Winner Announcement and a New Competition!

Oh Me Oh My! I've been astounded by the success of the #winner giveaway. Astounded! Welcome to all the new likers and followers. We hope you stick around to become part of the gang and if you're close enough pop in and meet us too - we're a bloody great bunch. Even if I say so myself. :)

So the first giveaway winner is Marlene Hardy!

She wins this marvelous sock blank from Verity at Truly Hooked. I can't resist putting this photo up because it's so blooming cute!

We had an incredible 427 entries for this round. Let's hope we can beat it in the next! 

What have I got for you? AHHHHHHHHHH ONLY MY FAVOURITE THING EVER! 

AMAZING! You guessed it! It's the Masham. And there's a FULL PACK up for grabs. Twelve beautiful balls. Ahhhh. Now it's up to you whether you take all one colour or all different colours or a few of each. It also applies over the full Masham range so that's the gorgeous and washable Masham DK or the sturdy and feltable Masham Misty DK. We've sold a fair bit of this stuff now so I can't wait for finished object photos to start tumbling in. In the meantime I've been knitting:

This beautiful cardi from the King Cole 4014 pattern in the Bracken colourway of the Masham DK. These oddly shaped socks from the same pattern: 

 Which look a lot less odd when they're on feet. And finally, today I finished these glorious slippers in the Masham Misty DK:

And they're due for a good old felting (I know, I know, it's fulling.... pedants) tonight when I finally find out how to work Boyf's washing machine (can you tell I'm excited about that....?).

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that it's gorgeous yarn and it's not cheap so I'm hoping somebody who is as in love with it as I am and skint as I am wins. Failing that, just somebody that will give it a good home. :)

How to you win? Same way as last time so I'm going to copy and paste from this blog:

"So, I want to thank you! I'm going to do a big series of giveaways. I've been thinking long and hard about what to offer and I've got all sorts to give away which is really exciting and I think I'm going to spread it out over a few weeks culminating on the 9th of October or thereabouts which is when me and Vezza are going to London to collect the award. 

Now, I ain't stupid, I'm an award winning business woman (mwhahahahaha), so I'm not doing this for free. I'd like more followers onFacebook and Twitter so that more people know about how fabulous we all are. So I'm going to be putting some posts on Facebook andTwitter in order to win you need to either comment linking somebody you think would like to win on Facebook (you do that by typing '@' and then straight after the name of one of your friends with no spaces) - you get one entry per post and each person that you link gets one entry per post even if you comment more than once or the friend gets linked more than once. I'll be putting up more than one post per item though, so you do have a chance of multiple entries. If you're on Twitter, simply retweet. "
And just in case you missed why we're doing this - especially to the newbies that have joined us - well, we only went and WON Best Yarn Shop In The Midlands! Which is AMAZING for a tiny and disorganised shop liked ours but hopefully you'll stick around to join the madness that our loyal regulars have enjoyed for the last four years.

This competition closes on Wednesday the 24th when the next prize is announced and that is ALSO A GOODUN! I can't wait. :)

Love Eleanor. xxxxxx

In Amongst the Brilliant Stuff...

...is always going to be some shit stuff, isn't there? This isn't about me or the shop. It's about women and children living in a refuge to escape domestic abuse. One of my fantastic customers is a manager at the Nottingham Community Housing Association and she's asked for some help to set up a knitting circle for the women and their families living in a refuge in the city area. The refuge and it's position needs to stay secret for safety reasons so I won't mention anything here - it's on a need to know basis.

The refuge houses 12 women and their families (up to 5 or 6 children) who've had to flee domestic abuse. The women can stay there for up to 12 months and while they're there they get both practical support and emotional support. Stuff like applying for benefits, how to resettle, budgeting, getting jobs, getting onto college courses and other life skills. They want to set up a knitting circle in the refuge to promote self esteem and social skills and calm and all the other reasons that we do it. Think about why you knit, crochet, sew, bead, cross stitch - and imagine the intense help that could be to a woman in need. We have to help don't we! So, what do they want?

