Loads more yummy yarn has arrived over the last few days and I’m trying to stay ahead and photograph them as they come in for those of you that use the blog to plan your trips in. It’s definitely becoming more difficult because of the sheer volume of supplies and my ever growing list of shop samples to get knitted.
Undeterred here’s some of the latest arrivals. I think it might be quicker to just do pictures.
New shade in Rico Essentials Merino AranNew shades in Sirdar Snuggly Double KnitNew Hayfied Aran With Wool 100gNew Sirdar Snuggly 4plyGorgeous Katia Merino 100%
In addition to all the lovely new yarns there have been more books and patterns. Here are just a few to wet your appetites.
New books from SirdarNew Sirdar Snuggly DK patterns
I thought I’d pop up the photos of the finished baby jumper I’ve been knitting with in the new Merino Flash from Katia. The 0-6months jumper literally only went into the third ball for about a third of the second sleeve (grrr).
So in a bid to be more aware of my ever expanding stash I decided to knit the accompanying hat. Now I only have a little bit of the yarn left and a much clearer conscience.
Not sure that button is in the centre now though? I’m sure it was when I first sewed it in.
The boxes are arriving thick and fast at the moment. All full of lovely new yarn to tempt and patterns to add to the list.
The first yarn I unpacked this week is Basic Merino Flash from Katia and I’m completely in love with it.
There are 8 beautifully variegated shades in this double knit yarn.
Each 50g ball contains 120 metres/131 yards and its a wool blend. 52% wool, 48% acrylic. Machine washable and according to the label it can go in the tumble dryer too.
I’m presently knitting one of the designs from Katia book 44, which is a special issue for beginners and I’ve deliberately chosen to work with a colour I wouldn’t usually choose straight away (I’m a blue girl).
I’m impressed though, I think it’s going to make a lovely little garment that may even end up in the grandma box.
For those of you wondering, it’s knit sideways from sleeve to sleeve.
I’m usually very good at staying ahead of the game when it comes to new yarns. However, I must confess to being caught out rotten by Stylecraft’s new baby yarn.
I’m not really sure we needed another baby yarn but I just couldn’t resist Lullaby. There are 14 beautiful shades available in the range and the pattern support is divine. You can really tell that Stylecraft have a new designer on the team.
Each 50g ball contains 135 metres/147 yards
The yarn is made up of 55% Nylon and 45% Acrylic and is machine washable at 30 degrees, it can even be tumble dried.
Tension is 22 stitches to 30 rows.
Even better it’s only €3.30 per ball
Which one of the 9 designs is your favourite? I think mine is the little blanket. Many of the patterns have an extra design on them so they’re great value for money.
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.
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.
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.
Rico Poem Aran
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.
Poems aran also felts, this little handbag also took 4 balls to knit
If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, then maybe this will be.
It was my birthday last week and to be honest I don’t handle them particularly well. I’m not really sure why, I’d just sooner do the whole present thing without the pressure????
My children were on time as far as ordering me a gift (a couple of days before the unmentionable event), however the said gift only arrived today. For me this is better, it means I have something to look forward to although my husband believes this is unacceptable (?????).
So today I happily ripped the packaging off my gift to discover a beautiful hank of Malabrigo Sock Yarn in Ravelry Red and a beautiful book called Handmade in the UK with designs from Emily Wessel.
Usually, I’m pretty up to date on newly published books but I had yet to see this one so it was a complete suprise. There are 10 designs in the book all with an element of lace in the knitting and if I were to be completely honest I think I’d like to make all but one of them.
I thought you might like a little look at my favourites.
Rosewater
Rosewater is this beautiful little, double knit hat. Made in the round, the pattern includes 5 sizes from baby to large adult.
Windswept AdultWindswept child
Windswept is a double knit, v neck jumper with a lace panel running down the centre. Again the pattern includes an incredible range of sizes, this time from baby to 4XL (16 sizes). I love the use of garter stitch to make the knit look contemporary. It’s used on the deep cuffs, the bottom bands and runs up in between the middle of the lace panel and splits to form the neck shaping.
Estuary
Estuary is a gently shaped 4ply shawl/scarf with 2 lace patterns and is very like something I’ve been designing recently.
Vivid
The last pattern in the book is Vivid and there’s no denying it’s beauty. The instructions include yarn amounts for 1 square knitted in either 4ply, dk or aran weight meaning you can use your favourite yarn. All day I’ve been jumping from this to my final pattern and back. Obviously, though I shall have to begin with Winding Way as I have the perfect yarn already, don’t I?
It seems like ages since I managed to get on here and post up a little snippet of life in the shop.
For the past 2 weeks we’ve been so busy with the blankets that it feels like we’ve done little else. Given the time restraints for the collection (3rd August) it’s very difficult not to get absorbed with knitting & sewing squares. I have managed to get a pair of socks knitted and think I could become obsessed. They’re the first pair I’ve made using the two circular needle method as championed by Cat Bordhi. If you’re interested in seeing this method check out her video on youtube.com http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&p=cat+bordhi+socks
If you were on Ardmore Beach this week you could have possibly spotted me trying to get ahead with my Autumn/Winter Samples.
If that wasn’t enough the Innocent Smoothie/Age Action Campaign is back again, more about that another time. I’m off to knit or sew, or both if that’s possible.
I’ve spent the last few days trying to gather up everything we’ve collected in for the The Kyl Assylum in Belarus. As you can imagine my office tends to resemble a very untidy wool shop at the best of times but there are times when the whole thing just gets out of hand. Lately the problem has worsened as the sample balls of wool fight with my stash, the paperwork and the ever increasing number of carrier bags containing donations. As if that wasn’t enough, my son shares the office so I can keep a watchful eye on his computer use and ‘spend some time’ with him whilst he battles aliens on his XBox 360.
It was lovely to go through everything again, some of the items are so beautiful. In total there were 30 Scarves and 24 hats to send to Kyl via the Bureen Chernobyl Project. In addition to the hats and scarves we also received a couple of boxes of toilitries to pass on and we had a good rummage and found a good few jumpers too.
Some of the donations that came in have been more suitable for children so I have separated these out and will be forwarding them on to The Children’s Chernobyl Trust for them to pass on to needy boys and girls. In addition to the 31 hats and 13 pairs of gloves we’ve had 13 baby and toddler cardigans donated too to pass on.
Thoroughly, embracing the tidying up bug I also managed to go through the XBox king’s old clothes and sorted out everything that he’s grown out of to send off with The Children’s Chernobyl Trust items.
Happily there’s now space to house all the knitted squares were hoping for.
Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet 