Summer Yarns

Now that the warmer weather is here we thought we would take a closer look at some of the exciting new summer yarns on offer to knitters and crocheters.

Colour blocking is a big trend at the moment which you can achieve by choosing your own shades but there are lots of colour saturated yarns that will do all the hard work for you.  Our favourites are Sirdar’s Colour Wheel and Wendy’s Evolution.

Ribbon and tape yarns are perfect for this season’s lace or mesh designs.  Try Rico’s Fashion Summer, Stylecraft’sMystique or, for a touch of luxury there is Louisa Harding’s Anise.

Look out for lovely summery blends using linen and cotton.  Rowan’s new yarn Breezed is 80% cotton and 20% linen and has a super handle.

ErikaKnight’s Studio Linen is a blend of 85% recycled linen/rayon and 15% premium linen giving it a wonderful drape.

For a touch of real luxury, Debbie Bliss has a new yarn called Sita which is a blend of mulberry silk and Mako cotton.  We guarantee you won’t want to put your needles or hooks down.

You can never have too many shawls especially in summer when the evenings can be cool.  Our current favourite lace weight is Gleem Lace from Fyberspates.  It is hand dyed so the colours are just delicious.

We do hope you get to try some of the wonderful new yarns out there and don’t forget to share your projects with us on our Facebook page.

The Knit Show

We are hugely proud to announce that we have become a key backer for an exciting crowd funding project.  The Knit Show is the brainchild of Vickie Howell who has pulled together a team of industry heavy weights to bring a knit and crochet show like no other to a global audience on YouTube.

Each episode will feature Industry experts and superstar guests, knitting & crochet tips and techniques and modern, totally make-able, high quality projects in a range of levels as well as product and yarn reviews to help knitters gain more experience and skill.

If Vickie Howell’s name is familiar you have probably seen one of her previous shows such as “Knitty Gritty” or “Knitting Daily with Vickie Howell”, or read one of her books including Pop Goes Crochet, Step It Up Knits or Finger Knitting For Fun. She is well-known for her incredible enthusiasm and the fantastic way she shares her skills in an easy to understand and approachable way.

We caught up with Vickie and she filled us in with some interesting background: “The idea for The Knit Show came about as a result of years of requests from fans of other programs I’ve hosted for a show that was truly for stitchers. I want to provide high quality content that’s easily accessible to an international audience, whilst speaking to the modern, digital world. We aim to inspire, educate and entertain crafty types, encourage them to fit creativity into their lives, even if it’s just one stitch at a time”, she explains.  “We decided to go for crowd funding so that we could make our first series free and we are incredibly grateful to everyone that has contributed, especially KnitPro.”

KnitPro is the backer that brought the show’s Kickstarter campaign to their financial goal, helping the project become fully funded.: “We are thrilled to be involved with The Knit Show and believe it is important for us as a company to fund these initiatives,” says Shirish Jain, Executive Vice President of KnitPro.

“The Knit Show is the first series of its kind in our industry and is a ground-breaking achievement. We hope it will show the way for many more ventures where passionate knitters get a chance to directly fund such projects. Vickie’s infectious enthusiasm is sure to make the programmes a big hit.”

Filming will take place over the summer and the show launches in October 2017 on YouTube.