Loving the Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock Yarn!

Last week I knitted up a skein of the Tilli Tomas Artisan sock Yarn. I have been wanting to use this yarn ever since customers have told me how soft it is when made up. Not being a sock knitter I decided to make the Saroyan pattern from Ravelry. Really thrilled with the results and yes it is soft!!

Once again I used the blocking wire kit and it worked a treat. This accessory has become my number 1 favorite!

I also received my 2 crochet pieces back from Pauline Turner for the Intl Crochet Diploma. Happy with the results as I got a 85% for the filet crochet piece (see previous post) and 100% for the Hairpin Lace Shawl!

Madly preparing for the Craft Fair as it is in 2 weeks!

More Crochet!

I have finished another piece of crochet. This is a design from a vintage pattern called Four Roses Doily in filet crochet. I absolutely loved making this and another first for me working with fine thread. Not as fine as some though as this was a no. 20 thread on 1.25mm hook. Yes I'm pretty pleased with the result and it is winging its way to the UK along with the Hairpin lace to be marked for the Crochet Diploma Course.

I have one more garment to make and I am tossing up between a Tunisian crochet vest and a Doris Chan cardi in Broomstick lace. It has to be crocheted in a smooth aran weight yarn so I will decide in the next few days.

Meanwhile maybe I should try and finish last years Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket as it is a mystery no more. This years first 2 months mystery blanket squares have arrived but I am not very inspired to begin them. It is obviously an Olympic theme and I'm just not into it. I may even sell the whole kit at the end of the year if I really don't like it.

Jane Crowfoots Mystery Crochet Blanket is about to begin for this year.

I just love the colours of the yarns this year for the crochet blanket.

The patterns for the first month of Janie Crows crochet mystery blanket arrive tomorrow! Can't wait as all the yarn arrived a couple of weeks ago and I just love the colours! It is a lace theme this year and I think that so far this year crochet is taking over my life! Not such a bad thing?

This is just a teaser for the Jane Crowfoot patterns that we are about to be emailed.

My First Completed Hairpin Lace Project

I had a great day yesterday as I had the whole day at home to myself and was able to just indulge in my passion for crochet. I am fast approaching the end of Part 1 in the Crochet Diploma course and one of the garments that I have to submit must be an accessory that has to include another form of crochet such as broomstick, tunisian or hairpin lace. As well it had to be in a fashion yarn.

I have been working on this for a couple of weeks as the hairpin had to be in 3 strips of 270 loops on either side of the spine. Then they had to be joined and finished round the sides etc.

I used the Kristin Omdahl pattern "Tessa" but in different yarn so the look is slightly different.

This is the finished article and I am very pleased with it!

February Newsletter

February has arrived and it is hot and humid here in Queensland. That hasn't stopped me from knitting and crocheting though. So, on goes the air-conditioning and out come the needles every spare minute that I have. It seems crazy to be ordering winter yarns while the temperatures have been so warm but I have been, and over the next few months the shelves will be restocked with lots of new yarns as well as broader ranges of others.

I did get a lovely new order of Cashmere Queen early last week. This yarn is made by Schoppel-Wolle and is just beautiful. It is a 5ply/sport weight and 35% cashmere, 45% merino and 20% silk. The colours are very subtle and soft. At the moment I have five colours and will be receiving more soon.

The House of Alpaca have announced 10 more colours to their 8ply range so there will now be 22 colours on offer. They are also bringing out 5 colours in a 4ply which I am excited about. Anyone who has worked with this alpaca will know how lovely and soft it is and with the 20% merino just how well its keeps its shape after knitting and crocheting. These should be coming into the store later in March.

I have also ordered some more of the BC Garn Sarah Tweed as this has been a popular yarn. Top ups of the favorite colours as well as a few new colours. I have placed an order for their Semilla a 100% organic 8ply wool as well. The most difficult decision I have is choosing the colours and from around 40 I have chosen 22 colours.

This week all the information regarding the Prudence Mapstone Workshops went on the website. We are having 2 weekend workshops with Prudence this year. One on the 12th & 13th May and the other on the 17th & 18th November. Prudence is a wonderful teacher and her workshops are always a lot of fun as well as informative. I hope that some of you can join us!

Also this week I formed the Yarn Glorious Yarn group on Ravelry. It is a great place to share projects as well as to find out about what is happening in the knitting and crochet world.. As well, Ravelry is a great site for finding patterns or just asking for help with a knitting or crochet problem. I have made a few really good friends through Ravelry too!

The Craft and Sewing Show will be here again at the Brisbane Convention Centre on the 22nd - 25th March. I have just finalised the details and will be at stand E11. I am hoping to organise a couple of specials just for the show.

That's all the news for this week. Happy knitting and crocheting!

