Ooh I had a lovely outing this last week! Mum and I went for a drive in the countryside (well down the M53 amd M6, then the countryside!). We went to Black Sheep Wools Craft Barn in Culcheth! My dream day out! – it included wool, coffee and cake!! (and my mum 😉 )
The craft barn is set back off the road in a lovely countryside setting, but it’s even more lovely inside! As you step through the door you can see shelves of pretty, delicate spring coloured wools and cottons on one side, shelves of beautiful variegated purply pink yarns on the other and a central stand with crafty items and gifts!
I was hard pressed to actually move through the shop as I kept getting distracted by yet another shelf of lovely yarns! They sell a wide variety: wool, mohair, cotton, silk, viscose, acrylic, bamboo and various mixes of these in plain and varigated colours. There is also a large section of Cross Stitch kits and threads, a wide selection of craft books and patterns and various notions to purchase.
Mum and I always suss out a coffee stop wherever we go and so thoroughly enjoyed the onsite cosy café serving light lunches and cakes. We had a very nice panini and a slice of Victoria Sandwich cake with fabulously strong coffee, just how I prefer it! I’m quite happy to travel to visit new craft places but I do like it when there is a café so I can stop and reflect on all the things I’ve been browsing through before I make my purchases, especially when I’ve driven a while to get there! It’s the sort of place you could enjoy visiting with friends or a knitting/crochet group.
I was very taken with a crochet designs book by Nikki Trench called, ‘Hooked on Noro’, Now although I like the look of Noro yarns some can feel a bit harsh and are quite pricey so this time I bought the book but chose an alternative yarn – Fusion Cotton – a soft, cotton and viscose mix yarn by Patons, very reasonably priced for the quality, with which to make the fingerless gloves from the book. Mum wanted to know why I would want to have fingerless gloves?! When I said they would be handy for texting, she just raised her eyes to the ceiling and said, “you could just pull off a normal glove!” – Eh? I don’t think so! I love the pair I’ve just made and actually so did Mum once she saw them finished!
They are very comfy and soft to wear and the pattern in the book is easy to follow.
The final thing I bought was one skein of Rowan’s Kidsilk Creation Stripe. Now this is pricey, but absolutely gorgeous! It looks and feels like a high quality product. It’s actually mohair and silk mix and it already partly knitted into a long mesh, which can be stretched out widthways if desired. I noticed there was a pattern on the label to crochet a scarf with it but I couldn’t understand how you would do it! Luckily there are plenty of nice friendly staff to ask for help and one of the ladies explained I needed to crochet it up the long edge. However, I was completely flummoxed at first when I got home, but once I understood what to do it was very easy to make up in about three quarters of an hour! It ends up as a twirly, twisty floaty pretty scarf! I’ve taken some pics and will post a tutorial about how to work with this yarn as it’s certainly worth it! I chose a pinky purply mix and the finished item has now been posted to my very stylish Aunty for her 70th birthday!
So all in all we were there just over two hours – it was long enough for Mum who by now was trying to nudge me to the exit! It’s the sort of place where you could keep going round and round oohing and aaahing and patting large balls of pink and purple wool!
Well I’m off for another visit now – over to Handmade Monday to visit some lovely blogs! If anyone lives near Black Sheep Wools Craft Barn and fancies meeting for a coffee n’ cake I’m always up for another trip!! 🙂
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What an exciting place to visit. Surprised you didn’t buy lots and lots. I often dream about having a cafe for people to relax whilst tempted of course to depart with a newly purchased pot I’ve made ….
I’d visit if you had one!
That scarf looks really cosy, and aren’t the colours of that yarn stunning! Fingerless gloves are the best for operating your phone, too, I think your mum is converted now and you will have to make her a pair. Coffee, cake and crafting sounds like a winning combination.
Have a great week crafting 🙂
Alison
I love your gloves! And what a treasure trove you visited x
I love visiting the Black Sheep Wool Barn. So much wool and so little time 🙂 Your scarf looks really pretty, I can’t wait for the tutorial. Have a lovely week.
Ali xx
I love a good mooch around a craft shop, especially if it has a place for a pit stop with coffee and cake, it looks a lovely place for a day out.
Jan x
Looks like a fab shop – one you could easily spend far longer in!! Never mind far more – coupled with a coffee shop, what a great day out:)
I’m guessing your a pinky purple sort of person! Me too, though oranges and reds creep in as well! I love going to places like this with my Mam. She is my crafting buddy too.
Definitely pinky purple orientated but I do love some orange and reds too – I was very drawn to the fiery orange/red Kidsilk Stripe in the shop as well!
What a lovely outing and strong coffee. I get really fed up with lattes that taste of hot milk rather than coffee – guess it’s what happens when you have a decent coffee machine at home. Anne
Oh how many weak coffees I’ve had I can’t count – I hate it when they top them up with water! I have a machine and also had my own coffee shop in the past so could make them as strong as I liked!
Sounds like the perfect day out 🙂 Isn’t that kidsilk yarn gorgeous! You made Great choice there (i’m sure the cake and coffee helped with that :)) x
Sounds like my dream day out…..and a cafe, it’s a wonder you didn’t stay overnight! lol
The shop looks heavenly, and I agree its great to have somewhere nearby to have a cuppa and some cake before you decide what to buy. You’ve made loads this week, and I particularly like the gorgeous scarf – it looks like I could just reach out and stroke it.
Sounds like you had a lovely time and you got a wonderful scarf and pair of gloves out of it too. I have to agree that having a cafe nearby is a great place to think about what to buy, especially if they have cake 🙂
*ONLY* – [cough!] – TWO Hours..??!
;-D