Sally at Little Lamb Wool tells us about some fab new patterns and yarns, plus a lovely unexpected visitor!

I’ve had some interesting visitors into Little Lamb Wool this week, one of them being a robin. The little fella had been hopping about outside all morning obviously looking for food.

It was getting a bit warm (large windows, sun shining directly in) so I’d opened the door a bit to let some cold air in a few minutes later I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye, and he’d hopped into the opposite corner of the shop. It took a bit of whistling and gentle arm moving to usher him back through the door.

Daniel at Cucumberpatch invites us to find out their latest offers via Facebook.

Have you visited our Facebook page yet? If you haven’t you’re missing out on some great offers!

For example, just a few days ago I posted the news that Hanne Falkenberg has re-launched all of her Summer kit designs using one of the most vibrant yarns on the market, Sofistica, which is an Italian 60% Cotton, 40% Linen yarn available in lots of lovely colours. 

We love knitalongs and we love snoods, so Deramores is currently making us doubly happy with news of their first ever knitalong, complete with an exclusive free pattern to knit a Lazy Lace Snood by Jemma Weston.

To take part all you need to do is get your hands on two lusciously plump balls of Rowan Alpaca Cotton, which will provide all the yarn you will need to knit this comfy, stylish accessory. 

If you’ve already got your hands on a copy of Simply Knitting 90, you may have spotted our deliciously simple caplet by Martin Storey (p65).

Knitted in the round so there are no seams to sew, it’s made in Rowan Lima, a sumptuously soft blend of baby alpaca and merino wool in a chain construction that ensures it’s lightweight yet cosy – a fab alternative to whacking up the central heating yet again!

You can buy the yarn from Cucumberpatch who are offering a generous 15% discount to Simply Knitting readers – that means you get each 50g ball for £5.75 instead of £6.75!

Sally Goodwill of Little Lamb Wool gets excited by the prospect of new springtime yarns and patterns.

Is Spring here yet? It seems so as I’ve just taken delivery of the new season’s stock, from Sirdar, Sublime and Debbie Bliss. 

It’s all lovely stuff but now the hard work begins, as I need to get everything on the Little Lamb Wool website! So over the next few days I will be taking lots of photos of balls of wool, including a new line from Sirdar ‘Baby Speckles’ and lots of new shades in other lines. 

Spent most of your money on Christmas gifts for other people? You can still treat yourself with a pack of yarn from Ball and Needle, because they've got some big brand yarns available at very small prices. Ball and Needle have some special offer yarn packs from Patons and Gedifra, including packs of Patons Eco Wool Chunky for £12 and packs of Patons Fairytale 4ply also for £12. They'll be adding more packs between now and the end of the year, including some great yarns from Wendy. Quantities are limited, so if you see something you like, snap it up.

Daniel from Cucumberpatch lets us know what’s happening at the knitting suppliers.

Things are good here, just as we would expect moving into Autumn/Winter, though what happened to that lovely Indian summer?

The weather seasons certainly do seem to have shifted, I think somebody will have to think of a new name instead of summer or maybe we should now just think along the lines of spring and winter, end of. The sheep will not mind though!

Sally Goodwill at Little Lamb Wool is already knee-deep in knittery noel treasures. “Christmas is coming so the Little lamb Wool shop is filling up with patterns for toys and Christmas characters, Christmas jumpers, Christmas stockings and lots of ideas for gifts, including the new book from Debbie Bliss – ‘Knits to Give,’” she exclaims.

There’s also plenty to keep grown up shoppers happy, with as two news lines in store, Big Bamboo and Click chunky from Sirdar, making a total of 13 lines that can be used for grown up patterns. “These include Debbie Bliss Angel, Andes, Cashmerino Aran. Twilleys Freedom Purity, Spirit Chunky & Wool, Sirdar Squiggle and Wendy 100% Merino DK,” Sally says.

Yarn, pattern and notions supplier Deramores are giving away a Kim Hargreaves book and yarn to celebrate our redesign.

Enter the free draw.

Who says autumn has to be dull and dreary? Abakhan are hosting a whole array of new season workshops at their stores in Liverpool and Mostyn, North Wales, including a chance to make a felted flower brooch and hair accessory (sample pictured) at the Mostyn store on Saturday 15 October, and a Christmas Crafts Day (£35) also at their Mostyn store, on Sunday 16 October.

Plus they have dressmaking courses for every skill level, and even a workshop on getting to grips with adding zips!

They also have a new shiny new shop in Bolton at Burnden Park_, Manchester Rd_, Bolton _BL3 2NE. Why not pop along and see what they've got in store?   

For further store details go to www.abakhan.co.uk