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I hope that you are all well. We have been keeping busy at ECY Shedquarters to distract ourselves from the news cycle of constant doom and gloom.

Our most recent update was Hayton 4ply – our Merino, Cashmere, nylon blend. This yarn is super soft but also has strength to it making it ideal for shawls and accesories but also for garments. Alongside Titus 4ply, this is one of our bestsellers so we were really excited to have this yarn back on the website. There is still plenty to choose from and we have added new yarn packs and skein pairs to the website, all of which can be found on the Hayton 4ply page of the website.

Before that we had an update of Pendle 4ply which is our Superwash Extrafine Merino. It is soft, squishy, strong, has a good lustre to it, and it takes colours really nicely too. It’s a great all-rounder (although many of my yarns are tbh). It’s just as good in a lace shawl as a cabled garment, for example. There are loads to choose from with plenty of colour combinations; many of which are available as yarn packs.

ECY yarn enabler Claire has finished her Magic Circles wrap (pattern by Janie Crow) and it is stunning! Claire chose a whole new palette of Milburn DK for hers and it works so well that we have added kits for it to the website. This palette has been called Autumn Woodland to reflect the browns, yellow and greens which are the most prominent colours. We have yarn packs with and without the pattern and they can be found along with all other Magic Circles products on the website HERE.

A little while ago Laura and I noticed that we were out of stock of Aisling patterns by Justyna Lorkowska. This beautiful two colour shawl has been a favourite ever since its release and we still regularly sell yarn for it. With all the changes in EU/UK trade over the past couple of years, among other factors, we are no longer going to stock physical printed copies of this pattern BUT we have purchased download codes for Aisling and a couple of other patterns that can be redeemed on Justyna’s website for digital copies. The other restocked patterns are Holyrood and Maya’s Shawl. For each of these designs we have the digital download code and an add-on kit as a separate product. While we have the yarn in stock for Aisling we also have kits for this design which include the two skeins of yarn (one skein each of Titus 4ply in Campanula and Rambling Rose), a project bag and the download code which will be printed on a business card.

Holyrood uses two skeins of Harewood Fingering which is 100% BFL but with high twist construction. This yarn is out of stock but many other of our 4ply/fingering weight yarns would work just as well. For example the second sample for this pattern uses Bedale 4ply in Alpine and Steel. We have Dianthus and Steel in stock of this yarn which would give a similar finished project. Please note that if you use Bedale is in 50g skeins and so you will need two skeins of each colour. For Maya’s Shawl we have kits in stock which use Whitfell Chunky in your choice of the available colours. The add-on kit for Maya’s Shawl means you can choose any colour of Pendle Chunky for this beautiful design; you will need three skeins. You can find all of Justyna’s patterns on the ECY website here.

At the start of this post I mentioned Hayton 4ply skein pairs. These are two skeins of yarn chosen to work well together for any two colour pattern. We also have pairs of Titus 4ply with Eldwick Lace that were put together for Helda Panagary’s crocheted Herringbone Brick Shawl design. The pattern uses different coloured stripes but would work just as well with the difference in textures of the two yarns. We also have a limited number of copies of Helda’s Herringbone Brick Shawl pattern to purchase on our website and as part of an add-on kit. You can see all available sets here.

I thought you would like to know that our debut update of Bowland Lace is now LIVE on the website! Bowland Lace is our new Bluefaced Leicester wool 2ply laceweight yarn and it is so beautiful. It is quite different to Titus Lace and Askham Lace as it is woollier and has a higher WPI or wraps per inch which is a really helpful indicator of how thick the yarn is. This can also be used when determining yarn substitutions. It works up beautifully on 3.25mm and 3mm needles (that’s what I’ve tried so far!) and it works up beautifully held double with fluffy Eldwick Lace — scroll down for more on that! I’m finding that when held double it substitutes in well for a 4ply and it makes an incredibly light yet warm and cosy fabric which looks far more delicate than it actually is. We’ve really fallen in love with this yarn at ECY Shedquarters and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. 🥰

