Blue Faced Leicester

New to Castle Stores this week is double knitting wool from the Blue Faced Leicester Sheep.

It is a British wool that is spun by West Yorkshire Spinners.  The Blue Faced Leicester breed evolved back in the 18th century in the Tyne and Wear, and East Cumbria areas.

The wool is very soft and it is considered to be one of the finest in Britain

The natural colours (see image) are in 100gm hanks and the pastel colours are in 50gm balls.

Knitting Bags

When you are working on a knitting or crocheting project you can find that it takes you more than one evening; so something to keep your work in is very useful.  These knitting bags are just the ticket, and they make ideal Christmas presents.

Poodle Scarf Yarn

It's time for something new and here it is:
A brand new scarf yarn; it only takes about an hour to knit.  It is a mixture of premium acrylic, polyester, and mohair.  With this yarn one ball knits one scarf.

Calling new knitters - Learn to knit

New this week these knitting kits are ideal Christmas presents.  You can make your very own; slippers, pencil case, scarf, or purse.

They have instructions to cast on, knit, and to cast off with detailed diagrams.

We don't just have knitting kits to get your creative side flowing, we also have crochet kits.

It's time for hats!

Wow with all this snow it is a reminder that the cold weather can't be far away, having said that it could be here already!  So it is the time where we think about getting warmer clothing for the cold weather.  Well we certainly have because we have just started knitting these hats.

They are made from 100% merino wool and they are ideal size for children or a teenager.  These hats are available in many bright colours to cheer you up on a miserable day.

Jumper

This Jumper is knit with Stylecraft Vision self-striping double knit.  It is amazing how with very little effort you can come up with amazing patterns by just knitting; and the best bit is the yarn does it for you.  This is knit in one the of six colours of Stylecraft Vision.  The yarn is made from a wool and acrylic mix and there is a pattern if you want to make it yourself.

Behind The Stitches: Tea Cosy

On the Behind The Stitches Blog (http://behindthestitches.blogspot.co.uk/) it is all about the Tea Cosy!

Behind The Stitches: Tea Cosy: Sometimes it can be difficult to settle down into a new crafty project because I find that I can have a lot of work that ne...

Behind the Stitches of... Scarf Yarn

Our new colours

Behind the stitches is where we allow you to take a look into Castle Stores and our products so lets have a look behind the stitches at our scarf yarn.

Casting On

Hello there, well we have stocked this scarf yarn for a while and everyone else here has had a go, so I thought it was about time that I tried it too.  Last week we got yet more new colours of the scarf yarn and I have had a go one of them.  It was easy to cast on all I had to do was put my needle through eight loops, then I simply turned the needle round and started knitting (see Bottom Right).

Next I knit each stitch on the needle with a loop from the thin edge of the yarn.  Then I continued this way until the ball of yarn was nearly used up.  Finally I cast off and sew in the end of the yarn and then I had finished!




You can see on the left what two of the new colours knit up like.

It is a simple, effective and fashionable yarn which is easy to knit.
I hope that you have enjoyed a look behind the stitches I will be doing more soon.

Find More behind the stitches action Here

The Big Cushion

The Cushion that just kept Growing!

Have any of the knitters reading ever knit something that you planned to be small and in the end turned out a lot bigger than you were expecting?  Well that is exactly what we found with this cushion; we made it to be an extra addition to the cushions on our sofa but now it just about takes up an entire seat!

From the knitter:

The front is easy to knit on 15mm needles; and it is knitted with Adriafil Bloom for the front, and Stylecraft Special at the back.

Free patterns and monthly giveaways!

Sorry we haven't posted anything for a bit we will post something new very soon.  In the mean time if you want to receive free patterns and monthly giveaways subscribe to wool 'n' threads here

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Fingerless Mittens

With the summer coming to an end winter will arrive quicker than we think, so we have started knitting fingerless mittens.  They are proving to be very popular with our customers; they are comfortable and fashionable.  A good thing about fingerless mittens is that they leave your fingers free to do everyday tasks such as using a computer or mobile phone.

Where can you get fingerless mittens?

We have a selection of mittens already knitted for you to choose from.  However you may want to knit your own, well patterns are available here and we are always willing to help.

Helmsley

One of the many walks looking down on Helmsley

Castle Stores is based in the historic market town of Helmsley.

Helmsley has a wide selection of businesses from Jewellers, Café's, Food shops, Book shops, Clothes shops and of course Castle Stores our Wool shop (plus many more wonderful places);
(to find more about Helmsley and some of the businesses; see This Is Helmsley, you can also join Visit Helmsley's facebook page).  Helmsley also has a castle which has a fascinating history of about nine hundred years, and it is fun for the family.

Now fun for all the family is a phrase we like at Helmsley:

Recently Helmsley has celebrated the Queens diamond Jubilee with a scarecrow competition and many other events during the day too.  More recently Helmsley has celebrated yorkshire (day you can see some of the photos for that here and here) it is just a few examples of how Helmsley throws a party; and we plan for many more in the future!

Taking time out.

If you want to get away from it all Helmsley has many places where you can go for walks and just take in the beautiful countryside surrounding Helmsley.  Helmsley is also the start of the famous Cleveland Way walk which goes from Helmsley to Filey.  The Cleveland way goes through Sutton Bank, Kildale, Runswick Bay, Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay, Scarborough and finishes at Filey; this will take a walker about nine days and you will have walked 109 miles!  (See more about the cleveland way here)  These walks are packed with history and beauty ready for you to explore.

We hope that you will come and visit Helmsley and have a great time it is a fantastic town, and we want to share with you!

Links in this post:

• This is Helmsley
• Visit Helmsley Facebook
• Helmsley Castle
• Yorkshire day photos 1
• Yorkshire day photos 2
• The Cleveland Way

Scarf Yarn

They are not only very popular but these scarf yarns are very easy to knit.  

Simply knit into the loops in the yarn and before you know it you will have a wonderful scarf.  It is designed to be quick and easy for knitters; it is quick because there are not many stitches on the row so you find that you will finish the scarf in a couple of evenings.
There are many colours available and in many styles, so come and have a look at the wide selection we have available.

So here it is; quick, simple, easy, and fashionable.

Hello & Welcome

Hello, well it seams we are now part of the blogosphere, we hope that you will enjoy reading our blog and thank you for visiting.

First things first, who are we?

Castle Stores is the family run wool shop based in Helmsley, established in 1984.
We sell a wide range of natural wools, yarns, books and gifts.  If you want to visit us you will be more than welcome, you can find a list of business in Helmsley here.

There is more information about Castle Stores on our following social networking pages:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google Plus

We hope that you will continue to follow our blog.
Thank you for visiting us!

Welcome to the Castle Stores Blog!

This is the new blog for Castle Stores we will write more soon!