November 2023 Shop Update November 16 2023

Lustrous

 A lustrous combination of silk and merino in equal balance resulting in a super soft sock weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls, scarves and garments. If you are looking for a special yarn to make a gift then the shine from the silk in this yarn really elevates your work.

Sonsie Aran

This yarn is custom spun for us in Devon by John Arbon and is a cosy, woolly blend of Corridale and Polworth sheep fleece. These breeds are both cross breeds of Merino and Lincoln or Leicester sheep which means their wool is very soft but has a longer staple length than Merino meaning the yarn will wear better than pure merino. We offer this yarn in big 200g skeins and we have dyed it in batches of 6. Make sure you buy enough to complete your project as these colours are all non repeatable.

 

 

     

 

 

Bloom DK

Bloom DK is 100% soft and bouncy superwash Bluefaced leicester. I have dyed up some semi solid colourways to complement the variegated skeins we have in stock. Great for warm hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments.

Browse All Bloom DK

 

 

Did you know we can ship to the EU and collect the vat when you checkout?  This means you will have no extra charges to pay when you receive your order so you know exactly what you are paying. Available on all orders to EU countries under the equivalent of 135 Euro.

 

Do let me know what you think of the new colourways and keep safe in the dark evenings. I can't believe there is only one more newsletter after this this year! Take care and keep warm - Enjoy your crafting.

Rachel x

 

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October 2023 Shop Update October 20 2023

Five for Silver: Christmas Rose, Fairy Lights, Fir Tree, Jack Frost, Seven Swans

Its certainly feeling very autumnal here in Newbury. Leaves are changing colour and the evenings are getting darker. I've been getting reacquainted with my knitwear now the temperature has dropped. We have also celebrated my son's 16th birthday at the beginning on the month and last weekend he went axe throwing with his sister. They both had an amazing time. Doesn't seem that long since he was a baby wearing little hand knitted jumpers.

At SQHQ we are putting the finishing touches to the advent calendars which will be going out shortly. Once the pre-ordered calendars have arrived there may be a few spares which will be made available. I'll let newsletter readers know first so if anyone you know is interested and isn't on the list do get them to sign up. (I really don't mind if they unsubscribe again afterwards) They will only go on social media if there are any left after that.

We have no more shows this year but next year is beginning to look exciting - a return to some favourites as well as some brand new shows. Keep an eye out for more information as soon as I'm allowed to share. We will be having our Christmas Open Studio on the 9th December in conjunction with Purlesence again. Should be a lovely day.

A slightly smaller shop update this month as there was so much last month, but we do have our special seasonal Five for Silver - The run up to Christmas is the only time we dye this sparkle yarn and this month there are 10 special christmassy colourways. We also have some Flockly, Selkino and Floof. All the yarn is on line if you want to head straight to the preview or read on for more information.

Five For Silver

This is our special seasonal sparkle yarn we only dye in the run up to Christmas. Its a blend of soft merino, a touch of nylon for strength and silver stellina sparkle. This sparkle is very fine and not at all rough (but unfortunately almost impossible to photograph to catch the sparklyness!) Great for almost any fingering weight project either on its own or add to another yarn for a sparkly pop!

We have dyed up some popular Christmas colourways from previous years. Some of these colourways have not been available on big skeins or Five for Silver before.

Flockly

This is one of my favourite bases. Its a lovely blend of Bluefaced Leicester, Silk and Cashmere which makes it soft with a slight sheen but harder wearing than our other Cashmere containing bases. I'm currently using this base as one of my yarns for the Westknits MKAL and the garter stitch sections are working up so snuggly - I can't wait to wear this shawl!

Selkino

We have restocked some popular colours of Selkino including several neutrals you can use to show off your colour pop choice. (L to R) Mountain Heather, Antique Map, Salvage, Lady Philomere, Biscuit Town, Highclere Castle.

Floof

We have recently dyed a large wholesale order of Floof and these are some of our favourite colourways. Let me know if you would like any of our kits made up with these yarns.

    

Westknits MKAL My Version October 19 2023

This year's mystery knitalong has inspired many different takes on the official Clue 1 but I haven't seen many where the instructions are written up anywhere other than Ravelry. Given that Ravelry isn't accessible to everyone and some people are more comfortable working from written instructions than just winging it, I thought I would share my alternative for clue 1 as a blog post.  I don't claim to be the first or only person to make a mitred square alternative - There are some lovely ones with a block of 9 squares for clue 1 for example - but here is my version. It comprises of 4 mitred squares surrounded by a stripe of each colour worked up to Stephen's official Clue 1 instructions. 

I'd like to thank Louise Tilbrook for her blog post on mitred squares which I think gives the neatest decreases and Katie from Yarn for the Soul who has tested these instructions for me.

Instructions

Abbreviations used the same as Geogradient Shawl by Stephen West

Square 1:

Cast on 54 stitches. I used the long tail cast on

Row 1: K25, SSK, pm, k2tog, Knit to last stitch, Sl1wyif
Row 2: Knit to last stitch, Sl1wyif
Row 3: Knit to 2 stitches before marker, SSK, sm, K2tog, Knit to last stitch, Sl1wyif
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until 4 stitches remain finishing with Row 2
SSK, remove marker, K2tog, turn
K2tog, cut yarn and thread through last stitch

You can arrange colours in many ways but to replicate my pattern I cast on and knitted the first 4 rows in my darkest shade, then worked 8 rows in each colour from darkest to lightest, then the 3 darkest colours again.

Square 2:

Cast on 27 stitches then pick up and knit another 27 stitches along the cast on edge of the wrong side of square 1 starting at the corner. See picture

Continue as for Square 1 from Row 2.

Square 3:

Repeat as for Square 2 picking up along the wrong side of Square 2.

Square 4:

Pick up and knit 27 stitches along the cast on edge of the wrong side of Square 1 towards the middle then pick up and knit 27 stitches along the cast on edge of Square 3. Continue as for Square 1 from Row 2.

Your 4 squares should look like this

Border:

With right side facing and starting in one corner pick up and knit 27 stitches along the slip stitch edge of one mitred square then pick up and knit another 27 stitches along the edge of the adjacent square. Place a marker 1 stitch in from each corner. Repeat for the other 3 sides.

On your needles you should have (1 stitch, marker, 52 stitches, marker, 1 stitch) 4 times.  216 stitches in total.

Continue with Section 1 of the MKAL pattern starting with Round 4. I changed colour every 8 rounds.

I really hope this helps you if you want to make a mitred square centre to your shawl. Keep an eye on social media to see how my shawl progresses.

September 2023 Shop Update September 28 2023

Enchant - Firethorn, Slinky Twist - Dragonfly, Crush - River Thames, Crush DK - River Wey, Yaksino - Marmalade

What a change in the weather! If you aren't in the UK we have gone from 30C plus temperatures which is hot for us and very hot for September, to proper wet and windy autumn in about 10 days. At least I can get my knitwear out again!

My kids are back at school and seem to be enjoying it. My son has just started his GCSE year and its my daughter's second year at secondary. School trips seem finally to be back on the timetable with one been camping already and the other one off on a geology field trip but its great these things happening again as I always loved school trips.

At SQHQ we are busy with wholesale orders and advent calendars. We will have to close orders for advents soon so if you are still wanting one please be quick. There may be one or two spare nearer the end of November as we always keep back ups in case any get lost in the post but its not guaranteed and they might not be with you in time for 1st December.

No more shows now for a while but we will have our Christmas Open Studio at the beginning of December. Look out for more details in the next few weeks. I'm also hoping to organise another workshop with Sharon, either Beginners Tunisian Crochet again or Socks - What do you think?

This is a big shop update this month as we dyed lots of yarn for Southern Wool Show and Unravel... Autumn. We have also put together some yarn bundles for the Westknits MKAL if you are still looking for yarn for that. 

Most of the yarn is on line already but there is a little more still to go. Grab a cup of tea and read the rest of the newsletter for all the details or jump straight to the preview page if you prefer. Everything will be available at 8pm this evening.

We have Westknits MKAL bundles and yarn for An Caitin Beag's new sweater pattern, non repeatable colourways on Lustrous, Slinky Twist and Yaksino and lots of your favourites on Crush, Enchant, Floof and Selkino!

 Browse Preview Page

Westknits MKAL Shawl Bundles

The Stephen West Mystery Knit a long is one of my favourite events in the knitting year. I just love seeing how different combinations of colours work up together. If you haven't done an MKAL before its a pattern released in weekly parts so you don't know what the finished piece will look like. There's always plenty of support with lots of others doing it too. Its not a race, although I find the encouragement of others does help me knit faster!

We have put together a few bundles if you would like to join in but don't have yarn yet. If the mystery aspect isn't for you then its always fun to see how different the same pattern can look in different colours. Sometimes switching a dark and a light shade can totally change the look!

 Browse All Bundles

White Cats in the Black Lodge

This is a new Twin Peaks inspired pattern from Marna Gilligan of An Caitin Beag. Featuring a round colour work yolk, with cats of course, and hem and cuff details. We have yarn bundles for the red and natural which will cover all sizes from child to the largest adult size and black for the main colour. 1 to 3 skeins of the main colour is required depending on size. This is on Voluptuous our custom spun 100% British yarn.

February Shop Update February 21 2023

Its been a busy month since the last newsletter and its actually only been 3 weeks! Shop update is a little earlier as we will be busy at Unravel next week which I'm really looking forward to. I do hope you can come too.

Outside of work my kids have both had exams recently, just school ones but its all good practise, and it looks like they went well.

My two designs for Unravel are just having final tweaks and will be available at the show and on line afterwards. We have also expanded our Dye to Order to include both Enchant and Enchant Dk and I've been updating the photos for all bases so do check those out and let me know what you think.

Quite a lot of new yarn this month, remember if you want to order and collect at Unravel use the code UnravelPickUp to take the postage off and make sure you don't miss out. We will be taking all the yarn to Unravel with us and most is unrepeatable colourways so if you aren't coming to the show it may not be available when we get back.

We are still uploading new yarn so keep checking the preview page, or read on to see what's coming.

This month we have: Crush Dk, Desire Marble, Lustrous, Squash and Cloudgazer to feed those creative ideas.

Browse Preview Page

Laceweight

Cloudgazer

We haven't had a restock of Cloudgazer for a while so this month there are a bumper new 11 colourways. All non-repeatable and some only have 1 or 2 skeins available. Cloudgazer is a lovely alternative to Floof with baby alpaca instead of mohair. The halo is slightly shorter and softer but can be used in the same way as Floof either alone on large needles for a very light and airy piece or combined with another yarn to add texture and interest (and warmth!)

Fingering Weight Yarns

Desire Marble

This is the fingering weight version of our popular Desire Marble Dk. If you haven't tried this base yet its lovely and soft, 100% merino but spun with some parts of one ply using the natural black fibre to give an interesting effect. It doesn't work up stripy as the black is included randomly and works up nicely in both knit and crochet projects. Check out the Desire Marble page to see a knitted sample. All colourways are non-repeatable and some are single skeins.

Lustrous

A lustrous combination of silk and merino in equal balance resulting in a super soft sock weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls, scarves and garments. All non-repeatable colourways dyed in twos to fours per batch.

Squash

Squash is a 100% nylon free version of our popular sock yarn Crush. It has the same smooth, round structure and is 100% superwash merino. Perfect for socks, shawls, accessories and any other fingering weight project. These colourways are all non-repeatable so do check them out and see what we have been creating.

Dk Weight Yarns

Crush Dk

Lots more Crush Dk in stock ready to go, or go to Unravel. We hope to have the biggest display of our repeatable colourways on lots of bases at Unravel. Do check it out in the Barley Room or look for photos on social media.

Events

Unravel

We will be at Farnham Maltings for the fabulous 3 day Unravel Festival next week. Check out their website for tickets and full details of the talks and other things going on. If you are coming and wish to pick up your order at the show please use the code UnravelPickUp to remove the postage cost.

Other Dates for your Diary:

• 3rd - 5th March - Pop Up Shop at Yarnfest
• 11th March - Pop Up Shop at Brown Paper Loves, Newbury
• 18th - 19th March - East Anglia Yarn Festival
• 29th March - Shop Update
• 1st April - Open Studio

Thank-you for reading this month's newsletter this month and sorry its slightly later going out, our mail provider has slightly changed the site so I had to start from scratch rather than use my previous template so it all took a little bit longer. Hopefully back to normal next month. Keep warm and enjoy your crafting and hope to see you at an event soon.

Rachel x

New Year, New Yarn! January Shop Update February 10 2023

I hope 2023 is being kind to you all so far. We seem to have had a fairly busy month already. The sale went really well and lots of yarn has found new homes, thank-you to everyone who ordered.