You can see how Bowland Lace looks wound into a cake and knitted up held double with fluffy Eldwick Lace in the image with one of my recent projects, a Nimbus Cowl. The pattern is a free Purl Soho one (it’s on their blog) and it calls for 4ply + fluffy laceweight, but I’ve used Bowland Lace (so a 2ply) instead of 4ply for the same gauge BUT a lighter fabric. It turns out this is beyond perfect for this time of year for me — I’ve already worn it loads! Honestly the fabric created by these two yarns held together is to die for. It’s hard to capture on camera but the softness is how I imagine it’d be if you held a little fluffy duckling. 😆
Anyway, highly recommended – pattern and yarn!

We’ve been really busy over the past few weeks — there has even been great photography weather and so there has been a lot added to the website and flickr. Amongst those are new Laverton Shawl kits! This scarfy shawl is a lovely way to play with colours and yarns together as it uses Carlisle Fingering held double with fluffy Eldwick Lace, and then for the contrasts it uses a mini skein. You can find the Laverton pattern, yarns, and the new kits on our website. We have also added kits for the Ode to Autumn wrap by Jaya of Apoorva Designs. PLUS I have also added a new batch of Nateby 4ply Rainbow mini skein sets!

Due to its popularity I have added new batches of our new colourway Passion Flower to the website on a number of bases. I have added a large restock on Carlisle Fingering (100% Merino singles) and smaller batches on Titus 4ply (75% Merino/25% silk), Titus Fingering (75% Merino/25% silk singles), Oakworth 4ply (100% NZ Polwarth). I have also added a batch of Fuchsia on Pendle 4ply (100% Merino).

This week we have released our latest pattern, Swainby Cowl. This cowl idea stemmed from me wanting to make something squishy for around my neck using three strands of yarn together, but also not wanting to leave much (if anything) left over. I pored over stitch textures and options for ages as I knew I wanted something fairly simple which would allow the marled colours to shine, but also which wouldn’t be too boring to knit. There are already loads of (lovely) patterns in traditional fisherman’s rib so this is a different take on that. The full-sized cowl is designed to loop three times snug around the neck if you’ve got really cold weather, but it’s also really nice to wear in two loose loops. The pattern is very easily adjustable to make a two-loop or one-loop version – you would just need to make it either two thirds of the given length, or one third of the given length. The initial sample was made used Coniston Fingering in Red Grape, Red Goosefoot and Bark.

This is a great pattern for TV knitting and gives you plenty of scope for playing with different colours and yarns. I have four (!!) samples, all made in different yarns but using the same size needles and I have also made a few swatches to see how a few other yarns work together. This will all be in a blog post very soon along with some of our wonderful pattern testers projects. The samples are a blue one which was made using Askham 4ply in Driftwood and Whirlpool with Lowther Lace in Larkspur; a yellow one which was made using Brimham DK in Marigold and Eldwick Lace in Marigold; and a Snowy one which was made with Pendle Aran in Snowy Owl and Eldwick Lace in Snow Leopard.

The pattern is available on our website and on Payhip. On our website you will also find a Swainby add-on kit. Simply select the add-on kit and then add the yarn for your cowl to your basket and we will create a kit for you. You will need 300g of 4ply/fingering weight yarn OR you could use one skein each of a DK yarn and a fluffy laceweight yarn OR one skein each of aran weight yarn (for a single loop cowl) with a fluffy laceweight yarn. The possibilities are endless!

We have received our latest restock of Milburn DK in Althaea so this is available on the website as are yarn packs with this colour in it. Our next restock of Milburn yarns will not be for quite some time as we are awaiting a new batch of undyed yarn being spun for us. So any Milburn 4ply and Milburn DK colours that run out of stock from now onwards are unlikely to be restocked again before September.