Firstly, they'd like a female volunteer who would spend some time teaching and coaching and befriending the women. The volunteer will need to be a fairly good knitter or crocheter (and other yarn/fabric skills like sewing or embroidery would be great!) and be confident enough to teach it - but it won't be like a lesson, it'll be more like one on one friendly teaching, the sort you might do with your mate. The volunteer won't need to be DBS or CRB checked because they won't be alone with the women at all. The ideal volunteer would come weekly but the time/day doesn't matter a great deal - I guess as long as it's a regular thing. They'd like somebody that can commit for the long term. Could it be you??? The details of the place are secret like I say so if you are interested and you think you fit the bill, just pop me an e-mail or a Facebook message through and I'll pass on the manager's number for you to work out the details.

Secondly, they'd like any wool and needles and hooks that can be spared. I've got some that I'm going to put together but I'm sure if this takes off they'll need a lot more! Anything will do including any 'interesting' textured yarn which is the stuff that tends to appeal to kids. I'm sure patterns and books and sewing up needles and tape measures and cable needles and anything will come in handy too. I happen to know that they'd like to encourage other crafts so although it feels a bit weird to ask if you have any materials, beads, sewing cotton, aida, embroidery silks, embroidery hoops that are going spare? Yep, we'll have them! I'll make sure these are passed straight through to the manager who'll get them to the women that need them.

I am so pleased we can be a part of this. It means a lot doesn't it?

Love Eleanor. xxx

#WINNING

WE DID IT! WE BLOODY WON! WE DID IT!

WELL DONE US! WELL DONE US!

WE ARE THE BEST YARN SHOP IN THE MIDLANDS!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

Now, gloating over (though I reserve the right to start again if the urge takes me, much like I've been dancing around the shop every now and again...). 

We are SUPER mega pleased. Well, I say 'we' as if there is a 'we', there's just me and this bloody brill shop so it feels like a 'we' but in reality the 'we' is 'you' and 'me'. Haha. As in me, the building, the contents and the absolutely bloody magnificent customers that come through the doors. Seriously. We literally can't be here without you but also every single personality and history and character that takes part in the stuff that we do - whether that's buying, or partying, or commenting, knitting for our charity drives, coming to Yarndale, inviting me to judge stuff or talk at you for an hour - makes this shop. Amazing. Every single one of you. Ahhhhhh. 

Soppiness over.

So, I want to thank you! I'm going to do a big series of giveaways. I've been thinking long and hard about what to offer and I've got all sorts to give away which is really exciting and I think I'm going to spread it out over a few weeks culminating on the 9th of October or thereabouts which is when me and Vezza are going to London to collect the award.

Now, I ain't stupid, I'm an award winning business woman (mwhahahahaha), so I'm not doing this for free. I'd like more followers on Facebook and Twitter so that more people know about how fabulous we all are. So I'm going to be putting some posts on Facebook and Twitter in order to win you need to either comment linking somebody you think would like to win on Facebook (you do that by typing '@' and then straight after the name of one of your friends with no spaces) - you get one entry per post and each person that you link gets one entry per post even if you comment more than once or the friend gets linked more than once. I'll be putting up more than one post per item though, so you do have a chance of multiple entries. If you're on Twitter, simply retweet.

Got it!? GOOD!

So, what's the first thing we're giving away? Well, it's something very special that I know you're all going to love because people go mad about them when we do the £2 draws on our special events. I've got our very own Vezza from Truly Hooked to knock up this beaut!

 

OH YEAH! It's one of her famed sock blanks - 100g of superwash wool/nylon mix to make whatever you like!!! You can get a pair of socks, a pair of gloves, looooooong leg warmers, the yoke of a cardi, hat and fingerless mitts, a scarf, a shawl. ALL SORTS! And look at those colours! We thought about it carefully and this is a combination of the most popular colourways that we've done in the raffles so hopefully you'll love it too.

The posts will begin tonight and I'll make it clear which ones you need to be promoting so you won't be in the dark, don't worry. Remember, all you need to do is comment linking somebody that you think would like to win or retweet and you might just be the lucky winner!

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.s. I've been going a bit mad with banners over the last couple of days. Look:

They're good aren't they!? Even if I do say so myself. :)

P.p.s. THANK YOU!!!

