April 2024 Blog Post April 25 2024, 0 Comments

    
 
It has been a lovely quiet week this week, the kids are back at school and my eldest has done his GCSE Language speaking exam, which he said went "Good", but he says that about everything! He's far more excited about passing his martial arts grading to become Black Belt 1st Degree on Sunday. I hope this is the beginning of a good summer term for him! I have been busy planning my new series of Sock Knitting workshops and I'm hoping to offer an online version as well for those of you not able to visit Newbury. I'm sorry Free Pattern Friday has been so late this month, but its finally finished and will be out this Friday. There is a sneaky peek photo at the end of this email.

The shop update is all on line so do check the preview page out, or read on for more information. This month we have focused on the new colourways on lots of bases - there is Crush, Crush DK, Selkino and Lustrous Lace, plus a few other things we have left over from Sodbury Yarn Over. If you haven't seen, they have confirmed they are running it again next year, bigger and hopefully with even more space so if you are in the area put 12th and 13th April in your diary and give them a follow on social media for more details nearer the time.
 

Are you in the EU? If you are and you have ordered from us recently please can you let me know if you were charged vat when you received your order. We use the IOSS scheme to deal with the vat at checkout for you so your order should arrive with nothing more to pay unless its valued at over 135 Euro, however I have found out that this hasn't always been working as it should. If you order and get charged please get a receipt and let me know. Myself and the IOSS agent want to get this sorted. Thank you

 

Spring Summer Colourways

This season we have introduced 6 new colourways, 3 semi solids and 3 variegateds. Our inspiration was split between the soft colours of spring and the hot tropical hues of summer. As always our semi solid colourways are named after places. Originally these were within Berkshire but now we have more than 30 semi solid colourways I have had to look slightly further afield to find fitting names. Here are our 3 semi solid colourways.
 
 

Charterhouse

Charterhouse is a soft pale grey and is a colourway I have wanted to introduce for a while. I often find I want a neutral to pair with another colour that's not too harsh or strong. It looks lovely paired with delicate colourways like Pink Champagne or used as a light contrast colour for colourwork patterns. If you are looking for a grey fade pair with Abbey Ruins and Donnington Castle.

It is named is after the area of the Mendip Hills south of Bath where the Romans mined Silver.

 

 

Durdle Door

Durdle Door is a pale baby blue. Think soft spring skies or possibly gentle raindrops. Not quite sure why its taken us so long to create this one, I think it will quickly become a firm favourite. I'm looking forward to pairing it with Snow Fields, CMYK or Monterey Bay.

Named after the spectacular sea arch off the Dorset Coast and chosen as it perfectly links the two natural blues of the sea and the sky together.

 

 

Primrose Hill


Primrose Hill is a pale springy yellow. Cheerful and delicate. I would recommend combining it with Salvage or Firethorn or even Lighthouse for a bit of zing. You can also create a lovely palette of pastel semi solids with Grey's Court, Frogmore, Winterbourne and our other new semi solid Durdle Door.

There wasn't much competition for the name for this one with its soft primrose colour - Primrose Hill is beautiful park in London with amazing views.

 

As well as the semi solids we have created 3 new variegated colourways to join our ever growing range.

 

 

Lulworth Cove 

Lulworth Cove is a blend of vivid shades of blue with aqua and and little splashed of grey. Think the sea on a hot summer's day.

I couldn't resist calling it Lulworth Cove after the beautiful bay a stone's throw from Durdle Door.

 

 

Mermaid's Tears

Inspired by the colours found in the fragments of glass that have been naturally weathered by the gentle action of the sea on the beach - Mermaid's Tears is another name for sea glass.

 

 

  

Stargazer

A real tropical colourway. Inspired by hot pink lilies with white edges and lots of yellow pollen. Imagine the perfume wafting on a warm evening breeze while enjoying a holiday cocktail!

 

 

 

These colourways are all available in stock on Crush, Crush DK, Selkino and Lustrous Lace and Dye to Order on Enchant.

 

Mop Fair

 

What is a Mop Fair I hear you ask? Its how workers used to get their next seasonal job. They occured in every town and if you were looking for a job you would carry something that represented the sort of work you were looking for. I guess I would carry a brightly coloured sheep or something.....


 

 

 

They stopped as employment laws became better after the First World War but there are a few places where they continue as more of a seasonal funfair rather than a job fair. Chipping Sodbury is one of those places and that was why I chose it as the inspiration for the Sodbury Yarn Over show colour.

 

 

 

 

The show also had a free shawl pattern which works really well with this colourway and I actually had the shawl at the show thanks to some super speedy knitting by my Mum (Thanks Mum!) So if you want your own Weavers Shawl in Mop Fair you can! Although it would look lovely in other colours too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sock Knitting Workshop

 


Would you like to learn to knit socks? I will take you through the process step by step, helping you gain the skills needed to complete your first sock. Three weekly sessions gives you time to work on your project at your own pace in between.

 

 

 

 

Free Pattern Friday

 


A little late this month but this cute baby cardi is the subject of this months Free Pattern Friday blog post. Its knitted in Crush DK Bonfire Glow and Kingfisher with buttons from Ethel and Joan who were one of our lovely stand neighbours at Unravel. Don't they go well?

 
 
 
  
 
 
  

 

 

I have been wondering if there would be any interest in me stocking buttons to match some of the more popular colourways like Kingfisher that might be harder to find buttons for. What do you think?

 

 

Upcoming Events:

What's are we up to over the next few months:

 

Thank you for reading this long newsletter and I promise there will be something other than the new colourways next time. After spending weeks developing and perfecting them I just love sharing them. If they aren't for you there is still lots of other yarn in stock on the website so do take a look. If you need help choosing yarn for a pattern do get in touch, I'd love to help.

Did you enjoy this newsletter? I realised it was a bit different from our regular shop update newsletters so do let me know.

Take care and keep crafting!

Rachel x

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