A Homespun Sleeveless Sweater

 

Carole is wearing her new sleeveless sweater. It was knitted in King Cole Homespun. It's a DK weight yarn, comprised of fine merino, alpaca, viscose and polyamide. It  feels wonderful against the skin, light yet warm. Four 50g balls were used to make this garment. The colour is 'Midnight Sky'.

Carole initially had some problems with her tension square. She was able to get the correct number of stitches per 10cm, but had too many rows. The solution was to move up and over. She found moving up to 4.5mm needles (instead of the 4mm standard for DK yarns), and also moving over to bamboo needles, gave the correct sizing.  If she had stayed with the 4mm needles, the top would have been too short.

Un-Boo-Lievable!

 

Un-boo-lievable! We have an infestation of ghosts!

The ghosts were made by dipping squares of cotton muslin into PVA glue. The glue-soaked squares were draped over balloons resting in mugs. Googly eyes were added.

Nudinits and A Naughty Knitted Noel

 

Brenda's needles have been busy. She has been using the Nudinits book to create these fabulous characters. We also have "A Naughty Knitted Noel". This doesn't have the characters, but has patterns for turkeys, Brussels sprouts, Christmas puddings, etc.

Mannin Quilters' Autumn Sale

 

It's Mannin Quilters' Autumn Sale today! It is being held in Port Erin Methodist Church, and it finishes at 2pm.

Head along for some fantastic handmade goodies.

Knit for Peace

 

It's no surprise that Joan's customers like to make things. We have number of people who craft away, bring in knitted and crocheted items, and ask us to pass them along to charities in need.

Yesterday, Pam collected a couple of bags of goodies. There were mittens, as well as children's hat/scarf/mittens sets. Pam will send them to Knit for Peace.

They need:

• blankets: all sizes (baby, child, medium, large and lap)
• 15cm/6" garter stitch squares (Pam makes them into blankets)
• adult clothes: jumpers/cardigans, scarves, socks, gloves/mitts, dressing gowns, shawls
• baby clothes: jumpers/cardigans, hats, mitts, booties
• children’s: scarves, socks and mitts
• knitted toys for babies and children

They don’t need:

hats (child & adult sizes)

child jumpers/cardigans

twiddlemuffs

premature baby clothes

Madeira Avalon Fix

Avalon Fix is a fantastic stabiliser from Madeira. It is self-adhesive, water-soluble, and non-woven. It's on a roll, and we can cut it in 25cm lengths or more.

Marina has had a little play with it, and machine embroidered a couple of flowers. One was on navy georgette, and the other straight onto the stabiliser. The excess stabiliser was removed, and the the flowers were placed in warm water to dissolve the stabiliser.

Oddments Needed

Do you have any little oddments of yarn? An army of Twiddlemuff-ers is looking for all those little bits and pieces. From fancy yarns, to the more prosaic, almost all can be worked into Twiddlemuffs.

If you have oddments you don't need, please bring it to the shop, and we can pass it on to crafters helping those with Alzheimer's. The finished Twiddlemuffs will be given to Alzheimer's Society Isle of Man.

Batik Fat Quarters

We have beautiful autumnal fat quarter bundles. There's 5 fat quarter batiks in each pack, and they are tied up with ribbon. A wonderful gift for you, or a friend.

We also have jelly rolls.

Knit and Natter

 

Knit and Natter starts at 2.30pm this Saturday. All are welcome, not just knitters.

Twiddle Muffs

"Alzheimer's Society (IOM) is calling to all knitters and crocheters out there to make Twiddle Muffs for people living with dementia across the Isle of Man. They are particularly needed in Nobles and Ramsey Cottage Hospitals, but also anywhere someone needs one. Lesley and Claire, our two support workers, will make sure they go to where they're most needed. Because of infection control, Twiddle Muffs are given to individuals, not shared and not re-used - so the more we can get, the better.

For the pattern, and more information, check out their facebook page. 

Spooktacular Dress

 

Jen saw our fabulous Hop-tu-Naa fabric, and knew she needed some for her daughter.

Miriam is going look fabulous in her new spooktacular dress!

Scaredy Cat

 

Janet and Laura have used some of the Hop-tu-Naa fabrics to make this spooky, glow-in-the-dark quilt.