Due to the Covoid Lockdown the Shop is closed until further notice. We are still taking orders and doing deliveries. If you wish to order message us on our Facebook page or email me at lorraine@woolybutt.com.au

We have some beautiful yarns that have arrived in the Shop plus the famous pom poms have landed to give those just knitted beanies a brilliant touch so when you have a chance come in and check them out!

Open!

The Shop is now open Tuesday to Friday 10am until 2pm and on a Saturday 10am until 1pm. We are still requiring you to hand sanitise at the door and we are limiting customers to three at a time to obey the social distancing rules. Despite this it is nice to be open and welcome the Woolybutt family back!

We wont be doing classes until social distancing rules lessen quite a bit as our classroom is fairly small but the staff is always ready to help people who maybe “stuck”. As soon as classes are back I will let you know.

We are continuing our delivery service for those of you who are self-isolating or who can’t get to the shop easily.

Stay safe and well,

Lorraine

I knew the site was a bit out of date but three years! Whew! A lot has happened in the world of wool.

Patons has been bought by Heirloom Knitting Yarns and the two amalgamated businesses are now known as the

Australian Yarn Company. All the favourites have been retained and in some cases the colour range has been expanded.

Totem and Bluebell have considerably more colours and the palette is wonderful. The famous Heirloom 8ply is still available as is the Baby wool.

Dreamtime from Patons is incredibly popular and is available in both 4 and 8ply.

Naturally and Alpaca Yarns from New Zealand are very popular, the only sad note is that the mill which used to process and spin NZ Possum and wool

has ceased production so there will be no more possum blends for the foreseeable future. What we have left in the Shop is the last of this beautiful yarn.

People ask if we stock acrylics, we have some but not a great deal as we tend to prefer the natural fibres wherever possible. One of the exceptions to this is the

top of the range Sirdar yarns from England. For people with wool allergies this is one of the most beautiful and durable acrylics available and it washes superbly.

On a personal note we have five people working throughout the week: Lana, Suzanne, Rowena, Judith and myself, Lorraine. Rowena and Judith are our teachers

and both are highly skilled at both crochet and knitting. The classes run three days a week year  ’round, 10.30am until 12.30pm Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

“Phone the Shop for further details on 9458 3101.

Happy Knitting

Lorraine

Ah the winter knitting season is nearly upon us and the new yarns are starting to appear. Fairly soon we’ll be doing the big changeover from summer to winter yarns. You can still purchase summer yarns but they will be soon in the back rooms of the Shop. Easter comes early this year so don’t forget to stock up on a project to do over the Easter vacation! Talking of Easter my elderly Aunt (96 this coming weekend) was bitten on the arm by a baby bunny and has developed a nasty ulcer which stopped her knitting endeavours. She had been knitting knee rugs for the residents of her retirement home who use a new mini bus for when they go on trips. I now have the job of finishing them off for her until her arm heals, so my Easter message is beware of  bunnies no matter how cute or little they are and stick to the chocolate variety!

We now do deliveries to the following hospitals free of charge: the Austin, the Olivier Newton John Wellness Centre and Box Hill. It is probably easiest to phone your order in and pay for it over the phone and we’ll deliver it to you as soon as possible.

Current Projects: the knitted knee rugs (see above), baby bunnies (the woolly kind) for the window and a summer shrug which may have to be abandoned until next summer as I’m getting itchy fingers looking at the new yarns!

I have been very slack this year and have gone a whole year without posting, a situation that will be remedied from here on!

The Christmas Holidays are fast approaching and for those of you who live nearby there is a gorgeous display of crocheted snowflakes in the windows this year, all made by Lana and well worth checking out. There are also some lovely gifts on display as well as some really cute beginner knitting and crochet kits in lovely bright colours. As always we have gift vouchers available for that “hard to buy for” person. One really unique use was made of a gift voucher this year, the recipient used it to pay for crochet lessons!

Woolybutt will be closed on the 22nd of December at 5pm and we will re-open on Wednesday the 27th of January. This year we did try re-opening earlier but there were very few people about so this year we are opening later. If you need anything in the interim please email me and I will send it to you. Also a reminder to all those with lay-bys, if you intend working on your project over Christmas pick up enough yarn to last you now!

Our Knitting and Crochet classes are still going so if you need any last minute help call the Shop and book in now. Classes will re-commence on the 30th of January and will run on both Wednesday and Saturday mornings as they currently do.

At this time of year cottons are very popular and Patons have published some lovely booklets with modern patterns in them. Cotton is lovely to work with when the days are hot and I love wearing the summer yarns, particularly cotton on the hotter days.

