yarn heaven – PipsRainbow

February 20, 2021 No Comments

Well hello my wonderful ones. How are we all on this rather drizzly day? I hope you are all well and coping with the world as we know it. To all you ones with little sprogs – how’s half term gone? Definitely nice not to be rushing them with homeschooling and all the usual routine, for a bit. I don’t know about anyone else’s little ones, but mine we’re definitely ready for a break. Think they get to a point where they just want to play & let their imaginations run. Just be kids. I think this might be the reason why our landing now looks like some kind of playmobil world! Haha! We have a veterinary hospital, a school, a holiday home, an aquarium & some kind of coast guard sea situation going on. So I reckon we have most areas covered! Funny.

Heyho, guessing its just life as we know at the moment. I do wonder if there is going to be a big announcement next week. It’ll be interesting to see if schools are back in. We shall see. Heyho, if in doubt, just keep on crocheting, well that’s how I am getting through lockdown. That and knitting.

Spring is starting to really show. Always makes me feel hopefully when I see these little guys popping out.

So I just wanted to pop on and talk to you about the wonderful world of Banshee Yarns. These are the most super soft and seriously scrumptious yarns. They are so soft. Each one is beautifully dyed by the wonderful Michelle over at The Loveliest Yarn Company. Here’s the link to her wonderful website.

https://theloveliestyarncompany.co.uk/

I first heard of the lovely Michelle in the summer, when I came across her knit school and one of the KALs she was doing. I think it was a shawl KAL, where you learnt all about how to knit shawls and the different techniques that create them. As I have been definitely being upping the amount of knitting I have been doing, I was rather intrigued.

So when the lovely Abby, Lisa and Michelle did their BadAss Friday celebration of yarny loveliness, I couldn’t resist trying some of Michelle’s Banshee yarn.

It’s called Banshee Yarns. (Don’t you just love the Banshee Yarn logo!!) I love her motto too – Colours To Haunt You. How fab is that. I reckon colour does haunt you. They definitely do for me. They seem to call to you. And as Michelle says – haunts you until you cave and buy it. As you all know, I am a serious lover of all things rainbowy, so I feel that colours can really sing together. They definitely excite me and I just can’t resist a gorgeous yarn with a stunning colour way.

So with the Banshee yarns range, Michelle dyes them up in all different bases of yarn, with different weights. This means you can find one of her beautiful yarns for any kind of project. I couldn’t resist the Alpaca DK yarn, which is a blend of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere.

I mean literally, how scrumptious and delicious is that. It’s so luxurious and soft and works up a treat. Many of the other weights in the range, have slightly different blends depending on which one you choose. Trust me, which ever one you pick, you will not be disappointed.

I thought I would choose the double knit weight, to create some little wrist warmers. I don’t know about anyone else, but I seem to be struggling with being cold, so much more at the moment. You all know, my feet can be incased in 5 pairs of slipper socks and leg warmers and they are still a little chilly. So I realised that as soon as my wrists are warm, my hands seem to stay a little warmer too.

Anyways, I have created a pattern for both simple wrist warmers (ones that just go on your wrist) and wrist warmers that go over your thumb too. I will hopefully be publishing the pattern up soon, but here’s a sneaky peak of them made up in Michelle’s DK Banshee Yarn.

The pattern will come with two sizes, kids and adults. Really hope you like them. Can’t wait to share them with you.

So all in all, I cannot recommend Michelle’s Banshee Yarn enough. It’s so utterly scrumptious and luxurious. Can’t wait to buy some more. Ekk. I may have this little baby in my stash and thinking it would make some wonderful leg warmers.

But I am so tempted with one of the purple colour ways to go with it. So might have to wait a little. We shall see. It’s whether I have a weak moment. Ekk.

Well, I think that is all for now. Just want to wish you all a lovely rest of the weekend. And here’s hoping for a little bit of normality sometime soon.

Happy hooking peeps.

🌈Xx

Wool on the Exe

Well hello my lovely ones. How are we all? Hope you have all had good Easters and bank holidays! What weather we have had!! Just incredible!! We managed a few trips to the beach together and my Seaside Shawl has had its first outing of the year!!

It’s still a way off being finished, but it’s getting there. The rule with this shawl, is that I can only crochet it when I’m by the sea!!

