BritYarn is open!

Hello everyone.  Just a quick post to say BritYarn is open!  Our website is www.brityarn.co.uk 

Don't forget while your browsing the range of British wool on offer to check out our collection of stunning patterns by British based indie designers including Karie Westermann, Kate Davies and Rachel Coopey.  

I am so excited to see what you all make.  Let me know via Twitter, Instagram, Ravelry or email.  

Lots of British woolly love to you all.
Isla

BritYarn's Ravelry Group

Hello everyone.  Thank you so much for reading and sharing BritYarn's blog posts.  

I want to invite you all to BritYarn's Ravelry group (if you are not sure what Ravelry is I have included some information at the bottom of this post).  BritYarn's Ravelry group is called 'BritYarn' (no shocks there!). 

The aim of the group is 'Celebrating and Sharing our love of British Wool’ - BritYarn's motto.  There are threads set up to chat about your day, share your British Wool WIPs and your British Wool FO's.  If you have bought some British wool or fleece direct from a small farm or you have been to an event and met some rare breed sheep (I am visiting the Lincolnshire Show this year) let us all know.  Feel free to create your own threads if there is anything you want to ask or share with the group.  It will also be the place where I will post BritYarn's news, updates and host Knit Alongs (KAL's).

Hope to see you over on Ravelry and don't forget you can find BritYarn on Twitter and Instagram. 

What is Ravelry? 

Ravelry is a free place where knitters, crocheters, weavers and spinners can keep track of their projects, search for patterns, look up what had been made with different yarns and record their stash.  It also has a community area where people can join groups (like BritYarn's) and chat in the forums.  It is a great way to meet like minded people, share what you have been making with others or help and provide moral support to someone struggling with a pattern.  I have made many online friends by joining groups I have been interested in.  Once you have signed in to Ravelry you can join BritYarn's group by clicking on the Groups heading at the top and search for BritYarn.  Ravelry also has a really useful Getting Started page.  

BritYarn's Ravelry Page

British Wool at BritYarn

Hello everyone!  

Things are really picking up the pace here as it is not long until we open our virtual doors on Tuesday 2nd June.  

I thought I would share with you some of the things BritYarn will have available on the 2nd June.  This is by no means everything, more like an a sneak preview to wet your appetites!    

Image courtesy of Blacker

First up representing laceweight wool is Blacker Yarns St Kilda. This wool is a blend of Boreray (the rarest of British sheep breeds) Soay and Shetland.  The wool feels soft to the touch and comes in the natural fleece colour.  I really love this wool, I think its comparable in softness to Bluefaced Leicester but with a bit more texture.

I love 4 ply yarn and have decided to share two with you here. 

WYS Signature 4 ply Sour Apple

First up is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply.  This wool is perfect for socks and shawls and is machine washable. It is 75% British wool (35% Bluefaced Leicester) and 25% nylon.  The colour range is brilliant from the bright 'Sweet Shop' shades to the earthy Spice Rack range. The colours work really well together so a good option if you are thinking about wool for a two colour shawl.  In case you're wondering BritYarn has every colour! 

Britsock Indian Summer

I can't tell you how giddy I got when this next wool was delivered.  This is The Knitting Goddess Britsock which is hand dyed by Joy. I seriously considered keeping them all for myself!  Britsock is British to the core as not only is the wool British (40% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Wensleydale, 20% Alpaca) the 20% Nylon content is made in Britain.  BritYarn has a selection of semi solid and self striping colours available. 

Bowland DK

Double Knitting (DK) wool is next and I am surrounded by some great options but I thought I would show you this one.  It is Eden Cottage Yarns Bowland which is hand dyed, 100% Bluefaced Leicester and machine washable.  This is one of those brilliant yarns which is perfect for a multitude of uses.  It is really soft so ideal for garments worn next to the skin including little baby knits. It also makes warm and cosy shawls if you are looking for something thicker.  The colours Victoria dyes are stunning and I know you will love them all!

Wensleydale Longwool Buttertubs

Getting onto the aran weights this is Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop. This wool has a slight halo, amazing lustre and has excellent drape.  The ball on my desk just gleams and I can't help giving it a little squish. I have plans to make a jumper out of this wool - I just haven't decided which pattern yet!  As you might have guessed from the name it is made from 100% Wensleydale wool.     

Last up is chunky wool.  As we all know chunky wool is perfect for quick projects from jumpers to last minute gifts.  This wool is no exception.  It is Jamieson & Smith Real Shetland Chunky. It is made from 100% Shetland wool and comes in seven shades inspired by the Shetland Islands.

J&S Real Shetland Chunky Steekit

I hope this has given you an insight into the treats available to you all come the 2nd June.

Thank you again for all your support, shares and best wishes.  I love hearing from you.

The best of woolly wishes to you all.

Isla

BritYarn Launch Date

Hi! I hope you are all well.  I know many of you have been waiting a few months for this to be revealed so, without further a do, here it is.

BritYarn will open its virtual doors on Tuesday 2nd June 2015.  

In case your wondering BritYarn's wonderful logo (and business cards) was designed by Melly-Em Clark, a Lincoln based illustrator.  Melly-Em has an Etsy store and can be found on Twitter @mellyemclark 

www.brityarn.co.uk

Twitter @brityarn

Instagram brityarn

Ravelry Group BritYarn

Hello and Welcome to BritYarn

A very big, warm and British woolly welcome to BritYarn's first blog post.  BritYarn's online shop will be launching soon (details will be announced in the next few weeks), but first I wanted to formally introduce myself and BritYarn to you all. 

My name is Isla and I live in North Lincolnshire.  I am an avid knitter (and have some basic crochet skills). I will knit anything as long as I love the pattern and the wool (life is to short to knit things you don't like in my opinion).  I like to have several projects on the go including a garment of some description and socks.  

I started to take an interest in finding out where the wool I was buying came from in 2013 as my knowledge of knitting and wool increased. This led me to discovering Ravelry, blogs and podcasts including Knit British by Louise Scollay.  The rest as they say is history!  

BritYarn will be an online shop and will focus on celebrating and sharing my love of British wool.  Following this theme, BritYarn will only stock wool that has only been grown in Great Britain (including the Falkland Islands).  BritYarn will also highlight the journey the wool had made before it ends up on your needles, hooks or looms.  There will be blog posts, tweets and Instagram posts about the wool, the sheep and the people involved in the different processes to share our love of British wool. 

BritYarn will also bring you stunning patterns and books from British based designers, stitch markers and project bags.  All supporting British based businesses.  BritYarn's 'Woolly Principles' underline everything that BritYarn does.

So, to bring you up to date, over the last two months lots of extremely large boxes have been arriving. I have been taking advantage of dry, bright days to take photos for the website. On dull days I have been busy at the laptop writing things up and getting everything ready. There are still a few more pretties to arrive but as I type I am surrounded by an amazing and diverse range of British wool!  It makes me smile just looking at it and I cannot wait to share them with you.  

Here is little sneak peek of what is on the shelves.  Apologies for the wobbly video..... 

You might recognise a few things but expect to see rare British sheep breeds, interesting blends and a selection of yarn in the ever popular Bluefaced Leicester.  There is also some very special British wool in an exclusive range of colourways!  Did you spot one of them?

Well I think that is me done for now.  You can subscribe to the blog through the email sign up option or via Bloglovin. You can also follow BritYarn on Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest news and to share your British woolly projects.  Links can be found on the right hand side. I would love to chat with you and to hear what you are making with your British wool.  

Lets celebrate and share our love of British wool together!
The best of woolly wishes to you all
Isla