No. Alice Starmore Hebridean yarn contains no shetland wool. It is made from premium quality pure new British wool. It is of the very finest quality, strength and colour and is created specifically to be the best possible medium for Alice and Jade's designs.

When authorisation for the transaction is refused, it is not us that is refusing, but your card company or bank. You would think the most obvious reason would be the input of an incorrect card number or insufficient funds in the account. However, we have found this rarely happens. The most common reason that we find is the input of an incorrect credit card expiry date. In order to protect their customers, the card companies insist on an exact expiry date for an online transaction. One false digit and it is refused. They suspect that someone has the card number but not the card (with expiry date on it) and is just trying various dates. Check to see if the date you gave is correct. Some card companies are so security sensitive that an incorrect expiry date freezes the card to protect you. Others are less rigid.

Another possibility also relates to your card company's security policy. Some companies, particularly in the USA, do not allow foreign online transactions over a certain limit. You should contact your card company to tell them that you would like the order to proceed.

The first thing to say about your tension is – do not worry. Worrying about your knitting tension is like throwing petrol onto a fire: it will only make matters worse. Do not worry about changing needles; the needle size is immaterial as long as the knitted result works out to your satisfaction. However, many knitters do not realise that the tension at which you hold the yarn in your hand is just as important as the needle size you use. Do you ever use a sewing machine? If you do then think of this analogy with knitting. The stitch size control can be equated with the knitting needle size. The tension discs on the machine can be equated with your hands. Both of those things affect the result. We have found in teaching over the years, that most knitters' tension problems arise from a failure to control the yarn in the hand. It is a skill that must be learned if you want your knitting to be perfect. An accomplished knitter can knit to a range of consistent tensions using the same yarn and needle size, just by controlling the yarn in the hand. I suggest that if you wish to tighten up your tension, you wind the yarn around your little finger, thus putting more tension on the yarn as it comes from your hand onto the needle. If you already do this, then wind it round twice.

I developed my system of chart symbols over forty years of professionally designing knitwear. Beyond the obvious basics, I devised each symbol as and when I needed it for something new that I was incorporating into a design, so my system just grow'd, rather in the manner of Topsy. My aim has always been to create a clear and intuitive system that allows the knitter to visualise the knitted fabric in the printed chart.

The clarity of the charts in print is the result of extensive development by our graphic design company, Windfall Press. Most knitters take the charts for granted, not realising how much work and experimentation went into making them easy on the eye for extended use. The weight of every line in every symbol and grid has been carefully considered for balance and clarity.

The No Stitch symbol is the method I use for charting out three-dimensional knitting on two-dimensional paper. The blank square seems to me to be the most logical way of describing visually that there is nothing there. Blank squares on my charted texture designs mean that there are no stitches in these squares. Ignore blank squares and work only the squares which contain instruction symbols. The blank squares are there because stitches are increased during the charted pattern. Once the stitches are increased, the blank squares are required in order to instruct on how to work the new stitches. In many of my charted designs, stitches are also decreased. This means that the blank squares reappear when the stitches are no longer there.

Our patterncard kits consist of all the yarns needed to make the design in your chosen size, along with a beautifully produced colour patterncard containing instructions for all available sizes.

We also supply yarn packs for designs published in the following books –

ARAN KNITTING, TUDOR ROSES, GLAMOURIE, A COLLECTOR'S ITEM and THE CHILDREN'S COLLECTION

These yarn packs consist of the yarn only, plus any necessary technical amendment to be used in conjunction with the pattern in the book. You will require a copy of the relevant book.

Our patterncards include instructions for the complete range of sizes as given on our website.

By popular request we sometimes provide bonus designs as adaptations from original patterncards or books. We supply these technical amendments for use with the original instructions, and these amendments are for a single specified size.

If a technical amendment is supplied for use with a book, then it will also be for a single stated size.

You can find some of our suggestions for beginners here.

No, we do not sell individual patterns separately. We specifically developed our yarns to complement our designs. You will not find any better yarns for our patterns than our own. Guaranteed.