And we’re back!   Yes I know it’s been a bit quiet over the spring, but suddenly, summer seems to have arrived and it’s spurred a flurry of activity over on the website.  We’ve now got the fabulous Artesano Superwash Merino DK, a 100% washable merino yarn that is probably the most scrumptious thing I’ve knitted with since getting my hands on a skein of Malabrigo.  It’s incredibly soft, totally non-itchy and comes in 25 gorgeous colours… I may just start my winter knitting early this year!

Artesano Superwash Merino

I know the web page isn’t very pretty yet – I’m waiting to get my hands on the official colour card photos from Artesano, and when they do, it’ll be all shiny and pretty and new.  But if you want to get your order in early, then the page is active and the ‘add to cart’ buttons all work, even if it’s not very aesthetically pleasing.

Patterns will be available shortly too – watch this space!

In addition, there’s a new colour available in the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop 4ply, and it’s a beautiful light purple called Wild Thyme.  There are limited stocks of the Natural Black left until this year’s spinning, so if you want some, grab it now!

I adore geek knittery – this link was very kindly forwarded by Sarah (thanks for the distraction!) 

Bizarre and Beautiful World of Knitted Science.

Aren’t the plankton beautiful? 

It's 100% British sock yarn!

Gorgeous Spring Forward socks, made in 100% British Natural Dye Studio “Dazzle” – wonderfully soft 4ply sock yarn. I’m using ‘Spring Greens‘, which adds its lush semi-solid tones to a wonderful (free!) pattern. And it’s a super fast knit too, so you could whip up a pair of these for someone as a last minute present!

Try using Brittany dpns and see how quickly this grows!

Fame at last – Ecoknits in the newspapers!  Well, in one newspaper, my local Doncaster Free Press.  Just over a week ago, I took several baskets of lovely yarn to the Doncaster Dome for the Success Doncaster showcase – lots of local businesses, some very new starters, all putting out their wares for others to see; a chance to network, speak to various professionals of differing sorts and generally have an enjoyable day talking about nothing but their business – which is great for me as I got to spend all day talking yarn and knitting!

However, their online side of things is lacking somewhat and the photo and write up isn’t there yet.  However, dear reader, I will keep you posted and get the link up just as soon as it’s live.

In the meanwhile, here’s a gratuitous picture of this year’s stand.  Which, oddly enough, is quite similar to last year’s. 

I finally finished the most beautiful shawl this weekend – the Girasole shawl by Jared Flood.  It is simple and it is stunning – thank you Jared, you’re a genius. 

I made it in my own Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop 4ply, using natural black as I love the rich chocolate brown.  And, modesty aside, I think it turned out rather well, don’t you?

Girasole shawl

I love it when knitting stories appear in the mainstream press.  And I love it even more when friends cut out articles to give to  me!  Have a look at this one: The Wonder of Wool.  From The Daily Mail, 7th October 2009.

Four delicious new arrivals have prodded me out of my blogging stupor.  I really should keep you good folks up to date with what’s going on around here, shouldn’t I?

Check out the Artesano Alpaca Hummingbird page for four incredibly beautiful new colours in the squishably lovely pure alpaca DK.  Robin, Quail, Peacock and Chaffinch – sumptuous reds, oranges, blues and greens, just in time for your holiday knitting.  And it’s soft.  Smooshably so.

Artesano offer a whole heap of brilliant patterns for this stuff, and you can use pretty much any of their DK weight yarn to knit them.  How about using four hanks of the rich red Robin to make Rapt to wear at Christmas?  Or for a twist on the traditional sock gift, why not knit someone the Twist socks using just one skein of stunning Peacock?

And make sure you follow us on Twitter, to keep up to date with new arrivals and great deals.

On a slightly more personal front, I’ve almost finished the most stunning Shetland style shawl made in the fabulous Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop 4ply.  I’ll be posting pictures soon, but if you scroll down to the bottom of the Wensleydale page, you’ll see the first dozen or so rounds on four dpns.  It’s now up to 640 stitches on one long circular needle!

