Yarn Shopping in Shaw

I have just got home from a trip to Shaw to visit the Yarn Barn. It is a lovely shop and I could spend all day in there and probably spend all of my pension but fortunately today I was shopping with my niece who was buying wool and pattern for her Christmas jacket. She has chosen a long line car coat in a rich maroon shade knitted in Sirdar Click. We didn't manage to find a pattern quite like the jacket my other niece has seen but I can be making this present until we find that.

I took a photo of the shop window but unfortunately there is a lot of back shine so you can't seen the wonderful display that Sirdar has done in the window. Really tempts you in to buy the patterns and wool. Sirdar used to do my windows from time to time when I had my shops and it was always a crowd puller. I could spend all day in the shop browsing patterns on their squashy sofas. All that is missing is a good cup of coffee but if they laid that on then people would never leave.

My purchases were small as you can see. Three crochet patterns, a couple of balls of wool for baby Finlay James and the stuff that you always need. Black and white cotton, sewing needles and a chunky cable needle for the car coat. The cardigan in Lyscordet might get made up one day using a box of black Lyscordet that I still have in my stash from my own wool shop days.

The All Shawl has grown a bit more but as it is in 4ply and on a 4mm hook it is taking a lot longer than the previous shawls that I have made. I have started the 2nd baby cardigan but will wait until all of the pieces are made to stitch them together and make the frilled edging.

There was a lovely old fashioned butcher's shop in Shaw so I bought a pork chop for tonight's dinner and a couple of chicken breasts for tomorrow's dinner. It is lovely to see a successful butchers where all the stock looks so clean and fresh. It was like shopping in a farmer's market.

My Trip to the Yarn Barn

I have just returned from a very enjoyable couple of hours in the Yarn Barn in Shaw. I had been there a couple of times before but not since they moved into larger premises a couple of doors away from where they used to be.

The shop window entices you in with plentiful display garments showing what you can aspire to make. They are beautifully made as they are sample garments from Sirdar made by their team of VERY experienced even tensioned knitters. Oh to do stocking stitch like that. Mine is always uneven no matter how I try and the older I have got and the more arthritis the worse it has become.

Once inside there are two leather squashy sofas where you can browse the patterns or the copious books spread on coffee table. Wonderfully tempting intricate designs in expensively priced books. When I say expensive I mean they are for pensioner me whose head is still stuck on 1990's prices.

The photos that I took show only a mere fraction of the stock that they have on view. Pattern books full of leaflets for anything that you care to make. It has been a long time since I have seen so many leaflets for sale - it quite reminds me of my wool shop days and why I have always been so disappointed with most shops pattern choices.

I made a mistake yesterday when I said that Judith did online ordering. She will post things out but you would have to contact her by phone or e mail to see if she had in stock what you wanted. I am hoping that she sorts out that side of her business soon as it would be so easy to go online and order as not having a car anymore it's quite a treck for me to get there without a lift.

I can only list some of the things that she sells. The photos only tell one half of the story. There are no photos of the aran and chunky section, the needles and buttons etc, Plus I forgot to take a photo of the window display.

What I did notice was lots of Sirdar including Wash n wear, Snuggly Baby in 4ply and DK, Country Style, Tiny Tots, Baby Bamboo,Snowflake in chunky and double knit for babies, Bubbly, Pearl, Splash, Kisses and even some Funky Fur. I did see Crofter in DK and I think Chunky.They also stock Peter Pan Baby DK and 4ply.

In Rowan there are lovely colours in Felted Tweed, Soft Pure Merino 4ply, Kid Silk Haze and 100% cotton. There were two Noro yarns one was Silk Garden but I didn't see any Noro sock yarn but I could be wrong.

There was Jaeger wool including Extra Fine merino/silk cashmere 4ply and some Debbie Bliss Cashmere.

The sock wool that you can see in the first photo was mostly Regia 4ply with some Sirdar Town and Country and a bit of Wendy Happy Bamboo 4ply.

My purchases were very meagre. I could have spent an absolute fortune in there but as I had to pre pay my Bank Holiday weekend trip plus pay for 3 trips to the Osteopath this month my spending capacity for wool was severely curtailed.

If you are ever in the Shaw area I think the Yarn Barn is well worth a trip. Parking is a bit tricky but there are a few spaces around the back in the side streets. Do check on the web site first though as she is opening summer hours at the moment and has one early closing day.

Third Visit to the Osteopath

I managed to finish off the baby matinee and hat.(Still no word about her arrival - she is taking her time) I have been doing so many more things besides crocheting these last few days. That alone is a sign that my knee is getting better day by day. It's still not fully functional but after my third visit to the osteopath today I feel very optimistic that with time my knee will improve. That is something that I could not have said even 2 weeks ago.

