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.

How many of you have heard of yarn diets?  At the beginning of each year, crafters talk about yarn diets because stashes have got out of hand and need some trimming.    
As yarn shop owners ‘Yarn diet’ is a term we never want to hear.   We prefer ‘yarn management’ because having an unmanaged stash is a drag.  It stifles creativity as it sits there in your figurative peripheral vision, getting in the way of your hobby.  We all know the feeling – inspired to make something but feel we should use what we have in spite of the fact that most of it is left-overs.  It’s a bit like wanting to make a pavlova with the remains of Christmas dinner – you need different ingredients or the finished dish will be bubble and squeak!

So if the size of your stash is upsetting you, here are our ten top tips to slim it down:

1. Don’t bother!   Like all other diets the yarn diet is doomed to failure and increased stash in the end!

Sorry, that’s a bit negative.  Here are the real ten top tips for managing your stash:

1. Create three (large) spaces and label them KEEP, DISCARD, UNSURE.
2. Sort your stash into piles of yarn weights (dk, 4-ply etc) and within those piles into colours.  You can now really see what you have.
3. Take a photograph for posterity.
4. Be honest, have you found yarns that you are really never going to use – if the answer is yes, start the discard pile.
5. Divide the rest of the yarn into KEEP AND UNSURE.
6. This step is where having the yarn in different weight categories helps.  Most of us have a list of projects we would like to make (a pile of patterns or a Ravelry queue).  Match KEEP yarn to projects.  You might also find that UNSURE yarns can be used here too.  Bag yarn with a pattern or name thus transforming it into a project and miraculously removing it from stash.  You now have a queue of items to make.
7. What is left?  Are there oddments of yarn that you have kept for an imaginary fairisle which remains stubbornly imaginary?   Add to Discard pile.
8. Check out online for stashbuster projects (Ravelry or just google).  There are loads you could make like log-cabin blankets, ripple blankets, helical knitting projects.  Granny Square crochet.  Allocate your yarns and again add to your project queue.  If you don’t like stashbuster projects like these, be honest with yourself and discard instead.
9. Add anything that is left to the Discard pile.
10. Take a photograph for posterity!

You now have an organised store of potential projects which you can make over the coming year (or millennia).  If you are very focussed you will make them before buying more yarn.  You could alternate queued projects with new purchases.  Wahtever you do, you now have a managed craft instead of an unmanaged stash.  Be proud of yourself!
 
Footnote:
Now, of course, by ‘discard’, we don’t mean ‘throw away’.  Here’s what you can do with your spare yarn.

• Swap it with yarny friends or just gift it to one of them (but only if it is something you are sure they would use -- increasing someone else’s stash to decrease your own is just mean!).
• Donate to charity crafting groups
• Donate to your local school
• Take to charity shop

​Do you have lots of UFOs* in amongst your projects?

If you have a pile of knitting or crochet hidden in a workbasket just waiting for that extra bit of motivation to finish it off, we can help.  Join us for encouragement and help to clear the basket (or pile behind the sofa  or wherever  you keep your naughty pile). 

We are moving Sew up Saturdays as Covid restrictions mean that we can't meet in the shop.  We will publish the codes for joining the meeting closer to the day so keep an eye out. 

​The event will run in the same way online as face to face, you just have to provide the refreshments yourself!

Come along and be inspired to finish off those UFOs. 
Online Sew Up Saturdays run from 10 am till 12 noon and are free to attend.

*UFO = Unfinished Object

Sew up Saturday dates for your diary:
16 January 2021
13 February 2021
13 March 2021
10 April 2021

In these dreary days of lockdown we all need something to cheer us and we find that yarn is just the thing so we are doing our bit and have just taken delivery of King Cole's new superchunky yarn, Quartz.   
Quartz is a variegated yarn and is completely random in it's striping with punches of colour running throughout.  As usual, pattern support from King Cole is comprehensive with garments and accessories in the range.  A mid-size sweater takes around eight balls, a hat takes one ball and a cowl two and at £4.50/100g ball it is an affordable make.   We love this bright and breezy knit in Amber which is so cheery and definitely lifts the spirits.  Nip over to our website and take a look.