new shop sample - Sweet November

Sweet November is offered as a free pattern on Ravelry by Caryl Pierre.

It's a large eyelet shawl worked on thick needles with a flamboyant fringe.  You can make it bigger or smaller with more or less fringes.

There are lots of finished projects on Ravelry.

Many of those projects are knitted using a cotton or cotton blend yarn.  We've used the gorgeous Juniper Moon Herriot which is a worsted weight 100% Alpaca yarn.

This gives a wonderfully soft shawl which is very lightweight but will keep you warm especially when used as a layering piece

The body of the shawl took 1 hank of Herriot.  You need to make sure you leave enough for the cast off!  I followed the pattern except as a loose knitter I used 5.5mm needles.  If you have a regular tension use a 6mm needle.

If you want fringes you will need another hank.  I added a fringe every other eyelet on the edge (this took 20g of yarn).  But you could add more or less.

Looking for something in cotton?  We would definitely recommend Louisa Harding Noema for this shawl!  We have our own design - Super Eyelet - in the shop which has a large border of eyelets and the hazy stripes of Noema make an impressive statement.

Personally I'm loving the softness of the Alpaca.  And given the Scottish summers, the warmth too!

new cosy garments in the shop

Whilst knitting for your Spring/Summer wardrobe... how about something cosy and fast for the current Winter weather!

We now have three new chunky  garment samples in the shop.

We've used Wendy Merino Chunky and Rico Fashion Highland Chunky.

Wendy Merino Chunky is a very squishy 100% Merino yarn that knits up pretty quickly... for when you need something warm and quick...

child's unisex sweater

fisherman's rib unisex sweater

lots of patterns and yarn in the shop!

Rico Fashion Highland Chunky is a wool/acrylic blend, loosely spun and very soft.  We have 9 shades in the shop...

comes with short sleeves too.

a simple lace scarf

Jill popped into the shop recently wearing  beautful scarf in our Debbie Bliss Luxury Silk DK.  She had used a simple pattern repeat that made a great reversible scarf and lovely firm fabric.

Inspired by this scarf we've made a chunky version in Debbie Bliss Winter Garden.

Using 2 hanks of this luxurious yarn (silk, llama. linen and wool!) this scarf can be easily worked up over a few evenings.

It's a perfect first lace project - get to grips with K2tog and make holes on purpose.

And it's lightweight too - a perfect transition scarf from Winter to Spring!

Its also easily adjustable...  just add more stitches (the lace pattern is worked over 8 stitches) or use a thinner yarn (like Jill did), just change your needle size.

You could also use our Rico Super Chunky too.

Yarn and free pattern in the shop!

We also have 2 pattern books for this yarn too...

nobbly sock...

knitted in Aventica Supreme

The 3rd sock project today.  Baby ones here, Pennycress from Coop Knits Socks here.

You've seen this yarn before - Karen's cardigan - this time its nobbly texture is knitted at a  tighter  gauge into a cosy sock.

The pattern is free, and available on at Canadian Living website here.  Its easily adjustable - if you want a longer leg or ribbed leg.  Details in the pattern.

2 balls will do the small and medium sizes, you'll maybe need 3 for the larger sizes.  Sock is a sample in the shop!

We are not continuing with this yarn (we need to make space for new ones!), so don't hang about if you want to knit this sock... or indeed Karen's cardigan.

Wingspan

One of the most popular patterns on Ravelry, Wingspan by Maylin Tri'Coterie Designs, is our newest sample in the shop.

The pattern is free to download on Ravelry.  This is now a paid for pattern on Ravelry.  We used a Zauberball but you could use other yarn weights.  The pattern gives advice on how to use DK and Worsted/Aran weights.

Its a simple pattern... worked in knit stitch, with an excellent use of short rows and you get to use lots of sparkly stitch markers!

There are lots of links to pattern adaptions on the Ravelry Pattern page.

And check out the designer's Pinterest inspiration board too.

And try it on in the shop!

Ishbel and Poppy

Ishbel by Ysolda in Scrumptious Lace

Ishbel is a shawl pattern that can be worked in 2 sizes and 2 different yarn weights. In fact you can try other yarn weights and mix up the sizes!

Ours is the large size knitted in Scrumptious Lace (cherry!)

The solid stocking stitch section gets you used to the laceweight yarn and then you launch into the vine pattern.  Instructions are both written and charted and the main part of the vine stitch is only an 8 stitch repeat.

So not too difficult to keep track off!

Poppy by Ysolda Teague in her Debbie Bliss Rialto Prints dress!

Poppy is a cute doll with a removable dress.  She is knit seamlessly in the round from the top down.  No sewing up!

Ours has curly hair and a nose.

To get curly hair hold 2 strands of 4ply wool together and knit a square (maybe 20cm x 20cm) and cast off.  Wash it and let it dry, then unravel it to make lovely curls.  The nose is simply a few straight stitches.  You can use the same idea to make a belly button... which can cause much hilarity...

Instructions on attaching the hair and knitting the dress (and shoes!) are all included in the pattern.  Its very easy to personalise your own Poppy doll.

Ysolda's version looks like this...

{photo credit Ysolda Teague}

Check out the Poppy gallery on Ravelry...  and Fiona's other versions here and here and this one is in her pants!

Ishbel and Poppy are part of Ysolda's Whimsical Little Knits Book 1.  You can buy the book in the shop (it features 10 patterns in total).

You can also buy the individual pattern pdfs in the shop via Ravelry (you don't need to have a Ravelry account, the patterns will be emailed to you).

Remember we have Whimsical Little Knits Book 2 and 3 too.

YarnPony in the shop!

After a very successful trunk show in January and having knitted with Mica's lovely yarn, we're really excited to stock YarnPony in the shop full time!

