Last-minute gifts for knitters

Stuck for what to buy a knitting or crochet fan this Christmas? knitshop.co.uk is at hand to help you choose a gift your creative friend or family member is bound to love.

We’ve got some simply irresistible yarns in the softest natural fibres – it’s all exclusive to knitshop.co.uk as we only sell our own yarns.

Velvet Purple knitted in our beautiful and colourful Kolibri Wool Yarn.

Our bestseller is Kolibri, a fairly chunky yarn that comes in 10 fantastic mixed shades and is sold in 100g skeins. One or two skeins of Kolibri is plenty for making a hat, scarf or pair of gloves or mittens. Check out our downloadable PDF patterns you can gift alongside this cosy yarn.

Eve Skater Set a downloadable pdf
knitted in Thick & Easy Wool Yarn

As well as our own pattern selection, we stock lots of books and magazines filled with patterns, techniques and ideas for needlecraft fans to savour. Vintage fans will be delighted to receive the Vintage Gifts To Knit book by queen of vintage Susan Crawford. It’s currently on special offer for just £11.20 rather than the usual £14. Those are ideal stocking fillers for your loved ones!

We’ve also got our own vintage cotton yarn, Coquette, which we produced in partnership with Susan. You’ll find lots of patterns for this yarn in the knitshop.co.uk pattern library including the easy to knit Reo Wrist Warmer.

REO Wrist Warmer knitted in Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn

For a truly luxurious gift, consider our newly introduced Angora Soft Yarn. This snow-white yarn is simply the softest yarn available and is ideal for keeping a loved one wrapped up warm and for small heirloom knits. Our Angora Soft Yarn is ethically produced and is sure to be treasured by anyone receiving it.

Our brand new and absolutely gorgeous Angora Soft Yarn.

Knitters and crocheters can never have too many accessories and we offer a full range of circular, double- and single-pointed needles and crochet hooks. We stock felting needles and felting kits too.

We’ve just added a trio of oversized Addi knitting needles to our accessories range. These 12mm, 15mm and 25mm needles are used for super chunky knits, cost around £10 each and are great fun to use. Pair them with a bag of Merino Wool Tops and give them to a friend who either loves to make giant knits or who likes to spin or felt yarn. A 1kg Mixed Merino Bag contains four different shades while the Assorted Merino Tops Bag includes 20 shades.

Addi Knitting Needles now available online
at www.knitshop.co.uk.
visit the shop to find your sizes!

If you prefer to make your own gifts and are short on time you can also adventure into needle felting and try your hands on one of our Needle Felting Kits to make your own gifts this Christmas. Available are Flower, Butterfly, Jewellery - Necklace or Bracelet and a Felted Fairy.

Red Christmas Fairy Angel
now available as a kit to purchase from knitshop.co.uk

Last posting for Christmas is Saturday 20th December. After that we can’t guarantee your gifts will arrive on time. Our boutique outlet store is open this Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11am until 4pm where you can buy, browse or collect your orders. If you live outside London, a knitshop.co.uk gift voucher may be a more suitable gift. These are available in £20 and £40 denominations and can be used to buy items from our shop or to pay for one of our creative workshops.

If you’d like to give a knitting or crochet-related gift, feel free to call us for ideas and advice on 020 7099 8864 or email info@knitshop.co.uk.  

Links to this blog:
Addi knitting needles http://www.knitshop.co.uk/334-addi-knitting-needles

Angora Soft Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/333-angora-yarn

Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/323-coquette-vintage-cotton

Felting Kits: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/143-felting-kits

Kolibri Wool Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/176-kolibri-yarn

knitshop.co.uk Bookshop: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/166-book-shop

Knitting and Crochet Accessories: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/62-knitting-accessories
knitshop.co.uk Workshops: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/156-workshops
knitshop.co.uk Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/81-knitting-yarn

knitshop.co.uk Patterns: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/161-knitshop-pattern

knitshop.co.uk Gift Voucher: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/188-gift-voucher

Merino Wool Tops:
http://www.knitshop.co.uk/merino-tops/2755-assorted-merino-bag.html

Merino Wool Tops 1kg Mixed Bag: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/merino-tops/2594-mixed-merino-bag.html

Ruffled Cardigan Pattern by Meg Crowther

Turn heads in a Two-Tone Ruffled Cardigan

We’ve got a treat in store for you if you love vintage knits: our gorgeous new Ruffled Cardigan pattern is knitted in wonderful Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn in authentic 1920s and 30s colours. The Ruffled Cardigan was designed exclusively for knitshop.co.uk by noted knitwear designer Meg Crowther, as seen in Knit Magazine.

The rib stitch design cardigan follows the body’s contours thanks to the easy-to-follow shaping instructions. In places, extra stitches are created, while elsewhere you knit two stitches together. The contrasting ruffles that trim the front and collar of the cardigan are created by making extra stitches at regular intervals along the row. The ripple effect is stunning. 

Ruffled Cardigan as seen in Knit Magazine.
Colours: Aquamarine and Amethyst.

Coquette is a 4ply yarn available in 50g centre-pull balls. Each ball costs £3.95 and is 125m long. The yarn knits to a tension of 28 stitches over 36 rows on 3mm – 3.25mm needles. 