Behind the scenes we have also been working on a very large wholesale order so there is yarn everywhere at the moment! Does your local yarn shop stock Skein Queen? Do tell them about us if you would like to see our yarn on their shelves.

We have also been to Waltham Abbey Wool Show which was their 10th show and was a great day. Thank-you to everyone who spoke to us and bought yarn or kits. If you signed up to this newsletter after meeting us there welcome, I hope you find it useful and if you want to get in touch just hit reply and I'll try to help.

All the new yarn is up so feel free to head straight to the preview page, or read on for more information. Do make sure you check out the events section at the end tho as there are some dates for your diary in there.

This month we have: Crush, Desire Marble DK, Enchant DK, Flockly, Voluptuous Skinny and Little Wrigglers for your perusal.

Browse Preview Page

Dk Yarns

Enchant Dk

I am really please to share that we will be increasing our range of Enchant and Enchant Dk available very soon. This is a beautifully soft alpaca, silk and cashmere base which has been described by a customer at one show as "Like stroking a cloud". The alpaca content does make the yarn take the dyes slightly differently and speckles are more diffuse so the repeatable colours do look slightly different. Take a look at the recent social media post on Instagram to see a comparison between the same colourway on different bases. There are 5 more colours available today and keep an eye out for an exciting announcement about more colours soon.

Desire Marble Dk

Thank-you to everyone who suggested names for the Marble Dk on social media earlier this week, do look and see if I used your suggestion. If you haven't tried this base yet its lovely and soft, 100% merino but spun with some parts of one ply using the natural black fibre to give an interesting effect. It doesn't work up stripy as the black is included randomly and works up nicely in both knit and crochet projects. Check out the Desire Marble Dk page to see a knitted sample.

Fingering Weight Yarns

Flockly

Flockly is one of my favourite yarns. The Bluefaced Leicester wool in it is grown in the UK and its blended with silk and cashmere to give a soft and luxurious yarn which still has a woolly feel to it and its fairly hard wearing due to the long staple length of the BFL. Do keep an eye out for other BFL bases as well as its a really versatile fibre - We currently have Bliss Heavy Lace, Tweedore and Bloom Dk with plans to restock others and introduce more soon.

Voluptuous Skinny

Our custom spun fingering weight yarn which combines Exmoor Blue which is a cross between the Exmoor Horn and Blue Faced Leicester and organic Merino. Its a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn that blooms slightly when washed.

Little Wrigglers

This will be the last batch of Little Wrigglers we are going to dye so please don't wait if you want to add some to your stash. Wriggle is 100% merino singles yarn and these little pops of colour are great for colourwork.

Crush and Crush Bundles

Crush, our favourite sock yarn which can be used for almost anything. We have restocked some repeatable colourways, but don't forget you can always order the one you need and we will dye it up for you. We also have preorders available for our two advent yarn bundles - the Cloudy Rainbow and the Stormy Rainbow from the most recent advent calendar. These will close in just over a week so do order now if you don't want to miss out. We also have the last few WAWS sock bundles if you didn't get one at the show.

Events

Yarnfest Pop Up Shop

Our next Yarnfest Pop Up Shop will be from the 3rd to the 5th February.

Unravel

We will be at Farnham Maltings for the fabulous 3 day Unravel Festival in February. If you are coming and wish to pick up your order at the show please use the code UnravelPickUp for free postage.

Other Dates for your Diary:

• 3rd - 5th February - Pop Up Shop at Yarnfest
• 15th February - Shop Update
• 24th - 26th February - Unravel
• 3rd - 5th March - Pop Up Shop at Yarnfest
• 11th March - Pop Up Shop at Brown Paper Loves, Newbury
• 18th - 19th March - East Anglia Yarn Festival

Thank-you for reading this very long newsletter this month and sorry its slightly later going out, our mail provider has slightly changed the site so I had to start from scratch rather than use my previous template so it all took a little bit longer. Hopefully back to normal next month. Keep warm and enjoy your crafting and hope to see you at an event soon.

Rachel x

December Shop Update - Gift Ideas December 12 2022

Thank-you to everyone who came to the Open Studio on Saturday. It was lovely to see so many people and I lost count of how many visitors we had. Our raffle raised £53 for Action Through Enterprise. Congratulations to Ruth for winning the advent calendar!

I'll keep the rest of this introduction short today, there's a lot to do and only me in the studio. Some of the yarn and the two shawl kits are already up but there is more to add which will be going on line during the day today so keep checking the preview. Plus there are some small gifts you might like to find in your stocking.

There are Kits, Crush, a little Desire Marble DK, Floof, Voluptuous DK, Yaksino, Enchant, cards and stocking fillers!

View Shop Update Preview Here

Kits

Wrapped and ready to go under the tree - perfect for that special knitter on your gift list. (Do feel free to forward this email to anyone who may appreciate some ideas for presents)

Slow Exposure

This stunning shawl with a rainbow of stripes and a choice of main colour is a lovely relaxing knit. The Lustrous for the stripes adds just a touch of luxury.

100 Words for Rain

This shawl is a combination of smooth Crush and fluffy Floof to create a warm and cosy shawl with a lovely drape. Other colourways can be put together on request.

View all Kits and Yarn Bundles

Stocking Fillers

Browse Stocking Fillers

Books

Do you know someone wanting to learn to knit? Knit How by Pom Pom Publishing is a friendly and easy-to-use book that will take them from their first stitches to sock, garments and more!

If you can already knit but want to make that step into garments then Ready, Set, Raglan is the book for you - 8 different raglan sweater patterns with lots of hints and tips to really make it your own.

Alternatively, if socks are on your to-do list for next year Ready, Set, Socks is a great book for new or experienced sock knitters alike. Every pattern is given for both fingering and DK weight yarns. As you know, I'm a huge fan of DK socks for learning or just for a quick project. I hope I find this one under my tree.

We also stock Pom Pom Magazine and Laine, both of which are lovely publications which would be nice to read by the fire with articles and recipes (depending on issue) as well as patterns.

Browse Books

Finish it off with a Card

We have cards from the lovely Tilly Flop for all occasions, some festive and some that would work all year round, and with knitting and crochet themes so there really is a card for every occasion.

Yarn

Enchant

We restocked the Enchant DK last month so this month we have the fingering weight version. It is the softest base we stock and its blend of Alpaca, Cashmere and Silk has been described by one customer at a show this year as being like cuddling a cloud!

Desire Marble DK

This base is super popular and most of our new colours sold at the Open Studio. We will dye more in the new year but here are the 3 colours left. They are lovely jewel tones of teal, red and blue.

Crush

Crush restock - lots of your favourite colourways. Did you know, these three colours are all in the top 4 most popular colourways - the other one is Heavenly Nightmare. Can you name them?

Floof

This is a fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. See the 100 Words for Rain shawl for an example of how it looks worked alone.

Voluptuous DK

As well as the Sonsie DK with received new stock of Voluptuous DK last month so we have started dyeing up some new colours in this lovely, custom spun, woolly yarn. Remember all colours are non-repeatable so make sure you have enough for your project.

Yaksino

Yaksino is a heady mix of bouncy merino and warm yak with the sheen of silk with a twist.

This yarn arrives in the workshop in a natural grey base colour which results in deep, rich colourways when dyed.

Last posting date for Tracked 48 which we use for all UK parcels is Friday 16th December. Please make sure you order in plenty of time to receive by Christmas if desired.

Thank-you for reading this very long newsletter this month. I haven't included up coming events so I will share those later but I will let you know we are going to be quite busy going to shows next year. Keep warm and enjoy your crafting.

Rachel x

November Shop Update December 01 2022

Well autumn has certainly arrived here at SQHQ just in time for our cosy update of yarn. We've had a few misty mornings and rather a lot of rain this week. Luckily it was dry on Sunday for Remembrance Day which was good as both of my kids are in Scouts so were taking part.

My MKAL shawl has taken a rest while I work on some designs I need to finish, I love seeing everyone else's finished shawls tho.

Behind the scenes we are busy dyeing for wholesale customers and preparing for the Open Studio and the Christmas Fair at the beginning of December. It would be lovely to see you at the Open Studio. Purlescence, who are a short drive away, are also open with Dragon Hill Studios visiting so you can make a whole day of it. We will be open 10am til 2pm and Purlescence will stay open til 4pm.

The update this month is a little smaller but full of lots of cosy yarns. We finally have some new Sonsie DK and we have also dyed up some Enchant DK and Desire Bounce. There are also the final few Advent Calendars available this evening.

If none of these yarns appeals remember we have lots of other yarns in stock on the website including lace weight and fingering weight options.

Everything is already on the website so either jump straight to the preview page or read on for more information. It all goes live at 8pm this evening.

View Shop Update Preview Here

DK Weight

Enchant DK

Enchant DK is the softest DK base we stock. Its blend of Alpaca, Cashmere and Silk has been described by one customer at a show this year as being like cuddling a cloud! Its also available in fingering weight. The DK however is perfect for quicker gift projects, cosy accessories or other special projects.

Sonsie DK

Our new batch of Sonsie DK is here, dyed and lovely. Its custom spun for us in Devon from British fibre and is a bouncy, woollen yarn which isn't superwash and blooms slightly when washed. Perfect for garments or accessories.

Chunky

Desire Bounce

Desire Bounce is out 100% merino chunky yarn. With 100m per 100g it knits up quickly and makes cosy accessories. I have used it before for hats for my kids and even adult size will come out of 1 skein.

Advent Calendars

All our pre-ordered advent calendars have now arrived so there are a few left I can make available. All the DK ones have sold but there are 3 Lustrous and 1 Crush which will be added to the shop update at 8pm.

Events

 3rd December 2022

Christmas Open Studio

In collaboration with Purlescence and Dragon Hill Studio our open studio looks set to be good day. We will have tea and cake, a raffle to win an advent calendar and lots of yarn to squish. We are open from 10am to 2pm and Purlescence will be open til 4pm. It would be lovely to see you there.

Thank-you for reading to the end of the newsletter this month. Lots going on but I have tried to keep it as short as possible. Next month is the start of a whole series of events so I hope we will be able to see you at some of those. Keep an eye on social media and the newsletter to find out where we are going to be. In the mean time keep warm and enjoy your crafting.

Rachel x

October Shop Update October 20 2022

And just like that its October! There is no doubt now we are firmly in autumn with a nip in the air and a good excuse to wear all the woollies. My own knitting I have been enjoying the Westknits MKAL, although I'm rather behind already but that's ok as its not a race.

We have been busy here at SQHQ finishing off the advent dyeing and doing lots of wholesale. Its this time of year we also dye our seasonal base Five for Silver which is a lovely sparkly yarn. This month we also have Lustrous Lace and Blush.

Everything is already on the website so either jump straight to the preview page or read on for more information. It all goes live at 8pm this evening.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Fingering Weight

Five for Silver

This is seasonal yarn base we dye in the run up to Christmas and is a lovely soft merino nylon yarn with 5% stellina sparkle which is also soft and not scratchy. Its hard to capture the sparkle of these in photographs. Its described as a sock yarn but could be used for any project that uses a fingering weight yarn. Maybe choose it for a pop yarn if a project to add an extra element to make it stand out from other bases in the item.

Blush

Very sadly the mill that produces Blush went out of business in 2020 and we are almost at the end of our supply. I think there is enough for one more update after this one. I have been searching for an alternative but at the moment I cannot find one that I feel is good enough quality without requiring a very large price hike so at the moment it looks like it will be discontinued at some point early next year. Its a lovely base which is soft and smooth and has a nice stitch definition.

Lace Weight

Lustrous Lace

Lustrous Lace has proved very popular since we started offering it dye to order and also at shows so we have dyed some popular colours to have in stock for a quicker delivery. I particularly love the way Fairy Dust has come out and look forward to seeing that one knitted up into something beautiful and fun. I think it would look lovely paired with River Thames or Narwhal for a 2 colour project too.

Events

 3rd December 2022

Christmas Open Studio

In collaboration with Purlescence and Dragon Hill Studio our open studio looks set to be good day. We will have tea and cake, a raffle to win an advent and lots of yarn to squish. It would be lovely to see you there.

Just a short newsletter this month. Remember to check the time if you aren't in the UK as we are in clock changing season. You should be able to check here what time it will be locally. Thank-you for reading and enjoy your crafting. 

Rachel x

September Blog Update October 18 2022

Its been a very busy month since the last newsletter and the sad news of the Queen's death came just as I had set up for Unravel... Autumn so I was too busy to process it properly til I was home. I did however spot the plaque in the centre of the header on my walk to The Maltings on Friday morning and stopped for a quiet moment. Put up earlier in the year in happy times for her jubilee next to a lovely carved knitted piece; Do look out for them from the path by the river if you visit The Maltings.

