Programme for Yarn Shop Day + a FREE Workshop – Knit Sparkle Mouse

On Saturday the 3rd May we would love you to come and join us for our first party to celebrate Yarn Shop Day.

10.30am The day comences at with the offical opening by our competition winner cutting the ribbon. As our day is a week before the Giro, we are using it as an opportunity to start our celebrations of the Giro d’Italia. We are delighted that the competition is being judged by our professional cyclist Stephen Gallagher. Remeber you have to next wed 23rd April to enter. If We will also be ‘Thinking Pink’ on the day by wearing it and themeing all our display in the Giro colour.

11.00am If you have had a wee read through our flyer you will notice that we are planning a workshop on Yarn Shop Day. You have the chance of knitting your own Sparklemouse. This wee character was designed by Sue Stratford exclusivly for Yarn Shop Day. It is a great wee project to get familiar with increasing and decreading stiches.

There will be a FREE sparklemouse workshop running at 11.00am and another at 2pm. If you would like to come to this FREE workshop please email us info@elizabethroseni.com or phone the shop 02838871637 to reserve your space (at whatever time slot suits you) as there are limited numbers. Please allow 1-1.5 hours for this workshop. Please note that some experience with knit and purl is beneficial.

Our crochet tutor Heather Givan will be giving you a helping hand with this workshop. Here is her wee knit up of Sparklemouse. How cute is this….

1.30pm 15-20min Fashion show of knitted garments and accessories – some made and modelled by our local knitters

2.00pm Sparklemouse workshop – booking essential.

10.30am-5.00pm

Yarn tasting session – At the minute we have over 20 yarns for you to have a knit at. Stylecraft and Debbie Bliss have sent us wonderful packs of different yarns that you can sit down and knit a row to get the feel off.

10% disount off all yarn purchased and ordered on Yarn Shop Day
Goody bags for the first 10 customers who make a purchase on Yarn Shop Day
Exhibition display of our local ladies knitting and crochet projects.
Competitions – Be in with a chance of winning a goody bag with competitions on the go throughout the day.
Free apple juice and apple creams – So apple blossom time is almost upon us, so since we are in the heart of the apple country surrounded by acres of apple trees it seems only right that wee enjoy these treats on the day. Also feel free to have a wee stroll down through the orchards when your here.

Have Fun with Freddie – We need your help!

As we prepare for Yarn Shop Day, we decided it would be great timing to use it as a start of the celebrations running up to the Giro due to it being the following week, so during the day we will be “Thinking Pink”, by wearing it and focusing our displays etc around it.

Freddie is a unique character that is being used to dress the Giro route and provide a little added personality to the Giro Big Start in Northern Ireland. We are going to use him to be part of our Yarn Shop Day as being part of Northern Ireland’s Giro celebrations.

BOYS AND GIRLS, WE NEED YOUR HELP! – We would love you to enter our competition of decorating Freddie.

To enter, copy and paste our picture of Freddie going through Armagh from our facebook page facebook.com/elizabethroseni (sorry out blog isn’t co-operating very well today and it won’t let us load it o n here). You can also pick a copy up from the shop if your in the area. Freddie can be painted, or recreated in any way you want, so get creative and let’ssee all entries of Freddie popping up on Yarn Shop day to begin the celebrations of the Giro.

The winner of the competition will be judged by Co. Armagh’s own professional cycalist Stephen Gallagher. We are very honoured that Stephen is taking some time out from his very busy schedule on the fun up to othe Giro to do this for us.

Stephen Gallagher (born 9 July 1980 in Armagh, Northern Ireland) is an Irish professional cyclist, who last rode for the British continental cycling team Sigma Sport-Specialized. He previously rode for the An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team team.

Stephen took his biggest win when he won the general classification of the 2008 FBD Insurance Rás.

Stephen Gallagher

Nationality: Irish (Armagh)

Previous teams:

Endura Sport (2003)
Flanders (2004-2005)
Giant Asia (2006)
Murphy & Gunn (2007)
An Post Sean Kelly team (2008)

Career/race highlights

3rd in the Regional Cup (2004)
3rd in the Irish Time Trial Championships (2005)
2nd in Tour of Taiwan (2006)
3rd in Tour of Thailand (2006)
2008 Ras winner

What are your hobbies interests outside of cycling?

Music

If you weren’t a cyclist what do you think you might be?

Physio

Do you have any Idols in cycling and if so why?

Sean Kelly. Inspirational in so many ways. His dedication and work ethic reaped rewards.

Any other idol or influence outside of cycling?

My Father & family

The winner will officially open our Yarn Shop Day at 10.30am on Sat 3rd May by cutting the ribbon receive a goody bag of treats. The Winner will also receive a photo of our professional cyclist holding their winning entry.

