Caterpillar Scarf and Hat

Now that inventory is over and our big annual sale is a thing of the past (thank you to all our customers for your support, by the way) we are ready to tackle some new projects. Alison has been knitting some great scarves to showcase a few of the wonderful yarns we carry. I found a picture in a magazine of a child's scarf and hat and came up with a pattern which, we think, is really cute.
Our version is knitted with two strands SandnesGarn Tove, (I like the colours), but a knitting worsted would work too. Please email or call if you would like a copy of the pattern.

Cozy knits

A Happy New Year to everyone. Here at the store we are in the middle of inventory - made much easier this year by the work Jurgen did creating lists of yarns we stock, prices etc. for our website. The yarn is nearly done - just half the storage room to do now. I am reorganizing as I go. Surprising how much more shelf space we have when things are neat and tidy. Let's hope they stay that way.


Before Christmas we met with several suppliers and look forward to all the new yarns arriving in a couple of months. Garnstudio have, at last, brought out a sock yarn. The colours look great and the price is very competitive. We hope to have that in the store in February.


A yarn we have stocked before is Little Mamma. It now comes in some really great colours and we brought in a couple of bags of each. Check out the cool hat - the pattern is on the label. It took about an hour to knit. I have visions of a wonderful afghan in the blue/green. So come in, take a look and perhaps sit and knit (or crochet) awhile.

Yes, we do Gift Certificates

Don't know what to buy that certain someone for Christmas? How about one of our Gift Certificates? They can be used in either The Needle & Arts Centre or The Framing Post so we really do have something for everyone. And they come nicely wrapped, too!

It's Here!

We have at last received a much anticipated new yarn from Garnstudio in Norway. I, for one, have really been looking forward to seeing it in real life after reading about it on the Garnstudio website. Silke Alpaca is a blend of 20% Silk and 80% Baby Alpaca and is everything I had hoped for. As expected the colours are beautiful. It can be handwashed and knits to a gauge of 17 stitches and 22 rows to 10 cms (4 inches) on a 5 mm needle. The 50 gram ball contains 60 metres. The yarn is so new that Garnstudio/Drops Design have not yet published patterns specifically for Silke Alpaca, however, all their patterns that call for either Alaska or Paris are compatible. Check out the hundreds of patterns available free on www.garnstudio.com. Silke Alpaca knits up beautifully to a soft sheen and a wonderful "hand" - just remember you will need an extra ball or so as there is less yardage than either Alaska or Paris.

Hat in Woolly Bully by Estelle

Alison and I have been madly knitting ear-flap hats in a great yarn from Estelle. A wool blend, it is beautifully soft, comes in great colours and knits up quickly on 10 mm needles. Our hats can be knitted up in an evening. Really!!!!

The pattern is available in the store or we can mail it out with the yarn. All our "made in store" patterns are free with the purchase of yarn.

Click on the picture to take a closer look.

New colours in Ethno by Zitron

A yarn from Germany that has been around for a little while, Ethno is a luxurious wool blend (85% new wool and 15 % nylon). It is hand dyed so the colour variegations are quite subtle. A 50 gram ball contains 90 metres and knits to a gauge of 14 stitches and 18 rows to 10 centimetres (4 inches) on 5 - 6 mm needles. The yarn has a slight boucle which makes for a very cozy sweater. The new colours are wonderful and the yarn lovely and soft, so whether you want to knit a scarf or a sweater, you can be sure of a successful project. For a closer look at the yarn and patterns click on the picture.

News from the "Web Master's" desk!

A lot of effort is being put into the development of our web site - especially for yarn customers.
First off: if you want to see what's "IN" in New York this winter, click on this link! Read this and other links.

Secondly: we want to make your online shopping experience more comfortable. On the way to a "real" on-line shop, I added nearly all of the shadecards to our about 200 differnt types of yarn! This makes it easier to select the right yarn and colours for your knitting project. Just klick on the yarn names in the yarn page. More information (prices, availability and which yarns are on SALE) are in the works.

Expect some more changes to happen in the next couple of days and check the web site often.

Also, now with the gift giving season upon us, I have added new product information on gift items to the different department pages. One is this this brand new Pullover Knitting Kit from Zitron for $133 - georgeous colours and great yarn quality. The kit is good for sizes up to men's size.

Have a great knitting season!
Jurgen

For the team of the Needle & Arts Centre

A reminder!!

