🧶Goody goody gift time

posts / 🧶Goody goody gift time

🧶Goody goody gift time

February 11, 2024

Welcome to your Sunday, !

How will you use the gift of this day to fuel your creativity?

Well for starters, we’ve put together a little goody bag as a gift with purchase this week. Everything on our site is 30% off right now, and when you order $100 or more we will include these goodies in your package: A Knit the World Together Journal, pink luxe Knit Stars tape measure, notions pouch, vegan leather Knit Stars tag (a perfect finishing touch for that hat or shawl), a Soak mini wool wash, small pair of scissors, and set of 50 blue locking stitch markers, plus a Knit Stars tote bag.

It’s a total gift value of more than $50 – our thank you for your ongoing support. ❤️ We have a total of 85 goody bags, so shop early to ensure you get your gift!

Need some ideas to kick off your shopping? Check out…
La Bien Aimée x Mondim 30% off
Loops Luxe Superloops 30% off
Manos Del Uruguary Fino 30% off
Fur Pompoms 30% off
Knit Stars Blocking Mats 30% off (interchangeable with other popular sets!)

Not too long ago, Knit Star Felicity “Felix” Ford fulfilled a dream by moving to the seaside town of St. Leonards-on-Sea, on the south coast of England.

“I’m just blossoming here,” she said. “Something about my mental health and the light and the space of the sea. I go down and watch the waves. It’s the most comforting thing!”

For months, Felix walked by an old, weather-worn boat without really noticing it. Then something changed.

Last December, KDD&Co. produced an advent calendar. As part of the project, Felix produced daily color-reveal posts, celebrating the unveiling of each new color. She would take each day’s yarn ball out into the world, and look for touches of that same color in her everyday life. Then she wrote a blog post about each day’s colorful discovery.

“One day I took this yarn ball in Kate’s colorway ‘Cranachan,’ named for a traditional Scottish dessert with whiskey, cream, and raspberries. And I walked by that flaky old beautiful fishing boat and realized it was the exact color of the yarn,” Felix said.

“It was such a glorious moment of realizing that when you take a reddish pink and add sun bleaching you get this color.”

Although Felix adores her new home by the sea, the first few months after moving had been “stressy” she said. “But that color project made the place feel like home. It created all these rich color associations and now, my little nearby beach – Bulverhythe – is just full of amazing colors.”

Felix’s work on the daily-reveal posts touch on some of the same themes she’s been writing about for an essay included in a forthcoming book edited by her and Kate Davies called “Colour at Work.” Doing the advent calendar and writing that essay reminded Felix how profoundly important it is to actually play. So she decided to create her own brand-new online course called “Colour At Play.”

Fans of Felix’s popular “Bullet Journal” course will be familiar with the richness, depth and pure creative pleasure that Felix brings to her online offerings.

In “Colour At Play,” Felix is your enthusiastic color-appreciator, giving you everything you need to develop more color confidence through the transformative power of play: Inspiring videos, materials list, printable worksheets, comments sections for sharing ideas, the sense of exploring together as a cohort, and above all, structure.

“My greatest hope would be for everyone who takes this course to develop new habits that continue to produce throughout your life these little fun mischievous moments of color joy,” she added.

To pre-order Felix’s “Colour At Play” course at early bird pricing of just $41 USD (£33), click here. As a Shelley’s Sunday Yarns subscriber, you can also use coupon code SHELLEYSYARNIES to save an additional 10%.

OR you can pre-order both the “Colour At Play” course and the new, 120-page softcover “Colour At Work” book by Kate Davies and Felix Ford. In a series of lively, engaging, and beautifully-illustrated essays, Kate, Felix and their friends around the world generously share the ideas and approaches that have helped them develop ways of working with color that are curiosity-driven, bold, and fun. Additional contributors: Max Alexander, Tom Barr, Janine Bajus, Flora Collingwood-Norris, Ella Gordon, Jeanette Sloan, Tressa Weidenaar and Otilla Westerlund.

To order the Course + Book for just $69 click here. International shipping is free. Use coupon code SHELLEYSYARNIES to save an additional 10%.

