Oh Dear

It appears that I'm up to my old tricks again... But I have a good reason! Just not one I can share with you... My Mum and I had a good discussion a few days ago based on an idea of mine and it looks like I'll be putting in quite a lot of behind the scenes work that'll have to stay secret until I've spoken to some other parties. It might not stay secret for long depending on what other people have to say but if it does stay secret then we're looking at about a timeline of a year or so where I keep things secret but work on them pretty much non-stop. Which is not v. good for having a blog is it?! Hmmm. At least today I have other things to speak to you about - new wool! YEAH!!!

So, Mark from King Cole came to see me t'other day and as usual, I'd seen most of what he had to show me on their facebook group before he came. That freed us up to talk about wildlife photography which is his real passion... He even won a place on the Countryfile Calender 2013 with this photo!!

 

Click here for his website - he's actually brilliant. 

But, I knew I wanted something new - something a bit different, something a bit exciting! With weather like we've been having (blurgh. not good for a ys...) you need something new and fresh to keep the interest don't you? So I've invested in the lovely Shine DK. 

 Now, this has been out for a few months and I'll admit outright that I forgot about it. I remember the Meadow colourway, which is really much more of a rainbow, making a massive impression on me but I was ordering a lot of something else at the time and couldn't afford to get anymore (I think it was when I got all of the Merino DK. Ahhh). For some reason this was back in his bag this time and I had the money to get it so I did. It's pretty much an acrylic but it has a thread of polyester running through it. It won't be everybody's cup of tea but I think that even people that don't like acrylics tend to not mind them for kids and seriously, they have cornered that with the Glacier, Blossom and Meadow. For those of you, like me, who don't mind a bit of acrylic for ourselves then worry not. This is spun in a very specific way which makes it super smooth, it has four plies in total which means that the fibres are packed tight into their tiny little plies and therefore lie smoother - kind of like the idea of cashmerino type yarns, yeah? I think it's going to mean that the yarn takes texture really well, I was going to say cable then but it'd have to be a special cable or design to work with the colourways. Lace, however, looks bloody lovely!

That's 3846. Imaginative... There's been a bit of discussion on this. Firstly, somebody reckons that nobody would wear it... well the model in the shop will be and then I will be. But I'm gonna knit the model first because I'm not convinced I'll wear the meadow. I may be more like to knit it in the slightly more sedate quicksilver or glacier. We'll see. Secondly, a few people have mentioned that they'd cast on all of the stitches at once so that you don't get the blockiness between the front and the back. That would deffo work, until you get to the armholes and I guess if you do a machine steek you could also do the rest of it like that. But I like the blockiness of it - I think, especially in the meadow, it makes it just a little more obnoxious which is part of the appeal for me. Anyway,  here are the rest of the patterns. I think they've done really well.

So that's the Shine DK. Enjoy.

Secondly. And this I'm really super excited about. Might we introduce to you the Bamboo Cotton 4ply. ARGH!!! I've been asking for this for a LONG time!

 

 Now, they've chosen the top ten colourways from the DK version but that's left us with a slightly muted palette. These probably aren't the best sellers in our shop but certainly the Opal and the Dusty Pink should smash out like they usually do.

The patterns provided are stunning delicate things:

King Cole 3920. Hope you can see that there's a little cable in there. Perfect for summer and layering going into Autumn. 

There's also this pattern: 

King Cole 3938. Which is style pretty horrendously. But I can see this. I have a vision! I'm going the left hand version in white and I'm going to put it over a bright bikini not a bloody outfit. This is for the beach! It is a better version, because it's handmade of course, of a kaftan! But I don't expect you to believe me, I feel like I'm on my own with this one but you'll all be on my level soon! Mwahaha!

And click here for the rest of the patterns. 

 I was going to tell you about the brand new colours in the Fashion Aran but the lovely Chrissie's just gone and bought most of it! Haha. The Rum is now out of stock and we only have one left of the Lewis (I should have bought a million packs of that, I knew it'd sell!). Anyway, you can admire it by clicking here and look at this photo:

 

I feel like the Orkney needs more love but that's probably my fault - it's the blacky-grey hiding in the background there and it's lush! There are some new patterns for it too, they're right at the end of this list here.

And fiiiiiinally, we got two new colours of the Comfort Prints in.

Delight on the left and Spearmint on the right. Delight doesn't show up very well, it's a delicious mix of cream, dusky pink and beigey/browns. You're going to love it!

So that's the new stuff! I feel like there's a new energy in the shop now I've had a little move around and sort out.

And I was going to say more but customers have been in all afternoon and now it's nearly home time! So I'm offski.

Love

Eleanor. xxx