HRYC

There's a whole heaps of activities you can join in on at the Knit Lounge at Handmade this Queen's Birthday weekend. We'll be bringing along loads of yarn, needles, and treats to play with. You'll find us along with half the shop's stock on the third floor of Te Papa - just follow the signs. And don't worry - the shop will also be open if you're in town for the weekend and feel like a leisurely squish and fondle.

The Ashford Joy spinning wheel will be there for you to try...

As will an Ashford SampleIt Loom...

And our wee instax camera - wear something you've knit and we'll add you to the Wall of Fame...

Also, the super popular giant knitting needles will be back! 

Add in the chance to make super speedy pom poms to create a swathe of pom pom garlands & it'll look like yarn exploded all over the third floor of Te Papa.

On Saturday we're having a Ravelry and Twitter meet-up from 1pm - 3pm with free Ravelry badges. Sunday sees us spinning away from 1pm - 3pm - bring along your wheel or spindle for some fun with fibre. If you fancy hearing yours truly speak for 6 minutes about craft stuff then head along to the Pecha Kucha sessions - an absolute bargain of a fun time for only $10. 

See you this weekend! It's going to be an absolute blast!

When Libby from Ashford visited me last year, I was treated to an early squish of the brand new version of Tekapo. Safe to say in a previous life I really wasn't a fan of this yarn - I found it coarse and scratchy and the colours mighty average. 

That we now have it on the shelves is testament to what a different yarn this now is. Lofty, bouncy, squishy and inifinitely softer than it once was. We ordered in 11 colours to start with in 12ply, but will be adding to this selection very quickly. The great thing is with Ashford being based in New Zealand, we can order this in anytime we please! If you need more, or fancy a different colour, it's no problem at all for us to order it in for you. It's also a fantastic alternative to the only other 12ply we usually stock, Cascade Eco (which will be returning to our shelves soon).

Ashford Tekapo 12ply comes in generous 100g balls, with 134m each. It is hand wash and comes in a glorious range of 29 colours.

It's pretty gosh darn perfect for a few of our favourite bulky yarn patterns:

Owls by Kate Davies

Aidez by Cirilia Rose

and

Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood

The hemlock ring blanket is the most likely project i'll first knit with Tekapo, as it's been lingering in my queue for ages. Already it's gone off to new homes intended for man hats and slippers - and keep people cosy and warm this winter. We've got it up for sale online if you can't make it into the shop for an in-person snuggle. We promise you won't regret it!

 Anyone following me on Twitter a couple of weekends ago will already know that I've fallen head over heels in love. With a weaving loom. As I warped up the new Ashford Sample It Loom, my Tweets all read much like this:

I'd put off warping this baby up for too long. I was nervous, worried about my first ever foray into adding the warp threads - something i'd not done before. 

'This will be tricky!' I mused, and procrastinated. The assembly wasn't so hard, helped along with a handy philips screwdriver. 

'But surely, the warping will be a challenge! I shall put it off, and do it someday that i'm not terribly busy with other (less important) tasks.'

I'm not sure why that morning struck as the perfect time to give it a go, but try I did. 

True and honest surprise, half an hour later, when the job was mostly done. All that was required to finish up was a hand from my flat mate to tie everything off. 

Not only was it much, much easier than anticipated, it proved worthy of a photo shoot:

Now we have a fully assembled and warped loom in the shop for you to play with - and it's already attracting a lot of attention. Ours has Knitsch Sock in Kelly and Georgina & the Jellyfish on the go. The instruction booklet has a very guide to assembling, warping and weaving, with loads of photos. We're also happy to lend a hand with warping up if it's needed. 

If you happen to order online (or even in store), we'll ship within NZ for free! Hooray!