We will be closed on Friday and Monday as Laura and I are both off. Orders won’t be shipped until after we get back on Tuesday.

Hello from ECY Shedquarters! Our Carlisle Fingering (100% Superwash Extrafine Merino) update went live on the website on Thursday. This yarn is brilliant for a great range of knitting and crochet projects – it makes beautiful shawls and accessories of course, but it also makes good garments. It’s far more hardwearing than it looks thanks to the good quality fibre and the high quality of the spinning.

Pair it with fluffy Eldwick Lace (superkid mohair/silk) for a lovely light but cosy and soft fabric; use it on its own; or how about using it in a multi-yarn project alongside other bases? It seems like it shouldn’t work but I have found that mixing singles yarns with plied yarns actually works perfectly well (Claire did it in her Shawlography shawl and it worked beautifully). Anyway, I hope you love this update, we’ve been very excited about it so it’s a real delight to finally unveil it!

My Buttermere shawl pattern has been revamped and tested with a new yarn suggestion. Yep you guessed it, it is Carlisle Fingering in Rose Bed, which is included in today’s update! The new version of the pattern is now available on our website and on Payhip. Thank you so much to our wonderful testers who provided feedback on the updates! You will need 400m of a 4ply/fingering weight yarn for this shawl. The Buttermere kit has been updated to reflect the new version of the pattern, this uses two balls of Milburn 4ply and you have the choice of all 20 shades!  We have also added an add-on kit for the Butteremere shawl. Select your skein of yarn and add the add-on kit to your basket, you will then receive the pattern as a download to your inbox and the yarn and project bag will be sent as a kit.

Earlier in the week I put a batch of Oakworth DK up on the website for you. Oakworth DK is pure Polwarth wool from New Zealand and is a really hard wearing yarn with great stitch definition. This update includes a number of batches that can be used for the Greencress shawl in the new book, Contrast – Textured Knitting by Meiju K-P. The shawl uses four skeins of Oakworth DK. The book sample uses colourway Hazel which was included in the update but sold out. Another batch is in production and will be on the website in the next week or two. We are not stocking the book but I know lots of shops are.

Happy Shopping – don’t forget we ship worldwide!

Hello from ECY Shedquarters,

Two posts in two weeks! This week we have had an update of Eldwick Lace, our fluffy superkid (ie the finest/softest we can get) mohair/silk laceweight yarn. It is a beautiful yarn to use on its own as well as held double with other yarns. When this yarn was first added to our range we wrote a blog post about it which you can see HERE. For inspiration of how to use Eldwick Lace check out our Projects and Patterns blog post HERE. There are so many lovely patterns that use this yarn so hopefully you will find something to get the creative juices flowing. I hope those are helpful and inspiring for you — I always love to revisit them when we link to them. 🥰

By the way, the fibre info on the yarn labels is slightly wrong (the website is correct) — it’s been changed from 70% superkid mohair/30% silk to 72% superkid mohair/28% silk. It turns out I missed this and didn’t update our labels before printing out about 150 of them, and I have to be honest I don’t think I can justify re-doing the entire lot for just 2% difference (the labels are costly these days and it’s the time we’d have to spent changing them all!). So I hope you can forgive me for that oversight!

Happy Shopping!

I hope that you are well in your part of the world. Our Bowland Aran update went live on the website on Tuesday but don’t worry you have not missed out. There are still lots of colours to choose from (Waterfall, Driftwood and Red Kite are shown in the images). Bowland Aran is our lovely woolly, soft and strong pure superwash British Bluefaced Leicester wool. I find it a bit more lofty compared the the merino-based aran yarns, so it’s light and comfy to wear. It’s also really hardwearing, and BFL is a ‘lustre’ wool, which is a specific type of wool fibre at a microscopic level – from what I remember it means that the fibre has less ‘scales’ on it, meaning it reflects light particularly well. Don’t quote me on that as I’ve just had a quick google and I can’t find anything that says it, but it’s definitely what I was told by someone in the know a long time ago! 🥴 Anyway, Bowland Aran is a tremendous yarn and I hope you like the update we’ve created. For ideas of how to use Bowland Aran take a look at our Projects and Patterns blog post HERE.