Do I spend nearly £20 on genuine ink for my not-very-old Epson printer, as it won’t accept refills or copy cartridges, or do I buy a good quality brand new HP printer for £40 on special offer at eBuyer?

Darn those advertising emails.

Actually, that title isn’t quite right – it’s not that I’m a bad ecoknitter.  I’m actually a very good ecoknitter.  I’m just a ruddy bad  ecoblogger.  How on earth have five months just whizzed past without a single blog post to let you all know what’s going on in the land of Ecoyarndom?

Right, first and foremost, the most exciting thing on the horizon is the series of workshops I’ve somehow managed to fall into running.  It’s a long story (when is it ever a short story round here?).  I was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of CIDA, the creative industries folks, when I first started out on this yarnie adventure, and they paired me up with a brilliant business mentor by the name of Anne-Marie Logan.  She has by turns goaded, encouraged and bullied me into doing things which I’d never have even thought of.  And these workshops have sprung out of the last two conversations with her.  I can’t call them meetings, as that’s far too official.  We tend to sit and talk practically non-stop for between an hour and two each time we meet.

I’m also running a series of ten evening classes at Doncaster’s Hayfield FE centre from September, Knitting for Beginners. (the website is due to be updated with the new term’s courses shortly).  That was booked first, and Anne-Marie suggested I do a couple of ‘taster’ sessions at this little place she just happened to know in York…  So that’s where you’ll find me, on Monday 13th and 20th of July, from 12pm till 1pm.  If you want to book, go to the Ecoknits Workshop page and you’ll find all the details there.

On the yarn front, hurry over to the Manos del Uruguay page, where I’ve got some of the hard-to-get colours of Silk Blend in stock.  That teal/green/blue 7325 Pisces tends to fly out just as soon as it comes in.  Not surprising really, as it’s pretty gorgeous

At least, that’s what they say.  In fact, so far my January has been anything but quiet.  Which is a good thing.

First off, my advert appeared in Yarn Forward Issue 10 and it looks great!  Ideal placement, on the top right hand side of a right hand page.  Absolutely perfect – go get an isse and have a look!  Never mind the fact that there are some lovely patterns in there – and they use some of my yarn.  The teen sweater Fusion can be made with Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, which is a wonderful alternative to Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK (and is quicker to type…) and the lovely Orchid tank uses the Manos Clasica wool (scroll right down to the bottom of the patterns page to see it).

Second, I’ve had some wonderful new customers who are full of enthusiasm for the yarn they’ve bought, and thank you if you’re one of those who’ve sent me happy feedback by email – it makes my day all warm and fuzzy.  Ecoknits has taken on a life of its own and I love hearing about what you’re making with all this amazing yarn.

And third, speaking of amazing yarn, I’m very priviledged to announce the arrival of the most delicious naturally hand dyed yarn from Finland, called Riihivilla Aarni.

It is produced by a lovely couple called Jouni and Leena Riihelä.  The Finnsheep fleeces are bought directly from the farmers and shepherds at a premium price.  The fleeces are then hand sorted by Jouni and Leena before being sent off to a local mill to be spun.  Then comes the best bit – Leena dyes all the spun yarn by hand in very small dye lots, often using what she grows in her garden and finds in the woodlands around her home, including the most amazing looking mushroom!  She also uses cochineal, madder, Japanese indigo and tansy andthe mordants alum and cream of tartar.

I’m very lucky to be stocking Aarni – barely a day or two after Leena and I had agreed that I could stock it, Riihivilla was featured in an online knitting magazine.  Within a week, she had sold nearly her entire stock and had been approached by a handful of other shops wanting to stock her yarn.  But as she dyes only a kilo or two at a time, she’s turned them all down.

Slight errata in the last post – I’m interviewed in Issue 11, not 10.  But I am mentioned in two separate parts   Talk about fifteen minutes of fame.