Delicious Yarn

December 7, 2013 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

I dropped a little hint about this lovely yarn from Hedgehog Fibres in my last post. Having unpacked it, lined it all on the table, looked at each individual hank and generally just fawned over it for some time, I feel I can now share.

Twist Sock is 100g hand dyed yarn. Beata the lady from Hedgehog Fibres describes it as a blend of 80% Blue Faced Leicester wool and 20% nylon. High twist will ensure durability and marvelous stitch definition. Soft, yet durable and machine washable. Best of both worlds!

With colours that shift beautifully from one to another. Randomly dyed to prevent striping or pooling, as much as possible, my yarns create variegated effect that looks good in plain stockinette or advanced stitch motifs.

No dye lots, dye is applied randomly, therefore no two hanks are the same.
Machine wash. 4ply. Approx. 365m/100g

What’s not to ~~like~~ love? Not just for socks either, there’s sooo many lovely 4ply projects out there.

Now I guess you’re gonna want to see the colours?

The photos really don’t do the colours justice, you’ll have to come and pay us a visit to see the deliciousness (can yarn really be this gorgeous?).

Happy Knitting!

December is Here – Lots to Tell

December 5, 2013December 5, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Tis’ the season to be jolly …….

There’s no time to hang about so, rushing straight into what’s going on here for December.

There’s Harlequin, a new chunky yarn from Stylecraft, great for those quick knits, There’s some lovely pattern support for it including my favourite, this fab cape come poncho thingy.

There were also 3 new shades to add to our range of Stylecraft’s Kwik Knit which seems to be really popular for cowls and scarves at the moment.

There’s also another new scarf yarn from Tivoli. Lace is €12.95 a hank and like most of the scarves it’s a one ball = 1 scarf knit. It makes quite a full scarf and is selling like hot cakes.

Lastly (for now anyway) our Special offer this month is on Sirdar Freya which some of you might recall I knitted the hat in last month.

There are 8 lovely shades and being a chunky it will knit up fast. A little goes a long way, I made the hat with one ball. There’s some lovely pattern support for it too including the accessories below.

I could be off to unpack some yummy hand dyed yarn now, more about that next time.

Happy Knitting!

So Excited

November 23, 2013November 25, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

It’s silly, I know but I was so excited when three big boxes arrived from Katia just before closing on Thursday.

Inside there was more of the popular Merino Flash and a pack of a new aran we’re looking at possibly stocking, but there was also ……….

The very Christmasey scarf yarn Boulevard (Christmasey is a new word for any of you that haven’t heard of it yet) and……….

A lovely new warm red/rust shade in the Merino 100%, and wait for it……….

This riot of colour. I’m so daft – you’d think I’d have gotten over it by now having had a yarn shop for so many years. All I’ve been thinking about is what sample to make for the shop. Azteca is 100g of beautiful, multicoloured aran weight yarn. The picture just doesn’t do it justice, it really has to be seen in the flesh. Maybe squidged and stroked a little too.

Happy Knitting!

I’ve Gone Pro (apparently anyway)

November 19, 2013November 20, 2013 LeftFootDaisy6 Comments

2013-10-05 12.31.19 — Super Chunky Tea Cosy

OK, as most of you know I knit. In fact, I knit as often as I can (love me, love my knitting) and would love to be a guinea pig if they ever discover a way for you to do it in your sleep.

In addition to the knitting of other people’s patterns, I always have loads of my own ideas sloshing around in my head. Some of these make it onto scraps of paper or into notebooks and then, if I have the time, a few of them end up being tested

I’ve popped a few of these ideas up on here in the past and my Easy Lace Scarf has been quite popular. However, in an attempt to become better at this side of my business a friend suggested I take the designing to the next level.

Based on her suggestion I’ve just opened up a Pro account on Ravelry to begin selling some of my designs and the first one to go up is my Super Chunky Tea Cosy. I’m not interested in making any real money from the patterns but acknowledge that if I ever get to write the book I want to, I can’t have all of my patterns available online for free.

My Super Chunky Tea Cosy pattern costs €2.50 and I hope it will be the first of many designs. If you like the style perhaps you could be persuaded to go and add it to your favourites and if you’re interested in purchasing a copy, just click here.

It’s knitted with Super Chunky yarn on 10mm needles and takes no time and very little wool (approx 70 metres without the pompom). Who knows you might even have some stashed yarn just lingering for such a project.

Tea cosies are one of the most requested patterns in the shop so it seems a great place to start.

Happy Knitting!

Last Week’s News (some of it anyway)

November 5, 2013November 6, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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!

Sadness

November 4, 2013November 6, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I sat down today all prepared to begin typing up some of the many posts that I have notes written for in my little book. First though, I thought I’d have a quick scan over Ravelry for a little link to post up on the Facebook page. Noticing the new issue of Petite Purls is out I went straight over to their site to have a look at all the yummy goodness in issue 16.

As per usual the cover alludes to much knitty joy, particularly as it’s the Upsize Issue. On opening the magazine I clicked straight on the ‘note from the editors’ link, which is where my sadness comes from. Allegra Wermuth & Brandy Fortune have announced that issue 16 is their final issue of Petite Purls 😦

Before they’re gone though let’s have a little look at a couple of the patterns available in this issue. The beautiful hats at the top of the page are called Ava and are designed by Sarah Grieve. Made in 4ply the pattern gives instructions for ages child to large adult.