January Newsletter

Email Newsletter

Dear Susan January is almost over and this is the first newsletter that I have had time to write. I hope that you had a Happy New Year and that 2012 will be a wonderful year for all. My year has been very fast paced so far and I haven't had time to do all the things that I had planned for the holidays. Still it always happens that way so I don't know why this year should be different. The shop here has been closed since Christmas as we are having some major renovations. The shop will be moving downstairs soon and I will be able to have more space as well as longer opening hours. I am also hoping to open 4 days a week instead of just two days. I will keep you informed as to when that will happen in future newsletters. The online shop is of course always open! Over the holidays I have taken delivery of quite a bit more stock. Just before Christmas there were top ups of all of the Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball in popular colours. As well we had deliveries of Crazy Zauberball and Wunderkleckse. Already I have sold quite a bit of this yarn as I think people are happy to keep knitting over summer, just smaller projects like socks. Another delivery of the very popular Knit & Lace Blocking Wire Kits arrived for the New Year. I had time to use my own kit last week and I really don't know what I did without it in the past. I had finished crocheting the "Cappaccino Cardigan" from Interweave Press and for once I couldn't wait to block it. I crocheted it in the BC Garn 'Sarah Tweed' and I am very happy with the result. I just have to crochet the front bands and neckband. I have also had a top up delivery of Noro Silk Garden and Noro Taiyo. Both of these yarns have proved to be popular and I will be ordering more before winter. I am beginning to think of winter yarns now even though it is very hot and humid here in Queensland. I have ordered from Schoppel-Wolle some of their cashmere wool "Cashmere Queen". It should arrive next month sometime. Some people have asked me whether or not I will be stocking machine washable wool for the winter. Most of the yarns that I do have, apart from the Zauberball and the summer cottons are not machine washable. I have always hand washed my woolen garments and so hadn't given it a great deal of thought. I would be very open to any suggestions that you might have in regard to what you would like to see in the shop for winter as well as your preferences for machine washable yarn or not. Please feel free to email me and give me your thoughts. Of course now is the time that all good retailers are wanting to make room for more stock. With that in mind I will be having an online sale of summer yarns. From today TUESDAY 24th until SUNDAY 29th January I am taking 15% OFF all BC Garn 'Alba' and 'Allino'. Here is theCODE for the shopping basket 15SYARN and the amount will be taken off the total shopping cart of these yarns. Happy shopping and happy knitting and crocheting until next time! Sue

My Christmas Super Sale!

So, the other day I was thinking about having a sale over the holidays. At first I thought Boxing Day like all the big department stores, but then I thought that come Boxing Day people have begun to run out of money. So I thought a pre Christmas sale! When everyone else is having sales in January I will have already had mine and hopefully people will have spent at my shop buying gifts for Christmas as well as for themselves!

This year has been crazy and such a lot of fun! I am really enjoying having this online shop and gradually the repeat customers are coming. I have such alot of things planned for next year it is hard not to jump ahead of myself. At the moment though I am busy pricing stock for the sale and hoping that it sells so that I can have some more room when the new stock arrives.

We are having a quiet Christmas as James my eldest is overseas. Tom and Nathan will be around though and we are having dinner at my sisters on the Gold Coast. then weather permitting we will head down to the house at Eureka in the Byron Bay Hinterland. Last year it was far too wet with the prelude to the floods. This year I hope will be much better and trips to beach will be in order.

I won't post again this year so Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

More Yarn Deliveries!

This week has been crazy busy with lots more yarn deliveries and some surprises.

A young woman emailed me from the UK looking for the BC Garn Sarah Tweed yarn. She was desperately trying to find some that she had used before in a shawl and was having trouble finding anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere that sold it. I don't think she tried the Scandinavian countries! I had sourced this yarn from Loop in London when I was there in April but they didn't have anymore. So lucky for us both she found me on the internet and her parcel has been packaged and is on its way back over to that side of the world.

Sarah Tweed

Earlier in the week my long awaited order of Knit Collage arrived from the US. I had ordered this yarn months ago and it was supposed to arrive in September in time for the October craft fair. Because of various holdups at their end delivery was delayed, but is here now. I hadn't even unpacked it and my friend from Mackay called in whilst in Brisbane and bought several skeins. It is so pretty that I have been thinking of decorating the Christmas tree with it!

Twilight Garden

Iris Blossom


Also this week after another delay my order of Alchemy arrived from the US. This gorgeous yarn had been on order for about 5 months! Once again because of delays at their end I actually never thought that my order would come through and I seriously thought about cancelling it. Just as I had that thought an email arrived telling me that my order had been posted!

The other funny thing about receiving this order was that it was delayed in customs for a couple of days while I had to fill out more forms. In the box with the yarn were some colour charts and I had to sign forms guaranteeing that is wasn't pornographic material!

Air and Fire

Resolution

In this yarn business I am learning something new everyday. I am enjoying it very much and meeting new people along the way. I have organised 2 major workshops for next year with a guest tutor and I will reveal more next year. Lots of exciting things happening!