Yvonne, who works here in the Craft Barn brought in her super cute grandson Gabriel last week to do a spot of modelling. He was showing off his latest knits by his kind Nana (Yvonne).

Gabriel is allergic to man – made fibres so Yvonne more often than not has to substitute yarns. This can sometimes prove tricky but Yvonne always manages to find lovely shades perfect for a little one. The adorable basket weave cardigan is a Sirdar Supersoft Aran pattern 1844. For this Yvonne chose to use the gorgeous Rico Essentials Merino Aran in the pistachio shade. The perfect outfit with his camel coloured trousers.

Not looking too impressed on this one!

The hat and cardigan set Yvonne has recently completed are also knitted in Rico Essentials Merino Aran. This is a fair isle pattern which Yvonne had tucked away in her stash. He was so well behaved and did seem pretty jolly whilst having his photograph taken.

Have you been busy crafting over the bank holiday weekend? I haven’t done any (uh oh!) not even more of my granny square blanket. It is coming along nicely though. My squares seem to be geting bigger and bigger, especially now I have decided to add a white Louisa Harding Ianthe border to each square! Emma has been busy finishing off her oh so cute ‘Edmund the bunny‘. He is a free pattern available on the Rowan website and is knitted in the gorgeous Revive yarn.

Emma said now Edmund is complete she is ready to begin knitting her very own ‘Thread bear’. I feel a little lost at the moment as I have had (Jem Weston’s original) Thread bear sat along side me, on my desk for the past few weeks. He is now sat in the Craft Barn on display. I may just have to knit one for myself to keep me company!

Those of you who have sampled the delicious cakes in Tea Bags Full, may have wondered where these delights come from? Well, the homemade cakes are all made by a lovely lady called Leona. Yesterday when she popped in with a new selection of sweet treats she also brought along her latest knitting projects. As always we love to see what people have been up to with Black Sheep yarns. Not only does she make yummy cakes her knitting projects are very pretty too.

Leona has made two garments  for her grand daughter who lives in Canada – a cardigan and a top. The cardigan is knitted in Sirdar Flirt Dk, following a pattern from Sublime book 636 and the top in Sublime Baby Kapok DK. They are both to go with the super cute skirt that you can see on the photos. What a gorgeous gift to receive in the post!

Take a look at Janet’s latest project. She has only recently learnt how to crochet, and what a fantastic job she is doing. After practicing a combination of doubles and trebles Janet decided to go for it and make herself a cushion cover. Already having a colour theme in mind to match a throw, Janet chose the lovely chenile textured Louisa Harding Nerissa yarn. This really does suit a home accessory, such as a cushion perfectly. It will be nice and soft to cosy up with.

To work out the number of stitches required Janet measured an old cushion cover and went from there. The design is a mixture of rows of treble crochet stitches and double crochet stitches. Once complete Janet sewed up the sides and slipped it over her cushion pad and sewed up the final edge seam.

And there you have it a very effective crochet cover. Tomorrow Janet is attending the Rowan beaded crochet mittens workshop here in the Craft Barn. Next week, fingers crossed I will be able to share her latest crochet skill of adding beading into her projects!

A close up of the crochet stitch.

It seems there is no stopping Sara at the moment. She is on a mission to complete all of those pesky unfinished projects (UFO’s). I can’t believe how many she has already completed. One of which she has brought in to share today. A very cute bolero for her daughter Scarlett, knitted in the lovely Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK, following pattern ‘Little Savannah’ from Sublime book 632. You may recall this project from early last year when we all had a peek into the depths of Black Sheep staff’s project bags.

Sara has now finished the bolero and it has turned out just perfect. The pretty, lacy detail gives a delicate edging. We no longer have the exact shade in stock but you will be sure to find a similar alternative in either Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK or in amongst the fabulous Sublime range.

Take a look at the pretty design and detail.

Sara has been busy crocheting beautiful granny square blankets for lots of new arrivals recently. Friends and relatives are going to receive lovely treats! Take a look at the baby boy’s blanket below. This one is for her cousin who has just had baby boy Ben.

