It’s A Little Nippy – Last Minute Knit

December 23, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

OK. So we’ve all seen the ‘super quick knit’ patterns that seem like a good idea until you realise that they’re actually referring to those amongst us that can break all kinds of speed knitting records.

I’m a steady knitter, neither fast nor slow and if we’re being extremely honest, I’m prone to distraction. However, this little neck warmer did actually take a little over an hour to knit up – PROMISE!

So what are you going to need?

I’ve used 10mm needles and 2 balls of Rico Fashion Elegance in shade 3. They’re 5ometres each so you need approx 100metres of super chunky yarn.

Cast on 20sts and knit every row in plain/garter stitch until work measures 56cms/22″. Cast off loosely

I slipped the first stitch of every row to keep my edges tidier but it’s not necessary.

Join by sewing your cast on and cast off edges together.

Ta ddah……..

Of course now my neck’s warm but I can’t see a blooming thing.

Much better.

I’m going to make a couple for my youngest to wear as he always forgets to put a scarf on and I’m sure my hubby whose a plumber and constantly working outside on dairy farm installations at the moment, might even fancy a couple.

In case your wondering it’s 20cm/8″ deep.

Happy Knitting!

Top Woolly Gifts This Year

December 21, 2013 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

As there are only 3 more shopping days for your loved ones to get down to the shop, I thought I’d show you our most popular gift items this year.

In no particular order ……

All things Knitpro Symphonie

The new Knitpro Karbonz Sets have also been popular.

The extra special Knitpro Box of Joy

Clover Pompom Maker are a great stocking Filler.

The heart shaped ones are a little bit different too.

The very gorgeous Hedgehog Fibres.

Scarf Yarns

Gift Vouchers

Cushendale Boucle

Let us interrogate you for a bit about the person, give us a budget and we’ll make up a kit.

Happy Knitting!

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!

Tivoli Husk

November 30, 2013January 13, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

I wanted to quickly show you the new yarn Husk from Tivoli although I’m not sure the photo above does it any justice.

I’m not a massive fan of novelty yarns myself preferring the look of a good stitch pattern however, I’m a little smitten especially with the little bolero that you can knit in it (see the bottom pic). I cast on the scarf last night and will have it knitted and hanging in the shop to squidge for next week.

Husk knits on 6mm needles and the hat and scarf pattern comes free with each purchase of the yarn. It takes 1 ball to knit the hat or the scarf and the yarn retails at €6.99 a ball so it’s great for a gift.

This bolero pattern is also available in the Woman’s Way Magazine.

Must go as we have a super busy day full of classes in the shop today.

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!

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!

The Mohair Bouclé Is Back

October 22, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

I know there are quite a lot of you that love the Mohair from Cushendale just as much as I do so I thought I’d show you a couple of pictures with all the lovely new shades that arrived in late, last Friday.

The shawl is a super quick knit, 1 ball, 34 stitches on 12mm needles and plain garter stitch all the way until the ball has gone. A good tip is to make sure your cast on and cast off are on the loose side so as not to pull the ends of your shawl in.

By happy coincidence several new designs in the shawl pins have arrived in too, just in time for all your Christmas gift knitting. Who knows I might even get some made.

Happy Knitting!

More Items of the Woolly Persuasion

October 7, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Two more beautiful yarns for you to cast your eyes over. Some of you may have already seen them in the shop though as I’m a little late getting the photos uploaded, sorry.

First there’s Rico Essentials Super Chunky

100m per 100g of squishy 50% wool & 50% acrylic

Knits to a tension of 9stitches to 12 rows on 10mm needles.

Great to use as a substitute for all your super chunky patterns

Here’s my Super Chunky Ribbed Tea Cozy shop sample.

Lastly for this post is Rico Essential Big

Each 50g contains 48 meters of smooth yarn which will show of your stitches perfectly. Neither a standard chunky or super chunky the yarn is again made up of a 50% wool/50% acrylic blend.

Knitting up with a tension of 11 stitches by 16 rows on 7/8mm needles.

This is the cowl I made recently for the shop sample modeled by what most be the most tolerant daughter in the whole wide world. Her enthusiasm for the job at hand is obvious don’t you think?

Not sure the hand over her face is doing much to hide her gorgeousness though.

Happy Knitting!

Some Of The New Stuff (items of the woolly persuasion)

October 2, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

As I mentioned on Facebook last week we’ve had so many deliveries arriving that I’ve found it a little difficult to keep up with everything of late. Those of you that know me, know I struggle with organization at the best of times 🙂

Like everyone that knits or crochets I still get excited at the prospect of new yarn, it hasn’t stopped just because I own a shop, if anything it’s worse. When i open the boxes the sense of desperation to get playing with the new goodies is a bit overwhelming. I tend to select a display garment pattern when choosing the yarn and will often order an extra pack to knit it in. At this time of year I find myself a bit bogged down with things to knit and my number of WIP’s increases alarmingly.

So in order to get back to some bookwork and knitting here are some of last weeks arrivals and I’ll pop some more on a second post. Another bag has already arrived this morning to be unpacked too – woolly heaven? Most of the time, anyway.

Happy Knitting!