Catriona Williams of Marmalade Yarns lets us know a few of her favourite festive things…

I love this time of year in the shop. it is the perfect excuse to add fairy lights and blankets to enhance the cosiness and warm colours on the shelves. It makes me feel warmer just being surrounded by the yarns. If only we could have a woodburner and rocking chair in the front shop, I would never go home.

 Christmas knitting is so inspiring too: Decorations, such as the perfect knitted baubles by Arne and Carlos, everyone seems to be knitting them this year, as well as the two needle baubles which appeared in last month’s Simply Knitting. 

 Then, of course presents. What provides more pleasure than choosing a special yarn to make a gorgeous lace scarf as a gift? Socks, hats, gloves, tea cosies and more. Hand made is back in vogue and much appreciated, you need not feel guilty knitting the top end yarns when you are giving the finished item to a loved one.

We are loving the granny square blanket revival and need no excuse to play around with different colours of yarns from vibrant to muted then crocheting them up into cosy blankets. We have a ‘Christmas’ coloured one, richly edged in black this year. 

Jumpers too, knitted in chunky yarns which fly off your needles. I have knitted Kate Davies ‘Owls’ in Purelife Renew and an icelandic Lopi jumper and am so addicted to knitting in the round that I have stashed some Kid Classic to knit Sarah Lund’s textured star jumper from the 2nd series of The Killing. Unfortunately it is difficult to knit while watching the program as I have to pay close attention to the subtitles.

Having loved Kate Davies’ ‘Owls’ I have also sidelined yarn to do her fantastic ‘Peerie Flooers’ mittens. This is definitely not one to knit in front of the telly! We are waiting to receive the actual paper copies of Kate’s patterns soon. They were only available as downloads until recently, I can’t wait to be able to show customers the delightful patterns.

Maxine, like Juliet, editor of The Knitter, has cast on the Rowan Christmas reindeers tank top in felted tweed and is adamant that it’s not just for Christmas, she can wear it all year round. I am jealous as it is a fantastic pattern but how many projects can you have on the go at once? (Please don’t answer that!). Maxine and I agree that the only down side to owning our own wool shop is wanting to knit all the yarns and lovely patterns all the time, if you call that a down side.

We hope you are as excited about your Christmas knitting as we are and if not, come and see us for help!

Find out more about Marmalade Yarns at www.marmaladeyarns.co.uk and www.marmaladeyarns.blogspot.com

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