It has been so wonderful to see all the orders of Titus 4ply that have come in over the past week; thank you so so much. We know it is one of your favourites and it is such a relief to be able to bring you more of this beautiful yarn. Some colours proved so popular that we knew we had to dye more so there is still a lot of lovely Titus 4ply to choose from. We had lots of suggestions of colour combinations for this update and so several of those have now also been made into yarn packs which you can find in the Titus 4ply collection and in the Yarn packs collection (Yarn pack in images is Geum, Rosehip and Fuchsia). When you buy a yarn pack you get a discounted price compared to buying the skeins separately. We have so many yarn packs on the website that we also have menu categories to help you find the right pack for your project. There are categories for the number of colours separated by weight and there are also options for the total weight of the packs so hopefully it will be really easy to find the right option.

We recently saw the release of Liz Corke’s Pleuch cowl pattern which used Brimham DK in Pollen. The simple details of the cowl really lent itself to a yarn with some pops of colour and I noticed that we only had semi-solid colours left on the website. So I dyed a few batches of colourways that will work really well in this cowl. I couldn’t resist making one for myself and I used Rose Campion but we also have Pollen (shown in the images), Old Jeans, Wren’s Egg and a few others. You may also have seen Littletheorem’s Autumn Fireside sweater which has also been released and uses Brimham DK in Marigold which is also available on the website.

We have been made aware of an issue which affects iPad users (and possibly other tablet/mobile device users) using our website in which the menus do not stay open making it impossible to select categories – it is detrimental to the website functionality, arrrrgh! We raised it with our tech people and it has now been fixed. Menus no longer appear/disappear when you pass your mouse over them. Instead they will now appear when you click/tap /on them and they’ll be static until you click/tap away from them (or on one of the links to go to a page). That’s across all devices, and we hope it’s helpful – we certainly hope it’s less glitchy!

Titus 4ply is one of our most popular yarns and has been part of the range right from the start! It is a luxurious blend of extrafine Superwash Merino with mulberry silk. It has shine and drape as well as being soft and smooth against the skin. This makes it ideal for garments as well as shawls and even socks. There are lots of fantastic patterns written for Titus 4ply, some of which can be found in our Projects and Patterns blog post. If you have a Titus 4ply project you would like to share in our blog post send us a high resolution image and the project details. These blog posts are constantly being updated so do check back regularly!

A massive update of Titus 4ply went live on the website on Wednesday 9th March and there was a lot to choose from. Some of the most popular colourways sold out really quickly and have now had preorders opened so that people don’t miss out. There are lots of lovely colours in the update and so many of them work well together. For ideas of colour combinations you can check out our update flickr album.

Also in progress we have updates of Brimham DK (Merino/nylon) in dappled colourways; Bowland Aran (Superwash BFL); Nateby 4ply (Merino/nylon/silver Lurex); Eldwick Lace (superkid mohair/mulberry silk); and Carlisle Fingering (extrafine Merino singles). Those are all at different stages of production and will be coming in the next couple of months. I hope you are excited for all these yarns, I definitely am!

Pendle Aran will be back on the website today (Thursday 10th February)! It has been so long since our last update of this yarn as it’s been unavailable, and it is a long-term favourite. It has a bit of history: originally known as Langdale Superwash Aran (a long time ago now!), it was renamed to show that it was the same fibre as Pendle 4ply which has also been in our range for years. We decided to add Chunky and DK weights of this gorgeous yarn and so to show them as a family it made sense for them all to be known as Pendle. The colours included in the update can be seen in the update album over on flickr.