The show however was lovely as always. The Maltings is one of my favourite venues and for a change we were in the Great Hall which had such a buzz. I love the little upstairs rooms but it feels a much bigger event in the hall. Lots of people came round looking for inspiration for the Westknits MKAL and I hope I helped some of you with your choices. If you are taking part and want to chat more do check out our facebook group. I will be starting a thread in there soon to share yarn choices and there will be threads each week to share photos, help each other and general chat but there will be no pressure to keep up - I'm sure I won't manage it, so take your time and enjoy. Do come and join us.

Going back further in september was Southern Wool Show which seems a very long time ago now but was another amazing show. Thank-you to everyone who visited the stand.

There is Desire Marble and Bloom DK in non-repeatable colours in tonight's update and some Crush and Crush DK.

Everything is already on the website so either jump straight to the preview page or read on for more information. It all goes live at 8pm this evening.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Fingering Weight

Desire Marble

Desire Marble is a skooshy superwash merino which has been spun with a darker fibre for parts of one ply giving an interesting marbled effect. Super soft feel suitable for hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments. All non-repeatable colourways. Also available as Desire Marble DK if you prefer a slightly thicker yarn.

Crush

Not just for socks - our Crush base can be used for garments, accessories, even shawls and has a lovely drape when knitted to a looser gauge. We have topped some of our repeatable colourways up but also have these 3 non-repeatable colourways. Be quick, there are only a small number of skeins of each.

DK Weight

Bloom DK

Bloom DK is is a lovely yarn. Its nice a woolly which is perfect for colder weather garments and accessories but the Bluefaced Leicester makes it soft and smooth so comfortable to wear. It also has a slight sheen to it which makes it very pleasing to dye as the colours shine. Can you tell this is one of my favourite fibres?

Crush DK

A top up of mostly repeatable colours but a couple of one-offs as well. If you need a bigger quantity than we have in stock for a project don't forget that we offer dye to order for any of our 70 (ish, I lose count) repeatable colourways on 4 bases including Crush DK.

Events

 3rd December 2022

Christmas Open Studio

Pop the date in your diary, we are having a Christmas open studio on the 3rd December. We are collaborating with Purlescence so you can visit us both on that day. They are only 10 minutes away from SQHQ. Full details will be available later but there will be the usual tea, cake and yarn. Hope to see you there.

Thank-you for reading. I hope you have found it useful and inspiring. If you are looking for help putting together yarns for the Westknits MKAL or any other project do hit reply, I'm always happy to help.

Rachel x

August Shop Update August 25 2022

Seems a long time since the last newsletter but I think that's just because so much has happened! Thank-you to everyone who came to see us at Summer Wool Festival. It was a great weekend. Then I had a birthday, we had another heat wave and last week I was on holiday. We have been busy here at SQHQ as well. Dyed up lots of lovely yarn for the upcoming shows and been working on some wholesale orders. Does your local yarn shop stock our yarns? Do ask them to get in touch if you would like to see our yarns on their shelves. We send wholesale orders worldwide!

September looks like it will be busy with 2 shows in 2 weeks. Do come and say Hi if you are there.

There's a lot of yarn in this month's update so I won't chat too much. We have restocked the Selkino and the Lustrous Lace. I have also renamed the pre-orders section Dye to Order to make it clearer. Currently we are shipping within 2 weeks of ordering but that may slip a little while we are busy at shows.

We also have non-repeatable colourways of Enchant, Merlin and Slinky Twist, and the two colours of Crush DK my daughter dyed the other week. She will be so happy if these sell out.

Everything is already on the website so either jump straight to the preview page or read on for more information. It all goes live at 8pm this evening.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Lustrous Lace

Lustrous Lace has proved very popular since we started offering it as a standard base. We are trying to keep plenty of colours in stock but if there is one of our standard colours you desire, don't wait for us to have it in stock, you can order it to be dyed especially for you! That's a choice of 78 colours.

Eleanor's Yarns

Not to be out-done by her brother, Eleanor joined me in the studio a few weeks ago and tried dyeing as well. She had a very clear idea what she wanted do and dyed two colourways with very little help from Eliza or me. I think she did a brilliant job.

Fingering Weight

Merlin

Merlin is a lovely summery blend of Merino and Linen which is beautifully cool to the touch and has a lovely drape which will only improve with wear.

Enchant

Enchant is a cloud soft dream of a yarn. Its a blend of alpaca, silk and cashmere and is so soft you have to touch it to believe it. Always really popular at shows because of this. I have been told its too cuddly to use and just needs to be stroked. However it does make gorgeous accessories and gifts if you do use it.

Slinky Twist

Slinky Twist is one of my favourite bases. Its billed as a sock yarn, which it does beautifully and is nylon free, soft and hard wearing, but its so much more than a sock yarn as well. It makes lovely garments and the high twist means it wears well even at a looser gauge than socks and its soft and drapey because of the silk so makes lovely shawls and scarves.

Selkino

Is there a new pattern using Selkino out? Do hit the reply butting and let me know if there is as I've missed it but this yarn had been flying off the shelves recently. I do love to work out what you are making with your orders. We have lots of colours of Selkino in stock at the moment. If you need help putting a colour palette together do drop me an email, I'm always happy to help and can email you photos of different combinations. Or even better, pop to see us at one of the shows we will be at in September, and don't feel shy if you want to match a yarn you already have, bring it along and I'll see if I can help.

Shows

Southern Wool Show

 

3rd - 4th September

This is our local show and its always lovely to see so many friends here. Held at Newbury Racecourse which is a great venue, lovely and flat access, loads of parking and a train station right next door. Check out social media for a sneak peek of our show colourway - Royal Racing.

9th - 10th September

Thank-you for reading all this extra long newsletter. I hope you have found it useful and inspiring.

Rachel x

July Shop Update August 25 2022

Firstly let me start this newsletter with an apology for everyone who ordered last week and has had to wait longer than usual for their parcels, and everyone still waiting for the Sock boxes. Unfortunately both Eliza and I came down with covid last week, completely coincidentally, so there was no one to pack post for most of the week. All parcels have now been shipped and the sock boxes are now on their way after the pattern has finished tech editing. This is an important step to make sure the pattern makes sense, nothing has been missed out, I haven't called a stitch one thing in one place and something else later on..... you get the idea. It makes the pattern a much better knitting experience so was definitely worth doing properly. I hope you will enjoy knitting the pattern and do let me know what you think. I already have some more patterns in progress.

In other news, its a big day for my daughter today as its her last day at primary school. Been a bit of a funny week with the hot weather meaning short days and the leavers BBQ that was supposed to happen yesterday afternoon turned into a breakfast event instead. Next step is secondary school in September!

Just over a week till Summer Wool Festival, looking forward to seeing lots of you there.

The yarns we have this month are Crush, Lustrous, Squash and Bliss Heavy Lace but don't forget you can preorder any of our repeatable colourways on Crush, Crush DK, Selkino or Lustrous Lace and we will dye it up for you if we don't have what you are looking for in stock.

Everything is already on the website so either jump straight to the preview page or read on for more information. It all goes live at 8pm this evening.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Bliss Heavy Lace

Bliss Heavy Lace is a slightly thicker lace weight - 600m per 100g as apposed to 800m - but could probably be substituted for most patterns. Its a Bluefaced Leicester and silk blend which has a lovely sheen and blocks beautifully. Perfect for a nice light weight summer shawl to cover your shoulders.

Fingering Weight

Lustrous

Lustrous is a blend of merino and silk and is lovely and cool to the touch. I have been using this base myself recently for a project to knit during the heat wave when trying to work with mohair was getting difficult! As well as these lovely summery shade to work with now, we also have Lustrous available as an option for the advent calendars this year. Do make sure you order yours soonif you don't want to miss out.

Advent Calendars

Squash

Squash has the same structure and merino of Crush, without the nylon. This makes it the perfect choice for many projects including socks and garments if you prefer to avoid manmade fibres as well as being soft and drapy for shawls and other accessoires.

Crush

As well as many of your favourite repeatable colours on Crush we also have these three one off colourways. These will be going to Summer Wool Festival at the end of the month so if you want to grab them first now is your chance.

Summer Wool Festival

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter, please don't be disappointed by the slightly smaller update this month, we have plenty of other weights and yarns in stock. If you would like help choosing yarn for your next project do drop me an email. I would love to help. Hope you see you at one of our shows this summer, in the mean time enjoy the slightly cooler weather and keep crafting!

Rachel x

June Shop Update June 27 2022

Its been a busy month since the last newsletter. Kids off for a week for half term and we had a lovely day in London doing some museums then dinner in Covent Garden. Then I visited Nicky at All About the Yarn for a pop up shop and had a great time. Knitting wise I have had my first pattern professionally tech edited - the Alp-aca Socks pattern written especially for Ashley's yarn - currently available in Alp-aca Sock Boxes, so that's really exciting, and I'm knitting the Bonnie Isle Hat from Shetland Wool Week. Do join us in our Facebook group if you want more about what I'm up to every week that's not strictly SQ related.

Some of you may have already seen this month's shop update preview - we had to get it up early as there was scheduled work on the power lines round SQHQ yesterday, so all the photography etc was done last week to make sure we weren't delayed if the work over ran. It does mean I'm totally confused by what day of the week it is tho! This month we have Colour Scrolls - read on if you don't know what these are, Enchant, Entwist and Flockly.

Read on for more information or head over the the website to see the preview. It all goes live at 8pm this evening.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Fingering Weight

Colour Scrolls

Colour Scrolls are blanks, or knitted sections of yarn, which are unravelled as you work with them. We rarely dye these as they are done one by one and do take time, but each one is totally individual. Half are double stranded so you get 2 identical 50gs of yarn, which means matching socks, gloves, sleeves or whatever you fancy; the others are single stranded so great for shawls, garments or if you prefer socks that are related rather then identical.

Flockly

Flockly is my favourite fingering weight yarn, its a blend of Bluefaced Leicester, Silk and Cashmere and has a lovely sheen while still being slightly woolly. Perfect for garments, accessories and shawls.

Enchant

Enchant is a dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen. Perfect for very special projects where softness is the most important factor. Treat someone special to a soft hat or scarf.

Entwist

A high twist sock yarn with no nylon which is perfect for anyone wanting to reduce their plastic consumption. (We also post out plastic free unless a very large order) This yarn doesn't just have to be socks tho, it will also work very well for garments, accessories and shawls.

Ashley's Alp-aca Yarns

These two colourways have been designed and dyed by my son Ashley to raise funds for a very special trip this summer to the Alps with Scouts for 2 weeks of activities and camping. There are two options - a DK sock box or a 4ply bundle and £5 from each will go into his Jamboree fund. I think he's done a lovely job with the colours.

Sock Box    |    Yarn Bundle

Virtual Yorkshire Yarn Fest

 

Really please to be taking part in Virtual Yorkshire Yarn Fest again this month. Its Sunday 26th June and check social media for what time we will be on. This is the show colourway which will be available and is called Alexandrite. Make sure you follow them on Instagram to see all the vendors.

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter, I hope there is something to whet your appetite,

Rachel x

May Shop Update May 25 2022

I'm sure this month has been even shorter, I blame the easter holidays. The kids and I had a lovely evening watching Steve Backshall talk about Sharks and other marine animals. At SQHQ we have a few things we have been working on behind the scenes. I'll just say keep an eye on your inboxes for news of advent calendars very soon. Also, Ashley's yarn will be available before the end of this month, I'm just truing to make sure the extras are perfect. We have also had a few people visit us, including the lovely people behind Wool and Wishes podcast, its new, do go and check it out. If you ever want to visit do ask, we are here most of the time and have a fair amount of stock you can squish and stroke.

Slightly less yarn in this month's shop update, but we have made 6 beautiful fade sets on Blush, some new Desire Marble DK colourways and some summery colours on Voluptuous Skinny. We have also restocked the Selkino and the Floof.

If we haven't got what you need in stock, don't forget we offer dye to order on all of our standard colourways on Crush, Crush DK, Selkino and now Lustrous Lace.

Everything is on the preview page if you want to take a look or read on for more information and photos.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Lace Weight

Floof

A fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Its a blend of mohair and silk which results in a yarn with a fine, soft halo and it takes the dye beautifully giving deep, rich colours. Use on its own, held double or held together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. It works especially well for lace patterns where the halo holds the open work of the lace out and shows off the yarn.

As a note, if you don't like the feel of mohair based yarns but desire the fluffy texture, Cloudgazer is alpaca silk based and soft with a slightly shorter halo. It does have a softer colour palette dye to the difference in the way alpaca takes the dye.

