Yarn Tasting

We had our first yarn tasting evening at Stash this past Thursday. The event was sponsored by ArtYarns, one of our favorites. Not only do they have beautiful yarns and colors, but dealing with them couldn't be easier. They supplied us with lots of samples, which we divided up into goodie bags for everyone. I forgot to take a photo of what it looked like before we began, but here is a photo of the evening in progress.



These are a few of our lovely regulars at the shop enjoying a bit of conversation and swatching, as well as some nibbles. This is a good shot of some of Jills swatches.



These are pretty well organized. From left to right, the yarns are Silk Ribbon, Silk Rhapsody, and Ultramerino 6. I think the consensus was that all of the yarns were lovely. Not everyone loved the Silk fur, but honestly you would never knit a whole project with it anyway, it is more for an edging.

At the end of the week, some of the new Louisa Harding yarns arrived. It was a bit annoying that some of them are on back order, and we haven't been given a date as to when they will arrive. The other frustrating thing is that several of the colors in the book are only available in the U.S. It is annoying that yarns by a British designer are marketed mostly to the U.S, and the UK as an afterthought. Anyway, I hope the rest of it turns up at some point since the patterns are lovely.

This week we are expecting a shipment of Lorna's Laces which will include Shepherd Chunky, Lion and Lamb, and some new colors of sock yarn. I'll keep you posted...

Finished Products

This past Saturday was one of the busiest days I have seen in the shop. It was really nice to see some customers bring in their finished products, which we always encourage. I have said in the past that I am going to put a gallery in the shop and on the website, but I have been quite busy, so I will post the photos from this weekend here. The first is in Silk Rhapsody and was knit by Joyce Daniel. Nathalie was a very good model for this as her shirt matched the scarf exactly.



The next two are from Fiona Hobson. The first is in Artyarns Royal Silk and Silk Fur. I tried to make the photo as close as possible, but it isn't quite as bright as in this photo.



The next scarf is in Till Tomas Disco Lights. The pattern is from the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk book.




I hope to see more finished projects, these are really great.

I recieved an email the other day from Christine, who came in about a week or so after we opened. She is from Texas, and is a podcaster. I am really honored that she mentioned us in her latest podcast. Thank you Christine. If you want to have a listen, it is at Pointy Sticks, Podcast 7. I think she mentions us towards the end.

Trekking

Well, it has arrived, Trekking XXL. This is the sock yarn that everyone is talking about online. There are blogs everywhere doing Trekalongs. We are really excited to have it. I have been knitting a pair of socks with it, as you know, and I love it. The same company also makes some other interesting yarns, which we have in the shop. One can been seen below in a hat that I made. It is called Loft Color, it self stripes in a beautiful way, very softly. The other is called Unikat. I made a scarf out of it, which I forgot to photograph. I will try and do that today, and post it. It is the same type of yarn as the Loft, but a bit chunkier, and it doesn't seem to be dyed in one skein. Its as if they have assembled it after it has been dyed. They are both light, fluffy, and super soft, a welcome addition to Stash Yarns.

New Stuff

Just a quick one to tell you about all of the new arrivals yesterday. We have two new magazines, Interweave Knits Crochet, and Vogue Knitting Knit Simple. Both of which I have been eagerly awaiting. The boxes from Blue Sky Alpacas were delivered in the morning. We have some new colors in the Alpaca Silk blend, and Dyed Cotton. There is also a new yarn called Brushed Suri. It looks like a fluffy mohair, but much softer. Another great new item is their new DPNs, which come in the cutest collectable tin.


















How cute are these? They are made from the wood of the Lal Kohla tree in India, and are meant to be quite strong. They also come in those sizes that everyone are always looking for, 2.25 and 2.75.

Help Wanted

Thank goodness Nathalie is coming back to work tomorrow. Besides the fact that it is strange not to have seen each other much over the summer, it has been extremely busy in the shop. It is hard work being there own your own for an entire week. I am also not sure when she will decide not to work anymore as she is due in December. I suspect that she will stay as long as long as she can get up and drive there! My next project is to find someone to work with us. I guess you can say that this post is sort of a help wanted ad. If anyone out there is interested, please email me at info(at)stashyarns.co.uk. We are looking for someone to work part time during the week, Tuesday-Friday, and possibly a few Saturdays leading up to Christmas.

In other news, Saturday was really busy as usual. I have been a bit lazy getting my gallery section up on the website, and in the shop. Susannah came into the shop with her beautiful shrug knit entirely with the magic loop method. She used Malabrigo yarn, and it looks great!



Hoping for some good deliveries this week. I'll keep you posted.