Red Heart Red Heart

So, if you're an internet knitter you will have heard of Red Heart yarn - probably the Red Heart Supersaver (or RHSS as it's often called). I am here to tell you now that that stuff is pretty horrific. You know the people that say they don't ever knit with acrylic because it's horrendous and ugh and 'life's too short' and and and.... well they're the ones that remember acrylic as acrylic used to be - itchy, rough, thick and, in my humble opinion, that's what RHSS is. It has it's place - it's apparently very cheap and wears like iron but there's acrylic and then there's acrylic... However, that's not all Red Heart is about! And I'm absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to show you that! It's probably not something we'll stock for the long term but I managed to get a couple of grab bags which means that you get to try world famous American yarn and the most ridiculous prices ever - everything that we're about to talk about is £1.50. You read that right ONE POUND AND FIFTY PENCE. Be ready to be amazed.

I'm going to start, because I make the rules around here, with my particular favourite:

 

The Lacie. It's a mohair type 4ply in petrol colours. Oh. Em. Gee. This is beautiful. It is a pure acrylic but isn't that just perfect for non-knitters Christmas gifts? I'm imagining something like the Fantasm Shawl: 

 

Which, once killed with blocking, would make the perfect gift for a young and funky thing. If you're worried there's not enough time - this was made in about four hours so even if you're half as fast as me, or even slower than that - there. is. still. time.

Now, onto the next yarns and I'm going to let the computer work out which photos come next. 

 

A lovely sparkly scarf yarn. Not my kind of thing but the colours are great - a bit petrol-y but bit brighter. And again a great little gift, either as a made up scarf or a ball. This stuff should retail at about £6.00 so that's a bloody bargain right?

 

THE BARGAIN OF THE CENTURY! 100g of sock yarn at £1.50. It's a slightly boring grey colour but would be great for every day socks and if you get in early enough to get more than one ball it'd make the perfect every day cardigan. oooh. 

 

Some more scarf-y type stuff. This time in a beautiful heathered purple colour and pure black. Either of these would suit a lot of people and I can also see it being used for dolls hair. Lovely. :)

 

The furry yarns. Now, these are not my thing - you'll know that if you've ever come into the shop - but I am softening to them. I think it's because there are garments made in it in every shop I go into and I can't help but touch them and now the Luxe Fur has sold out (told you it would - it will be back) it's the closest thing we've got in the shop to kittens. I am sorely tempted by the blue at the top left to make a cropped long sleeved sweater (yes, I am still on that) but I have a few Christmas gifts to make and I will finish those before starting anything for me. I will.

 

I'm calling these the leftovers. I don't have much to say about them. They're still a bloody bargain but who can get excited about lemon, red and brown acrylic? Somebody will snap them up though. :)

 

Oooooh. Another unexpected Red Heart discovery this is soft as a baby's bum. Actually. It comes in Navy and Cream and they look great together - striped oversized comfy cardi anyone???? It has 80m to 50g making it a comfortable chunky and what's better - it is 50% wool. Absolutely gorgeous. 

And finally - scarf yarns. Totes not my thing but again the colours are good - particularly the middle right hand one. It's something that will be harder and harder to get a hold of now everybody's moving on to more textured yarns so if you've not tried it yet it's probably time for a final fling or if you know somebody that loves it and can't get a hold of it now then you really ought to do them a favour if you're a good human being.

 And finally, finally:

 

I had a small but determined clearout last week when I was doing the window and I found two tiny little balls of Romano Chunky leftover from the last time I got one of these bargain packs. They're sat on top of the little pile I've made ready for their new home. Ahhhh. 

 

What a lovely little collection! And something completely different from what's in the rest of the shop. 

 In other news me and Boyf are doing the cutest thing ever. Fact. We're making a blanket together for his parental units for Christmas and then we're going to make pork pie and pickles and maybe fudge and I wonder if my marrow rum might be ready??? It's the worst photo ever but I wanted to show you:

 

Chris has been slowly but surely crocheting up a load of my chunky leftovers into five layer granny squares over the last six months or so thinking he'd make a blanket for himself. He'd made 36 when we sat down yesterday and between up we powered through so we had a total of 63 last night - now sewn up, mostly, ready for the ends to be woven in and the edging which I haven't decided on. I'm not convinced about the colours, though they do look better in real life than this photo. It's mainly pinks, purples and blues with a little grey and green now and it's pretty much all yarn from the shop. I was considering a few squares in some mohair from my extensive stash but then I was too selfish.

Right, I'm off because I have MORE exciting stuff to tell you about tomorrow and I suppose I better get on and get it on t'internet. Maybe I'll have some cake first.

Love Eleanor.

P.s. this Red Heart malarkey won't make it onto the internet before Christmas. There's only like a bag of each thing so it doesn't make any sense to do it. I'll see what's left after Christmas and make a decision then but I suspect it'll be mostly gone... If you don't live in Nottingham and want some then we take orders over the phone ((0115) 9474239) or we're happy to paypal invoice if you get in contact with us through the e-mail or facebook or whatever. We're easy going.

Love. xxxx