Gorgeous Shawl Balls and a Free Pattern to Boot!

There’s little we love as much as a shawl. These versitile, all-season garments are a joy to wear, and the rhythm of making them is always entrancing. So when a yarn is designed especially for making shawls, there’s a good chance we’re going to adore it.

That’s just what has happened with Freia Merino Shawl Balls. These colourful little dreams have become a total mainstay of our yarn selection. Colourwork is a breeze with Freia’s colour gradient, and each ball can be worked from the centre out or the outside in, depending which way you want your colours to flow. Made using wool from the Rocky Mountains in the US, milled in North Carolina, and finally hand-dyed in Freia’s North Adams, Massachusetts, studio, this yarn sure has strong roots.

We’re super excited to have a very special Freia Shawl Ball and Free Pattern Bundle, with a crochet shawl pattern that’s available exclusively as part of the bundle! The Dreaming of Kansas Shawl was designed especially for by Rachel Atkinson for Loop, London. This pattern is the perfect match for the Freia Shawl Ball, making the most of its gradient shifts, and targeting the amount of yarn in one ball to a t. Our shop sample used almost exactly one shawl ball in the “Rosewood” colourway — with just 5g leftover from the 100g ball. That’s enough tolerance to allow for differences in tension without requiring a second ball (though of course if you wanted to make a bigger shawl it’s easy to carry on with the repeating pattern until you have the piece you want!)

Purchasing a Freia Merino Shawl Ball through the Freia Shawl Ball and Free Pattern Bundle page will automatically trigger your free Dreaming of Kansas PDF download. Of course, you can still buy shawl balls on their own as well, so make sure you’re on the right page! The pattern calls for a 4mm crochet hook and a yarn needle, so don’t forget to add those to your cart too!

New Kokon Bleu Bases!

We’re chuffed to welcome Laceweight Merino and Fingering Weight Merino Linen bases from Kokon! These yarns are always so inspiring. The way they play with colour, and how those colours turn into textures as they knit up, is just incredible. This Netherlands-based studio is the creative outlet of Michelle du Plessis, who has been in love with all things craft since her childhood in South Africa. Kokon yarns bring to life her ideas about the emotive power of colour and design. These two bases use only the highest quality, ethically sourced materials. The Fingering Weight Merino Linen has excellent stitch definition and sheen, and is perfect to wear year round thanks to the properties of the two fibres. The Laceweight Merino has beautiful drape and a light airiness that makes it gorgeous for shawls, lacework, and summer garments. We can’t wait to see all these yarns can do!

The Journal of Scottish Yarns

Issue 9 of The Journal of Scottish Yarns has arrived and it’s a beauty! This issue celebrates the work of Bernat Klein, a colourist and designer who worked in the Borders starting in the 1960s. Learn more about his work and then try your hand at the six knitting and three crochet designs celebrating his work included in this issue.

Arsenal Celebrations

This Sunday there will be a victory parade for Arsenal in the area around Loop. Upper Street, Holloway Road, and Essex Road will be closed to traffic, and we expect lots of people to be making their way to the celebrations. If you’re planning to visit Loop remember to leave plenty of time for travel, and get off at Angel Station if you can.

Happy stitching!