CLOSING DOWN SALE!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Following on from my last post, the shop has now - officially - closed - although we are still in there painting and sorting and customers are still coming in and buying wool!!

We are pretty low on stock now so we've now reduced all wool by 50% (except for Guernsey 5ply and Cornish Organic Wool) and all patterns are down to just £1.00.

Buy now to avoid disappointment - when it's gone, it's gone!

Casting Off

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that, after over 30 years of trading - 9 on my watch - Knit Wits in Penzance is closing.

As many of you will know, the shop has been on the market for 2 years but the lack of a buyer, both of our boys now having moved onto University and our desire to do something different has brought us to this difficult decision.

Should anyone out there have a longing to live in Penzance and own a wool shop then now's your chance to come forward!

In the meantime, there are further reductions in the shop and online so snap them up now!!

Thank you for your support over the years and a very big thank you to our staff, Marie and Tracey, for their wonderful support over the years.

It Always Happens When You're Away ...!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

It always happens when you're away ..... We are in Scotland having safely delivered youngest son to Uni and poor Marie has broken her wrist (badly).  So, I'm sorry to say that - for this week only (15th- 20th September) - the shop will only be open on Tuesday (16th) and Thursday (18th) (10am - 4pm) and Saturday (20th) from 1.30pm.  We asked eldest son (who is manning the fort at home) if he fancied a turn in the shop but he said he wouldn't know how to turn the till on!!  Apologies for any inconvenience but I'm sure everyone will join me in wishing Marie a speedy recovery and, in the meantime, you can continue to order online as usual.  Thanks! 

Finished - At Last!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Over the last few days (and weeks) I have sewn in a lot of ends:

 This pile is just a small number of the total.

The blanket is BIG!

and colourful:

and should cheer up his room and keep him warm during those cold Scottish nights:

It's been a really great project and a labour of love:

and, yes, I'm really pleased it's over!!

Normal life can now resume!

Knitting Psychology

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Can't believe it's been almost a month since my last entry but, as ever, I haven't been sitting around twiddling my thumbs!

I am still doing battle with Tom's University Blanket but am pleased to say that the end is definitely in sight - just 9 more squares a ton of ends to weave in and an applied i-cord edge and I'll be done!! - which has got me to thinking about the psychology of knitting:

We decide we want a new project so we trundle off to our local yarn shop (if we're lucky enough to have one) and we trawl through their collection of hundreds of patterns and, in time, we find the perfect pattern and the perfect yarn.  We are excited - this project is going to be GREAT - we can't wait to get home and get started.

We cast on and get cracking and it's great - all is well - we've made the perfect choice - the yarn is great, the pattern is great - we show it to our partners (repeatedly) - they grunt and feign interest and we rave about the wonders of our latest project.

For a few days (or possibly weeks) we continue to enthuse about this project.

And then something happens.  At some indeterminate point our enthusiasm begins to wane - if we're knitting socks it may be half way through the second one, for a garment it could be the second sleeve - but, whatever it is we're knitting, we (almost) always reach this point. 

If - at this point - we re-visit our yarn shop then it's entirely likely that our previous, much loved project is doomed.  Doomed forever to be that wip (work in progress), doomed to be shoved in a bag whilst the next, best, most exciting project in the world is cast on.  Doomed to be shoved in the back of a cupboard and forgotten about for a very long time.

If we're good and don't stray our project becomes a labour of love and loyalty.  We stick with it because we really do want to wear it at some point.  We do still really like the picture on the pattern but, oh boy, the knitting part is becoming tedious and boring and, really, we JUST WANT IT DONE!!

And, then, when the knitting's all finished we realise that - really - there's still a long way to go - the edgings, the sewing up, the finishing touches - they seem to go on ... and on ... and on......

But, then, we finish!  Hoorah!!  All done!  We try it on.  We show our partner (who feigns interest again).  We wear it out.  People comment.  We say (proudly) "oh, yeah, I made it".

