Just Unwind

Yarndale 2016

Well here we are again. Yarndale in all it's Woolley glory has happened!

Setting up the stall had all its usual excitement and challenges, but I was really pleased with the end result:

Earlier designs mingling well with my new offerings

I managed a quick look around just before we opened. So many beautiful and inspiring stalls.

Not to mention the cute animals

The 'Ewe Makes' craft group, of which I am a member, put on a stunning display of their work

Then of course there are the other very, Very important people. You, the public.

Without you, the show could not exist. So thank you all so much for coming, and purchasing, and in turn inspiring us. We look forward to serving you again next year.

Jo

 

Knit & Natters are good for you, I guarantee it!

Well, what a lovely, Lovely, LOVELY evening.

Last night was our monthly Knit & Natter at the Black Bull Pub in Sutton-In-Craven, and what a great evening. Around 11 of us turned out and had a good old chin-wag (bet you haven't heard that term for a while!), comparing notes on Knitting, Crochet and life in general. 

If you haven't joined one yet, you really must. Not only are they a good source of inspiration, but the are a great support network too. If life is going great, you share it, if something is not quite so great, you share that too, and the range of topics we can cover in one session is quite mind-blowing.

So search out one local to you and give it a go.

If you would like to join me at any of the groups I attend, join the 'Just Unwind Yarns' Facebook and Twitter pages, I will put regular reminders on there.

Have a great day (we have sunshine forecast all day :), Yipee).

Jo 

Crochet In The Yorkshire Dales

Just over a week ago I spent a lively day at the home of Carole, a friend I have made through one of my local Knit & Natter groups. She had several friends who were wanting to learn to crochet, so we teamed up. I organised the crochet, and Carole being an excellent caterer, organised the food!

The day was grey, raining (oh there's a surprise!) and just perfect for being sat with a log fire, good company and yarn. The ladies settled in with Tea, Coffee and a wonderful Date Slice, then we got to work.

Each person chose three colours of yarn, as the aim was to have everyone crochet a granny square which could eventually be made into a small blanket or cushion cover.

The morning was spent in equal amounts of entertaining stories, as the ladies had been friends for many years, interspersed with bouts of intense concentration, while people got the hang of chains, doubles, trebles, and slip stitches. As is normal at these sessions, some people turned out to have 'done a bit of crochet years ago' and picked it up again quite easily, where others really were starting from scratch. By lunchtime everyone had mastered enough to have started on their Granny Square, and we took a welcome break.

After a lunch of delicious soup and three types of fresh bread, followed by slabs of the most yummy cake and of course more tea and coffee, we continued. 

The equal amounts of encouragement and friendly rivalry made for a great atmosphere, 

Topped off with plenty of delicious food and hot tea and coffee.

None of us could believe how quickly the afternoon went.

But everyone had the hang of it by home time

So what for many would have been a wet, grey day in the Yorkshire Dales, was for us a warm, colourful, fun and very entertaining day.

Thank you Carole for being a super hostess, and thank you ladies for coming, without you the day could not have happened!

Joanne 

 

 

Knit & Natters, have you tried one yet?

Knit & Natters. Do they make you think 'Yes!!!!!' a lovely couple of hours out, or do you cringe at the thought of knitting/crocheting in public?

Personally I love them.

You get a great mix of people, who you might not otherwise ever meet. They are creative, inspiring, and unless you have been to a few, you would not believe the range of topics you can cover in a 2 hour session, I have been known to blush!

They are a great time to move along that project that is sticking a little, or get help if you are stuck completely. 

These are just a couple of the finished projects from the Monday group I help coordinate.

Yes she does have a face, but is a little shy!

This little guy has been made by Brenda, it is for a young friend, but she spends most of her spare time on charity knitting.

These are some of the ladies in action

As you can probably tell, this one is being held in our local library. It is in our super little meeting place in Cross Hills, and won Library of the year for North Yorkshire, way to go Ladies!

One word of advice, if you are really going for the social side, don't take anything you really need to concentrate on, it will only end in disaster!

If you haven't tried one, then give it a go. They are usually really friendly places.

Keep smiling!

Jo

Ripples

Many, many moons ago I was inspired by Lucy of Attic 24 to learn to ripple. I started with cushions,

then progressed to baby blankets.

From there I felt the need to progress to something a little bigger!

It started life as a bag of colours.

It spent many months on the sofa arm, progressing slowly, being pushed aside for more urgent projects.

Then finally after what I think is about 3 years it has been finished!

Part of the reason for the slow progress was that I had decided to make it from random widths of crochet, something that is much harder to do than it sounds. You see, our human brain likes order and repetition, so equal numbers of rows is what we find ourselves doing. Random, on the other hand takes much more thought!

There is still some repetition in the colours and row count, but I am really pleased with the result. It is now sat happily in a pile of other things just waiting to be needed.

If you would like to spend a day in the company of other crafty people, learning rippling, check out the 'Courses' section on the web-site.

Happy rippling.

Jo ;)

 

Brocante finds at Christmas!

Hi

Just thought I you might like an update regarding my Brocante finds in Limoges, and Christmas.

While shopping on our 'Knit, Natter and Brocante' weekend in November I was on a mission to get some things to use at Christmas, and I have to say I was very successful.

This star shaped doily was just perfect.

and of course some tiny glasses for the Advocaat and Baileys, you have to be able to get your tongue right to the bottom so as not to waste a drop!

