HRYC

Hip hip hooray it is finally here! After much putting-offness, we were at last able to do a giant Cascade order to replenish our non-existent stock. 

And thanks to a really great exchange rate, we've been able to drop the price of both Cascade 220 and Eco. Hooray! Most of the 220 is up online, and we've just put the Eco up there too (don't mind the dodgy images, once the light is better we'll take photos and put nice ones up). As always, the colours are simply glowing on the shelf, filling the shop with even more yarn joy. 

It's hard to describe the feeling of opening a great big box of yarn. Every time we receive an order there's this heart-bursting moment of cutting through the tape and seeing what's inside. So many colours all sitting together, just desperate to see the light of day and be made into something amazing. I will the skeins to plump up and spread out after being squished closely with their neighbours. Unexpected shades sit next to each other and suggest surprising combinations and bring daydreams of stripes. All the while, I sternly tell myself not to hide any for my own use. Tempting as it is, all this glorious yarn is for you. 

xx Tash

First up, we want to say a huge congratulations to Caren Wilton for winning the Twice As Nice pass! Hip hip hooray! Also to Janine Boon and Sarah Gray who won spot prizes. Thanks for all your lovely comments - it's so interesting to hear everyone's other craft experiences.

If you missed out - don't fret! We have a second pass to give away next week.

Now, with only 3 short weeks until Handmade, we're pondering the non-yarn class options. 

Recently i've been craving sandwiches. A good, hearty sandwich is always a winner in my book. That and soup. You can squish so many flavour combinations into a simple parcel and just have a great big mouth-party as a result. Ruth Pretty is presenting a Taste Masterclass titled 'The Countess of Sandwich' which sounds pretty intriguing to me. 

Besides the fact it has a fantastic workshop title, Obi One Kimono is top of my stitching list. I love kimono silk fabrics but it can be tricky to figure out the best way to up-cycle them in a way that does justice to the history, provenance and beauty of the fabric. With Sarah Wirth guiding you along, you'll learn how to cut and seam a skirt or other item you fancy. 

(by the way, the more I look at the programme, the more I want to run away and take all the classes. This is such a fantastic line-up!)

Big, chunky, handmade rugs are everywhere. And if you haven't seen them yet, you will soon, I guarantee it. Using recycled materials such as threadbare sheets or t-shirts that haven't been worn for years, they often speak of handicrafts from a couple decades ago. I remember our neighbour having a fantastic one on her lounge floor when I was 8, and wishing I had they skills to make one.

With the Braided Rugs class Jane Wrigglesworth will teach you how to make your very own. The best part: no sewing. I LOVE projects that require no tools except for the materials! You may just see me sneak into this one.

I could go on and on...this was only intended to be one post, but I'm going to extend it into a second. 

In other Handmade 2013 news, i've decided to take on another of those not-so-smart deadlines as i'm prone to do. I'd quite like to have a second Rocky Coast cardigan knit up, as well as my White Pine cardi. White Pine has been in my queue for aaaaages and at long last the yarn has arrived for it. Crazy? Yes? Probably. There's only 20 knitting days until Handmade.

Are you planning to wear something special you made to Handmade? You should! Drooling over each other's finished objects is what we do best. Just don't follow my lead and create silly. ridiculous deadlines for yourselves...

 To celebrate Wonders of Wool this weekend, we're doing our only-ever-once-a-year promo: One day, one dollar off!

And if you can't make it to the market or the shop on Saturday 4 May, you can get $1 off every skein of Knitsch Sock if you add the code 'oneday' at the checkout page of your online order. 

Please note this offer excludes Knitsch seconds and only applies to yarn.

As Handmade approaches with great rapidity, i'm thinking more and more about the multi-craft nature of the event. Handmade is wonderful in that it presents a whole range of crafts - from knitting to sewing, cooking to zine-making. 

For knitters, I think the best part of the weekend is that you can try out things you've always wanted to have a go at, but needed the gentle push in order to get started. You might fall in love with an entirely new making process, or decide that spinning isn't really your thing. Until you try, you won't really know.

One of my biggest problems is that I want to DO ALL THE THINGS. I want to make, make, make. And play with beautiful colours and fibres and fabrics and immerse myself in the pleasure of creating. Events such as Handmade fill me with so much joy and an overwhelming sense of just how much I love craft. 

Holland Road Yarn Co may well be a yarn shop, but that doesn't mean we're all just knitters. Sewing was my first love, until I discovered that knitting added a new level of portability. I adored weaving on the rare occasion we were able to do it at school, and have seen some incredible examples of fabric woven from the yarns we sell. Now I can also officially say I'm a spinner (more on that in another post). I've also been known to dabble in cross stitch, I can crochet, i've made use of tiger tail and beads to make jewellery, and pretty much anything that involves turning a material of some sort into something new gets me all in a fluster of excitement.

Add in there baking and dyeing yarn and it's a pretty much complete list of my loves. 

'So tell us about the giveaway!' you say...

How to enter:

Entry closes 5pm Wednesday 8 May
Prize drawn 5.05pm Wednesday 8 May

A long running issue with men getting into knitting has been patterns. There is a long history of men being the recipients of knitted gifts that are somewhat....ill-conceived. Said gifts are often fussy, with too many details or the wrong colour choice. Scratchy yarn is a big turn-off, as are impractical garments. There is a well-known 'sweater curse' that even has its own Wikipedia entry. 

Mike is going to be working off some his favourite patterns for the Man Made course, including some WWII standard issue patterns for knitting for the troops. Knitting for a man at war couldn't be fussy: it had to be simple, practical and highly functional. Function namely being warm. My idea of the perfect knitwear design is a harmony in simplicity. I find all too often that designers of both mens and womenswear have a tendency to add 'something else'. Something else usually being totally unnecessary and upsetting the balance of the underlying design. 

What i've learned over the years is that men don't want complicated design, they want to put on a jersey that keeps them warm. The jersey shouldn't tell the world very loudly that it is hand-knit; it should be functional garment that serves its purpose well. It comes down to: the simpler, the better. Here's my round-up of great man knits - with an attempt to include some of the best male knitwear designers around.

Turn a Square by Jared Flood

Brownstone by Jared Flood

Emilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

Seamless Saddle Shoulder Pullover by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Basic Pullover and Vest by Bruce Weinstein

(don't mind that this image shows a model wearing a sample two sizes too big for him)

This entire post could be a shrine to Jared Flood, but I've resisted that urge. Jared Flood, of Brooklyn Tweed, is an incredible design talent. I'd go so far as to say he is an knitwear architect - every one of his designs have strong foundations with the simplest and most balanced details. His success is well-earned, that's for sure. He now works with an esteemed group of designers and has his own yarn line. He's my man-knit hero.

There is still a pretty big gap in the men's knitwear pattern market, but it is slowly being filled. Unfortunately there are still a lot of hideous patterns being produced. My challenge to our new male knitters: design your own patterns. Knit what you want to wear. Let's start sending a clear message about the kind of knits that fit into your life. And wear them with pride.