 

To make the cardigan you’ll need between 9 and 14 balls of Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn for the main colour plus four 50g balls of the contrast colour. There’s a choice of 13 shades in the range. If you want to check how the colours look together, why not order a 10g sample of each? 

Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn
colours from left to right:
Wine, Oyster, Canary, Flame, Highland, Pumpkin,
Carnation, Old Lace, Aquamarine, Snow, Spermint, Sapphire and Amethyst.

The fully-illustrated pattern shows how the Ruffled Cardigan looks when knitted in different colours of Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn. The first uses Aquamarine as the main colour with Amethyst for the contrast trim. The second version shows the Ruffled Cardigan knitted in Flame Coquette yarn with Old Lace for the ruffles.

Ruffled Cardigan knitted in Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn
colours: Flame and Old Lace.

 

knitshop.co.uk founder Julieta Brandao worked with ‘Queen of Vintage’ Susan Crawford to develop the Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn range. All the colours in the range mimic vintage shades. If you want even more choice of colours, check out knitshop.co.uk’s Cotton 4ply Mercerised Yarn. This knits to the same tension as Coquette and comes in a choice of pinks, Bordeaux Red and Chocolate Brown.

A unique idea in contrasting colours.
Which colours would you choose?

 

The Ruffled Cardigan pattern was published in Knit magazine earlier this year. Other patterns for Coquette yarn feature in Susan Crawford’s A Stitch In Time 2 vintage knitting pattern book, available from our bookshop.

Links to this blog:

Amethyst Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/coquette-vintage-cotton/2779-amethyst-coquette.html

Aquamarine Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/coquette-vintage-cotton/2767-aquamarine-coquette.html

Bordeaux Red Cotton 4ply Mercerised Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/4ply-cotton-mercerised/1926-bordeaux-cotton-4ply.html

Chocolate Brown Cotton 4ply Mercerised Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/4ply-cotton-mercerised/1935-brown-cotton-4ply.html

Cotton 4ply Mercerised Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/129-4ply-cotton-mercerised

Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/323-coquette-vintage-cotton

Flame Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/coquette-vintage-cotton/2764-flame-coquette.html

Old Lace Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/coquette-vintage-cotton/2802-old-lace-coquette.html

Ruffled Cardigan pattern: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/3150-ruffled-cardigan.html

A Stitch In Time Volume 2: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/patterns-magazines-books/2141-a-stitch-in-time-2.html

knitshop.co.uk Christmas patterns and workshops

With Christmas looming, knitshop.co.uk is focusing on gifts and decorations. Check out our patterns library for free patterns to download including the cheerful Christmas Tree Cosy. We’ve also got lots of Yuletide ideas for you to try at our weekly Friday and Saturday workshops.  

On Friday 5 December you can either try your hand at crocheting baubles to hang on your Christmas tree or learn how to make a dainty snowflake. The Crochet Christmas Ornaments course covers a range of crochet techniques and stitches which will help you take your crocheting to the next level.

Christmas Mini Stockings for small presents or the tree.
Knitted using Coquette Vintage Cotton Yarn.

If you’re more of a knitter, sign up for our Knit A Christmas Stocking class on 13 December when we’ll be making tiny Christmas stockings. These cute multi-coloured socks are knitted in the round, so they’re seam-free. The tricky part is turning the heel, but you’ll be fine once we show you how. You need basic knitting and purl skills for this class. We’ll show you the rest. Your finished stockings will look great on the tree filled with chocolates or other treats.

The last weekend before Christmas is all about handmade gifts. Our class on Friday 19 December covers Crochet Christmas Gifts and we’ll show you how to make a range of gifts. If you know basic crochet, you’ll learn to make a flower or a pouch- why not fill it with scented soap? If you’re ready to learn how to crochet in the round, we’ll help you get started with a wristwarmer or a cowl. 

Velvet Purple Wrist Warmer
quick to knit and a great present!

 

Knitters also get the chance to tackle a delicate pair of wristwarmers or a chunky cowl in our Saturday 20 December Last-Minute Knitted Christmas Gifts class.

Finally, if you’ve already embarked on a knitting or crochet project and need a hand, we’re holding a free SOS Class on Friday 19 December. Bring along a stalled project and we’ll help you work out where you’ve gone wrong and help you get it back on track. Who knows, you might be able to complete that planned Christmas knit after all. Please note that the SOS Class is free to attend but you need to book in advance by following this link.

A variety of yarns are available at the Lee Green Boutique Outlet.

knitshop.co.uk workshops take place from 11am to 1pm at our boutique outlet at 326 Lee High Road, SE13 5PJ. Each class costs £15 and can be booked by following the links below and selecting ‘self-pickup’ at the checkout. Instructions, materials and refreshments are provided, as is post-class phone and email support.

Links to this blog:

knitshop.co.uk patterns: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/161-knitshop-pattern

Christmas Tree Cosy pattern: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/2632-christmas-tree-tea-cosy.html

Crochet Christmas Gifts, 19 December: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/3116-knit-a-cowl.html

Crochet Christmas Ornaments, 5 December: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/3113-crochet-ornament.html

Free SOS clinic, 19 December: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/3100-free-sos-clinic.html

Knit A Christmas Corsage, 6 December: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/3114-christmas-corsage.html

Knit A Christmas Stocking, 13 December: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/3115-christmas-stocking-knitting.html

Last-Minute Knitted Christmas Gifts, 20 December: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/3117-knit-a-cowl.html