As we come to the close of another busy year at Baa Baa Brighouse, I like to take time to reflect on what we have achieved over the last 12 months.

Our Yan Tan Tethera Yarn Club, which was launched four years ago, has gone from strength to strength this year and now has six permanent indie dyers working for it on a rota basis.

It is a blessing and a privilege to be able to work alongside such a talented and diverse team, who whilst sharing a passion for British wool, bring their own brand of uniqueness to the creative process.

We began 2018 with a brand new dyer, Homespunwonders, a mother and daughter team from Sheffield, South Yorkshire., who rose to the challenge of dyeing January’s yarn based on the picture, ‘View Above Langsett’ by Shutterspot Photography.

Heather and Katie did a marvellous job of capturing the colours of the Yorkshire landscape with their sock yarn offering of the same name:

Though newcomers to the club, we could not have wished for better dyers to work with and they now fit seamlessly with our fellow dyers: Cuddlebums, Sylvan Tiger Yarn, Hot Butter Yarns, The Cryptozoologist and of course, Baa Baa Brighouse.

Throughout the year, we try hard to choose pictures from Shutterspot Photography that match the seasons and significant events throughout the year and so having highlighted spring bulbs, summer blooms and autumn leaves, we ended the year with something festive, “Christmas Trees’, which was taken during a special festival of lights display at York Museum Gardens, North Yorkshire.

Jodi Rooke of Cuddlebums based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, was inspired to create “Neon Christmas Trees” as a result:

We can’t wait to see what our dyers create during 2019. If you’re an experienced indie dyer interested in working with Baa Baa Brighouse, why not get in touch?

Alternatively you can sign up to our 2019 Yan Tan Tethera Yarn Club on a month by month basis, so if that month’s picture isn’t your cup of tea, simply give it a miss – you’re not tied into the club! Sign ups for our February Yan Tan Tethera Yarn Club are now open!

Our speciality boxes are exclusive and are only available for a limited time period from when we open and close sign ups. They celebrate special periods and occasions throughout the year and always include 200g of Baa Baa Brew DK 100% British Bluefaced Leicester yarn hand dyed in a unique colourway.

Each box also contains a range of superior quality gifts, many from fellow Yorkshire based businesses such as The Yorkshire Soap Company, Betty’s, Taylor’s of Harrogate, Lottie Shaws, Lucy Pittaway and Kate Broughton to name a few.

Our most recent box was our May Day Yarn Box which featured a one-off colourway, ‘Maypole Ribbons’. Boxes also featured lots of lovely goodies based around the May Day theme.

At Easter we put together a gorgeous yarn box featuring ‘Chickadee’, again a one-off colourway. The box included yummy treats from Betty’s and super cute gifts from The Yorkshire Soap Company.

In March, we released a Spring Equinox Yarn Box aimed at celebrating this very special time of year. The unique colourway is called ‘Spring Has Sprung’.

For Mother’s Day, our specially curated box featured yarn called ‘Mothering Sunday’ and some absolutely fabulous gifts from Hotel Chocolat, Betty’s and The Yorkshire Soap Company.

Our Valentine’s Day Yarn Box was also hugely popular with a box of indulgent treats to satisfy the most hopeless romantic.

In January, we helped our wonderful customers beat the January blues with our specially curated box featuring a package of self care products and some beautiful ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ yarn.

If you like what you see, why not sign up for our next speciality yarn box which is our Summer Solstice Yarn Box.

Summer Solstice, also known as midsummer, will take place on June 21st in the northern hemisphere. Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and for many signifies the beginning of summer and is taken to be a sign and celebration of fertility.

Our Summer Solstice Yarn Box will contain 200g of Baa Baa Brew DK British Bluefaced Leicester yarn in an exclusive variegated colourway designed especially for the Summer Solstice. Boxes will also include a host of other quality goodies to celebrate the event.

This is the second completely unique batch of this yarn that we have released. The first was inspired by the music of California based band, Counting Crows and included ‘Sullivan Street’, ‘Perfect Blue Buildings’, ‘Miller’s Angels’, ‘Hard Candy’ and ‘Mercury’.

The current batch is inspired by the work of Seattle band, Pearl Jam and includes ‘Jeremy‘, ‘Even Flow‘, Corduroy’, ‘Indifference’ and ‘Amongst The Waves’.

Baa Baa Beats is a 100% British Bluefaced Leicester High Twist 4 Ply Sock Yarn. It’s variegated nature means it is perfect for both socks and shawls.

However, these skeins are complete one-off originals so once they’re gone, they’re gone! Because of their exclusive nature, these skeins tend to be snapped up very quickly.

We will be releasing more Baa Baa Beats at intervals throughout the year – always in batches of five.

If there’s a musician that you would like to see featured in the Baa Baa Beats collection, why not get in touch with your suggestions?

Each month, inspiration for the box comes from popular culture including film, television, art, music, literature and historical events.

So far, we have featured the hit TV show, ‘Sherlock’, the celebrated British author, Jane Austen, Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Cameron Mackintosh’s critically acclaimed musical, ‘Les Miserables’, Shakespeare, The Brontes, Disney’s ‘Snow White’, the TV drama, ‘Poldark’, the ‘Outlander’ series, crime writer, Agatha Christie, the music of Queen and ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens.

