MAy's theme for the Nerd Sock Club was 'Zelda - Tears of the Kingdom' the latest release from my favourite gaming franchise ever.... in fact I love the Zelda universe so much part of my collection of tattoos on my left arm have items from my favourite Zelda hidden amongst them. The latest release came with a teaser artwork that was floating about the internet for a while, which is where I took my inspiration from for this months colourway.
For those of you who don't know the theme of these game, the story is always the same, a princess is kidnapped, a hero wakes without any powers or skills, and slowly has to battle his way to the evil tyrants 'keep' to rescue the princess, collecting treasures along the way. It's a long and winding road to the princess, which is where my idea for the cables came from, also they have a somewhat 'regal' feel to them.
The pattern is now available for purchase here, and if you would like to grab one of the limited edition club sets in the club colourway, we have a few spare parcels available here too.
IF you would like to take part in the Nerd Sock Club you can join for 1, 6 or 12 Months here.
]]>March's theme for the Nerd Sock Club was 'Andor' the spin off prequel series based on Characters from Star Wars Rogue One. Being a true Star Wars fan and nerd, I have seen all the movies and all the subsequent spin off tv shows and I have yet to be disappointed by any of them.
Andor stuck me as the perfect theme for a club, there was a distinct mustard/olive/burgundy colour pallete throughout the costumes and sets for Cassian Andor's home world of Ferrix ... really wonderful pallete to be inspired by.
The colourwork that encircles the top of the leg is a replica of the Rebel Alliance emblem that you will see throughout the Star Wars Universe, I drew it out and added some little stars to fill out the design. Giving the main skein a more solid colour allows the colour work to shine, and using a burgundy/wine colour inspired by Cassian's droid B2EMO for the colour work allows it to really stand out.
The pattern will be released this weekend ( Friday 31st March) and available for download in the store.
IF you would like to take part in the Nerd Sock Club you can join for 1, 6 or 12 Months here.
If you missed this months instalment and would like to catch one of our spare sets which comes with the pattern included, you can grab that here.
]]>After a minor injury to my hand, nothing serious just a badly placed cut on my yarn carrying finger on my right hand. I put down my current sock project for a few days to let my finger heel, and picked up my crochet hook. I carry my yarn in my left hand for crochet so no chance of it interfering with my poorly finger.
I decided I wanted to use up some of my left over yarns, I knit a pair of socks, usually a sample size, which means they only use up 60% of a skein of yarn, so inevitably I have dozens of half skeins or one third skeins in lots of different colours. I also have a bag of odd/ left over mini skeins... perfect for heels/toes on socks, little colour pops in other projects, or as I'm using them for now, centre wheels within my crochet hexagons.
The design is nothing too fancy, if you crochet, you've probably made a hexagon or two at some point, I'm crocheting 120 hexi's ... using a join as you go method for building the blanket. I'm up to 20 so far and I'm quite excited to slowly shift the colours through all my leftover yarns. I've started with my greens and oranges and will move through to my blues, pinks and purples slowly.
The blanket will be a gift for a friend, their 4 month old baby will get a lot of use out of a brightly coloured blanket I'm sure. If you'd be at all interested to see a step by step demonstration/tutorial of my way of crocheting these cute little hexi's, drop a comment below. Of course I may well just make one anyway and share it to the socials. Check back soon to see more progress.
]]>
For those of you who have been wondering what the theme for Nerd Sock Club 1.2 was, I can now reveal that it was of course 'Wednesday' from the Addams Family. Wednesday recently got her own spin off show on Netflix, and we really quite enjoyed it. The show gave me inspiration for the first round of the club.
I chose some purples and teals and greys for the main colour of the skein, and the mini skein was a deep merlot shade. I think the colours worked well together and captured the essence of the characters in the show.
For the pattern I used a lace skull motif, and an optional slip stitch pattern that can be added in the mini skein colour (or any colour you have in your stash really).
The lace pattern is fairly easy to knit, worked over several rows, on both sides of the leg of the sock, while the slipped stitch patern snakes down the back of the leg until the heel turn, and then re-emerges on the top of the foot until the toe.
Both cuff and toe are also worked in the accent colour, finishing the sock off nicely.
Why not knit yourself or a loved one these spooky socks today? The pattern has instructions for 3 sizes, and includes both written and charted directions. Check out the pattern here.
If you'd like to be 'in the club' with us, you can sign up for 1, 3 or 6 instalments of the nerd sock club here.
]]>For those of you who follow along on my sporadic spinning journey, you will all know that I pick it up and put it down rather too frequently. The last time I actually sat at my wheel and span some yarn was April of last year.
