Dreaming of a Yarn Filled Christmas

I cannot believe that it is less than a week now to Christmas. So much has happened over the last few months.

The biggest change is that I have moved back to Cheshire from York which I am absolutely loving - it is great to be back near my family again after 4 years in York. I have moved to the little village of Bollington which is absolutely beautiful.

Say hello to Pure Purl Headquarters...



The lease runs out in January and I was debating whether to renew it or not, but after today there's no way I can't. It is just the most beautiful place to live.

And on to more Yarn related news...

In November we attended our very first show - Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show. We only had a small stand - but it was perfectly formed! It was so fantastic to meet so many of our lovely customers, and meet lots of new ones too.
We introduced some beautiful new yarns for the shows which are now on the website - Dream in Color, Lorna's Laces, Be Sweet and the gorgeous Lantern Moon knitting needles, crochet hooks and accessories.

All of the new yarns are available on the website - www.purepurl.com

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Moving House

Things have been a wee bit manic lately.  I have been in the process of moving Pure Purl headquarters from York back to my native Stockport. As you can imagine this has been no easy feat with the amount of wool we stock (currently stashed at my mums!)

York has been my home for the past 4 years and I absolutely adore it. I thought I would share some things I love about a wonderful city...

• Whenever I go into town I see things I have never seen before, wonderful historic buildings and stunning architecture
• I love living 5 minutes away from one of the most beautiful cities in England, yet it doesn't feel "city-like" at all.
• The gorgeous independent shops where you can find some real treasures.
• The Minster - and particularly the wonderful Christmas carol service that really gets me in a festive mood.
• Happy memories of being at university with my friends!
• Lovely friendly people 

I have also been trying to work on my Babette, and with all the chaos it has been great to have a project that I can pick up and put down as well as being very portable. My cat Brandon seems to like it too!

Changes

Yesterday was my second to last day at my 'day job' as I am leaving on Saturday. Although I have been planning on leaving for quite some time, now that it has come to it I am feeling really sad. I only intended to work there for a short period of time, but like many things in life it lasted for almost 10 months. The job itself has has its ups and downs, but more than anything it has given me the opportunity to meet some amazing, wonderful people that I will miss very much. I don't think I have ever laughed so much in my entire life, and on bad days they cheered me up without even realising it. I have never been one for having a massive group of friends, but while living in York away from all of my relatives they have become a family to me.

Although I will miss them all so much, I am giving up this job to dedicate all of my time to Pure Purl, which I am incredibly excited about. The new site is now up, running and raring to go so expect more beautiful yarns and gorgeous accessories!

Speaking of which, a couple more Yarn Love colours arrived today:

Fondly in Marianne Dashwood

Charm in Scarlett O'Hara

The lovely ladies at Yarn Love also popped in an extra treat for me which is absolutely stunning!

It is Cleopatra - 100% Tussah Silk in Summer Sangria. It really is beautiful and I imagine it is an absolute dream to knit with.

Also making an appearance will be some sweeties! Not real sweeties but better - stitchmarker sweeties! Check out these little beauties...

Yum Yum!
These will be in the shop very soon!






I also have a bit of an obsession with vintage knitting needles at the moment - I adore bright colourful plastic needles. so pretty! So I will be sharing some of my stash of needles soon too, so look out for these in the shop as well.

I'm making a mess

Yesterday I had such good intentions of cleaning/clearing my "workroom" or should I say our dining room that has gradually succumbed to wool and all things Pure Purl related. Long gone are the days when we could actually sit and eat dinner off the table. For that you would have to remove the sewing machine, folders of work, notes to myself etc. And if you did mange to pull out a chair then it is likely to have a stack of ironing on it.

This was my tidying up session yesterday...


Needless to say it is looking slightly better today.

Anyway...in more exciting news I found a gorgeous little mitten pattern by spillyjane on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swedish-fish

I will try and get a picture up, but for now I have been practicing my colourwork so I can make my very own little fishy mittens


Bad photo I know. Somehow today I have taken about 10 pictures of various things - all of which are blurry.

Have also been working on my 'Thea' Louisa Harding top which is looking rather nice. Have managed to get round to blocking it (in the process I did mange to destroy the table in my rented house) so just have to pick up the stitches for the straps. I HATE picking up stitches. For some reason the thought just terrifies me. It never makes any sense in my head about how to do it, but somehow it always just works out.

2 Little Lambkins

Just look at these two little cuties!



They were made by my good friend Kate who sells her work in shops in York. We have a few of her works in our shop now and these are the latest additions, made with vintage fabric. They are so sweet - I think they look a little puzzled!

I also love the little pups she has made, which are also available in our shop:

They are all one of a kind, so get your hands on them while you can!

I have also been busy making more treats for the shop. As you may know, if you spend over £50 at Pure Purl I pop your yarn in one of our project bags, so I have been busy sewing and crocheting some more.



We currently have in stock this green, a natural colour and a bright raspberry pink. If you do spend over £50 on the site and have a preference, you can choose which colour you would like on the messages to us!

Birthday Treats!

The month of May is Pure Purl’s very first Birthday! Yay! Cheer! To celebrate this we will be launching our new look website (which is very nearly ready!!), and we will be giving away some exciting goodies…

• A mochimochiland pattern of your choice - pick here

• A set of anthropomorphco stitch markers

• Handmade brooch (knitting themed and very cute!)

• Pure Purl tote/project bag

• £30 to spend at Pure Purl on anything that takes your fancy!

All you have to do to be the winner of ALL these goodies, is blog or post on ravelry about pure purl (the more inventive the better!) and then post a link for us to read. We will pick our favourite post to win these knitterly treats.

We will announce the winner by the end of May (specific date to be confirmed), so get your little thinking caps on!!

Here's a little preview of the new site. Let me know what you think!

Yarn Love Sneaky Peek!

Yarn Love...

Today has been a wonderful day. Not only is the sun shining, but today I received a VERY exciting parcel...my very first Yarn Love order!!! Yes, Yarn Love - delicious, scrumptious, heavenly skeins of yarn. I even had to do a bit of a celebratory yarn dance, much to the bf's bewilderment.

Look! Look at the beauty of Yarn Love...


Ahh, it is love at first sight.

It will be going on to the website in the next couple of days. There are some absolutely gorgeous shades in Juliet, Marianne Dashwood and Scarlett O'Hara. And, even more excitingly, Pure Purl is currently sole UK stockist!

Let me introduce you...

My name is Kim and a think it is fair to say that I am a yarnaholic. Since finishing my degree last year and having a complete meltdown over what on earth to do with it (since all of my friends seemed to have everything figured out and the bf studying to become a solicitor) I decided to follow my love of all things yarny and set up my own business www.purepurl.com

Nearly a year on I live in the beautiful York with the bf in a little house full of wool - what more could I want? Well perhaps a bit of organisation wouldn't go a miss. I have to admit that I am not naturally a tidy person and these days every room seems to have wool in it. Even bf's office has been taken over with wool, but despite his subtle hints and raised eyebrows I think he secretly loves it.

Although I class the website as my day job I have another part time job to pay the bills (in a well known department store) which I dislike to say the least . The only good thing about it has been meeting my friend Kate with whom I get to chat about all things crafty and wooly until we are told to 'mingle' with customers who are honestly the grumpiest people I have come across.

But hey, apart from that, life is good! I hope to use this blog as a place to tell you about exciting website related info, so feel free to let me know if there is anything you would like to see more of.