This week we had a special guest at our Yarn in the Barn group. Emma, who is the Sales Director at Sirdar joined in with the group bringing along a few extra goodies to share (more about this next week). A little bit like a yarn show and tell. Something that we are all always interested in here at Black Sheep Wools.

One of the ladies in the group (Joan) was teaching Emma to crochet with a gorgeous teal shade of Sublime yarn. When I went in with the camera it looked like she was grasping it pretty quickly, as you can see from the photo below.

Crochet really did seem to be the craft of choice at this weeks Yarn in the Barn. I got chatting to one lady (Cathy) who had made a fabulous bag. The pattern was from an old Sirdar book from Cathy’s stash. She chose to make it in a juicy selection of shades from the Sirdar Simply Recycled Aran range. Also adding an extra bit of sparkle with the Louisa Harding Mila in cream. Cathy had pinned a spotty fabric lining in the bag ready to be sewn. A great bag for holidays on the beach!

The second piece of crochet was from a lady called Carole who has been crocheting with the Rico Romeo yarn. I was that mesmerised by the crochet I did actually forget to ask what she was making. However, next time she is at the group I will definitely be asking. Such a pretty stitch which looks and feels lovely. I couldn’t believe how soft the crochet felt. For some reason I saw quite a dense stitch in cotton and imagined it to be stiff, but not the Rico Romeo yarn.

You may remember from the Yarn in the Barn the Sarah Lund cross stitch that was being stitched. Well it is taking shape now, the border is half complete and much more of the face finished. It won’t be long before we will be seeing this pressed and framed!

Would you like to be in with a chance of winning a years subscription to Debbie Abrahams bead club? One lucky person will win just that! This is a great opportunity to sample Debbie’s beautiful beads. Throughout the year you will receive 6 unique knitting patterns designed by well known designers including Sarah Hatton, Sarah Hazell and Debbie Abrahams herself. This is a fantastic prize worth £75. See all of Debbie’s beads now stocked at Black Sheep Wools, both online and in store.

To enter all you need to do is fill out the form on our competition page click here.

You may have seen the lovely SMC yarns – Rosas and Pertinio and wondered which patterns are suitable for these yarns. The book has now been discontinued but the great news is that we have all the patterns to download for free from our website. Woohoo!

Below are a selection of patterns that we have available to download for free from the Black Sheep Wools website. They are the perfect items for summer holidays and in juicy shades. There are others too, so don’t miss out! (see more patterns here). Both yarns are currently in the sale, SMC Pertinio is now £2.25 a ball RRP £4.50 and SMC Rosas £2.49 a ball RRP £5.25.

Striped top – knitted in SMC Rosas & Pertinio

Block colour top – knitted in SMC Pertinio

Cardigan – knitted in SMC Rosas

Crochet shawl – crochet in SMC Pertinio

Lace top – knitted in SMC Pertinio 

Striped top – knitted in SMC Pertinio

Sleeveless top – knitted in SMC Rosas

Block colour top – knitted in SMC Rosas

Today was the first day of our Craft Barn 10 day mega sale. Paul was out early on the car park directing customers into spaces. A very cold and rainy morning. Not really what you would hope for on a spring day. Many early birds arrived before 10am!

There was a lovely atmosphere in the Craft Barn, everyone eager to find all of our fantastic bargains. This year the yarn dive has been relocated to a spot in the warehouse, which has allowed more space for even more yarn (more like a yarn mountain!). Although it has been a busy day today, fear not there is still plenty of yarn and needlecraft for everyone!

To the yarn dive!

A happy customer out shopping for bargains.

A break in the tea shop before going back on the hunt.

The yarn dive at 4:00pm ready for tomorrow!

We are all busy getting ready for the ‘famous’ Black Sheep Craft Barn 10 day sale. It starts tomorrow (10th May) and finishes on 19th May. I have just had a sneaky peek at the sale list and there are some fantastic yarns on offer. The Craft show favourite, ‘the yarn dive’ will be bigger and better than ever with packets upon packets of yarn. I remember last year spotting one customer sat surrounded with all the packets having a good rummage. For those who can’t make it to the Craft Barn we still have lots and lots of great bargains online. Make sure you always check on our yarn clearance section for the latest. If you are planning on making a trip up here, don’t forget the fabulous tea shop ‘tea bags full’ is now open. Here you can re-charge your batteries with a delicious slice of cake and a coffee (or tea!) and then set off on another expedition around the Barn. There is a chance you might not want to leave!!

For directions to the Craft Barn and store opening hours head over to our Craft Barn page.

Lots of tickets in preparation for tomorrow!!

We had allsorts of different entries for our name the bear competition. A decision was finally made and I can announce that the name of our Rowan bear is Thread bear! Congratulations to Yvonne Garnham who came up with the name.

If you would like to download the bear pattern and knit one for yourself. Click here.

Would you like to win everything you need to make our Rowan bear?

He needs a name!! Simply suggest a name and enter your details here. A winning name will be chosen on Tuesday 07/05/13.

Good luck!!!

We are very pleased to share with you our exclusive Rowan pattern. A cute teddy bear, designed by Jem Weston. Jem is our sales representative for all of the lovely Coats products (that includes Rowan, Patons, SMC and Anchor cross stitch). Not only that, she is also a designer for Rowan. Jem also has her own book ‘Cute Little Knits’. A couple of months back now we had a designer Q & A blog post with Jem, read more here.

This gorgeous little bear is knitted in the luxurious Rowan Panama and Rowan Siena 4ply. He would be a lovely gift or maybe even a little treat for you. You are never too old to have a teddy bear!

When you have made this little cutie please do send in photos (amy@blacksheepwools.com) we would love to see him! How about taking him on a picnic? and having your very own teddy bears picnic.

There was plenty of exciting and inspirational crafting going on in today’s Yarn in the Barn. Not to mention the finished projects that many people had brought along with them. It was great to see such a large turn out. The room being so full that 2 extra tables had to be added on at the end. Enabling everyone to fit in the room along with their crafting fuel (tea & cake) and beautiful projects. As always I couldn’t resist popping in with the camera and having a nosey at what treats were on offer today. It was lovely to chat to the ladies and thank you to those who kindly shared their projects. I made sure I was organised this week and went in with a pen and paper too. This way everyone could be credited for their fantastic work! Take a look below and be inspired.

Sally’s start of a very beautiful broomstick crochet top from Rowan Holiday Crochet book. I have never attempted broomstick crochet before and it was really fascinating to watch Sally actually doing it. I’m looking forward to seeing this as it progresses.

A lovely pop of colour. Love the bright and pastel candy colours mixed with the deep brown.

Ok, so you might be starting to think it was crochet week or something. It wasn’t, just seems to be ever so popular. This is Joan’s blanket. As you can see it is in its very final stages. Just lots of pesky ends that need sewing in.

Ann has knitted this baby cardigan in a very soft lilac shade. Deciding to add her own collar design to finish off. Pretty and effective!

Chris used lots of oddments to make this bag. The yarn was shetland wool, left over from a fair isle knit. She said she knitted it then, threw it in the washing machine, not knowing how it would turn out. Now she has a nice little bag.

Ann’s pastel baby blanket. A combination of knitted and granny squares. Good idea Ann!

Ann had also brought in her recently completed baby cardigan in the NEW Designer Yarns DY Choice Baby Joy DK. She was on the look out for some cute buttons to finish off.

Sue’s adorable baby sampler. Sue is a member of a stitching group called ‘Memory Lane Stitchers‘.

Last but nor least Brenda’s detailed embroidery. To me this chart looks soooo complicated. Brenda assured me that it isn’t actually as complicated as it looks.

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