To display and store all the Moda fabrics that we have coming in, we had some lovely new shelving fitted in the showroom this week.

All our fabrics on display in the showroom

There’s still space for the Moda fabric collections that are due this Autumn, including Wee Wonderland, It’s a Hoot and another by French General which I can’t remember the name of at this precise moment.

If you’re ever in South Devon, do come along and see us.  We’re just 12 miles east of Plymouth and 5 miles from the A38.  Modbury is a lovely little town to wander around and you could easily spend a couple of happy hours here.

When the Spring 2010 issue of Knitscene magazine was published, knitters went crazy and I’d never seen a magazine snapped up so quickly.  Well the Knitscene Autumn 2010 issue will be hitting the shops in a couple of weeks and so that knitters don’t miss out, we’re accepting pre-orders of what promises to be another popular issue.

Knitscene Fall 2010

Details of how to pre-order and preview pictures of this issue’s designs can be found here on our website.

Pictures from Rowan Studio 20 pattern book are now available on our website.  Patterns use Rowan Pima Cotton and Denim.

Rowan Studio 20

It’ll be here in early July.

I remember the time that I first bought some yarn that was in a skein rather than wound in a ball.  It was some Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in a pale lilac colour.  Beautiful.  But because I’d never bought skeins before, I didn’t realise the importance of winding it in to a ball before starting to knit with it.  You can probably guess what’s coming… Yes, I started to knit straight from the skein and before I knew it the yarn rapidly becoming a big tangled mess!  I quickly learnt my lesson.

Anyway, a recent arrival from the USA is this wooden yarn swift.  It sits on a table top and you put the skein around the 4 pegs.  As you start to wind your ball either by hand or with a yarn winder, the swift turns, keeping the yarn tangle-free.

Wooden Yarn Swift

Yes, I know you can put your skein around the back of a couple of chairs or ask a friend to hold it, but a swift can be a handy item to have and would make a lovely gift for a knitter.  It can be folded up for storage and doesn’t take up too much room.

This weekend saw me travelling to Bradford for The Knit Show – a trade show for yarn shop owners.  It was an opportunity for the manufacturers to tell their stockists about what’s coming this Autumn.

Chunky yarns seem to be very “in” this Autumn.  Everyone seems to be launching them and whereas the chunky patterns from last year were quite big and a little shapeless in my opinion, this year the patterns for chunky yarns are a bit more fitted, which I much prefer.

The Sublime stand was my first stop and they haven’t disappointed with their Autumn collection. There is just one new yarn this season: Chunky Merino Tweed.  It comes in 10 shades and is 80% merino wool. It has an accompanying pattern book with several designs that I quite liked.  It should be in stock in early August.

There are new shades in the baby cashmere merino silk 4 ply and DK, cashmere merino silk DK and extra fine merino DK and new books for each: all of which I’ve got coming.  Many of the new shades are very Autumny – golds, browns, greens, reds.  I really liked the overall tone for this season.  In particular there was a baby blanket, knitted in an olive green, which was simply beautiful.  I’d love to try it.  I wish I could show you a picture of it.

I spent a lot of time on the Rowan stand too.  I’m sure that many of you will love Magazine 48.  I particularly loved the Russian Doll story (cover image) and if you like, or would like to try, fair-isle, then you’ll definitely be inspired by one of the patterns.

Rowan Magazine 48

There are four new Rowan yarns:

• Drift: a 100% merino chunky, much like Big Wool; in fact the pattern book Winter Drift contains patterns that use both Drift and Big Wool.
• Silky Twist: 53% silk, 30% wool, 12% superkid mohair and 5% polyamid and it is an aran weight in 10 jewel-like colours. The pattern book contains some classic designs by Martin Storey.
• Renew: a recycled wool that is a sort of tweed.
• Rowan British Sheep Breeds Boucle: a single shade in natural cream.  A pattern book combines both this and the Renew yarn.

There are some new shades in many of the other yarns, including last year’s new ones Lima and Alpaca Cotton.  Another Martin Storey book called Homestead Classics contains patterns using these yarns.

You’ve treated yourself to some yummy yarn and spent hours upon hours carefully knitting a fabulous garment.  It fits like a glove and the first time you wear it you are overwhelmed with compliments.  But the time will eventually come when you’ll need to wash it and the last thing you want it for your perfect jumper or cardigan to turn into a felted unwearable wreck!

Handwashing

Now I always hand wash my knit wear.  When I’ve spent time and money on knitting a garment, I don’t like to take the risk that it will come out of the washing machine two sizes too small, even if the ball band said the yarn was machine washable.  I’m a naturally cautious person!  When hand washing the important thing is to not twist, wring or scrub them.  I gently push the garment down into the lukewarm water and lift it out again, allowing the movement of the water to dislodge the dirt with minimal agitation.  I might leave it to soak for a few minutes if a mark is proving stubborn to get out.  I always use a gentle detergent too; one that is suitable for wool and delicates.

Machine Washing

But not everyone has the time to spend hand washing their knitwear and after all, if the ball band said the yarn can go in the machine, then you ought to be able to do so.  But before you sling it in with all your other clothes, take a moment to check the fibre content and washing symbols.

Wool yarn

Wool + hot water + agitation + detergent = felting!

If the wool is a superwash wool, it means that it has been treated in such a way that the fibres won’t stick together and shrink.  However you still can’t stick it in a normal machine cycle.  Look at the washing symbols on the ball band.  Does the temperature symbol have any lines underneath it?  It was only recently that I discovered this referred to the mechanical action of the machine.  One line means reduced mechanical action, two lines means much reduced mechanical action.  The wool cycle on your washing machine should have much reduced mechanical action, i.e. it’s much more gentle when tossing the contents around inside and therefore less agitation.

Cotton yarn

You should be able to put cotton yarns in the machine as would do your other cotton clothes.  However I would still use a gentle cycle and cool temperature.

Acrylics/Synthetics

Treat as normal clothes.  This yarn shouldn’t shrink.

Drying

• Never put your hand knits in the tumble dryer.
• Remove excess water by rolling up in a towel and pressing the roll but don’t wring it.
• Lay the garment flat on a towel, reshape and leave to dry out of the sunlight.

Have a look at the Home Laundering Consultative Council’s website for more useful information on washing and caring for your hand knits.

Another jelly roll arrived last week!  This one uses fabrics from Jenean Morrison’s California Dreamin’ fabric collection.

California Dreamin' by Jenean Morrison Jelly Roll

This jelly roll contains just 16 strips, so you’d need two or three to make a quilt.  However there are other uses for a jelly roll, such as wall hangings, purses, bags, book covers…

Jenean Morrison’s own blog has some lovely pictures of items people have made from her fabric.

I’ve just set up a Facebook page.  If you’re a user, why not have a look…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Modbury-United-Kingdom/Hulu-Crafts/118179024872334

Fancy making something a little different?  Why not embroider a pretty shopping bag with one of these kits from Rico Design.

In these kits you will get a 100% cotton tote bag which has been pre-printed with a particular design, embroidery threads and instructions on how to embroider over the printed design using different embroidery stitches.  You don’t need to an expert in embroidery and in fact, this would be a lovely project for a beginner.

The kits are just £5.99 and available on our website.

Rico’s Organic Pure Chunky yarn has been so popular that Rico ran out of certain shades as well as the accompanying pattern book “Naturally”.  However this week we finally got more stock of most shades, (including plenty in Beige which has been the most popular because of a pattern published in Women’s Weekly) and some copies of the pattern book.  View the contents of the pattern book on our website.

Many knitters have said that they enjoy knitting with this yarn and at just £3.45 a ball, it is good value too.