional press  and there will be loads of photos up on Facebook, etc.

It is hoped that the attempt will consist of over 1,000 individually crocheted items including rabbits, hedgehogs, owls, pixies, trolls, fairies and characters from the book.  For an item to count towards the world record it has to be made in crochet, but if your strictly a knitter only, then The Craft Club would still love to receive something bright and cheerful to add to the garden.

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There are loads of suitable patterns available on Ravelry, many of which are free.  You can also find a few ideas on The Craft Club’s Pinterest board here and if you stumble upon any suitable patterns it would be lovely of you to share them on our Facebook page 

You can keep up to date with what’s going on with the record attempt on The Craft Club’s Facebook page too.  They regularly post  photos of the items they’ve received and they’re often linked to patterns and blogs.  As I’m not the best at crochet I’m going to whip up a few Teeny Tiny Flowers from Attic 24’s blog like these that I made before.

We will be collecting finished items in the shop to post to the UK up to Saturday 12th July or you can send them direct to:-

Miss E Curley

9 Kenley Close

Shotgate

Wickford

Essex

SS11 8XL

UK

It would be great to have a few items to send over for this very worthwhile cause, remember to let us know what you’re up to.

Happy Crochet!

 

All Good Fun

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logolatest_Layout 1

So for those of you that missed it Saturday 3rd of May was Yarn Shop Day.  It was great to see so many of you out to support us and good fun was had by all (I hope) despite the rain 😦

After all the fun and games I have some competition and raffle winners to announce.

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The raffle winners are as follows –

Sock Yarn – Mary Healy

Scrumptious Lace Weight Yarn – Fiona Ryan

Snuggly Dk & Pattern – Deidre McArdle

Bambeanies by Woolly Wormhead – Edwina Cole

Erika Knight – Molly McSweeny

Lucy Neatby, The Brand New Knitter DVD – Sadie Foley

Knitpro Symphonie Interchangeable Starter Set – Susan Macfarlane

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We also had a ‘Guess the Number of Buttons in the Jar’ for our younger visitors on the day.  The winner receives a €5 gift voucher for Auntie Nellies Sweet Shop and a woolly goody bag donated by the good folks over at Stylecraft Yarns, for the knitter in their life.

Can you guess?????

252

None of the children guessed correctly, but the nearest was Jasmine Jennings with 258.  Well done Jasmine the Auntie Nellies Gift Voucher is yours and I’m guessing your mum or your sister might like to receive the goody bag.

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Last but not least.

There was the competition to find our fastest Knit Happens stocking knitter.

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The stocking had to be knitted in two colours and this mind blowing time was achieved by Mary Murphy, who wins 4 balls of Sirdar Bonus Dk for her effort, which she whipped up with smoke rising from her needles in a little over 10 minutes..

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The second fastest stocking knitter was Mary O’Donovan with a little over 12 minutes.  Mary wins a ball of King Cole Splash for her speedy needles.

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Those of you that didn’t make it won’t have had a chance to see our yarnbombed rocking chair, which definitely helped entice passers by in.  We’ll be taking it with us, along with lots of our Knit happens stockings to the Midleton Mid May Festival on Sunday 18th at The Square (near The Granary).  Why not come and see it and lend your support to this new festival

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You can find out more about what’s happening over the weekend here 

Happy knitting!

1 More Sleep

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So Yarn Shop Day is very nearly upon us, 1 more sleep until the fun begins.

As promised here’s a little peek at some of the goodies on offer tomorrow on our market stall outside the shop.

They’ll be all of these books and more all down to €5 each with some going for as little as €3.

All of the packs of yarn on the stall will be €20 each, including the multi packs.

There will be other yarn in the special bins for €3 a ball and the day will be full of on the spot give-aways.  Not to mention the raffle and the competition to find the fastest Knit Happens stocking knitter.

I hope to see as many of you as possible.

Happy Knitting!

Guess What? It’s Stash Dash Time

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stash dash pic

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.

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Happy Knitting!

New Year – Time For Change?

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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.

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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?

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Happy Knitting in 2014

xxx

Last Week’s News (some of it anyway)

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I spent a large portion of last week convinced I’d achieved very little, however, after reviewing the amount of things I’d managed to do I realised I actually got through quite a few items on my never ending list.

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Firstly, there was the hat I ran up for myself in the new Sirdar Freya. Some of you might have seen the photo above on the shop Instagram account.  It’s a dream to wear as it’s so lovely and soft.

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Then there was the waistcoat I completed whilst at Wednesday night’s knitting group.  It’s made in King Cole’s Ultimate Super Chunky.  The pattern doesn’t actually have a full arm band but I felt it needed a little more than the cast on, then cast off that was instructed on the pattern.  The yarn knits up beautifully, but to avoid any colour pooling I did knit with two balls, following a two row stripe sequence.

Ultimate
Jeans, Melange, Marine, Moorland, Heather, Rainbow, Dusk, Ember

There are 8 shades of Ultimate Super Chunky, great for those quick knit projects.  There’s a really good range of patterns to support the yarn including several accessory designs.

Talking of King Cole, the new Glitz Chunky arrived in too.

White, Black, Rouge, Plum, Atlantic and Burnt Orange
White, Black, Rouge, Plum, Atlantic and Burnt Orange

Six shades this time, great for a little Christmas sparkle, and if you prefer double knit yarn then King Cole also added three new shades to their range of Glitz DK.

Petrol, Silver and Royal
Petrol, Silver and Royal

I also managed to complete the little baby cardigan I’d been working on for the shop in Peter Pan Merino Baby.

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There are six pretty pastel colours and some beautiful pattern support.  For the month of November while stocks last we’re offering 10% off the usual selling price of €5 per 50g/116metres. I think the yarn would work as a great substitute for most double knit patterns, particularly if you favour lighter shades.

White, Baby Pink, Silver, Lilac, Cream and Baby Blue
White, Baby Pink, Silver, Lilac, Cream and Baby Blue

This week I’m trying to power into another scarf and to get a little work done on my Christmas knitting, all being well.

Happy Knitting!