Three Bears Yarn | The Great British Textile Box Product Review

So recently I was approached by Three Bears Yarns to see if I would like to review their Great British Textile Box. Review a box full of delicious quality British wool…oh go on then I said…you’ve twisted my arm – if you’d like to send me one over, I said, that would be very kind of you…(cue me dancing with glee).

Not long after a fabulously designed box was delivered by my nice postman (all postman are nice that deliver yarn aren’t they!)…

But before I get to the unveiling of the inside of the box maybe you want to know who Three Bears Yarns are and what the Great British Textile Box is?

Three Bears Yarns are a company that originates from the heritage of Blackburn Yarn Dyers founded in 1915. I first became aware of Three Bears Yarns earlier this year and have been following them with interest since then. I love the fact that they are passionate about what they are producing and are keen to put Lancashire (British) textiles back on the map.

I would say Three Bears Yarns are probably best known for their delicious range of 100% cotton yarn on Aran (Worsted), DK (Sport) and 3ply (Fingering) weights which comes in over 70 shades across the weights…

I’ve used some of their cottons for a few projects now for Dear Ewe (the Lime Crush Baskets and Fat Bottomed Rustic Basket) and really liked it and have some more projects coming up in 2019 (so watch this space).

Three Bears Yarns also now offer a range of British Blue Faced Leicester Aran wool (available in eleven stunning shades) and are branching out into filling the Great British Textile Box with other yarn spun in Yorkshire and dyed in Lancashire.

The Great British Textile Box is a monthly crochet subscription box filled with 200g of beautiful yarn that comes complete with a crochet pattern available in both UK and US terms. Each month you’ll receive:

200g of quality British Wool
A unique crochet design to craft
Accessories included

So back to the box…nestled in some turquoise tissue paper were two beautiful skeins of the finest Falkland Merino DK yarn.

It’s unfortunate that this blog isn’t equipped with squidge-o-vision because it’s the kind of yarn that begs to be squished a bit! When I got it out I was delighted by how soft it felt.

Aren’t you always a bit worried when you hear wool – and think scratchy? Not a jot with this Falklands Merino, it’s soft as a cloud! The two skeins were cream and taupe coloured and the pattern design that accompanied the yarn was for the Hannah Hat and Gauntlets designed by Jacinta Bowie.

Now unfortunately I can’t tell you about the pattern booklet as they had run out so I only had an emailed copy of the pattern to work from. But the pattern I had (in UK terminology) was clearly set out and included a chart; there was also a link to a useful video tutorial on how to do the crocodile stitch. However I would say the hat design would perhaps be a bit tricky for a beginner and would be more suitable for an intermediate crocheter.

I decided to make the hat because I fell in love with it! Crocodile stitch is such a fun stitch to do and it makes an amazing texture! The recommended hook size for the hat is a 4mm (US size G) but I really wanted to make the hat for my 2 year old so after a bit of calculating I went down to a 3.5mm (US size E-4).

And the finished hat came out beautifully, just the right size for her head, though if you make the pattern as written it will fit an average size adult head.

Now my toddler, even with bribery, didn’t want to play mummy take photos so I had to improvise to show you the finished hat…yes it is just possible that I have a gin glass as large as a toddlers head…

The pattern does come with instructions on how to make and add twisted cord to add to the bottom of the ear-flaps which I didn’t add just because it was for my little one.

The yarn is just perfect for the design and is a delight to work with; as it was so easy on the fingers it meant I really enjoyed making up this hat and the texture of the finished hat – augh! Isn’t is just awesome!

And one final picture because you just have to see the top of the hat…so clever!

I don’t know if any of the patterns included in the boxes will be available after the subscription boxes at any point (in case you were wondering) but I do have a feeling that all future designs are going to be a match for the yarn so super lovely!

By the time of this post I believe that the December Great British Textile Box, this time with 200g of a Bluefaced Leicester and Masham blend of yarn, will be sent to subscribers soon with another beautiful pattern (also by Jacinta Bowie) of a stunning cushion. So I think there will be accessories, house decor items and other items, for a bit of variety, to crochet with each box.

I think it’s obvious that I loved the yarn and enjoyed the pattern but what I also like about the Great British Textile Box, as far as subscription boxes go, is that the contents are very luxurious, the patterns so far seem gorgeous, and it’s all at a very reasonably priced £21.95 (roughly $31.57) per month. It’s also a great way to learn more about wool yarn blends if that’s something you might be interested in.

For someone who is also a bit unsure of subscription boxes it’s free to cancel any time and Three Bears Yarns also offer free UK postage on all boxes (and also free delivery to other selected countries – see their website for more details)

Many thanks to Three Bears Yarns for supplying me with a box free of charge so I could tell you all about it.

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

21Oct2018

Sincerely Pam and Dear Ewe | Win Triangle Chart Mug

Posted in Competitions, Crochet, Dear Ewe, Giveaways by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

So regular readers of my blog know that, as well as doing crochet design work, this year I set up the company for creative folk called Dear Ewe. Well I felt that I just wanted to share our first product review by the lovely Canadian crochet designer and blogger Pam (aka Sincerely Pam).

We know that people like to hear about products from actual people, so we are very excited to have received such a lovely review from Pam. As a new business it obviously means the world to us that people like our products!

You can read Pam’s full product review post here – and excitingly you could enter her prize draw to win your very own Triangle Chart mug. Entries for the giveaway are direct through Pam’s blog – winner will be selected on October 24, 2018.

