Special Offer – 40% OFF – Debbie Bliss Glen

I know it’s summertime and we’ve only just passed longest day, but if you’re like me and you don’t get much knitting time, there’s no reason not to start knitting autumn projects in June 🙂

I’ve been flicking through a few patterns books for inspiration and found these lovely designs in Glen ( a collection of 12 patterns by Debbie Bliss).

This snood would make a lovely  Christmas present and takes only 6 x 50g balls.

This long line gilet looks great for autumn walks, just perfect for layering over a long sleeved top with a pair of your favourite jeans.

I love the divided front sweater.   I think it makes a great alternative to a cardigan over a dress.

SPECIAL OFFER!!! The really good news is that the Glen pattern collection is now only £5 and Glen yarn is only £2.97/50g ball.

If you’d like to know how much yarn you need , contact me , I’m always happy to help.

–Nicola

Holiday notice

I’m away from Yarn Box for a week with my girls and my Mum on the Isle of Wight. I’m really looking forward to having a proper “British” summer holiday. Orders placed between now and 21st August will be shipped as soon as possible when I return. Hopefully Yarn Box will be back to normal service on 22nd August.

Up for grabs!

Have you seen the lovely new magazine “Simply Homemade“? It’s just full of ideas for those of us who love to make things, including knitting, sewing, baking, papercraft, customising, recycling…the list goes on and on.

Issue 3 includes a knitting pattern for a beautiful beaded scarf knitted in Manos Silk Blend. It uses only 100g of Silk Blend and is knitted on 4.5mm needles. If you choose to bead it you’ll need 160 beads suitable for threading onto DK yarn.

I have a copy of Issue 3 to give away to the next Yarn Box customer to order a skein of Manos Silk Blend (any colour). You don’t need to use a code, just treat yourself to some gorgeous yarn.

Good luck!

–Nicola

19th April – It’s been “grabbed”. Simply Homemade is on it’s way to a lucky customer.

New Yarns – Krea and Trenza

I love new ideas for yarn. I think the “Yarn Harlot” summed it up when she said “there are no knitting police”. The whole point for me is to enjoy the process of creation and the result.  Sometimes it’s a good thing I enjoy the process because it can take a long time to see the result. Not so with two new yarns from Katia – Krea and Trenza – both are super-bulky yarns which you can use to make scarves without using knitting needles. How? You use your hand and arm like a crochet hook! Start with a slip knot, put your hand through the loop and pull another loop of yarn through to create a chain. Voila! A short scarf takes one skein, a longer scarf will take two skeins.

I think I’ll be making some of these with my children, it’s a great starting point for learning to knit and crochet. (I used to “finger-knit” or make miles of cord with my french knitter.)

I’d be very interested to hear if anyone comes up with other ideas for these great yarns.

Debbie Bliss Magazine (Fall / Winter 2010)

The new Debbie Bliss Magazine has arrived. I can’t wait to have a look inside so I’m off to have a coffee and see what’s hidden behind the beautiful fairisle sweater on the cover.

On the downside, Yarn Box is suffering from technical hitches today. My printer is refusing to work so shipments may be delayed. Hopefully normal service will resume tomorrow.

September Special Offer

Fot the next couple of of weeks (well until the end of September, to be precise) Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend is only £10.99

Keep an eye on the website as I’m working on a zillion updates so there will be new yarns and new patterns as well as updates to old favourites.

Tweet tweet tweet

You can now “follow me” (alias “YarnBox”) on Twitter if you feel so inclined! I’ll be tweeting about new yarns and offers at http://www.yarnbox.co.uk

Don’t miss out on this month’s offer on Hummingbird 4 Ply – there’s 10% off until the end of May.

Make, Do and Knit

I can’t wait for tomorrow. Yarn Box is packed and ready to travel north for Make, Do and Knit. I’m just hoping that I can fit all of it in the car! I’ve packed hand-dyed yarns by Sparkleduck and Stricken Smitten; brightly coloured “Fine” from Spud and Chloe; lovely soft yarns from Blue Sky Alpacas; and loads more. Liverpool here I come!

The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace

I can’t belive it’s nearly a week since we packed up the Yarn Box stand and said goodbye to Alexandra Palace at the close of The Knitting and Stitching show. (It’s taken me this long to recover!) What an exciting few days we had. The show was a great place to meet Yarn Box friends old and new. It was as if everybody there was a friend, just we hadn’t me some of them before. I was thrilled to meet lots of Yarn Box customers and hear all your comments on the website, the yarns and the newsletter. All of the visitors to the stand were lovely. We had some great conversations  with demonstrations of Kollage Square needles, magic loop technique for circular knitting, knitting on DPNs and discussions of how to modify patterns and what knitting and crochet yarns and accessories we’d really like to be able to buy in the UK. Erica Knight has answered my question on how many cast-on techniques there are (22!) and Nicky Epstein stopped by to say hello. I’m quite starstruck! I didn’t have much time off the stand as we were so busy, but I did have a little wander about and found some great stuff (more on that another day.)

For those who are interested, the most popular items at on the Yarn Box stand were:

• Fyberspates Scrumptious DK ( look out for patterns in the Knitter Magazine)
• Kollage Square Needles – straight and circular
• Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace Yarns
• The Big Easy  and 9-5 by Debbie Bliss
• Noro!

I have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the extended Yarn Box team… Nikki and Donna for being gorgeous on the stand and letting me talk while they kept it all under control; Debra for help with set-up and merchandising; Graham for being the “home” team and looking after our girls; and finally my very special Dad for working far too hard to set-up the stand and take it apart again and for always being there for me.  I couldn’t have done it without you all.

–NiK

P.S. Sorry that Yarn Box didn’t make it to Harrogate this year.

Good things come to those who wait!

There are 60 copies of the new Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine (fall/winter 2009 issue) in front of me waiting to be packed, and more in the next box! I’m going to pack the first batch and then sit down with a cup of tea so I can have a look and tell you a little more about what’s inside.