Fingering Weight

Blush Fade Sets

Blush is a lovely and smooth yarn, made with a blend of merino and cashmere. These fade sets consist of 4 100g skeins which have been dyed together to help you create a perfect fade project. If you require 5 skeins I can suggest adding the following to make a 5 skein set:

• Blackberry Stains to Cottage Cornflowers or Little Mermaid
• Amethyst Smoke to Plum Fruits
• Butterscotch to Ripening Fruit or Seaweed Beds
• Tea Rose to Sundown Beach

Voluptuous Skinny

Custom spun for Skein Queen, Voluptuous is a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Spun in Devon from British Exmoor Blue and Falkland Islands Merino, each 200g skein has a generous yardage of 666m.

Selkino

Selkino is a super soft and lustrous yarn. The single ply structure is best reserved for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls. If you can't see the colour you require you can order any of our standard colourways to be dyed on Selkino especially for you. This range includes lots of variegated and semi-solid colours.

DK Weight

Desire Marble DK

Desire Marble is a skooshy superwash merino which has been spun with a darker fibre for parts of one ply giving an interesting marbled effect. Super soft feel suitable for hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments. All the colourways are one offs so not repeatable.

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter, I hope there is something to inspire your summer knitting and do look out for news of our other new items which will be released soon,

Rachel x

April Shop Update April 28 2022

So its been a great month since the last newsletter - Lots of you have visited either our open studio or the show in Coventry and its been lovely. Next month is a little quieter then I have a pop up shop in June in Frome and I'm thinking of another Open studio in July before the rest of this year's shows start. Hopefully next month will see the unveiling of the new website, I just have a few little niggles left to fix.

Yarnwise - we have a lot of lovely one off colourways this month, as well as the new standard colourways on lots of bases. These have been super popular at the events so I hope you like them too. Linger, Little Squashes, Flockly DK and Sonsie Aran are all one off colourways. There is a mixture of standard colours and one offs on Crush and Crush DK. Selkino and Lustrous Lace are all standard colourways, some new and some old favourites.

Everything is on the preview page if you want to take a look or read on for more information and photos.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Lace Weight

Lustrous Lace

A lustrous combination of silk and merino in equal balance resulting in a super soft lace weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls, scarves and garments. This base is newly added to our standard bases so is now available to pre-order in any of our standard colourways. I hope this helps especially if you need enough yarn for a slightly larger project as we often only dye laceweight in very small batches.

Fingering Weight

Linger

Linger is a high twist sock yarn with good yardage and is soft and strong. Although you don't have to keep it just for socks!

Little Squashes

Squash is squidgy and machine washable. The amount of twist means it can be used as a sock yarn and is a good choice if you prefer to avoid nylon. Also great for shawls, accessories and garments.

These bundles of 20g minis give you a range of colours for colourwork, small items or just a pop of colour.

Selkino

Selkino is a super soft and lustrous yarn. The single ply structure is best reserved for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls. If you can't see the colour you require you can order any of our standard colourways to be dyed on Selkino especially for you. This range includes lots of variegated and semi-solid colours.

Crush

Crush is our best selling sock yarn with a tight twist, good yardage and is soft and strong. Perfect for a variety of projects, not just socks, it has been used for shawls, garments, accessories and more as well. Its takes the dye well and has crisp speckles on the variegated colourways and a pleasing slight tonal variation on the semi-solids.

DK Weight

Flockly DK

Flockly DK is a blend of blue-faced leicester, silk and cashmere and is a beautiful sheepy-yet-soft yarn with a subtle silky sheen. This thicker version is perfect for extra special garments or accessories. All the colourways are one offs so not repeatable.

Crush DK

Crush DK is the thicker version of our sock yarn blend. Perfect for garments and accessories as its soft and washes and wears well. It can still be used for socks and they are especially warm and quick to make. We have a little of the show colourway left on Crush DK as well as the new colourways and some old favourites.

Heavy Weight

Sonsie Aran

Using British Corridale and Polworth fibres this yarn is custom spun for us in Devon producing a bouncy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Perfect for cardigans, scarves, hats, sweaters and blankets.

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter, lots of new yarn this month so I hope you will enjoy browsing through it in time for the update this evening. I hope to see you soon,

Rachel x

March Shop Update April 28 2022

March Shop Update

Its been super busy at SQHQ recently, as I hope you know we have an Open Studio coming up in just over a week, then we will be at the brand new National Wool Show in Coventry the week after, but we have also been dyeing up a lovely wholesale order and Eliza had a week off which left me with the dye pots all week which was fun. I have also been working behind the scenes on a new look for the website which I really hope to be able to launch soon!

We have top-ups of 6 bases this month, three of our standard bases, Crush, Crush DK and Selkino, so we have lots of those ready for the events coming up, and 3 extra special ones including the super soft Enchant, the unusual Desire Marble DK and the chunky Desire Bounce.

We do have lots more yarn to dye for the Open Studio and the Show so we will be busy for the next couple of weeks and I hope to see some of you at one of these events but if you can't make it that yarn will be in the next shop update on the 20th April.

Check the shop update preview page for all the new yarns or read on for more information and photos.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Fingering Weight

Enchant

Enchant is a dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere which makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen. Super popular with hundreds of projects using it on Ravelry for everything from garments to shawls and accessories.

Crush

Crush is our super versatile sock yarn, but it doesn't have to be kept just for socks. I have knitted everything from garments to shawls in Crush and it has a lovely drape when knitted with a looser gauge than used for socks.

Its still a great sock yarn as well and if you can't see the colour you require you can order any of our standard colourways to be dyed especially for you.

Selkino

Selkino is a super soft and lustrous yarn. The single ply structure is best reserved for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls. If you can't see the colour you require you can order any of our standard colourways to be dyed on Selkino especially for you.

DK Weight

Desire Marble DK

Desire Marble DK is a thicker version of this super popular skooshy superwash merino yarn. It has been spun with a naturally darker fibre for parts of one ply giving an interesting marbled effect. Super soft feel suitable for hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments.

Crush DK

Crush DK is the thicker version of our sock yarn blend. Perfect for garments and accessories as its soft and washes and wears well. It can still be used for socks and they are especially warm and quick to make. Do check out our most recent sock box if you haven't tried DK socks yet. This yarn is also available in any of our standard colourways as dye to order.

Chunky

Desire Bounce

Desire Bounce is a skooshy, chunky superwash merino suitable for hats or scarves or anything you want to knit up super fast. I knitted this hat for my daughter at least 2 years ago, she has now grown out of it, and it still looks perfect. Its a great yarn for quick projects. Don't worry, she does have a new hat, which is also knitted in Desire Bounce.

Events

2nd April

Open Studio

Advance warning of our next Open Studio which I hope will be extra special. More details to follow but get the date in your diary now!

9th & 10th April

National Wool Show

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter, I know it was a bit longer this time with all the exciting things coming up. I hope to see you soon, 

Rachel x

February Shop Update February 28 2022

A Mini Shop Update!

February always feels a very short month. I know its 3 days less but it feels so much more than that! Or is it just me? Anyway, this month we have a mini shop update, not in size, in contents! We have been dyeing up a whole bunch of mini skeins and have created bundles of 5 and 8 so you can pick which suits your project best. Every bundle is different. There are several other bases as well including the gorgeous Yaksino.

Thank-you to everyone who watched either of my virtual Unravel sessions. I hope you enjoyed seeing what we have in the studio. If you missed Unravel there is another virtual show this Saturday when I will be live on the Yorkshire Yarn Fest instagram page at 11.40am.

All the yarn is uploaded already, as well as the Little Crushes there is Floof, Lustrous Lace, Voluptuous DK and Skinny, Wriggle and Yaksino. Check the shop update preview page for all the new yarns or read on for more information and photos.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Lace Weight

Floof

This is a fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. We have variegated and semi-solid colourways on this base.

 Lustrous Lace

This is a non-superwash merino and silk blend which has a lovely shine and blocks well. Its 800m per 100g so is perfect for most laceweight patterns. Available in some of the most popular standard colourways.

Fingering Weight

Little Crushes

        

Our popular and versatile Crush sock yarn in mini skeins! Each individual skein weighs 20g and is approximately 85m long. Every bundle contains either 5 or 8 different colourways and each bundle is unique. Mini skeins are perfect for scrappy projects, heels and toes of socks, colourwork and lots more.

Yaksino

Yaksino is a heady mix of bouncy merino and warm yak with the sheen of silk with a twist.

This yarn arrives in the workshop in a natural grey base colour which results in deep, rich jewel tones when dyed.

Wriggle

Wriggle is a soft, smooth single ply yarn which is perfect for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls. If you can't see the colour you require you can order any of our standard colourways to be dyed on Wriggle especially for you.

Voluptuous

Voluptuous is our exclusive, 100% British yarn which is custom spun for us in Devon from e blend of Exmoor Blue and Merino. Its a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed and is available in fingering (skinny) and DK weights.

Skinny (left) and DK (right)

View Shop Update Preview Here

Events

26th February

Virtual Yorkshire Yarn Fest

Tune in to the Yorkshire Yarn Fest instagram page on Saturday to catch a whole day of yarny fun. I will be on at 11.40am and have some exclusive new colourways dyed especially for the event.

2nd April

Open Studio

Advance warning of our next Open Studio which I hope will be extra special. More details to follow but get the date in your diary now!

View Shop Update Preview Here

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter. I hope you can check out the virtual show and maybe even make it to our open studio. I hope to see you soon,

Rachel x

January Shop Update February 18 2022

New Year, New Yarn!

 Are we wishing Happy New Year this year, or just letting it creep in and hope it behaves? Whichever, I hope you are safe and well.

Thank-you to everyone who came to Waltham Abbey Wool Show, it was a great day in a lovely venue. I thoroughly recommend it as a show to visit if you can.

After that we did our big new year stock take so this shop update has lots of new yarn including a lot of unrepeatable colourways and very small batches. I think I counted over 100 new colourways across nearly 20 bases!

Last piece of news I hope you have already seen on social media is the introduction of a 10% discount if you buy 4 or more skeins of Crush DK that are in stock (not pre-orders, sorry). This should be applied automatically but isn't valid with any other offer. Do message me if you notice an issue.

We will be uploading yarn today so do keep checking back. There are good quantities of Blush, Slinky Twist, Crush and Crush DK, jumper quantities of Sonsie Aran and small amounts of lots of other bases. Check the shop update preview page for all the new yarns or read on for more information and photos.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Sonsie Aran

This is a perfect jumper yarn and is custom spun for us in Devon from Corridale and Polworth sheep. If you need inspiration for patterns Ready, Set, Raglan is a great book with lots of styles and options for creating a custom sweater. If you have stashed any of this yarn before, please be aware that this is the second batch we have received and the twist is slightly visibly different, just in case you are planning on using them together.

Crush

Crush is a brilliant yarn with many uses. Its primarily designed as a sock yarn with a small amount of nylon to make it hardwearing but this also makes it great for garments and with the rest of the fibre being merino its soft and has a lovely drape so also makes great shawls and accessories. We have restocked a lot of our standard colourways on as well as adding a few unrepeatable skeins for that extra special project. This is also the last chance to grab a skein of the super popular show colourway Meteor Storm from WAWS.

Blush

Sumptuously soft, hand dyed yarn with a touch of cashmere which is perfect for projects such as shawls, accessories and special garments. All our Blush colourways are unrepeatable and dyed in batches of up to 4 skeins.

Crush DK

There are several larger batches of Crush DK including this one in Lighthouse. Don't forget if you buy 4 or more skeins of Crush DK at the same time from the yarn we have in stock you will save 10%. Why not start a blanket or a sweater?

Check out the preview page for all the other yarns I haven't had space to tell you about - there's Laceweight, Fingering and DK - Alpaca, Cashmere, Silk, Mohair, Merino and more!

View Shop Update Preview Here

Events

27th January - 3rd February

Pop-up at Yarnfest

Our first pop up at Yarnfest this year will see Crush DK, Blush, Desire Marble and Slinky Twist. Do pop along and see Sue and Stuart if you can.

View Shop Update Here

Thank-you for reading to the end of this newsletter. Do check out the preview page to see all the yarn we have added this month. I haven't had space to mention it all here. Thank-you for your support, especially anyone who has joined since WAWS, its lovely to speak to you,

Rachel x

December Shop Update February 08 2022

So here we are at the last newsletter of the year!

Thank-you to everyone who came to the Open Studio on Saturday. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm already looking forward to the next one which hopefully will be in April next year.

