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.
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.
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!
Sirdar Faroe ChunkyThe new colours in Sirdar Baby CrofterA Wee Willie Winky hat shop sample in the new Baby CrofterWendy Mode Chunky (love the colours especially the blue)New shades in Wendy Merino DK
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
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’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.
Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet 