The cold weather has brought the winter knitters out and the shelves are looking a bit bare but more deliveries are on their way, as always!

The Honiton traders do marvellous Christmas displays in their windows, all very tasteful too, lots of silver, blue and purple out there – but I am remaining traditional with a  red/green theme and knitted wreaths.  I only decided to start the wreaths a week ago but I have now done five and will be decorating the window later today, complete with polar bears with scarves and lights!  Where will Greg and Julia (the wooden sheep) go!

There were nine of us last night, lower numbers than usual in the summer and I checked out what everyone was doing – Ann is knitting squares for a jacket, Jill a Colinette throw, Pauline a pink double knit cardi, Carla a feather and fan wrap,  and Jenny a triangular shawl which will have bobbles attached.  I am not sure what Jackie was knitting but it doesn’t matter which yarn she uses it always looks superb, and Gillian is teaching herself to crochet.  Pat, our queen bee of knitters, left her pattern behind so helped out with knitting problems and I started a CanCan scarf (all ruffles) which I finished at 11.30 before going to bed.  It is now in the window though I modelled it for a few customers and felt very much like singing Hey Big Spender, but thought better of it.

It’s been a hectic week in the shop and I am working tomorrow as Ewa is away so no Saturday lie in.  Malcolm is doing a Land Rover Experience day at nearby Awliscombe so an early start all round. 

I have started a baby jacket for display, am aiming to complete the back before bedtime!

I opened the shop approx three and half years ago having retired from a lifetime of working mostly in an office environment and having raised the capital from the sale of my house.  Looking back at photos of the shop back then I thought I had lots of stock but today the stock is not only in the shop but in warehouse space at my husbands industrial unit and in at least two rooms of our house!

Although the shop is very full I try to keep a space around the centre table to enable  pushchairs or wheelchairs to be moved around without too much difficulty.  Last Sunday Malcolm (my husband) and I spent eight hours re-arranging the shop in preparation for delivery of my new counter and to make a useable area for the forthcoming courses being held in the shop. The carefully stacked packets of yarn soon slid into a gigantic slippy mountain and the back of one unit sprang off and all the little balls of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino went flying out, but somehow we got everything back into place and now have a more spacious feel to the room, though you can’t tell that from the pic!  It will of course never be big enough so I regularly clear out slower moving lines and overstocks both in the shop and online.
I started knitting at around 5 years old and have memories of pot-holders and dishcloths but my piece de resistance was a knitted rabbit completed when I was 8 which had several layers of clothing, this took about a year to knit with lots of help from my mum with the lacy bits.  I am a compulsive knitter and a great starter but tend to leave projects almost finished for ages, then have a sudden splurge on finishing and sewing up.   I find that I knit more for shop display than for me, and I leave all the larger projects to my lovely friend Pat Watson, who also designs for the shop (pic below jacket knitted in squares) and the lovely Cindy, who knits garments for me as I need to keep my projects fairly small so that they will get finished.

The Fiddlesticks newsletter will be sent out tomorrow outlining some of our courses being held in the shop this autumn.  The first ones are aimed at knitters who want to extend their skills and confidence.  More courses and dates will follow as soon as possible.
We have two cats, Dylan and Murphy who are 11 years old.  This is Dyl checking out the Jawoll Magic sock yarn.

Today I had to take one of the cats for his annual check, he should have gone last week but ‘disappeared’ when he was needed.  The surgery is half an hour away so an hour and half later we are back home, but then I have to shop for food.  Devon is a beautiful place to live and our village has a couple of shops but we have a long drive to any larger shops.  OK you can shop online, and I appreciate the custom of all those who buy from our website, but I like to be tempted with food just as I do with yarn.  I am a cookery book addict too so I love to buy special ingredients for all those delicious meals I am going to whip up, but you can only fill the freezer/fridge/cupboards with so much stuff, inevitably you are going to have to cook with them but now I am worn out, all that driving, browsing, loading, unloading, and storing is exhausting, I think I will whip up a quick omelette, throw in lots of unusual items, then get down to the serious knitting – next week I will order the food online, get out the deckchair and knit in the garden.

Barbara

I have moved all the old postings over and hope to be more prolific in future

Barbara

I am currently clearing out many of the fancy yarns useful for knitting scarves so check out the shop for a last minute bargain, from £1 a ball (were £3.75).

I also have a new superchunky yarn in stock from Wendy, the Pampas range, in lovely solid and variegated colourways with quick and simple patterns to support them – a guaranteed quick and easy knit………

Though my shop is already well stocked I will be squeezing lots more in over the next few weeks, nothing stands still for long in the knitting world, there is too much to choose from. At the luxury end I have in stock the delightful Knitwitches yarns – these are hand dyed (in Wales) and are sumptious. These are laceweight/heavy laceweight silk, cashmere and kidsilk mohair. Prices range from £14 – £18 per hank. One hank will complete a shawl knitting on 4mm – 6mm needles – even better using Brittany birch needles now in stock, they are simply the best, with a 5 year guarantee!

