It looks as though we will be able to re-open on 12 April (just in time for Jenny's birthday!) so we are getting the shop ready to welcome our customers back into the fold. 

We've spent lockdown sending out loads of online orders and we've had time to revise some of our ranges and order in new yarns in over the year so, like many of  our lockdown waistlines, the shop is now bursting at the seams with new loveliness.

Some of the yarns you won't have seen in the flesh yet are:

From West Yorkshire Spinners we have more colours in ColourLab, Croft DK and Croft Wild Shetland together with new Winwick Mum sock colours.  There are lovely new pattern books to go with the yarns and a crochet along to go with ColourLab.

King Cole have launched their Summer 4-ply which is a bamboo/cotton mix ideal for socks as well as garments and accessories.  We've also added to our King Cole range with Giza 4-ply, a lovely mercerised cotton and we have old favourites like Timeless, Subtle Drifterin DK and Forest Aran.  

Lastly in this quick round-up Stylecraft has Naturals Organic DK cotton which has a fantastic range of colours. This adds to the Naturals range which was launched last year with Naturals Bamboo Cotton.  We also have the new range of You and Me DK and new colours of Bambino have just arrived.

​All in all, the shop is a box of delights and we can't wait to see our customers in person and show off all of our new yarns.

One of our other favourite British manufacturers, Stylecraft is cheering on crafters and LYSs with make-alongs which you can join on their social media pages.  We'll share more about the different projects as Stylecraft posts the projects and we have much of the yarn in stock.

In particular, we love the Granny Celebration Blanket designed by Helen Boreham which is made from Stylecraft Bellissima and Bambino and is available as a pack  here. 
​The yarn pack and pattern is £49.00 and contains 16 balls of yarn together with the pattern. 

One of our favourite subjects is British wool and one of the manufacturers in the who really wholeheartedly supports it is West Yorkshire Spinners.  All of their wool is British sourced and one of their clear leaders in popularity is Signature Sock yarn.  If you haven't already found it Winwick Mum is a facebook page run by Christine Perry, the eponymous Winwick Mum.   Christine has collaborated with WYS before and has just released her second book, Seasons, with them together with her second collection of sock yarn.  The colours reflect the colours of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (hence the name of the book).  The stitch designs on the socks cleverly represent the seasons with cables of shoots snaking  up the sides of the Spring design and lacy icicles cascading down the front of the Winter.  I'll leave you to explore Summer and Autumn!  The yarn is £7.50/ball and the book £9.50 and are all available here on our website.

With the end of Winter in sight but snow still forecast we thought you might like to knit up some lovely aran garments so are putting our Filanda Caldolino on sale.  This is a hemp and wool blend and Jenny has knitted up a cardigan in it and loves it.  The colours are muted and slightly and really rather nice.  Originally £5.65/50g we are selling it at £4.00/50g which makes your next aran jumper much more affordable.  Click here or on the cardigan picture to go to the sales page on our website.

As some of you will have already seen on your social media groups, Wonderwool Wales has been put back to 2022.  The show was due to go ahead at the end of April but it looks as though Covid is not going to be a distant memory for quite a while and so the organisers have decided that discretion is the better part of valour and cancelled for this year.   This is a real disappointment for all of us, organisers, exhibitors and visitors alike, but we support Wonderwool in their decision and we plan to be back at Builth in 2022 with loads of lovely yarn and goodies for our show-starved crafters. 

​Last year Wonderwool went online for the show weekend so look out for more about this year.

I know there's been a lot of knitterly media attention on Bernie Sanders' inauguration mittens but we prefer warm feet so our workshop of 2021 is going to be all about making socks. The workshop takes place on 20 February, hosted by us on zoom.

We are splitting the day into two workshops.  In the morning (10 am till 1 pm) we will make a mini sock starting from the top at the cuff  and we'll reverse things in the afternoon (2pm till 5 pm) and make a mini sock starting from the toes.

By making a mini-sock you will  learn suitable cast on techniques, how to work in the road, turn a heel and kitchener stitch (for top down sock toes).  

This workshop is suitable for competent beginners and above -- not suitable for absolute beginners.

Book on our website now and then two weeks before the course begins we will send you a reminder with details of materials needed for the classes.  One week before, we will send you the zoom codes and passwords needed together with handouts for the day.  Sadly we can't supply tea and cakes as we usually would so you'll have to make sure you have them ready by your side.

The workshops are 40.00 each or £60.00 for both.  You can book by clicking this link or click on the picture.

ps  if you would like to make Bernie's mittens. we'll happily host a workshop!

Isn't it amazing how, even during lockdown, time goes by so quickly.  We are almost in February so it is time to remind you about Sew up Saturdays.  Our next planned event will be on 13 February from 10 till 12.  We are meeting for Sew Up Saturday via Zoom so sadly we can't provide the tea and cakes this time but you can make sure you have some to hand!  Sew up Saturday is an opportunity for you to sort through your workbaskets and finish off some of those projects that have languished on the needles for just a bit too long.  (Alternatively you can just join us for a knit* and natter online).

You can book onto our free online Sew Up Saturday by following this link or by clicking on the picture.

*or crochet.  Sadly crochet doesn't alliterate with natter so we could crochet and cant!  (Cant where I grew up meant gossiping but it doesn't sound as friendly as natter!)

For the first time in many years I find that I am monogamous and I'm really not enjoying it.

I thought I'd be able to concentrate on just one and make every moment matter but the reality isn't living up to the ideal!   I like being able to swap around when I'm a bit bored or stressed.  Sometimes one is just a bit too high maintenance so swapping makes life that bit more relaxing.   I'm not going back to full on polygamy as nine or ten (as some of my friends have admitted to) is a bit much, but two or three is just fine.

As this is a knitting blog, I'm sure you've all worked out that I'm not talking about men,   I'm talking about monogamous knitting* and my works in progress (or WIPs).  How many projects we have on the go at once is a favourite knit group** topic and numbers vary but more than ten has been known.  I usually have at least two garments on the needles together with various started socks stuffed in bags and the odd bit of discarded lace.  Over the last few months though, I've finished off all the garments I was making except for one (which is nearly done)  handed all my unmade socks over to Greg to convert to machine knits and the only lace I have discarded needs to be undone as I've lost the extra ball needed to complete it!  So I am a monogamous knitter!  I'll rephrase that, I am a monogamous knitter on the search for more projects!  My one project on the needles is an intricate gansey which has just one sleeve left to do -- its's been lovely to make, definitely a process knit, but it is not one to take to group as that just invites mistakes.  I need a nice simple 'TV' knit to go with it together with another difficult knit to keep me on my toes.  I am heart, a polygamous knitter!

Just a small confession before I end.  I may only have one WIP but I have at least a dozen projects in my converted stash queue*** !

* for knitting you can also read crochet, spinning or whatever your favourite hobby is.
**knit group encompasses crochet too -- it's just quicker to say!
*** see yarn diet blog for explanation.

For those of you who fell in love with Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo and Cotton, you'll love these new baby kit patterns that they have released.  Lots of our customers were using the yarn for baby items anyway and it's lovely that Stylecraft have responded with some patterns especially for the yarn.  You can find the yarn and patterns here to either order for us to post out or while Wales is locked down you can click and collect.