The update will be live on the website in an hour, at 5pm UK time. Pendle Aran is 100% Superwash Extrafine Merino which means it is super soft and snuggly. For project ideas check out our Pendle Aran Patterns and Projects blog post. Three patterns for this yarn are available on our website: Snowy Evening by Jaya of Apoorva Designs, Cardamom Rose by Thea Colman AKA Baby Cocktails and Gatekeeper Cowl by Estelle Hughes.

Jennifer Shiels Toland’s beautiful brioche Winter Frosting hat is a great way to experiment with colour and gain confidence in brioche knitting. It was made using Titus DK in Steel and Rambling Rose and Pennine Mist with Steel but have you considered substituting the yarn for Milburn DK (BFL/silk)? We were thinking about it as this would reduce the overall price of the project. The pattern is available on Jen’s website. Titus DK has also been recently updated so check out the available stock on the website.

Milburn 4ply has been restocked! I wont bore you with the details but things haven’t exactly run smoothly with this batch and so the packaging isn’t what we would normally expect – I’m still trying to find out for sure but the plastic bags are not the recyclable ones I’ve always had before (I’m absolutely gutted about this if I’m honest). Also you might notice the balls of yarn are wound much more loosely and so the yarn bands don’t stay in place. This is an absolute pain for me but I am hoping it won’t make any difference to you because you always pull the labels off and cast on straight away, right?! 😉 Anyway, it’s not across the full range – it’s just eight of the colours and one batch per colour so they shouldn’t be like that for too long. We are working to make sure the next batch is back to normal and really hope it won’t be a problem for you.

It occurred to us (after we saw strong buying patterns in the January sale) that in general Aran yarns are purchased in larger quantities and this can make projects less accessible due to the price, especially with the rising cost of living in the UK being a major issue for most of us at the moment. This got us thinking and we have done some sums, so as a result we have adjusted the price of all Aran yarns and Pendle Chunky. You will find that these yarns are now quite a bit cheaper, hopefully making those larger projects more affordable for everyone. It’s a risky manoeuvre as our costs are also constantly going up, but we will hold out as long as we can. 🙂

Our sale in January cleared a bit of space for new yarn which will be starting to come through soon in the next few weeks. We have also assessed the older stock and added some of it to the Reduced to Clear section of the website. There is plenty to choose from and the discount code for orders over £100 (100THANKS) will apply to yarns in this category. You will notice that Whitfell Chunky has now been added to the reduced section. Some colours are very low in stock while others have quite a large quantity left. We will not be restocking this yarn as it runs out because quite honestly it just doesn’t sell well enough to justify producing more (sadly!). Whitfell Chunky in Natural will continue to be available and restocked (supply permitting) until the other colours have sold out.

There are several updates in progress and in the planning stage so do keep an eye on our socials and sign up to the newsletter so that you don’t miss out on them. Updates coming soon are Titus 4ply (Merino/silk), Keswick Fingering (tweedy Merino with Donegal neps), Bowland Aran (pure Bluefaced Leicester) and Nateby 4ply (Merino, nylon and silver Lurex).

Hello from a busy ECY Shedquarters!

Last week we launched our annual wintry collaboration with Ellen Shek (aka Kalok Shek Ellen) who makes beautiful and practical project bags for us! We’ve named this year’s theme Frost Fair, with the fabric inside the bag having glow in the dark snowflakes on it — it’s SO cool!! In previous years we’ve included Ellen’s bags as part of the secret surprise boxes, however this year we thought we’d do things a bit differently; so you can choose from a number of options on the website — you can get the bag with both the 100g skein and the mini skein, or with just one of them, or you can get the yarn individually. There are only eight bags left at the time of writing so make sure to place your order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Also on the wesbite we have a fresh batch of Festive Fun on Pendle Chunky for those quick winter makes. Pendle Chunky is pure Superwash extra fine Merino and honestly this stuff is so soft and squishy it’s ridiculous. Festive Fun is also available on Rosedale 4ply but again stocks are limited and we are unlikely to dye any more of this colourway until next winter.