Noro lovers – why not check out the new ‘Noro mini knits’ book, priced £7.50, the patterns are ideal for using smaller amounts of this luxury hand spun yarn for an individual look.

Bergere de France have produced yet another really stylish book of baby patterns, (magazine 510), with over 40 stylish knits in one book, only a small quantity in stock due to Bergere having to go into re-print due to high demand, but I have some on back order!

Teddies for Tragedies

I want to extend a big thank you to all the knitters of Honiton and beyond who have knitted Teddies for Tragedies. To date we have sent off 395 completed teddies, with bags and at least 50 more in the pipeline, awaiting completion. Do keep the teddies coming in, there is no deadline and Fiddlesticks will maintain support for the scheme for the foreseeable future. I have some lovely photos in the shop and on the web and will be producing some teddy cards to purchase in the shop with sale proceeds to the Teddies scheme.

Forthcoming courses:

Local textile artist, Pat Cooper, will be hosting courses in the shop on Knitting with Wire, and Peg Loom Weaving. We already have two dates in February to offer for the

Peg Loom Weaving:

Monday Feb 11^th and Thursday Feb 21^st (10 am to 4 pm with half hour lunch break)

The course involves working with knitting yarns to create a piece of weaving. Peg looming is very easy to do and is a good way to use up odd bits of yarn. The chunkier the yarn the better for the base, and several yarns can be used together to give a more interesting look. From your completed piece of work you will be able to make a hand bag or wall hanging. We will provide peg looms for use on the day and oddments of yarn. Any yarn purchases from the shop on the day will receive a 10% discount.

Tea/coffee and biscuits will be included. You may wish to bring a packed lunch or purchase food from the deli next door.

Space is limited to 6 persons and costs £35 each. Please call the shop to book as soon as possible.

Knitting with wire:

Working with very fine wire and adding beads it is possible to obtain interesting textures for 3D pieces for flowers, bracelets and brooches. Starting with the basics it should be possible to complete a bracelet within the one day workshop. Dates for these courses will be sent out soon – let me know if you are interested.

Details of other courses will be available soon.

Knitting club:

These are fortnightly and after the Christmas break will recommence on Thursdays. Beginning 14^th February 10 am – 12 and 5pm – 7pm in the shop. See you there.

Keep knitting,

Barbara

I know it’s ages since my last letter – hope you have all been busy knitting and are now preparing for those autumn knits. I am now stocking a good range of Sirdar yarns, the ever popular Snuggly DK and Snuggly Bubbly by popular demand, and their new Click DK, Chunky, Peru Naturals and Juniper chunky. Having just finished a garment in Juniper, I can honestly say it grows very quickly.

Just arrived – Life DK and Life Chunky. These new yarns by Stylecraft are 80/20 acrylic and wool with some new shades and at £1.99 for 100g are difficult to beat for quality – new patterns to support them too. In addition they have introduced some new shades including random dyed in their pure new washable wool.

The latest pattern from Bergere de France for a ladies top knitted in Bergereine wool/cotton, has been so popular that I have almost run out of them. I am now only selling them with the yarn. It was featured in the October issue of Knitting and is now displayed in my window.

From Debbie Bliss I am stocking Luxury Tweed and Astrakan, both delicious yarns to knit with, very smooth on the needles. Talking of which I now have Brittany Birch knitting/crochet needles in the shop – these are the loveliest of needles to use, extremely light, and they make lovely presents too.

I have ordered lots of striped colourways in Twilleys Freedom Spirit – this is 100% wool. It is ideal for garments, wrist warmers and scarves. Lots of patterns to support the yarn. Freedom Spirit is also good for felting.I am sure many of you are familiar with the web for free patterns, and though there is no guarantee that the outcome will be exactly the same when substituting yarns, I am sure it is sometimes worth a try. I recommend www.knittingpatterncentral.com - the American patterns use some different terms for their yarn and sizes, but as long as the tension is the same they will be fine. Check out the patterns for scarves, socks, slippers & hats.

National Knitting Week 13th – 20th October 2007

In recognition of National Knitting Week, Fiddlesticks is pleased to support the “Teddies for Tragedies” scheme. The completed teddies, complete with drawstring bag, are sent to underprivileged children in all parts of the world and are much appreciated. I am hoping you will be able to knit at least one teddy ‘skin’ to make a teddy toy. Any double knit yarn will be fine, not black or white though, and the yarn must be new. If you call into the shop I will donate enough yarn for you to knit at least two teddy skins. If you want me to email you a copy of the pattern drop me a line.