In my defence we were in the middle of renovations at the house and moving from the apartment up to the house before we were really ready to, I packed my spinning stuff away into 2 compact bags and moved it to a corner of the living room in the house where it has sat for 8 months.
Last week I was in the studio and I found 4kg of lovely fibre to dye, which instantly made me want to sit at my e-spinner and get some bobbins freed up. For those of you who don't know, my wheel is a Daedalus Starling v2, a 3D printed e-spinner, it has been a great little wheel to spin with, and during the time we were living in our apartment it tidied away to such a small size it was perfect.
Here are some of the fibres that I dyed last week, adorable right?
So the current project on my wheel (pictured at the top of this post) is not my own fibre... it was something I saw online and had to have (yes, even as a yarn dyer I fall hard in love with yarns and fibres and have to have them). I really want to spin up one of my newly dyed up fibres, I kept 460g of fluff to one side from the dye-day and want to make enough yarn for a vest out of it, but to free up all the bobbins I need to finish off the current spin.
This spin is my attempt at a 3-ply fingering weight yarn, I'm spinning it in a 'fractal' style. What is a fractal style I hear you ask? Well as best as I can describe it, it's a way of spinning a variegated fibre top so you don't get colours 'muddying' together when you ply. It goes like this..
I have split the yarn into thirds, and so far have split one third into 8, spun it onto one bobbin, the next was split into 4 and spun onto a second bobbin, and the final third, which I'm spinning now, is only split into 2. This means the colour repeats will be shortest in the third split into 8, longer in the third split into 4 and the longest in the third only split into 2, with me?
So when these three bobbins get plied together there won't be too many repeats, or sections where the colours are all the same for long stretches, it should give a very nice gentle transition throughout the skein, well that is the theory at least, we shall see.
I'm treating this spin as a practice for the 460g I've got waiting to become a vest, hopefully I won't pack away my e-spinner quite so soon and will spin a little every day to make slow and steady progress on the yarn.
If you're a spinner too, why not head over to the shop and check out the new fibres I've dyed up, they're really lovely fibre types, the Shetland base is particularly great to spin, check them out here, and watch this space for more progress on my current spin.
]]>
This pattern has taken me a while to get written up, it's not complicated, it's just taken me a while to get the 2nd sock off the needles and the pattern written, these things can happen sometimes. But it's a great way to kick off the new year with a new pattern launch.
Soundwave socks are inspired by my childhood Walkman. You remember those right? I had my first for my 9th birthday in 1990... haha. The sock has a equaliser style sound bar pattern running down either side of the leg. For some reason this pattern doesn't like to be photographed, but you can certainly see it in person that's for sure.
There is also a pattern on the top of the foot too, all the symbols for the buttons on my walkman, stop/rewind/play/fast forward/pause... you can choose to include these or leave them out if you don't appreciate any kind of texture against your feet when wearing hand knit socks.
If you have knit socks before, this pattern will be a breeze, the details are added with purl stitches, so a quick glance at the pattern every other round and you'll be set to knit these in front of the tv.
A regular cuff-down construction with a reinforced heel flap makes these socks super comfortable to wear. Work them in your favourite easyknits varigated yarn colourway, or even in a semi-solid to show off the stitch pattern. Click here to buy your copy today.
]]>
Never joined in a yarn subscription club before? Let me explain a little about our clubs and tell you why they're the perfect gift! For over 4 years we ran our fun and exciting Yarn Subscription clubs, and they proved to be extremely popular with a lot of people.
For those of you who've never taken part in a yarn club before, let me give you the basics. We offer a single month, 6 month or 12 month Subscription, and with each instalment you get a surprise package, containing yarn. A single month gets you just 1 parcel, 6 months gets you 3 parcels and 12 months gets you 6 parcels.
It's like a surprise gift with each instalment, only you already know it's going to be yarn. If you have a knitting friend in your life that you simply don't know what to buy for, a club subscription is the ideal gift, a carefully wrapped parcel of yarn, dyed to a theme, will be delivered with each instalment.
We run 2 clubs currently, Nerd Sock Club and Striping Sock Club (formally named Gobstopper Club). With our Nerd Sock club, parcels are shipped alternate months, and you will get a Skien of sock yarn, a complimentary mini skein for heels, toes or cuffs and a small pin badge supporting that months theme.
So Why Nerd Sock Club? Simply put, I am a big Nerd, I love sci-fi, fantasy, computer games and anything 'nerdy' ... A purely self-indulgent club on my part as I get to dye themes that I love. Previous themes have been based on tv shows, film franchises, childhood favourite tv shows/movies and console games ... our Nerd Sock Club is the perfect way to 'geek out with your knit out'.