In 2018 we have taken inspiration from the film, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, 100 years since the Representation of the People Act allowed women to vote and the radio series, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’,  by Douglas Adams.

Boxes feature limited edition Baa Baa Brew variegated colourways reminiscent of that month’s theme. Included is a 100g skein of Baa Baa Brew hand dyed DK British Bluefaced Leicester, along with a contrasting 25g mini skein of Baa Baa Brew and a host of other goodies based around the theme, all presented in a beautiful gift box tied with satin ribbon.

This month, we’ll be dyeing yarn inspired by the fairytales of Danish storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen.  Sign ups close on Friday April 20th. We’re always open to suggestions so if you think there’s a theme that we should feature and haven’t yet, follow the contact form and let us know!

Back in June we launched the Sprig Beanie Hat Knit Kit featuring our very own Baa Baa Brew DK hand dyed British Bluefaced Leicester yarn. Of course, June wasn’t exactly the right time to be donning woolly hats but now that we’re moving into Autumn, it’s the perfect season to think about knitting stylish, cosy beanies to keep the chills at bay.

The pattern and kits were designed and developed by Sandra Nesbitt of The Feminine Touch which, like Baa Baa Brighouse, is based in West Yorkshire. Sandra regularly designs for magazines such as The Knitter, Simply Knitting and Knit Now.

Sandra discovered our Baa Baa Brew Mini Skein Boxes on Yarn Shop Day and decided our range of colours would be perfect for the mosaic hat pattern she had in mind.

She teamed our yarn with some gorgeously soft natural alpaca to create the Sprig Beanie Hat Knit Kit. The design itself looks far more complex than it actually is, relying for the most part on the slip stitch technique to carry the contrasting colour to the next row. It’s a really enjoyable pattern to work on, grows quickly and the end result looks incredibly impressive. A really beautiful garment.

The kits are available in the whole range of Baa Baa Brew colours – Hove Edge, Rastrick, Thornhills, Brookfoot, Woodhouse and Clifton and come packaged in a lovely Kraft box tied with premier satin ribbon. They include all the yarn and written instructions and charts needed to make the Sprig Beanie Hat.

The kits make excellent gifts for knitters wanting to take their skills a step further or why not knit up the Sprig Beanie Hat for yourself or as a gift for a loved one?

Yorkshire based online yarn store, Baa Baa Brighouse, has launched its very own brand of hand dyed yarn – Baa Baa Brew.

Known as ‘The Brighouse Collection’, the DK yarn is available in six subtle semi-solid colours, each of which is named after an area of Brighouse, the town where it was ‘brewed’ or dyed. They are Rastrick, Woodhouse, Brookfoot, Hove Edge, Clifton and Thornhills.

Available in 100g skeins, Baa Baa Brew is a 100% British Bluefaced Leicester yarn which is spun in Yorkshire before being dyed by hand in Brighouse using traditional, small scale methods.

During the dyeing process, each skein is immersed in its own dye bath and left unagitated, allowing the dye to absorb naturally which results in subtle variations in colour. The yarn is then air dried, wound, re-skeined and tied by hand before a Baa Baa Brighouse label is attached with satin ribbon.

Baa Baa Brew retails at £14 per skein and is available exclusively from Baa Baa Brighouse.

Baa Baa Brew Gift Boxes are also available for those special occasions. They make the perfect present for any knitter or tea enthusiast.

Each box contains a skein of Baa Baa Brew, a Baa Baa Brighouse ‘Time for a Baa Baa Brew’ mug, a 250g packet of Yorkshire Gold loose leaf tea by Taylors of Harrogate, sweet treats from Lottie Shaw’s, including a slice of their Yorkshire Parkin, which is made to a 100-year-old recipe at their craft bakery in Elland and a lavender bag from Yorkshire Lavender to keep yarn smelling beautiful. Presented in a crisp, white gift box and wrapped in satin ribbon, Baa Baa Brew Gift Boxes retail at £35 each and are available exclusively from Baa Baa Brighouse.

Elaine Jinks-Turner, owner of Baa Baa Brighouse which was set up in 2014, said: “I couldn’t be happier that Baa Baa Brew has finally arrived. It has been a project I have been working on for many months and has taken a lot of time and effort to plan and prepare the product for sale.

“Baa Baa Brew is a beautiful yarn and the colours are so lovely – really reminiscent of spring so this seems like an ideal time to introduce it.”

Elaine is currently working on some Baa Baa Brew Mini-Skein Gift Boxes which she hopes will be ready in the next couple of weeks.

“As the yarn is all dyed and prepared by me, the whole process can take some time but I would love to be able to build on Baa Baa Brew, expand its colour range and eventually wholesale it to other retailers,” said Elaine.

Customers will be able to view the yarn for themselves at its official launch at the regular Baa Baa Brighouse Knit and Natter session at Rastrick Library, Crowtrees Lane, Rastrick, on Saturday March 5th from 10.30am – 12.30pm. All ages and abilities are welcome at the group which runs on the first and third Saturdays of every month.