Christmas is nearly here and we have been having fun decorating the shop. A lovely book from Panda yarns, Crafty Christmas arrived a few weeks ago which inspired all of us to go on a bit of a Christmas decoration “binge”. Panda have also brought out a new yarn for the holiday season called “Sparkles” which it does! It looks like tinsel but it is far softer and is actually really nice to knit/crochet with. The consequence is that the front windows of Woolybutt are decorated with snowflake garlands courtesy of Lana and Suzanne has contributed some gorgeous crocheted icicles and teapot cosies. I’m reponsible for the little Christmas tree which doesn’t require any knitting or crochet, just a ball of Sparkles, a styrene foam cone (yes we have them for sale) and some glue. This is a cute and fun project for the kids on a wet afternoon. Speaking of which, the other book (again Panda) that has appeared is Crafternoon. This book has 23 projects in it – knitting, felting, crochet and embroidery and the projects range across skill and age levels. A lovely book to give as a gift and a great solution for holiday boredom.

For many years Woolybutt has stocked a range of beautiful Alpaca yarns called Rare Yarns from New Zealand. Well Rare Yarns have truly outdone themselves in living up to their name with their latest product. They have designed a beautiful poncho pattern called “the Manta” which takes 5 balls of Alpaca Boucle and is trimmed with Tibetan Yak! The colours are lovely and the Yak is incredibly soft and luxurious. Unfortunately the Yak trim is in very short supply and I must confess to buying every bit they had as apparently the trim was “one off” and there is no more to be had. There are 5 Manta kits available plus the Sample product. The kits sell for $80.95 and the sample product for $170. It is worth visiting the Store just to see and feel the Yak! I’m seriously thinking of snaffling one of these for myself.

Current projects: this burst of hot weather has inspired me to haul those half-finished summer projects out from the Stash and see if I can finish at least one or two before the end of summer but such good intentions are getting sidetracked by Christmas decorations and Yak arrivals – sigh……

Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year,

Lorraine