HRYC

Again.

It all started when I spied this Dagmar Sweater pattern in Ravelry's Hot Right Now list. The best use of a cable to emphasise shape i've seen, maybe ever. Too often this idea is played out and turns into this weird thing that splits the body in two, but here the cable serves as an elegant frame rather than an overwhelming design feature. I'm also smitten with the shaped hem, and the overall texture.

Zealana Kiwi in laceweight would make this something really special. Or Malabrigo Silkpaca Lace (once we get more in, hopefully it'll arrive before Christmas). 

Argh! There's that word already! The dreaded Christmas. I can't believe it's sneaking up on us so gosh darn quick. I think i'll go back into my nice cave of denial and instead give you this:

Cat's Mane by Mer Almagro.

You're welcome.

Spring feels much closer after the crazy weather we've had in the past week. A thunder and lightning storm so crazy we lost power, and then a second storm yesterday (although that one restrained itself to just wind and rain).

Our very ambient lighting thanks to stormy weather...complete with Evie Kemp zombie cat.

Today has turned out to be a beautiful Spring day. Perfect for soaking a bunch of items desperate to be blocked.

Aside from this lot, there's another two cardigans, two baby blankets and another shawl to go through the same process. I seem to be a real tutorial buzz at the moment (not that you can tell, as I haven't published any yet), so i'll do my best to whip up a couple quick 'how to block your stuff' posts. 

Blocking isn't hard, although it can be a bit annoying. And there's something to do with having to wash woollens separately to everything else that sees my hand knits languish in the laundry basket for months. Doing a whole lot in one go makes the process a bit more enjoyable and whole lot more rewarding...and then I go back to feeling guilty about it in another six months' time when the laundry basket is full of knitted things again.

Do you have any handy blocking tips that I might throw into a tutorial? I'd love to hear them! 

It isn't terribly often we have trunk shows. So here's some exciting news! We have an extra special one organised for next week. Yep, next week. 

Hannah of Red Riding Hood Yarns is celebrating her third business birthday, so we decided to nab her for a one night only special. And what goes better with yarn than a very talented pattern designer? Julia Stanfield of Just One WIP is on board too. Hooray! 

What sort of things might you expect to see, exactly?

Delightful hand-dyed yarns...

and inspiring patterns for kids and adults, including lots of samples for you to nosy at.

I'm all excited about having a different kind of knit night. One where we have special visitors and you get to hang out and browse something different and knit and eat cake and drink tea. Come along! It's sure to be loads of fun. xx Tash

This year our Ravelry group has really picked up momentum in the Knit-a-long stakes. I'm not always the most organised person when it comes to running KALs, but they are always a bit of fun and so interesting to see the different paths people take with the same project. 

Spring sees us taking on Dianna Walla's Vasa tee - a simple, elegant and very very wearable tank. Knit in 4ply yarn, it really is amenable to pretty much any colour combination you might fancy. A great stash-buster or excellent excuse to buy new, i've finished my first and am already planning a second. Actually, I say finished, but really I mean that i've done all the knitting, and now the pieces are languishing in a pile waiting to be blocked and seamed. So photos of the properly finished version will come later. 

Vasa tee by Dianna Walla

Another reason to adore this pattern - it's perfect for knitters at the less experienced end of the spectrum. You don't have to worry about sleeves, it's a chance to play with colour, and pretty quickly you have a whole garment. A respectable achievement if you are new to knitting. 

We'd love for you to join us! Share your colour choices and talk about what you're up to here in our Ravelry thread. There's usually a prize or two to celebrate at the end of each KAL, and you have until 30 October to knit your tee. Loads of time!

The fun part of all this new stock arriving is the chance to move things around and make everything sit together nicely. I really enjoy being in the shop when things look a little different, and it usually leads to me happily snapping photos of my favourite little corners. 

I'm in love with our fibre ladder! We had more Ashford Corriedale sliver arrive this week, and i've even been organised enough to get it loaded up online. 

Fibre ladder + new shelving full of Malabrigo (although it's not quite so full after a very busy weekend!)

I couldn't help but take photos as orders were packed up over the last few days. You, my wonderful supportive customers, have truly excellent taste in yarn. If you look carefully in the pic above, you'll see the messy pile of Zealana Rimu toppling over itself on the shelf. I finally gave up on trying to get it to behave and now it's playing much more nicely sitting in a suitcase. 

Zealana are slowly introducing a new style of ball & label (the lower half of the pic) which looks gorgeous but my oh my it is a pain to get to sit on a shelf. Doesn't make it any less amazing to work with, of course!

I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. It was certainly a great time to be in the shop, sharing the love of gorgeous yarn. xx