Radcliffe-On-Trent Village Show

The day after the party me and Boyf went to Radcliffe-on-Trent so that I could judge the knitting bit of their village show. Now, I've never done anything like that before and it sounded a bit of WI good fun and a bit Bake Off so I said yes pretty much straight away and we turned up on the day with no idea what we were doing. Luckily the trusty satnav sorted us out and we were there in no time. In the middle of a few grey days there was glorious sunshine and the whole thing was just bloody great.

The ladies that invited me are part of the knitting group that meets in the Grange Hall every Wednesday from 1.30 to three for knitting, crochet, chatter and delicious cakes. They are an absolutely great bunch - really good fun with wicked sense of humour and perfect talent. I was told all of their names but you know I'm no good so I won't even try.

Anyway, firstly we were ushered into a big hall to look at the entries - there were nine altogether (a bit better than the four that we had originally, bearing in mind I had to choose a first, second and third). I was a bit overwhelmed. How do you make a decision when everybody's tried so very hard and come out with beautiful, wearable scarves that show so much talent? Maybe I'm not cut out to be a judge.

I started by feeling each one individually - trying some of them on, rubbing some on my cheek. I put down the ones that I didn't feel like rubbing anywhere, a scarf needs to be touchable. Then I thought about the design - did the colour/variegation match the design? There was one gorgeous cowl, really well knitted with a big chunky yarn, it passed the touch test but it lost some of the detail because the yarn was horizontally striping. So that had to go. :( I looked at other things like, how well the colours were put together, the size and shape of accompaniments like buttons, ribbons. I was down to about four then. And the final judgement was made on the finishing. It makes such a difference in a scarf because at some point you'll see both sides just because of how they hang. So every stitch needs to be in place every end needs to be woven in the right place. That narrowed it down to three. And then I made a personal choice about where to put them in order.

 This one came first:

 

Not a flattering photo... It felt lovely - very crisp. The pattern was really simple but because it was lace on a garter stitch border it looked really unusual, the yo's made a kind of 'cage'. You probably know that I have a real fondness for garter stitch - the first stitch that we ever learn and the most overlooked. It doesn't curl, it's thick and cushy, it feels good to knit, and it looks cobbled and old fashioned. I love it. On top of the old-fashionedness though was not only the unusual lace but the most delightful combination of deep charcoal grey, silver sparkles and a tiny tiny bouclé thread in a salmon-y beige colour. I've no idea if the lady (assuming it was a lady...) put it together herself or if it was all in the yarn but the pattern was a great match for the yarn. And oh my goodness I would wear this. If nobody had have been looking it would have been in my bag straight away.

Turns out though that the winner, and she won the princely sum of £1.50, was a stranger to the knit group! I had no idea obviously, having never met any of them. Happily though the second and third prizes went to regulars. Here they are: 

 

Second place. :) Now this was GORGEOUS. Much better in real life than my photos. And most certainly the best finished piece. The colour combo was beautiful. But the scarf-y bit was only a couple of inches wide so it wasn't scarf-y enough for me. The lady who knitted it spent the day spinning in the knitter's corner (more on that later) so we had a good chat and luckily she agreed with me. But it was beautiful. 

Third place went to: 

This one. Which is another one I would have worn myself. I like the reversible cable design. It's clever and still a bit unusual even though it's all over rav. The blues were gorgeous, subtle and that mixed with the organic looking cable gave a stunning watery feel. I learned later that the yarn was a leftover from a lovely jumper which makes me love it even more. Waste not want not. Also, the lady was so thrilled she got third that she gave me a hug. Haha. I liked her. :)

Other notable scarves that I would have walked off with were this one:

Which Boyf and I nicknamed the Mermaid Scarf. I adore the pattern and it was beautifully finished but it wasn't a reversible stitch and the edge curled a little. I adore the ribbon though, you can't see here but it was really subtly coloured and a perfect match for the yarn. Gorgeous.

And this one:

 

Which would have totes won were it not for a couple of split stitches. I must admit, I'd kind of forgotten a little about the Riot striped scarf thing but this one, in the Neon colourway, reignited my passion for this gorgeous and simple design. I ADORE the pompoms - a proper size for the scarf. And I very definitely need my own with, no doubt, the same amount of split stitches... :) I was about to say 'no judging here' but of course, there had to be. Haha. Sorry Ali - it was beauts!