Previously we only included yarn, but moving forward the Nerd Clubs will also include an exclusive pattern for each theme, designed to showcase the yarn perfectly.
The Striped Sock Club, has always been super popular. The more time consuming of our clubs, but so wroth the effort, each instalment of this club gives you a perfectly striping sock yarn, with 4 colours that will stripe perfectly between 40-80sts on 2-3mm needles, again including an accent yarn for the heels/toes this club is perfect for self-striped yarn lovers everywhere.
While the overall club doesn't adhere to a specific theme, except to be striped, each instalment does have a theme suited to that time of year, perfect for when you need to knit summer-socks, holiday socks, or just 'me' socks that stripe from cuff to toe.
Check out more info and pricing on our Nerd Sock Club here, and our Striped Sock Club here. Sign up for yourself or sign up a friend for their holiday gift this year.
Nerd Sock Clubs begin shipping again end of Janaury 2023, and Striped Sock Clubs will begin end of February 2023.
]]>
Over the last couple of weeks, we have had some of the most stunning sunsets imaginable here on the Island. They happen so quickly and the colours change so rapidly that if you're not quick enough to grab your camera, you'll miss it.
On Tuesday of last week we were down near the old harbour or Puerto Del Carmen, a short drive from our home up in Tias, and we were chatting over a beer, when we noticed the most amazing orange/peach glow start to hit the ocean. We took it in turns taking pictures, and I'm sure you'll agree, without filters or editing, this is a very beautiful sunset indeed.
The summer sunsets don't seem to reflect over the ocean quite as much as the lower winter ones, but WOW, we are still constantly surprised with all of the beautiful colours we get to see most evenings of the week.
I feel inspired to dye up some more sunset shades in the studio soon, so keep a look out for more colours inspired by this beautiful island.
]]>This week was a special week for us here in our new home in Lanzarote. After 2 years of cancelations due to Covid, our dear friends Tom and Wayne made it all the way from South Carolina to visit us. We had a wonderful 10 day visit with them, and toured all the hotspots and favourite restaurants on the island with them.
They had never been to the islands before so it was a special visit for them both, we loved having them here and sharing our home with them. While they were here it was a special birthday for my friend Tom, so as his gift I asked him to choose fabrics and I made him this bag, which he thoroughly loves.
Tom and I chose a leatherette, and a cork combination for his bags outer and a cotton lining, the bags can be made out of all leatherette, all cork, lined with cotton or canvas, the choices are endless.
It's a simple bag, with just 3 pockets, an accessible phone pouch at the top, a front zip pocket for smaller items, and a secure large sipper pouch on the rear. It can be worn two ways, securely and close to the body, allowing only you to access the compartments, or more freely on the shoulder for a more casual look. It's super slim, light and has a very ergonomic profile, so it's ideal for travel.
I shared this bag to Instagram when it was made, and immediately had a request from a customer for another. Colours were chosen via messages, and upon posting THAT one to Instagram, I had another 4 orders for custom bags.
If you're thinking of gifting a small cute bag to a loved one this holiday season, why not choose to have an original one made exclusively for them, using their favourite colours and styles. Get in touch here and I'd be happy to talk you through colours and designs.
]]>Since moving to Lanzarote last year, we've had to adapt to a new 'coffee culture' for us. Gone are the days of nipping to costa or Starbucks for our favourite Grande do-dah thingy (honestly I was really boring anyway only having a decaf vanilla latte).
Here on Lanzarote there are many many different coffees you can have, of course there is 'normal' coffee, but if you're a coffee drinker, you have try them all, right?
So far on the list there have been some real delicious treats, my personal favourite, possibly not my dentists choice, is the Leche Leche, which is super sweet and creamy.
Here are some of the yummies we've tried so far:
Café con leche – a standard coffee with frothy hot milk on top.
Café solo – a small, strong shot, also called an espresso.
Café Americano – a normal black coffee.
Cortado – a small strong white coffee, usually served in a short glass.
Cortado condensada – a shot of strong black coffee poured over a layer of condensed milk, served in a glass.
Leche Leche – as above but with the addition of milk to the coffee.
We've been having fun trying out these coffees, and so has Sweep as you can see, he loves to try the froth off the top of most beverages in fact, beer is one of his favouties. It's also been a great way to practice our Spanish.
What would your favourite drink be?
]]>It's back, one of our favourite yarns, Super Speckle is making a return to the online store. Though the base may be familiar, the 75/25 merino/nylon fingering weight base has been ever popular in the store. Offering a generous 425m per skein, meaning 1 will give you a pair of socks, gloves, a hat, 1-2 will give you a scarf/shawl of a generous size and 3-4 could easily make a sweater.
