Advent!

This year the window is very difficult to photograph, we have magic flying reindeer and a (very laid back) Santa Claus, surrounded by fabulous knitted baubles.

The reindeer appear from the back of festive crochet....

Here is a close up of one of the baubles from Arne and Carlos' book. We used Regia xmas for the red, a bit of sparkle. I am planning to spend the whole of December knitting these.

For the full experience pop along and visit us. We are open for the Artisan market this Sunday 4th Dec and late night shopping on Saturday 10th December.

100% WOOL : WOVEMBER

As any good wool shop should we stock a very wide range of yarns from 100% acrylic through all the mixes to 100% wool and lots of other fibres too: cotton, bamboo, alpaca, silk, mohair, angora and even sugar cane. We realise that when customers ask for 'wool' that is not always what they actually want or require for the project they have in mind. We try to guide our customers to the best yarn for their specific needs, 'wool' is a widely used misnomer which can be excused in our day to day shop life.

However in the case of labelling of textiles, calling any yarn 'wool' is unacceptable. I am a great fan of Kate Davies who has written an eye opening blog post, Wool 0%  highlighting the misuse of the word 'wool' in labelling of textiles and garments.

She is campaigning to have 'wool' labelling clearly defined and anything less than 50% pure wool to be labelled 'wool mix'. I am shocked that this is not already the case and thank her for bringing this to our attention. In association she has launched Wovember where you can sign a petition of support, so please read her posts, follow all the links and sign the petition,
Thank You

WE LOVE A STITCH IN TIME

Look at the fun we had last night

 LOVING the book

 Susan brought every item from the book, they are even more stunning in reality and the temptation to knit everything...

 Seeing everything close up and admiring all the details, especially the real vintage buttons.

 We all had fun trying on various garments and accessories.

 We could have stayed all night,

however, I positively sprinted home to put on my pyjamas and curl up with the book.

Stitch in Time 2 LIVE!

We are very excited here at Marmalade Yarns, tomorrow evening (Wednesday 2nd Nov) Susan Crawford is coming. It's true, her beautiful book has arrived and she is bringing some of the garments and signing the books.

 The book is gorgeous, full of 'must knit' projects, beautiful photography and top tips for vintage knitting. The box of books arrived today, I could hardly tear myself away to serve the customers.

So if you are in the Frome area, treat yourself and come along to the shop, there will be drinks and nibbles and Susan will be here from 6.30pm - 8.30pm.

See you there!

Webshop Open

After months of work, I am pleased to announce our new Webshop is open, you can now purchase yarn, needles, patterns and kits online.
It would be impossible to show everything we stock so there is only a selection but I will be adding new items.
Please have a look and remember I am new to all this so any comments/feedback will be gratefully received.

BREATHTAKING LACE

  One of the best things about being in our shop is seeing the beautiful projects that our talented customers produce. Every so often we see one which takes our breath away.

This was most definitely one of those occasions. When Claire pulled this stunning shawl out of her bag I was blown away. I could hardly speak but my first question was, what is this yarn?

The picture doesn't do justice to the soft mohair effect with gentle sparkles in the red and the perfect striping.

Of course, the striping is from 2 balls of Noro Sekku, only Noro can give effortless beautiful colour stripes.

The extra special, breathtaking quality came from blending with kidsilk haze! Not just a colour wash throughout but lovingly changing colours of kidsilk to compliment and match the changing colours of the Noro laceweight. The soft sparkle? From an old ball of kidsilk night.

This illustrates the importance of your wool stash. Never underestimate how much you need to hang onto those special bits and pieces of yarn. One day you will have a brilliant idea and bingo!

GRANNY WINNER

If you look just behind the second picture of the white cushion there is a tantalising glimpse of this divine Granny Square Blanket. It was made by Sue who helps with our crochet classes and makes beautiful things. If you look closely you can see there is a texture to the stitching, it is not just a plain granny square. The wool is King Cole anti tickle merino dk. We began to stock this a while ago as we liked the colour palette and it has turned out to be a crochet winner.

It is very exciting in the shop just now, lots of new stock and customers all twitching to start knitting again.

More pictures soon...

CROCHET FEAST

 I know I have mentioned the talents of our crochet group before. We didn't meet in August so when we got together last night the delights that everyone had to show were breathtaking.
I don't need to say much more, look and feel inspired.......

 

There was one knitted object, this cute rabbit, waiting for a blanket to be finished then sent to Aberdeen to her new baby owner.
You have no idea how hard it is to get these photos with no hands in the way stroking and fondling the work but that's what crochet is for.
Looking forward to next month already.