There is a great range of baby and toddler wear in the Shop at the moment so if  you need to purchase something for a new arrival please come in and check out what we have.

Current projects: a 4ply cotton crocheted jacket  and a pouffe knitted in Panda Jumbo, this is a gift to match a throw that was knitted through the winter. As I wont get it finished by Christmas a picture of the item will be given instead with a “Santa Raincheck card”!

I hope you have a happy, safe and woolly Christmas and New Year,

best wishes

Lorraine

The end of the year is nearly here and summer is not far off. All the new summer yarns are now in stock at Woolybutt as well as new colours in some old favourites such as Cotton Blend and Heirloom Pure Cotton (both 8 and 4 ply). For those knitting wintery items for people overseas all our winter yarns are still available although many have been moved to the back room of the Shop. Woolybutt is also well-stocked with both knitting and crochet books which are ideal gifts for others or why not treat yourself? We also have Gift Vouchers available for all those people that you don’t know quite what to buy them.
The Melbourne Cup Day Holiday is here on Tuesday but for the first time in many years Woolybutt will be open on the Monday before it i.e Monday the 4th of November!
Lana is back in the Shop after her long illness. Many thanks to Rowena for filling in, I know her enthusiasm and care has been much appreciated by many.
Current projects: Remembrance poppies for the Shop, a summer cardigan for a certain little girl and summer scarves for the Shop.
Happy knitting
Lorraine

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

The last of the winter yarns and patterns have now arrived and they are absolutely gorgeous. There are thick yarns, thinner yarns and the standard 8plys but they have all had the magic colour wand waved over them and the colours are breathtaking. We stock Katia and it is highly featured in this month’s Better Home and Gardens magazine. The colours and variety are amazing and my husband has already picked out an 8ply for a new jumper surprisingly for him, in jewel tones! There are some special offers from a large store chain in this booklet. At Woolybutt we sell yarn at that discount year ’round which is why we don’t have sales as such. If you want to nab a real bargain check out our discontinued lines and the Bargain Room upstairs for some fantastic deals.
I have been very ill so I have not been in the Shop much lately (at one stage I couldn’t even knit)! I’m slowly getting better and at least I’m back to knitting so all is improving.
With the Easter fast approaching now is the time to buy wool for a nice project you can do over the holidays and some of the thick chunky Katia and Patons yarns lend themselves perfectly to short term projects.
I’ve just finished the cutest little crossover cardigan in Baby Loyal Prints. This is a new yarn from Naturally with all the great characteristics of Loyal but made specifically for little ones. It is a delight to knit and very pretty and like all the Loyal range comes in at a very low price point. I love knitting baby garments because they’re so quick to knit. This garment should be in the Shop fairly soon.
Current projects: still knitting the Grffyndor scarf for the granddaughter (it has to be extra long so it can be wrapped around a couple of times and being knitted in the round slows progress considerably). Cute Bunny egg cosies for the Shop for Easter and contemplating that jumper that husband is keen on! So nice to be back knitting…….

Summer is here with a vengeance and today is going to be very hot so when the worst of the heat arrives I plan to have chores done and be sitting either in front of the air conditioner or fan (depending on the room) and knitting! At Woolybutt the first of the indent orders have arrived so if you want to check it out please call in. There are some wonderful new colours from Patons in both Bluebell and Totem and this yarn is finally getting back to the glory that it once was. I remember knitting a huge number of my children’s garments in Bluebell because it was so versatile, it was light enough to be used for layering on those days when one wasn’t sure what the weather was going to do and it was machine washable with the added bonus that it came up looking new wash after wash and the colours were glorious. The good thing is that these light and bright colours have been matched with the heavier Totem if one wishes to knit a more wintry garment. There are some heavy yarns in the range which could easily be knitted up over weekends and once more the colours are very bright and fashionable.
Thanks to our dedicated suppliers Woolybutt is now restocked with large quantities of baby wool in all makes and plys so if there is a new baby about to arrive we have the yarn available.
Many people actually have asked me what we stock so here is a list:
Patons
Cleckheaton
Panda
Heirloom
Sirdar
Peter Pan
King Cole
Rowan
Katia
Filatura di Crosa
Mission Falls
Opal
South West Yarns
Noro
Sublime
Poems
We don’t stock every yarn in each range so it is a good idea to give the Shop a call and check, quite often if we don’t have the yarn in stock we can get it in for you!
Just a reminder that classes have recommenced so if you wish to join just call the Shop on 9458 3101.
Happy (and cool) knitting until next month,
Lorraine

Current projects: a Grffyndor scarf for my granddaughter, a slipped rib beanie (an experiment) possibly for the Shop in Sirdar’s Freckles.