What are we knitting? Part 3

Next in our series of posts on what we’ve been knitting is Lottie, who’s knitting a shawl in Louisa Harding Amitola.  Tell us about your project Lottie….

I’m knitting with Louisa Harding Amitola shade #120/Winter Rose, using Stephen West’s Dotted Rays shawl pattern (available to download on Ravelry) on my favourite Addi Premium circular needles (the shawl isn’t knitted in the round, but as the rows get longer you need a circular needle to accommodate all the stitches comfortably, so I’m using a 100cm long needle).  I like to try out new constructions and techniques because for me part of the fun of knitting is that there is always something new to learn!

The pattern is is really interesting construction with short rows creating wedges of garter stitch between the rows of eyelets, so I chose to knit it in Amitola as I thought a self striping yarn would create some really interesting effects and highlight the unusual construction.

Although the pattern calls for 4ply weight yarn, Amitola is quite thin for a DK weight yarn so although garter stitch would usually create a fairly dense fabric with DK weight yarn on 4mm needles, in this yarn it makes a lovely lightweight fabric which drapes nicely, perfect for a shawl.  With shawls, as long as you have plenty of yarn and are happy for your shawl to come out a bit bigger or smaller you can experiment with different yarn weights!  This pattern is perfect candidate for this as it is written so that you can cast off after any of the short row sections to make a larger or smaller shawl.

I’ve only made one alteration  to the pattern, I have a little less yarn than recommended so I’ve decided to work all but one short row wedge for the small size, so that I don’t run out of yarn.

I’ve actually just cast off the shawl, so I’ve only got to block it now as I’ve already sewn in all the ends!  I’m pretty excited to wear it when the weather cools off again!

The thing I’ve enjoyed most about this project is the way the shifting colours of the yarn have worked with the short rows in the pattern.  I really love working with self striping yarns, I always want to knit just one more row to see which colour is coming next!  As the whole shawl is worked in garter stitch it leaves you to concentrate on the short row shaping, which is a surprisingly simple technique, so it’s actually quite relaxing to knit. A really fun project!

Great colours aren’t they?  Thanks of telling us about your project Lottie!

Happy Knitting! 🙂

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody and may 2013 bring you everything you wish for and more!

I thought I would share with you today, this adorable wedding teddy bear made by one of the knitters from our weekly knit group. Isn’t she just wonderful!

Now on a new note, we now have available for pre-order Rowan’s new season Spring/Summer 2013 magazines. There are plenty to choose from, Knitting and Crochet Magazine 53, All Seasons Chunky Collection, Summer Textures, Softknit Collection, Simple Shapes Cotton Glace, Simple Shapes Handknit Cotton & Rowan Studio 30 ‘Folk’.

Magazine 53 is another fabulous edition full of stylish designs and with a multitude of patterns to choose from. It has 3 stories, Glorious, Ikon and Essentials. Designers include Marie Wallin, Martin Storey, Sarah Hatton, Lisa Richardson and many more.

And here is a snap shot of the others due to come!

 

As well as the new books we have new yarns to go with them so here is a sneak peek at this seasons new Rowan yarns.

Above, All Seasons Chunky

Above, Softknit Cotton

Wonderful aren’t they? And of course, there will be a lot more shades available than just the 6 I have shown you. We have just received, and this is a first for Stash, Addi Premium Circular Needles 40cm in ALL sizes. Excited much? Well as you can see we here at Stash really are, we can’t wait for all the new product to arrive to us and I am pretty sure you will be just as happy to see them as we are!

Our brand new Fyberspates Gleem and Vivacious have been selling great, we have already had to restock twice in the last week!

We have more stock moving into our clearance section now, stock such as Araucania Lenga, Lauca and more. Reductions up to even 25% off! Definitely worth a visit if you like to grab a good bargain. As well as that we have a 15% of ALL SMC Select yarns at the moment. So let this be a great start to a great year! 

Nearly Decemeber

As it is nearly December we have been creating new images just to show how Christmasy we are … One for our website, one for Facebook, one for Twitter etc etc… very fun and very festive. We have had some lovely stock in this week that would again make great Christmas presents. Check out these new Swarovski Crystal Knitting needles,

   

Click on the images to enlarge them and drool over their beauty! 148 Swarovski Crystals Circular 10mm x 80cm Needle Set. The addiArt edition is the cherry on top of addi’s needle assortment . All their passion for handcrafting and beautiful things evolves in a surprising and inspiring collectors edition. The first one in the edition is the addiArt Diamond. A circular knitting needle size 10mm x 80cm which we fill up by hand with 148 precious Swarovski elements. Pure luxury for all senses, beautiful to look at and great to knit with. addiArt needles are only produced on one single day and are therefore a rare encounter. A one of special edition set not to be repeated. Attractively boxed this makes an ideal unique Christmas present for a loved one.