We were also delighted to be part of her Makers Maven series with an interview where we shared a bit more about us and how Dear Ewe got started.

You can read the full interview here and learn how gin was an integral part of the beginning of Dear Ewe and how Becky and I work together as a team as well as being friends.

To keep up with more Dear Ewe news you can follow us on the Dear Ewe BLOG, FACEBOOK, or INSTAGRAM.

PLUS make sure you check out the blog post about the ‘Sheep on a Shelf’ Crochet Competition which will run from December 1st-12th 2018 and is going to be so much fun!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

17Oct2018

RITO Hobby UK | Product Review and Discount Code

Posted in Crochet, Product Review by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

Disclaimer: I was kindly sent free samples of the products listed in this review, and this post does contain links to various products from the relevant company, however I have not been financially compensated by the supplier in anyway to write this review. All opinions expressed are my own and based on my own experiences of using the products.

A month or so ago I was approached by the company Ritohobby.co.uk (RITO) to see if I‘d like to review some of their products. RITO are a Danish yarn and hobby craft supplier, with over 15,000 products, and they‘ve recently set up to supply their wares in the UK.

I’d actually been thinking of writing a blog post for awhile now about tools for crocheters soooo, in a bid to kill two birds with one stone, I mentioned my idea to RITO and they said they’d love to have their products featured in such a post. Not long after I was sent an express parcel full of things that I for one use regularly as a crocheter!

I took a few weeks to try each of the products and this is what I discovered…

C is for Crochet Hook

The first thing I lifted out of my parcel was a set of nine Infinity Heart crochet hooks.

Now they pretty much had me with the rainbow-ness of these hooks! I’m a bit of a rainbow magpie and I love that the hook sizes are all in different colours…

And of course if you are going to crochet then you need a crochet hook of some sort. This would make a perfect starter pack as it contains sizes 2mm to 6mm (US sizes 0 to H/8).

It’s no secret that I’m a crochet addict and that I crochet ALOT – like every spare second I have, so I do have a lot of hooks. My preference, after a lot of experimentation, seems to lean towards the ergonomic style of hooks. What’s an ergonomic hook? Well it’s a hook that’s been designed to alleviate any pain that can occur while crocheting. Most ergonomic styles have some sort of enlarged handle which makes the crochet hook more comfortable to hold and they can come in all shapes and sizes.

Whether you pencil hold (like me), knife hold or hold your hook in your own special way the Infinity Heart hooks come with a soft silicone non-slip handle for the users benefit – and I can confirm that they are extremely comfortable to use!

I tested them out with a few different projects and liked them.

As the rainbow colours are for different sizes it makes the hooks quite distinctive (once you learn which colour means which size hook) – though the size of the hook is also written on the bottom of each handle.

I found that the aluminium hook end was also nice and smooth so I didn’t get any snags on the yarn I was using. I was suitably impressed with these hooks and they are now getting use on a regular basis.

F is for Fluff

Now as I make a lot of amigurumi I use a lot of toy filler, so I was delighted to receive 250g of white Infinity Hearts filling for toys, dolls and pillows in my parcel.

I was very excited by how it was packaged – sad I know but look! It was all vacuumed packed so it made it really thin, which I thought was really cool!

But don’t let that put you off – when the bag was opened it all fluffed up nicely and the 250g I got seemed to go a long way. The filling is able to be machine washed at 40° – which is especially great for children’s toys and has been prior tested for allergies and carcinogens.

I can’t really say much more about the filling except it’s great for amigurumi and that I’m sure it would work really well for other knitted and crochet items. I’m sure I’ll be getting more in the future when I’ve run out.

S is for Stitch Markers

I think stitch markers are such an essential tool for crochet – I don’t know how people do without them! Whether you are using them to mark your place when crocheting in the round or if you are using them to mark the end of a row, I would suggest to any newbie crocheter that they should try a few.

RITO kindly sent me a whole Knitting Accessory Set with 88 different pieces in to try.

Some of the contents were definitely more geared to knitting, it had stitch stoppers for the end of needles and needle row counters. It also had these odd little plastic circles in the box which I had no idea what they might be for. Thanks to Google I found out they are for knitters to mark increases and decreases; sliding them onto knitting needles as you work.

But the ones that I would (and did) use the most were the variety of locking stitch markers and split ring markers. I really love the little antique-y metal bulb pins!

Each of these were easy to attach and it’s great that they come in the useful little box to keep them in – I swear someone eats my stitch markers!

They are also very light so they don’t cause any pulls or distortion to your stitches and the bright colours mean they are easy to find against most backgrounds.

I think stitch markers are a bit like stationery – you can never have to many and these will get lots of use from me.

S is also for Scissors

I happen to be a little bit addicted to pretty scissors! So when I saw that there were some Embroidery scissors in my package from RITO I got very excited!

Every crocheter needs a good pair of scissors by their side. Or if you are anything like me, who puts hers down somewhere then can’t find them again, several pairs of good scissors.

These scissors are solid and well made and very good value for money I think. They fit in my hands comfortably when I used them and they are also very sharp! The cutting action is nice and smooth and they cut yarn easily without snagging or fraying it.

If you want a pair of really good scissors without breaking the bank, this is a great choice!

DISCOUNT CODE:

And now I have something special to share with you! The lovely people at RITO have set up a product code for 10% discount off all products for all KCACO-UK followers from now (17. October) until 31. October. At the checkout just enter the code: KeepCalm

I hope you’ve enjoyed this product review, I’d love to hear what you think – or if there are any other things you’d love me to try and review in future.

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx