This weekend has been a good weekend of knitting.  Not that I was knitting anything in particular but it started on Friday with our yarn tasting evening.  Stupidly I forgot to take photos!  We tried 6 yarns: Rico Creative Poems Aran, Rico Soft Merino Aran, Twilley’s Freedom Purity, Sublime Chunky Merino Tweed, Rico Can Can and Rico Superba Poems Sock yarn – which only arrived in the shop on Friday afternoon!  I think that the Poems Aran came out as one of the favourites.

Then today was KTOG4, a knitting event in Ashburton, Devon where I had a stall alongside Claire Crompton (author of The Knitter’s Bible and other great knitting books), Anniken Allis and Spin a Yarn.  There were lots of knitters and crocheters there, of all abilities, having a great afternoon with wool, needles, tea and cake.  I did remember to take some photos this time though.

My Stall

Joyce from Spin a Yarn

Anniken Allis

Claire Crompton and a knitting lesson

KTOG 4  is happening again on 17th October in St Andrews Church Hall in Ashburton this year and we’ll be having a stall alongside John and Juliet from Coldharbour Mill, Joyce from Spin-a-yarn and Anniken Allis.

It’s all happening from 1300hrs to 17.30hrs – £1 entrance, children 10 and under are free.

There’s an small exhibition of knitted stuff and tea and cake with plenty of room to just sit and knit and natter.

Anniken will be teaching continental knitting, Kathryn will be teaching braiding and there’ll be learn to crochet and knit workshops going on also (£5 per workshop – book on day).

The raffle will be in aid of Bliss (the National knitting week charity) and South Devon Womens Aid.

Do come along and say hello!

Rowan Winter Kids is a gorgeous new book with 20 patterns for children aged 3-12 years.  There are new takes on traditional patterns using an array of yarns Cocoon, Felted Tweed and Colourscape to name a few.

Rowan Winter Kids

This is just a sample of the patterns in the book.  More pictures are on the website.

Due in stock at the beginning of October. Now in stock!

We’re very excited to have received our first delivery of Zealana possum yarn.  This yarn is called Kauri and is an aran (worsted) weight yarn.

Zealana Kauri Possum Yarn (Worsted)

Possum wool is produced only in New Zealand. It is a natural fibre coming from the fur of the New Zealand Possum. It is mixed with Merino and other fibres as it is too soft and short to spin it on its own.

Every year, the New Zealand government spends around NZ$50 million culling this animal because they are a danger to the environment. Zealana fibre comes only from animals which had to be culled. Money made by selling possum fur is invested into programs to sustain the unique environment in New Zealand.

What are the special qualities of Possum yarns?

The fibres of Possum’s fur are hollow. There is only one other animal on the planet with an hollow fur fibre: the Polar Bear. Both animals need to control heat, but in contrarian environments. The Polar Bear uses its hollow fibre to keep the heat, the Australian possum uses it to defend from the heat. So possum fibre is very light, super soft and temperature resistant, which means you feel cool in warm weather and feel warm in cold. It dries quickly after becoming wet.  These attributes make possum garments suitable for all weather conditions. Possum yarns don’t pill and are especially anti-allergic because of their extremely fine hairs.

Does possum yarn shed hair?

Possum yarns tend to shed a little of the fiber, this is a problem that is found with most short fibre yarns. It tends to be more apparent prior to washing the product and we always suggest all garments are washed after knitting to let the fibers bloom, this also traps some of the fiber into the garment and stops a lot of the shedding.

Why are possums culled?

The Possum is not native to New Zealand. It was introduced to the islands by a group of businessmen in the 19th century for building up a fur trade. They were not successful and released the animals into the countryside. As the possum has no natural enemies and a high birth rate there are over 60 million possums today. This animal is responsible for a major part in the extinction of many unique birds and plants and every night it eats its way through eggs, chicks and leaves and plants.

How come that the possum has been so destructive to the environment?

Before the Europeans settled on the islands, New Zealand had no mammals at all. The islands where home of the largest birdlife on earth. As these birds had no predators the majority nested on the ground and some of them, among them the Kiwi (now protected), cannot even fly. The possum as an eater of eggs and chicks and plants was introduced into this surroundings and this developed over the years into a natural catastrophe.

Why not just return the possums to Australia?

The sheer number of the population makes it quite impossible to return the animals to Australia. The possum is a night active animal and is not easy to get. Because of the colder climate the New Zealand Possum developed over the last 200 years into a more massive and muscular species than its Australian ancestor and would possibly endanger the native(and endangered) population in Australia.

What do environment and animal welfare organisations say about using Possum fur?

WWF NZ supports and encourages the development and sales of Possum based products. The WWF even leads and finances projects to limit the possum population. Sure everyone would prefer that the possum had never been introduced to New Zealand. But as you cannot put the wheel of history into reverse New Zealnaders have to do their best to defend the unique and diverse ecosystem of the island and so the possum is the one to go. Possum fur might be the only fur in the world which is endorsed by animal welfare organisations.

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.