This is the table as a whole. I was so impressed by the standard, especially the under 13's entry, that I felt I had to write a comment on every single one which meant there wasn't time to photograph them all. But each and every one was lovely and I'm sure they'll look great worn.

 Well done ladies!

When we were done we headed over to the knitting corner where people were hanging about, having a chat, eating a bit of cake, carding a little and spinning. Lovely. A few people had their knitting out too, so I got mine out. :)

We had cake and tea.

 

Which was well needed because despite barely drinking anything at the party, I was hungover... I'm getting old now. 

 

We admired the display. Really well put together with lots of interesting pieces including a Baby Surprise Jacket and some gremlin mask thing that was terrifying! Can you see it?

 

Then at 11 o'clock the whole thing opened and we went out in the sun to watch the opening speech given by a very important lady and some bloke that knows the queen... I'm not very good am I??

 

We went back in to do a bit more chatting and I had to design this beautiful poster because I'd forgotten my business cards because I. Am. That. Professional. I don't think I've ever remembered business cards before in my life. It's a wonder I even still own a shop isn't it!?

Then we had a wander around the place and it was jam bloody packed! AMAZING! I've never seen a village show so packed before. Not that I've ever been to one but in my head it's all bedraggled. This was a sight to behold. 

 

I'm sure the weather helped a bit. And the amazing dog show. :)

So we wandered around. There were plant stalls, and craft doll stalls and FUDGE stalls (Amy Singer, this fudge was divine but just in case we only spent £2 and now I wish we'd spent £8!) and pie stalls and then at the very end there was this.

Prize Marrows. I'm deffo taking my marrows next year. I'm sure they would have won. Sure. Look at this beauty:

 Which weight just over an actual stone. A stone. That's more than a baby. That's two good sized babies in fact. A stone. I made it into this:

Which is marrow rum. Although Chris has now told me that distilling is both hard and illegal so I won't be doing that and I guess I'll end up with something that's more like marrow wine or beer. I don't mind which. Anyway, it's bubbling away in an old broken fridge which is keeping it safe, warm and dark. And I won't know what it tastes like until this time next year when I'll either be drunk as a skunk or blind as a bat. It's like the prohibition in here, seriously.

Anyway, we bought fudge and pork pies at the fair and headed off home after a couple of hours. I wanted to go for a walk but Chris wanted to get home to Versace - saddact that he is. We gardened for a couple of hours, watched Call the Midwife and then went to bed. Gorgeous day. Happy times. And I got this photo:

Which is our wild flower front garden. I got a shaker thing one day when I nipped into Beeston whilst Chris was still in bed worse for wear. Dug every thing I could out of the garden which was just horrendous weeds that will never die and they stink and carried 16 buckets of pebbles through to the back garden and then shook it about. It took months to come through and there's a little tuft of horrid yellow flowers that must have clumped together on the other side but I am so pleased with this side. It was the set that specifically attracts bees and butterflies and I do see them about a lot so I'm doing my bit.

Ahhh. And that's that!

Love Eleanor. xxx

Two New Yarns For the Price of One...

(...blog post).

There's no real way to separate these two amazing yarns. All of the patterns seem to use them as one and the same and they're both so bloody scrumptious that it seems only fair to put them in one place or your heads might explode! :)

I'm talking about the GORGE Masham DK and Masham Misty DK. Again, both released on the birthday and both waiting for their time to shine due to the video in the last blog taking literally three days to upload (why!? It's not even high resolution, it's a bloody three year old webcam. Come on now internet/youtube. Get it together. Moooooooving on...). The only difference between these two yarns really is that one is washable, the Masham DK and one isn't, the Masham Misty. But it seems so sad to say 'isn't' as if that takes something away from the yarn - when actually it adds! It adds FELTABILITY! Which is amazing because it's been a long time since we've have feltable wool in the shop hasn't it? AND I CAN'T WAIT TO KNIT SLIPPERS! It also makes it suitable for soakers, longies and other shitty bum baby things.... ;)

Anyway. Colours. Of course.

