Wool&more – April 2014 Newsletter
It’s incredible!! A quarter of 2014 has already been spent, gone, used and never to be seen again! That really makes me feel that we need to seize the day – Carpe Diem – without hesitation and without fear. And we need to get cracking with our knitting and crocheting projects for winter, if we and our loved ones are to be warm and cozy!!
So let me tell you a little about some of the new yarns:
- Stylecraft from England has arrived. Their 4ply baby yarn in 100gm balls is the softest I have felt – gorgeous!
- Some lovely wool blends from Elle and some suppliers in Turkey are great – warm and soft yet really affordable
- I just love the innovative Helix and Baltic yarns from Elle – the colours are delightful and they knit up in chunky, textured and warm garments – hard to imagine looking at the actual yarn on the ball!
- Some beautiful sock yarns have arrived, knitting our own socks is all the rage now so we will be holding sock knitting lessons each Thursday beginning 24th April. Only one lesson required for 2 hours (10h30 – 12h30). All materials are supplied as well as refreshments. Bookings are essential and confirmed by your full payment by the Tuesday of each week. The cost of the lesson is R120-00. We have also received sock looms – really great fun and so easy to do!
- Katia from Spain has brought out some beautiful yarns – Ushuaia and Ponto have a 53% wool content and are exquisite! Their Oxford range is lovely with a 50% wool content and the Alpacotton range is so unusual: it is a mix of Alpaca and Cotton!! Soft and cuddly and very warm, yet light.
- We have extended our range of the lovely, local African Expression, all the way from the Eastern Cape. Their palette and quality are comparable to any overseas yarns. There is so much to see, spend some time in wool&more to appreciate all we have on offer!
And talking about “Offer”, here is our latest Special – only until stock lasts and ends on 3rd May:
- Buy any 10 balls of Elle yarn (of the same type) and get one ball FREE!!
Great saving! Get your stash NOW!
Our Community Project Program is nearing a very successful close… our goal was to get a minimum of 1,200 squares knitted to make baby and kiddies’ blankets for the Come to Learn Creche in Kurland. We have received close to 1,300 squares and are almost finished sewing them together, with a lot of help from some very generous and kind ladies. They make a beautiful show of colour and texture which will go a long way to brighten up the days of the children at the crèche and keep them warm in the cold winter months. I have thanked the ladies who have knitted squares and those who have helped sew them up but once again, it has been incredible and heart-warming to experience, so on behalf of the those children, thank you, thank you … one and all!!
I recently came across a delightful stitch called Bee Stitch because the stitches look like little bees (and some customers have pointed out that the reverse looks like honeycomb)! Use a bigger needle than you would normally use …. It’s delightful and worked over 4 rows.
BEE STITCH
Cast on even number of st. Pattern runs over 4 rows:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K1, (K1b, K1)* Repeat to last 2 st, K2
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: K2, (K1b, K1)* Repeat to last st, K1
(K1b = knit one into stitch below)
Have a look at the unusual cast on method at the end of this newsletter and let me know what you think about it!!
Then there is the matter of our “No exchanges, no refunds” policy: When I was open just a week, a customer brought back a ball of yarn she had bought three days earlier and said she wanted to change it. I agreed, unwittingly. Another customer in the shop commented, as the exchange customer left, that she thought I had done the wrong thing and that she would not be happy to buy yarn that had been out of the shop and lying in someone’s home and perhaps used from the centre. This really alerted me and so I began doing some research: all of the yarn shops I called to ask said that they had the “No exchange, no refunds” policy. So please do try to understand, when I am unwilling to assist with exchanges, why this policy is in place and that it is a general and understandable policy to apply and for your protection!
We will be closed for the Easter weekend but open again for business from Tuesday 22nd April. There is, I understand, another public holiday on Monday 28th April, during which we will be closed again!
Remember that we are open on the first and last Saturday of each month, including the 26th April and 3rd May. On that note, we wish you and your family a wonderful Easter – take care and create lots!!
With kind regards and gratitude for your support.
Kind thoughts
Joy Sachs
wool&more, 7 Gibb St, Plett 044 533 3182
More information about wool&more.
Cast on using crochet hook:
This cast-on method is worked with a crochet hook and can be used in one of two ways: as a decorative cast-on that forms a tidy chain and perfectly matches the bind-off row, or as a provisional cast-on. If the decorative cast-on is desired, use the working yarn for the crochet chain. For a provisional cast-on, use waste yarn for the chain and then knit a plain row with the working yarn (the provisional cast-on is not complete until there is a row of working yarn stitches on the needle).
Place a slipknot on crochet hook. Hold knitting needle and yarn in your left hand and hook in your right hand, with yarn under needle. Place hook over needle, wrap yarn around hook and pull loop through loop on hook (Figure 1). *Bring yarn to back under needle, wrap yarn around hook, and pull it through loop on hook (Figure 2). Repeat from *until there is one fewer than the desired number of stitches on needle. Slip loop from hook to needle for last stitch.