25 March 2011

I have two items of good news.

First, the date of the PJ Party has been finalized. Our celebration will be October 21-23. I do not have the cost of the weekend as of yet but I have been promised a finalized cost by the end of next week.

AND FINALLY! The Principles of Knitting is being republished and is scheduled for November 2011. I have it from my distributor that if I place preorders I will have first shipment. So, if you've asked for me to order the book for you I will. The publisher's price is $45 which is a bargain. The original publisher's price was $35. Very little increase for a 30 year delay. I would ask for a deposit if you would be so kind.

I have a beautiful Kaffe Fassett stole on display in the shop. I will post a picture of it next week. The stole is knitted in Kid Silk Haze and Summer Tweed in only colors that Kaffe could put together. I will only have ten (10) kits. Let me know if you're interested.

18 March 2011

Okay, I said that I blog when there is something to say. I have some news.

Today the store received Simplicity yarn. These are just wonderful colors for kids and the yarn is machine washable. It is a blend of 55% superwash wool, with acrylic and nylon. This is a soft yarn and children will not complain that it is itchy. It knits a 5 sts/inch so break out your favorite pattern and make this a summer project.

There are color ways for both boys and girls (and big people too). The color repeats are long so you won't get a choppy look with the colors.














I didn't forget the sock people. Don't get your socks in a twist. I ordered Zauberball Crazy and Zauberball.

This is a ball of Zauberball Crazy. I have ordered five colors of this yarn. Believe it or not this ball of yarn is wound on a machine. Let's hand it to the Germans. Who would'a thought.

I also ordered just Zauberball for those of you who are just a little less daring. The Zauberball changes color just like Crazy it just doesn't have the ragg effect.

By the way, zauber means magic.

17 March 2011

Hi folks

Lots 'o new yarns and things coming in. Yesterday we got in our first shipment of Ultra Pima yarn from Cascade Yarns. This is a beautifully silky 100% Pima cotton (extra long staple cotton) has the sheen of silk. The gauge on this yarn is 5.5 or 6 sts/inch - just right for that light summer evening sweater or in the refrigerated office during the summer. There are 220 yards in a skein so a short sleeved sweater knits with as few as 5 skeins for a medium. You have to stop by to see the colors. Here's a link to the online color card (they are much better in person!)

We also have some beautiful glass buttons by Terri Budrow-Nelson that would work perfectly on a sweater knitted in Ultra Pima. These glass buttons and shawl pins are hand made by Terri. The colors and size are just what the "doctor" ordered for your sweater.

Cascade Yarns has a sport weight wool 220 Superwash Sport that solves a problem. This wool knits at 5.5 or 6 sts/inch and it is superwash! Great for childrens' lightweight sweaters and light adult sweaters to boot. If cotton doesn't do it for you but you still want light weight then the 220 Superwash Sport is for you.

I've been getting requests for aran and gansey style sweaters. To solve that problem I have ordered and received Beth Brown-Reinsel's patterns. If you like aran style sweaters, then Beth's patterns are for you.

8 March 2011

Don't forget, daylight saving time starts this Sunday morning at some awful hour. So, before you go to bed on Saturday night set your clock AHEAD one hour. Yep, you loose an hour this weekend. So instead of having 48 hours, you will only get 47. Never though of it that way?

We just got in the new Plymouth rosewood interchangeable needles. They are reasonably priced and the kit they come in is well thought out. We're testing them out in the shop and they feel wonderful. Here's what they look like:This kit is just a little over 6" wide and 6.5" tall. Just the thing if you travel. Gosh knows, I've been away and didn't have the needle I needed to knit the project. In my haste to pack, I pulled the wrong needle!

3 March 2011

I know that I have been very quiet for awhile but I have been waiting for the new yarns to come in.

Several of the new yarns have arrived. Well, it's not yarn new but the colors are new. Prism Arts has a new color series called Layers Dyeing. I will quote:

We are very pleased with an entirely new style of dyeing: LAYERS.
This method produces just that, layer upon layer of color that reads as solid from a distance, but reveals all of its subtle glory upon closer examination.

I have ordered several of the Layers colors (they're not all here yet) in Saki (Merino fingering weight) and Lace Wool. I have a great set of samples of this new color. Stop by and I will show you.

We also just received Alphabet City from Trendsetter Yarns. This yarn has little alphabet blocks knotted into the yarn (tested safe for kids). The yarn only comes in three colors (white, pink and blue) but what a great yarn for that baby gift. One ball knits a great cap and it is easy to keep the blocks on the knit side. Or, knit a sweater for that very special little one.

27 February 2011

Hi Folks

I sneaked away for a long and well deserved vacation (well at least in my opinion it was deserved).

Yes, I did get some knitting done. I have created a design for a Bermuda Project. All that are going on the Bermuda trip will have a project to do to remember the trip by.

While knitting the example for the Bermuda trip I ran into a common problem that can occur when knitting with cotton yarn, linen, etc. Your needle separates the strands and pierces the yarn easily. This can be quite annoying.

The solution is quite simple – start knitting from the other end of the ball of yarn. What is happening as you knit, and find that you pierce the yarn easily, is that with each throw if the yarn you are untwisting the yarn ever so slightly. Well, this adds up and you end up with a loose collection of plies.

By changing the end you knit from, your throw will wind the yarn up instead making the yarn's twist tighten instead of loosen and piercing will, for the most part, go away.

So simple.

13 January 2011

We have been working hard to inventory the shop. It helps to know what you really have in stock so I don't say yes to you on the phone and then find out that there is none.

I have just gotten in more Addi Click Lace needles. Did you know that they're nickel plated now? Yep, no more brass. They have also changed the "wallet" that they come in. Wouldn't you know that the regular Addi Clicks are on backorder!

I told you that we would be getting in new yarns. Well, Eco Wool and Eco+ has arrived. There are free patterns on the Cascade website and Jered Flood knitted a lap blanked using an old doily pattern. The pattern is free and you can follow the link on Ravelry to down load the pattern.

Eco wool can be knit in two gages 3.5sts/inch and 4sts/inch. It comes in 478 yarn skeins so many sweaters only require two skeins. It has a small range of color (it's not 220 with over 200 colors) but the colors are great for any project. The color card gives you an idea of what is offered.

Here's a hint for all of you that use safety lines in your knitting. If you have a Boye Needle Master set you can pull a safety line through as you knit. Just put the thread into the tightening hole on the cable and knit away. As you knit the safety line is put into the knitting without any trouble. When you get to the end of the row, just release the thread, stretch out the knitting to pull the safety line along the width of the knitting and tie off the safety line! Voila!

I can't take credit for this idea. It came from a customer. Thank you Ms. Lyon!