Just before Christmas, we started stocking some Adriafil yarns, one of which is called Knitcol.  Knitcol is a self-striping DK yarn. It’s 100% merino wool and being a standard DK yarn, you could use it for so many things, but we think it works best with simple stocking stitch items, which will allow the stripes of the yarn to stand out.

I was dying to try it out myself, so I knitted this little baby hat, using Knitcol.  The pattern is from Sirdar pattern 1242 that includes instructions for 4 different types of baby hat.  Isn’t it cute?

Just a quick post to let you know that we have 30% off Rico Loopy scarf yarn until the end of January.  (Offer applies only to current stock)

That brings the price down from £9.95 a ball, to a fantastic £6.95… and if you spend over £30 you qualify for free postage too!

Have you tried Debbie Bliss’ yarn called Angel yet?  It’s just like Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze, although a very slight difference in the percentage of fibres and there is 10m less on a ball of Angel. However with so much on one ball anyway, it doesn’t make much difference!

I knitted this shrug using a lovely shade of Angel from the pattern book Angel by Debbie Bliss.  It’s basically 2 sleeves and a ribbed band. Pretty quick to do.

My Mum also knitted this short cardigan, from the same pattern book, using Debbie Bliss Party Angel yarn.  It’s Angel yarn with a touch of sparkle! I wore this cardi a few times of the Christmas season. It was great for parties.

I found the cardi to be a good fit and I will wear it often but one thing Mum did say when she picked up around the edge for the ribbed band, she needed to pick up more stitches than the pattern said, because it was pulling in otherwise.

I thought you might like to see these fingerless gloves that I knitted for my brother this Christmas. The yarn I used was Rico Essentials Alpaca DK.

This yarn is a 50/50 mix of highland wool and alpaca and available in 6 natural coloured shades. It feels lovely and soft and of superb quality. I enjoyed knitting with it and my brother likes his gloves!

It is also available in a chunky yarn too.

Have you ever wanted to knit something with beads, but have been put off by the thought of having to thread all the beads onto the yarn before knitting?  Well Grace Hand Beaded by Louisa Harding is a yarn that already has the beads on.  Genius!!

The yarn itself is a silk and merino wool blend and when knitted, the beads appear like iridescent droplets on the surface of the fabric giving a very subtle shimmer through the finished garment.

To accompany the yarn, Louisa Harding has produced a book, called Three Graces, which contains patterns for garments and accessories using not only Grace Hand Beaded, but her Grace and Grace Hand Dyed yarns.

Knitwear designer, Anniken Allis, has also produced a crochet scarf pattern that uses 2 skeins of Grace Hand Beaded yarn and is available to buy from Anniken’s Ravelry shop.

Or if you prefer to knit, rather than crochet, you can download a free lace scarf knitting pattern called Cosimo Scarf that can either be knit in Grace Hand Beaded or two of Louisa Harding’s other yarns, Simonetta and Nerissa.

Rico Eco Tinto Chunky is an ultra soft 100% wool roving that knits up very quickly on 7mm needles. The wool is organic and dyed using environmentally friendly dyes. Despite not being plied or twisted, the yarn is very strong and knits up well when used in colourwork or textured knits.

Available in 6 lovely shades on our website for £3.99 a ball.

Another of the Natural Dye Studio yarns we have in the shop is called Scheherazade. Scheherazade is a totally stunning luxury yarn, it is both soft and smooth and will have an amazing drape I’m sure.

It is an unusual blend of fibres: 65% silk and 35% baby camel – yes camel!

We currently have a skein in 10 different shades available, so why not treat yourself to a skein for a special project, or as a present for a friend?

We had a delivery last week from The Natural Dye Studio which included some of the most luxurious yarns I’ve ever had in the shop.

Stardust is a lovely soft DK wool, with a shimmer of silk and lightly speckled with flecks of star dust!  It is made from 75% merino wool, 20% silk, 5% sparkle!  It has lovely stitch definition which looks especially good with cables.

Rowan Kidsilk Creation is a limited edition yarn from Rowan who have taken their best selling yarn, Kidsilk Haze and made a yarn that has a tubular net construction. Kidsilk Haze is 70% super kid mohair and 30% silk and the scarf is as light as a feather!

The colours have been selected from the favourite shades of Kidsilk Haze cream, dewberry, trance, candy girl, jelly and smoke. Using a special technique one 50g hank will knit or crochet this Kidsilk Creation scarf.

Our video shows you how.

If you’re not a fan of the Can Can or Loopy yarns but would still like to make a quick and easy scarf, either for yourself or as a gift, why not have a look at the new Sirdar Bohemia yarn.  Here’s a drop stitch scarf that I made last week:

This super chunky yarn comes in 6 really nice mixed shades and the suggestion on the ball band is to knit a drop stitch scarf using massive 20mm needles.  Have a look at all the shades on our shop website.

If you don’t know how to knit a drop stitch scarf then we’ve created a short video which explains what to do.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.