I love super speckle, it has always given me so much joy and freedom watching the colours play together. Each of the 6 new colourways added to the store contain no less than 6 individual colours, sometimes 7 or 8. Applied in what seems to be a random pattern (it's really not though) the colours play and dance and speckle and pop across the skein from start to finish.
The crisp white base of the yarn allows each individual speckle of dye to create an impact on the skein, and where 2 or 3 or 4 or even more colours collide they dance together to create wonderful patterns throughout the skein.
I have (as usual) half knit a sweater in Super Speckle, which I really must finish soon. It knits up so beautifully and really does make for a fun and interesting pattern to any garment. The weather here in Lanzarote can be surprisingly cool wen the sun occasionally goes into hiding, and especially in the evenings once it's set. So I will definitely dig out my half finished Super Speckle Sweater and get busy finishing off the sleeves so I can wear it this winter.
Check out the 6 colourways of Super Speckle added to the store here today.
]]>This weekend, we've had some weather ... and when I say weather I mean, non stop sideways rain. Living in Lanzarote, we do still get rain, usually for a few minutes here and there and usually October/March time. But this weekend we had severe weather warnings as the tail end of a hurricane was hitting our shores.
Being a small predominantly sunshiny island, the buildings and roads are not cut out for the kind of downpour we got. So what is a boy to do when it's raining so hard even the windows can't keep it out? Sit and knit of course!
I picked up some yarn on Saturday afternoon, and cast on a new sock design, I can't actually think why I didn't do this sooner, I absolutely love knitting socks and they're relatively quick and satisfying to work up.
I chose some bright and cheerful yarn, a colourway I love, Radioactive, available here. I knew with the bad weather outside I needed those pops of neons and greens to cheer my soul.
I started knitting away on Saturday afternoon, and by this morning (Monday) I've already turned the heel. There was a pause in the knitting yesterday afternoon, with an adventure to the local pub and several beers, meaning no stitches should be attempted afterward. I hope by tomorrow to have finished the first sock.
The pattern isn't yet visible, I think a good blocking will be in order to make it show up, especially on such bright colours, but it's a simple purl stitch pattern working on either side of the leg, and on top of the foot (yet to be knitted) and you'll see a theme when the design is finished.
As the sun popped out this morning I rushed into the courtyard and snapped a few pictures in the sunshine of the sock on one of my blockers. I can't wait to finish this bright and cheerful design and get it launched into the pattern section of the store.
Not that I'm hoping for more rainy days, but they do tend to make me knit more, what makes you knit more ?
]]>For those of you who follow me on the socials, you will have seen this little beauty last week. But I'm only now having time to sit down and tell you about it.
For my 40th birthday in December, my parents kindly bought me a wonderful embroidery machine, something I've been looking into for years. As a crafter, and a graphic designer, I've always been intrigued by being able to turn my drawings/doodles into stitched out designs.
The machine my parents bought me was a Brother Innovis V3, and it's a beauty, it can stitch anything you can imagine, up to 8 x 12 inches in size, which gives true potential for lots of things, including customised project bags, purses, totes and even t-shirts with sassy knitting slogans on, who's in?
After months of playing with the machine, and trying our various different softwares, I fell upon a program that would allow me to turn my doodles into stitchable embroidery files. Theres a whole lot of complicated stuff involved in the process, but after just a few hours tinkering about, watching online tutorials, I found I was able to create this cutie.
A little cartoon Dachshund leaping through the air with a colourful love heart in the background, stitched out onto some cute royal blue vinyl, I'm amazed at how accurate the machine can be, turning every line of my sketch into hundreds of tiny embroidered stitches, it's so mesmerising to watch.
Watch this space for more fun designs, I think this cutie might find his way onto the front of a phone case in the near future.
]]>So, I may have been diversifying my crafts a little bit. As some of you may know if you follow my other socials, I began sewing in 2020 during the first lockdown, and I fell pretty hard in love with the craft. Don't worry it will never take the place of my knitting, but it does hold a new special place in my heart.
When we first moved into the new house, one of the first rooms to get unpacked was the sewing room, with the dye-studio not ready yet, and the sewing machines needing clean/dust free environments, one of the soon to be guest rooms was designated 'sewing station' until the studio is ready for them.
Being able to sew things to compliment my knitting, wether it's notion bags, project bags, even bags for going out that 'happen to' have enough space for a knitting project, I love making them all. Clothing too, but that's a whole other blog post.
