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The Knitter's Yarn... Style with every Stitch.

First of all welcome to The Knitter's Yarn. We really hope you enjoy your online shopping experience with us and remember, you can contact us by email to get a rapid response to any questions you may have.

The business is a joint venture between myself, Sue Rutherford, and my daughter. Alice studied Fashion Design at College and University and working together we are hoping to build up a collection of yarn and patterns which will inspire others to learn knitting from scratch, to take up their needles again or to extend their existing knitting repertoire.

I started knitting from an early age having been fascinated watching my mother and godmother sitting knitting and nattering. My love of knitting continued throughout my teens and university and during the 80's I discovered the brilliant work of Patricia Roberts and her fabulous yarn store in Covent Garden. 

In my early 40's, and with a young family, I enjoyed knitting baby garments and childrens' sweaters which seemed to take relatively no time at all. For some reason it then seemed to go quiet on the knitting front until I read an article in The Sunday Times which mentioned a Knitting Holiday at Les Soeurs Anglaises. Patricia Roberts was taking the week long course and as a longstanding fan I decided to pack my needles and travel to France. What a fantastic trip.... it was so good that I went again the following year! Aside from the beautiful location and superb food I met some amazing ladies from all over the world and my interest in knitting was totally rekindled. In fact, earlier this year a group of us from Australia, Stockholm and various parts of the UK who originally met at Les Soeurs,  got together again in Edinburgh to knit, drink, eat and chat - in no particular order! The world of knitting can forge some wonderful friendships...

The idea of The Knitter's Yarn came about when Patricia finally retired and sold her lovely shop in Kinnerton Street in 2016. I wanted to continue to knit with the beautiful lambswool yarns that helped to make her garments so special and I am now selling Lambswool No.1 (3ply) and No.2 (4ply) under my own label in an extended range of colours. It is still possible to buy Patricia Robert's books online and you can see samples of her designs on the Ravelry group dedicated to her work. I will be writing more on Patricia and her wonderful contribution to knitwear design in a separate piece.

We were originally based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire - a county historically famous for its wool industry which is seeing a revival in beautiful yarns and so the perfect place to be as a business dedicated to quality yarns. In December 2023, I finally moved back south and I am now running the business from Surrey. Whilst I will miss the beautiful Yorkshire countryside, the move has enabled me to be nearer my 'children' and start a new adventure in my seventh decade.

The Internet has not only broadened the number of channels we can view whilst knitting, but it has also expanded the horizons of today's knitter with the opportunity to join an amazing online community and try out a myriad of patterns with some wonderful new yarns. It has never been a better time to either learn to knit or pick up the needles again and, for those of you looking to expand your skills and knowledge of this wonderful traditional craft, we will be running a series of workshops from our studio throughout the year with different tutors. Details are available on the website.

I would just like to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has encouraged me in this venture and to all the lovely friends who helped knit the collection of items modelled by Alice on the Home Page. 

We believe that hand knitting offers a whole new world of creative opportunity which can produce stunning, fashionable items to wear and cool modern looks for the home. Above all, knitting is fun - so join us and enjoy our journey exploring this traditional craft.

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