With all these beautiful new yarns on the market, I thought I should remind you of one of our old favourites. A yarn from SandnesGarn in Norway, Smart has been around for some time. It's a 100% wool which has been specially treated so that it can be washed in the washing machine, although the dryer is not recommended. The gauge is 22 stitches to 10 cms (4 inches) and a 50 gram ball contains 100 metres. The colours are beautiful and there are tweeds and variegated and well as plain. I am presently knitting my grand-daughter a striped vest with Smart from a great children's pattern book the company puts out. What little girl wouldn't like ponies or unicorns on her sweater or poncho and what little boy wouldn't like a fire truck or helicopter? There is even a pattern with pink spotted elephants. How cool is that?

Pretty in Pink Felted Hat

Cissel has knitted a very pretty softly felted hat for the store. It is knitted in SandnesGarn Tove which is a lightweight 100% wool yarn which felts beautifully. Ideal for a cosy winter hat. The yarn usually knits to a gauge of 24 stitches to 10 cms on 3.5 mm needles. Of course, for felting you are using a larger needle. The colours are lovely - mostly brights with a few neutrals. The cost for making this great hat works out to about $10.00 with yarn left over to start another one!! How about stripes? The pattern is available in the store or you can contact us by email.
And by the way, you can use the very same pattern for a cloche style hat in Patons SWS. This will give you a firm, sturdy hat without the turn back as SWS shrinks and felts so readily.

Delta Ceramcoat Decorative Paint

As well as stocking lots of beautiful yarns and needlework supplies, we also carry the full range of Delta Ceramcoat decorative paints. These paints are acrylic and clean up very readily with soap and water. They mix easily so you can create the perfect colour. For painting on fabrics, you can mix Ceramcoat with a textile medium to produce an easy to use and colour fast fabric paint. Of course, paint is no good without the means to apply it and, of course, you will find brushes and all the accessories and finishes you need to produce your works of art.

Twilleys of Stamford

Freedom Spirit is a new self striping yarn from Twilleys of Stamford (a very well known and old established UK company). The colours are among the best we have seen. The yarn is 100% wool and knits to a gauge of 22 stitches and 28 rows on 4 mm needles. The yarn is supported by a beautiful book. I bought one myself and there isn't one pattern I wouldn't like to knit. The patterns are very stylish and the sweaters for the most part come in a cropped and longer version. Click on the pictures to have a closer look.

New Yarn from Patons

Patons has come out with a great new yarn called SWS (Soy Wool Stripes). The yarn is made of 70% wool and 30% soy and knits to a tension of 17 stitches and 21 rows on 5.5 mm needles. The balls are 80 grams and contain 100 metres. The self striping yarn lends itself very well to multidirectional knitting which is becoming more popular as new techniques are developed. The yarn felts well and is well priced. All in all a very nice yarn. Oh, did I mention, the colours are beautiful. Click on the picture for a better look.

I shall have lots of new yarns to tell you about in my next posting. We are in the process of unpacking, pricing and finding room for some gorgeous yarns - many of them new to us and a few new colours for old favourites.

Old favorite - new colours

Marks & Kattens have extended the colour range of their Iceland yarn. A blend of 55% wool and 45% human made fibres, this yarn has a lovely soft tweedy look, flecked with a contrasting colour. At 11 stitches and 16 rows and knitted on 7mm needles, it knits up very quickly. A 50 gram ball contains 60 meters. I knitted a sweater for myself last winter in the creamy-beige colour - I think it took about a week!! Now I have seen the new colours, I may have to do another one. The yarn also makes a beautiful scarf.

Tonalita by Trendsetter Yarns

Self striping yarns in heavier (than sock yarn) weights are very popular this season and we have just received a gorgeous new yarn from Trendsetter. Called Tonalita and made in Italy, it is a 52% wool/48% acrylic yarn in the most delicious colourways. At 18 stitches to 10 cms. on a size 5.5mm needle it knits to an aran weight. The distributor sent us a sample sweater in shades of brown, orange, rust and pink - a detail of which is shown. We also have a few more patterns to choose from. The yarn would also make stunning winter scarves and shawls. This is just one of the many beautiful yarns we have received recently, as well as new colours in old favorites. Come by and check them out.

Sock Tips

With so many of you knitting socks these days, I thought I would share with you a few of the tips and tricks we have learnt over the years to make sock knitting easier. The first one involves the loose stitches that often occur when joining the round after casting on. If you slip the first stitch cast on onto the last needle, and the last stitch onto the first needle (in effect, crossing the stitches), then proceed with the ribbing, you will find you have a nice firm join. This tip works, of course, any time you have to join a round.