They have now started to join my other Christmas bits and bobs that I have collected over the years 

Just love this little display on my table. My type of vintage retro!

The other items are not in use yet, but there is still plenty of time before Christmas.

Have a good day.

Jo 

Treasures from the Brocantes

Morning All

During my trip to France we had some interesting trips to the Brocantes. Fascinating places which are a cross between antique and charity shops. Everything they sell is 'pre-loved', some bits more than others.

My favourite so far is one in central Limoges called 'Emmaus 87, 78 Rue Armand-Barbes, Limoges, 87000. Not somewhere you could easily find as a tourist, but our fabulous hostess Jaki knew the way. It is a rambling warehouse inside and on the top floor is an amazing section full of old fabrics and linens. Only the fact that I am limited to hand-luggage, keeps me in check (yes I do this on purpose).

I had Christmas in mind when searching for things, so here are the beautiful little finds from this trip!!!!

My Christmas star! The detail is just amazing. 

This type of crochet is definitely on my 'to do' list.

Then I found this:

The quality is not as good and it is a little damaged in places, also someone has changed yarn part way through and when you look closely you can see! But this is going to be part of my Christmas table decoration so you can't be too precious as things do get spilt.

Then I found the most special one of all. Not because of the workmanship or detail or pattern, but simply because it is knitted!!!!!

This is the first one I have found that is knitted, and it is now mine.

For me, items hold memories, and quite a few of my Christmas decorations are kept purely because of the memories they hold. 

All these need a little TLC and cleaning, but christmas this year will be extra special when I add these items to all the other happy memories.

I also bought a new plate for my Christmas cake, I will have to show you nearer the time as is has already gone to my Mums to have the cake and icing added! There is a space on it for the cheese too, you cannot have Christmas cake without cheese.

Inspired by my January trip here, I was also on the hunt for some tiny new glasses for the Advocate and Baileys, definitely Christmas traditions in my house. I found these:

They are not complete sets, just a random few, but they are tiny and perfect, and I fell in love with them. 

So in December I will be raising my 'pre-loved' glasses in a toast to Christmas memories, may they always be good ones.

Jo :)

A Rainy Day Yarn Review

When the weather is being a little disappointing! as it is today, I often find myself browsing my stock room for colour inspiration. This is definitely one of the 'up sides' to having your own on-line shop.

At the moment one of my favourite yarns is King Cole's Bamboo Cotton DK.

At £5.75 it initially appears expensive, BUT, when you take into account this is for a 100g ball and the colours and texture are just devine, it really is good value when you compare it to its peers.

It is made of 50% BambooViscose 50% Cotton, has a lovely sheen, and is a real pleasure to use. As with almost all cottons it can split if you are not careful, but the end product is really worth the minimal extra care needed. It has a lovely drape when finished, so a word of warning if you are making a long garment, 'it will get longer', however if you pick the right pattern you will get wonderful results. In my experience it also washes really well.

So onto the pleasure side.

I made this baby blanket a little while ago, and couldn't be more pleased.

Crochet is usually associated with pretty but I wanted to make a baby blanket for a little boy, so I went with one of my favourite stitch patterns but picked 'boy' colours. I was really pleased with the result and it only took 5 balls for the whole thing.

Definitely worth the extra money.

I have also made a bigger one in pinks and purples which took 8 balls.

I currently have a set of vibrant colours just looking at me from my inspiration basket. I am trying to decide whether to turn them into a flowery blanket, by following the free download currently on Stylecraft's web-site (although I do have the Life DK yarn in stock for that too! ), or whether to make one big granny square blanket from a pattern in my head! Decisions, decisions.

I will let you know when I finally do decide.

Have a lovely weekend, hope you get some yarn time.

Jo

Big Changes Under Way At 'Just Unwind'

Hi All

Big changes are under way at 'Just Unwind'. 

Sadly, due to ever decreasing footfall I am having to close the shop at '1 Main Street, Cross Hills'. Cross Hills is a great little place, but I cannot entice enough people to visit, to keep my shop going.

However, all is not lost! I will be expanding my on-line shop, & I am currently checking out local venues so the Knit & Natters & Courses can continue.  

If you would like to be kept updated you can contact me by e-mailing joanne@justunwind.co.uk, or by liking JustUnwindYarn on Facebook, or by following me on Twitter. 

I have lots of ideas in the pipeline which I hope to share, & hopefully inspire you with in the next few months. I am both sad & excited. I will miss my little shop, but things have to change & move forward.

I hope to still see many of you at either the Knit & Natters, on the Courses, or when I am out & about locally.

Thank you everyone for your support over the last 4 years.

Love 

Jo

A Winter project

Now the days have turned colder and the nights longer I have returned to a project I began earlier this year.

Sometimes when a customer is choosing a blanket project, when they leave the shop with their goodie bag full of colours, I can't help but keep messing with the balls of wool.

I started my love of Stylecraft Special DK yarn from reading the blog 'Attic24'. I find Lucy's choice of colour inspirational. I, however, am less brave.

So my choice that particular day was this

I was desparate to use the lovely new gold shade they had just brought out. 

It quite quickly turned into these,

and then got to this stage

before it was put to one side for a little while.

It has now been picked up again, and I am loving it just as much as before.

I will keep you updated as to my progress. I am also planning to use my Ravelry account properly and add all my projects onto it, in the vain hope it will make me complete a few more things before I am unable to stop my itchy fingers starting something new, which then extends my UFO list. Only time will show how well (or not) I do.

Wish me luck.

Jo