This is a heads up that ECY Shedquarters will be closed next week. Orders placed after midday on Friday the 3rd November won’t be shipped until Monday the 13th November. This means that we will probably already be closed by the time you see this post, but you will still be able to place orders on the website for processing. Just bare in mind that there will be a small delay. Laura will still be around to answer emails but won’t have access to stock.
As we are getting into the colder months in the northern hemisphere, we have changed our free newsletter sign-up pattern to something more seasonal (with apologies to folks who aren’t about to head into winter!). Our Langrigg fingerless mitts are made using chunky yarn, making them soft and cosy. The pattern is simple and quick to knit, meaning these also make great gifts. You can sign up to our newsletter HERE.
We’ve added new pre-filled Yarnling jars and Yarnling packs to the website. So if you’d prefer to see what you’re getting rather than a lucky dip these are ideal! The cellophane bags that the 5/10 Yarnlings are in are compostable too.
There have been three yarn updates in the past few weeks: Titus Fingering, Keld Aran and Keld Twist.
Titus Fingering is a stunning blend of Superwash extrafine Merino with mulberry silk in a singles yarn. This gives the yarn a different finish to Titus 4ply but still has both the shine and lustre of silk with the bounce and structure of the Merino wool. We would class this as primarily a yarn for garments and shawls but it also works at a tighter gauge for mitts, accessories and cowls.
Keld Aran is Superwash Merino with linen which creates a rustic look — especially in the darker colours – as the linen doesn’t take the colour in the same way as the Merino. The linen is soft enough that you don’t feel it against your skin though, and of course the Merino is lovely and soft.
Keld Twist is an exciting blend of Superwash Merino with linen in a fingering weight. This yarn is two plies spun together giving this yarn and the resulting fabric a bit more structure than the singles fingering weight. It’s ever so gorgeous and is ideal for accessories and garments, working well at a standard 4ply gauge.
We’ve had a big pricing review as I wanted to see if we could take a hit on the pricing of any of the yarns to make them more affordable (relatively speaking) whilst the economy is rubbish. It’s a risky manoeuvre and I’m not sure what my accountant will think (!) but we’ve reduced the price of some yarns. If it goes badly we will have to reevaluate! But for the foreseeable future, Brimham 4ply/DK and Oakworth 4ply/DK are a fair bit cheaper now, plus Brimham Bio and High Twist, and Tempo 4ply are all a little bit cheaper. They’re still the exact same high quality as always — I’m just literally making less money from them (I really hope this doesn’t backfire!).
With all the yarn updates over the past few weeks, we have also been busy adding yarn packs in various sizes and colour combinations. Yarn packs are a great way to get a number of skeins in colours that you know will work well together at a lower price than if you bought the skeins separately. You can find them in the yarn categories or in the yarn pack categories filtered by pack size.
Another new addition to the website is our Dyed to Order sweater quantities collection. There is a minimum quantity fo five skeins for these orders with the point specifically being to be able to provide sweater quantities. There are always plenty of ones and twos available but rarely more than five these days, so that’s what’s brought us to that point!
This week we published a blog post detailing the last recommended post dates from Royal Mail per country to allow for delivery before Christmas (sorry to use the C word!!). International delivery appears to be running a bit more smoothly than last year but we would still recommend ordering gifts early to avoid disappointment. We have also shared a round up of all the news from September. This is a great way to see what we have been up to over the course of the month without going back through all the newsletters. We hope you find these blog posts interesting!