Next, we come to the heel flap. Whatever stitch you decide to use for your heel flap, try knitting the first stitch of every row. This gives a straighter edge for picking up stitches for the instep and makes counting the rows easier, also adds a little decorative detail to the heel. Talking about picking up stitches, pick up an extra stitch at the end of the 1st needle, right in the corner and also at the beginning of the 4th needle. On the first round, knit this extra stitch (through the back of the loops) together with the first stitch on needle 2 and the last stitch of needle 3. This should prevent a hole from appearing. This trick works well when you are picking up stitches for mitten thumbs!!!

Now we come to the toe and I know what a pain grafting can be. I avoid it as much as possible, especially when I am using fine yarn. Decrease in the usual manner to 12 stitches (or so), knit 2 together all around, break yarn, thread through the remaining stitches and pull up firmly, darn in end.

I know many of you will already be using some of these tricks and perhaps have a few more. We would love to hear them - anything that will make life easier!!

It's just like Christmas!

With boxes of new yarn arriving at least once a week, it's just like Christmas at the store. Several of the yarns are old favorites, but come in new colours. One of our new favorites is a yarn from Lang. It's called Mille Colori and is a 50% new wool and 50% acrylic blend. There is 92 metres on the 50 gram ball and it knits to 15 stitches/23 rows to 10 cms (4 inches) on a size 6 - 7 mm needle. There are several colours in each ball which gradually blend into one another. Estelle also provided us with a sample scarf and free pattern, so check it out. It's going quite fast, but we shall be ordering more.

Yarn is Not Enough

No, yarn is just not enough! You need good tools too and we carry a full range of bamboo and birch knitting needles. We have the Brittany Birch in double pointed, in both the short length for socks and the standard length. These DPN's come in a set of 5, which we find much easier to knit with than a set of 4, particularly for socks. I must admit the sock needles in size 2.50mm sell out almost as quickly as we order them, however many sets we order. Brittany also make
birch crochet hooks with wonderfully turned ends - truly things of beauty. We also carry their straight needles in the 10 inch and 14 inch lengths. All Brittany needles are guaranteed for 5 years.

Our bamboo circular needles come from S.R. Kertzer, in lengths from 40 cms. to 80 cms. If you have never knitted with wooden needles, you will be surprised how easy and comfortable they are, especially if you have sore joints or are just beginning to knit.

For the speed fiends amongst us, we carry the addiTurbo circular needles. Both Inge and I love using them. The cables never seem to get tangled and the transition between needle and cable is very smooth.

If you would like to try any of these needles, drop by the store and give them a test run.

Thank You

A big thank you to all who participated in our "Knit in the Park" event. We were thrilled to see how many knitters showed up and we hope that you all had as much fun as we did. Nearly 30 squares were completed and a few knitters took theirs home to finish, so it looks as if we shall have enough for an Afghan. Several of you mentioned that you would like to continue knitting squares and you are most welcome to drop by the store and sit a while, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Lois is in. Bring a lunch if you like - the tea and coffee will be on!

National Knitters Day - August 12, 2006

We are all hoping for great weather for our Knit in the Park. We shall be setting up in the Robert Ostler Park (across from the store) and hope that many knitters will join us, even for half an hour or so. Let's celebrate our craft - it has, after all been around for centuries. We will provide needles and yarn if you wish to participate in our project - a simple afghan for Yucalta Lodge - but you can also bring your own project. Someone from the store will be there from 11 am to 4 pm, so if you need a lesson or assistance, we shall be more than happy to help. We shall have iced tea on hand, but bring a lunch, if you wish, and a lawn chair if available. We are taking names at 287-8898

Knifty Knitters are in

They are back. We have just received a new shipment of Knifty Knitters in various sizes. The large size is back ordered, but should arrive soon. What are Knifty Knitters? Well, you remember the old fashioned spool knitting, sometimes called "French Knitting", Knifty Knitters are the same idea, but much larger. You can make hats, scarves, bags, afghans, even the body of a sweater. The kits come in their own carrying cases and include all instructions, the frame, the hook (which we also sell separately) and a tapestry needle. The yarn suggested is two strands of a chunky weight, so items knit up very quickly indeed. We have a frame out for customers to try, so check it out!! Click on the photo for a closer view.