It's Tulip Time in Bowral!

Tulip Time Festival 2009
24th September - 7th October
9am - 4pm

Wool Addiction is only a three-minute walk from the Grand Floral Display in Corbett Gardens, the centrepiece of Tulip Time.

So, if you're coming to Bowral to see the flowers, why not visit us too?

Or, conversely, if you're coming to see us, don't forget to go and have a look at the tulips!

To mark the event, I've been working on a brand new tulip-inspired pattern download for the website. Unfortunately, I've hit a spot of "designer's block", so it's not finished yet, but I'll publish it as soon as it's ready. So, watch this space...

Hopefully I'll have it done before the Great Bulb Dig-Up on 7th November!

Ready for something new?

It's time to learn or perfect some new techniques!

Winter is over, and the pressure to provide warm clothing for our loved ones is over... for now!

So, why not take advantage of the breathing space to learn some new (or brush up some forgotten) knitting techniques?

With this thought in mind, we've started scheduling our new season of workshops. We have a couple of old favourites: Tension Squares, and Finishing Techniques, and we're excited to announce our brand new Cable Knitting Workshop!

We'll take you on an Aran Adventure, using The Great American Aran Afghan as our guide-book. A copy of the book is included in the cost of the workshop, so you can keep exploring when you get home, or come back to Wool Addiction and join us for the next leg of the journey...

Dates:
Tension Squares - Thursday 24th September
Finishing Techniques - Thursday 1st October
Cable Knitting - Friday 2nd October
Wild Knitting with Loani Prior - Thursday 8th & Friday 9th October

Just in case you can't get to Bowral, we've whipped up a new pattern, the Overhand Hat, to get you thinking about the Magic Loop. Now don't be daunted: the Magic Loop is cumbersome to describe, but once you've got it, you'll think "This is so obvious! Wasn't I doing this all along??"

If you're interested in finding out what other knitters think of this pattern, you can find it on Ravelry!




As ever, if you have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, comments or requests for patterns, workshops or products, please drop us a line ...

Spring has sprung!

Spring Opening Hours
Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 2pm
~~~~
Webshop open 24/7!!

The weather is warming up, and it's time to switch to our Spring opening hours.

We only planned to open on Sundays during the Winter, but we've met so many lovely new people who just can't get to Bowral during the week that we've decided to carry on. We'll close at 2pm, which gives you plenty of time to shop, and then retire to a cafe for the afternoon!

Saturday Social Knitting
If you'd like to come and knit in good company and air-conditioned comfort this Spring, why not join our new Saturday Social Knitting Group? There's no need to register or book, just turn up on a Saturday from 11am with your knitting, and $5 for tea, coffee and biccies!

If you have any thoughts, question or suggestions you'd like to share, please drop us a line.

Another one bites the dust...

I can't believe another month has slipped by, and I've only managed one blog post!

So, you might ask, what on earth have I been up to?

Well, knitting mostly (see photo), but also adding more new products to the Wool Addiction online shop:

• lovely Loani's 2-day Wild Knitting workshop!!
• loads of books and baby yarn from Shepherd
• cable stitch needles and deluxe interchangeable circular sets from KnitPro
• Jo Sharp's Origami Bolero Kit, Classic DK and Silkroad Ultra
  
• Funky Slippers, another free pattern download
• cute little 23cm CloverTakumi bamboo needles, from 2mm to 6mm
• Sublime's Cashmere Merino Silk Aran, and Kid Mohair, which has been discontinued (can you believe it??), so grab it while it lasts!
• back issues of Yarn magazine

So, what does the future hold? Well, our HUGE new range of gorgeous KnitPro Symfonie needles, for a start! We have finally succumbed to temptation, and filled the shop with:

• Fixed Circulars (2mm - 3mm)
• Interchangeable Circulars (60cm - 150cm cables, and 3mm - 12mm tips)
• Double Points
• Straights (2mm - 12mm, all in 3 lengths: 25cm, 30cm, 35cm)
• sets - Deluxe Interchangeable Circular sets, Interchangeable Circular Starter sets, and Straights sets (in a gorgeous black damask case)

If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, why not treat yourself to an Interchangeable Circular cable, and a set of tips, and give them a test-run? They're flying out the door quicker than I can add them to the webshop, but I hope to get them all online this week.

We're also planning more classes and workshops: definitely another Tension Squares Workshop, and what about a Cables and Arans Class? If you have any ideas for workshops you'd like us to run, please email us, we'd love to hear from you!

The wait is over...

At last, the moment you've all been waiting for...
Loani Prior's Wild Knitting Workshop is open for bookings!

wild knitting

Learn to knit outside the square in two days with Loani Prior

• Thursday 8th October and Friday 9th October 2009
• Wool Addiction, 6 Bundaroo St, Bowral

Loani uses the iconic tea cosy to demonstrate the wild and sculptural possibilities of knitting.

Knit your own tea cosy and learn tricks and techniques to help you think outside the square.

If you can knit a stitch and purl a stitch and cast on and cast off, you can join this class. If you consider yourself to be an advanced knitter and would like to learn more knitting skills, this might also be the class for you. Either way it will be a lot of fun.

Loani says she can feel a third life coming on. Her usual ‘Filing Fairy’ job is fast giving way to a ‘Knitting Fairy’ job. This year, the Queen of the Tea Cosies has given workshops at the Nundle Woollen Mill, at the Sturt Winter School in Mittagong and a number of other wool shops around the country. Loani’s book, Wild Tea Cosies, has meant that what was once a private, in front of the tele sort of activity has all of a sudden become very public. Her new book REALLY Wild Tea Cosies is due for release in March 2010.

Please bring with you the following:

• Small 3-cup teapot. Small round Chinese teapots are perfect our purpose.
• 2 x 6mm circular needles 60 cm length from tip to tip
• Scissors
• Darning needle
• 1 x 4mm crochet hook

You can choose all the wool you need for purchase in the shop after meeting and discussing your design with Loani.

Goodbye KnitPicks ... Hello KnitPro

KnitPicks needles are now known as KnitPro outside the USA

Did you know that KnitPro needles are exactly the same as KnitPicks?

The KnitPicks brand is only allowed to be used in the USA and Canada, so now our favourite needles are now being sold under the brand KnitPro all around the world.

The gorgeous KnitPicks multi-coloured laminated wood Harmony needles are now called KnitPro Symfonie Wood, and the super-smooth KnitPicks Nickel-Plated range are called KnitPro Nova Metal.

We stock a huge range of KnitPro products, including Symfonie Wood Double Points, Symfonie Wood Straights and Interchangeable Needle Sets in both Nova Metal and Symfonie Wood.

Visit our website, or drop in to our shop in Bowral to find out more about these beautiful needles...

Sale extended!

The Wool Addiction 4th Birthday Sale has been extended for another week!

We've had so many customers telling us how disappointed they were to miss the sale, that we've decided to extend it for another week. But it must end on Sunday 28th June 2009!

And no, don't worry, we're not closing down! We're just clearing our shelves ready for a whole load of new stock.

Subscribe to this blog, or register for newsletters with our online shop to get the earliest news of next season's goodies...