Black Sheep Helen loves both knitting and crochet. You will often find her working away on something at lunchtime or helping recover stitches for another member of staff. She has a bit of a thing for green yarn and definitely can't resist a variegated green. A little known fact about Helen, she worked as head of design for Patons for many years. She recently dipped back into designing for our 40th anniversary collaboration with Simply Crochet magazine designing a crochet shawl and clutch. Pattern: 1268 Rico Yarn: Rico Creative Lazy Hazy Summer Cotton DK Shade number: 25 Emeral ..read more

To say this pattern has been a hit with Black Sheep staff is an understatement. Four members have staff now have a crochet granny hexagon cardigan. We don't think they will be the last. It's been very popular in our Facebook group too! If you love to crochet and have never ventured into making a garment, this could be the one.  Pattern: 9965 Yarn & Shades (From left to right):  Helen - Stylecraft Highland Heathers DK: 3749, 7228, 3744, 3753, 3748, 3747, 3751 Amy - Stylecraft Batik DK: 1917, 1918, 1901 and Stylecraft Bellissima DK: 3921, 7214, 7215, 3922 Rach - Sty ..read more

Black Sheep Carmen has recently cast off her 'Big City Cardigan' in Sirdar Stories DK. A stocking stitch cardigan with added grid lines forming a fabulous check pattern. We asked Carmen a few questions to find how she got on knitting the cardigan. Carmen is an experienced knitter, often finding her latest knits on Ravelry. You will see her pop up in our Facebook make along group from time to time with mesmerising makes. Pattern: Big City Cardigan 10572 Yarn: Sirdar Stories DK Shades: 801 / 812 / 838 Size: 10-12 How did you find the pattern? Did you make any adjustments?It was work intensive be ..read more

You are invited to our 40th Birthday Party at the Craft Barn this July! A two-day extravaganza to celebrate our ruby anniversary. Forty fabulous years of Black Sheep Wools! There will be fun, frolics, Prosecco and cupcakes. Come and celebrate with the Black Sheep flock. Find the Craft Barn nestled in the Cheshire countryside, postcode - WA3 4AQ. We are very close to junctions of the M6 and M62 motorways. Also, only a short taxi ride from Birchwood, Warrington Central or Warrington Bank Quay train stations. More information on the Craft Barn can be found here ..read more

The much loved BBC British crime drama Happy Valley, starring Sarah Lancashire  returned to our screens earlier this year. The series hosted a variety of hand knits and crochet blankets, one being the popular scarf Sarah wears throughout many episodes. The scarf was a social media sensation so we decided to do a bit of digging and are delighted to say that it was actually made by, local to Black Sheep, Costume Supervisor Sam Green with yarn purchased from the Craft Barn. Sara & Nic met up with Sam for a chat in the Tea Shop, she is fascinating. Sam has worked on many different series ..read more

I have in mind a sleeveless summer top. I am not keen on showing my arms but I do love a top to layer, either over a t-shirt or under a blazer. Rowan Magazine 73 has lots of fab tops in it so I’ve taken a browse and made a list of my favourite affordable makes, so here goes. The magazine is £13.50 a copy and contains over 35 patterns, it’s great value as there are some crackers in it. ‘Lisette’ would be great under a jacket, the smallest size takes just four balls of Summerlite 4ply which is £4.75 a ball. Most Rowan patterns are size inclusive and go from 28-30 inch to a 60-62. Lisette top So ..read more

It has been such a long time since I wrote a monthly update post, I’m so sorry. The months, and projects, are just flying by. It feels like Christmas was yesterday! So what have I been up to, let’s go back to January. December was lost in a month of faffing, far too many bows, crocheted chains and general Christmas stuff.   I started the year with my Betwixtmas, I made mine in the Nicola colourway and just loved it. It was a simple pattern but it did take quite a few rows to embed it in my mind. However, once I had it I loved it. The i-cord edge is such a clever and effective way to car ..read more

The results are in for the Let's Knit British Knitting and Crochet Awards 2022. We are very pleased to share that we have WON Best Regional Independent Retailer in the North of England and we have been voted Highly Commended in Best Ready-to-use Kits. It means a lot to be recognised for our kits and we are ever so grateful that our wonderful shop, "The Craft Barn" has won for our region.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to vote for us in the British Knitting & Crochet awards 2022. We hope to have many more bespoke kits coming ..read more

It feels like it has been a slow month for me this month. October is the month of the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace and this always throws me off kilter for a while. The planning and preparation for the show steals valuable knitting & crochet time from me, then the exhaustion when we get home is a killer. Because of this I have concentrated on a few very easy projects. Granny Square Blanket This is such a stunning project and super easy! All I could manage for the first few days after the show was a granny square. I needed the soothing movement of my hook and easy treb ..read more

I am so sorry I completely forgot to write this last month. The only excuse I have is my menopausal brain! Rowan Tweed Haze Aloe Top I am feeling pretty cock a hoop this month as I have recently finished three (yes three) things! The first off my needles was my ‘Aloe’ top in Rowan Tweed Haze. This was a wonderfully quick make, just four balls of the beautiful chunky mohair blend and it knitted up in less than a week. I love it! I did my tension square and was one stitch out so I went up a needle size. I used a 6mm for the rib and a 7mm for the body. I chose different colours to the pattern ..read more