Spetchells Christmas Fayre

Pauline had been working for years on her stall for the Christmas Fair...

 

 

 

Come and see what we've got for you.

 

 

 

Christmas Fayre at the Spetchells centre, 

Tomorrow 7th December from 4pm - 8pm

Front Street Prudhoe

Knitted Blankets

The latest update on squares knitted for The Big Knitathon has now reached 64 with a little parcel today from Jenny and her friends all the way from Manchester.   At the weekend I will be parceling them all up and posting them off to The Big Issue foundation.

And this has got to be the ultimate in knitted square blankets - we were honored to have a visit from Dorothy and her Debbie Abrahams mystery blanket.  It is absolutely fantastic and beautifully knitted. I particularly like the flags which make up the border. A family heirloom!!

I have been working on something on a much smaller scale - these crocheted stars for our Christmas window. The white ones are made in DMC Natura cotton and the gold one in Twilley's Goldfingering. The Goldfingering comes in gold, silver, green and red and is perfect for making Christmas decorations or knitting in with a plain yarn for extra sparkle. It could be used on a garment too as it is machine washable.

The Big Knitathon- Knitted

 Saturday was a great success, on the day we had a group of 13 knitters who
completed 24 blanket squares  but we had lots of other
knitters who either called in or stopped me on the street to say they will
be knitting squares for us at home so we should be able to send a big parcel
off the The Big Knitathon office.  We were also able to raise £40 for the
Big Issue foundation from tea, cakes and selling vintage knitting patterns.

Across the country there were a total of 66 events with 1400 people joined
together to knit for a good cause.  The Big Blanket, once sewn together,
will be displayed in various locations around the country to raise more
awareness of the big issue foundation. I will let you know if it is visiting the North East.

Thank you to all who took part - from the knitters...

...to the tea makers - a great day for a worth while cause!

 Happy Knitting x

The Big Knitathon

Join us on Saturday when we will be supporting The Big Issue foundation with their world record attempt to get the most people knitting at one time. We will be knitting 6"x6" squares which will be sent off to the foundation to be sewn together for their second world record attempt - The Worlds largest knitted blanket. Bring your needles and wool from your stash to sit and knit with us for an hour or two and support this worth while cause, getting homeless people off the streets and back into employment.

This was our photo from Today's Hexham Courant where we are on the front page!!

 

The Big Knitathon

Join us on Saturday when we will be supporting The Big Issue foundation with their world record attempt to get the most people knitting at one time. We will be knitting 6"x6" squares which will be sent off to the foundation to be sewn together for their second world record attempt - The Worlds largest knitted blanket. Bring your needles and wool from your stash to sit and knit with us for an hour or two and support this worth while cause, getting homeless people off the streets and back into employment.

New Winter Opening Times

Before I forget to tell you - our new winter opening hours are 9.30am to 4.30pm Tuesday through to Saturday. We have decided that the best place to be on dark evenings is at home knitting so we will be closing a little earlier.

With the cold weather now set in for winter this lovely woolly cardigan knitted by Audrey is going to keep a cute little girl lovely and warm. The pattern UKHKA73 is great for using up scraps from your stash to do the stripes.

The Thursday afternoon knitting group have been knitting for the Fish and Chip babies.  A project inspired by babies born into poverty in Africa, where they have no clothes to take the baby home from hospital and they are sent home wrapped in Newspaper, just like fish and chips!! Well now four lucky babies will have woolly jumpers and hats to keep them warm.

I have been knitting too and have just finished this boy's jumper in Sublime, a blend of cashmere, merino and silk, it is so soft. Sirdar pattern number 602, colour is 002 cuddle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the girls from the crochet class are coming on too.  Somebody's gran is going to get a lovely Christmas present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knitted Meerkats

 This well dressed couple popped into the shop last week on their way to a wedding. The Meerkat bride and groom were beautifully knitted by Dorothy.

We have the book Knitted Meerkats by Sue Stratford  in the shop and the ideal yarn for knitting the meerkats is this Sirdar Country Style 4 ply wool blend  - shade number 0404.

