VALENTINE'S HEARTS AND LITTLE FLOWERS

Now it's February Maxine can reveal the pink heart selection she has been busy knitting.

Inside the sofa is looking inviting but there is so much to do, we never seem to spend much time on it knitting.

Meanwhile, the tapestry wool is popular, lots of lovely colours.
And new in, Crystal Palace KidMerino and Little Flowers, you can have a look at the Free Patterns for inspiration.Now, for valentines day start dropping hints to your loved one that yarn lasts longer than flowers.

SHIMMERING SUNDAY

What a fabulous day we had yesterday:

The lovely Alison Crowther-Smith came back to show us how to knit the beautiful Shimmer Stole, which she is modelling here, from her new book, Lacy Knits, available this spring.

Alison came in October to run her famous 'Knitting with Kidsilk Haze' workshop. Everyone had such a good time they begged her to come back again and they all came on this course plus a few extra. We were bulging at the seams.

We then spent a whole day knitting, chatting, eating cake and being inspired by Alison.

We started by knitting a sample swatch of the stole then we all enjoyed choosing our own combination of kidsilk haze and shimmer to start the main project.

I chose the sky blue and silver shimmer and was so excited I carried on knitting when I got home. I have so many WIP/UFO's and had promised to finish some before starting anything new but have already started a ripple crochet blanket which I am LOVING and now this gorgeous, addictive project.

Once again Alison has been begged to come back so we have her booked for a shibori felted, twirly, beaded scarf workshop. We can't wait. There are VERY limited places left on this course so watch out for it on the website soon.

RUDOLPH

For those of you who can't come in we thought you would like to see us sporting our trendy Christmas jumpers. for a christmas joke visit Marmalade Yarns Facebook.

Have a lovely Christmas and we will see you in the new year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I think you might have had a glimpse of our fantastic Dickensian Mice on the website. My camera is in the camera hospital and looking pretty terminal however my lovely friend Chris agreed to come and take some photos so you can see our award winning window.

No, I am not making it up, Maxine's vision of mice and christmas food hamper was another triumph and we scooped the Christmas window prize. The mice were knitted by a lady we know who has a wonderful talent and they look fantastic, every day we are asked if they are for sale.

However cute the mice are, my favourite is the turkey. To add to his Christmas worries, he seems to have been impaled by some artviva needles.

We would like to wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and hope you finish all your knits in time for wrapping.

HALLOWEEN ON THE HILL

I know Halloween is officially over and it is bonfire night but I wanted you to see some of the fun we had on the hill on Sunday night. My camera is a bit broken but the pictures on the St Catherines website are wonderful, so click on the title above to have a look.

And here's a big spider to scare you:

More knitting next time...

Last year we had to make do with 2nd but this year we managed to scoop the carnival window trophy, when I say we, Maxine arranged the window then I got my photo in the paper holding the trophy:


We think the clincher was our carnival queen with ladies in waiting, knitted by one of our talented customers. Behind her you can see some of the 7 dwarves knitted by another of our fabulous customers.

Here is a glimpse of the cupboard which used to house the sofa. We have gained numerous shelves but much to our surprise are still struggling to fit everything in, which of course is a sign of how many different, lovely wools we are trying to squeeze into our small shop.

The sofa is being well used now it is out in front of the window and it is lovely to sit there with the light behind you while you knit.
Another new display area is our 'Noro Shrine'

It is British wool week and one of my favourite knitting blogs has several related links

Glitty Knitty Kitty . So click on the link and have a browse, while there you can admire her talents.

Frome Show

Well, it is over a week since we packed up our Hummingbird and Mini mochi and took it for an outing to Frome Cheese Show.

We arrived (very) early and set up before the crowds. I had delivered the dresser the day before then had a flat tyre on the way home, but that is another story.
We tried to make our pitch look homely and lots of admiring customers, both new and well loved regulars came for a chat.


Our friend Eileen opened the shop which meant we could both be at the show all day. This gave us some opportunity to browse but instead of photos of the AMAZING knitted handicraft entries, I have a picture of veg, just as amazing and very colourful.
We had a lovely day and we learnt a lot, next year we will know what we are doing and I might remember to take some photos.
As if organising the Cheese Show wasn't enough, we have revamped the front of the shop. The couch has a new and we think, more useful position. Our customers now stagger in the door and flop gratefully straight onto it.

We had a trip to Ikea, Maxine has been painting and papering, I built furniture and we spent a day moving things. Now although slightly disorientated, we love the change. More photos soon...