Iceland

Yes, we are still here and working hard. The web shop is taking a lot longer than I thought and the summer holidays haven't helped the situation.

Did I say 'summer' ? I was using the word loosely as we haven't had much evidence of summer this year.

I couldn't believe it when 2 large boxes were delivered this week, MORE wool? We can hardly move for the stuff and now we have MORE?

However, I soon forgot about space issues when I saw what was in the boxes: Icelandic Lopi Wool and some delightful patterns.

I have mentioned the fact that I am mainly working on UFO's this year but still allow myself to start a couple (or several) new projects. Just now I am working on the delightful 'Owls' by Kate Davies. This is the 2nd jumper I have knitted in the round and I think this is the best way to make a jumper. Very satisfying. For this reason I can't wait to start one of these toasty icelandic projects.
Now I don't care if the weather is less than summery, bring on winter, I've got jumpers to make.

Working hard...

Just a quick note to apologise for the lack of postings. I have had so many things that I wanted to show you but we are in the process of setting up an on line shop which is consuming all of my computer time.

I thought you might like to see the exciting new adriafil wools which have just arrived, yes we hope to have them available on line soon.

I really want to be sitting in the sun with my crochet, not inside on the computer. That is my incentive to get on with the job before the weather turns.

Hope you are all sitting in the sun with hooks or needles.

KNITTING DOGS

As all of you know, every knitter has a long list of 'projects for the future' stacking up either mentally, on ravelry or as a physical pile of books and patterns. Or as in my case in all 3 areas. High in my list of 'must knit' are several of the adorable dogs in this book:

I love the Westie on the front cover and the red setter, afghan hound and bulldog are delightful. However, this weekend we were visited by a very special wee dog who attends a knitting group and patiently keeps her owner company. An adorable miniature dachshund called Bronte. She is booked onto a course with Alison Crowther-Smith, who is a dachshund lover herself.
She was well admired while visiting a we hope to welcome her on one of our courses soon.

I have recently finished Sandra Polley's Milly, for my son. He loves it, maybe she needs a few friends!

SPRING

We always love to see the amazing projects our customers have completed. Look at this unique, stashbusting shawl, all different textures, including some ruffles! Fantastic. I loved the random yet harmonious colours.

Spring always brings tea in the garden, while you knit in the sun and listen to the birds...

or look at the flowers.
We hope you are all choosing a lovely project to keep you busy in your deck chair.

For inspiration, you know where to come.

HERE COMES THE BRIDE

They're all here:

A Royal Footman

William and Kate,

The Queen and Philip,
Charles and Camilla,
Archbishop Rowan Williams,
The Ring....A huge thanks to the very talented Pauline who confessed to enjoying every minute of creating The Royal Wedding Party for our window. The detail is amazing so if you are in the area please come and have a closer look.

SAPPHIRE BLUE

I can't possibly do this yarn justice on line. It has to be seen to be appreciated in it's full glory.

Fyberspates Limited Edition Royal Wedding Yarn:

It is the most beautiful sapphire blue merino, silk and royal alpaca with silver sparkles. Individually boxed in tissue paper with a certificate.

To die for.

We have a few for sale, if we can bear to part with them.

RED WHITE AND BLUE

With the Royal Wedding looming we have started small with a corner devoted to all things red, white and blue.

The crown tea cosy is truly a work of art, every day I resist the urge to wear it (I know, I am losing the plot). It is definitely not for sale, display purposes only.
However, the Royal Garden Tea Cosy is for sale as a kit. Start knitting now and you will have it in time for the big day.

TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS

It has been a very exciting few weeks for deliveries at Marmalade Yarns. Firstly we became proud stockists of the divine hand dyed yarn from Skye; Shilasdair. Lambswool, Angora and Cashmere mix in dk and 4ply and you can knit a top with only 3 hanks of the dk. Luscious.
Using these seductive adjectives is easy when you are fondling exquisite yarns however, our newest addition has it's very own adjective and highly appropriate moniker : SCRUMPTIOUS...

No more needs said, except for LOOK at it gleaming on the shelf! We have the dk in stock and 4ply to follow soon. The supporting patterns are lovely and I can't wait to try one (dare I add another WIP to my long list.)

The long anticipated Rico Can Can arrived this week and has been as popular as ever

A few weeks ago we held a fairisle workshop and much to our delight everyone was very quick to learn. Very quickly we received this photo:
Isn't it fantastic! Another lady brought her beautiful alpaca creation but I didn't have my camera. The next workshop on Thursday 31st March is cable and bobble, so if you would like to turn your hand to a new skill just give us a call.