  


A new yarn this week is Hayfield Chunky with wool from Sirdar.
Continuing on the theme of the very popular Aran with wool, this chunky wool has 20% wool content and comes in solid shades. This new pattern for a cabled hoody will be lovely in it and at £3.40 for a 100g ball, very good value.






                                                                                             


      And for the crochet addicts among you, this new book from the 20 to Make series is a must.
20 to Make Crochet Granny Squares is full of lovely new ideas for granny squares. At only £4.99 who can resist it?

 

 I am really enjoying our knitting groups and helping people develop their knitting skills. When Julie started the Saturday afternoon Mothers and Daughters knitting group in the shop, she was a beginner. Now she is charging ahead with her homemade Christmas gifts. This lovely bag was knitted very simply in stocking stitch and moss stitch then lined with fabric. A lovely brooch finishes it off and hey presto a unique Christmas present for a very lucky friend
  

Snuggly for Autumn

 Lets have a look at some of the new patterns and wool in the shop this week- all great knits for the autumn season.
This jacket  will keep any little girl cosy. It is knitted in Sirdar snuggly Crofter DK shade 150, pattern number 1253  and fits sizes from birth to 7 years 

And for a little boy we have a lovely cable knit jumper in this lovely teal shade. Right on trend for the season it would look great with a little pair of jeans. Knit in Sirdar Snuggly DK shade 436, pattern number 1405, also fits from birth to 7 years.

And if you don't have any children to knit for  -Spoil yourself with a cushion to snuggle up with. This one I have knit in Corilana natural coloured undyed 100% Aran weight wool from New Zealand. Both wool and patterns in the shop. If you fancy something brighter the same cushion pattern would knit up lovely in all the colours we have in Hayfield bonus Aran and Aran Tweed.

Don't forget if you can't get in to the shop, ring us with your order and we will mail it out to you.

And finally a huge thank you to everyone who supported our open days last weekend when we raised a magnificent £200.63 for Macmillan cancer support.

Happy knitting xx

Open Days

Ready Steady Knit

Open Days

Friday 28^th and Saturday 29^th September

10.00am – 4.00pm

Coffee and cake  will be served in support of the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support and there will be opportunity to have a look at the new season stock and get  some ideas for gifts to make for Christmas.

Come and Join us

At 17B Front Street

Prudhoe NE42 5HN

01661 830671

Crochet Classes

Crochet Classes

We are pleased to be able to offer 2 new crochet classes.

Absolute Beginners – learn to crochet in a small group environment at an evening class at Ready Steady Knit. Over three sessions you will learn the basic sills and stitches you need to get going with this versatile craft. The sessions will be from 7.00pm to 9.00pm on Wednesday 12^th September, Wednesday 28^th September and Wednesday 10^th October. You will need a 4mm crochet hook and a ball of Double Knitting weight wool – either bring it with you or purchase it on the night. Cost £10.00 per session to include refreshments.

Improvers – update your crochet skills in a small group at an evening class at Ready Steady Knit. Over three sessions you will have opportunity to update your basic knowledge of stitches, learn some new ones, and follow a pattern while completing three small projects. The sessions will be from 7.00pm to 9.00pm on Wednesday 19^th September, Wednesday 3^rd October and Wednesday 17^th October. You will need a 4mm crochet hook and a ball of Double Knitting weight wool – either bring it with you or purchase it on the night. Cost £10.00 per session to include refreshments.

As both groups will be small and cosy, places are limited to 4 for beginners and 6 for improvers, please ring or email me to book a place as soon as possible.

The shop will be open before and after the classes for anything you may need.

Carry on Crocheting - Once you have built up your skills we hope that we will have regular sessions for people to continue with their own crochet projects. Watch this space.

Ready Steady Knit

17b Front Street, Prudhoe, NE42 5HN

Tel; 01661 830671 or email; wool@readysteadyknit.com

 With autumn just about here we have lots of new stock in the shop

Chunky wools in lots of warm variegated colours - This is Folksong

And this is Faroe - a super chunky quick to knit on 10mm needles

  So quick to knit that Audrey has done one in a few days and brought this lovely sleeveless jacket in to show us. The cable detail on the collar doesn't show up very well in the photo but we have a sample in the shop for you to have a closer look.