This pretty pink blanket is crocheted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for another cousin who has had a baby girl, Olivia.

Finally the beginning of a fabulous blanket in these delicious shades of Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK. Keep your eye out for a future blog post with the finished blanket!

Lesley has just completed her very first pair of baby booties and as you can see has done a fantastic job. The day after she came in with a very cute matching pair of mittens (there is no stopping her now she has the knitting bug!). Before the birth of her friend’s baby boy in summer Lesley plans to knit a cardigan too. Choosing to knit with the juicy shade of  Hayfield Baby dk (100g balls) Lesley followed the Sirdar pattern 1365.

Toni who works here in the Craft Barn and tea shop is expecting her first baby in summer. When we heard the news we were all very excited, as this is the first Black Sheep baby amongst staff. I imagine Toni will be showered with many knitted and crocheted gifts from everyone once her little one arrives. Every time I see a baby pattern I immediately think – maybe that one, Ooo or this one. Spoilt for choice I think!

A few days later Janet soon had a pair of super cute booties knitted. As Toni has decided to leave him/her as a surprise Janet chose good neutral shades of red and white in a soft double knit yarn. This pattern is one Janet had tucked away in her stash so I am unable to share the pattern with you. The good news is we do now stock a similar pattern from Rico, however it is crochet. Take a look at it here. Toni was thrilled with her early gift, aren’t they adorable!

Yvonne has been at it again – making up her own creations, adapting and tweaking patterns. I am always intrigued when Yvonne tells me about her latest projects. You just know straight away she will be changing a bit here, adding a bit there.

As she was going off on a wintry holiday, plenty of layers and warm hand knits were a must. Inspired by my green Rowan Tumble hat she decided to make one for herself,  choosing the pink shade (bonbon). When Yvonne brought it in along with a matching snood for a photo I immediately got very excited about it. Such an effective design! Speaking to Yvonne after her holiday it sounded like these were vital accessories in the harsh, cold winds. Most of the time she said she wore a second hat and her hood up, it was that cold. The hat is from the Rowan Tumble book. Being inspired by the cable design Yvonne decided to use this concept to create a snood. Using the basic concept of the hat cable design she knitted a 3 cable snood. The snood only took one ball, the same as the hat.

Yvonne decided to not add a pom poom bobble on her hat. The colour is gorgeous, it reminds me of a marshmallow!

A few weeks back now Stacey brought in a granny square she had crocheted using Sirdar Escape dk. With just one ball she had created a really pretty granny square with perfect colour changes. The best part of all you don’t need to change colours with the Sirdar Escape dk.

I have always wanted to have a go at crocheting a granny square but have never been completely sure of how to go about it. After seeing Stacey’s square she gave me a quick ‘how to’ over lunch and I was hooked (sorry just had to say it!). I didn’t realise how easy it actually was to do. I immediately thought of all the odd balls I had at home. They would be perfect to use up and make into a blanket. The same day that I had been won over by the granny square, Heather (customer services) was buying a crochet hook too wanted to make a blanket using up all her odds and ends. We were both joking about how fast we could make them and how many. This was to be ‘The Granny Square Challenge!’

Sooooo…….. this was a few weeks ago now and Heather and I have been comparing numbers. I can safely say I am currently losing this challenge in a big way. As I write this Heather has just informed me of her new total, 134 squares!!! My total is now 8 they are slightly larger however I have now excuse really. Below is a photo of one of my squares and the beginning of a new one. I had originally thought about making one giant granny square. I then decided against this as I thought I may run out of a yarn shade half way round. My granny squares are now a similar size to Stacey’s original.

Here are a selection of Heather’s granny squares. Don’t they look fab all laid out like this, ready to be sewn together to make a gorgeous blanket. If you would like to join us in the granny square challenge we would love to see photos of your progress. Please email amy@blacksheepwools.com. In the next couple of weeks (maybe months in my case) I hope to share more photos of our progress.