Skyline by Linda Wilgus (available to buy on Ravelry) in YarnPony Mustang

Edinburgh based Mica started YarnPony late last year - combining her passion for knitting and dyeing to create a stunning collection of yarns. She also offers dyeing workshops in her Edinburgh studio.
We have a selection of ShowPony (50/50 merino/silk) and Mustang (100% merino) and we think you're going to love it!
Mica has put together a collection of shades for us that are simply stunning...

Mustang

ShowPony

ShowPony is £19 and Mustang £16. Both are 100g hanks of 4ply, perfect for cowls, shawls, mitts and socks! One hank of 400m will go far!
We're also very pleased to have copies of Gilver by Jo Kelly... a shawl pattern with an unusual double layered edge - its quite simple to do too! And is perfect in ShowPony...
The pattern comes with digital code too!

Gilver in ShowPony

We have a limited number of hanks so if you're keen to get your hands on some (Mica doesn't have an online shop!) come and see us soon.

a simple raglan... with stripes

Showing off the lovely hazy stripes of SMC Merino Color, this quick baby cardigan is a great project for practicing your raglans and your sewing up.

This sample in the shop - along with 6 other shades and pattern books.

This pattern was actually written for Freedom Sincere Cotton, but as a standard DK yarn the SMC Color worked perfectly!

silk glorious silk cardigan

Our dummy has a beautiful pure silk cardigan - a perfect cover up!

shiny silk - expertly knitted by Alean.

This cardigan is in the Luxury Silk DK book and takes between 7 and 13 balls. The interesting 'quilted' effect is achieved through simple knit and purl stitches and the cardigan is given some gentle shaping by changing the needle size! An eyelet feature is added to the hems at the end.

A beautiful cardigan - can be knitted in any DK weight yarn - but its something extra special in pure silk!

a pop of colour...

pop!

A simple v-neck raglan cardigan in Rico Poems - a 100% wool aran weight with amazing colour combinations, its self striping!

Cardigan, pattern and yarn in the shop!

a simple shawl...

casually pinned - shawl pin in the shop!

very simple increasing and some eyelet rows

worn with the point at the front

This shawl is worked top down.  You start with 3 stitches and increase 6 stitches every alternate row using yarn overs.  This shawl takes 1 ball of Louisa Harding's Amitola - a wool silk blend with long colour repeats.  1 ball!

By soaking the shawl, gently squeezing out the water then stretching and pinning it - you greatly increase the size and open up all the yarn overs.

The pattern is very flexible - you can do no eyelet rows or more eyelet rows... just make sure you have enough yarn to cast on!

Pattern and yarn available in the shop!

One clever pattern - two stunning cowls...

On the ball band of Patons BIG Fab is a pattern for a cowl.  It's a simple Knit 1, Purl 1 rib with the added twist of yarn overs.  It creates a very bouncy, stretchy fabric.  Using one ball and knitting with 10mm needles you get this cowl...

1 ball makes 1 super chunky cowl 

Using the same pattern but using 6mm needles and 2 balls Rico Galaxy Chunky (the one with sequins) you get this cowl...

Karen's Galaxy Cowl in shade 11

Which is simply stunning!

You could even make a matching hat, see our Galaxy hat here.

All of these would make a quick knit and practical gift!

We now have 5 shades of Galaxy in the shop - £7.20 a ball.

There are 6 shades of BIG Fab.  It's £6.25 a ball and has its very own pattern book, full of super chunky accessories.

Aventica Supreme cardigan in the shop!

another cardigan to tempt you, this time in Aventica Supreme...

Aventica Supreme is a very soft blend of Wool, Alpaca and Acrylic and knits up to give a firm fabric with a thick and thin nobbly* texture.  

There is a lovely pattern book (£3.25) which has patterns for both Men and Ladies garments and accessories.  And we have 8 autumnal colours in stock.

This cardigan takes between 6 and 10 balls.  Each ball is £4.25.

* a technical term!  You can see from the cardigan above it looks like Karen has knitted a diamond pattern across the cardigan but it is in fact all stocking stitch!

Frilly

Hot on the heals of Can Can Disco (very limited stock now) we have Frilly!

6 colours to choose from and £6 a ball.  One ball makes one scarf.

Angel Print in action

Last week we showed you our new yarn Angel Print.

This week we've knitted up a lovely scarf using a simple pattern. It gives you stripes on the diagonal, a versatile accessory and a great gift (do I hear jingle bells?)

The scarf would look great in our solid and sparkly Angel colours too.

simply floaty

 

wrapped around neck, one end under the loop and then tied

 

folded in half, wrapped around neck, ends tucked through loop

 

ends tied together to form a loop, looped around neck twice

 

wrapped up like a present!

 

The scarf only takes 1 ball (£8.95 for 25g of mohair and silk) and we'll provide the pattern for free.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Babushka

Spot the new sample?

Karen's very pretty dress in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino using a Louisa Harding pattern from Babushka...

Sadly it doesn't come in adult sizes but if you know a 3 year old (or younger) it would make a very pretty outfit!

a few of the patterns in Babushka by Louisa Harding

and just because we love it...

20 shades of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

fairy dolls

These two ladies have been knitted by the lovely Mary (of Rialto Lace scarf fame).  We now have the pattern book back in stock and a huge range of colourful yarns for you to knit your own fairy!

Zauberball magic...

Using the super popular Lacy Baktus pattern (free on Ravelry) and 1 Zauberball.

This is a quick and easy knit.  You only use the knit stitch and its a simple 8 row pattern repeat.

Its very versatile too! You're making a long shallow triangle shawl that can worn in lots of different ways.

Be warned... its very addictive... trying to get to the next colour on the Zauberball...

It would also make a great present too!