The matinee jacket is very pretty but I don't think that I will make the small size again. I fear that the pattern is so open it could be a trap for little unwary fingers. The pattern actually goes up to a 7yr old although I can't honestly see a child that old wearing a matinee style jacket but in a darker colour it could look very different. The pattern is a Sirdar one and current in their range. I bought mine online from Purplelinda but I am sure that any Sirdar stockist would have one or could get one. I am not keen on the wool that I used. Very pretty but the silky thread running along with the yarn snagged up on my hook and I was constantly splitting the wool. I thought it was because I was crocheting it but 2 people who have knitted it have had the same problem. I usually like James C Bretts wool and find it washes well so it is just the Shimmer DK that I will avoid in future. I have used Sirdar baby DK that has a silky thread running through it and not had the splitting problem.

Talking about Sirdar I am fortunate enough to be going to the Yarn Barn in Shaw tomorrow. My niece has offered me a lift there. I haven't been to the shop for quite a while and I believe that she has moved premises to a larger shop a few doors away. The owner Judith is a stockist of Sirdar and has a great selection of their wools and patterns. I am a great fan of Sirdar Wash n Wear DK and 4ply and Sirdar Snuggly is so lovely and soft for babies. I used to be one of Sirdar's largest stockists in my wool shop days and I think that the yarn speaks for itself that those particular yarns are still around and best sellers some 15 yrs later. If I remember to take my camera I will let you see more but Yarn Barn does have an online shop now for those of you who live too far away from Shaw to visit. Click on my blog title for a link there.

I am hoping to get some crochet done tonight but I have friends visiting me so I think that there will be more chatting than crocheting done.

Anne's finished birthday shawl

My niece Vicky came today and took the belated birthday presents of the black jacket and hat for Kath and sweater and scarf for herself. She loved Kath's jacket but thought she could not have one as the pattern is only for a small size on the pattern. I assured her that if she wants one I can adapt it to fit her so that might be a project for later. There is also a long jacket in the dreaded Doris Chan book that might fit the bill.

I also gave her the cream shawl intended for my sister in law Anne whose birthday is the 23rd. I made the shawl from an old book circa 1980. It was quite a simple pattern to make but I did change the edging as the pattern has a collar and a frilly edge which I didn't think Anne would like. It took approx 325 grams of Patons Fab double knit. I would have chosen a better quality yarn but as time was of the essence it was the best I could find at the time. Buster assisted in the photography by using his paws to point out the detail. He thought that I had spread the shawl out for him to lie on! Any wonky wiggly edges on the shawl are because as I was spreading the shawl out Buster insisted on helping. It isn't really lob sided honestly.

Today we went up to visit the Yarn Barn in Shaw. It's a very small shop but quite well stocked if you happen to like Sirdar. They had a very limited amount of Regia sock yarn and some sock kits but scant choice of needles, I only saw one set of bamboo and one metal besides the usual plastic pairs of needles. I hadn't gone to buy anything today just to browse for the future. My niece picked up a couple of patterns and I have noted some nice baby patterns if my niece's ex housemate has a baby girl next month. She has chosen not to find out the sex and has plenty of clothes for the newborn so I will make something appropriate for boy or girl when it is born. The shop has a lovely window display of 'loaned from Sirdar' display garments all in my favourite shades of lilacs and purples plus quite a few baby cardigans on display inside. The new owner plans to go online with sales in the near future. We shall no doubt visit the shop again as Vicky found the Sirdar chunky wool that she wants for a chunky cardigan and will buy it in the next school holiday. As a teacher she only finds the time to knit during the holidays. I saw quite a few interesting yarns in Sirdar that will work up well for future projects. I know where I shall be shopping for Xmas present wool. I wish we had gone up earlier and then I could have bought better wool for Anne's shawl.

I picked up Anna's crochet soakers again today. It's always a mistake to put things down half way through as it takes ages to remember where I am up to on the pattern. I never write anything down but I think I have sorted it out now and so will be crocheting those tonight.

Vicky chose the pale lemon and blue Opal for her toe socks. I wish I could have found a single colour as they are lacy but she seems to think they will look just fine in the random. I thought I might start them but I find that I am already using the needles that I need for my Tiger socks so that is another reason to push on with my second sock. If I go to the knit club on Monday I will only take the sock. The light in the pub is quite dim though and the wool is quite dark. Maybe I should invest in a miners helmet with a light?