And, then, we forget the days when we really found it a drag and we go back to the yarn shop and we do it all over again ...... and we find the next, best, most amazing pattern and yarn and it's going to be the best bit of knitting ever and we're going to finish it in record time and it's never going to get boring.  Yup, this next project is going to be GREAT!


If I EVER mention knitting another blanket would someone please remind me about the point where it becomes a boring and tedious labour of love.  I won't listen to you (obviously) but at least you can say "I told you so" when I get there!

Summer Sale at Knit Wits!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

Well ... it's that time of year when we need to clear some room on our shelves so - yes - it's Summer Sale Time!

We have 4 Debbie Bliss yarns with 25% off.  Angel:

 Angel Prints:

Rialto Lace:

and Juliet:

Three Adriafil yarns with 25% off.  Margarita:

Alchimia:

which means that our Alchimia Cowl Kits are also reduced by 25%:

and Energia:

Adriafil's "Bloom" at just £1.99 - which is 44% off:

and 3 Adriafil yarns at 50% off.  Dakota:

 Furetto:

and Vesuvio:

We are also selling off  ALL Katia Triana, Triana Lux and Rizos scarf yarn at just £1.99 per ball!!!  (Triana Lux was originally £7.95!).

Our last remaining balls of Can Can Scarf Yarn are now £4.50 (originally £9.99) !!

We also have Icelandic Lopi pure wool reduced by 25% to just £3.90 per 100g ball:

And Rico's "Summer Print" tape yarn reduced by 25% to just £2.89:

We also have bags of 10 x 50g balls of Cornish Organic Wool DK reduced from £49.99 to £39.99 which is, effectively, Buy 8 Get 2 Free!  I can't make our website show this reduction so EITHER give us a ring in the shop on (01736) 367069 OR order 8 balls and then send us an email saying that you'd like the free 2 as well!  - We'll probably have worked it out anyway but an email never hurts!

That's it for now - ENJOY our fantastic savings!!!!!!!!!!

All prices showing on our site are the sale prices.

25% off All Aran Weight Yarns For One Week - and a new Aran hat!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

For those of you who haven't found out by other means (Facebook, Newspage or Window Display), we have 25% off all our Aran Weight Yarns for the next week!

25% is a saving worth making the most of so check out our Aran weight yarns and pick up a bargain!

In honour of the sale I quickly designed my "Crazy Stupid Hat", using Adriafil's Stella Jacq self-patterning Aran weight yarn.  In essence, the front and back are two different colour and with just the single tassel you can wear the hat a myriad of ways:

Colour 1:

 Colour 2:

 Colour 1:

Colour 2:

Half and half:

Just silly (useful if you need to dash to the shops and can't be bothered to put make-up on and don't really mind that you can't see where you're going):

Happy Sale Knitting everyone!!

Porthcurno to Land's End (and back!)

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

We're almost at the point of taking this fantastic hot weather for granted but I hear it could be on the change so we couldn't waste a moment of it.

You may remember that, way back in March, we did "Will's Walk" but, at the end of Day 2, we'd taken the sensible precaution of leaving the coast path at Porthcurno and finishing the walk by road.  So, yesterday, in glorious sunshine, we decided to complete the final leg from Porthcurno to Land's End.  The last time we'd been at Porthcurno it was getting dark, it was cold and we'd been walking for 2 days so were feeling a little jaded.  Yesterday couldn't have been more different:

That is not a postcard (although it could be).  That is Porthcurno beach yesterday morning - does it ever get more perfect? - I think not.  We walked on and caught another perfect shot looking back down to the beach:

From there it's not too far to Porth Chapel beach (again, perfect but a bit more of a scramble to get to):

And thence on to Porthgwarra and its distinctive path through the rock:

There was a film crew at Porthgwarra and I believe they're filming a new Poldark series - can the re-make possibly be as good as the original?!