As well as those, there are some new batches of Brimham 4ply. You may notice they are multiples of the same colours again but this is part of the dye recipe checking process, and actually by being similar you could make a gorgeous palette out of them together — they’re almost a fade really. Brimham 4ply mini skein fade sets are also back on the website in a variety of colours perfect for beautiful fade designs such as the Transference Shawl by Helda Panagary and the Orford Shawl and Orford Cowl both by Sophie McKane. There are three options: Tarn, Charcoal and Clematis. We do also still have a handful of presentation boxes on the website that can hold up to five mini skeins and would be the perfect way to gift wrap a fade set!

We will be closed from Friday the 26th of November and back to work on Wednesday the 1st of December. This means any orders placed after 4pm on Thursday the 25th will not be shipped until Thursday the 2nd of December at the earliest. Laura will still be looking after emails and behind the scenes stuff but everything else will be dealt with after we get back to work on Wednesday.

It hasn’t escaped our attention that it is Black Friday this week. I will start by saying we are not having a sale but we do have yarn in the Reduced to Clear category if you are looking for a bargain. Instead we wanted to spread some positivity so we will donate 10% of all orders placed from 00:01 on Friday morning until 23:59 on Tuesday (all times given are UK time) to the Mind, a UK based mental health charity. To find out more about who they are and what they do take a look at their website. Winter and the holidays can be a particulary difficult time for a lot of us and so being able to donate to ensure that people are able to access support is a huge honour for us.

If you are looking for some new project inspiration we have a few suggestions for you.

The Sock Knitting Bible by Lynn Rowe is perfect if you enjoy knitting socks. It includes patterns (naturally) but also explains techniques, sock yarns and materials to ensure you get the best results. One of the patterns in the book was written by Vikki Bird and uses our very own Tempo 4ply in Misty Woods in a design worked toe-up that includes cables and a forethought heel. The Sock Knitting Bible is available now from all the usual places (WH Smiths, Foyles, Amazon and many more).

Natalie Warner is releasing another new pattern this Friday. Bitten Gloves are stunning long fingerless mitts made using Titus Lace and Lowther Lace held together. They look so fluffy and cosy but by using two laceweight yarns they will also be lightweight. Lowther Lace is our baby alpaca/silk alternative to the mohair/silk laceweight Eldwick Lace. These two fuzzy yarns are easily interchangeable and we have a variety of colourways available on both bases. The pattern will be available on Natalie’s website on Friday. We have created a collection on the website showing all Titus Lace and Lowther Lace arranged in suggested combinations. We also have a flickr album showing the different combinations so that you can see the skeins together. It’s probably not exhaustive but there are loads to whet your appetite!

The Shifting Sands Cowl is a lovely new pattern from Jaya of Apoorva Designs. It features simple yet effective lace patterns and is worked top down. This pattern uses one skein of Keld Fingering in Heathered Crags which is currently available on the website. This pattern really suits a lightly variegated colourway like this one but would also look stunning in a semi-solid. We also have plenty of other Keld Fingering colourways available to choose from on the website. You can get the pattern on Jaya’s new website as well as on Payhip.

Kits for the Lucky Dip Cowl have been so popular that we have sold out of Milburn 4ply in Black Tulip! We hope to have the next dyelot of this yarn available within the next month (it’s delayed, as is everything these days) but in the meantime kits will be sold with a ball of Milburn 4ply in Charcoal instead of Black Tulip. This is mentioned in the listings but we just wanted to give you a heads up. If you would prefer to use a different colour of Milburn 4ply for the kit just drop us an email and we can create a bespoke kit for you.

That is all from us for today. Don’t forget we do ship orders worldwide!

Hi all, we have lots of exciting news for you, so settle in!

