Monday 20 July 2009

Rowan rainbow and a flood

This week the shop has been fairly quiet however, it is the week of Maxines move so she has been rushed off her feet while I have minded the shop and a selection of her things, she has already chosen colours for her dining room and made this fresh cushion which I am under pain of death not to sell. I spent one quiet morning considering hiding it and telling her I sold it for a tenner but somehow I couldn't bring myself to torture her frayed nerves any further. The beret is from RYC Classic Weekend book and if you look to the right you can see our pitiful selection of Rowan pure wool dk ....









but that was before the arrival of........................







Now, this is only 6 of the fabulous colours. We have 18 gorgeous colours in our pure wool docket and I can happily stack these colours all day. I don't know how I will cope in August when all the other new stock arrives.





Maxine has been getting ready for the arrival of lots of Aran by knitting this lovely Rowan pure wool Aran cardi. Unfortunately she wasn't wearing it this week when Annabelle, our Rowan rep arrived and to make matters worse I was wearing the Sirdar sublime cardi, woops. We continue to have our wonderful customers amazing us with their beautiful projects; this baby shawl is cream baby cashmerino with pure silk contrast stripes, it is sumptious:



Another lucky baby will be wearing this beautiful hacho cardigan and a vast array of other delightful projects which I am sure I will be featuring more of.





We had a bit of a disaster this Tuesday when we arrived to find a swimming pool in the back courtyard seeping through the back door and soaking our beloved carpet. After spending all day taking buckets of water through the shop to tip down the drain at the front a lovely man unblocked the narrow drain in the yard and we didn't have to spend all night at the shop baling out. I did however have to rescue 2 frogs from the wool !
Meanwhile, some projects of mine included this black sheep, I was happier about her 3 bags full than I was with her, the face doesn't seem right and her legs are a bit wobbly.............




I was much happier with the rowan handknit cotton pink elephant which put all other projects on hold while I crocheted her for no other reason than I couldn't resist the pattern.



What I should have been doing was finishing the boottees for my cousins baby who may well be a year old before they are done. I managed to make 2 right shoes (yes, it matters, there is a T bar and button) so as usual when I have a hiccup the whole project stalls and I also have a more tantalizing option....
My new Uk Alpaca blanket, we would love to stock this wool sometime soon, so I thought I would try it out and spent my last job's leaving present (cash for my stash) to buy enough alpaca for a double blanket.Unfortunately you can't buy time and I think I need to make about 300 of these squares but I have to say I am loving every second and don't mind if it takes me 5 years, which it probably will.This week saw the beginning of the much needed summer holidays. I have never worked through the summer so this will be a challenge for the kids and me. Maxine will also be coping with unpacking in a new house. We've survived the first couple of days now it's Saturday night and you know your getting old when you don't think pub or cinema? rather boottees or blanket??

Friday 10 July 2009

Sweet Sorrow !

At last, our new signage arrived and we really are Marmalade Yarns now. No more confusion for the delivery men.


This month, we have a 10% off Sirdar Snuggly Yarns and have put all the lovely display items on our washing line, interspersed with 4ply fairy cakes.

One of our customers brought in this beautiful cardigan she made for her young granddaughter,
It is a Stylecraft ethical twist pattern, done in Paton's Wool Tweed.


It is gorgeous, look at the wooden elephant buttons and the wine coloured rose detailing.
We didn't know whether to be happy or sad at the end of our crochet course. We were ecstatic at their progress and declared them fully fledged as they sat round doing new projects of their own however, we were so upset at the loss of our friends that we suggested a monthly Crochet Get Together starting in September. Meanwhile we had a show and tell of the fantastic items which have been springing from the hooks......
Jar covers galore from Woman's weekly,

A beautiful bag from the 'Learn to Crochet' book,
A garden of roses,
and the magnificent shrug from 'Inside Crochet' !!!!

And last but definitely not least a wonderful, thrifty item made of lots of oddments and backed with a husbands ripped shirt. A truly lovely, credit crunch embracing cushion.

To think these fledglings had never used a crochet hook 6 weeks ago!
I keep promising to post photos of our own ongoing projects, if only our customers weren't so talented, I wouldn't have to keep filling the blog with their fabulous creations. I will endeavour to post our projects soon although I think there will be some pictures of the lovely new stock as the winter orders start to drift through the door, we can hardly wait.