Notes: This is a pre-order; content arrives in March. When you use our links, Knit Stars earns an affiliate commission. Thank you for using our link and for supporting Felix!

Lastly, I chatted with Felix about this year’s Knit Stars Masterclass Premiere: Permission to Shine. I asked her, how do you give yourself permission to shine in everyday life?

“One thing that instantly jumps to mind is, I invested in these stickers. I was struggling with all the work of running my business and I suddenly realized that as a solopreneur, I don’t get an appraisal. No one will ever sit down and say ‘Well done, Felix!’” she said.

“So I found these shiny gold stickers for my journal that say Employee of the Month. And I’ve been Employee of the Month for about 9 months now!” 🤣

What a great reminder to nurture yourself and your creativity on this perfect Sunday.

xoxo,

Felix shining bright in her favorite gold skirt and matching designs by fellow Knit Star Cecelia Campochiaro.

🚨Beautiful gadget alert!🚨

Lemonwood Love recently introduced a super cool gadget in honor of our favorite Iconic Orange Goddess, Gaye Glasspie.

The Mini Minder lets you hold your yarn without using your hands. Effortlessly hang it on your wrist, attach it to your project bag or honestly hang it just about anywhere.

If you’re located in the U.S., get your Mini Minder here.
If you’re outside the U.S., shop here.

“Cranachan” is one of Tom Barr’s recipes from Buachaille: At Home in the Highlands, published by Kate Davies Designs, 2015.

If the mention of that dessert up there in Felix’ article made you crave it, you’re not alone! Luckily Felix and Kate were happy to share…Enjoy!

Cranachan

by Tom Barr

Notes on making and substitutions: this recipe uses crowdie cheese, a traditional Scottish homemade cheese, the recipe for which can be found in the same book as this one for Cranachan. If you do not wish to make your own crowdie, you can substitute the creamy crowdie in this recipe with 250g / 9oz mascarpone + 200g / 7oz ricotta cheese.

Cranachan is the famous dessert of cream, oatmeal and raspberries eaten as a harvest celebration. In many modern recipes I find the cream tends to overpower the fragrant raspberries, which for me, should be the star of the show. By replacing much of the whipped cream with crowdie, a fresher, milder dessert results, in which the raspberry flavour really shines. Your choice of whisky will have a big influence on the final dish too; I suggest avoiding anything heavily peated, as the medicinal notes and cream can sit somewhat uncomfortably together. With its heather honeyed palate and the merest whiff of smoke, I would recommend Highland Park as the ideal Scottish single malt whisky for this recipe.

Ingredients:
(serves 4-6)

80g / 3oz oatmeal (medium or coarse)
300g / 11oz fresh raspberries
150ml / 5fl oz heavy cream
2 tablespoons malt whisky
2 tablespoons heather honey
450g / 1lb mild and creamy crowdie (see notes on making and substitution, above)

Equipment:
Heavy-based pan

Method:

Lightly toast the oatmeal in a dry, hot heavy-based pan for 4-6mins over a medium-high heat. Toss frequently to avoid burning and stop when the oatmeal is brown and the kitchen is filled with the lovely toasted nutty aroma. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.
Crush 200g / 7oz of the raspberries in a bowl using a fork. Reserve the plumpest, juiciest looking berries to garnish the dish.
Whip the double cream until it forms soft peaks, then add the whisky and honey. Continue to whisk until fully mixed.
Gently fold the crowdie into the cream, whisky and honey ensuring the crowdie keeps its structure.
In a large glass serving bowl, or individual dessert bowls, add alternating layers of the creamy crowdie mixture, crushed raspberries and toasted oatmeal, finishing with a final layer of the creamy mix. Add the remaining raspberries to the top with a final sprinkle of oatmeal.
Eat immediately, if you like the oatmeal to keep its bite, or chill until ready for serving.

Thank you to all the eagle-eyed readers who read the article about Summer Lee’s new sock book and online course, and wrote in to remind us that Carson McCullers, the late American novelist, was a woman. We mistakenly used the wrong pronoun and that error was all ours (not Summer’s). Now, off to read McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter which many of you highly recommend!