It sounds musical but Thrumming has nothing to do with stringed instruments.  It has to do with string of a sort -- the wool variety!  Thrumming a knitted item involves incorporating roving (unspun fleece) into a piece of knitting to make a lovely cosy fabric.

Originally 'thrum' referred to short bits yarn leftover from weaving.  Weavers would use the thrums for stuffing items like pillows and later for making hats and mittens warmer.  These thrums caught and frayed quite easily though so knitters evolved the technique to use roving instead to make lovely cosy items like hats, gloves and, for the more ambitious, jackets or even blankets.

We will be running a workshop on Saturday 2 February to teach knitters how to thrum.  We will provide the materials to make a thrummed mug cosy with materials and patterns available to buy to make bigger projects.

The workshops runs from 10.30 am till 1 pm and costs £35.00 including materials for the cosy.  Just click on the picture  to link to the booking page.
 

I can't believe I haven't written a proper blog since December -- life has been busy!

It's difficult to get away from Brexit at the moment but it did mean that BBC Wales came into the shop this Monday to talk about the effect of Brexit on small businesses.  Nick Servini also took the opportunity to have a chat with some of our knitters and crocheters.  How exciting and terrifying was that!  If you missed our five seconds of fame it is on BBC i-player,https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0by2nt8/bbc-wales-today-evening-news-15012019.

If Brexit is getting you down, the mental health benefits of knitting and crochet are well known, so pop down to your now famous Local Yarn Shop and pick up a new project to see you through the political plotting.

Our lovely local yarn dyer Michelle is hosting  a knit-a-long on her Woollywumpkins Ravelry page. It starts on December 27th and is aimed at getting us through the post festive slump and relaxing us into the new year.   We have the patterns in stock together with lots of lovely Woolly Wumpkins hand-dyed yarn.   Stitches used in the pattern include knit, purl, yarnover, cast on and cast off so it is simple enough for everyone to enjoy.  Pop in before 1 pm on Saturday and you'll be able to have the pattern and yarn for Christmas!
Cwtch Me Close pattern

Whether you are buying for a newbie or a dedicated knitter or crocheter we can help in the quest for a present  you know they will appreciate and enjoy.   From yarn to needles to accessories, we will help you find something to enhance their hobby.

We can put together a yarn kit with needles or hooks and a pretty project bag or you could select your own and make the kit up yourself.  Our handmade cotton project bags are £20.00 each and come in a range of designs -- there is a particularly cute one with reindeer on the front pocket sitting in the window right now.  Yarns start at £2.25 each for the amazing array of colours available in Stylecraft Special and go up to £26.00 for 50g of silk and cashmere from Lotus Yarns.  We have blanket kits made up ready to go in the Stylecraft special (starting at £35.00) and the cashmere is just begging to be made into a lace shawl or scarf so would need one or two hanks.  For a present that won't be seen anywhere else, we have hand-dyed yarns from Woolly Wumpkins as £16.00/hank -- the colours are just luscious.  

Your knitter or crocheter may already have a stash that will take them several lifetimes to use so instead how about a lovely handmade silver shawl pin or a set of knitting pins or crochet hooks.

Why not drop in or visit our online shop and if inspiration eludes you we can provide personalised gift vouchers so crafters can come in and choose for themselves!

Our Christmas Crochet workshops will get you in just the right mood for Christmas.  We only have spaces left in the stocking workshop so if you want to come along, click the link and book now!

Saturday 1 December 10 till 1   £35.00 including yarn.  You could come and make stockings and then go along to the Christmas Fair at the Athletics Club.Saturday Crochet Workshops

One of the favourite topics on one of the knitting and crochet facebook groups I am on is words -- generally the difference between UK English and the rest of the World's version of our wonderful language.  So do you say 'jumper', 'sweater' or 'pullover'? 

i Make jumpers and it is definitely jumper weather today.  With the weather set for cold (well it is November) maybe you all need to be making a nice warm and woolly jumper.  We have lots of lovely yarns and patterns in stock to choose from and we are always ready to help if you need it, so why not make this winter the one where you make your own.  it doesn't have to be as ornate as the octopus jumper shown but it will be just as unique.

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I was in Birmingham earlier this week and revisited the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum.  My sister and I visited there last month but only had time to quickly whizz around the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition and the Staffordshire Hoard.  This time I had a bit longer to explore so was able to really enjoy the displays.  Tal and I spent some time in the Egyptian, Greek and near Eastern rooms before they had to go back to college lectures and then I spent a few hours wandering.

Of course, I went in search of yarn related artefacts and was well rewarded in the Egyptian room with a display of spinning implements -- spindle, whorls and loom weights.  There was no date given, just 'various dates' but Egyptian archaeological finds show that that women and men have been spinning at least since the time of the Middle Kingdom 4,000 years ago.
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 I was searching for my great grandmother's lace bobbins which I know are in the museum collection but while I didn't find them, I did find a beautiful boxwood lace bobbin from 16th century France or Spain.  It's quite a heavy bobbin so would probably have been used for silver or gold thread.   In the same part of the museum were three knitting sheathes on display.  These exquisitely carved items were probably love tokens and were used to hold one needle attached to a belt and enabled the knitter to have one hand free to do other chores.  I've added a picture of a knitter using a sheath.   Maybe women multi-task so well because we've always had to!  

I finished my visit with lunch in the museum's Edwardian tea-room and then to make the day complete was able to collect our renegade cat on the way home!

I hope all of you have seen the many displays around the UK commemorating the end of the first world war.  Our village decided to theme the remembrance around 'Peace at Last'.  Ruth and I wanted to create an eye-catching window which would make people think about the lasting effects of war.

Because our business is very much based around women (I know men knit and crochet too but they are in the minority) we started by thinking about women's experiences of the war and of the peace that followed.  I'd been home to visit my parents in October and my Mom reminded me of my maternal grandparents.  My grandad signed up in 1918 aged almost 18 as did his older brother.  Grandad was injured and sent home twice but my great uncle was killed in 1918.  My great grandparents died during the course of the war so at the end of the war there was just Grandad and two sisters left.  My grandma was the youngest in her family and at the beginning of the war worked sewing uniforms and later did some work in a munitions factory.  Two of her sisters had fiances in the war, neither of whom returned so like many other women they faced a future on their own.  Their story was commonplace.   It's not called the Lost Generation for nothing.   Our window represents the reality of the peace for young men and women who lost the lives they had planned remembering the women who never become brides and their young men who died.

(our special thanks to Pat who made all of our knitted poppies and to my sister Lynda who made the wedding dress)

​As well as our Learn to Knit and Learn to Crochet courses, we have workshops for lovely festive projects coming up.  Gaelle will be teaching how to crochet stockings, snowmen and snowflakes and we will be showing how to knit a festive door decoration.  It's never to early to start celebrating so why not go to our bookings page now and start getting ready for Christmas! Click on the pictures to go to our booking pages.


Christmas Crochet Workshops  10 till 1 pm £35.00 each
24 November 2018  Christmas Snowman
1 December 2018  Christmas Stocking
8 December 2018 Christmas Snowflake
 

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​Christmas Knitting Workshop 10 till 1 pm £35.00 
8 December Christmas Door Decoration