Sunday 17 July 2016

The Stylecraft Blogstars

Imagine all your favourite knit and crochet bloggers getting together for a weekend with a rather well-known yarn manufacturer and you've got a pretty awesome combination.

Let me introduce you to the Sylecraft Blogstars:



From left to right, back row:
Sandra Paul (Cherry Heart), Julia Marsh (Hand Knitted Things), Helen Kurtz (The Knitting Exploits of Josie Kitten), and me.

Front Row: Kathryn Senior (Crafternoon Treats), Heather Leal (The Patchwork Heart), Phil Saul (The Twisted Yarn), Lucy (Attic24), and Sue Pinner (Shropshire Scrapper Suz).

And not forgetting the three who couldn't be with us: Jane Crowfoot (Janie Crow), Emma Varnam (Emma Varnam) and Angela Armstrong (Get Knotted Yarncraft).

And so what did we get up to, I bet you're wondering?
Well, first I had to make my way to the Mill in Yorkshire, where we were treated to a tour by Richard Brown, owner of Stylecraft and its subsidaries.

Gorgeous views in every direction

Ever wondered how yarn is spun?
It starts off like this in huge squishy bundles:

ENORMOUS vats of yarn
And is spun through a series of the most enormous, noisy machines:

I thought these were sweets at first...



Richard, showing us how the yarn is twisted during manufacturing.




It's steamed to remove the twist, until it resembles something fine and beautiful like this:


This is one of the test rooms. I want a wall like that in my craft room.

It was so interesting to see manufacturing on such a large scale.

As if that wasn't enough, we were then invited to see the new collections of yarn. Here's one of the mood boards for the new collections. It's called 'World Marauder'. I love the colours.


And this is one of the new ranges, inspired by the colours:


It's called Batik and is wonderfully soft, with 80% Acrylic, 20% wool content. I can't wait to try it (I have lots of ideas already!). And check out Sue's blog, where she has links to lots of patterns using this yarn.

And this lovely stuff is called Yarn Stories. A beautiful, premium 100% wool, available in Merino or Merino and Alpaca and made in good old Blighty. The colours are amazing and it is sooooo squishy.


We were also told about some new exciting yarns and projects to come, but my lips are sealed. It's top-secret stuff.
You'll have to stay tuned.

So what's to come from the Blogstars?
Well, we'll be working on new projects for you, and there will be a blog tour in October, where we will reveal our patterns (in plenty of time for you to be planning those Christmas* projects). There will also be giveaways a-plenty.

*yes, I did mention the c-word. Yes, I know it's only July. Sorry about that.

The gorgeous and sparkly ' Cabaret' DK

So do pop along and check out the other bloggers. Lots of them are far more organised than me and have already blogged about their Mill visit. And they've got so many gorgeous projects to inspire you.


Enjoy your week,
Sarah X


10 comments:

  1. Oh I'm loving all that yarny goodness. I'm so excited to see your new patterns too! Thanks for sharing your awesome experience with us. xoxox

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    1. Thank you Angela!
      I can't wait to see what you get up to with your yarn, too!!
      Have a lovely week,
      Sarah xx

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  2. Great post thanks for the mention...looking forward to seeing what you create with the goody bag xx

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  3. Oh this is very interesting! and it is so nice to see you girls!!
    Rose. xx

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  4. So good to meet you. Thank you for the mention. I missed out on the mill tour so it's good to see behind the scenes here. The work test area image looks particularly interesting. Best regards Julia

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  5. Great post Sarah, cannot wait to see what you all come up with x

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  6. You are very lucky ladies. Can't wait to see what you come up with

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  7. You are so rock n roll!
    I must say I am liking those new toning, more subtle stylecraft colours!
    looks like fun?!
    best Ashley xx

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  8. What a fantastic opportunity! You must have left feeling completely inspired. I think I would have gone a little crazy around all that yarny goodness.

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I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment or ask a question and l'll reply to you right here.
Have a fab day.
Sarah Xx