Hello lovelies
How are you friends?
This weekend we launched the Pre-order for our 2023 Knitting Advent Calendar aka LADvent (I imagine you know by now but I did have a few people ask the other day so just to clarify; LAD = Lauren Aston Designs and we like to merge that with anything we possibly can hence… LADvent)
We’re not yet revealing too much about this years advent calendar – we will do as we get closer to Christmas don’t you worry!
For now I just wanted to answer some questions you might have about it so you know the basics…. essentially we’re filling you in on the groundwork and asking you to trust us on the creative side (a huge ask I know!! I can’t tell you how touched and honoured I am that so many of you have already pre-ordered. It’s such a privilege that you trust us this much and I’m eternally grateful for that. I promise we won’t let you down!)
What is LADvent?
LADvent is our Zero-waste, knitting based Advent Calendar, packed full of yarn and knitting patterns for you to enjoy in the lead up to Christmas. The idea is that you open a door a day revealing your ball of yarn and work your way, day by day through a knitting project so that by Christmas you’ll have a finished make to show off to Santa. Each ball will take around 10-20 minutes to knit up, hopefully making it manageable for an evenings work and you can weave your loose ends in as you go so that it’s not a long winded job at the end.
Above is a picture of our 2022 calendar. We’re not sharing the artwork for this years calendar just yet but let me tell you – we’re SUPER PROUD of it. It’s a bit more festive than 2022 but it’s the same size (although *might* but portrait instead of landscape 🤐)
You can checkout what we did last year here.
I’ll head into some Q&A’s now and always feel free to message or email if you have any queries….
What's in it?
Great question friend 
So, you have a 25g ball of yarn in every window. One to open from the 1st-24th December.
It will also include a selection of knitting patterns that you can make with the yarn from your calendar.
It also comes with other bonuses like access to a Secret Shop where you can buy more Limited Edition colours should you wish.
It’s our best selling Super Chunky Merino Wool Yarn in 24 colours. Some of these are stock colours (that you can buy on the website) and others are limited edition.
What kind of yarn is it?
I got last years LADvent, is this the same?
No! This years is different. The premise is the same but the design, patterns and colours are different.
Last years was a rainbow of shades and this year (based on your feedback) we’ve gone for a more random (yet heavily curated 😂) selection.
The patterns are all new and exclusive so will bring you entirely new projects.
Yes! We never want to exclude beginner knitters and LADvent is an experience we want every type of knitter to enjoy.
Not all of the patterns are beginner friendly (but you’ll have copies of them all so you’ll always have the option of coming back to them later on once you’ve built up your confidence) but there will be a selection of beginner friendly patterns included.
Is it suitable for beginners?
How long will it take?
The calendar is designed to be opened one day at a time from December 1st – 24th (although I know some people like to open them all in one go 🤪)
Each ball is 25g which is around 20 minutes of knitting a day.
You won’t be able to knit all of the patterns out of just the calendar yarn. The idea is to give you a selection of patterns to choose from. Some are small and others big.
You will be able to knit 1 pattern for sure and likely 2 or 3 depending on which project/s you choose to knit.
Can I knit all of the patterns included with the yarn?
Is it suitable for advanced knitters?
Yes absolutely. We hope it will bring you some joy and with a strong knowledge of techniques you’ll be able to choose from any of our knitting patterns.
There will be a lovely mix. We always aim to hit as many boxes as possible… we’d never JUST put jumper patterns in for instance. (but there’ll definitely be at least 1 jumper pattern 😜)
There will be a mix of abilities and types but they will all use all 24 colours.
Any hints on what the patterns will be?
Are the patterns size inclusive?
Absolutely. All of our clothing patterns go up to a size 28 minimum <3
No, we want to give you projects you can use all year round.
There might be 1 or 2 Christmas specific patterns but on the whole it’s not designed to be seasonal.
Are the colours and knits Christmassy?
When will you send them out?
We’re aiming to despatch the pre-orders early November so they reach UK and International customers with plenty of time.
We will send international orders out first (and earlier if possible) just to make sure they arrive in good time.
After that, we’ll be despatching the others as and when they come in.
Unless they sell out we’ll send them out for as long as you want them babes – while they are designed for Advent, they are also a gorgeous selection of yarn and patterns (… you know when you open 10 doors of a chocolate advent calendar at once and scoff it all… that but for knitting.)
When's the cut off for ordering?
How do I know which needles & tools I'll need?
As we get closer to Christmas we’ll reveal all of the patterns for anyone who wants to see them. We’ll keep you informed on what you’ll need to make them – we try not to use anything wild in the hopes that lots of you will already have the right size needles and tools, to save you spending any more wherever possible ❤️
We don’t. We’ve discussed this in depth both recently about the calendar and previously about other products but research shows that payment plans are (on the whole) unethical as they can encourage overspending and while I’m sure you’re gorgeously responsible we don’t want to be irresponsible to our customers especially at the moment when times are so hard.
Do you have a payment plan option?
I think that's literally everything...
I think that’s literally all the information in my brain so I hope it’s helpful! If you have any other questions please do send them our way.
I really reallllly hope you love the calendars. Thank you for investing in them so far without even knowing what’s in them. I honestly ADORE you and I’m so grateful you trust us. I hope we do you proud and you love them, I know we’ve given them our all so I’m confident they’re well good… which is a great start hey?!
Thank you LAD’s
Take care & speak soon
