Getting started with knitting and crochet - tips and resources

Posted: March 17, 2020

Getting started with knitting and crochet - tips and resources

Intro (feel free to scroll past if you want to go straight to the resources!)     Yarn crafts are really good activities to help combat boredom, loneliness, restlessness, depression, and anxiety. I say that because they’ve helped me in all of those ways. Having a project on the go can give you an achievable thing to focus on (obsess over if you need to), which can make you feel settled, relaxed, calm, and accomplished. I know that some projects can make you feel quite stressed with their complexity but that’s totally not necessary so don’t let it put you...


The story of colour development in a dye studio (shed)

Posted: December 12, 2018

The story of colour development in a dye studio (shed)

I’ve spent quite a lot of time this week working on colour development and thought you might be interested to read about it - Claire and Debbie were, anyway, as they saw the work in progress and were wondering what on earth I was doing. They also had the unbridled joy of watching me flicking really slowly through my wildflower book to find the plants I was looking for and check their names. I do talk to myself whilst I'm doing this (yes, and I'm only 33) so I think they've learned to just ignore my ramblings.  This week I was...


Christmas gifts: the best ideas for knitters, crocheters, and yarn addicts

Posted: December 10, 2018

Christmas gifts: the best ideas for knitters, crocheters, and yarn addicts

Stuck for what to buy the yarn addict in your life? You're in luck because crafty/creative/yarny people are easy to buy for - it doesn't take much to keep us happy! Whether their (or your) thing is crochet or knitting, or neither ..yet.. (!) we've got loads of lovely gift ideas for you. Similarly, if you've been given an Eden Cottage Yarns gift voucher, why not use it to buy yourself one of our gift ideas? We've started by creating a special gift collection/category on the ECY website HERE, so that should help you with a starting point.  Here are some of...


Neutral colours at Eden Cottage Yarns: why we love them and which ones to look out for!

Posted: September 11, 2018

Neutral colours at Eden Cottage Yarns: why we love them and which ones to look out for!

Can we talk about neutral colours for a moment? Firstly, what constitutes a neutral? For me it’s a colour that isn’t leaning towards any particular colour group, if that makes sense. I suppose another criteria would be that it goes with everything, or most other colours. It starts with white, black, and grey, of course, but then for me it extends to beiges, oatmeals, browns, and creams. I was talking about it with Claire though and was surprised when she brought out dark blues as neutrals - to me they’re just blue, which is not a neutral, but as she...


What does semi-solid mean? Your guide to hand dyed yarns..

Posted: July 07, 2018

What does semi-solid mean? Your guide to hand dyed yarns..

Ever wondered what terms like semi-solid, variegated, or OOAK mean? Hopefully this blog post will help explain and guide you through the myriad of hand dyed yarns that are available now. Firstly let me tell you a bit about production of hand dyed yarn, which will give you some context. It arrives from the mill in un-dyed skeins, meaning that the wool is not bleached or anything, it’s simply in its natural colour (in this case cream). When they process it they wind it into skeins (also known as hanks), and add a few ties to keep the skeins neat....


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