We have new yarn.

And I really need to be doing the window. But I'm not. I'm crocheting with the new yarn. I think this makes me both a brilliant and a terrible yarn shop owner. So I'll settle for an okay one. Haha. Look:

 

It's perfect isn't it!? Isn't it just blooming perfect. *sobs with happiness*. 

It doesn't look quite like that now, I've sold two jumpers worths and about 15 one balls and I took one of every ball of the green shelf for my new project. I'll show you in a minute but first I ought to introduce the yarn, yes?

King Cole Merino Blend DK. 50g, 112m, 100% pure new wool, £3(!!!!!!!!) Three whole pounds! Now that is a price!

This replaces the Cygnet Merino Superwash DK that was a massssssssssive favourite of mine, so much so that I callously ignored the Merino Blend every time they came out with a new colour. Gold?!? Nah, we've got gold. Copper?! Nah, we've got copper. Beautiful, deep, luscious olive green!? Don't need it, don't tempt me. Until suddenly (and funnily enough it coincided with Cygnet starting to sell in charity shops...) I decided that I needed more more more colours in a Merino DK. We've stocked the aran version for a long while and it's just brilliant - strong, bouncy, hefty but not too heavy and WASHABLE and then I found out that there are 43 colours in the DK as opposed to about 15 and I was there. Looks like you lot love it as much as I do.

Vezza certainly does - seven balls bought yesterday for two beautiful projects:

So, you know how I've made my new year's resolution to make a knit and crochet shop sample in each yarn? Well, I was looking at the green shelf yesterday and I was thinking how lovely a big ripple wrap would be set out much like the colours in my mohair dress - can you remember?

So like, slowly introduced? Yeah? I'm sure there must be a word for that.

But something else that's been playing on my mind is the Summer Dress that I made about a year ago (is it that long!?!?):

I must drag that out from it's hiding place. It's almost time to wear it and I bet it would look brill with my galaxy cardi! ARGH! CLOTHES! NEWISH (or at least forgotten about...) CLOTHES!

So the obvious choice was to start one in the Merino DK. Yeah? :) I've made some changes:

• I used a smaller hook - if it's going to be in wool it may as well be warm.
• I chained far too few at the beginning but I'd crocheted two balls by the time I'd realised so it's staying. Which leads me onto: 
• I'm going to make it into a pinafore. I've no idea exactly how but to that end I've chained four under the armholes so that it looks a bit more pinafore-y. 
• I'm not doing the ripple because I couldn't work out how to introduce the new colours without there being a big step and the yarn is so smooth that there's absolutely no fuzziness to hide that like there was in the mohair. 
• To introduce a new colour I am going from tr's all around to 2htr's, 2dc's and then a sl-st, breaking and finishing that colour off. Then I'm going back on myself with the new colour and working 2 dc's into the htr's and 2htr's into the dc's and then carrying on. Does that make sense?
  
  
  
  
  
  Anyway, it looks like nothing at the mo but I think I've made the decision not to do the window today which means that the Valentine's stuff stays up but really - it's just like a big heart for wool so it matters not. AND I do have to keep my skills in tip top condition and I do have to 'test' the new yarn AND making samples sells loads of wool so I think I'm making the right decision. Besides, I did wash the windows, fill three shelves, answer some e-mails and serve customers today. I think I'm allowed, maybe? And now I've written a blog. :)
  
  Love Eleanor.
  
  P.s. I just went for a fag before checking this and there was a double rainbow! The first I've ever seen in my life. I think that means that God/dess/Nature/The Universe is telling me that this is the right thing to do. :)