Local Yarn Shop Stars: Swansea Bay Yarns

You may be aware that it was the second year of Yarn Shop Day last Saturday here in the UK which aims to promote and celebrate local yarn shops (perhaps better known as Wool Shops to UK knitters) and the range of services they offer to the knitting community. This event was thought up last year by craft magazine publisher Aceville Publishing where shops across the UK participate in putting on a wide range of activities, promotional offers and events for knitters and crocheters.

I'm a great fan of the internet, however it's really important to support our local shops - whilst online shopping is convenient, yarn is such a tactile material you really can't beat being able to touch the yarn to know how the fibres feel, and colour is best seen for real and in daylight if you want to be able to see its true hue. Yarn shops also offer a focal point for the knitting community to gather in a more personable way than online forums can provide. Now I'm not knocking online forums either, by the way - you can share an awful lot of expertise from engaging with these and watching videos on YouTube. It's essential though to have some face to face contact too and enjoy all the other things our yarn shops have to offer such as advice, classes, inspiration and knitting groups - and many a new or known knitterly friend can be stumbled upon in your local store.

However, we all know it's a challenge for these shops to survive in today's economic climate. With the high overheads of running a bricks and mortar shop for a niche interest group, it's really important to appreciate this and show our support or their presence on our high streets will continue to dwindle. So in the spirit of supporting and celebrating our local yarn shops I am going to do a regular monthly feature on different shops, beginning close to home for me with Swansea, but gradually spreading the net out further.

So this month I'm going to introduce you to Swansea Bay Yarns which is tucked between the Brangwyn Hall and the Patti Pavillion on St Helen's Avenue.

The Shop front, which is a delight with regular changes of inspirational window displays, beckons the yarnoholic like a siren. Once inside you will not be disappointed as it is beautifully laid out with a relaxed vintage style, has a good selection of quality yarns, and you can be sure of a warm welcome from shop owner, Morgan. Swansea Bay Yarns is the Rowan stockist for Swansea, and also stocks other quality brands such as Bergere de France, Lang, Sublime, MillaMia, Adriafil, Erika Knight, and some lovely Manos amongst others.

Opened just last summer after a life-changing experience, Morgan took the brave decision to turn her life long passion into a business. Since opening her doors for the first time last June, Morgan has been beavering away to provide a hub for the local knitting community with the provision of a knitting group, classes, regular resident expert sessions for knit and crochet, as well as special in-store events such as the Rowan Yarn Taster I helped facilitate last month.

She is also active on twitter, and takes great pride in posting photos of the beautiful finished projects her customers bring into the shop to show her.

Morgan is already planning a new programme of events and classes for the rest of 2015 which will include, amongst other exciting events, an evening with Alison Crowther-Smith and myself for an exclusive pre-launch view of our collection for new book Elements at the end of September. So be sure to pop into the shop and follow her on facebook page for further updates.

Do you shop for yarn locally or online, or both? If you know of any great local yarn stores I'd love to hear about them for future features.

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On the Needles: Rowan Alpaca colour & yarn tasting

Another brief post I'm aftraid - not only due to the design deadlines looming fast, but I have had no email/internet service for my PC since Saturday. I'm currently 'piggy backing' my iphone personal hotspot.

And apologies for the topsy turvey pic, for some unfathomable reason it will not import the right way up!

I've been swatching with Rowan Alpaca colour - one of my favorite Rowan yarns with its muted tonal colour variegation, and it knits like butter. the finished design will not be in this colour though, but in a rich warm yellow (Topas).

This week I also enjoyed supporting a Rowan yarn tasting at local wool shop, Swansea Bay Yarns. This was really well attended and I think a great time was had by all trying out a wide range of Rowan yarns. You can see everyone was hard at work knitting a few rows in the various yarns:

Morgan of Swansea Bay Yarns showing participants her lovely shawl

Hope you are enjoying some knitting - what have you got on the go?

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On the Needles: Rowan Panama

This month I have a few things on the needles, but at the moment I am focusing on one of my new designs for the book I'm currently collaborating on. Deadlines are getting pretty tight now so this post will by necessity be brief, but just thought I'd share with you what I'm up to in the studio.

I've been swatching with Rowan Panama which is a 4ply weight yarn made of viscose, cotton and linen, and I have to say I really like it. The fibre content means it has a beautiful drape and will make for a light and breathable fabric, ideal for a summer garment. Although fairly crisp it has a slight texture to it which means it will take a bit of fancy stitch work but not too much, so less is more and I'm thinking of having a just a dash of a simple lace pattern.

