Back on Deck

The three new Vintage colours for the 2013 season

You know a holiday has done the trick when you feel refreshed & ready to head back to work once it's over.  This week has been exciting as I have started getting my teeth into some new projects that have been bubbling away since last year & have caught up on progress with those about to come to fruition.

On my amble through the mill today I have come across two new Vintage colours I have been waiting for since laste last year - called Grape, Oilskin, Nasturtium they are three bolder colours to go into the range taking their inspiration from the Pantone colour trends. I will have them loaded on to the website once the paperwork has cleared (I literally stole these as they were flying off the balling machine!), so watch this space....

Yule Be Right Mate!

All the best for the season from Skeinz

 Here in the balmy Hawkes Bay we have been enjoying a run of tropical weather - warm sunny days with still balmy nights - real Pacific Island paradise stuff.  Great for when you are on holiday, not quite so comfortable when you are perspiring away in a yarn mill.  However the crew here at Skeinz are all looking forward to a well earned Summer break. 

The closest thing to festive logs or cones yule see around here!

Whilst the mill and Bricks & Mortar store in Husheer Place will be closed from midday on Friday 21st (assuming of course the Mayans haven't already dealt to us by then) reopening Monday the 7th of January, www.skeinz.com is still open for business.  Just please be aware that deliveries will be slower than usual due to the public holidays - but a Skeinz staffer will be in over the holidays to clear & dispatch your orders for that well deserved yarn fix.

The best we can do for snow when it's 30 degrees - and that Celsius!

I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has supported skeinz this year.  Whilst many businesses have struggled in the current climate - the support of our Skeinz customers have meant we have continued to grow.  It has been very satisfying over the past few weeks to start working on new plans, ranges, colours & events for 2013 - only made possible because of your support.  So from the front line team at Skeinz: Robynne, Mary, Suzanne, & myself - THANK YOU.

In the meantime enjoy this little collection of images from the Mill entitled - "Yule be Right Mate"

What the Mill can rustle up in the way of a Christmas Tree

A Day at the Races

Essam (foreground) our dye house master with Peter, our engineer, studying the race day form.

I wanted to show you a few of the faces that make all the incredible yarn we have here at Skeinz.  This year to celebrate Christmas we all headed 40 minutes south to the Waipukurau country Christmas race day.  It was a chance for the girls to get of their hat's & fascinators & for the guys to pretend to know what they are doing when it comes to placing a bet!

Anne, Dot & Piri - all part of the finishing team who handle the yarns after they have been milled.

Karen looked great in her fascinator!

Season's Upside Down



Our very own 'Sliver Snow'

 One of the strange conundrums we grow up with here in New Zealand is all the Winter imagery around the Christmas holiday.  For us, Christmas falls in the middle of Summer.  So instead of cold dark days & nights - think sunshine, barbeques, & heading to the beach.  It also means that from a knit perspective it is more fine yarns & lighter projects - but that's not to say we aren't thinking knitting.  I personally love catching up on my reading, researching Ravelry projects & planning my projects for the New Year.  At skeinz.com we have also set up a super holiday specials category - yarns at extra special prices regardless of where in the world you might be.

Crafting for Christmas

From Annemarie's Crochet Blog, these trees would look great in Skeinz Urban

There is still time to get the needles & hooks working to add a little yarn pleasure to your Christmas.
The first port of call for patterns has to be Ravelry. 

Just enter Christmas into the pattern search criteria & quicker than Rudolphs whisker you'll have thousands of patterns to choose from.  Here is a selection of my favourites - all of which would work well with Skeinz yarn.

Christmas Bells - Pattern by Debbie McGrath

You can even knit Santa!

Yarn, yarn & more yarn!

GULP
At last I come up for air! I have been downstairs checking stocks in the warehouse, forward orders & what’s new - so much to do after being away.

Firstly on the restocking front: I have updated stocks in Vintage, Harvest, Perendale, Southlander, Urban, Merino Soft, Moondance & Naked. There are still lines yet to be received, but much of the colours in the ranges have been updated. Harvest is now down to the last colours - so stock up as I can’t guarantee that it will be respun in the new year. Also the base stock of Moondance has now all being dyed up - so what we have in stock is it before it to disappears.
Naked Skeinz: A new spin batch of the DK MW has been booked in, so it is coming. So to is the organic - raw materials have been the hold up here. Good news is Naked Possum is now back, as too is Naked Sock.

The 6 new colours in the Vineyard Series

So what’s new Pussycat?

A new Limited Edition range under the Skeinz Label - Vineyard colours. A classic 100% Wool Shetland style 4ply in colours that reflect the HB vineyards where we live. Perfect to be knitted on their own or ideal for colour work - very sharply priced at $4.00 a 50gm ball.

We also have a new URBAN colour - Leafy Mint is one of my favourite colours from the Perendale range & we also used this in Daisy Chain (called Sorbet) as well. It’s great to have it in the MW Urban range as it is the perfect contrast to Clover, Ice, & Pale Pink. It is also a great Baby shade.

babes will look sweet in a little Coconut Ice

Speaking of babies….

The last of the ‘Ice’ Limited Edition colourways for Merino Soft has arrived - Called Coconut Ice, it is the classic combination of Baby Pink & white. It’s been in the shop for a week & it’s just romping out the door - it too has the special LE pricing of just $4.50 a 50gm ball.


Vibrant Hibiscus wool/kid DK

Also romping is the Skeinz Wool/Kid mohair DK. The random colours have really sparked up our Spring knitting & having now seen a number of finished items, reports back from knitters is they love the extra softness & drape the Kid adds to the blend. So we have added a few Solid shades to the range.

First is Hibiscus - a reddy orange or orangey red (depending on your point of view!), it looks amazing with Boa, secondly is Pesto, a rich zingy citrusy Lime green & lastly a moorish Chocolate brown. All are great value at $4 a ball



Add some punch with some Pesto



If you like the zing of Pesto - it has also been dyed off in a LE colourway in Whisper Mohair alongside SeaSpray. These colours will brighten up your wardrobe or add some flash to your homewares.



Stylish SeaSpray



Lastly….
If you want to buy Skeinz yarn for gifts, we will gift wrap them for you for free. The fine print for this is: Each recipient will have to be done as a separate order - we can’t bundle orders together for free postage (unless your order more than $50 per individual). Also if you are wishing to send/receive from Overseas - we too are bound by the overseas postage deadlines for Christmas. Here in NZ, however it’s business as usual!



Knit Romney!

You win just for having such a great name Mr. Romney!

I was very fortunate to live in USA as an exchange student in the late 1980's & ever since I have had a fascination with American politics.  Let's face it it is so much more interesting than our Kiwi version.

November is medical conference season for my husband and now that our boys are old enough to have some 'Granny' time, we head away tomorrow for 12 days up in Chicago.  This means that every 4 years we hit the US in the middle of election fever.  I couldn't let this go.  Firstly we are heading to Obama country so it may seem a little arse about face that we are having a promotion using Mitt Romney. But lets face it, when you have the same surname as New Zealand most populous sheep breed - well I'm sorry I just can't let that one go.  So it's Knit Romney time at skeinz.com - with discounts on all our Southlander hanks, made from NZ's very own Romney sheep.

So win or lose Mitt - just for your name your a winner on our book - Knit on Mr Romney!