Again, the sea at Porthgwarra was glorious and stupendously clear:

and, from there, the coastal views were spectacular all the way to Land's End (where we enjoyed a well deserved Cornish ice cream!):

On the way we just missed this cow giving birth to her tiny, stumbling little calf - Mum was eating the afterbirth as we watched her baby miraculously finding her udder:

This arch and Longships Lighthouse always mean that Land's End is close!

We walked back across the fields and were delighted to walk through around this field with its edge border of wild flowers - daisies, poppies and the occasional cornflower - presumably for insects and birds - really beautiful:

We rarely visit this but of coastline, preferring to walk straight from our door, but we are planning more expeditions to other parts of the coast we've never visited so we can "fill in the gaps"!

The Crocheted Thing

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

I've blogged about my bedspread before, which I started about 2 years ago having sorted my stash and realised that the situation was getting out of control:

It was (and pretty much remains) my only crochet project - nothing like starting with something small.  Here it is in the early days with the now {sadly} deceased Deidre:

Each row is crocheted back and forth and it takes me an evening to do one row.  It also takes quite a lot of yarn to crochet one row (it reaches from floor to floor over our king sized bed) so can only be worked with almost full balls from the stash - clearly I had quite a few of these.  Here it is in situ in October last year:

Since then it has grown some more:

and requires just a few more rows to reach right up to the top of the bed.

Yesterday, the builder finishing our bathroom floor decided to use our bed as a work bench (despite the obvious application of a dust sheet and the fact that it was a glorious day and any normal, sensible person would have considered doing all their sawing outside).  In the process of cutting up hardboard to cover the floor prior to the laying of the vinyl on Monday he managed to slice through a small piece of my blanket (and the dust sheet) - going through 2 colours, of course - and covering our entire bedroom in a layer of cloying dust.

I found the hole this morning.

I nearly wept.  I shouted a lot.  I may have, inadvertently, cursed the entire male species in my fury.  I definitely accused all men of being careless, thoughtless and disrespectful.  I think I might have lost it (whatever "it" is) for a while.

I have now found some (almost) matching wool to repair the hole tonight.

On the plus side, FB is spending the whole of this afternoon (whilst I'm in the shop) dusting, washing down and hoovering our bedroom; thereby proving that not all men are thoughtless.

Thanks FB, for restoring my faith and (some) of my sanity.

Cornwall at its Absolute Best!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

When Cornwall looks this good why would anyone want to go anywhere else?!

Yesterday was a glorious day so we set off, with friends, to make the most of it - over to the north coast:

Look at this wonderful old field system:

  

 

and down to the coast:

From here we walked back, sat in the garden drinking Pimm's and ate a wonderful barbecue (and Tracy's astonishing chocolate cheesecake). 

The perfect Sunday!

Another Beautiful Walk (and another blanket)

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

After a manically busy couple of weeks during which Tom returned from his gap year - early, so he could surprise Guy on his 21st birthday at Uni - we drove a big circuit to collect and deliver presents {Cornwall, Oxfordshire [for lunch], Buckinghamshire [overnight], Shropshire [overnight], Somerset [overnight], Cornwall [collapse in a heap]} things are now returning to some kind of normality (if, by normality you understand that this means clothes all over the landing, lights left on in every room and no food in the fridge {or cupboards}) and our priority was a good yomp on Sunday.

Tom joined us, which was really good, and his presence seemed to have the effect of upping the pace!  FB denies this but I'm convinced that two lots of testosterone inevitably leads to competition and, thus, the pace increases!  So, we yomped up to Chun Quoit (quite possibly my favourite Quoit):

and then down to the coast:

the path is looking glorious with all the spring flowers:

and then back up over Watchcroft to home:

bluebells and foxgloves in the foreground, St Michael's Mount just visible in the background.

For those of you who've missed it, I've just finished a new baby blanket:

in Adriafil's "Energia" - just 4 balls (one ball for each square) and the border is knitted in integrally so no edgings to add on - Simples! (And the pattern is FREE when you buy 4 balls!)

In case you haven't noticed, we are also now on Facebook so please do go and "Like" our page!

I'm slowly lurching into the 21st century!