Spring is on its way!

I don’t know about you, but I am always heartened to see the days slowly lengthening at the start of a year.

Its been January for approximately 5 months, so to be finally into February, and to see dusk and not darkness when I leave the shop, is just lovely. Snowdrops are peeking out from the leaf litter, blackbirds are starting to strut about the garden again, and the winter knits are in full use still. Nothing says cosy like a woolly hat or shawl wrapping you up on a cold day!

There are some new and lovely yarns in store - new Scottish dyers are to be found at Fankle. We are now stocking the Eorsa DK yarn base from Iolair Yarns, a scrumptious mix of Superwash Merino, Yak and Silk (ooh!) and any day now we will be getting some mini bundles in from Henny Penny yarns - can’t wait.

Rainbow bundles are making me think of Spring, my favourite season. The air is full of sunshine, light, new buds and new possibilities - what’s not to love?

And I’ve added Rowan Felted Tweed and Felted Tweed Colour to the website, so you can plan your colourwork for the coming few weeks :)

See you soon x

Planning Ahead

MY hubby will tell you the absolute irony of this blog post title, as I am generally incapable of planning for tomorrow, never mind further into the year, but I was minded to focus on this because the summer time is a good time to plan your winter knitting.

Knitting, crochet and handcrafts tend to take a back seat in the warmer months, because people are on holiday, planning days out, or catching up with family, with the garden, and generally making most of the vitamin D and the longer evenings. That doesn’t mean we have to stop crafting though.

These longer days are great for looking out your stash, sorting out bundles of yarn, checking out patterns you’ve had your eye on, and creating project bags ready for the autumn, when you can just pick up a complete project kit and get started right away.

It also worth remembering that knitting (and to a lesser extent crochet) takes longer than you think, so making a start now means you are going to have finished garments to wear in the depths of winter, or even a start to your (dare I say it!) Christmas presents.

Anyway. We won’t wish the summer away, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spend some time in the sun, playing with yarn and thinking ahead.