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I am finally back from my family holiday in Australia, and in this episode I catch you up on all the fun we had, and all the yarn I brought home with me. We’re also chatting about the latest pattern release for The Shawl Society Season II, and I reveal a bit more about the spectacular luxury knitting retreat I’m planning right now.
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Alongside an eclectic yarn range, which includes Hazel Knits, Icelandic Lopi & CoopKnits, we stock a carefully chosen selection of needles and notions. We’ve also recently launched ‘hand dyed by meadowyarn’, our very own in-house, hand-dyed yarn range. Working in our tiny dye studio, nestled in the Suffolk countryside, we are able to indulge our love of colour, producing complex tonal, kettle-dyed shades across a range of weights and bases. With regular updates our collections evolve and grow, inspired by the landscape and people around us.
AYS is a wool boutique specializing in hand dyed yarns and luxury fibres from around the world. You’ll always find a well curated collection of yarns and colors on the shelves and a friendly knowledgeable staff on hand. Some of our favorite brands include Hedgehog Fibres, SweetGeorgia Yarn, Julie Asselin, Shibui Knits and The Fibre Co. You can find A Yarn Story on Walcot Street in Bath or online at www.ayarnstory.co.uk
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It’s not too late to join in with the Camp Curious The Big Participation Thread for your chance to win some great prizes before I draw next week.
The Yarn in The City Great London Yarn Crawl
Yesterday I released the 5th pattern of Season II: The Wishmaker Shawl
Hidden deep in a forest in Yorkshire, not far from a tumbling waterfall, sits a mysterious shelter known as “The Hermitage.” The hollowed out cave is just big enough for one very shy dweller to live tucked away from the rest of the world, surrounded by the whispering of trees and the scurrying of little woodland lives. It must have taken enormous effort to carve a tiny house out of a gigantic boulder in 1790, but someone did it. This astonishing home is mysterious enough, but another surprise awaits. Climb up to the roof and you’ll find two curious chairs hewn from the same rock. Legend says that these are the Wishmaker’s chairs, which will grant your heart’s desire if you take a seat and make a wish in one, and then hop over to sit in the other. It is a beautiful bit of magic concealed in an enchanted corner of the English countryside.
Our 5th shawl shares something of the character of the Wishmaker’s chairs: the marriage of work and whimsy, a break from the busy world, and a reminder that wishing and dreaming is an important part of even the quietest existence. Wishmaker is an asymmetrical triangle shawl knit from cosy DK weight yarn. Its rustic textures of garter and eyelet borrow from the natural world, while deep stripes of three colours keep the eye moving across the shawl. It’s the perfect accessory to wrap around yourself for a peaceful wander through the woods in your own company.
There is something beautiful and poignant about a hermit’s retreat which features not one, but two Wishmaker’s chairs. Perhaps the maker of the Wishmaker’s chairs wished for something more than solitude. To withdraw from the world in the hopes of being alone, and then carve out a place for a companion to sit may seem strange, but it reminds us of the balance we seek in our own creativity. We create first and foremost for ourselves, but the sharing of the things we make is where the true magic resides.
I used two amazing DK weight yarns from Blacker Yarns to create the samples for Wishmaker.
Blacker Yarns Swan Falklands Merino Blend DK
The Wishmaker Shawl KAL will run from September 9th to October 5th. For a chance to win a prize, just post your finished shawl in the FO thread by the deadline.
The winner of the Rune Shawl Mini KAL is ThePeekoCrafter with post number 115.
I am planning a super-special luxury knitter’s getaway for May 2018. You can learn more (and get a spot on the retreat mailing list for exclusive early registration) here: Curious Handmade Retreat Bath