Next up we have The Turbo Felting Machine,

      

Felting was never this fast: with addiQuick you can make accessories, ornaments, figures, quilts and even shoes from wool in the blink of an eye. The addiQuick felting machine shoots the needle 2,500 times per minute into the fabrics and the fibres felt very quickly. With the help of the addiQuick you can work wonderful shapes. The felting with needles makes felting more precise and quicker than the wet felting method. Again this makes a great Christmas present.

We have ‘Knitted Scarfs & Shrugs‘ By Sarah Hatton, just what is needed to keep the cold away. The book has 22 original hand knit patterns inside.

We have had in some more lovely pattern books; Angel Print & Luxury Tweed Aran both by Debbie Bliss. As per usual the designs are beautiful.

Angel Prints By Debbie Bliss (Above)

Luxury Tweed Aran By Debbie Bliss (Above)

As well as these we have also had in these patterns by DY…

              

To end this weeks post we have these lovely cushions knitted by a member of our team, Les in DY Choice Rumba Tweed.

Childrens Needles

NEW IN …

We have these new childrens knitting needles from Addi. Its a great idea to get your little ones started on such a wonderful hobby at such a young age! A great suggestion for bonding time!

               

New stands for all the new Addi products

We have had to re-arrange the shop to accomodate all the Addi products, so if you visit and can’t find anything please ask!

Here are some shots of the new arrangements….

 

Addi delivery now online

The news on the Addi front is good, – all the new needles, hooks, sets and accessories are available to buy here. They are fabulous with excellent connection between needle/hook and cord. We also are now stocking the shortest circular needles in the World – 20 cm!!

Please have a look!

Helen x

New Arrivals

Yes, our Addi order has arrived today and has taken a while to unpack and sort.

We will be trying to get all the new goodies on the website soon – interchangeable lace needle sets and 20cm circular needles to name a couple…

Keep your eyes open

(that’s a pound coin in the middle to give you some idea as to how short they are!)

Heart Stoppers

There will be some Addi Heart Stoppers arriving any day now in our delivery from Addi.(yes, for your needle points!)

Along with the new Swing crochet hooks, there will be other new arrivals like –  the ‘addi-click‘ lace sets and the ‘addi- click’ bamboo sets.  Both these sets combine the luxury of the addi needles and the convenience of the interchangeable sets.  The sets have 8 pairs of needles points from 3.5mm upto 8mm, the lace set has 5 cables and the bamboo set has 3 cables.

                                     

 

We are also expecting the addi-click Hook set, which means that you can combine a tunisian crochet hook on one end of the cord with a knitting needle on the other end.  The sets are of hooks from 3.5mm upto 8mm.

Rowan Lace Workshop proves a great success!

 

Just a small selection from the luchtime buffet

Yet another successful Rowan Workshop at Stash Fine Yarns last Friday 16th April. Heike Gittins introduced the ten eager ladies to the wonders of producing beautiful fine pieces quite simply by using the finest quality yarns, in this case Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze knitted on some of the World’s best needles, Addi, Knit Pro and Signature. Hand made chocolate cookies went well with the tea/coffee for elevenses, followed by a freshly prepared buffet lunch at 1pm…ish.

Lesley brings in the much awaited Manos Del Uruguay Lace

Every one was very chatty, making new friends and sharing their passion with like minded people. A delivery of the brand new Manos Del Uruguay Lace and Manos Del Uruguay  Lace Patterns caused quite a stir, hardly giving us any chance to get this delicious yarn out of the box! It really is quite gorgeous, 12 shades made of 75% baby Alpaca , 20% Silk, 5% Cashmere with approx 439yds/400m per 50g skein. One skein will make a scarf – all for £11.95! Fantastic!

The afternoon was finished off with some more hot and cold drinks and iced donuts! Everyone had left by about 5pm, armed with their new knowledge and clutching their 10% discounted purchases, eager to get home and try out their new skills. Thanks go to Heike for sharing her skills with everyone. The next workshop, a ‘Tunisian Crochet’ workshop is scheduled at Stash on Friday 7th May.

Which Manos Lace pattern? They’re all just so gorgeous!

 Why not check out our forth coming workshops on our website at stashfineyarns.com