Since moving to Lanzarote in December last year, we've moved from the tourist area of Puerto Del Carmen to our new home town of Tias, a quieter 'local' town which has a much gentler pace. I've made friends while out walking with Sweep, I've even found a friend who sews too, and had great fun going on a shopping trip to all her favourite craft supply stores, where I of course stocked up on Fabric (no yarn was purchased, I think the island is still mostly 'acrylic' ... for the moment).
So this week, I have added some bags, wallets, and pencil cases to the store, feel free to go check them out here, under the new 'Made by JDB' section of the site (Jon Dunn-Ballam... if you hadn't guessed). Mostly one of a kinds, so once they're gone they're gone, but one or two I had enough fabric to make several, which I did.
I also had the pleasure of making a commissioned bag for a friend, pictures to follow on socials (I was so excited to deliver it I forgot to take any). She wanted a dog walking bag, big enough for all the essentials, and she was thrilled with the result.
Her daughter is expecting so I also whipped up funky baby-shower gifts for her soon to arrive little one. A few bibs, and a cute hooded towel, something else I think I will continue to offer in the future (perhaps in adult sizes, who doesn't love a cute hooded bath towel?).
Knitting is my passion, but being able to 'whip up' something on the sewing machine in just a few hours has its appeals too. So watch this space for more knit friendly sewing projects.
]]>We're slowly exploring our new island home. We've taken to heading out early on a Saturday morning while it's still cool enough for Sweep, and trying a different place for breakfast each week in the main town of Arrecife. This weeks breakfast was especially delicious as we managed to order from start to finish in Spanish. We felt very proud.
Sweep loves our little rides out on a Saturday, he also likes shouting at all the local pooches as they walk by, he particularly didn't like a husky that had on a leather helmet with built in sunglasses (I'm not kidding), perhaps he was just jealous of the stylish look she had?
Once we've breakfasted, we stroll to the local church square in town and visit the Saturday fresh fruit and veg market. There are also breads and cakes of course, and again we felt proud that we achieved out purchases in total Spanish, even a small joke with one of the vendors about our bill coming to €9.99 (she thought it was funny).
From there we wonder the high street, pop into any stores we need to visit, most are dog friendly here which is fantastic as we don't like to leave Sweep at home. If it's still not too hot, we'll walk around the harbour, before we head back to the car.
It may sound like a rather mundane Saturday morning, but its most enjoyable when you're still exploring your new home. Stay tuned for more adventures as we explore Lanzarote.
]]>
When a white background just won't do. It's a strange experience trying to find places to take photos in your new home. We've been in the Finca since April, and every day I've been in and around the place with my tools and paintbrush, I've been thinking 'will this be the best sport to take photos of yarn/knits?'. I'm still trying to find the best spots, but I think these yarns look particularly delicious lounging next to the pool, don't you?
The pool/patio/garden is a place we spend a lot of our time these days, as it was one of the first things we had renovated when we moved in. We've had all the tile replaced and even had the swimming pool re-lined, with matching tiles. It's a fabulous space and we're still learning how best to use it. We're hoping to get a relaxing area set up with plenty of comfy seating and shade, as well as an outdoor dining space, but all of these things take time.
This morning I was sat having my coffee and I thought, I know which yarns need to come out of the studio for a photoshoot in this perfect light, next to the pool. So I popped down to the studio and brought up all of the neons and gelato/helado shades, and don't they just look fabulous?
And of course Sweep insisted on helping, perhaps he just wanted to show you all his cute butt? Who can say?
The yarns are Deeply Wicked semi-solid, dyed in some delicious gelato/helado colours, and also some screaming neons, which actually really are begging to be made into a loose fitting 80's style top, I feel a project coming on.
Check out the yarns here, including my favourites Pistachio Twist, I feel that needs to be in my life, the cool green/blue is just perfect, and Sour Candy, just looking at it makes my mouth water. The studio light photos just don't do these shades justice, which is why I brought them up and out to the pool patio. A chance to show off the wonderful colours, and also show you all where you could be knitting next year if you take us up on our relaxing knitting retreats, which I'll be sharing more news about next week.
]]>One of the first things we said we wanted to do when we moved her, was to actively try and learn the language. We've been holidaying in and around Spain for years, and over time had picked up some words, local greetings, please and thank you etc etc, and with the help of duolingo we furthered some of our knowledge.
But nothing works better than in-person classes, with someone who has a full grasp of the language, local dialect and phrases, and more importantly the desire to teach.
We've been so fortunate to find a teacher who offers us just that, and best of all she is local, just a 10 minute walk away from our home, and also has two of the cutest dogs. We've been learning with Joanne for a little over 3 months now, and I think we're definitely getting there.
