Country Wool Yarn - new in stock

Today we would like to introduce to you a brand new yarn added to the knitshop.co.uk yarn collection: Country Wool Yarn. 

Country Wool Yarn is a 100% pure wool yarn and is unevenly spun, so it has a unique country style to it, due to it's coarse look. It gives an interesting texture once knitted up, feels soft and will definitely keep you warm.

Colours from left top: Primary Colours, Hot Pink, Bondi Blue, Corsa Rosso Red, Crosswalks,
Mustard, Zaffre Blue, Orange Peel, Rainbow, Harlequin, Forest Green & Spring Meadow

Country Wool Yarn is ideal for accessories and garments, such as wrist warmers, hats, gloves, cardigans and jumpers. However, the idea of what you make should be yours. Below, you will find a few yarn recommendations from our pattern catalogue.

Corsa Rosso Red Country Wool Yarn
in Double Moss Stitch Pattern.

The tension is somewhere between a 4ply and DK yarn, which makes it a sports weight or 5ply yarn. Tension on stocking stitch comes up to 24 sts x 36 rows using 3.25 mm needles. A 50g ball has a length of 195m and is available at the introductory price of £2.95 this spring.

Solid colours available: Buttercream, Raw Umber, Harlequin, Forest Green, Rosso Corsa Red, Orange Peel, Mustard, Hot Pink, Zaffre Blue and Bondi Blue.

Orange Peel Country Wool Yarn

Harlequin Country Wool Yarn

Variegated colours:
Crosswalks a combination of red, dark green and yellow.
Rainbow - Red, Orange, yellow, turquoise and bright green.
Primary Colours, the classics - blue, red, orange and yellow.
Spring Meadow - greens and yellow, almost like looking at a meadow in spring, spring greens with yellow flowers!

Rainbow Country Wool Yarn

Here are a few patterns from our current pattern selection that could be used for County Wool Yarn.

REO Wrist Warmer would look lovely in any of the colours available in Country Wool Yarn.

REO Wrist Warmer Pattern

Jasper Pull-Over definitely a great choice for Country Wool Yarn, we would recommend using the colours Bondi Blue and Mustard, or Raw Umber and Rosso Corsa Red. Or alternatively you could make it using Rainbow and Orange, or Primary Colour and Zaffre Blue.

Jasper Pull-Over Pattern

And our third recommendation for today are the Snug Boot Cuffs. Make them matching the colour of your boots or in variegated Rainbow colours. No matter which colour you choose they are guaranteed to keep you warm and trendy!

Snug Boot Cuffs Pattern

Watch out for some swatches and stitch pattern using Country Wool Yarn being launched very soon!

Happy knitting from the knitshop.co.uk Team
Julieta & Marcia and our many helpers!

Spring Meadow Country Wool Yarn

Links to this blog:

Country Wool Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/336-country

Pattern catalogue: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/161-knitshop-pattern

REO Wrist Warmer: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/3196-reo-wrist-warmer.html

Jasper Pull-Over: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/2931-tank-top-fino.html

Snug Boot Cuffs: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/3010-snug-boot-cuffs.html

Eve Skater Girl Hat and Wrist Warmer Set

What young girl doesn’t imagine herself as an ice princess gliding across the rink? We’ve come up with a gorgeous skater girl set that will make her look the part too. Eve is a pretty hat and wrist warmer set trimmed with flowers. We think the flowers give the matching accessories set a chic vintage feel. 

Eve Skater Girl Hat and Wrist Warmer Set.
A matching set for fashionable girls!

Eve is knitted in three complimentary shades of knitshop.co.uk’s Thick And Easy yarn. We chose Aubergine, Dusky Pink and Beige, but there are plenty of shades to choose from in this popular chunky yarn range. Alternative colours recommended by Julieta would be Denim Blue, Light Blue and White. 

Julieta's daughter Alina is modeling this gorgeous set
and is clearly enjoying wearing it!

The hat is knitted in the round in moss and stocking stitch on an 8mm needles. The hat fits 10-to-15-year-olds and has a circumference of 50 to 53cm (19.5 to 21in), so an 40cm circular needle is ideal. The instructions are clearly written, but when knitting in the round, we always recommend using a stitch marker to indicate the start and end of each round.

The hat is finished off with two crochet flowers.
Alternatively you could use a large wooden button or a knitted flower.

For the wrist warmer, you work a moss stitch cuff to create a snug effect and continue with a simple lace pattern. It's stretchiness means the wrist warmers should fit anyone from the age of 10 to a small size adult hand. 

The hat and wrist warmer are finished off with a flower on each wrist and a larger matching one on the hat. These are made using a 5mm or 6mm crochet hook. You’ll need three medium to large buttons in contrasting colours to form the centre of the flowers and attach them to your knitted accessories. 