There are new baby yarns and patterns too - we now have Sublime baby yarn - a beautiful blend of cashmere, merino wool and silk.

Out and about - the shop is in beautiful Northumberland - near to Hadrian's wall. This weekend we were part of the London 2012 cultural Olympiad with this art installation of meteorological balloons which "talked " to each other along the length of the wall.  This one was feeling a bit sorry for itself.

Being encouraged by its neighbours it started to turn pink

Then inflated and floated up in the air - ready to play!!

Strange and thought provoking?


Happy Knitting !!

Fame at last

Still excited about yesterday's article in the Newcastle Journal newspaper. Thanks to Karen Dent for writing such a great piece. You can read it for yourself here

Happy knitting

Delighting in Handmade

As I've said before one of the things I enjoy about our little shop is getting to know the customers and sharing with them the pleasure they get from their finished article. Audrey struggled with the shawl collar on the little jacket but the end result has turned out just fine.  Knitted in Sirdar Snowflake chunky, it is off to a little girl in Holland to keep her warm this winter.

Margaret finished her Hoooked Zpaghetti bag in white - we still have kits in black and Magenta on sale- She's getting ready for Christmas too.

 Deborah made this little cardigan in Sirdar Baby Bamboo instead of the Raffaella from the pattern. It turned out nice and her granddaughter will look a treat in it on her christening day.

It is always interesting to see how people change things slightly to suit their own taste. No two garments are ever the same - That's the beauty of handmade!!

 And this is my latest project completed - A first size baby cardigan in Sidar Baby Crofter for a new arrival due in our street in a few weeks

Looking around the local area - you can see that the freak weather has had an effect on the local plant life. Palm trees growing on Newcastle Quayside?

No it was the Newcastle Gateshead Bridges festival - celebrating the Olympics on Tyneside

Hope you too are enjoying watching the Olympics while doing your knitting in front of the TV.

Happy Knitting!!

Hoooked Zpagetti

 We are now selling DMC crochet products in the shop. Hoooked Zpagetti is a fun way of getting into Giant crochet. The yarn is recycled from leftovers from the T shirt industry and is 92% cotton and 8% elastane, crocheted on a 10mm crochet hook. There are 3 bag kits in the range. This is the Lucca bag kit.





  
Peggy, one of our regular customers, is the first one to finish the Milano bag and bring it in to show it. She customised hers with a vintage button fastening 

We now also stock the DMC Natura range of cottons.  These are a 4ply weight and suitable for knitting or crochet and sell at £3.50 for  a 50g ball. There is a free pattern leaflet too with 5 patterns to make in Natura.

 These are the first 5 colours we have in stock at the moment

Rosie is helping me out in the shop for work experience every Wednesday during the school holidays. We have challenged ourselves to learn something new every week. This week we learnt a new granny square design from this book  Granny Squares by Barbara Wilder, Melanie Sturm and Stephanie Gohr.

And a  scenic shot for you of the Durham countryside today taken from the Hounsgill Tea room on the C2C Cycle route.Nice to see white fluffy clouds instead of black ones.

Happy Knitting x

Dumbledore drops in to knit and natter.

Look who dropped in to this afternoon's knit and natter group. Dumbledore himself.  Wizarding headmaster of Hogwarts - must have been looking for Harry Potter.  Crocheted by Rosie - all from her own imagination. Isn't he great and isn't she clever?

A pretty little cardigan

 These pretty knitted flowers with button centres...............

 Measured and pinned in place........

 Sprayed with cold water and left to dry overnight. I like to block out all my finished knitted projects .....

 And the final result is a pretty cardigan for a little girl. Knitted in Rafaella, cotton and acrylic mix yarn by Sirdar.

 Pattern and yarn available in the shop - all we need now is some sunshine.

Happy Knitting xx