Another busy week at Roses & Rue

A quick catch up to let you know whats been going on at Roses & Rue - maybe we can tempt you to come and join us to learn a new skill or take up an old one again.
Last week we had a patchwork class, a children's party, the usual knit and natter and crochet clubs and knitting for beginners - phew!
The knitting for beginners group was nice and easy because the ladies had all had a go at least once before, thus making my job easier. The patchwork class, as always, is all about colour and choosing fabric before we get anywhere near the sewing machines.Hopefully I'll have some lovely pics to show later in the week when the qulits are finished.
The childrens parties always take a lot of planning. The birthday girl decided that she wanted to make sock monkeys. Trust me, it is impossible to make 8 sock monkeys in two hours, so preparation is vital. A big thank you must go to Rosie and Joel for helping me stuff monkey bodies all week, ready for the party.

Monkey love!

Amongst all this chaos I have been crocheting up oddballs to make a lovely granny square cushion and matching blanket. When the blanket is finished they will go in the shop window for sale. We've been selling a lot of handmade stuff lately. In fact we are having a job keeping up. Luckily I have a band of dedicated friends who are creative and enjoy adding to the window display.

Rumer modelling the granny square cushion

Granny square cushion with unfinshed blanket made using oddballs of Debbie Bliss Babycashmerino

When it comes to knitting for the shop display or customers, I have a secret weapon - a Pat! She is quite simply the best knitter I know and I'm not prepared to share her with anyone. Aside from being the best knitter in the world she has also become a dear friend over the last two years - dare I say a mother figure (that might embarrass her, since she is so modest). She supports me all the way and is an integral part of the business. How she puts up with me I dont know, frankly, but I'm glad she does as I'd be lost without her.

Three quarter sleeved cardi knitted by Pat in Louisa Harding 'Aimee' (modelled by Rosie).

Handmade Monday

Classes are going well so far this year with a great day on Wednesday when we made some appliqued cushions for beginners. Next class is this week - bunting. Dont forget to check out the website to see whats on.

Time for Tea

Knitting for beginners also restarts on Monday 30th. It's been some time since I've had the pins out as I've been doing a lot of crochet, so I decided to make a little cardi for my friend's new grandson Henry. It reminded me how much I used to knit for my children when they were little and how adventurous I was. I would knit anything and feared nothing. These days, for some reason I don't always have the same urge and tend to stick to small projects, like hats, scarves and tea cosies. So, its a bit late to be a New Years resolution but I'm going to try and knit some more adventurous projects this year - time permitting of course!

Henry's cardi - I just need to find the right buttons...

Dont forget to check out Handmade Monday to see what people have been creating this week http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/

latest news from Roses & Rue

We have had a very busy week with classes booking quickly - the Appliqued class is now full and there are only a few places left on the 'Learn to Knit' course. Keep an eye on the website  as there will be plenty more classes to come. Look out for the embroidery classes with Ros of Rosmadme fame, coming very soon. We also have a great sale on at the moment, so pop into the shop to bag a bargain!

 Dont forget to check out Hand Made Monday to see what people over the country have been creating this week. Click on the link http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/



A gift for a friend - pattern taken from 'The GentleArt of Knitting' by Jane Brocket.



The flowers are very easy to make - look out for our tutorial coming soon!

Happy New Year - Happy crafting

Happy New Year to you all, with best wishes from everyone at Roses & Rue!

We are looking forward to a year packed full of crafts and classes for everyone; please check out our website for details of forthcomimg classes.

Come and try your hand at patchwork, knitting, crochet, bunting making, machine embroidery and many other classes

come and make a quilt !

Phew, back online!

What a nightmare, suddenly losing access to email and then the laptop breaking down. You'd have thought that the end of the world was nigh in my house. Rosie couldn't purchase anything on Ebay or spend hours on Facebook, Ru couldn't play Moshi Monsters online and I couldn't deal with any enquiries, bill payments or do any blogging! Goodness me, we all had to read books and have grown up conversations! And how lovely it was. I was able to catch up on who was doing what in sixth form, what was going on in the payground in year 5 etc.

Now we're all back to normal and I had to fight Rosie for the laptop so that I could post this and have a quick catch up on the blogs that I follow.

We had a busy week in the shop last week; classes galore, childrens parties, knit and natter, visits from reps, customers in and out, new yarns turning up.

Check out the applique that was produced at the 'Applique for Beginners' class - its was a real buzz of activity and everyone really enjoyed themselves...

And look at the appliqued self portraits that the children made at a party on Saturday afternoon...

They're great aren't they?

This week there is more to come: knitting, crochet and patchwork. Can't wait x

Something New for WInter

Hi all,
Although its my day off from the shop, I popped in there this morning to give it a spring clean and get ready for the first class of the new season, which starts this evening. I'm expecting 5 ladies for 'knitting for beginners' so it should be good fun. As  I was busy dusting, the post man knocked on the door with a large box labelled 'Designer Yarns'. It's always exciting getting new stock....

One of my best selling yarns is Baby Cashmerino, by Debbie Bliss. The colour range is enormous and it is a great yarn to crochet with. Lots of my regular customers use it to make gorgeous blankets and crocheted goodies. These are three new colours which are yummy and I can't wait to use them.




I can't seem to rotate the pic, but you can see the gorgeous colours!

In addition to the above, there is a new yarn, Paloma, which is a super chunky yarn, made with merino and alpaca. It's a gorgeous replacement for the discontinued Como.




A selection of some of the colours available

To support the yarn there is a new book with nine patterns, all of which are perfect for keeping you warm and toastie during the winter months.

One of the designs from the new book, a super chunky scarf with long fringing.

Since I had all this new yarn, I decided to rearrange the shelves, a job which I do regularly so that yarn is rotated. It's very satisfying seeing all the shelves chocka with colour and texture. It's like walking into a patisserie and beholding an array of cakes and pastries - you feel as if you want them all but know that this being greedy...

better than cake!

stash busting

Hi all,
well we have all been a busy bunch this week using up our stash to make stuff for the forthcoming vintage fair. So take a look and see what you think so far....



These cutesy hats were made with left over bits of Rooster DK. The centre hat was made with one ball of Katia, Marathon Plus

Meet Maud and Claud, gorgeous crocheted rabbits made by  Mad Jen, using Sirdar's Recycled Cotton.
The pattern was taken from Nicki Trench's book, Cute and Easy Crochet. Click on the side bar to visit her blog.

 

Crocheted booties, using scraps of Rooster DK, in Strawberry Cream, taken from a pattern by Erika Night. Click on the side bar to visit her blog.

Crocheted cherry brooches, taken from Cute and Easy Crochet, by Nicki Trench

Last Night at knit and natter, Jenny brought in her gorgeous dress that she has just finished. Taken from Vintage Crochet, by Susan Cropper of Loop, Jenny crocheted the dress in a gorgeous Debbie
Bliss cotton aran. It's simply gorgeous and we are all extremely jealous!

look at the gorgeous flower panels on the lower half of the dress!