Filled to capacity with beautiful designs using Rowan’s vast array of cotton yarns, the magazine will take care of your summer wardrobe. This is especially so if, like us, you love donning a liberal splash of colour whenever you step out of the door. These designs make use of colour in several ways: stripes, both bold and tentative, and then some that merge into zigzags, and plenty of flowers that again are either bold or worn like a buttonhole.

For the more romantic among us there is something there for you. Whether by using drop stitch, small details, or full-on  and intricate, lace design is again a feature this year. Combine that with lots of positive ease and dropped shoulders and you have the epitome of casual femininity.

Now the emphasis on both colour and lace may sound a lot like the fastest route to a temper tantrum and tears, but Manfield Crafts is here to help. Reserve a seat on one of our all-day workshops and learn lace or the wonderful language of colourwork — both the intarsia and Fair Isle dialects – or book a one-on-one tutorial for a more personal touch. The details of all our workshops and advice on what is involved in a tutorial can be found here.

Ladies, you can now host your knitting and crochet wishlist at Manfield Crafts. Just pop in or telephone to record your wants wishes and needs so your family can buy something you really want this Christmas.

And, to make birthdays, anniversaries and Mother’s Day more enjoyable, you can keep your list updated throughout the year!

This beautiful yarn is a popular, all-year-round staple for any 4ply project, so we are delighted to be able to offer such a discount on all our stocks of the yarn. The following colours and quantities are available:

5340 Brazil   x   9 balls

C743 Fern   x   4 balls

NZ95 Caramel Twist   x   10 balls

SFN24 Demerara   x   13 balls

£2.50 per ball

100% Superfine Alpaca; 24sts x 33 rows over 10cm; 3.25mm needles; 180m/50g

To take advantage of this marvellous opportunity, visit the shop or contact us via email or telephone.

Join in the Mad Hatter’s tea (… Er, we mean coffee) party by wearing your favourite hat, embellished with something knitted or crocheted, and you might win a KnitPro chart holder. For those of you who blush at such tomfoolery, bare your head with our compliments and just join in with some applause.

We are also looking for donations to our raffle. These should be along knitting or crochet lines, such as a knitted pair of socks or sock blockers or some stitch markers. Anything is welcome. As a start, Rowan has donated a year’s membership to it’s International Club as our 1st Prize and Laurie-an has knitted a shawl in Louisa Harding’s Grace as 2nd Prize. Other prizes will be numbered.

For those of a more general crafty bent, we will have a table full of cooked or sewn goodies – again, donations are welcome – for sale on the day.

Finally, to prevent everyone having to think of what to bring to knit while sipping tea and coffee, we will have a Lucky Pattern Dip. All patterns follow the tea party thematic, but what you will actually pick out is up to Fate.

The day begins at 10am and finishes at 4pm. Lunch is included in the cost of the workshop, which is £50, as is all refreshments throughout the day.

As places are limited, any who wish to attend should contact Emma or Laurie-an to reserve your seat immediately. The day begins at 10am and finishes at 4.30pm, with a charge of £5 plus a contribution to the picnic lunch. Refreshments throughout the day are included.

See you there!

Contact the shop for details or to confirm your place.

For all those who need inspiration for knitting their Mad Hat, pop into the shop and browse the library shelves for ideas. Alternatively, dig out that 1970s hat you wore for Cousin Muriel’s wedding and knit flowers, insects or objects to sew onto the brim. No idea is too wacky or strange; the theme for the day is, after all, mad with a capital ‘M’.

Likewise, any ladies kind enough to knit something for our raffle, let Emma or Laurie-an know so they may plan for the day. Things to knit would be up to you, but the above notice includes a few suggestions. In advance, we thank you.

The first is one half of this year’s Louisa Harding delivery. Grace has a lovely silken sheen, which is hardly surprising as this yarn is a silk and wool blend. A DK weight, as well as beautiful garments, it is ideal for knitting shawls and long, lacy scarves. Especially ideal when the second half of the Grace delivery arrives. This will be a complementary finer weight yarn with beads woven into the strands to make a string of girly goodness. 

Can you just imagine this as the fringe or edging to a beautiful Grace shawl? Yes, one’s on my to-do list, too.

From the three arrivals from Rico, we must straight away blow the trumpet of one: Romance. This is an aran-weight mohair mix that, while not set to rival Kidsilk Haze, is a serious contender for those who balk at Rowan’s price tag. At just £3.99 per 25g, Romance will encourage more people to use mohair in their garments. It feels a tad coarser, not having the silk content that Kidsilk Haze has, but one can ignore that when it’s more than half the price. The colours Rico have chosen for this range are beautiful. No other word will suffice. From a gentle dark cream, through a soft terracotta and duck egg blue, to anthracite and black, there is surely one shade to please everyone.

Then there is the Cashlana. The stress here is on the first syllable, with the yarn comprising a blend of cashmere and superfine merino. We can well imagine there are some readers drooling already and we will encourage that reaction in more by revealing a price tag of £3.50 per 25g. For cashmere? That certainly brings cashmere within the reach of the average purse.

The palette is small and geared towards the baby clothes end of the market, but with a mid grey added, a pair of fingerless mitts or socks is another to-do project for this winter.

Lastly from Rico is their newest chunky weight yarn, called Galaxy. Several of you have already earmarked this as the perfect winter yarn. And it is. Similar to the Poems range, this chunky is strong, a warm wool, and a perfect blend of subtle shading. This one, though, has the added bonus of sparkling sequins woven into the strands.

At £5.50 per ball, this is another yarn that suits most pockets, making that warm winter jumper a possibility without having to cut back on shoe/handbag money.