We have received our latest batch of Milburn DK, which means that Wicker is back in stock and we have larger quantities of Black Tulip, Dusk and Estuary on the website. This has enabled us to restock several DK yarn pack options and Magic Circles yarn packs. Magic Circles patterns have sold out but we are expecting a restock next week. It might not be evident on the outside, but this yarn delivery is really big news for us behind the scenes as some of these batches were ordered last September. Their normal maximum turnaround time is ten weeks, so 14 months is quite an extension on that!

We have also added the current dyelots to all our Milburn listings as this is something we get a lot of emails about. It sounds obvious, but it means the titles on the website are much longer because of it, so it does have a logistical impact on various things! The upshot is that if the dyelot you are looking for is not listed then we do not have any of it available. That being said our mill dyed yarns are much more consistent across dyelots and so you should be able to complete a project using a different dyelot.

We have added new batches of hand dyed Brimham High Twist 20g mini skeins to the website this week. There are lots of colours to choose from and a fade set in colourway Tide. This fade set has four skeins rather than the five we normally include (oops). We have colour combination suggestions on flickr in the Brimham High Twist album. We have also added a limited number of mini skein presentation boxes on the website in the mini skein category. They can hold up to five mini skeins making it a great way of gift wrapping them and the box is very much reusable.

Our latest update was Rosedale 4ply which is our gold sparkle sock yarn. We have lots of yarn in this update and I am sure you will be really excited by it. Rosedale 4ply is a blend of Merino, nylon and gold Stellina. The sparkle is very subtle but catches the light beautifully as you move. Pictures don’t do justice to this beautiful yarn – you really have to see it to appreciate it. We have two posts on the blog about Rosedale 4ply: an Introductory blog post and a Projects and Patterns blog post. Both can be found on the Yarn Specific Blog Posts Index page. Rosedale 4ply is perfect for making socks with a subtle sparkle to them. This yarn is also great for shawls and is soft enough to wear next to the skin. The update included full skeins and mini skeins in a variety of colours including some festive colourways and a couple of variegated batches.

Episode 20 of The Wholly Irregular ECY Shedcast is now up on our YouTube channel, just search Eden Cottage Yarns and you should find it! A link to the Show Notes for this episode can be found in the video description. Captions will be added as soon as possible. The Shedcast is a great way to find about all our upcoming updates and see different colour combination suggestions. Also on the YouTube channel you will find the previously promised video about the Lucky Dip Cowl pattern. In it I talk about how to make the cowl, discuss the gauge and show you the Clasped Weft Join technique suggested in the pattern.

The Lucky Dip Cowl leads on nicely to Yarnlings. We know you love them and so do we! We have been listening to requests and so have added some new options to the website. You can now buy packs of 24 Yarnlings in either 4ply or DK. These would be great as an advent idea either for making a small thing (a crochet decoration perhaps?) with each one, or as part of a larger project where you add say a stripe each day. This means that you can buy the following quantities of 4ply Yarnlings: 5, 15, 20 (sock yarns only), 24 and 24 pairs (48 in total). DK Yarnlings are available in quantities of 5 and 24.

We have also been pulling together blog content; You wait ages for a blog post and then three come along in quick succession. The first one released was a reintroduction to Magic Circles by Janie Crow. This has been quite timely as the yarn packs are now back in stock after we had the Milburn DK delivery. All the colours needed for this are available in decent quantities so take a look at the blog post to see the different options and some background information about this wonderful pattern.

Next up… we have been checking out the guidance for shipment dates in the festive season. We need a few extra days to process orders and get them to the post office so please take a look at the blog post to see our guidance on when you will need to place orders by based on your location in the world. As always shipment timings cannot be guaranteed so please order in plenty of time.

If you are looking for gifts, our most recent blog post has been written to help you out with some inspiration. We have organised the list by price so you can select something for any price range. You will also find new options in the Yarn menu which will show you all products below £10, £20 or £50 pounds.

I think that is all for now. Don’t forget we ship worldwide!