Entries must be in by Wednesday 23rd April, either by post or hand delivered to Elizabeth Rose NI @Woodview Garden Centre, 3 Cloughan Road, Armagh, BT61 8RF.

Please put the childs name, age and contact number on the back of the entry. Look forward to seeing all your creativity.

Charlene xx

Yarn Shop Day – 3rd May 2014

YARN SHOP DAY

Celebrate Your Local Yarn Shop

love knitting? Crazy about crochet? Celebrate your local wool store with leading magazines’ Love Your Yarn ShopCrafting has never been so popular. As increasing numbers of people turn their creative passion to needles and hooks, yarn stores are often the first port of call for novice knitters and experienced yarn crafters alike. With this in mind, leading publications, Let’s Get Crafting and Let’s Knit have joined forces with yarn stores across Britain to launch the Love Your Yarn Shop campaign.

Says Let’s Knit Editor Sarah Neal: “Love Your Yarn Shop is designed to remind consumers of the value of their local wool store. With the growth of the internet we have far more shopping opportunities than ever before, but when it comes to knitting there’s no substitute for seeing and touching the yarn, and for having the advice of experienced knitters on hand. Yarn shops provide all this and more; they are sources of great inspiration and often a community hub. It’s been a tough time for the high street recently so we’re encouraging consumers to support these shops and enjoy all that they have to offer.”

I am so excited to tell you that Elizabeth Rose NI is one of the outlets taking part. Although I am new to the knitting and crochet world I have learn’t very quickly that Knitting and crochet are more popular than ever, and this campaign is the perfect way in which to celebrate all those stores which stock yarn and needles, hooks and patterns, as well as offering crafters advice and inspiration.”

Let’s Knit and Let’s Get Crafting magazines will publicise the campaign with the help of figures across the industry. “We’re really pleased to be launching Love Your Yarn Shop,” says Let’s Get Crafting Editor Ella Johnston. “An increasing number of people are taking up knitting and crochet, and it’s exciting to see how attitudes to these crafts have changed over the years – they’ve gone from old fashioned to cool, and are attracting all age groups, and men as well as women.”

The campaign will conclude with Yarn Shop Day on May 3rd, which will see retailers putting on a series of events. For more information, visit www.letsknit.co.uk

Keep a wee eye on our blog over the next couple of days as we continue to update you with our plans for Yarn Shop Day. Our flyers have been dipatched from the printers and we look forward to getting them so we can fill you in

Stylecraft

Whoohoo, just received on of our first orders from the show!

Can’t tell you how excited I was to open this parcel of colour.

There are 59 stylecraft special dk colours including 4 new shades – spice, gold, stone and petrol. I currently am the stockiest of 24 of them including the 4 gorgeous new shades.

So as some of you might be aware, I have been taking notes of your feedback, and one yarn brand many of you have been enthuastic about was “style craft”

I first became aware of it through our fabulous teacher Heather, from CrochetAt Number40, which I must mention (by the way) made a super gorgeous waffle stitch blanket for her new wee nephew, using the stylecraft yarn, posted it on a facebook page and you never guess, it went viral with over 8000 likes.

I then came across Lucy from Attic24. Lucy has the most beautiful blog showcasing her stunning crochet. She uses a fab palette of stylecraft’s vibrant/happy colours.

Heather and I were so inspired by her work, hence we are commencing one of her projects in our workshop starting next week, which if you want to book, check out our workshop page for further info. http://www.elizabethroseni.com/workshops/

If you would like to order any of our new range, you can view the colours on our online shop http://www.elizabethroseni.com/product/stylecraft-special-dk/ or email us at info@elizabethroseni.com

Charlene x

Where have I been?

Hiya everyone, so sorry for the lack of posts recently. I do have lots of excuses. When I’m travelling in the car, I am always planning blog posts in my head as there is just so much going on at the moment but actually getting time to sit down and do them is a bit of a challenge.

Just over 6 months ago (which seems like a blink) we ventured into the fabric, yarn and haberdashing, working alongside the flowers and also give it a fresh branding with our new sentimental name of Elizabeth Rose NI. Since then things have changed so much. It has been brilliant! I have had such a ball talking to all you creative people about all your crafty makes and get excited to hear about what your going to make or what project your going to complete next.

Although I’ve been sewing for approx 4 years now, I have really got hooked on it. I really enjoy making clothes. (Maybe I might share some pics with you sometimes?) It’s been such an exciting time and the more things I make, the more I want to make, try new techniques and different fabrics and generally experiment more. But sometimes I say I need a clone to be able to complete all I want to achieve. At the minute I’m working on…..4 dresses, which is proving to be a real learning experience.

