Keeping a lid on it but only just..

No, don’t tell me. I’m going to work it out. Keeping a lid on it, means it must be about keeping a secret – right? I love secrets and I’m everso good at keeping them. If I promise not to tell, please will you tell me.

Ha ha! Lids aren’t just for keeping secrets, they’re also for..

Hmm…. saucepans? teapots? milk bottles? Hang on a minute, It’s not something for all your knitty bits and bobs is it? Is it a…

..Tin? Yes!

A new Wild and Woolly Tin! With all the things in it again? Oh Em Gee. Please can we look inside?

I was thinking we’d start with the outside actually. We were talking about the lid afterall. We’ve got a brand new design on the tin from the Sunny Sign Co’s Hana Whaler. This time she’s gone sparkley winter skies and box-of-fireworks vibes, and of course the tin still says what it does on it.

What a beauty! And I love that it still says what it does on it. I know you’ll think I’m silly but I’m starting to feel a bit nervous about looking inside now.

Don’t be nervous. There’s nothing scary in there.

But what if everything inside is the same as last time? I know they were lovely and useful things and that‘s very nice and practical for all the new people who didn’t get one before, but I think I’d need to hold back. And holding back is not really my strong suit.

Holding back is fine but I still think you’re going to want find out what we’ve got for the tin this year. We’ve added in some delightful new bits like KATM labels, a Jenerates needle minder and we’re adding in an emergency sachet of Yarn Food wool wash as a free gift. Plus we’ve changed up some of our old favourites – like the sewing-up needles. Brontë swears by a bent needle for sewing up her knits so we’ve put a couple of different sizes in a special screw top needle vial that has room for your old straights as well. And here’s the thing -If you’ve got enough scissors and tape measures already, you can leave them out. When you buy the tin, you choose what goes in and what doesn’t. More stitch holder tubing is almost always a good idea, but I get that you probably don’t need another set of mini yarn scales. As for another pair of little scissors, it’s totally up to you. In fact it’s all up to you.

Let’s take a proper look through all the things so you can decide…

Row 1: 2 Clover bamboo repair hooks, pack of KATM One-of-a-Kind labels to sew into your knits, 3 x 1m stitch-holder cord tubing, red embroidery scissors.
Row 2: a vial of bent sewing-up needles, a Wild and Woolly stitch marker tin (bit Russian dolls but in a good way), a fastening tape measure, a recycled acrylic needle minder by Jenerates
Row 3: an emergency sachet of Yarn Food wool wash, mini digital yarn weighing scales, and a festive felt shape.

You’re going to need to explain about the scales again. How do scales that small makes sense for a knitter? Also what’s a needle minder? And why would I want a festive felt shape?

Whoa, one question at a time.. The needle minder is an ingenious magnetic block made of recylcled acrylic which keeps hold of your sewing needles and stitch markers so they don’t disappear into the black hole of lost needles and stitch markers. Plus this one has the Kitchener Stitch instructions, so you can find your way along closing your toes when you get to that bit of your socks.
As for the scales, you know when you’re worried about having enough yarn left for both sleeves when you’ve finished the body? Well you weigh what’s left and just make sure you only use half for each sleeve. Yarn Chicken: nil. Knitter: 1. Same for toe-up socks. Start with 100g, stop the first sock when you’ve got 50g left and start the next one. No left-overs. Every toe’s a winner.
And festive felt shapes, because.. because what’s more fun than a chunky felt sheep, sweater or stocking to decorate for the tree?

You know what? I think I love this tin most of all. I love the design on the lid and all the things inside. But mostly I love that it says what it does on it.