The Pembroke Hat was designed by Kirsten Kapur based on her Pembroke Vest pattern that was published in the first issue of Petite Purls. The adult hat is knitted in aran weight yarn and has an unusual cable pattern that meets at the top to form an eight-pointed star. Here is the link if you want to have a look at the Pembroke Vest. http://www.petitepurls.com/Summer09/summer2009_pembroke.html

My absolute favourite from this issue is the Child – Teen Radiant Vest and the separate Adult Radiant Vest. It is split into two individual patterns to accommodate the vast range of sizes between the two patterns – six years to adult 54″ (wow!). The sleeveless cardigan is knitted sideways in chunky yarn, with short row shaping to create the yoke.

It’s sad to see the end of Petite Purls but here’s hoping Allegra and Brandy move on to bigger and better things. No doubt the resources from their time at Petite Purls will continue to delight knitters for years to come.

Happy Knitting!

Holiday Knitting

August 28, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I have been promising to get a quick little post up about the knitting project I took with me on my recent trip to England and as there are so many new yarns, books, patterns, etc to tell you about there’s no time like the present.

As we were staying with our best friends you could guarantee there would be a good deal of talking into the wee small hours and there was. So I needed something that wasn’t going to be full of lace or require much pattern watching and everything I was knitting (some of which I still am) didn’t fit the bill.

Dina my daughter is always adding things to her Ravelry queue, she loves plain and is always in need of more jumpers. Having gone through her list of Ravelry favourites and discarded the bulk of them because they’re mostly 4ply (not happening) we agreed I’d make the Il Grande Favorito by Isablell Kraemer.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/il-grande-favorito

Having knitted Dina a good few jumpers in the past, some of which haven’t ever seen the light of day I was reluctant to use the lovely merino she originally selected. We compromised and as the jumper is a chunky knit I used a strand of King Cole Haze (now discontinued) and one of King Cole Moods held together.

Like all good knitters (?) I knitted my tension square (actually I really did) and cast on on the ferry crossing to England. The jumper was completed by the time I got back back to Ireland as I took it with me everywhere in the car with us to try and squeeze some rows in.

I even managed to get a bit of knitting in at the Pickering Steam Fair and the jumper would have been finished sooner had I not realised I’d picked up one less stitch under the arms than necessary – when I came to knit the cuff! One whole sleeve ripped out and re-knitted.

Even so it was a great, easy, top down project and Dina loves it, even if it doesn’t look like she does here.

I’ll happily make her another in Merino now and have even added it to my ‘to do’ list as it’s a very flattering knit. I think I might put a little waist shaping in for good measure too. If you have a look at the projects tab on the pattern page you can see other knitters have used a combination of stocking stitch and reversed stocking stitch. The pattern does cost €4.50 to download but I think it’s worth every cent.

Happy knitting!

Autumn/Winter Ranges Are Beginning To Arrive

August 22, 2013August 23, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I’d like to be able to say that I have only recently started to think about new yarns for the coming Autumn/Winter season, but I’d be lying, really lying. The truth is I started to look back in March, watching for the anticipated coming trends and beginning to consider shades and textures. The actual yarn companies start to show their yarns as early as May and having to plan ahead can be a little difficult at times.

It’s clear from all of the yarn companies that super chunky yarn is going to be big, really big, with everything from accessories to garments. There’s also a definite move towards creating home furnishings in knitting and crochet, which is great for those of us that like to decorate our houses too.

For us, it’s important to try and get our new ranges in in stages; most of it will arrive in from September on. There are however several exceptions, one of which is Swift Knit from Stylecraft. We’ve gone for 9 fab colours and I’m already busy knitting a shop sample with the grey. (see the photo at the bottom) Each 100g contains 60metres/66yards. It consists of 80% acrylic and 20% wool and knits to a tension of 8.5 stitches to 12 rows on 10mm needles. And all at the great price of €4.90 per ball

As you can see there are lots of great patterns, which makes it a little difficult to choose one to knit. So far I’ve whittled it down to either this one –

or this one –

and this is the pattern I’m already knitting as a shop sample and for Dina.

It only takes 3 balls and is a lovely quick knit, providing you don’t do what I did and read the pattern wrong! You’ll then have to frog your work and start again. I’ll pop a photo of the finished cowl up when I’ve persuaded my model to pose for me.

Which pattern has tempted you the most then?

Happy Knitting!

Stash Dash Time

August 17, 2013 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

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.

There are things to consider: you have to book your slot, 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. Have a look at the post linked above if you’re not sure and make sure you book your place quickly before they all go.

This is what you should be expecting.

Happy Knitting!

Very Dissappointed Moi

August 8, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I have posts to write about holiday wool shopping and holiday knitting but I returned to work today to discover that one of my favourite yarns is being discontinued.

Poem Aran for those of you that need reminding is a beautiful, multi-coloured pure wool. Each luscious 50g contains 100 metres of pure yarn love. Most people tend to use it as a fantastic substitute for Noro Silk Garden or Kureyon and it is best used in plainer patterns that allow the beauty of the yarn to shine through.

Our shadow scarf hangs in the shop and is created using two different shades of the yarn. By working in 2 row stripes the variegation of the yarns make for an interesting colour pattern. This scarf takes 2 balls of each shade.