That wasn't the last event of the year tho, I am having a pop-up shop in Petersfield next Saturday (11th) at the lovely Handmade Studios Yarn shop, just on the square. I haven't visited since they moved from Rowlands Castle so I'm looking forward to seeing the new shop and sharing some of our yarns. Do pop along if you are in the area.

Keep an eye on your email for news of things happening after Christmas - I'm trying to keep this newsletter short so I won't include them here. 

All the yarn for tonight is on line, we have some super soft Enchant, Bliss Heavy Lace in semi-solids, gorgeous gradient sets of Little Squashes, more Five for Silver - Duets this time, and a restock of the Crush. If you would like to go straight to the preview page you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care, stay warm and keep crafting!

Five for Silver

After the popularity of the Crush Duets last month we have dyed up some Five for Silver Duets this month. This will be the last batch of this base til next Christmas now as we only dye it seasonally. Each duets contains 2 50g skeins, one in a variegated colourway and the other in a coordinating semi solid. There are a maximum of two in each colour combination so they won't hang around.

Crush

We have restocked some of the more popular sock yarn colours we haven't had for a while as well as the last few skeins from this year's sock club that we found while tidying the studio. There is also more Jolly Holly which was by far the best selling colourway on Saturday - Would you like to see it added to the main collection?

Enchant

 The dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen.

Bliss Heavy Lace

This update we have dyed a small selection of semi-solid colourways to complement the variegated ones we have already. Its a bouncy, super soft yarn with a lovely silky sheen and drape which blocks beautifully.

Little Squashes

 The dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen.

Thank-you for reading to the end of this last full newsletter of 2021. Do keep an eye out for any news later in the month. Good luck with all your Christmas crafting,

Rachel x

November Shop Update November 11 2021

Well the nights really are drawing in now aren't they? If you aren't in the UK our clocks have now gone back to GMT so the shop update may go live at a slightly different time this month. Do double check your local time here.

I seem to be getting more knitting done in the darker evenings, which is a bonus especially as I'm still working on the WestKnits mystery KAL, although I'm hoping to have it finished soon. This it will be onto a couple of gift projects I have planned for Christmas. Are you making any gifts this year?

We have lots of lovely yarn in stock which is great for quick gift knits like Desire Bounce or the extra special Flockly DK. Crush DK is great for socks that knit up fast!

New this month we have had a big Bliss restock, both the fingering weight version and the heavy lace after someone kindly pointed out to me at a show we hadn't had it for a while! Its certainly not going anywhere, I do love a Bluefaced Leicester blend yarn. There is also some Floof and Crush DK in our repeatable colourways. 

Its also the month where we bring out our Christmas Five for Silver colourways. We only dye this base at this time of year so don't miss out. The names may all be festive but the colours are suitable for any time of year. To go with the Five for Silver we have also dyed some coordinating sets of Crush Duets - 50g skeins with 1 semi-solid and one variegated colourway with only 2 of each pairing. Also keep an eye on your email and social media later this month as I have a very exciting christmas item planned that you might want to ask Santa for.

All the yarn is uploaded to the website already so if you would like to go straight to the preview page you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care, stay safe and good luck with the gift projects!

View Shop Update Preview Here

Five for Silver

Our special seasonal base, Five for Silver is a merino nylon fingering weight yarn with a silver stellina sparkle in it. This is really difficult to capture in photos, you might be able to see a little in the close ups, but it really is a lovely silver sparkle. It's designed as a sock yarn but can be used for any fingering weight project. It looks especially good in shawls I think.

If you are wondering about the name of the blue one - Snegurochka - It was one of our favourite colourways from last year's advent calendar and is named after the Snow Maiden of Russian and Slavic folklore who is the granddaughter and helper of Ded Moroz, or Grandfather Frost, she helps distribute presents to children. ⁠

Crush Duets

Our same high quality Crush sock yarn, in a pair of 50g coordinating skeins. Great for smaller projects like mittens or hats or can be used for colourwork on larger items. We have carefully paired a specially dyed semi solid with 5 of our favourite variegated colourways. With only 2 of each bundle you know there won't be many projects in that colorway.

Bliss Yarns

Bliss

A lustrous combination of silk and Bluefaced Leicester wool resulting in a super soft fingering weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls and scarves.

Bliss Heavy Lace

Bouncy, super soft laceweight yarn with a lovely silky sheen and drape. This laceweight has 600m per 100g rather than the more common 800m which means its veru slightly heavier weight so a great choice for a first laceweight project or to substitute for fingering weight for a lighter fabric. This blocks beautifully and will really show a lace pattern off nicely.

Floof

Floof is a Mohair Silk blend with an amazing halo. A fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. Its not everyone's cup of tea I know, although apparently you can learn to love it. I have actually used Floof held with a laceweight yarn as one of the colours in my current shawl instead of a single fingering weight yarn and its working up beautifully and is super soft!

Crush DK

We have restocked the Crush DK in sweater quantities in some of our more popular colourways, but don't forget you can also preorder any of our standard colourways on Crush DK and we will dye it especially for you.

Advent Calendars

All our preordered advent calendars has been sent, do get in touch if you haven't received your tracking details. I will send an email when the last few are made available but there are only a few spare, so do keep an eye out.

Events

4th December

Christmas Open Studio

Pop the date in your diary, we are opening up the studio again for our festive open studio. More details to come nearer the time but expect homemade cake, hot chocolate and yarn!

11th December

Pop-up at Handmade Studios

Come and join us for a festive pop up shop at this lovely little yarn shop that has relocated from Rowland's Castle to Petersfield. Now they have more space for an even better range of hand dyed yarns.

Thank-you for reading to the end of this festive newsletter. I hope there is something here for that special person, whether you are making them a gift or giving 'with some assembly required'. Take care and keep crafting,

Rachel x

October Shop Update October 07 2021

Another amazing month since my last newsletter - and this week the weather seems to have hit the autumn button hard, crisp mornings, chilly days and the leaves seem to be racing to go every colour of red and orange.

It already seems more than a week and a half since Yarndale. What a fantastic weekend. Thank-you to everyone who came to see us. That's not the end of the events for this year tho, read on to find out what else we have planned.

Next big project here at SQHQ is dyeing the advent calendars, so with that in mind I will have to close orders for them very soon. Each one takes a lot of work so we don't make many spare. If you still want to order don't delay!

We have lots of yarn going in the shop update tonight - 11 different bases to be exact! There is Crush, including Little Crushes and the Yarndale show colourway "Maude at Dusk", Jumper quantities of Sonsie DK, Flockly DK and Voluptuous Skinny, lovely and warm Desire Bounce, semi-solid shades of Blush, Oasis Grande and Flockly, and some lovely Lustrous and Enchant which are both perfect for that extra special project.

All the yarn is uploaded to the website already so if you would like to go straight to the preview page you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care, stay safe and keep warm.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Crush

Crush is our lovely soft sock yarn that doesn't have to be kept just for socks. Its also perfect for garments and accessories as it wears and washes well and has beautiful drape so also makes great shawls. We had lots of comments at Yarndale on how soft one of our samples was and everyone was surprised when we said it was made in Crush! Check out the Little Crushes if you want a little pop of colour for a project and make sure you grab your skein of "Maude at Dusk" because we won't be dyeing this one again. There are also a few DK weight skeins available in this colourway.

Semi-Solids

With the latest Westknits MKAL kicking off on Friday we thought we'd bring you some extra, non repeatable, semi-solid colourways on a variety of different bases. Choose 5 on the same base or mix and match. If you want help putting your selection together do get in touch. We are more than happy to help you. If you are in the UK and order before lunchtime Thursday you should receive your yarn on Saturday as we post using Royal Mail's Tracked 48 service.

Blush

These are the new shades, but there are a few others in stock and lots of variegateds so do go and check out the whole collection here. Blush is a lovely yarn to work with. Its soft and smooth and has a beautiful drape. Made from South African merino with a touch of Cashmere its very special.

Oasis Grande

A lustrous combination of camel and silk in equal balance resulting in a super soft 4 ply yarn with a beautiful drape, ideal for shawls, scarves and garments. The natural colour of this base gives the dyed skeins a lovely depth of colour which really shows in these jewel tones.

Flockly

I'm sure it won't surprize you to know this is the base I have chosen for most of my mystery knit a long project. I'm a huge fan of Blue-faced Leicester bases. They take the dye beautifully and have a lovely shine which is enhanced but the silk. Combined with a little cashmere its the softest, cosiest yarn around.

Luxury Yarns

Lustrous

A lustrous combination of silk and merino in equal balance resulting in a super soft sock weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls, scarves and garments.

Enchant

The dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen. We have some lovely semi solids as well as a few of our variegated colourways which were really popular at Yarndale.

Sweater Yarns

Flockly DK

This is a double knit version of the lovely Flockly base. Its a beautifully smooth yarn with a nice sheen. Works well on its own for a garment or combined with another base.

Sonsie DK

Our custom spun Corridale and Polworth blend yarn. Sonsie is a bouncy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Perfect for cardigans, scarves, hats, sweaters and blankets. Each 200g skein has 506m making it go a long way!

Voluptuous Skinny

Another custom spun yarn, this one is a fingering weight blend of Exmoor Blue and organic Merino. Voluptuous is a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Great for slightly lighter weight but still woolly projects. 666m per 200g skein!

Voluptuous Skinny

Ideal for quick gifts or cosy accessories. Desire Bounce is my daughter's favourite yarn for a winter hat which is good as they are quick to knit too. We have 10 new colours, some of our favourite repeatable colourways and some non repeatable ones.

Advent Calendars

Don't miss out

If you are still thinking about ordering one of our advent calendars don't delay, we are starting the dyeing next week so I will be closing orders at the end of the week. Any questions just replay to this email and I'll get back to you.

Events

4th December

Christmas Open Studio

Pop the date in your diary, we are opening up the studio again for our festive open studio. More details to come nearer the time but expect homemade cake, hot chocolate and yarn!

11th December

Pop-up at Handmade Studios

Thank-you for reading to the end of this extra long newsletter. I hope there is something here that sparks some creative ideas whether for your own projects or for gifts. The season of warm, woolly items is definitely here. Take care and keep crafting,

Rachel x

September Shop Update September 20 2021

Wow, what a month is has been so far! Thank-you to everyone who came and said hi at Southern Wool Show and if this is your first newsletter, Welcome! It was a fabulous weekend, well organised with plenty of space, lots of visitors but the timed tickets meant everyone had time to look around without a crowd. If you came along do let me know what you thought.

After that I'm really looking forward to Yarndale 25th and 26th September at Skipton in Yorkshire. Make sure you book your tickets if you are planning in visiting. It would be lovely to see you there.

Tonight's shop update is a little smaller than previous ones because of dyeing for Yarndale, so its Blush, Crush, Desire Marble and Selkino. There are also a very few skeins of the show colour 'Rainbows in Newbury' left on Crush and Crush DK but this is it.

All the yarn is uploaded to the website already so if you would like to go straight to the preview page you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care, stay safe and keep warm. Its beginning to feel very autumnal round here.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Blush

This was very popular at the show and we are dyeing more semi-solid colours for Yarndale but in the mean time there are lots of variegated colourways and 3 new semi solids.

Crush

Crush is our sock yarn base but it doesn't need to be kept for socks. I've knitted garments and shawls with it too.

Selkino

This soft, smooth single ply merino silk yarn is perfect for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls.

Desire Marble

Its just over a year now since this unusual base was introduced and it still seems to be as popular as it was then. Its 100% merino but one ply has some lengths of natural black fibre giving an interesting heathered/ marbled effect.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter and I look forward to seeing you at Yarndale if you are visiting. Take care and keep crafting,

Rachel x

July Shop Update July 16 2021

Wow, July seems to have come round fast! Hello and welcome to another newsletter.

We have just had our lovely open studio - Thank-you to everyone who came. It really was a pleasure to be able to invite you to the studio and help you choose yarns for your planned projects. All being well we will have another Open Studio in December - keep an eye on social media for the date - hopefully we will be able to plan slightly further ahead next time.

We have a lovely little selection of yarns this month, something just a little bit special. There are semi-solid and variegated colours on Blush and Flockly. Two fingering weight yarns with different characters. Blush is oh so smooth merino cashmere whereas Flockly has a is a bit more woolly with the Bluefaced Leicester but has a stunning sheen from the silk. They are both very versatile for garments, shawls or accessories.

We have also introduced a new base which I hope you will enjoy using. Its a Bluefaced Leicester, Silk and Nylon sport weight that we have called Bounty. Sadly there do seem to be fewer patterns for this weight which is a shame as it knits up much faster than fingering but isn't as heavy as DK so can be worn year round. It is the same weight as a fingering and a lace weight yarn held together so is one option especially if you aren't so fond of very fluffy garments. I think I will be knitting myself a lovenote in it soon, as long as there is some left after tonight. We do only have 5 colours this time to see if you, and we, like it. If its popular, as I hope it will be, there will be more soon, it certainly passed the 'does it dye nicely' test.