Of course we have so much to learn, everyday brings new vocabulary that we've not needed/learned yet, and every lesson we have a giggle with our teacher, along with coffee, cookies and dog cuddles to help it all sink in. We really are enjoying learning Spanish with Joanne.
We've even had our teacher Joanne around for Tapas, and Roy was delighted to get one of his many Tapas books out and get creative, rustling up some delicious traditional Spanish dishes, all serves with a nice glass of vino.
All in all we're thrilled to be learning Spanish, like everything we have good days and bad days, but we're slowly getting by with the locals, and everyday we try a little more and gain a little more confidence when out shopping, ordering food or going to the local bar for a beer.
Most importantly when taking your orders to the local post office 'Correos' and answering the lady there when she asks what is in each parcel, I can now reply 'es lana' (it's wool), though after just a week of dropping off parcels she has already realised 'siempre es lana' (it is always wool) - haha.
Personally I think learning local dialect really does offer great opportunities to experience local culture on a different level, and I can't wait to learn more and be better understood. Watch this space for more updates on our Spanish journey.
]]>
When you seem to spend all of your days working hard painting/ decorating/ renovating a property, you can loose not just your physical energy, but your mental energy too. At the end of most of my days working hard on the Finca restoration, I find it almost impossible to pick up my knitting and feel 'creative'.
As each of the jobs at the finca near completion, I find a little break in my workload, between dyeing and DIYing - haha. I feel myself wanting to cast something on, something new, something I could design as I go and upon completion have a) a knit sample of the latest blend of Deeply Wicked, and b) a new design to share with you all.
I introduce you to 'as yet unnamed', I'm sure my creativity will inspire a naming ceremony for this shawl. I have always loved the way triangular shawls grow, and I absolutely adore working with two colours in a design to watch them play together.
So I cast on for a triangular shawl, and started pottering away with it, thinking about what twists and turns I wanted it to take along the way. While I am only around 1/3 of the way through the yarn, but I really feel that the cool/breezy autumn nights that will soon be upon us here in Lanzarote, require a large soft shawl for wrapping around oneself.
I'm using two skeins of Deeply Wicked semi-solid, in Pumpkin and Merlot, and they're really giving me 'fireside' vibes, with the garter and slip stitch patterns I've used really popping. I'm just now entering a brioche section of the shawl, and I feel like there will be a little colourwork and lace to come before it's finished, but watch this space.
I'm truly enjoying the creative process again, and taking my time with this no-pressure, making it up as I go design is just the ticket to getting back on track with my knitting mojo.
Stay tune for more progress on this as yet unnamed shawl, and if you love the colour combo as much as I do, check out the semi-solid Deeply Wicked range here today.
]]>
Deeply Wicked Varigated, your most favourite flamboyant yarn for all your fun, funky and fabulous projects has returned. We couldn't have a re-launch without some of our best selling yarns in all of EK history, could we?
DW Varigagted is super saturated and super colourful, with each skein packing an eye-watering punch of colour. A classic base you know and love, 75% Superwash Merino / 25% Nylon, gives a softness and robustness that you can't live without.
We have dyed up 10 shades, a mix of classic and new colourways to tempt your tastebuds with, here are 6 of my favourites:
Audrey Two She's back, original inspiration from the cult classic comedy horror 'Little Shop of Horrors' an so named after 'Audrey Two' the carnivorous beasty passing itself off as a plant to get by. Birght pops of pink, green and yellow, blend to give a bright and zingy twist to this yarn. Shop her here.
Timanfeya Here is a new colourway for you, an inspiration from the island we now call home. Lanzarote is the home of the Timanfeya National park, a volcanic range, full of such out of this world scenery, I couldn't wait to be inspired by the raw power of a volcano. Check out Timanfeya here.
We're almost ready to open the doors to the easyknits website again, and of course we had to test out our new shipping system before hand, to give you the best deal and most realistic delivery estimations, before you begin ordering.
Although in reality it is more expensive to ship orders from Lanzarote, being a small island, everything goes via airmail, therefore costs a little more, we have decided to match UK prices for the foreseeable future, passing on a saving that we're making on not having to rent a studio any longer to you guys.
That said, we can only offer 1st class prices, where as previously we offered a 2nd class service, there is no such thing here, so although you will pay first class UK price, we're soaking up the difference and saving you around £1.50 per parcel we send.
Over the past few weeks we have sent out several test parcels to friends and family across the UK. On average, parcels have been arriving within 7-10 working days, the quickest arrived in just 5 working days, and the slowest took 11 working days... so we're averaging that out and saying 'usually' parcels will arrive within 7-10 working days. Not bad for a tiny island postal service, huh?