We’ve included instructions for two sizes of crocheted flower, but you could just as easily knit a flower. There’s a free Knitted Rose pattern you can download from knitshop.co.uk’s Patterns section. For something different, you could even make felted flowers using the designs in Just Pansies, one of the printed pattern featured in the knitshop.co.uk Pattern section. 

A matching set for a stylish girl!

Eve was designed by knitshop.co.uk founder Julieta Brandao and is suitable for both beginner and intermediate knitters. As with all of our patterns, we provide email and phone pattern support. 

If you’re new to knitting in the round, Eve is an excellent first project. We’re running a workshop on Knitting In The Round at our Lee Green Boutique Outlet on Saturday 11 January, should you need a hand getting started. 

Links to this blog:

Eve Hat And Wrist Warmer pattern: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/2929-eve-hat-wrist-warmer.html

Thick And Easy yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/106-thick-easy-yarn

Aubergine Thick And Easy Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/thick-easy-yarn/1773-aubergine-thick-easy.html

Beige Thick And Easy Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/thick-easy-yarn/482-beige-thick-easy.html

Dusky Pink Thick And Easy Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/thick-easy-yarn/1772-dusky-rose-thick-easy.html

8mm double-pointed needles: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/bamboo-dpn/1550-bamboo-knitting-needles-8mm.html

6mm crochet hook: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/bamboo-crochet-hook/1627-6mm-bamboo-crochet-hook.html

Knitting In The Round workshop: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/workshops/2914-9-july-knitting.html

Knitted Rose pattern (free): http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/2145-knitted-roses.html

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

Knitshop.co.uk Bookshop: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/140-patterns-magazines-books

Just Pansies felted flowers book: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/patterns-magazines-books/1153-just-pansies.html

Samuel’s Waistcoat – a smart but snug top for kids of all ages

Exclusive knitshop.co.uk pattern to download

Samuel’sWaistcoat is a fast-to-knit chunky top that’s perfect for autumn and looks great on boys and girls of all ages. It’s made using our popular Thick & Easy Yarn and will fit kids aged four to 11.

knitshop.co.uk owner Julieta originally designed the pattern for her daughter when she was four years old and has recently made her another version now she’s nine.

The pattern mainly uses rib stitch (alternating knit and purl stitches), with some easy shaping. It’s a one-piece knit that only needs to be sewn at the sides. You knit the front of the waistcoat first and then continue knitting the fronts without casting off. This makes for a smooth shoulder line. Since you can’t knit the left front and right front at once, you simply slip the stitches from one side of the neck on to a stitch holder until you’re ready to use them. You can even slip the spare stitches on to the cord of a circular needle – they’ll be kept safe by needles on either end.

Samuel's Waistcoat knitted in Black Thick & Easy Yarn
using 9mm needles

The waistcoat has a cord to secure it at the waist. We clearly explain how to make the cord and whenever you should knit two stitches together to make holes to thread the cord through.

To make Samuel’s Waistcoat you need just three 100g balls of knitshop.co.uk Thick & Easy Yarn, costing just £17.70. There’s a choice of eight solid shades including burgundy, light blue, forest green, a soft grey, beige, white, bright green and orange.

For an alternative look, you could also knit Samuel’sWaistcoat in our Handspun Wool Yarn, which we used in the multi-coloured version of the pattern. This yarn is currently available in either variegated Burgundy or Mango shades. Handspun Wool Yarn is usually used with slightly smaller needles, but can also be used with the 9mm needles we recommend for this pattern. 
 

If you’re using an alternative yarn to the one in the pattern we suggest you knit a tension square first (see this wiki link for details of how to make one). A tension square is used to check that the needle size you select takes a certain number of stitches and rows to knit a standard size 10cm x 10cm square when knitting in stocking stitch.

Thick & Easy Yarn knits to a tension of 10 stitches over 19 rows on 9mm needles. Change to a larger or smaller needle if your tension square needs more or less stitches than this. Since Samuel’sWaistcoat is a loose-fitting garment (and kids grow so fast), don’t worry too much if your tension is a stitch or two different from ours.

scan me for a 15% discount on Thick & Easy Wool Yarn!

scan me for an exclusive 15% discount
when you purchase the Thick & Easy Wool Yarn from knitshop.co.uk

Links to this blog:

Samuel’s Waistcoat pattern: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitshop-pattern/2838-samuels-waistcoat.html?utm_source=Samuel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=samuel

Thick And Easy Yarn: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/106-thick-easy-yarn?utm_source=Samuel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=samuel

9mm bamboo needles: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitting-accessories/1352-bamboo-knitting-needles-9mm.html

9mm circular bamboo needle: http://www.knitshop.co.uk/knitting-accessories/1755-9mm-100cm-bamboo-circulars.html

Instructions for how to knit a tension square: http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Tension-in-Knitting