To complement the new Bounty Sport we have added to the Crush Sport in some of your favourite standard colourways and there are also jumper quantities of Desire Marble DK which I know a lot of you were waiting for.

Finally check out the reinstated events section at the end of the newsletter.

All the yarn is uploaded to the website already so if you would like to go straight to the preview page you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care and stay safe and I hope you have some lovely summer weather where you are to enjoy.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Bounty Sport

If you have read the newsletter before, or seen me mention Bluefaced Leicester on social media, you will know how much I love BFL yarns. This UK sheep has a fleece which is very soft and has a very long staple. Its very fine and has a lovely sheen, drape and durability. This sport weight enhances this by blending it with Silk and Nylon to increase the shine and the durability. It feels amazing.

When we introduce a new base we usually only offer a very small range of colours to begin with, although because of this yarn's suitability for garments we have eight skeins available in each colour. If it proves popular we will have more in a future update and increase the range of colours to include so semi-solid shades as well. I hope you like this new yarn, and I would love to hear your feedback on it so do please drop me an email.

Desire Marble DK

Desire Marble is a skooshy superwash merino which has been spun with a darker fibre for parts of one ply giving an interesting marbled effect. Super soft feel suitable for hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments. This DK version is especially squashy and knits up quickly. This time we have dyed larger quantities of each colour so there should be enough for a garment.

Crush Sport

A merino nylon sport weight yarn which is super versatile. Dyed in 5 of our most popular standard colourways.

Blush

Sumptuously soft, hand dyed merino yarn with a touch of cashmere. Great for garments and shawls for example. We have dyed semi solids and variegateds so there is plenty of choice.

Flockly

Flockly is another of my Bluefaced Leicester blend yarns I really love. This one is beautifully sheepy-yet-soft with a subtle silky sheen. It blocks well; It takes the dye beautifully creating really rich tones and feels lovely to work with. Scroll to the end to see some possible fades and pairings of this lovely yarn.

Events

Yarnfest Pop up Shop

Our next pop-up shop at Yarnfest in Hermitage is 23rd to 29th July. Do pop along and take this opportunity to see our yarn in person. If there is anything in particular you would like to see do let either myself or Sue at Yarnfest know and I will see what I can do.

Southern Wool Show

Skein Queen will be attending the Southern Wool Show at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September. This year all tickets need to be purchased in advance from their website and numbers will be limited. There are also fewer stands this year to allow more space for both visitors and vendors to social distance.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter. Don't forget to let me know what you think of the new base, you can just send me email, I'd love to know what yarns you would like to see. Enjoy the sun while it lasts, stay safe and keep crafting.
Rachel x

Pause to EU orders from 24th June June 18 2021

I have been hoping not to have to write this post, but as its almost the end of June already and the vat changes within the EU begin on 1st July unfortunately I feel I have no option as small businesses in the UK currently cannot directly access the IOSS. I have several plans for continuing sales to the EU but at the moment I'm waiting on further information as to when different options will be available. I am deeply frustrated by the situation and hate disappointing you all by doing this but I don't want your precious parcels to be stuck in customs or you to receive large bills for vat and charges due.

To make sure all parcels are in the post before 1st July I will be stopping orders to the EU on the 25th June. Please contact me before placing a preorder before this date. Don't forget we have several lovely stockists in the EU as well so see if there is one near you.

I will post an update with the plan for starting EU orders again as soon as possible and I am hoping this pause will only be for a few weeks while systems are implemented and the new arrangements settle down.

Thank-you to everyone for you patience, Rachel x

Open Studio 10th July 2021 June 18 2021

Good News! We have decided to go ahead with an Open Studio on Saturday 10th July.

It will be slightly different to previous events with very reduced numbers and pre-booked appointment times so it is comfortable for everyone and social distancing can be easily done. We also ask that masks are worn unless you are medically exempt and there will be hand sanitizer to use before touching the yarn.

We are offering appointments on the hour from 10am til 1pm for 45mins of tea, cake and yarn squishing in a small group of up to 6.⁠
⁠
To book please email me on skeinqueen@gmail.com with your preferred time slot, plus an alternative, and the names and number of people in your group. Slots available on a first come basis and I will confirm what time your appointment is for. Any questions please contact me on the same email address. Thanks and I look forward to seeing you then 😀

Edit: 10am and 11am already full - availability for other time slots at the moment.

June Shop Update June 18 2021

Hello and welcome to another newsletter. This month seems to have gone even faster than usual, I wonder if its because of the lovely summer weather that has arrived here?

We actually seem to have yarn suitable for the weather tonight, which makes a change, although I accept no responsibility if the predicted thunderstorms do materialise.

This month we have dyed up some of our most summery lace weight - Limerick Lace - as well as lovely silky Lustrous. Either is great to knit with when its warmer as the silk and linen content feels cooler to the hand than pure wool. If socks are you summer project of choice then we have Entwist, a lovely all natural, high twist sock yarn.

If you are starting projects to wear later in the year then we have the more of our lightest weight custom spun yarn - Voluptuous Skinny - a fingering weight Exmoor Blue and Merino yarn, and some Cloudgazer which although being fluffy with alpaca and silk makes for lovely open garments that are super light to wear.

All the yarn is uploaded to the website already so if you would like to go straight to the preview page you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care and stay safe.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Limerick Lace

A relatively new base to our range this is a blend of 50% Baby Alpaca, 25% Silk and 25% Linen. Dyed up as semi solids it has a beautiful heathery appearance because the dyes we use are not taken up by the linen. It feels crisp to touch when new but linen softens with use so the drape will get better and better.

Lustrous

Lustrous is a fingering weight yarn made from 50% Silk and 50% Merino. Silk is a natural thermal regulator so will keep you cool in summer and warmer in winter making this yarn great for garments you want to get lots of wear throughout the seasons.

Entwist

Socks make great projects for warm weather, even if you don't feel like wearing them at the moment. They are small and portable so great for taking outside and generally don't lay in your lap much keeping you cooler. Entwist is a 100% merino sock yarn with a high twist making it nice and hard wearing while still being all natural fibres. If you do want to wear socks in warmer weather its still best to avoid cotton as it has no natural elasticity so will stretch out of shape and not bounce back like wool.

Voluptuous Skinny

Custom spun for Skein Queen, Voluptuous is a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. This is the fingering weight version which is perfect for lighter weight cardigans, scarves, hats, sweaters and blankets.

Cloudgazer

Cloudgazer is a fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. When knitted with larger needles its produces a lovely open fabric that is very light.

Yarnfest Pop up Shop

Our next pop-up shop at Yarnfest in Hermitage is 23rd to 29th July. Do pop along and take this opportunity to see our yarn in person. If there is anything in particular you would like to see do let either myself or Sue at Yarnfest know and I will see what I can do.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter. Look out for information on an extra shop update and an exciting knit a long happening soon. In the mean time, stay safe, enjoy the sun and keep crafting.
Rachel x

May Shop Update May 27 2021

Hello and welcome to everyone who signed up to this newsletter at Unravel. The last week has certainly been eventful. I hope everyone who came to the show had a great time. It was lovely to be back at a real event and get to chat to people, see what you have been making over lockdown and help plan your next project. The reduced numbers of tickets really helped make this happen as we had more time to talk. Hopefully this will be the first of more shows this year. The only downside was the weather was trying its hardest to make us think we were there in February still, with howling winds and torrential rain. I have finally dried out what I was wearing Saturday!

Its been hectic trying to do the shop update for this week, I could have done with May being longer so it could have been put back to next week but I think we have managed. Approximately 45kg of new yarn will be available tonight.

The bases we have tonight are Crush - Standard and one off colours, Flockly, Little Wrigglers, Enchant, Floof, Exquisite Twist, Sonsie DK, Lustrous Lace, Squash and Slinky Twist. Some of these are new and weren't on the stand at the weekend, others there might be slightly fewer skeins than usual so do check the description.

If you would like to go straight to the preview page for the shop update you can use the button below, otherwise read on for my descriptions of the yarn types.

Take care and stay safe.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Crush

This was the Crush wall at Unravel - we managed to dye up almost every one of our standard colourways to take to the show. With 70 colours that's quite a lot of Crush, but I do think it looked great. This does mean that we will have almost every colour on the website but if your favourite sold out, or you want a bigger quantity or different base, don't forget we have them all on dyed to order on 4 different bases. This is especially good if you are wanting a garment quantity as we will dye all the skeins in one batch to minimise variations.

There are also some non-repeatable colours which are super special as there will only ever be a maximum of 4 skeins because we didn't write the recipe down.

Lace Weight Yarns

Floof

A fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. There are 5 semi-solid colourways and 5 of our standard colourways available - these look slightly different on Floof because of the texture and the fibre content, but match the colourway on other bases.

Lustrous Lace

A lustrous combination of silk and merino in equal balance resulting in a super soft lace weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls, scarves and garments. Semi-solid and variegated colourways available but all non-repeatable.

Luxury Yarns

Enchant

The dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen. A real treat to knit with and perfect for those extra special projects.

Flockly

Slinky Twist

A high twist merino yarn blended with silk that absorbs the dye beautifully. This can be used for a variety of projects and has a lovely sheen but the high twist also makes it suitable for socks and is nylon free.

Sock Yarns

Squash

Squash is squidgy and machine washable. The amount of twist means it can be used as a sock yarn and is a good choice if you prefer to avoid nylon. Also great for shawls, accessories and garments.

Exquisite Twist

A high twist sock yarn that absorbs the dye beautifully. Consists of beautifully soft merino and cashmere with nylon for strength. A really nice combination of fibres.

Sonsie DK

Custom spun for Skein Queen, Sonsie is a bouncy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Perfect for cardigans, scarves, hats, sweaters and blankets.

Little Wrigglers

These are little bundles of our 100% merino Wriggle yarn. This soft, smooth single ply yarn is perfect for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls. Each bundle is unique and contains 5 20g mini skeins to add a pop of colour to your project.

Yarnfest Pop up Shop

Our next pop-up shop at Yarnfest in Hermitage is 4th to 10th June. Do pop along and take this opportunity to see our yarn in person. If there is anything in particular you would like to see do let either myself or Sue at Yarnfest know and I will see what I can do.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter. I hope to send an extra one before the next shop update with an exciting little announcement, so keep your eyes open for that. Otherwise enjoy your crafting and stay safe.
Rachel x

April Shop Update April 22 2021

Hello and Happy Spring! The weather seems to have changed here for the better and this week we have had some glorious days. Unfortunately accompanied with a local farmer fertilizing their fields so the door of the studio has had to remain firmly shut but its a minor issue and more than made up for by the lovely countryside. I hope wherever you are the weather is being kind to you too.

We have quite a large shop update this month, with the new colours on all 4 of our regular bases plus jumper quantities of a couple of heavier weight yarns, a small amount of Floof, lots of Linger and a brand new yarn which you might have seen on social media earlier this week. Make sure you read all the way to the end for Show News. Very happy to be able to add that back into the newsletter after so long.

Welcome to all the new newsletter subscribers, thank-you for joining us. I send this newsletter once a month with highlights selected from the shop update, and occasionally there will be shorter emails in between if there is something new or important. If you would rather go straight to the preview page for the shop update you can use the button below.

Take care and stay safe.

View Shop Update Preview Here

New Colourways

This year we have developed 8 new colours for our standard colourway range. You can preorder them at any time from the pre-order section of the website and they will be appearing regularly in shop updates on a variety of bases. The grid wall photos shows them on Crush (top), Crush DK, Selkino and Wriggle (bottom) and the names are (from left to right) She Sells Seashells, Finding Fossils, Wilton Water, Neon Citrus, Ruby Embers, Cold Ash, Moonlit Waves and Pangbourne. We have them in stock ready to send on all these bases at the moment.

New Yarn

Desire Marble DK

Last year saw the introduction of Desire Marble and now I'm really pleased to be able to show you the first batch of Desire Marble DK. The same beautiful soft squishy merino in a slightly thicker weight. Small batches this time but we will be looking at dyeing sweater quantities in the future.

Other Yarns

Sonsie Aran

Custom spun for us from 100% British wool, Sonise is a blend of Corridale and Polworth fibre. This is a 3 ply yarn which has a lovely round structure and great stitch definition. We have just received our second batch of this from the mill so expect to see it more often from now on. This time we have dyed in 6s to give greater flexibility for anyone wanting to do a project that needs more yardage such as cables. Each skein is a huge 200g and is approximately 352m long.