A lot of you may be concerned about import charges, now that the UK is no longer part of the EU, believe me, we were too. We meticulously researched, asked around, and finally sent test parcels to some of our best customers. So far, there have been no charges at all. I cannot guarantee that you will not be subject to such charges, but at the moment, with the test parcels we have sent out I can say that not one of them has incurred a charge.
We believe this is because Lanzarote is part of the Canary Islands, which as a group belong to Spain, but are classed as a 'third territory' and operate their own rules when it comes to import and export, so far anything we have delivered here incurs no import, and anything we send out incurs no import.
This is something we will keep a close eye on as orders start to roll out and will keep you updated on the situation.
Easyknits has always been known for the speed at which we could get orders packed and shipped out to you back in the UK. Where not much has changed in regards to the packing of orders, with the Studio being around 10 paces from the house, I can pop down there anytime and pack your order for you, but the postal service here on the island operates at a slightly reduced schedule compared to the UK.
Currently our local 'correos' (post office) is only open between the hours of 11-2pm Monday to Friday. Which means that any orders placed before 1pm will most likely be processed and shipped on the same day, but orders placed after 2pm will most likely be shipped the next day. Our local correos is super tiny and cute, with one desk and space for just one customer at a time, so on a busy day, it may not be possible to ship orders 'same day' as we always attempted to do so in the UK.
Hopefully this information is useful, we've tried to be as transparent as we can regarding our new set up for processing and shipping orders, and I'm sure over time we'll be able to offer you the same quality of service we always strived for back in the UK.
]]>
There was no question in my mind that when easyknits.co.uk re-launched here in Lanzarote, we would start with some of our most popular yarns ever to be created, Deeply Wicked. For those of you who know me, and my dye-style, you will remember that my love of all things bright and colourful is what drives me to dye yarn.
Deeply Wicked was born of my desire to make people say 'wow' when they looked at my yarns in person. I spent months and months working on recipes for super saturated colour, vibrant tones and a balanced/even shade for each colour dyed. I hope those of you who know me and this particular yarn base will agree Deeply Wicked achieves all of those things and more.
Deeply Wicked had always been a 100% Superwash Merino 4-ply/fingering weight, offering a generous 400m per 100g skein. Perfect for almost any project, and offering a wide array of shades for every colour preference. But in my hiatus from dyeing, using up old stashed skeins of Deeply Wicked for my own 'guilty pleasure knits', I realised it could offer so much more as a yarn base.
I have since changed the base, using the same, super soft and super strong 100% Superwash Merino, but composed of only 3 strands of yarn instead of 4, you gain an extra 100m per skein.
The yarn becomes only slightly finer, so is still classed as a 4-ply/fingering weight yarn, but gives you so much more meterage to use per skein, making larger projects even more achievable from even fewer skeins. A sweater that once took 5 skeins could now conceivably be achieved in 3 skeins.
Also with the removal of one strand from the yarn it changes the characteristics of the finished yarn, giving it a much softer handle. The yarn feels more wooly, more rustic, and much softer to work with. I think anyone who enjoys colourwork, would love to work with this yarn, I know I can't wait to try it out.
Available in ten fabulous shades, you can check them all out here.
I can't wait to dye more of this yummy base, and to get knitting with it soon, I hope you feel the same?
]]>After the longest wait, being unable to move into our new house until April of this year, spending over a month working on the studio and dye-space renovation, and figuring out the delivery and import of goods here to Lanzarote to get stock over, I'm finally able to get dyeing again.
You don't realise just how much you miss something until you're unable to do it for almost 7 months. Every time I thought we were close enough to get things going again, something else would come up.
So this week I have been down in the studio, and the first thing I realised, the HEAT. Goodness me, if it was hot in London when I dyed yarn in the summer, its scorching here in Lanzarote. We get temperatures in the mid 30's at this time of year, and if we have a Calima (sandstorm that travels across from Morocco) the temperature can reach up to 38-40c.
But that is NOT me complaining, oh no no no, I absolutely LOVE my new home, and I am so thrilled to be back at the dye pots in that new home. With Roy bringing me coffee, snacks and ice cold drinks intermittently throughout the day, it's an absolute pleasure to be working in my brand new little dye space.
I even have a small awning/portico to keep the doorways shaded during the heat of the day, and also act as perfect 'rafters' from which to hang my yarns to dry from.