So as you can imagine, it’s taking me a while!!

So yesterday, I was one happy little crocheter, as I had a lovely little trip to the wonderful Wool on the Exe Shop which is located on Oxehampton Street in Exeter!!! And oh my was it worth the journey!!

It’s located at the top of the street, near a roundabout, but there are lots of car parking spaces outside to be found. Once you are inside, there is an overwhelming sense of yarny calmness and colour. Your eyes are drawn all over the place, with splashes of colour and yarny magicalness. It’s a yarn lovers dream. And then, you are greeted by one of the bubbliest, kindest yarny shop people I have ever met. Yesterday, my daughter and I met Debbie. She was sooooo nice and so happy to help to us. That’s one thing that has always astonished me in the yarny world – how lovely and welcoming people are. They make you feel at home instantly and part of a happy, creative group. There’s definitely a sense of belonging. And this belonging was definitely found in Wool on the Exe yesterday!!!

We only went in for a sneaky peak as it was my birthday and came out with a bulging bag of yummy yarn.

They have all sorts of yarny magicalness in there!!! And I am happy to report, there were some incredible yarns from companies that I had never heard of!! Small little business, making a living from their livestock or their ability to hand dye. Just the best!!

They also had some of the big boys like West Yorkshire Spinners. Now they must be proud of the range that they stock in this shop too, as there was all sorts of colourful treats to be had! I was so nearly tempted by the new 4 ply sock yarn that they have just launched, but my arm got twisted by a certain bouncing little girl who found this ball of fluff.

It was tucked away under the window display, but were hawked eyes by my girl and brought to my attention!!! Now I have heard of this kind of yarn from a friend at home, but I have never come across it before and have always been intrigued! It works up with normal crocheting or knitting, but looks and feels like a real teddy bear! And oh my it is sooooooo soft!! I can’t really describe how soft it is!! My daughter was literally doing somersaults she was that excited about it!!! Well, it’s another little pile of yarn to add to the project list!!! My daughter would like a teddy bear, so thought it would be a nice challenge to design one. It says it needs a 10mm hook, but thinking I would reduce that to a 9mm maybe, seen as it’s an Amigurumi project. Definitely don’t want any stuffing popping out!!! Oooo, my designing hat seems to be on and in go go mode!! Hmm, I had better get my other projects finished first!!

So some of you may have seen that my daughter has started Finger Knitting. Well, I think some kind of addiction has kicked in, as she is loving it!!! This is the girl that has tried with bits of crocheting, but has been shown how to Finger Knit once and is a complete natural. I mean she literally walked around a supermarket yesterday, finger knitting!!! So I promised her some yarn from the fabulous Wool on the Exe shop. Once she’d whizzed around the shop, her little eyes landed on some lovely soft West Yorkshire Spinner yarn from their Bo Peep range.

This is great for all sorts of projects. So I wonder what she will make with this!! Finger knitting is all about little strands, so it’s how you assemble them together, which gives you the end product. I reckon some little teddy blankets first and see how she goes.

She also picked up the Baby Zpagetti Print Cotton yarn. Debbie had said this was great for finger knitting, so off those two went, making a necklace, giving me a chance to squeal at the delights in the shop. Bless Debbie, she was so nice with her and even showed her how the cotton was worked up and made her this beautiful necklace!! So sweet of her!! Sure my daughter will cherish it forever!!

But for my own little birthday treat, I just couldn’t resist this skein of wonder! It’s a mix of Superwash merino wool and silk and was hand dyed by the one and only Debbie!! So it was obviously meant to be!! It’s sporting some incredible colours, so will have to have a think as to what project will do it justice!! Love that it’s called Easter Eggs! Maybe it can be my Easter Sunday scarf!!

Here’s a link to their wonderful website. You will find all their workshops and events on there! Hmm, I wonder if I could arrange a holiday down here, around one of their workshops! Now there’s a thought!!

https://wool-on-the-exe.myshopify.com/

So if you are ever in the vicinity and are able to take a magical step into this little gem, then please do!! It is well worth it and you will come out feeling very happy!!! Can’t wait for our next trip, hoping to meet Ella, Debbie and the whole team next time.

Wool on the Exe. Adventures in Yarn – think that says it all…

Happy hooking.

🌈Xx

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