We’re terribly excited to be all packed and ready for this year’s Edinburgh Yarn Fest. We’ll be bringing oodles and oodles of Yarn, Tops & Patterns for your delectation. It is always such a joy to leave our little corner of Devon and meet so many wonderfully woolly folk!
Our Cocktails Yarn
It’s almost showtime! Behind the scenes, John and the Mill folk have been especially busy getting everything ready for the first show of 2019… yes it’s Unravel. We can’t wait to see you there and share our lovely woolly wares with you in person and have a good ol’ natter.
Exmoor Sock 4ply being spun and skeined
Things have been rather bustling here in woolly John Arbon Textiles land. It’s hard to believe it has already been a month since returning from Yarndale.
There have been lots of things keeping us busy…
Francesca Hughes (or Frankie as many of you may know her) is a rather fabulous soul. Back along she could be found alongside Gillian the skein winder and Butler the spinner at the Mill and, although she is currently residing in London, she’s still very much a part of our woolly family and can often be found on our show stand…
As you’re no doubt aware, Frankie is not just a groovy woman but also a talented and unique knitwear designer. She’s had garments in many marvellous knitting publications from Pom Pom Quarterly to Knitting Mag. Click here to view all her designs on Ravelry… Happily, she has often chosen our yarn for her designs – she knows them quite well, afterall, she did give John a helping hand creating some of them.
So when Frankie told us she was mulling over the idea of hosting a Knit Along (a KAL) – we just had to get involved! We are such huge fans of her glorious designs. We really hope you’ll be joining in the fun too! Please find all the rules (a cheeky discount code) – and an abundance of pattern inspo from Frankie’s back catalogue – below.
Just a smattering of the possibilities – Clockwise from Top Left: Jamboree, Vellamo, Syrup Waffle, St. James Hat and Gilt Wood Shawl.
We’re bundled up in woolly garb and sipping hot chocolate because the Autumnal chill has started (as it is now the end of September, don’t you know), but, happily that can only mean one thing – Yarndale is just around the corner. This marvellous Yorkshire show is one of our very favourites. For one weekend the Skipton auction mart is bedecked with woolly bunting and transformed into a haven of textile delights..
We’re particularly looking forward to this specific Yarndale because here we will unveil our swanky new show signs. Cornish artist and fairground sign writer extraordinaire, Amy Goodwin, has created some spectacular Mill inspired hand painted signs for our show stand. Please find a sneak peak of Amy’s work in progress below and click here to take a look at her website… for those of you unable to attend the show, we’ll make sure to take some photos to share with you next week!
Amy Goodwin, painting our new signs in her studio
With autumn well and truly upon us, it’s time to start thinking of reacquainting ourselves with those trusty woollens in our wardrobes and – maybe even – preparing to cast on some new ones! To celebrate tomorrow we’ve got some delightful new Patterns launching along with our expanded Harvest Hues colour palette.
Here in Devon, the arrival of autumn is always something to be celebrated. Autumn here is awash with gently fading splendour: bracken and seadpods are slowly tinged with gold and the moorlands become dusted with gentle purple heather blossom. All the punchy, bright shades of summer soften and become more muted. This changing of the seasons is the inspiration for our Harvest Hues Yarn and Tops range.
John and the Mill folk are at this moment prepping for Fibre East – which means whipping up oodles of delectable tops (to accompany our yarns). This show, more than any other, is much about the tops – which we love… John has loaded up his woolly tubs of joy, so there’ll be enough fluff to go round! And, as always before a show, we’re looking forward to having a good ol’ woolly natter with lots of splendid folk.
We spent the weekend up at Woolfest, chatting to lovely folk and inhaling the yarn and fibre fumes. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by our stand, we had a blast. It was a wonderfully sunny weekend up in Cumbria and a splendid drive through the beautiful countryside – and we even managed to fit in two World Cup matches on the way up!
We had all our usual goodies on display, with an abundance of delightful yarn and tops.
Our 3rd Mill Open Weekend is now just around the corner (Sat 14th and Sun 15th May)!
We are busily polishing our most prized machines – they will be standing proud waiting to show you what they’re capable of!
Here are a few photos of our machines in action to wet your appetite!
We have been crazy busy since our return from Unravel, so this blog is a little late …apologies!
We had a fab time as always in Farnham at Unravel celebrating knitting, wool, fibre and all things crafty!
We took along some new yarns and a new pattern!
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