A lovely thing also happened when I hung my yarns out to dry today, a neighbour from 4 doors down, came out of their back gate to their car, saw the bright yarns hanging up, and came to see what I was up to, we had a lovely chat and while I don't want to jinx it, perhaps a new knitter will be born soon from her wonderful reaction to the bright colours glowing in the sunshine.
'But what have you been dyeing Jon?' I hear you scream ... perhaps that's just in my head. This week I have been focused on Deeply Wicked semi solid and varigated colourways.
A mix of classic colourways that you know and love, and some new delightful shades too. I've also changed up the semi-solid base to make it slightly more 'woolly' and more value for money with an extra 100m of yarn per skein. Find out more about this new base and which colours I've been dyeing in the next few blog posts.
]]>
We finally moved into the Finca, yep it took us THAT long to get things in place and ready for us to live here. We've had a few hiccoughs along the way, a burst pipe here, a malfunctioning water heater there, a leaky swimming pool and garage you could paddle in, but we're in!
And so work began on the house, we have slowly worked our way through every room, scraping the stone walls, sealing and filling where necessary and applying several coats of paint floor to ceiling, it's a big house, with high ceilings so each room is a big job.
The garage which was to become EK HQ 2.0 needed a lot of work. It is a huge space, almost as big as my studio back in London, but it needed new doors, the old wooden ones were ill fitting and difficult to lock. Also the ceiling of the garage (which is underneath the garden patio) was leaking, so there was a lot of work to be done to make it watertight again, and inside it needed completely scraping, sanding, filling, priming and painting, so I got to work.
It was a messy job as you can see, taking almost an entire month just to scrape, fill, prime and paint, but it needed doing thoroughly to be able to keep a clean, tidy and bright space for me to work in.
We had a cheap second hand marble worktop installed on an existing stone worktop, the perfect size for me to work on. We also had ventilation added, as it gets very warm down there under the patio, especially when the dye-vats are bubbling away. Also using spare tiles left over from the patio remodel I tiled a funky new backsplash to avoid dirtying the freshly painted walls.
Then it was on to adding shelving, where Ikea comes in super handy (yes we actually do have an Ikea on this tiny Spanish island). I picked out some lightweight metal shelving, open on all sides, perfect for me to be able to see all of my dyes and mixing equipment up there.
The space is still incomplete, when leaving the London studio I had to make decisions on what was absolutely necessary to bring over, therefore several old desks were donated, gifted or sold on, along with worktops and storage units.
Slowly I hope to replace the furniture and storage, along with adding in a sink, which we having plumbing for, but have not yet found the right sink to take up the space. But for now the essential work to be able to get back up and running has been completed, I don't mind working from foldable tables and plastic storage bins until I get around to finding the perfect storage for my new space.
Check back in soon to see what yarns I cook up in the newly refurbished EK Studio.
]]>It's been a long time coming, in fact our decision to move to the Canary Islands was made back in February 2020. We weighed up the pros and cons of making a giant change in our lives, and the 'lets go for it' won by a wide margin.
Little did we know that just weeks after we made the decision to move the world would be thrown into total chaos with Covid, lockdowns and travel restrictions made sure our plans were immediately put on hold.
Fast forward to November 2020, and we managed to get out to Lanzarote for a break, and sort out some of our initial paperwork for moving here, trust me there was a LOT, the Spanish take their paperwork very seriously indeed.
By Christmas 2020 we had viewed hundreds of properties online, and even managed to view one or two on our trips over here, trying to find the perfect 'forever home'. It was a challenge indeed, we had a list of wants and needs, mostly requiring space for easyknits to become a 'home run' business once more to save on studio space rentals.
We narrowed the search and viewed several contenders over the next few months, and kept on coming back to one property in particular. Eventually we realised our hearts were set on this beautiful traditional Spanish Finca with an open central courtyard in the middle of it.
The old derelict farm house had been lovingly restored in the late 90's and although looking a little tired these days after being a holiday rental and then a home to a family for 8 years, it had the character and charm that we both fell in love with immediately.
In August 2021 our offer was accepted and by September our home of 16 years in London was sold, although sad to leave and a little apprehensive we were very excited for the move to begin.
We settled on dates in mid-December for completion of our sale, our purchase, shipping of our belongings AND transport of our beloved pets, Pickle our 16 year old tabby cat and Sweep our 9 year old miniature dachshund. Getting all of these things to coordinate was no mean feat in itself. But we managed it.
I flew out here on December 14th 2021, almost 22 months after we'd made the decision to move, my husband Roy joined me on December 20th, and on December 23rd (my 40th birthday) we signed the papers and collected the keys to our new home in the Lanzarote Sunshine.
Now begins the adventure of renovating the house and building easyknits new HQ in the garage, watch this space...
]]>