Over the Autumn/Winter months we held a number of beginner crochet workshops, taught by the wonderful Heather. So pleased that I got to add the basics of this new skill to my ‘can do’ list. If you know the basics and have been inspired to create something and take it to the next level, check out our workshop page as we have a new workshop starting on 4th March for 6 weeks learning how to make 2 and 3 dimensial flowers etc. This class costs £30. Can’t wait!

Also our Patchwork workshop starts next week. Im still in amazement at how we had a full class in 24hrs. Don’t worry, if you missed out and would love a go to make something beautiful and practical, we will be running this workshop again dv.

At the beginning of the week my mum and I attending the stitch trade show at the NEC, hunting out new suppliers for all your needs and requests. We have managed to source lot of lovely new things but don’t want to give too much away until they start coming in….So excited.

Can you believe the chair, cup, dog, flask radio etc is all knitted. Absolutely fab!

Another highlight to a great day way spotting out Lauren, one of last years finalist from the Great British Sewing Bee. That just put the icing on the cake.

Just want to take this chance to say a huge thank you to you all for your support, encouaragement over the past 6 months, and also patience with me in developing my stock. It really doesn’t go un-noticed.

Also I would love to see some of your ‘makes’, and what you’ve been getting up to using our yarn and fabric. Feel free to post a pic on our facebook page. That would be great!

Look forward to see what changes Elizabth Rose NI undertakes over the next 6 months 🙂 and watching how it develops more.

What would you like to see??

Hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and new year.

I had a great wee break off with our wee family.

I always love the end of a year into the beginning of a new year as it seems to be a bit of a time for reflection and looking ahead at what’s coming up, what you can change, and what you can make better.

I’m looking forward to 2014, to see the things that God has planned for me this year and what dreams he places on my heart.

So over the rest of this month and next month I will be:-

* giving the shop a bit of a change around and re-organising which always includes a dab or two of painting.

* developing our products range of yarn, fabric and haberdashery and would be interested to know if you have any special requests here.

* doing lots of plotting and planning for the workshop calendar for the year upon us, but this is were you folks come in.

Have you any special requests y’all? I would really love your feedback to make up a successful workshop calendar full of things you would love to learn or have a refresher on.

Are any of you interested in

* Crochet

* Knitting

* Felting

* Patchwork

* Sewing

I’m always happy to take requests!

Does it suit you better in the morning, afternoon or evening? I know getting a time to suit everyone can be a bit tricky.

ALSO…What would you guys like to hear about on the blog this year?!

I have been very poor at sharing with you what I’ve been stitching so will try keep you posted with what on my sewing table over the year.

Look forward to your feedback and Wishing you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Charlene xx

We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

The Seven Days of Christmas

We’ve been really busy with Christmas weddings recently so we have neglected our blog. As there are only seven days left to Christmas, we thought we would have the “Elizabeth Rose NI” seven days of Christmas. This is the story of a busy mum who is getting ready for Christmas.

“On the first day of Christmas, I went to Elizabeth Rose NI and picked out a beautiful Christmas hand-tied bouquet as a present for Granny. All she has to do is the cut the ends of the flowers, put them in a vase and admire their beautiful colours

On the second day of Christmas, I was heading back from Armagh along the Portadown Road and we stopped off at Elizabeth Rose NI to see if there was anything for a little extra stocking filler for the children. I found the perfect gift – kids’ knitting needles and a ball of wool. That should keep Rosie quiet for a little while during the Christmas holidays.

On the third day of Christmas, I remembered that we still had to buy a present for Rosie’s teacher. Something under £10 and something that Rosie wouldn’t drop and break on the way into school. Elizabeth Rose had the answer again – a gift-wrapped cyclamen. Teachers talk about nature in their classes so I’m sure she would like a nice plant for her kitchen windowsill.

On the fourth day of Christmas, I was stuck with an idea for my sister’s present as what do you buy for someone who has everything? “Can she crochet?” was the question I was asked at Elizabeth Rose NI. That’s something that she can’t do so I decide to book her on to a Beginner’s Crochet Class at Elizabeth Rose NI on 4th February 2014. And if she doesn’t want to learn how to crochet, I will just go to the class myself!

On the fifth day of Christmas, it was time to buy a present for my best friend, Melita. She loves knitting so I remembered spotting a Snood Knitting Pack on the counter at Elizabeth Rose NI. Three balls of chunky wool, a pattern, needles and all wrapped up on cellophane with a bow on top. I picked the purple one as she just loves anything purple. It was definitely a much more thoughtful gift than a bottle of perfume and it looked the part too.

