HRYC

If you're new to knitting, or need a bit of a refresher, these fingerless mitts are a great project to start with. I recommend giving mitts a go over a scarf as a first project; they are (relatively) instant gratification and give you the chance to practice without a huge commitment in terms of materials. 

I've included links for each technique mentioned along the way, so get set up with your laptop or device, somewhere nice and comfortable. If you get frustrated, it's good idea to put your work down, walk away and come back to it tomorrow. 

What you need:

1 ball of Bandit DK (or about 50g of 8 ply yarn)

4mm knitting needles

Darning needle

The making:

Cast on 30 stitches

Knit every row until the fabric measures about 17cm long.

Cast off 30 stitches, leaving a long tail of yarn after you cut it. 

Make a second identical rectangle. 

Using a darning needle and the long tail of yarn, sew 10cm of the long sides together. Leave a 5cm gap, then sew together the remaining 2cm. This gap is for your thumb!

Repeat on the second rectangle.

Weave in the ends and wear!

As part of the annual Kanga Kiwi KAL, we're pleased to be hosting a meet-up! 

The Kanga Kiwi KAL is a celebration of all things NZ and Australia in the fibre world. To take part, you need to make something designed by a Kiwi or Aussie, with yarn produced in either of our fair countries. 

Here's a bunch of beautiful shawl pattern and yarn ideas we think would make for great projects to take part - be sure to pop by the Ravelry group and post your project!

If you fancy coming to hang out with us to share your projects or gain some inspiration, join us 1.30pm - 3.30pm on Wednesday 6 February (Waitangi Day) in the shop. It'll be lovely to see you!

Downpour by Handmade by Sminé - would look fantastic in Knitsch Sock

Go for stunning geometry with Amy van de Laar's Deco City Shawl 

Sticking with the drama, we still love Mary-Anne Mace's Mad Blood shawl (we even have Mad Blood Stirreth Knitsch in stock at the moment!)

and i'm going to be casting on Cetus Knits' Starry Nights using Dark Harbour Yarn from stash, plus something else once I have a hunt!

Our 2019 CAL / KAL is one of whimsy and delight!

I have decided to take a break from blankets, and instead do some small little things that add up to one big thing. The bonus of this type of project is you can either indulge in new supplies, or use up those little bits of scrap yarn you have floating around - the choice is yours!

Here's the plan:

Each month we will have a theme, and make some suggestions. Feel free to explore beyond our ideas, and make whatever takes your fancy. For every completed toy per month that you share in our Ravelry thread, we will enter you in to win a $20 HRYC gift voucher. 

In November, we will make a call out to gather all your toys (if they haven't been otherwise homed) at the shop. We will make up a fantabulous display of your creations, and do a combo of auctioning them off and donating them to a worthy children's charity. If you'd like yours on display but wish to keep it, that's perfectly ok by us too. 

January's theme, despite us starting off a bit late, is:

Butterflies, moths and things with wings!

I know lots of you have copies of Making magazine (yes we will have more soon), which always has a toy pattern. Here's a couple of them with wings:

Butterfly and Cocoon by Susan B Anderson from Making issue 2 - Fauna

Flower and Leaf Sprite by Susan B Anderson - from Making Issue 1 - Flora

And for other winged whimsies:

Tiny Chickens by Anna Hrachovec

Dirk the dragon by Lydia Tresselt / Lalylala

Lalylala Brimstone Butterfly  

Songbird by Sara Elizabeth Kellner

Boo the bat by Anna Hrachovec

Tawny Owl by Ella Austin

Bonny Puffin by Yanina Schenkel

and last but not least, I have to have my favourite animal in here: a penguin!

Pinglewin by Anna Maltz

Do join us, we can't wait to see what you make!

Very close to my heart these days is being as low waste as we possibly can in the shop. It's tough - we receive a lot of soft plastic - but one worth the effort. I've always used paper bags for purchases, and will continue to do so. However we welcome your reusable bags with wide open arms!

One effect of this is on packing online orders. I've stopped having stickers printed to seal paper bags with and pop on the outside of parcels. They look great, but produce unnecessary waste. 

Instead we're reusing cello bags our stock arrives in as much as possible, so it's no longer a single use product. We've been tying paper bags up with yarn and stopped sending chocolates that come in plastic wrappers. 

We've also been using R3pack recycled and recyclable courier bags, which come in a rather fetching dark grey. I opted for these over the compostable ones, as not all of us have access to compost, but it's reasonably simple to pop them in a soft plastic recycling bin at the supermarket. Heavy duty paper mail bags are an option, but we'd have to import them ourselves which defeats the purpose somewhat.

Being environmentally conscious means using less packaging, reusing where we can, and slowly tweaking things. It all may seem like small actions, but they add up when we all choose to make them. I'm hugely aware that we consume resources as a retailer and that has an impact on the world around us, so will continue to work towards reducing our waste and learning more about how to make positive changes to the way we run things here at Holland Road Yarn Co. It may mean our 'unboxing' experience is less flashy than others, but i'm ok with that if it leads to less going to landfills and floating around in our beautiful landscape. 

In the spirit of our Spring Garland CAL, I decided we should have some knit fun as well!

So knitters, fret not, here's a bunch of ideas for making a contribution (and gain a prize entry) to our Spring Garland.

With the new arrival of Scheepjes Catona cottons, we decided to make use of our colour sample box (which you could nab one of your own to play with, once we get more in) and make a spring garland. 

Better yet, you could win one!

All you need to do is come into the shop and make a flower and we'll take your name and contact details for one entry per finished item. 

OR pop by the Ravelry thread, show us a picture of each flower or leaf or what have you for your own garland and we'll pop you in the draw too. 

More details for both ways to enter are in the Ravelry thread.

Acorn ornament by Carmen Rigby-Wilson

Woodland Wreath by Frankie Brown

Squash Blossom by Bonnie Sennott

Remembrance Poppy by Katy Sparrow

Daffodil by Jessica Goddard

Strawberry by Linda Dawkins (who has lots of other flora and fauna patterns)

Lacy Leaf by Colleen Teerling

Perhaps, if you're up for some fun, a knitted Cyclops Pot Plant by Dawn Finney

Don't forget to stop by the Ravelry thread and share your creations - we love to see them! Or, you can always pop them up on Instagram - make you sure you tags us @hollandroadyarn