Wednesday 31 August 2016

New Product Review - Bags and Clutches

As a dedicated knitted or crocheter it is very easy to accumulate a large number of accessories and notions which you regard as absolutely essential.
One of our team admits to more than 25 crochet hooks, at least 15 fixed circular needles, three tape measures and a jar of stitch markers – she refuses to add up the interchangeable tips and dpns.
There is always another set of needles, cable or hook that you need or want so storing and organising this kit is as important as finding space for your yarn stash. Knitters and crocheters come up with all sorts of solutions – we’ve heard of people using fishing fly wallets for circular needles and cables or using the presentation tube from a whisky bottle to store straight needles. If you have bought or been given sets of interchangeable or double pointed needles you may have a useful box or wallet you may be able to add other needles in. But if not you need other options.
This is something that KnitPro has considered for the newly launched collection with lots of storage options available for all your needles, notions, hooks etc. We’ve picked out a few of our favourites.

The Amber pouches are a great away to store your knitting and crochet accessories as well as small projects. 



The triangular pouches in the Grace range could be just what you need for your crochet hooks or dpns.

If you want to sort out your interchangeable tips,  there is a range of cases such as this one in the Glory collection.

 

Or collect needles tips, cables, fixed circulars and other useful items in one of the Eternity assorted cases. 



Or if you can’t find exactly the right combination in any of the cases, create your own with this ring binder case which takes plastic inserts with a variety of pocket configurations.
 
You can view our complete collection of bags and storage solutions here.

Tuesday 16 August 2016

New Season's Yarns

You may not feel much like autumn or winter knitting at the height of summer but now is the time when yarn companies traditionally launch their new yarns for the coming season. We thought we would share a few of our favourites with you.

Every season knitters eagerly anticipate the new Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine, packed full of inspiring designs.  Now launching its 60th magazine, rowan promises 43 designs which ‘represent everything true to Rowan over the past 38 years’. 
They have created this special video to give you a taster



With Noro you can always expect a feast of colour in every ball and hank, beautifully balanced and such fun to knit.  This season the brand is launching Hakone, which they tell us ‘perfectly balances the ideas of complement and contrast’. The main tones of this chunky yarn variegate through the spectrum with heathering to make each colour pop!  Designs can be found in The Art of Colour pattern booklet featuring homewares, ponchos and sweaters.


Bergere de France is known for it’s fun and stylish yarns that have a real sense of French style.  It was quite hard for us to choose our favourite yarn from their new collection but we thought you might like to try Filomeche which is a lovely fluffy roving yarn in a chunky weight.  The colour palette is wonderfully balanced with 11 shades that work well on their own or in patterns.  A lovely snuggly yarn.

With chenille well and truly back in fashion Sirdar has launched new yarn Smudge which has the most incredible stitch definition. Smudge comes in a palette of 10 shades that includes the soft, pale pastels as well as the stronger, richer shades of Heirloom and Flock. The Sirdar design studio will also be launching lots of patterns to go with this new yarn.

Stylecraft’s new collection includes an addition to their Life family of yarns that caught our eye.  Called Life Vintage it is a subtle mélange of heathered colours to give a nostalgic feel.  It looks great when combined with solid colours from the Life collection as you can see.

Finally, we have a touch of elegant luxury from the Pure Bliss collection from Debbie Bliss.  Lhasa is a delicious blend of Cashmere and Yak in a chainette construction.  Debbie has created really elegant designs to bring out the real beauty of the yarn.

Keep your eyes peeled for all the other new yarns that will appear over the coming weeks.  IT looks like it’s going to be a fantastic season for knitting and crochet.