A yarny morning

I finally made it to Black Sheep Wools’ “Yarn in the Barn” knit n natter group yesterday morning – no mean feat as there’s often a waiting list for the Tuesday morning session! It’s a big group, too – around thirty people – so it was very different to the afternoons I’ve been enjoying at Cooper’s Cafe Bar in Skipton.

One of the highlights was meeting up with a friend with whom I used to work about twenty years ago and haven’t seen since, although we have stayed in contact through Christmas cards. (I will need to check the dates of this because I’m quite sure I’m not old enough to have not seen somebody for twenty years!) It was so lovely to see her again; I had been worried that I might not recognise her but she hasn’t changed a bit – she’s clearly discovered the secret of how to make time stand still which I shall have to make her divulge at some point!

The knit n natter is held in a large room at the back of the Craft Barn. I had wondered where everybody was going to fit, but there were three large tables and plenty of chairs so there was room for everyone. It was pretty noisy, as you can imagine with so many people, but it was all very good-natured noise with people sharing projects and stories.

I didn’t have an on-going project to take with me as I finished my star socks last week, so after having had a few days off it was time to start … some new socks!

After the process of writing up a pattern, I just wanted to make some plain and simple round-and-round basic socks so this yarn was perfect. I bought it at Black Sheep last year and it’s part of Regia’s Zoofari Color range which knits up into animal stripes.   This yarn is zebra stripe and whilst I’ve never seen a blue and red zebra before, I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out!

It took me quite a while to get going. I’ve told you before about my need for stripes to match with my socks and these zebra stripes will be no different.  Whilst everybody else got going with their knitting or crocheting, I was busy unravelling the balls of yarn to find the point where the yarn colours were the same.

Once I did, I was off and away. I only managed a few rows of the cuff because I was busy looking at other people’s projects, helping my friend to embroider a face on the teddy comforter she had made and – ahem – buying sock yarn, so I didn’t bother to take any more photos. It’s quite amazing how quickly two hours passes!

That’s not all that I have to tell you about the morning – I have some exciting news to tell you about Black Sheep Wools. They’re taking part in this year’s Let’s Knit Love Your Sock Yarn day on Saturday 2 May – and so am I! I’m not sure if they’re just humouring me or if they’re starting to finally believe me when I say that sock knitters will take over the world, but whatever the reason, I will be there and so will my socks 🙂

Last year, Let’s Knit magazine held their first Love Your Yarn Shop day. It’s a day to celebrate bricks-and-mortar yarn shops, those places where you always see a friendly face, get to squish yarn rather than look at online pictures and can ask a real person for help and advice. At Black Sheep you can also eat cake which is always a bonus in my opinion! Yarn shops are being faced with increasing competition from online stores and whilst I think there is a place for both, it’s a sad fact that each year bricks-and-mortar yarn stores are closing down leaving people with no choice but to buy online if they want to knit or crochet. Love Your Yarn Shop day is all about getting to know your local store, trying out new skills and even meeting ‘yarny’ celebrities such as Erika Knight and Sarah Shrimpton.

Black Sheep have got some great demonstrations planned for the day – the one I’m looking forward to seeing is spinner Cathy Wright. I never get tired of watching a spinning wheel whirling around! I’m going to be there to answer questions about knitting socks, to help people who’ve never knitted a pair but really fancy it to get started and possibly do a bit of knitting myself! I’m also going to be surrounded by lots and lots of scrumptious yarn and I’m going to be in the place where they serve the most fabulous lemon cake in their cafe. I’m hoping that you’re going to come along too and say hello – it would be great to meet you!

You can read more about the day here (2022 edit – link no longer working) and I’ll be posting about it again (and trying not to get too over-excited!) before the day itself to remind you just how much you’d like to have a day out in Cheshire!

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12 Responses

  1. Farmer's wife and mummy says:

    Ooo this is exciting and right near me too. I want to try my hand at bootees but have no idea where to start so may take a trip down there myself 🙂 great post

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Thank you – and do come along! I've never made bootees either but I'm sure we could work it out! xx

  2. Lowcarb team member says:

    Knit n natter groups can be fun…….. and I do like the two colours blue and red, they go great together.

    All the best Jan

  3. Unknown says:

    Wow, love that sock wool. I purchased some sock wool when I was away recently but it hasn't made it to my needles yet! Unfortunately my local yarn store closed down recently so unless I am out and about I now will have to order online. It is a shame that these shops are closing but I guess it is the age we live in. I wish I was close enough to somewhere like Black Sheep so that I could attend a knit and natter session, nothing like being amongst like minded people to get you inspired. xx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I've only been able to get to knit n natter groups this last six months or so, and it's been a really lovely experience so I'd definitely recommend it if you can find one close to you – an internet search perhaps? As for your sock yarn – I'm going to be hosting a Sockalong in May so I'll be writing more about that pretty soon – maybe you could get started then if you haven't done so before? xx

  4. Amy at love made my home says:

    Glad you had such a good time! I hope you enjoy the yarn shop day too! xx

  5. Campfire says:

    Oh, how exciting. I still haven't finished 'that' sock yet so might bring it along for a bit of HELP! I was in the BS the other day but the girls I usually giggle and chat with weren't in. I use sock yarn to make scarves too, it's lovely and fluid. Probably I use it as it's easier than socks!!!!! But if I come and talk to you – maybe things might change. Looking forward to it.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Sounds great, and yes, do bring your sock along and I'll do my best to help. It'll be lovely to see you again too 🙂 xx

  6. Fiddly Fingers says:

    Sounds like you had a lovely time at your knit and natter group and what a well attended group. A fun day coming up too with Love Your Sock Yarn, what an interesting day it promises to be 🙂

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I think it's going to be a great day, and there are yarn shops all over the country taking part so there's probably one near to you too! xx

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