Three Bags Full wool shop

26/05/2026

I'll be honest, the idea of having a table at the market this weekend, selling woollies in the record-breaking heat, is not filling me with any income-generating expectations. However, we'll still be there!

Anyway, as well as the baby jumpers - which people do sometimes buy no matter the weather - I'll also bring along the buttons and the woolly jewellery and anything else I can think of which won't make you recoil with horror as the temp hits 30 degrees... I mean, these are really cute and cool, aren't they?

12/05/2026

Grey sock yarn given to me by lovely friend some years ago. Now being knitted double-stranded into several items, which will end up at one of Overgate's local Little Stars shops. Just another hat and maybe some mittens to go now.

04/05/2026

This new one's currently not so much bouncy and free-spirited as creased and sorry for itself, so I might actually press it. But still, those blues.

02/05/2026

Does anyone want this Debbie Bliss Paloma before I put it on etsy? I've been saving it to make myself something lovely, but it's clear that I'm never going to get round to it. Anyway, if you don't know Paloma, it's a light and supersoft chainette yarn mix of 60% baby alpaca and 40% merino wool. Tension is 12 stitches and 18 rows on 10mm needles, or you can use a smaller needle for a firmer fabric. This shade was called mustard - actually a buttery fawn. (The smaller group photo is the best image colourwise.)

Makes fabulous scarves and cowls, in case you're thinking about Christmas presents. (And who isn't thinking about Christmas presents? It's May after all.)

Selling for £3.50 per 50g hank. We used to sell it for £5.95, but nowadays it's somewhere around the £10 mark. If you're local, Mike'll probably deliver; if not, there'll be a small postage charge to add.

01/05/2026

Here's The Guardian's take on the woolly washing issue.
https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/oct/23/how-to-look-after-knitwear-expert-tips?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawRhPMdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBGMW5PN1QxTHc4RXVnaGx4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHtbS2kmGuyLEqDF9zVXmQqk1Lhzlz0QFm1yx3Uol-VoCD9jQUb0ppD2ahUhk_aem_5R4fMrBBIfOKW2bZevdYTw =1777546469

Wool can last a lifetime if you know how to care for it. Here’s how to wash less, mend more, and keep your jumpers in shape

28/04/2026

Am I the last to know this? - that it's Woolite that makes the colour run rather than the temp of the water? According to my washing of this little jumper anyway. Plain water - no colour run problems; water with a tiny amount of Woolite - water turns blue. (No idea why I decided to wash it at all - I don't usually.)

Some people never wash jumpers - not before wearing, not after a hundred wearings. There's a theory you should just hang them on the line for an airing. Not sure about that myself.

24/04/2026

Two 'identical' sleeves - spot the difference...

The bit which best illustrates my uncanny ability to mess up is the fact that I ribbed the second cuff by accident - it's meant to be garter stitch - and realised a few rows in, so then I pulled it back, started again and ribbed the wretched thing for the second time. I'm so happy I don't make adult size stuff.

20/04/2026

Yay! Makers Market this Saturday: usual place; usual time; usual fab stuff on sale.

14/04/2026

Card payments only, in the biggest (I'm guessing) wool and fabric shop in Manchester? Was going to buy some self striping wool encapsulating colours of a desert island, but they saved me from myself. Gratuitous picture of pretty afghan as it got me in the mood for bright colours.

23/03/2026

Market day for Three Bags Full on Saturday, in Albany Arcade (behind Merrie England). Yes, I know it's spring but babies need jumpers all year round. Mike will be there too with his fabulous local photographs.