They are all winners.......

Well, we have winners! The first prize goes to Sue and the SIBOLETTES for the wonderful blanket. Congratulations to everyone who put in so much hard work to make this fabulous item. We are sure it will be treasured item for the lucky auction winner.

Second prize goes to Ruth and her amazing toilet roll cover. The work in this is amazing, I particularly liked the copper initials and the gold embroidery. Well Done Ruth - you have raised the standard of British toilet decoration single handedly.

Our Third prize has been extended and both Emma and Linda will receive gifit vouchers for their elegant entries. The standard of work in these is extremely high and we congratulate you both.

Thank you for entering - it's been fun! If you would like to buy any of these items, they are on sale on Ebay until about 7.00 pm this evening 29 April.

Royal Wedding Knitting Competition Entries

Well, the Royal Wedding is almost here and the closing date for the Knitting Competition has been and gone. I can now show you photos for each of the entries. Receiving the entries has been really exciting and I'm delighted that people have taken the trouble to put together a fabulous item and send it to me!


We have decided to auction these on Ebay and all proceeds will go to the Prince William & Miss Catherine Middleton Gift Fund. I haven't been able to find out when this closes and if we are too late, then it will go to the Prince William & Prince Harry Foundation. The auctions finish on Thursday between 7.30 and 8.00 pm. If you would like to bid, their item number and link is supplied under each item.

So, in the order in which they arrived here at Great British Yarns are the entries:

This lovely keyring is from Emma Varnam. This is brighter in real life than the photo and is beautifully worked and presented. The pattern is available free of charge on her website or Ravelry. The Ebay item number is 170632423438.

The second to arrive was this fabulous blanket from 'SIBOL'.

This is the Sunshine International Blankets of Love organisation and is managed by Sue. Sue and her 'SIBOLETTES' (who, by the way, come from all around the world), make fabulous blankets to give to the elderly, especially those in nursing homes. A wonderful idea. This blanket has been made from people in the UK, USA, Netherlands, France, Belgium and Australia. Sue co-ordinates the squares, and then sews up and finishes them. This came beautifully packaged in a gold box with a crocheted butterfly. It was tied up with gold ribbon and another butterfly and was a real treat to open. If you would like to bid on this item the Ebay number is 180658275817.

Thirdly, this lovely little wedding cake arrived from Linda Ulfsparre Sewell - it's very pretty and cute. It is also beautifully made.

This little cutey is on Ebay under item number 170632421804.

And last but not least, this fun toilet roll cover from Ruth Bramley. Ruth sent a note with her entry which says 'this special toilet roll cover is knitted in luxurious chenille yarn in a deep claret colour, overlaid with a lattice of rich metallic coard. On top a plush gold-edged cushion in sky-blue supports an ermine-trimmed, bejewelled, regal crown, based on the one that appears in the coat of arms of HRH Prince William of Wales. To complete the cover there is a plaque on the front knitted in shimmering metallic threads, depicting the initials of the happy couple. In keeping with tradition, Kate Middleton's wedding ring will be made from Welsh gold, which, when mined, contains a proportion of copper, giving it a reddish colour. This is reflected in the colour used for the initials, which, incidentially made have been some of the inspiration for this creation'.

As I have a very pure mind, I didn't get the W C bit until Ian pointed it out. Very witty!! Anyhow, this is a beatiful work of art and any WC would be enhanced by having one of these discreetly placed.

If you would like to own this touch of class, the Ebay item number for this is 170632418251.

That's it. Not many but all very fine entries. The winner will be announced on Royal Wedding Day. Don't miss your chance to own one of these super items and to give to good causes.

KnitPicks update

Phew! We have finally finished getting all the new KnitPicks yarn up for sale on the website - nearly 300 new shades. The lion's share of these are the Palette range which is superb quality and excellent value at only £2.20 for a 50g ball. We also have a large range of Wool of The Andes Worsted yarn and some fabulous kits.

Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan/Sweater kit (using KnitPicks Palette yarn)

In order to stock such a large range we have had to cut down slightly on quantity so our stock of each Palette shade is only 30 balls (and quite a few less of some already) so don't delay too long if you are after a particular colourway!

New KnitPicks Stock

Our latest KnitPicks delivery arrived at the warehouse on Friday and we have been busy sorting out the stock and putting it on the website. Included is this shipment is a large selection of Palette 4 ply. We are updating the website as quickly as possible so keep checking back!

New things.......

Well, a belated Happy New Year to you all. We have some new things to talk about with regard to stock that has arrived recently. Firstly, have a look at this....



This is the new fabric collection from Amy Butler. It's called Soul Blossoms and there are around 33 new fabrics to choose from. I have got lots of them, only missing I think, about 4 bolts, which should arrive any day. I am desperately trying to get them up on the website, and the first batch should be on tomorrow, so keep looking. I really like lots of them on their own, but together it's all a bit 70s for me! I was old enough to be wearing these fabrics in the 70s and didn't much like them then! Mind you, most were in crimpolene. For those of you too young to know what crimpolene was, it was a truly awful nylon fabric that 'dripped dry' and was therefore extremely popular with the majority of housewives. Let's move on from that dreadful thought.

I hope to be able to send out newsletters this week. If you receive one and don't want to hear from us again, that's fine, just unsubscribe. If however, you want exclusive offers, discount and news on what has just arrived in stock, that's great.

Royal Wedding Knitting Competition

We are very pleased to announce the Great British Yarns Royal Wedding Knitting Competition. This is offically now open for entries until the 20 April 2011. The winner will be announced on the 29 April.

If you would like to enter please design and knit or crochet a suitable and appropriate item for the Royal Wedding and post it to me (Sharon Spencer) at Great British Yarns. Please note that entries will not be returned. I thought it might be a nice idea to auction the items and give proceeds to charity. The lovely Crown Teacosy and Eggcup pattern is by the talented Debi Birkin She has lots of lovely patterns on her website, and it's well worth a visit if you get a moment.



Now, all important information - Prizes. These will take the form of gift vouchers to be redeemed at Great British Yarns. First prize will be a £50 voucher, Second Prize £25 voucher and third prize £10 voucher.


The rules are quite simple:

1) This must be an orignal design
2) The judge's decision will be final and no correspondence regarding this will be entered into!
3) Entries will not be returned and you must give permission for your item to be sold for charity.
4) Not a rule, but you might like to know that the copyright of the design will remain with the designer.

I thought I'd post this now so that if you have any spare time over Christmas you can get started!

Good luck everyone!

Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year to you all!

We are closing on the 23 December (yes, later today) until the 29 December and hope to be posting parcels out again then. We have some fantastic bargains in our sale and will be adding to this in the next week. As well as clearance bargains we are also offering 10% off Rowan Colourscape.

What do we have planned for next year? Well, I am going to send out regular newsletters regarding offers, new stock and other things, so if you would like to sign up for that, please do so. I will be keeping the blog up to date and holding our Royal Wedding Knitting Competition. I will put up details of this in a separate post.

So, I hope you all have a relaxing and restful time and look forward to posting again the in the New Year!