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!

Quick catch up

Hi all
Summer holidays racing to an end and its all systems go for September when the classes begin. We have been having summer fun at Roses and Rue.

The Thursday knit and natter ladies organised a visit to a local open garden, where we enjoyed the hospitality of the lovely Ray, who raises money on behalf of the National Garden Society. We enjoyed wandering round the beautiul garden, with all its multi-layered gorgeousness and hidden treasures. And then there was a lovely cream tea. Ray makes a fabulous selection of homemade jams, chutneys and conserves, so we all went home with an assortment of goodies. The afternoon raised a total of £155 for charities, so well done ladies!

Lovely Cathy is the hairdresser from next door and she has a habit of taking on challenging projects. A few months ago she decided she wanted to have a go at a gorgeous cabled cardigan, taken from a Bergere De France pattern book. Said cardigan caused no end of problems - the pattern was at times difficult to decipher and it was one of the projects that didn't want to run smoothly. There was  a lot of undoing and redoing but eventually the work was finished and oh boy what a fabulous result! Cathy, you are a star because you never give up, even when you want to throw things in the sea!

the finished article - a confection of cables!

We have just received some new Moda Fabrics, which are well worth a mention.

The 'Oops a Daisy' collection is a colourful range of florals and ginghams in zingy limes, reds and whites and  my particular fave is a ladybird design which I can't wait to get my hands on.

I know its not Christmas yet but you just have to take a look at the new 'Countdown to Christmas' range. I'm not generally a lover of cheesy Christmas fabrics so imagine my pleasure when I unwrapped these lovelies -

I can't wait to make some Christmas bunting and other goodies.....

Friday show and tell

Another Friday here and the shop is taking shape and I'm really pleased with it. In fact I like Ricks table so much he's building me another slimmer version for further down the shop so that there is even more work space. I found a lovely fruity oilcloth to cover the table and its just the job!

Lara popped in to show us her adorable little dollies that she has finished making. Lara is one of our lovelies who has done lots of courses in the shop and has become something of an expert in pretty much all she has a go at. Some people just have that knack, lucky lady! Anyway, take a look at the dollies as it will give you an idea of the sorts of things that we are going to be making over the next few months in the classes.

Hello, Millie, Esme and Honey!

Why not come and have a go, I promise that its really good fun and you'll want to come back for more xx

Getting ready for the new courses

I have been pondering for a while on how to improve the work space in the shop, so that we can increase the number of people we can have on each course. After humming and haahing for quite a while, I finally got my act together and with the help of my lovely friend Rick we have managed to change things around.

After moving furniture around and painting over walls that needed touching up, Rick made me a fantastic work table which seats eight people comfortably. It just needs a lick of paint and a nice oil cloth on it and we are up and running.

One thing that made me laugh..... Rick's 'box of tricks', which he reckons contains just about everything and anything that you may ever need. Personally, I prefer my box of buttons, which are less useful but oh so beautiful to feel and touch...

Box of tricks or box of buttons? I know what I'd rather have...

So now I'm getting excited about the courses. I'm preparing for the 'learn to knit' class, since that is the first one I'm teaching. Lisa is taking care of all things 'fabric' and sewing. Sue is at the ready with her hook for some hooktastic fun!!!! Can't wait xx

PS, the 'followers' button should now be working on the blog so dont forget to sign up and be in with a chance of getting those wrist warmers!

Oh so quiet.....

A few days have passed since last I blogged and everything has ambled along at a very leisurely pace.  I have managed to knit a bag in a couple of balls of Sirdar Indie, left over from a dye lot. It was a nice and simple design done in a chunky moss stitch- if anyone's interested I can post the instructions. I have just received a delivery of five different colours in Indie; it's a popular yarn amongst my regular customers and knits on large needles, producing quick results and with good pattern support.

A few dates to mention for the next few weeks. The next Vintage fair at Leigh Community Centre is on 17th Sept and together with Mimi & Cakes, Roses & Rue will be there.

I will also be giving a talk, entitled 'The knitting Revival' on Wednesday 14th September, for the Essex Handicrafts Association. If anyone is interested. please contact Beryl Burn on 01702 479622 for more details.

PS there seems to be a problem at the moment which is preventing people from becoming followers of the blog. It appears to be a problem with Blogger, so please keep trying and hopefully the problem will resolve itself. I'll keep you posted xx