Tag: Stylecraft

All Good Fun

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

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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?????

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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!

Yarn Shop Day – Saturday May 3rd

LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

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It seems like I’ve been trying to write this post for weeks now what with computer and internet problems *sigh*

Anyway….

Yarn shop day (taking place on Saturday May 3rd) is all about you showing your love for local yarn shops.  It is also an important opportunity for bricks and mortar shops – such as ourselves – to remind our customers how valuable our personal experience and knowledge of all things wonderful and wooly really is.

Whilst the online yarn market is fantastic for those that cannot manage to get into a shop or can’t find something particular it is also unfortunately taking away from the tradition of local yarn shops.  There is nothing better than going into your local yarn shop and having a good squidge and play with the wool, as well as getting hands on help and advice.  Knitters and crocheters alike are an enthusiastic bunch and our shop has often played host to a number of excited discussions about new projects and ideas between strangers that have bonded over their love of the craft.

Yarn shops are fast becoming an endangered species and every week I will have someone come in and say how nice it is to have found a wool shop because they no longer have a local one.  A visit to the yarn shop was something I looked forward to as a child and even now I still get excited when I go to a new place and discover they have a yarn shop to explore.

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So in the spirit of all things woolly we are planning the following events, giveaways and special offers to celebrate Yarn Shop Day.

  • The first 15 customers to spend €25 or more receive a baby knits goody bag.
  • 11am – There will be a demonstration on how to use the amazing Clover Pom-Pom Makers.
  • 2-4pm – We are holding a competition to see who can knit a “Knit Happens” stocking the fastest.
  • There will be a woolly raffle with prizes including Knit Pro needles, Scrumptious Yarn and a variety of books.  (Details of the raffle will be posted here and on Facebook in the coming days.)
  • A free Sparklemouse pattern will be sent to your via e-mail when you spend €5 or more.
  • Clearance packs of yarn and books will be available to buy throughout the day on our market stall outside at less than even Stash Dash Prices.

Throughout the week we will try (I stress the word try) to pop up photos of some of the items that will be  putting on the market stall and using as raffle prizes.

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Sparklemouse

Here is the News……..

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

It’s been so busy here of late that I’ve had no time to post, sorry.

It was, as most of you know Stash Dash, which is so full on that I tend to feel a little wiped out for a few days after.  We’ve also been trying to launch our Knit Happens campaign all across the county and beyond (newspaper interviews included, terrible photo though).

So I wanted to give you a quick run down on a few new bits and pieces that have come in over the last couple of weeks, apologies though as some of you may have already seen them.

Wendy modeFirst up are the three beautiful new colours in the Mode Chunky from Wendy.  A good basic 50% wool, 50% Acrylic yarn.

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Also in were 2 more shades in Wendy Candyfloss, which is proving really popular with our chunky knitters too.

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Chunky again, it’s three new shades of Stylecraft Harlequin to add to our existing range of colours.

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Double knit this time in the form of Stylecraft Alpaca Double Knit which is one of my current favourites.  I defy anyone to be able to tell that there is only 20% Alpaca in the fibre and it has some serious meterage – 240 metres/262 yards per 100g ball.

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Lots of bright, cheerful buttons came in too, they’d be ideal for jazzing up kiddies clothes.  There’s multicoloured hearts, playful animals and flowers in primary and pastel shades too.

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Just in case any of you managed to miss the Facebook post or my Instagram pic

The lovely scarf yarn is back in from Cushendale in a rainbow of colours.

We’ve also taken delivery of 3 new yarns and new colours for Spring/Summer in many of our favourites too.  There are lots of new patterns and design books and we’re trying to expand our haberdashery ranges with more bias bindings, felt, trims, etc.  I shall pop up more information on all that is new next week, including our delightful range of Sheep greetings cards that I’ve managed to find.

I’m looking forward to having my children’s group back this morning and then it will be time  to unpack the box of buttons that arrived yesterday (squeal)

Happy Knitting!

Stylecraft Stars

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Stylecraft have come up trumps again with their latest yarn Stars.

Reflecting the latest fashion trend for sparkling and lustre effects, Stars is a lightweight blended yarn with a metallic filament and small Payette sequins throughout to bring a beautiful sheen together with a subtle sparkle to your knitting.  Made up of 75% Premium acrylic, 10%Polyester, 10% Metallic Polyester and 5% Sequin.

Stars

Stylecraft has taken care while developing this DK yarn to ensure Stars is soft and brings a delicious drape to the designs knitted in it. The colour palette focusses on icy pastels, from stellar white to quartz pink and aqua blue with the addition of amethyst and noir for those who like a bit of drama.

A couple of the large spinning mills have released similar versions of this yarn and on first look they might seem like a more economical purchase however, you have to look at the meterage.  Each 50g ball of Stylecraft Stars costs €4.80 and contains 150 metres of yarn in comparison to another I can think of that only has 110 metres.

Knitted as a standard double knit there is a great range of designs to support the yarn too including a beautiful bolero that would work beautifully as a Communion Cardi.

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Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

 

Guess What? It’s Stash Dash Time

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

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!

December is Here – Lots to Tell

LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

2013-12-05 14.33.39Tis’ 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Happy Knitting!

New Baby Yarn

LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Happy Knitting?

Autumn/Winter Ranges Are Beginning To Arrive

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. 064 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

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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 –

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or this one –

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

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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!