On the sixth day of Christmas, I needed a pom-pom for the top of Jamie’s Christmas hat. He’s singing in the Carol Service at church and he needs a Santa hat. Elizabeth Rose NI to the rescue again as they sell pom-pom makers! We had a pom-pom made in ten minutes and had it sewn on to the hat just in time for the Carol Service.

On the seventh day of Christmas, I am exhausted with all this shopping. I’ve got all my food but remembered that I needed a small arrangement for my Christmas dinner table. Charlene had the perfect natural arrangement for me – festive but very tasteful. The mother-in-law will be very impressed!

Thank you so much to everyone at Elizabeth Rose NI for helping with my Christmas shopping dilemmas. Hopefully everyone enjoys their gifts and I’m sure I will be back to Elizabeth Rose next year for more inspiration!”

Christmas is a lovely time of year but it is so busy for everyone. Hopefully we have given you some gift ideas and it would be lovely if you could phone, email or call in to see us. We are open until 3pm Tueday 24th December. We would like to thank you for all your support in 2013. It’s been a year of change for us as we branched out into fabric, yarn and haberdashery as well as flowers.

Finally, we would like to wish you a very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.

Charlene xo

Knit Night

Knitting and crochet is now making a major comeback. High street shops have been following the trend with the result that most people have some sort of fashion knitting or crochet in their wardrobe.

Celebrities seem to have caught the knitting bug such as Julia Roberts, Geri Halliwell etc etc which is having an influence to new knitters all over the world.

So here at Elizabeth Rose NI we are going to keep up with the jones and start our own wee knitting group.

So WHAT DO WE DO AT A KNIT NIGHT? you might ask

Well we knit/crochet and talk….mmmm….that’s about it. Communicating is one thing that women have a natural facility for.

We support our friends, share knowledge and help each other.

We discuss current affair, problems, health, family and work. We giggle and laugh and sometimes we just sit in silence with the sound of our needles clicking away.

oooh and most importantly, we always have a good supply of tea and coffee and maybe a little something sweet.

knit night

Dates

Knits Night begins Thursday 21st November and runs from 7pm to 9pm Weekly.

Cost

£2 each week

Knit Night offers you a chance to come and have a natter whilst working on your knitting or crochet projects with a group of people sharing your interest It’s £2 to drop by and you don’t have to book, but please note, this isn’t a taught workshop, so you’ll have to bring your own project with you. It will be held in Woodview Reataurant so you can drop by, chill out and have a good yarn?!

Hen Party (but a nice one)

So on Sat afternoon I had my first Hen Party (but a nice one, as the reserved note on our tables stated) Workshop at Dock Cafe!!!

DSCN1131

Now this was my first time at Dock Cafe, if you have never been I would HIGHLY recommend a visit or visit their website and get a taster. Here you can go and get a selection of different teas, coffee and something to munch on OR bring your own food and your aren’t charged but they have an honesty box were you put a donation in. This all took me a wee while to get my head round, I dont believe I have ever come across anywere like this before. There was such a lovely atmosphere about the place.

The BEAUTIFUL Bride Leanne x

The Beautiful Bride with her Beautiful Sister

Moi with the Brides beautiful sister who just so happens to be the most amazing friend ever 🙂

A group of 19 girls met at the Dock Cafe at the Titanic Headquarters for an afternoon full of applique, embroidery and sewing, to make a beautiful and practial gift for there speical friend, Bride to be Leanne with instrumental background music.

The girls all got a square of fabric (most traditional patchwork pattern) and designed their own interpretation of a connection they had with the bride and groom – Leanne and Jonny, which when put together will not only be decorative but also tell a story of their relationship with with their speical friend.

Now I have a little sewing to finish it off just in time for Leanne’s wedding day when it will be presented to her. Her beautiful life long keepsake which will be a sentimental memory of her speical day with her hens

3/4 way through the workshop the hens took a break and went to the prayer garden in Dock Cafe and had a wee special time of prayer for the bride and groom.

Whilst at the garden, the hens workspace got a transformation to a tea party were the hens had prepared lot and I mean LOTS of yummy traybakes, cakes and tasty treats. When the hens came back to their tea party, my biggest shock/amazement was they had their needle and thread back in their hand and back into the sewing even with all this yummy food sitting in front of them?

As Dock Cafe entitled their blog and what summed up this whole afternoon “A PERFECT DAY” I met a great bunch of hens/new friends, in a fab new spot and had a relaxing afternoon sharing something I am pasionate about alongside a cuppa and a bun (or 2 :/)

THANKS SO MUCH GIRLS AND DOCK CAFE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY AND “A PERFECT DAY”

NEW WORKSHOPS

If you haven’t checked out our workshop section of our website recently, here are a couple of NEW events we have in the pipeline which may be of interest to you or someone you know

Have a wee nosy and see what you think?…

Knit Night