The Yarnivore Blog

We’re getting so many new yarns in, we’re having to clear out the old ones. In the mood for a bargain? Come check out the clearance section.

February/March Newsletter:

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. The UPS man has been our Valentine these days – he’s been delivering and delivering and delivering. We have so much new yarn, we’re starting to run out of places to put it. I think Linda has had the best comment so far: “You CAN’T have gotten new yarn in since last night!” Oh, yes, I can! So, drumroll, please, here’s The New Stuff:

Therapi – from South West Trading, a yarn that rocks. Literally. It’s made of 50% wool, 20% silk, and 30% JADEITE – yes, it’s made with the stone jade. It has a beautiful sheen and drape, jewel colors (of course), and, if you buy the yarn, you can get a free pattern for a really neat shoulder wrap with a braided front.

Nuna – another Fair Trade yarn from Mirasol, Nuna is a fabulous 40% merino, 40% silk 20% bamboo yarn that shimmers and drapes and is so luxurious you do a double take when you see how reasonably priced it is. There’s a booklet, too, with summer sweaters to tempt your needles.

Kudo – from Plymouth Yarns, it’s 55% cotton, 40% rayon, and 5% silk. Kudos is a softly variegated yarn, worsted weight, and will be perfect for summer tops and cropped jackets.

Haze – from Queensland Collection, this yarn is 60% corn fiber, 40% cotton, and has an incredibly soft hand. Each colorway grades through two or three colors, yellows and greens, purples and pinks, blues and greens, yellows and oranges, in both vibrant shades and more subtle ones. We have a sample top made from it, come see!

Ulmo – from Arucania in Chili, it’s a pure cotton yarn that just pulses with colors. This one is already on my needles; I’ve wanted to make a Clapotis from Ravelry.com for ages, and this will be perfect.

Butterfly Cotton – a 100% mercerized cotton from Greece, it’s machine washable and dryable, in every color of the rainbow. Linda used it for one of the tops in her books, and says it is her favorite basic cotton.

Cotton Candy – two strands of white cotton plied with one of a variegated makes a wonderful yarn for baby garments. It is machine washable, and a pattern book is available filled with adorable sweaters, hats, booties and afghans.

Debbie Bliss’ Eco Baby – a Fair Trade yarn, pure organic cotton, in a rainbow of colors. It is also machine washable, and Debbie has written a book full of her incomparable patterns for baby.

Katydid – a 100% cotton tape-style yarn, worsted weight, from Classic Elite Yarns. These colors just jump out at you, perfect for summer. We have CEY’s Picnic booklet, and there’s a drop-stitch top that I’m dreaming of. I need another three hours a day, can anyone tell me where to get them?!?

Nazli Gelin’s Garden – a 100% cotton, size 10 thread for very fine knitting and crochet. It comes in a rainbow of colors, and we have the book Garden Collection that showcases the yarns.

And finally, to get your winter knitting starting in style, we have Alpakka. This yarn blew me away when the vendor brought it in, because it’s MACHINE WASHABLE 100% alpaca! And it’s soft. And beautiful. And, and…..

Well folks, I frogged the wrap! Yup, the WHOLE WRAP! I gave up on re-doing the sleeve, I decided I didn’t like the way the yarn looked with the pattern. Not that Calmer isn’t a great yarn, and not that it wasn’t a great pattern, but I made the mistake of combining a very structured yarn with a flowy pattern. When I put the wrap on, instead of falling down my shoulders the sleeves stuck straight out. I looked like the flying nun! NOT COOL.

So istead I picked a different pattern out of the same book, this time I used the right yarn! I made it on the knitting machine (to make up for all that lost time knitting the wrap) and it’s currently pictured on Shiela on the main page of the website. I’m mostly happy with it, though I think the sleeves chould have been shaped better – but that was the pattern, not me.

Now I’ve got 3 projects going. One on the machin, one by hand, and a pair of socks. I think its always good to have a pair of socks and a bigger project on the needles at the same time. That way when you get bored with one you can switch to the other. Socks are great because they fit in my purse fairly easily! The bigger project sits in the basket next to my couch.

My current machine knitting project is out of Rowan Magazine 43 and I’m doing it out of a hand-dyed bamboo, dyed a couple towns away from my dad’s house in CT! Yes, that’s one of my kitties in the picture.

My latest socks are coming along much faster than I thought they would. They are done out of a hand-dye bamboo blend I got in Richland, WA when I was visiting my mom last Christmas. The pattern is a common falling leaves lace design and I’m using Cat Bordhi’s Riverbed Architecture.

The third project is a tank top I’m designing. It will be ribbed with a pretty knot cable in the front across the boob area (when you don’t have any you’ll take all the attention you can get!). I’m only about 5 inches into it and there isn’t much to see, I’ll post a picture when it get’s a little more interesting!