If you’ve ever wondered what happens behind the scenes on a baa ram ewe photoshoot then here is the blog for you. The finished polished images we use to show you our wonderful designs are brought to you by a team of inhouse baa ram ewe professionals. Along with being a knitwear model I am also on hand to help with styling and location finding. After a fair bit of experience I now feel ready to share the wisdom I’ve gained with you all.
If you frequent our lovely shop in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, you may have recently seen some changes to the store layout. Since we moved into the new store 3 years ago we have increased the team by two and along with looking after our shop customers, we are also busy behind the scenes creating new products, doing photography, keeping the website looking sparkly for online customers, and making sure our international trade customers are up to date with what we’re creating. This has meant we’ve had up to 6 people on the busiest days all trying to work in one room and it was getting just a teeny bit ridiculous.
It’s really easy to show your geek colours as a knitter/crocheter. Changing the colours of things or adding a tiny bit of detail here and there. It can also be a great start in learning to adapt patterns.
I live in a small terrace in between Leeds and Wakefield. It's had dry rot, woodworm, damp and the render is falling off the front. But when I open my bedroom curtains in the morning this is my view. It's hard to describe the impact of this being the first thing you see each day, but I know it has made me feel more connected to my environment and definitely more appreciative of the constant beauty that surrounds you but can often be unnoticed in the rush of everyday life.
One of my favourite things about the summer is getting out on the road and taking our lovely yarns around the country to the wonderful yarn and craft shows that celebrate all things British wool. (Plus I get to zoom around in a van!)
Every four years, I love this time of year! Why you ask? Well because it’s an Olympic year! I love
the Winter Olympics! I love the Summer Olympics too, but the Winter Olympics has it’s own
special charms for me! It has danger! One of the first things my Father did when we moved to
Canada was to purchase my sister and I skates and the local hockey team’s jersey (the great
Montreal Canadians!). My love with winter sports began. I spent many hours skating on the outside rink on the park opposite my house. Watching the Olympics (well any sport really!) with my Dad was a bit of a tradition. We would sit through all the sports, but our favourites were the skating (racing and figure skating) and of course hockey! Apart from the figure skating, this love of sport was lost on my Mother. She did say that she didn’t need to know what was going on as she always knew things were getting more exciting/tense with my speed of knitting!
Here at baa ram ewe we are passionate about British wool. By using our local wool, we’re supporting our sheep farmers, saving fuel that would be needed to transport wool by air or sea from further afield, and also supporting local industry.
Christmas was busy but I did manage to squeeze in a little knitting here and there (of course). I’m currently working on a wonderful shawl called Reyna by Noora Laivola. This is a free pattern on Ravelry, you can find it here. It can be knitted in any 4ply yarn and would look lovely in our Titus!
With the gift splurge newly behind us I suspect lots of us have reflected on what makes the perfect gift. When you are giving something you have crafted lovingly, you want it to be cherished and appreciated of course, but rarely anyone who isn’t a yarny understands the hours taken and the love in every stitch, so do you make the effort or pop to the petrol station for a box of chocs? I’ve made scarves, socks, mitts and hats with the best of them over the years and I‘m not always sure I’ve hit the mark.
My life as a knitwear model has bought me world wide fame; I am constantly finding pictures of myself in random corners of the internet, or recognised by members of the general knitting public, (usually in the shop while stood next to patterns with my own face on strangely enough.)