 This is the Masham DK.

Cream - Bluebell - Berry - Bracken - Navy

Raspberry - Parsley - Black - Bilberry - Peat

 105m - 115y - 50g - 100% Pure British Wool - 30 degrees wash - £4.00

This is the Masham Misty DK. 

Stone - Cream - Rose Hip - Heather

Slate - Barley - Oatmeal - Hops

105m - 115y - 50g - 100% Pure British Wool - handwash only - £3.75

Now, the Masham DK (btw it's pronounced mass-ham) has much purer colours - they're kind of jewel toned if you know what I mean. Whereas the with the Misty each colour has been mixed with a natural/beige kind of a colour - right the way through, at the carding stage, no stripes, spots or flecks - so the final colours are much more chalky. Like sun bleached. Does that make sense?

These are investment yarns I reckon. If you're substituting for one of the Rowan British Breeds or even just a Rowan DK then the price is bloody brill - £4/£3.75 rather than £6 so in that case, no problems, just get to it. But if you're one of our customers, used to spending more like £2.00-£3.00 a ball then it's a step up and we get it. But listen, this is a British breed sheep (the Masham), living in Yorkshire (Masham), owned by British farmers who have to feed their families and livestock and keep a business going, they're then sheared, sorted, processed, dyed and spun in Yorkshire, shipped over to Skipton where King Cole live and then a short hop over the Pennines to us. That's the beauty of it. The yarn is truly gorgeous, obvs, I'll talk about that in a bit, but we all talk big about supporting our local economy and building Britain again but quibble over prices. Now, this yarn isn't going to be spot on for every project of course, there's always time for Pricewise or Bamboo Cotton, but it is a fabulous yarn at a fabulous price and at all points you're supporting independent, small businesses who are putting money right back into your economy. See, it ain't all just pointy sticks and dropped stitches - this is politics and activism at a level where we can all make a difference.

AND WE CAN MAKE AMAZING JUMPERS!

So, let me talk about it now. Masham DK. AHHHHHHHH. Masham DK. That's the washable one. I LOVE IT! I ACTUALLY LOVE IT! It's a 2 ply. Don't get me wrong, it's double knit weight (i.e. 8 ply) but it's made of two plies. What does this mean? Well, a slightly uneven texture. That's what it means. Every stitch, every row, every piece has a homespun wibblyness to it that makes it absolutely delectable. Can you see?

There are other issues here, like me being an idiot that can't read a pattern but can you see what I mean? There's character in every stitch. Before I owned the shop I used to volunteer as a befriender to a gorgeous lady called Rachel who had Alzheimer's. I went one day and her and her son had been skip diving (seriously, a tiny and slightly batty old lady actually skip diving. Excellent) and they'd found some yarn. I'm going to estimate it was late seventies from the ball band and it was EXACTLY this make up. A 2 ply DK pure wool and it was BEAUTIFUL! It's good and old fashioned.

I'm making pattern number 4014 there and can you remember that I talked about it in this post? It's the project I was knitting on holiday. AHHHHHH. Such happy memories. 

 

I keep saying to Boyf, 'remember when we went on holiday' as if it was a million years ago and it does feel like it was. Such a good time. And the knitting was part of that. Apart from I went wrong so I had to rip a load out and never really got the knitting mojo back after that. Anyway, last night I decided, after finishing my beautiful scarf that I'll talk about later that I should get back on it and I looked for the front that I knew I'd started. Nowhere to be found. So I started a sock, that's on the same pattern leaflet last night. 

 

That's going to have some happy memories attached because something's happened that I can't tell you about just yet, but hopefully soon, maybe even this week and I was celebrating last night by having dinner cooked for me, eating choccers leftover from the party (CHOCOLATE LEFTOVER!), drinking wine from another engagement that I have to tell you about - ahhhhh blogs galore - and watching the cat play with her new £50 (FIFTY POUND) scratching post which we've covered from head to toe in catnip - needless to say she luuuuuuuuuuuurves it. Anyway, it's as beautiful to knit with now as it was on holiday and I found the front that I'd started yesterday so I can get on with that too. 

 

 Even though I'm not as far on with that as I thought...Because once that's done I have a  DATE with a massive pack of it in cream and this pattern:

And Verity's dye pots to make it BLOODY DIP DYED! Yes, I went there! I'M GOING THERE!

And maybe I'll have it done by Yarndale. That's so unlikely it hurts but we all need a dream in life don't we?

Anyway, I think that's the Masham DK done. Let's move on to the Misty. WHICH IS INCREDIBLE! Now, I have less to say here, I haven't knitted with it because you lot surely know by now how terrible I am at washing things (anybody remember my mohair dress? *sob*) so I'm not going to be making stuff like socks or jumpers that need washing. I'm going to make slippers. SLIPPERS ALL OVER THE BLOODY PLACE. Why so many capitals today, Eleanor? There's more to felting than SLIPPERS - you can make bags, bowls, cushions, hats, mittens, table mats, bath mats - the list is endless but I love felted SLIPPERS! And the pattern I have in mind uses chunky which is perfect because two DK's together make chunky so I can combine the colours. Like the hops with the slate or the cream with the heathers or the oatmeal with the barley or the or the or the. OR! Any of these held with another yarn liked Riot DK so that the Misty does the felting job and the Riot does the omg-colour-to-make-you-dribble-job. WHY IS THERE SO LITTLE TIME TO KNIT IN MY LIFE?! I have ideas people. Ideas coming out of my bum and no time. I know you understand.

Please don't be put off making garments in the Misty because of the handwash thing. Handwashing isn't really a chore once you get over the not having to actually touch it apart from specific stains thing. Letting it soak for a good hour or so in a bathtub with washing liquid is enough. My problem is, by the time I get home and it's half seven/eight, have my dinner because I eat lunch at a normal time and I'm starving then set to work soaking and washing, I'm falling asleep by the time they're ready to wring out and dry flat. And I don't get days off. If you have weekends/evenings then it's well worth doing. And the colours, like I say, might just speak to you in a way that the Masham DK doesn't. Make sense?

The patterns are here. And there are some stunners. But I might come back and talk about them another time but I've wittered on enough here and you have eyes and brains to look yourself. If you wanna talk about them you just need to ring or pop in though because I am willing and able to witter about them if you need me to.

That's it, I'm off.

Enjoy the Masham it's a goodun.

Love Eleanor. xxx

Bamboozle!

**It's taken three bloody days to upload the videos at the end. Sorry for the wait!**

Of course, with the party comes NEW YARNS! HOW EXCITING! It's the time when we launch our new winter shades - though, you know me, I just keep topping up throughout the winter anyway. But if I'm going to get anything in around this time then I tend to keep it ready for the party. Anyway, enough rambling. Here we have the marvellous King Cole Bamboozle.

Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't for everyone. It's very thick and thin which means that patterns need to be simple to get the best out of it. Having said that, I finished this beaut of a jumper a couple of days before the birthday (and then forgot to block it until the day before, cue wet jumper...) and it's got a lovely little lace pattern in it which shows up nicely I think.

There are ten colours in the range but it's gonna be one of them that's out of stock at the beginning because it's going to be MAD popular! (Anybody remember the Opium? Ugh, that was a hard couple of months...). Currently the Heathers and the Neopolitan are out, that's bottom left and top second left in the photo above which is a bugger because Oksana wanted the Heathers and I'm desperate for the Neopolitan... Ahhh well. They'll be here. Patience is a virtue.

Ahhhh. The meantime, lovely David had been here to help me take photos. I am, as always, a bloody great model.

All in all I think I prefer my first one... Anyway, the pattern is King Cole 4041 and it is gorge once you get past the honking great mistake on the first row. If anybody wants to do this pattern please make sure you're relatively experienced (as in, you've done a lace project before) and you speak to me, or e-mail me, because it's dead easy once you know how but it doesn't work if you don't make that slight adjustment (Oksana, if you're reading this come back to me! I meant to tell you at the party but got overcome!).

So, the patterns are basically simple but interesting, modern shapes which is perfect for this funky yarn. They do do a weird thing though which is to tell you to knit the slubby bits on the purl row and purl them on the knit row to make them stand out. Can you see?

 

Maybe. Maybe not. But I don't like it. Oh onononononononononon. I think it looks like growths so I just knitted it (or purled) it all and I think that looks great and the slubby bits show up just fine. 

As always, it's your knitting so do exactly as pleases you. :)

 

All the patterns are here. 

The yarn was gorgeous to knit with, and I wasn't expecting that! I think the thick bit is the wool/acrylic blend bit and the thin bit is the bamboo. Sometimes the bamboo is a bit slubby  itself and then it looks and feels like silk. It has a real shine to it, a good lustre. AND! I got the front wrong but didn't realise till I'd knitted it all so I had to rip and reknit and you cannot tell. Which I thought was unusual because it's a single (meaning it's not plied a lot like the Riot) but that tends to mean a more delicate yarn - this one stood up to my farting about and I was pleased.

It comes in hanks!!!!!!! Which is very exciting and they look GORGE but you need to wind them before you start. I'm going to do a video about it in a mo and may or may not add it to this blog, depending on the time. I will wind it for you for £1 a hank though, so just let me know if you can't be bothered. ;).

Ahah! I've done the video...s about hanks.

That's part one.
 
And this is part two:

Oh I had fun doing those videos. If you can call three bloody days uploading the thing, then finally giving up, changing the format and loading them in 20 minutes fun. Hopefully that helps you, it's dead easy, quick and actually fun. But I recommend doing it in advance of the knitting when you have a spare five minutes so you don't get to the middle of a row and then have to stop and start again.

And that's it. I love it! Can you tell? I've been wearing the jumper for two and a half days and I couldn't wear it today because it needs a freshen up so I've left it to soak this morning and I'll be back in it on Sunday (when I'm going on a hot (one year anniversary!!!!!!!!!) date).

Right, I'm so glad to be posting this, it's literally been open on my browser for three days. Tomorrow I have more good stuff and that's also been written for three days but because of the videos I couldn't post it. And then I have another good thing to tell you about and then I still have to tell you about last Sunday. ARGH! BLOGS GALORE!

Love Eleanor.

What Birthdays Are Good For.

Reminding me how awesome my customers are.

 

Giving me an excuse to get some ridiculously good yarns in. 

 

Thanks Truly Hooked. 

Catching up with friends. 

 

Who I haven't seen in ages because this time of year is mad and summer makes me miserable.

Relaxing in good company. 

 

 Eating nuclear coloured cakes. 

 

And the most intensely rich dream tarts ever. 

 

Giving away free things to FANTASTIC loyal customers like Sarah Richardson, Steph Slack, Elaine Pattison, Laura-Jo Webster, Pat Stephenson and Kate Beautmont (who gets a special shoutout for washing up, cleaning the toilet floor, wiping up baby sick (and bringing the means to do that) and taking me home - she can come back). 

Moving the whole shop around ready for a fresh winter feel. 

 

Which guarantees that I'll sleep well for the next three nights by wringing me out physically, intellectually and emotionally. Do you know how hard it is to move this tiny shop around? Elizabeth now does, as does June for the third year running. They are both absolute troopers who deserve a MASSIVE thank you and all of our appreciation. 

Feeling like a movie star when customers make me pose with my huge bouquets before leaving them to booze in peace. In the shop. On their own. That's how much I trust them. When June's around to keep them in line.... ;)

 

Getting two of the most beautiful bouquets I've ever seen. 

 

And a ridiculous amount of calories leftover. 

 

I forgot to put Davina's HUGE box of Celebrations in the photo... 

 

Making the shop smell like a brewery. 

 

 

And, and I haven't got a photo for this, a big old glob of money that we can use to make the shop better by spending it on yarn, or fixtures or a new laptop or savings or a whole load of things!!!

Thank you to everybody that came on Saturday. I really was worried that nobody would come for some reason but throughout the day there were at least four of you and more like 15 for most of it. So full I spent most of the day chatting and smoking outside and only coming in when somebody needed to use the till... Each and every one of you is loved and appreciated here. If Knit Nottingham is more than just a yarn shop, and I think it is, then it's you lot that make it. And thanks to everybody who wanted to come but couldn't and to those who came last week and to those who come throughout the year. AHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love Eleanor. xxx