More qiviut

My clever son-in-law has sorted my problem with photos so I thought I would post the couple of photos that I meant to put on the site yesterday.

The proud couple with their beautiful yarn is Vivian and Ozzie from North of the Arctic Circle in Alaska.

We really enjoyed meeting them and entertaining them in Spin A Yarn.
I actually ought to have taken loads of photos but couldn't really concentrate........
Not sure how I remove the date from the photo. But never mind it'll be good to remember the exact time and day that they visited.

Cheers

Joyce
xx

 

 

 

Its been an exciting week for a yarn addict

Its been a very exciting week! Spin A Yarn was visited by Vivian and Ozzie from Arctic Qiviut, Alaska on Tuesday afternoon with all their precious goodies from North of the Arctic Circle.

My finger twitched when I received an email from Vivian a few months back asking whether any shops were interested in seeing and touching qiviut, the precious yarn spun from the Musk Ox of the Arctic.
Well a yarn addict like me could hardly say no!
 I invited expert lace knitting customers, Anniken Allis and Jane Sowerby over to the shop for some advice but really I just went completely to pieces. Qiviut is so beautiful - soft and light as a fluffy cloud I couldn't think straight and just had to buy some.

 For the shop I said, but actually the precious goodies have been hidden in the stockroom and I'm not sure if I can bare to put them out for sale. First, we have to find a special cupboard as qiviut is the most expensive yarn in the world.
I didn't buy many skeins of 100% qiviut but chose lots with silk, baby alpaca and cashmere added.

I found these photos of the Musk Ox.  Don't you thionk that he is quite magnificent?

I also have a couple of photos of the yarn itself and Vivian and Ozzie. Unfortunately my dreadful computer skills have let me down again and I cannot get the photos to appear on this blog.
I'll have to find a techie friend to help me tomorrow.

The other excitement this week was the arrivel of a huge box of Rowan samples on their way from Ally Pally Knitting Show home to Holmefirth via Bovey Tracey. We've all had a wonderful time indulging ourselves trying everything on and deciding what we really have to knit.

Our 5th Fashion Show takes place on Thursday evening at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen with Martin Storey and Alison Crowther Smith.We can't wait!! But more news soon.

Joyce x

Our eccommerce site is now 1 week old. We have Rowan, Touchyarns, Rareyarns, Artesano, Manos, Blacker and Noro available to by online already.
However........I've just got back from a 10 day holiday and now Verity has gone to Oz for a whole 3 weeks. Not the best time to open a website you might say but we've been keeping everyone waiting for such a long time that I decided to just go for it....... ever the eternal optimist!!

Don't forget that you can still buy mailorder by ringing 01626 836203. We're always happy to chat and help.

What's new?

As usual huge boxes of yarn keep arriving. Its always a surprise to me because I don't seem to be able to envisage exactly how much I am ordering! A bad admisssion from a yarn shop owner I know but I think most our our customers know that I am the really addict when it comes to yarn. It makes it easy to understand my customers!!

Our latest arrivals are the beautiful skeins of Manos 4 ply Silk Blend. These are bound to be popular as the shades are so vibrant and beautiful.
In the same box were the new skeins of Artesano British Sheep Breeds Superwash Chunky which have been spun up in Yorkshire by James Laxton, one of the only spinners with the vision to keep his mill going when all the others closed down.
Its the same mill which has spun Debbie Bliss's Blue Faced Leicester Aran yarn.
For all customers who believe that British wool is scratchy please take the time to feel these new British yarns.
Oh of course I mustn't forget Rowan yarns who have been trying to revive the British Wool Industry for a few years and now have an extensive range of British Wool. Plus Blacker yarns in Launceston of course.

We find it very exciting that so many established yarn companes are using British wool for their products and stock a number of lines in the shop, even if they are not on the website yet.


Glamourous yarns.................................
I find that I'm often thinking along the same lines as Rowan. The arrival of their new Kidsilk Glamour is just for me! Its a kidsilk haze with sequins! Perfect for Christmas presents.
I need to take some new photos in the shop tomorrow as these ramblings without photos must be very boring..
I'll tell you about the forthcoming visit from qiviet suppliers in Alaska in another post as well as our latest Rowan Fashion Show with Martin Storey and Alison Crowther Smith.

Cheers

Joyce

At last our new website is ready!

All my previous posts of the last 6 years seem to have vanished so this one seems like starting all over again. I'm hoping that we will manage to find a place for the old posts in our archive but am not sure how to do that at the moment. Meanwhile I feel as though our history has been wiped.

And we do have a lot of history... From the light bulb moment of starting a yarn shop in tiny premises in our small but beautiful Devon town of Bovey Tracey on the edge of Dartmoor to this brand new venture of ecommerce from our current large shop in the middle of town.

Along the way we have hosted many, many workshops and now send newsletters/workshops out to 4,000 people all around the country. Our wonderful teachers include famous individuals such as Claire Crompton, Anniken Allis, Alison Crowther Smith and Debbie Abrahams.

We've staged 5 fashion shows with Debbie Bliss from Designer Yarns and Martin Storey and Alison Crowther Smith from  Rowan at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen who provide wonderful atmospheric premises and delicious food.

From running the shop completely on my own for 2 years I now have the help of Verity, our full time computer person, Sue, our part time manager and assistants, Ali, Di, Patsy, Yvonne and newcomer Jane. We're a friendly, happy bunch who are always ready to help with problems. We are surrounded all day by gorgeous, soft yarns in brilliant colours and we all love yarns!!

Look forward to seeing lots of you in the shop. Also you can join us on Ravelry, Facebook and Twitter.

Kind wishes

Joyce
This is a photo from history when Debbie Bliss visited the shop