Linger

     

Linger is a high twist merino nylon sock yarn that doesn't have to be used just for socks. I have used it for shawls but it would also work really well for garments as its soft and strong and has good yardage. These colourways are all non-repeatable and were dyed in 4s.

Crush

Our favourite sock base, great for any fingering weight pattern. We have nearly 7kg of crush in this shop update, all the new colours plus plenty of favourites from our range and the last few skeins of some of our discontinued colours. Lots os semi solids and variegated options.

Crush DK

Lots of Crush DK as well including garment quantities of several colours. Don't forget if you want a bigger quantity of Crush DK you can order it in any of our standard colourways and we will dye it up for you. This really helps us out as we don't have space to keep lots of garment quantities in stock.

Floof

Just 4 very springy colours in floof this month. We still have a little left in the shop and we also have quite a large selection of Cloudgazer, which is you haven't tried it before is similar but contains alpaca instead of mohair. It still has a lovely halo and can be used alone or held double with another yarn.

Luxury Club

February's Luxury club was the last one and was inspired by 'Shakespeare in Love' (1998). Dyed on Luminosity, 100% mulberry silk fingering weight, there are a few spare skeins left of both colours.

The sock club is still running and sign ups for May are open but will close a little earlier next month as I need to dye it early due to exciting things happening at the end of the month.

Sock Club 3 Months

Sock Club 1 Month

Selkino

Lots of Selkino in standard and non repeatable colourways including all the new colours. Selkino is a lovely yarn to try as the weather begins to warm up as I find the silk content keeps it feeling cooler than a 100% wool yarn.

Wriggle

Only the new colours in Wriggle but they do look lovely. the 100% merino of Wriggle really makes the colours deeper and clearer than any other base which is why we choose it as one or our regular bases despite it not being the most popular.

Ringos

We have completely restocked the RingOs in all 3 sizes. Made by Fripperies and Bibelots, these are the best snag free stitch markers I've found. Choose from XL for needles up to 8mm, regular for needles up to 4mm or mini which are specially designed for sock knitting and fit needles up to 3.25mm and come with traffic light markers for increases/decreases and enough rings for two socks at once. There are a variety of colourways including our exclusive Skein Queen colour in all 3 sizes.

Other News

Unravel

It is exactly a month to Unravel, a fantastic show in Farnham, which this year includes both an in person show and an online virtual event. We will be at the Maltings for all three days so if you can make it in person do say hello. Tickets are on sale now and must be prebooked with timed entry for the in person event. Keep an eye on social media for more information over the next month.

Yarnfest Pop up Shop

I'm really pleased to share that now non-essential retail has been allowed to reopen we have organised some more pop-up shops at Yarnfest in Hermitage. The first one will be 7th to 13th May.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter. Sorry its rather long this time but hopefully this is the start of things getting back to normal and there will be more other news to share going forward. I will try and send two newsletters a month to make it easier to digest if necessary.

Stay safe and keep crafting,
Rachel x

March Shop Update March 26 2021

Hello again, this seems to have come round very fast since the last shop update. I think the change in the weather has really helped and the daffodils are looking very cheerful round here at the moment even when the sun isn't out. I hope your local signs of spring are all appearing nicely. It might even been nice enough soon for some outside crafting.

This month we are showcasing some of our BlueFaced Leicester (BFL) based yarns. BFL sheep have beautiful wool which has a lovely natural lustre that could fool you into thinking the yarn has silk in it. It is fine like merino but also dense which makes it hard wearing so great for garments or socks and is British so its great to support sheep farmers in this country.

The bases we have chosen we hope will show you BFL yarns can have many uses and its a great fibre to try if you haven't already. I know its difficult when you can't squish the yarn and its often easier to stick to what you have tried before but BFL really is a lovely fibre. Read on to see more details of all the bases we have picked.

As well as the BFL yarns we have dyed up another big batch of Little Crushes, this time with lots of softer semi solids and plenty of speckles and variegateds. Remember each bundle is unique so make sure you check out the preview to decide which one you want. There are 5s and 8s to suit different size projects.

Finally it wouldn't be a SQ shop update without a sock yarn so this month we have chosen Entwist. Despite being 100% merino its perfectly suited to socks because of its high twist so when knitted at a nice tight gauge it will make great hard wearing socks. Its Ideal if you prefer a 100% natural fibre yarn. If you are looking a sock yarn with nylon tho, read on. We do have something for you too.

Welcome to all the new newsletter subscribers, thank-you for joining us. I send this newsletter once a month with highlights selected from the shop update, and occasionally there will be shorter emails in between if there is something new or important. If you would rather go straight to the preview page for the shop update you can use the button below.

Take care and stay safe.

View Shop Update Preview Here

BlueFaced Leicester Yarns

Bloom DK

Bliss Heavy Lace

 

Flockly

If this isn't your first newsletter you may have heard me mention this yarn before. I love it. One of my all time favourite, would take to a desert island, yarns. It is slightly woolly, but not tickly, in a nice cosy way enhanced by the touch of cashmere and thanks to the lovely BFL and the silk it has such a pretty sheen. I've used it for shawls and its also blocks really well, or you could use it for garments and other accessories. I'm actually planning a pair of socks in it too so I will let you know how they wear but I think they will be good, both the BFL and the silk should help them wear well.

Hearty

Hearty is our BFL nylon sock yarn. It has the same yarn structure as Crush, with the merino replaced with BFL. Its soft, smooth and hard wearing. Doesn't have to be just for socks either. It takes the dye beautifully and we have dyed some semi solids as well as variegateds for those more fancy sock patterns that need a slightly plainer yarn to show them off to their best.

Other Yarns

Little Crushes

Little skeins of our merino nylon sock yarn. Great for colourwork projects, tiny items or adding a pop to another project. These are available in bundles of 5 or 8.

Entwist

A high twist 100% merino yarn suitable for no-nylon socks or making garments or accessories.

Sonsie DK

Garment quantities of new colours on our custom spun DK yarn. Sonsie is a bouncy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Perfect for cardigans, scarves, hats, sweaters and blankets.

Last ever Love-in-a-Lockdown

All the orders have been dyed and sent and these are the last few skeins we have left. We aren't dyeing any more, Ever!

Sock Club

January's sock club was inspired by the film Passengers (2016) and is called Alone in Space. This month's sock club will be posted this week. The sock club runs every other month so if you want to sign up for the next one that will be sent in May and you can sign up for 1 or 3 months at a time.

Sock Club 3 Months

Sock Club 1 Month

I have closed the Luxury Club for now as there weren't enough people signed up to make it viable but I'm thinking of bringing a different club in later in the year. If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see do let me know.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter. I hope it has been an inspiration for your next project.

Stay safe and keep crafting,
Rachel x

February Shop Update February 18 2021

 What a lot has happened since the last shop update! If you follow us on social media you hopefully saw that we hit 10k instagram subscribers! If you don't follow us then pop over to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and give us a like. I'm trying to share more behind the scenes photos and other peeks into what we are up to, especially in stories - Yesterday you might have seen my daughter helping me name some colourways.

Lots of yarn in tonight's shop update. We have dyed fewer standard colourways and instead there are more non-repeatable colours, however if you are looking for a specific one of our standard colourways don't forget you can preorder any of those on 4 different bases.  Current turn around time for this is less that 2 weeks.

Exciting news, we have been selected to exhibit at Unravel this year which is a lovely yarn show in Farnham, Hampshire. Normally its the middle of February but this year they have put it back to May so keep an eye out for more info on that later but pop 14th to 17th May in your diary if you think you might like to come.

In the mean time, if you read on you will find out more about the virtual show we are participating in at the end of the month.

Back to this shop update, we have restocked several bases that have been out of stock, or almost, for a while: Oasis Grande, Desire Marble, Desire DK, Exquisite Twist, Enchant DK, Squash and Little Wrigglers. We have also topped up the Crush DK, Selkino, Voluptuous DK and Cloudgazer.

Finally welcome to all the new newsletter subscribers, thank-you for joining us. I send this newsletter once a month with highlights selected from the shop update, and occasionally there will be shorter emails in between if there is something new or important. If you would rather go straight to the preview page for the shop update you can use the button below.

Take care and stay safe.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Yarn Highlights

The winning name for our Valentine's yarn is Love-in-a-Lockdown, suggested by Jane Mitchell, and it is now available to preorder on 4 different bases including Lustrous Lace. Thank-you to everyone who entered, this was by far the most popular name from the short list with nearly 70% of people voting for it. This colourway will only be available until the end of February so don't miss out - preorder today.

Preorder Love-in-a-Lockdown here!

Cloudgazer

A fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric with no mohair content. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture.

 Oasis Grande

A lustrous combination of 50% camel and 50% silk combine to result in a super soft 4 ply yarn with a beautiful drape, ideal for shawls, scarves and garments. The natural colour of this yarn means colourways are beautifully soft yet rich.

Squash

Squash is squidgy and machine washable. The amount of twist means it can be used as a sock yarn and is a good choice if you prefer to avoid nylon. Also great for shawls, accessories and garments.

Exquisite Twist

A high twist sock yarn that absorbs the dye beautifully giving rich colours and crisp speckles. Consists of beautifully soft merino and cashmere with nylon for strength.

Little Wrigglers

Little skeins of our favourite merino singles yarn. Great for colourwork projects, tiny items or adding a pop to another item. These are available in bundles of 5 or 8.

Desire Marble

Desire Marble is a skooshy superwash merino which has been spun with a darker fibre for parts of one ply giving an interesting marbled effect. Super soft feel suitable for hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments.

 Desire DK

This is a super soft 100% merino DK yarn and these colours have been named by my daughter Eleanor.

Enchant DK

The dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen.

Voluptuous DK

Some lovely spring colours in our custom spun DK weight Voluptuous. This is a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed.

Yorkshire Yarn Fest

27th February 2021

I'm really pleased to we have been invited to take part in the February Virtual Yorkshire Yarn Fest. This is on line show takes place on the Yorkshireyarnfest instagram account with each vendor having a slot to go live.  Keep an eye on social media for details of when our time slot will be and be sure to watch. We will have some more new yarns and a show special so see you there.

Thank-you for reading this newsletter. I hope it has been an inspiration for your next project.

Stay safe and keep crafting,

Rachel x

Valentine's Competition February 03 2021

Win two skeins of Crush sock yarn!

Wow - February already!

I want to start this month off with something really exciting. We have dyed this Valentine's colourway and want to give you the chance to name it.

There are two parts to this competition - First suggest a name for the colourway then next Monday Eliza and I will pick our 3 favourite and you will be able to vote for the winning name.

The person who suggested the winning name will win 2 skeins of this yarn on our Crush sock base as well as one of our SQ stitch markers and a chocolatey treat.

If you aren't lucky enough to win, the yarn will be available to order after the competition until the end of February only.

Submit Your Suggestion Here »

January Shop Update January 21 2021

Happy New Year! Thank-you to everyone that placed an order in the sale, you have really helped us start this year with space on the shelves to bring you lots of new and exciting new yarns and colours. And I've said it before but I will say it one last time thank-you to everyone who has supported Skein Queen, especially last year, by following us on social media, liking, commenting and all that as well as ordering from us, I do really appreciate it.

We were planning a smaller shop update this month as we have had less time than usual to prepare, but it seems to have grown a bit so I hope there is something for everyone.

The Boo Knits Valentines MKAL starts next month, and we have 2 lace weight bases if you are planning on joining in with that or if you have another lace weight project in mind. There's Lustrous Lace - a silky soft merino silk blend - and Finesse Nouveau - a 100% ultra fine merino lace weight - which we haven't had in stock for a very long time. Both are 800m per 100g.

Other yarns we have today include restocking Crush. Crush DK, Selkino and Wriggle with both some standard colourways and some non repeatable ones, more Voluptuous Skinny and Sonsie for your woolly knits, Blush, Wriggle DK and the last chance to grab extra skeins of last year's Club yarns.

Posting is available to EU countries again, and vat will be removed when you get to checkout, but the system still shows the vat inclusive price on each product.

Finally welcome to all the new newsletter subscribers, thank-you for joining us. Below are the highlights selected from tonight's shop update, or use the button to go straight to the preview page to view everything that will be available.

Take care and stay safe.

View Shop Update Preview Here

Yarn Highlights

Lustrous Lace

This is one of the recommended yarns for the upcoming Boo Knits Valentines MKAL. This yarn has a lustrous combination of silk and merino in equal balance resulting in a super soft lace weight yarn with a lovely drape ideal for shawls, scarves and garments.