The coming weeks will see lots of new yarns arriving at the shop for cosy autumn knits. I am very impressed with the stylish patterns coming from Bergere de France, Sirdar and Stylecraft, hope you will be too.

Next children’s course is October 24th (Wed) 2pm – 4pm in the shop – with a Halloween theme.

Knit & natter every other Thursday 10 am to 12 noon, stitch n bitch in the evening 5 pm – 7pm – learners welcome, no charge, charity donation for tea/coffee.

Barbara

It’s been a while since my last newsletter as I have been away on holiday in France. Julia coped really well in the shop and always had plenty of questions at the end of the day when I called, eg is 4 ply the same as double knit? Well she isn’t a knitter!

I took the opportunity to visit a few yarn shops in France, they were all beautifully laid out and a feast for the eye but there was definitely no touching….not like my shop.

This week I am taking delivery of a range of yarns from Sirdar. I wanted to expand my choice of baby yarns and patterns which I think no-one does quite as well as Sirdar. I will also be stocking their “Click” yarn which is a wool/acrylic mix, and Peru natural, both in double knit and chunky weights. I think the price of these yarns will encourage a lot more knitters to make adult size garments. Once again lots of modern patterns to support the yarns.

By the end of August I shall also have some Fyberspates yarn in the shop. It takes a little while to come through as it is hand dyed to order. I will have their 2 ply lace weight mohair priced around £11 a skein, which is enough to make a lacy shawl/shrug etc and some space dyed double knit, all in fabulous colours.

Courses: the children’s courses are growing in popularity. We have sessions on Saturday 4^th August 10-12 noon, Tuesday 14^th August 2 – 4pm, Wednesday 22^nd August 10 – 12 noon and Wednesday 29^th August. Spaces limited to 6 children per session, book through the shop.

I have also arranged for professional knitting tutor, Lyn James-Ingram to hold workshops as follows:

8^TH August 2 – 4pm : How to create a professional finish to your knitted garment

Lyn will demonstrate how to pin, and block your garment and explain the grafting technique. Please bring current work, a bodkin needle and scissors.

15^th August 2 – 4pm :

Making knitted flowers/leaves into a brooch. Materials supplied.

29^th August 2 – 4pm :

Make a felted bag. Please bring suitable yarn to make a bag for felting. Wool needs to be untreated. If you purchase yarn in the shop you will receive a 10% discount. This applies to all workshops.

Each workshop is £15, which includes tea/coffee & cake.

Places are limited to 4 or 5 per session.

The knit and natter club gets busier each week, next one is Thursday 2^nd August 10 – 12, hosted by Hilary. The evening session is open to all, but particularly for those wishing to learn how to knit or crochet, please bring your own yarn or purchase from shop – I am running out of oddments as I donate them to charity knitters.

I now have in stock UK Alpaca from alpaca bred in Devon – this is a lovely yarn and knits up to standard double knit patterns. Alpaca is known to be reactive to temperature, ie warm in cold weather, cooler in summer and is very popular for gloves and socks, ok I know it is not glove weather, yet, but one has to be prepared.

I have also taken on the Bergere de France range, of course I do not have it all in stock but their delivery is excellent and I have quite a good selection in the shop. I think you will agree that their patterns are very stylish, just a little bit different. I am itching to get on with a cardigan in their mohair/acrylic Symphonie, shouldn’t take long……….only 3 – 4 balls mmm. I also have some crochet cotton from Bergere de France, just white at the moment, but they do lovely colours too, no problem to order.

We had our second knit and chat group last Thursday with two new members, the time just flies by when you’re knitting, so if you would like to make it 10 am next time rather than 10.30 am, then you are most welcome. My second knit group was at 5 pm, at which one member had my undivided attention as her knitting/crochet skills were a bit rusty, but she started a bag for felting, as well as honed up her crochet skills.

To all you felters out there, I have the perfect wools for felting, ie Noro, SoHo (Debbie Bliss) and Cornish Organic yarn, but be warned, it can be very addictive. I have a free pattern for a bag when purchasing the yarn.

Next week I have yet more unusual buttons arriving to enhance your garments, I never realised I loved buttons so much, but not as much as Jo Ell, who makes the lovely button necklaces for the shop – if you want to clear out any old buttons I am sure she would love them.

Reminder, next knit & chat will be Thursday 7^th June, 10 – 12 in the morning, 5 – 7 in the evening. There will be a morning session only on 21^st June as I am away on holiday and the shop will be run by my daughter Julia, who does not knit (yet). Next children’s craft club is Friday 1^st June, 2 – 4pm at which they will be creating a collage, then on 9^th June designing their own T shirt, 10 am – 12 noon. There are spaces for both dates at the time of writing.