The colour doesn't show that well on screen, but is a beautiful golden green. I'm rather partial to it but will be opting for a different shade such as the lovely lotus (sh 309) - a rich mid blue shade similar to lapis lazuli gem stones.

What have you got on the needles? Do tell by leaving a comment below.

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Getting to grips with Crochet

Crochet continues to enjoy a renaissance, increasing hugely in popularity over recent years. This may be related to cultural trends and experiences such as a period of austerity, the slow movement ethos, and a growing interest for many people in seeking a more simple life.

As well as being a great craft in its own right, crochet works beautifully with other textile crafts such as sewing and knitting in particular. If you are a knitter, crochet adds another string to your knitterly bow and enabling you to make effective edges and embellishments with relative ease.

The real challenge though with crochet is that as a beginner you need to get to grips with the hardest part first. Learning the basics of how to hold your hook, working a foundation chain, and making simple stitches in rows can be quite effort full , and feel a bit like you are wrestling an octopus! This can be a little off putting and frustrating to start with as we are mostly used to learning things the other way around, in that when learning something new we generally start with easier tasks, building up to the more challenging elements.

This can seem a little disappointing when you decide to learn crochet, and many of us imagine we'll be whipping up projects immediately, when in fact your only reward for a day's work at that stage is likely to be a few wizened looking scaps - if you manage more than that on your first attempt then I take my hat off to you! The hard truth is that, as for most crafts, you cannot expect to achieve fantastic results immediately - there are no shortcuts and you simply have to put the time in. The trick is to take your time and enjoy the journey rather than being too fixed on having a finished product on day 1.

I recently taught a Crochet from Scratch workshop at Swansea. I always enjoy workshop days - a whole day of woolly goodness, sharing your passion with a group of fellow yarnoholics - what's not to like?

Setting up at the start of the day

Here is the group of lovely participants who beavered away all day getting to grips with their first crochet stitches - and as you can see they were still smiling at the end of it.

The good news with crochet though, is once you've got to grips with those couple of building blocks, and that really doesn't take an age, it becomes easier and easier to learn more advanced skills and it really is just a tiny step more to start making some really beautiful projects. Honest. It really is the case.

April's Workshop at Swansea will be Next Steps with Crochet which helps you achieve just that, reinforcing those basic building blocks and walking you through a few new skills. Next Steps in Crochet is aimed at those who already know how to make chains, and can remember how to work doubles and trebles (even if a little rusty). This workshop moves you from the basics to making twirls and working in the round to form squares and motifs. You’ll be able to have a go at crocheting with beads, and you’ll be able to go home with your own unique flower corsage.

If you've already learned,or are in the process of learning to crochet, I'd love to hear how you got on with this - What did you find particularly difficult or easy? What did you find helpful when you were learning? Do leave a comment below, it'll make my day.

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Elements: A Collaborative Handknitting Project with Alison Crowther-Smith

If it seems like I've been a bit quiet here lately, it's because there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Not least of all I've been beavering away on an exciting collaborative  project with designer Alison Crowther-Smith. In six months time we will be launching our new (and first) collaborative book: 'Elements'. Elements is a collection of 24 hand-knit designs. Knitted with Rowan yarns, and inspired by our native landscapes, Elements will be available in September 2015.

It's a thrill to collaborate with Alison whose designs I have long admired, but also because she is such great fun to work with. I first met Alison when we both worked as in-store Rowan Design Consultants at Bristol a number of years ago. Both sharing a huge passion for the art and craft of knitting, we quickly became firm friends, and working collaboratively on Elements seems to me to be a natural course of that friendship.

I'm afraid I can't share any pictures of the project right now, so instead here's a picture of my latest offering, Blossom Mitts. This design was originally created during that time as a Rowan Design consultant, but I've dusted it off and reworked it.

Knitted in lusciously soft baby alpaca these lovely fingerless mitts will keep you snug in the cooler months and make an ideal gift.

Knitted flat and seamed, this design will suit knitters who don’t knit in the round. The cuff is softly frilled and worked in a simple twisted rib. The hand is worked in stocking (stockinette) stitch with a fully fashioned thumb and single opening for the fingers. A knitted flower with a central bead adds a feminine touch, but you can omit this or easily substitute for another motif if you prefer.

Rowan Baby Alpaca DK has now been discontinued, however you can use any DK (light worsted) weight yarn. I fancy re-knitting these in the sumptuous Rowan Alpaca Colour which I love.

Blossom Mitts will shortly be available to purchase from my website, Etsy shop and via Ravelry. To get your hands on a free copy ahead of time though, simply sign up for my newsletter below and you'll receive a personal email with the pdf  pattern within 48hours.

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