Happy New Year!

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2016.

We have a bumper issue for you to kick the year off with our usual selection of patterns, a wonderful book review, some ideas for New Year's resolutions and some great tips for looking after your hooks and needles.

Don't forget to keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and Ravelry group to stay in touch with our latest news and giveaways.

Winter Wrapped Up

January is often a cold month so we thought we would feature our favourite accessory designs for wrapping up warm.

Stephen West is a designer we admire greatly. His Doodler shawl is currently our KAL until the end of January over on our Ravelry group.

Wanderlust is a pattern for a delightful pair of socks for any of you planning a winter holiday. The alpine motif, complete with mountain climber and fir trees, is delightful.

Stargazer wrist warmers by Emmy Faranda are a great and practical stash buster.

If any designs have caught your eye, do let us know.

The Doodler MKAL by Stephen West

Wanderlust by Friederieke Erbslein

Stargazer Wristwarmers by Emmy Faranda

Good Intentions

Does your heart sink when people mention New Year's resolutions? Well, this year why not try something that will give you a huge sense at satisfaction as well as being achievable. Apparently only 8% at people actually achieve their resolutions so here are some suggestions you might like to try.

Why not learn a new technique? If you are a knitter you might like to give crochet a try; if you have never tried Fair Isle, maybe 2016 is your year; are you new to lace them push yourself with a new, bigger project.

How about reorganising your yam stash or needles and hooks or if you have lots of WIPs now is the time to commit to finish or rip them.

As for the team at KnitPro, we have resolved to bring you regular blog posts covering techniques and tips during 2016

How to care for your needles

Whether you have chosen wooden, metal, carbon fibre or acrylic needles, a little attention will make sure they give you hours of knitting pleasure for many years.

Here are our tips for day-to-day needle and hook maintenance:

We strongly recommend that you do not use our needles for anything other than knitting.

If you need to clean your needles, wipe them with a clean muslin, paper towel or microfibre cloth.

To protect your DPNs on the go our DPN tubes help keep your needles and latest project in tip top condition.

Wooden and bamboo hooks and needles get naturally moisturized by the oils in the wool yarn and your hands, thus becoming smoother with every use. However, it is a good idea to clean and moisturize your wooden needles a couple of times in a year. For this, clean your needles with a clean, dry muslin or paper towel, then apply a very thin layer of natural bee's wax. Allow it to dry and then buff it with soft muslin or chamois cloth and leave for at least 24 hours before using them for knitting.

If you would like to read more tips for needle and hook care visit our blog.

Penguin - a Knit Collection by Anna Maltz

Anna Maltz writes a regular column in PomPom magazine but she is also a truly unique designer as you can see from her latest book, Penguin - a Knit collection.

The link between Penguins and knitting may not be immediately obvious but Anna says both are about warmth and community. The patterns include garments, accessories and even a toy. Some have obvious motifs that look like Penguins while others have been inspired by the colours in their plumage.

Our favourite is Teenguin which features a loopy yoke evoking the penguin chick moulting as it becomes an adult, sleek grown-up feathers punctuated by puffs of baby down.

You can buy Anna's book here.

Monthly Giveaway

Congratulations to Sara Jane who has won a Comby Interchangeable Sampler Set and a copy of Romi Hill's latest book. We have already emailed you.

This month we have a KnitPro Wool Winder to give away. Your name is entered in to the draw simply by having signed up to our newsletter.

Good luck!