Finally winter is here although the “snow bunnies’ haven’t had their snow yet. It is certainly hard getting out of bed these mornings and to get the bones working. I love winter ‘though because it the time of year for hearty winter soups and casseroles and delicious hot chocolate drinks. It is also the time of year for winter woollies and Woolybutt is jam-packed with delicious yarns itching to be made up into snuggly garments.
The trend this winter is definitely towards large ply yarns that can be knitted pretty quickly. The colours in these are just gorgeous and with a bit of dedicated knitting one can produce a garment in a weekend. We now stock a very good range of Katia yarns including those that have been featured in the Knitting/Crochet booklets in Better Homes and Gardens magazines in recent months and if we don’t have a particular colour we can order it and Katia (unlike some suppliers) are very responsive and the yarn is in the Shop in a matter of days.
There has been some changes going on in the staffing of Woolybutt. Both Lana and I have been ill and while I am back in the Shop now Lana is still battling ill-health. As a result a new person has joined the team, Rowena. Rowena is a highly skilled knitter and is one of our teachers on a Saturday morning. She knows her yarn and techniques thoroughly and she has the added advantage of being tall so some of those pesky yarns just out of reach for us “short-stops” can be easily accessed by her!
A new numbering system is being introduced for the Shop so that everyone is seen in order. We have decided that this is the best way to deal with those mad days at this time of the year when the place fills with people. This is being introduced as a trial and we’ll see how it goes.
Many people access patterns through the Internet now and come into the Shop asking what ply yarn to use. A quick solution is to look at the size needles it uses i.e. 4mm = 8ply, 5mm= 10ply. if the needle size is stated in US sizes there are Knitting needle conversion charts available on the Internet and many purchased Knitting gauges had US size conversions printed on them as well. Remember the conversion applies the same for crochet i.e. for 8ply wool you use a 4mm crochet hook.
Current projects: a pink and grey child’s overtunic for the Shop (a Katia pattern), a cardigan for myself and a snuggly warm cowl out of super thick snuggly yarn.
Well happy knitting until next month,
Lorraine