The Knitting Parlour has been overwhelmed this week with all the new yarns arriving for Spring Summer. I have to admit, it’s not my favourite knitting season. I’m the kind of knitter who still churns out woollies in the height of summer but I have to say that there are a couple of gems for this season.

My top favourite is Rowan’s Revive yarn which is a dk weight made from recycled shredded clothes. Really! Rowan have bought out a crochet book for this season too which is great news as we always find it hard to come by modern crochet patterns. We have also just had the new Debbie Bliss Eco Baby in which is a fantastic cotton and an exact substitute for her Baby Cashmerino. All of these things will be on the website within the next few days.

To make room for all this exciting new stuff we are selling on some of the older just-as-fantastic stuff! Check out our sale items. I can personally vouch for the Sirdar Nomad as I’m just finishing a short sleeved cardi in it. It goes such a long way and while it isn’t a dream to knit with, being a boucle, I can forgive it as it looks really cool.

Just to let any die-hard knitters know that we will not be open on Thursday 7th January due to the wintry conditions. We will try and open on Friday and Saturday but our hours may be shorter than usual. Try and give us a ring first  to see if we’re there. If you’re travelling to us and you’re not local, we would strongly advise waiting until things improve; there are a lot of hills in Malvern!

I think the big day is creeping up on us all! I thought I had lots of time left and now my list of things to do is still pretty long. With this in mind we have some great ideas for last minute things you can knit or buy as a last minute gift. Here I am modelling our very own easy-to-knit Snood!

Snoods seem to be the big thing this year, or one of them at least. This one is knitted on circular needles so it is just knit, knit, knit. It is on sale now in our kits section and don’t forget postage will be free as it’s over £10!

For novice knitters we have a great scarf kit with self-striping yarn. It comes with wooden needles and an easy to follow pattern. It’s chunky yarn so is quick to knit.

We have also added Sirdar’s One Hour Scarf in a ball. So far we have cream and red but it is on its way in more shades. It’s a lovely soft chunky chenille.

Happy Christmas Knitting!!

We are running our first sewing workshop on Saturday 28th November with Rowan Design Consultant Erica Pask. You learn how to sew on a machine by making a small tote bag in 2 contrasting fabrics. We have machines here that you can use or you can bring your own.

It costs £39.95 for the day, 10am -4pm and that includes lunch, all materials and a 10% discount on anything you want to buy on the day. It’s a great time to learn to sew! You could be making little bags as christmas gifts and that is just the start. Next year Erica is visiting us again for an intermediate class which will cover more advanced techniques such as putting in zips and making buttonholes.

If you would like to book for the 28th or would like more info, please give us a call on 01684 892079.

There are 10 knitting weeks left until Christmas! lots of time to get christmas knitting underway. I have decided to knit Steggie from knitty for my nephew and a poncho that I found on Ravelry for my niece but apart from that I don;t have any other planned knitted gifts. Having said that, I do have a tendency to stress myself out at the last minute!

There are lots of great accessories to knit this year. handwarmers are still really on trend as are slouchy hats. Start knitting now!

Pat has been really busy knitting for the window over the past few weeks. We have a fantastic Rowan knit from the latest magazine in Felted Tweed Aran and in the other picture is a Rowan Colourscape pattern knitted in beautiful Araucania Azapa. It is a perfect substutue if you want a semi-solid rather than stripes.

You can probably spot some of the other things we have in the window at the moment, lots of Gedifra and lots of Sirdar Snowball and Rico Pompon yarn. The Snowball and Pompon aren’t on the website yet but do give us a call if you would like them. They’re both £8.95 and we have most of the colours. It just takes 1 ball to make a scarf, speaking of Christmas Knitting!

We are hoping to avoid the post strike by adding an extra delivery option if you are really desperate for your order. We can now offer a next day delivery service with Business Post! There will be a charge for this and it is only available for delivery to the UK.

I was updating the Rowan Workshop schedule for the rest of the year today and realised that there are only 3 workshops left!

I had an email from Sarah Hazell who is running the British Breeds textured knitting workshop and she ran it for the first time this week at John Lewis on Oxford Street and everyone loved it so I think that would be a great one to sign up for. It is the first knitting workshop that Sarah has done for us because usually we rope her in to do the crochet ones so we are pretty excited. Plus the British Breeds yarns are so lovely.

Emma King’s beads and sequins workshop is also getting booked up pretty quickly. I think it’s a great subject to help you add a bit of sparkle to you projects. I knitted some gloves for Pat for christmas last year and incorporated some beads into a normal plain pattern and it just made them look extra special. A great subject for the lead up to christmas!

Please give us a ring or email if you ever want more info on our workshops. Also, look out for new Rowan sewing workshops! Coming soon…