If you are new to MKALs, they are where you receive your pattern as a series of clues over a period of time and you don't know exactly what your finished piece will look like. There is usually lots of support from others knitting the same thing at the same time and often you will know the type of project it will be, for example socks or as in Boo Knits case a shawl. They can be great fun.

Finesse Nouveau

100% Ultrafine merino lace weight yarn with 800m per 100g. Super soft, perfect for delicate but warm shawls, scarves and garments.

Blush

Sumptuously soft, fingering weight yarn with South African merino and a touch of cashmere.

 Wriggle DK

This soft, smooth single ply yarn is perfect for low-abrasion, indulgent projects such as shawls, scarves and cowls. This DK version is especially soft and squashy and quick to knit up.

Custom Spun Yarns

Voluptuous Skinny

This is our custom spun fingering weight yarn. Voluptuous is a springy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed.

Sonsie DK

Our favourite DK weight bouncy, woollen, non-superwash yarn which blooms slightly when washed. Makes lovely warm garments.

 
See all our Custom Yarns

Yarn Clubs

Extra Club Yarns

This is the last chance to grab any of last year's club colourways. We don't dye these again so when they're gone that's it! Each month is inspired by a film, series of films or character from a film.

Sock Club

Our sock club has been really popular since it started last January and these 6 colours were last years colourways. You can join the club for 1 month or 3 months  and the base is always our Crush sock yarn.

Join Sock Club

Luxury Club

This club is a great chance to try luxury bases. It will be a different fingering weight yarn every month for the 3 instalments and there is the option of either just the variegated colourway or getting two skeins and having a coordinating semi-sold colourway as well.

Join Luxury Club

You may notice a price change on clubs and the removal of the different postal area options - the postage for clubs should now be calculated automatically at check out. Any problems do let me know!

Merry Christmas December 18 2020

Can I start by saying thank-you to everyone who has read this blog, visited the website and especially if you have bought from us this year, its been a challenge for everyone and I really appreciate that you have chosen to support us.

I just want to remind you that if you want anything posted before christmas please order before Monday 21st December as that is our last posting day this year. The studio is going to be closed until 4th January 2021 and I am looking forward to some time at home with the kids and catching up on my knitting. Hopefully I will have  lots of finished projects to share with you soon. I will be checking email and messages occasionally but there is likely to be a longer response time over this period.

Sadly, given the continuing uncertainty surrounding brexit, I have taken the difficult decision to close the website to orders from EU countries from this Sunday 20th December. I will post all orders placed before then on Monday 21st December. I also strongly suggest you add tracked postage to your order so you can see its progress. Hopefully this means all orders will arrive before 31st December.

I hope to reopen the website to orders from EU countries on 8th January 2021. This gives me time to make sure the website and shipping is all set up correctly for the new rules. Again, I'm really sorry about this, it isn't what I wanted to do, but the continuing uncertainty surrounding what will happen in January means I have had to take this step so I can have a proper break over christmas with the kids which I really need right now. I will be checking emails but not daily, but do get in touch if you need to.⁠

If you are still looking for gift ideas I have a few below for you.

Gift Highlights

Christmas Boxes

All ready to go under the tree. Each contains a carefully chosen pattern, a tote bag to protect your project and a pin badge to wear with pride - you can choose what colour yarn you want to add to the box and we will pack it up in tissue paper and can even post to the recipient for you. We have listed suggested yarns for each pattern with links, but, if you need help, drop me a note and I'll be happy to guide you.

Sparkle Yarn

Only dyed for Christmas our Five for Silver yarn base has added festive sparkle. Available in 100g skeins or pairs of coordinating 50g skeins. Add some sparkle to your project.

Mini Skeins

Bundles of 20g minis are ideal for adding a pop of colour to a project or for making tiny little things like decorations. This year has also seen several patterns using mini skeins for larger projects.

Books

52 Weeks of Socks

52 Weeks of Socks is the first hardcover book of Laine Publishing. This publication contains 52 knitting patterns by 46 designers, and is a true encyclopedia of socks. Patterns are beautifully photographed and laid out on 256 pages in the style Laine is known and loved for.

Ready, Set, Raglan

New from Pom Pom Press! This follow-up to Knit How takes the straightforward raglan-sleeve pullover as a blank canvas and walks you through all the ways to make it your own. Meghan Fernandes and Lydia Gluck, editors of Pom Pom magazine and Pom Pom Press, offer blueprints for 8 distinct raglans and coach you through choosing perfect-for-you necklines, hemlines, ribbing, textures, and fancy raglan increases. An instant classic, Ready Set Raglan belongs in the library of new and seasoned knitters alike.

Back after a short break, the team at Laine have created another beautiful magazine full of inspirational projects, stunning photos and interesting articles. If you haven't tried Laine before you won't be disappointed.

Stay safe and keep crafting,

Rachel x

Christmas Gift Update December 14 2020

Its December!

We have been busy dyeing away to create yet more christmas goodies and they will go up on the website tonight at 8pm. Sorry for the short notice but I didn't want to delay it given postage times.

We have a few different things this time, which I hope will make great presents or treat yourself for some relaxing crafting over the Christmas period.

Virt-Yule is continuing until Sunday and we are still offering Free Postage on UK orders over £50 and Worldwide orders over £100. Head over to Facebook to see what's happening. The Floof and Desire Marble which has already been added as part of the event is available in the Christmas gifts section for easy finding.

Don't forget blog post covers all things related to Christmas, last posting dates etc.

Finally welcome to all the new newsletter subscribers, thank-you for joining us. Normally we have 1 shop update a month, on a Wednesday, and we will be back to that pattern from January.

Take care and stay safe.

Gift Highlights

Christmas Boxes

Each contains a carefully chosen pattern, a tote bag to protect your project and a pin badge to wear with pride - you can choose what colour yarn you want to add to the box and we will pack it up in tissue paper and can even post to the recipient for you. We have listed suggested yarns for each pattern with links, but, if you need help, drop me a note and I'll be happy to guide you.

Duet Yarn Bundles 

These bundles contain two 50g skeins dyed especially to complement each other. Take the guess work out of choosing colours. Available in extremely limited numbers in each colourway, there is a choice of Crush or Five for Silver. Ideal for socks, scarves, and other accessories.

Little Crushes

Finally we have restocked out Little Crush bundles with both bundles of 5 skeins and some larger palettes of 8 skeins - ideal for painting bricks and other patterns using minis.

Desire Marble

Desire Marble is a skooshy superwash merino which has been spun with a darker fibre for parts of one ply giving an interesting marbled effect. Super soft feel suitable for hats, scarves, gloves or whole garments. Available Now.

Floof

A fluffy cloud-like yarn which results in a soft, hazy fabric. Use on its own or hold together with another yarn to produce an interesting texture. We have dyed some colours to match our favourite repeatable colourways - ideal for Love note sweaters or other projects combining yarns. Available Now.

Charity Colourway

Blush - School Lunch

This colourway has been created as a way to raise some money for a charity I have supported for a long time. Last year we held a raffle at our December Open Studio, because of Covid, we can't have an open studio this year, but ATE still desperately need the funds so I have dyed this colourway from a photo Sarah sent me of some of the children of Karbo Junior High School walking to collect their school lunch - hence the name of the colourway. £5 from each skein will go to ATE - Action Through Enterprise.

Books

52 Weeks of Socks

52 Weeks of Socks is the first hardcover book of Laine Publishing. This publication contains 52 knitting patterns by 46 designers, and is a true encyclopedia of socks. Patterns are beautifully photographed and laid out on 256 pages in the style Laine is known and loved for.

 

 Ready, Set, Raglan

New from Pom Pom Press! This follow-up to Knit How takes the straightforward raglan-sleeve pullover as a blank canvas and walks you through all the ways to make it your own. Meghan Fernandes and Lydia Gluck, editors of Pom Pom magazine and Pom Pom Press, offer blueprints for 8 distinct raglans and coach you through choosing perfect-for-you necklines, hemlines, ribbing, textures, and fancy raglan increases. An instant classic, Ready Set Raglan belongs in the library of new and seasoned knitters alike.

 

Make sure you check out this blog post for last posting dates to your part of the world.

 

Thank-you for reading this post. I hope it has been an inspiration for your next project or has helped you choose a gift. Feel free to share this with anyone else who may be struggling to find that perfect gift.

Stay safe and keep crafting,

Rachel x

 

November Shop Update November 18 2020

I know its been a difficult month for many people since the last shop update. In the UK we are back in lockdown, although with the schools still open it hasn't felt the same as last time. Unfortunately my daughter has had to self isolate after a case at her school but she's fine at the moment and can go back next week and see her friends again. I hope you are safe and well wherever you are. 

Being at home more does have some advantages, my new jumper is coming along nicely. I've posted some progress shots on social media so make sure you are following us. The pattern is from the new Pom Pom book 'Ready, Set, Raglan' and I'm knitting it in our brand new Sonsie Aran. We have 10 shades available tonight and will have more soon. The book is available for pre-order and will be sent on the 10th Dec. If you want to buy yarn at the same time and need help with quantities do let me know. As this is our first custom spun yarn that's thicker than DK I hope you will enjoy trying it out. If its popular I will order more. 

Other yarns we have today include Flockly, our seasonal special Five for Silver, Desire Bounce, Voluptuous DK, Enchant DK and some more Crush and we have some new books which would make great gifts. 

Please check out our blog post covering all things related to Christmas, last posting dates etc. 

Take care and stay safe. 

Exciting News - At the end of the month we are taking part in the Virt-Yule Fibre Collective on line show. A week long event which brings together many fibre related independent businesses to offer you a chance to shop from the comfort of your own home. Do take a look at the event on Facebook, mark yourself as going so you receive notifications and share with your fibre-y friends.

Yarn Highlights

Sonsie Aran

Custom spun for us from 100% British wool, Sonise is a blend of Corridale and Polworth fibre. This is a 3 ply yarn which has a lovely round structure and great stitch definition. 

Five for Silver

A seasonal special merino nylon blend with added sparkle from a touch of stellina. We only dye this at this time of year so this may be the only batch for 2020! There are some colourways that are Christmas favourites and some one offs.

Flockly

This was another yarn that had been out of stock for a while due to the pandemic. This is one of my favourite yarns, its a beautiful woolly, Bluefaced Leicester yarn with a touch of silk and cashmere. I've very glad its back in stock. Great for garments or accessories.

Enchant DK

The dream combination of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere makes this a super-soft yarn with a slight halo yet beautiful sheen.

Desire Bounce

If you are still making items for gifts, we have restocked the Desire Bounce which I showed a while back will let you knit a hat in less than a weekend or would make a nice chunky scarf. Great last minute gifts.

Crush

Our favourite sock yarn - restocked in your favourite colourways and a few non-repeatable ones too. 

Sock Club Yarn

September's Sock Club yarn was inspired by 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' which is one of daughter's favourite films. Sock club is always dyed on Crush so you know what base you are getting. Join the sock club for 1 month or 3 months to ensure you don't miss out on future colourways. 

Books and Magazines

As well as 'Ready, Set, Raglan' mentioned earlier, we also have copies of the hugely popular '52 Weeks of Socks' book, 'Interpretations' Volume 7 by Joji Locatelli and Veera Valimaki and the latest issue of Pom Pom which has been guest edited by Aimee Gille and Stephen West. I've had a sneek peek of this and the patterns are amazing. This is a must for Westknits fans and we only have a few copies left.

I hope it has been an inspiration for your next project.

Stay safe and keep crafting,

Rachel x

Christmas Plans November 18 2020

Last Posting Dates

I know its only November still, but I think it will be Christmas before we know it. Here are the last posting dates from Royal Mail to help you plan your orders:

• Friday 4th December - Australia and New Zealand
• Thursday 10th December - Canada
• Friday 11th December - USA and European countries not mentioned below
• Wednesday 16th December - Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland
• Friday 18th December - Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg
• Monday 21st December - UK

These are the last posting dates as taken from the Royal Mail website, I cannot guarantee delivery by Christmas and recommend you order early to avoid disappointment.

I am happy to post orders direct to recipient if that helps, we always wrap our parcels in tissue paper before packing. Please enter their address in the delivery section and leave any special instructions in the comments or contact me for help.

Studio Shut down

We are closing the studio from the 18th December to the 4th January but there will be one last post run on the 21st December. Please be patient if you try to contact me while the studio is closed as I won't be checking messages as frequently.

December Shop Update

As we are taking part in the Virt-Yule Fibre Collective event from the 30th November to 6th December there will be no separate shop update in December. Check out the event for details of new yarns, show specials and offers available.

Pre-orders

Pre-orders for yarn will remain open over Christmas and orders placed before Friday 11th December we will try to send before Christmas. Orders after this date will be dyed in January when we return to the studio.