Artesano Designs

One of my fellow hookers recently put me on to the very gorgeous Artesano Yarns in the village of Spencers Wood just down the road from me. Up until the last few months they were only selling their beautiful yarns in shops but they have now pulled out of retail and are selling direct to the customer on-line which means they can pass on some amazing savings.

 All of their yarns are 100% natural with beautiful blends of Alpaca, Peruvian Wool and Silk.

  There is the exquisite Handpainted laceweight, stunning handpainted 4-ply as well as really thick and cosy Aran, some fabulous Superwash Blend and delicate Defintion Sock Yarn.

 Since concentrating on their on-line business they have also opened up their warehouse doors twice and invited the public in to browse through and stroke the beauties on display!

They plan to run these open days on a regular monthly basis and hope to run workshops too so keep an eye on their website for details.

I approached Jenny and Tom (who own and run the company) with a view to showcasing their yarns at my classes and more importantly on the Hooky Workshops Weekend Away I'm organising for September. They were as enthusiastic about the idea as I was and I came away with a bag of swatches and colour cards to show at all my classes.

This hand-painted lace is simply delicious!

I noticed that whilst there were lots of lovely patterns for knitters on their website there weren't for hookers...and this needed to change! I volunteered to try a few new things out and so my new venture began. I left the warehouse with a bag full of beautiful Aran,  a design in my head and, more importantly, a fresh notepad!

Whilst I was busy designing  and writing the pattern Jenny was busy emailing her contacts in the media who were keen to hear all about our new venture together..there has already been a little piece in The Knitter Magazine,  Knit and Now 

and watch out for next month's Simply Homemade Magazine too...

Apparently we'll feature soon in a rather well-known crochet publication so watch this space...it's all very exciting and I still quite can't believe how quickly it's all happened...talk about living the dream!

In the meantime here's a very sneaky peek at my new poncho designs which will be available to buy in a pack from Artesano in September...

Who said photo shoots were glamorous??!

I have already done the next design which is a pair of  Fair-Isle style Fingerless Gloves using the
delectable Handpainted 4 Ply. 

My favourite is the pale pinky mauve one in the middle of the photo...it just looks SO beautiful when worked up. 

 It is such a simple pattern but so effective as the stitch I use combined with the colour-changing wool really does make it look like hand-knitted Fair-Isle, a look I've always loved but never thought I could achieve in crochet without changing colour every other stitch.

This is it...it's called Meadow Flowers...isn't it stunning?

 The pattern will also be available through Artesano from September/October as a pack so all you need to do is choose the colour you'd like!

So life is pretty busy here in Barkham. I'm in the middle of the school summer holidays with 3 kids at home, in the middle of a large house extension too which means no proper kitchen for a few weeks and dust everywhere,  in the middle of designing my next pattern pack for Artesano as well as running my hooky class and planning the Hooky Weekend away in September. Phew. But  I wouldn't have it any other way.

 Oh yes, I'm also planning a new Mystery Cal which will start in February called The Lazy Hookers CAL..here's  a taster...