Gabby's Creations

Gabby was in recently, and was showing us some of her latest makes. Aren't they fabulous!

As well as making fabulous crocheted items, Gabby also does alterations to clothing. Her facebook page is: Gabby's Alterations IOM.

Grand Prix

Next week, the 21st-26th of August, we shall be closing at 5pm each day. This is to allow our staff to get home before the roads close for the Grand Prix.

On Monday, the 28th, we will be closed for the bank holiday.

Hope you get lots of crafting done.

A customer was asking about the stitch pattern on this little hat.

It is worked over 6 stitches.

When worked flat it is:
1. K3, p3
2. P3, k3
3. S1, k1, yo, k1, pass slip stitch over the stitches, p3
4. P3, k3

In the round, it's:
1. K3, p3
2. K3, p3
3. S1, k1, yo, k1, pass slip stitch over the stitches, p3
4. K3, p3

The hat was knitted in King Cole's Baby Pure DK.

Un-Boo-Lievable!

Un-Boo-Lievable!

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. 

A Spook-tacular Dress

 A spook-tacular dress for a lovely little one.

Wrap up Warmly

 A toasty-warm quilt made from our Hop tu Naa fabrics, and backed with fleece.

Spooky Fabrics

Spooky times are approaching, and we have just the fabric for you. There's Glow Ghost, Castle Spooky, and Haunted Mansion. All of the fabrics glow in the dark, apart from the bats.

 

 

 

 

A Chair for John Rhys-Davies

A few weeks back, Dave Armstrong, a Manx film maker, came into the shop. He was desperately in need of black fabric to make the seat and back of a director's chair. He'd been able to buy a director's chair, but the fabric was all wrong. The lovely Janet whipped up a new seat and backrest from a couple of layers of black cotton drill.

Dave had been getting everything set up for a mock documentary series, Documentary Now. They had come to shoot John Rhys-Davies.

Crafting for Ukraine

Have a look at these wonderful needle and scissors cases. They have been hand crafted by Stuart Brawn, a local leatherworker.

 

We are selling these cases for Stuart, and all the monies raised will go to Hands of Hope IOM. This is a charity that works in Romania, near the border to Ukraine. They have enlarged the work they do to include helping Ukrainian refugees.

The needle case is £7.50, and the scissors case is £10.00 (scissors included).

We also have available Poppies for Ukraine. These are £2.00, and all money raised from their sale goes to the Red Cross' Ukrainian Crisis Appeal. We've had multiple batches of the lovely crocheted broches made by Jan.

Japanese Charm Bag

We're often asked, "What can I make from charm packs, or jelly rolls?" Here's another wonderful example by Amanda.

 

Amanda used the mini charm packs (2.5" squares) to make this bag. The squares have been sashed, and a black keystones added. The cream fabric really allows the bright colours to shine, and the black offsets it beautifully.

Crocodile Cardi

We love seeing all of the crafty things our customers have been making.

Mrs Heap has recently come across crocodile stitch, and wanted to use it to create something for her granddaughter. She had used a mix of crochet and knitting to make this lovely sleeveless cardigan and hat set.

Yarn: King Cole Comfort Aran, in Candy Pink

Pattern: Mrs Heap's own design

Tea Bags Bag

Loop the Loop has used some of our Celtic Bees and Thistles fabric to make a fabulous bag for herbal tea bags.

They write "When I go away or to events such as weddings I take some herbal teabags in a plastic bag as even though herbal teas are more popular now they are not always available. So I usually head down to breakfast clutching a plastic bag of my tea bags. Now I have a small waterproof, foodsafe pouch that looks beautiful and I would be proud to place this on the breakfast table (usually I keep the plastic bag out of sight!).

Have a look at their items for sale over at quirky.im

New Books

We get very excited when new books arrive. Here's a selection of some of the most recent ones.

The Great British Sewing Bees' "The Modern Wardrobe" is a hefty tome, with step-by-step instructions, illustrations, tips and techniques. There's full sized pattern sheets (sizes 8-22) and 28 projects.

"Sew Cute Baby Animals" is gorgeous, 17 paper-pieces blocks to make into quilts, bags, burp cloths etc.

Kerry Lord's "How to crochet animals - Ocean" is just lovely, full of sea life and tentacled creatures.

"Year-Round Gnomes" - 8 mythological creatures to add a touch of whimsy to your home. (My favourite it the Easter Bunny gnome.)

Last, but definitely not least, is "280 Japanese Lace Stitches". This is a must for chart-loving, lace-loving knitters!

Meet Loghlan, the Loghtan

On Friday, Kath Giles was in the shop, and she brought in Loghlan, the Manx Loaghtan. (Loaghtan are a type of Manx sheep.)

Kath has used Loaghtan yarn to make Loghlan's body, face and horn, and has dresses him most beautifully in a fantastic Laxey tartan kilt, a stripy Breton-esque top, and a lovely black jacket.

We do LOVE it when our customers do a 'show and tell' of their work.

Scrummy Fabrics

  

 

Ooooh, new fabrics from Lewis and Irene.

On the blue fabric there's hummingbirds with fuchsia and hibiscus. On the cream it's humming birds with hibiscus. The black fabric is very healthy with cherries, grapes, apples, oranges, and blueberries. Then there's cakes, cupcakes, with a cherry on the top.

New Yarn!

 

Woo hoo!  The latest yarn delivery has arrived!

TT Practice Week

It's almost TT Time! After a couple of years away, the bikes are back.

 

During Practise Week, Joan's will be closing a little earlier, at 5pm. This is to allow our staff to get home before the road closures at 6pm.

 

We will also be closed on Thursday, the 2nd and Friday, the 3rd of June for the Jubilee weekend.

John Rhys-Davies' Chair

We get asked to help with some interesting projects.

 

Janet made a new seat and backrest for a director's chair. On Saturday, John Rhys-Davies will be sitting in that chair being interviewed for the television programme 'Documentary Now'. 

"Hosted by Helen Mirren, the series spoofs celebrated documentary films by parodying the style of each documentary with a similar, but fictitious, subject."

Hope John finds Janet's work comfortable.

Parking

A few customers have mentioned they have had problems finding a place in the car park. This has in part been caused by the number of people who now work in Village Walk.

Village Walk are addressing this problem. Seven spaces near the exit of the car park have been specifically designated for customers and clients of the retail and medical businesses. No Village Walk permit holders will be permitted to use these spaces for all day parking.

These spaces are great for people who have problems with slopes or steps. The slope at that end of the car park is very gentle, and then it's a flat walk, or wheelchair journey over to Joan's.

In the long term, Village Walk are looking to create more parking spaces, and designating more spaces for customers use only.

If you have any feedback do let us know, and we'll pass it along to Village Walk.

Round the World and Back Again

Christine Quayle has been enjoying her retirement, and has used the world map panel to make this fantastic wall hanging. Her great-nephew was delighted with the result, as were three other great great-nephews and great-nieces.

She is planning on locking herself in the attic, and won't come out until the next three are done!