Since our last post it has been all go at ECY Shedquarters. We had a great response to the debut update of Keld Aran but there is still a great selection on the website if you havn’t taken a look yet. We have also had a massive update of Keld Fingering which is the original Merino/linen blend, the same as is found in Keld Aran. We have lots of lovely autumnal colours in Keld Fingering and this yarn is just so wonderful. The linen content doesnt take the dye in the same way as the Merino and so you get a rustic look but with a really smooth and soft yarn. You might think that the visible linen slubs could be itchy or irritating but you can’t feel them at all making the yarn soft enough to be worn next to the skin. Some colours have sold out but we still have a great selection available on the website. The image shows Hyssop, Heathered Crags, Faded Bloom and Charcoal.

We have also had a small update of Silverdale DK and Brimham High Twist. Silverdale DK is a blend of Merino, nylon and silver Stellina and this yarn is massively underrated. The update had been timed with the release of a hat pattern using the yarn. Lunar by Su Sayer takes inspiration from the moon to create a beautiful textured pattern. The pattern is available on Payhip here and comes with a large print version for those with additional needs. Silverdale DK gives a good sturdy fabric, has great stitch definition and has the added bones of the subtle silver sparkle running through it which catches the light. Pictures really don’t do justice to this yarn! You can see all the colours from the update in the image.

The week before Halloween we added some seasonal special colourways to the website using Brimham High Twist which is a blend of Merino and nylon in a fingering weight but with a 2ply construction. The plies are tightly spun together to give a really sturdy yarn which takes colour really well. These new spooky special colourways work well with many of the other colours already available on the website or would be great as single skein statement pieces. The image shows Haunted House, Slayer and Pumpkin Seeds.

The other thing keeping us really busy at the moment is the continued excitement for our Yarnlings™. Yarnlings are small balls of yarn which we have in 4ply/fingering weight, DK weight and we also have a few Charcoal aran weight ones! We get a lot of questions about how to use them and have set up a Pinterest board with some ideas. Mostly they are great for small projects or adding a pop of colour into larger projects. What about contrast cuffs or toes on socks, adding a pocket. Using them for little amigurumi or granny square crochet projects? We have some new options for Yarnlings on the website including a 100g sock selection (20 x 5g 4ply Yarnlings all in yarns suitable for socks), 24 Yarnling pairs (48 Yarnlings in a total of 24 types, similar to the kit for the Catvent Cowl by Marna Gilligan but without the pattern download code and project bag) and finally a kit for Victoria’s new design, the Lucky Dip Cowl.

The Lucky Dip Cowl uses one 50g ball of Milburn 4ply in Black Tulip and a 15 Yarnling Lucky Dip. This is a free pattern which you can find on Instagram, on our blog and as a download on our website and Payhip. It would also be a great stashbuster if you have lots of leftovers from other projects. We have lots of kit options on the website for this design; the download on its own, kits with the yarnlings either in a jar or loose and as project bags are now out of stock, kits withough project bags and with Yarnlings in a jar or loose. We will also have pre-orders open for kits with project bags when they are back in stock in early December.

Being out of project bags means that all of our kits and add-on kits are also now showing as out of stock on the website. If you would like to order a kit without a project bag just pop us an email and we can sort that out for you. Our ECY Notions Tins are back on the website, they come with lightbulb pins to use as stitchmarkers in your projects and the tins can then be used to hold any other items you might want.

We will be having a delivery of Milburn DK next week meaning that Wicker will be back in stock and we should have the arrival of Milburn DK in the newest colourway Azalea! This means our Magic Circles kits will also be back in stock. While you wait you could check out our new blog post about this stunning design by Janie Crow. We also have more episodes of The Wholly Irregular ECY Shedcast up on YouTube. These are a great way for us to talk to you about what has been going on, show you the yarns in more detail and suggest colour combinations so do go check our YouTube channel out.

There will also be lots of yarn coming your way very soon as we have Rosedale 4ply and LOTS of mini skeins in the later stages of production!