We are holding our first Flash Sale of 2016 on Louisa Harding Lines, including Jesse, Luzia Fur, Colline & Mila. This Flash Sale is running Saturday 16th Jan and Sun 17th Jan 2016.
Our other discounts still stand including free delivery on orders over £30 (ex vat) and our new offer for the rest of Jan 2016, 10% off orders over £30 (ex vat)
Thanks Steph and all the team at Stash Fine Yarns
We love Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon! It’s an amazing sparkly ribbon yarn, which can be used for garments (2 skeins for a little shrug), accessories, or for some really lovely and unusual trimmings making it a very versatile yarn.
With 120 metres in a 100g skein, even if you just use it as a pretty ribbon for tying around presents, it’s a bargain, working out at just over 8p per metre at full price or just over 5p per metre if you use your HEATWAVE discount code to get 35% off!
If you fancy making a cute accessory instead, how about this lovely free Easy-Peasy bag pattern which you can find on Knitting Fever’s website here? It only takes one 100g skein!
Louisa Harding’s Etcetera book has a range of patterns for Sari Ribbon, Mila, Jesse, Mulberry, Grace Hand dyed and Mulberry Hand beaded.
If you fancy making a garment, how about this pretty little cardi? It takes 2 – 3 skeins of Sari Ribbon, just add an extra skein if you want to make the version with elbow length sleeves. 
Or how about this lovely lace cushion cover? Just 3 skeins will make a really eye catching addition to your sofa that knits up quickly on 7mm needles.
If you’re looking for another creative idea for Sari Ribbon, how about making little yarn eggs? Anne has been busy making these cute little packages which are perfect for filling with chocolate as little gifts!
To make these, get some little balloons (those sold for making water bombs are perfect), soak the ribbon in glue and wrap it randomly around the inflated balloons, leaving a few little gaps (so you can fill them later) and leave them to dry. Then pop the ballons, remove them from inside the yarn eggs and fill them with whatever takes your fancy. Great fun!
Happy Knitting!
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! 🙂
Continuing our series of posts about what we’ve been knitting, this time it’s Les’ turn to share her project!
So Les, what have you been knitting?
I’m knitting a jumper with cabled sleeves for my Mum from the Sirdar Giselle pattern 9892 using Louisa Harding Mila. I decided to substitute Louisa Harding Mila because it was more to my Mum’s taste than the Giselle yarn. She prefers a solid coloured yarn to a self striping yarn like Giselle, but Mila still has a bit of sparkle to keep it interesting!
Even though Mila is an Aran weight yarn, because it has a chainette construction it knits up into a nice, soft, lightweight fabric and goes quite a long way. It gives brilliant stitch definition over the cable pattern too, I think that being a solid colour it shows the pattern better than the recommended yarn.
It’s such a shame that Louisa Harding Mila is discontinued, (we do still have quite a good selection of it in our sale section, but when it’s gone, it’s gone) as it knits up really nicely for a variety of uses. Last year I made some fab Christmas decorations in the red (#11/Cracker) and white (#01/White) shades!
I changed the pattern a bit, I’m knitting the body in the round to the armholes as I thought it would be neater without a seam. I’ve had to make the sleeves shorter to fit my Mum, so because I’m knitting fewer rows I’ve worked increases every 8th row instead of every 10th row so I can fit them all in.
The yarn is nice to work with and it grows quite quickly so it’s quite relaxing to work on. I’m enjoying the cabling most of all because it sits so nicely. I’ve just got one more sleeve to do and once I’ve sewn them in that’s it!
Thanks for telling us about your project Les, it’s looking great!
Happy Knitting! 🙂
Pompoms seem to have been everywhere recently, so although it’s summer, we’ve been thinking about the best way to make some!
We love those faux fur pompoms that are fashionable right now, so we thought we’d have a go at making some in a luxury fur yarn that we have in the shop; Louisa Harding Luzia, which knits up into an amazingly convincing fur effect fabric.
We had a go at making a traditional pompom (above) using Luzia, but it tends to shed and moult fibres everywhere – not ideal!
So we decided to try a different approach and knit one! We used a fab free bauble pattern by Veera Välimäki, which you can find on Ravelry here. To give it structure we used 3mm needles, making a dense fabric that holds its shape. Because of this, it doesn’t even need any filling!
Perfect!
A fun little project and a lovely light bobble ideal for hats 🙂
Happy Knitting!
Our next idea for your own personal colour combinations uses another Louisa Harding pattern, Flutterby.
This striped sweater is ideal for trying out different colour schemes and the Louisa Harding Noema yarn it’s knitted in has a beautifully harmonious palette of shades which similar colours running though each of them, so it’s easy to find colours that will go together. There are so many possibilities! Clockwise from top: #15/Mojito, #11/Streamer, #12/Carnival, #17/Party, #20/Liquorice, #14/Samba.
Happy Knitting!
So here’s our second idea for you!
The super cute little Scallop Dress is from Louisa Harding’s Cassia book, and we think it is the perfect canvas to play with colour combinations!
There are plenty of pretty shades of soft but practical Louisa Harding Cassia to choose from; why not try pretty pale pink with bright pink and cool blue accents or deep purple with lilac and lime green accents?
You need just 3 balls of the main colour for all sizes from 1 to 4 years and 4 balls for 4-5 years, and a ball of each of two contrast colours. Shades from left to right: #104/Powder, #115/Lipstick, #105 Glacier, #110/Purple, #107 Lilac and #108 Lime.
Happy Knitting!
Our next new arrival is Louisa Harding Anise:
Anise is chunky cotton blend tape yarn, printed in a stunning array of spice inspired shades.
The accompanying pattern book contains a range of free spirited and flattering summer knits from stunning waistcoats (like the one above) and dresses to beautiful shawls and sweaters.
We love this poncho, a perfect cover up for the change in seasons:
…This lace edged top hits that sweet spot between interesting to knit and simple enough to be relaxing to make:
….and we love the cabled neckline on this relaxed sweater:
Which will you make?
Happy Knitting!
We’ve just had some beautiful yarns delivered from Louisa Harding, the first of which is Azalea.
A DK weight cotton available in 100g balls, Azalea is printed with speckles of colour to give a pretty and feminine effect which is still subtle enough not to overpower delicate lace stitches, such as those used in the beautiful patterns in Louisa’s accompanying pattern book.
Showcasing Louisa’s trademark unashamedly feminine style, the Azalea book contains patterns for both garments and accessories from the lace wrap on the cover, to this wearable cardigan with lace patterned sleeves, perfect as an extra layer as the seasons change. 
Our other favourites from the Azalea book include this pretty cowl which takes just one ball and would make a lovely gift:
…..This leaf lace yoked sweater:
….and this lacy angel sleeved top:
Azalea is available in twelve pretty shades from pastels to brights:
We can’t choose a favourite! Which is yours?
Happy Knitting!
We just had to show you this fab idea for using Louisa Harding Mila….
…… Christmas decorations!
Les who works with us here at Stash has crocheted a fab little selection using shades #11/Cracker, #01/White and #07/Herb.
There are quite a few pastel shades and brights as well, if you prefer an icy or vibrant Christmas colour scheme to traditional red, white and green.
And if you buy three balls or more, you can get the Louisa Harding Mila Book free!
Happy Knitting (and crocheting)!
Stash Fine Yarns 