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April 29, 2010 Sunday Spin and Knit InOrdinarily, the Sunday Spin and Knit In is held the first Sunday of each month. My schedule is crazy, and apparently so is everyone else’s. So, we’ve decided to consolidate the May and June dates and have just one meeting on Sunday, May 23rd. So, go out and enjoy the sunshine and good weather this Sunday, and come back to us on the 23rd with your spindle, wheel, fiber and yarn. We’ll be here from 1:00 until 4:00 having our usual fun time. Filed Under: General April 26, 2010 Let Everyone KnowYarn Expressions is lucky to have a great number of loyal customers who return time and again to get their yarn, needles, hooks and accessories. But would you believe there are quite a few people, still, that don’t know about Yarn Expressions? We’ve thought of a way that you could let others in the area know while at the same time show what you enjoy doing most.
We now have, as pictured above, license plate frames. These frames easily fit around your license plate and can be attached with the screws you normally use just for the plate. As you can see the frame lets fellow travelers (well the ones behind you anyway) know what you’d rather be doing (knitting) and where you’d rather be going (Yarn Expressions). We have a limited supply of these on hand. Come on down and get yours today! Filed Under: What's New? April 19, 2010 First and SecondSam is a long-time friend of the store. Until recently she swore that she didn’t want to knit. She just liked to visit with people. We were perfectly fine with that. But every now and again we may have prodded her a little to give it a try. I’m not sure what it was that finally convinced her….but she did give it a try.
Here you can see her wearing her first ever completed project, a K1P! ribbing scarf she made from Lang’s Mille Colori yarn. I think she did a great job! It is Sam who inspired my recent post about dreaming about yarn. Now that she has completed her first scarf, she has already started knitting another. She told us that she had been dreaming about yarn. I think maybe Sam is hooked!
Rhonda is also a long time friend of the store. She recently completed this shawl, her second large, completed project. I think she did a great job! The shawl is Fiber Trend’s Lace Panel Shawl, designed by Jan Kirk Bunch. Rhonda used Cascade’s Ultra Pima Cotton. I think this was probably the first time Rhonda cast on so many stitches at once. Great job Sam and Rhonda! We look forward to seeing more of your completed projects! If you have recently completed a project that you started with yarn and/or pattern you got at Yarn Expressions, we’d like to see it. Come on down to the store and show us. Join us for our Knit Night Thursday’s from 4-7pm. That’s a great time to show us what you’ve been working on, or what you’ve completed. I hope everyone has a great week! Filed Under: Customer Show and Tell April 14, 2010 Color Obsession“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” — Claude Monet Spend a day in Yarn Expressions and it is quite possible you’ll find that you become obsessed with some of the myriad of yarn colors available. You may find that you can’t stop thinking about them. You may dream about them. It’s very likely you won’t be able to resist their siren call. I have found that I now buy yarn sometimes not because of the project I need to make, but because I find the color so beautiful.
I recently wrote about the Ty-Dy and Ty-Dy Dots yarn from Knit One, Crochet Too. Today we received some new colors of TyDy and I had to start taking photos. I love the way K1C2 combines reds, blues, oranges, and yellows in these colorways. What do you think of it? I tend to gravitate towards blues, purples, and similar colors. Strong colors, however, will get my attention especially in the right combination. I especially like the yellow-red color on the far right in the above photo. It makes me think of hot dogs and mustard. And that’s appealing, if not appetizing. A picture may say a thousand words, but seeing is also believing, right? To truly appreciate these colors you should come by Yarn Expressions and see all the great colors of Ty-Dy that we have on hand. If you find you can’t tear yourself away from a certain color, you may want to take some of the yarn home with you. While you’re at it take along a copy of Knit One, Crochet Too’s book A Year in Scarves so that you can have 12 projects on hand to go with the yarn. Join us for Knit Night tomorrow (April 15) from 4-7pm and forget about your taxes. The company is always good. And you’ll be surrounded by a lot of color that you’ll probably find difficult to forget about. Wallpaper In case you can’t quit thinking about this yarn, perhaps this desktop wallpaper will help. To use this photo as your desktop wallpaper, click on the link for the resolution appropriate for your computer. Once the image is displayed, right click on the photo and select “Set as Desktop Background”. You can also select “Save Image As” and save the image to your computer.
Filed Under: What's New?, Wallpaper April 12, 2010 April Spin ‘n KnitIt was a beautiful, pleasant Sunday yesterday as spinners and knitters converged on Yarn Expressions for our monthly Spin ‘n Knit. Normally the first Sunday of each month, the April meet was delayed by one week in honor of Easter.
There were both experienced and new spinners with us Sunday. Elizabeth, pictured above, is still trying out wheels to find the one right for her. She did her first plying on the spot and it turned out great!
There weren’t just wheels and fiber. Both Meg (pictured above) and Evelyn were using drop spindles. I’ve seen some very interesting and beautiful drop spindles. I think Meg’s is particularly beautiful. Everyone had a great time Sunday; the time seemed to go by very quickly. If you weren’t able to stop by, perhaps you can join us for the next Spin ‘n Knit on May 2nd. We also welcome spinning along with knitting on crochet every Thursday at our weekly knit night. Knit Night takes place every Thursday from 4-7. Have a great week! Filed Under: Spin 'n' Knit Sunday, Knit Night April 9, 2010 Fiber Abstraction“Color is for me the purest form of expression, the purest abstract reality.” — Jim Hodges A skein, hank, or ball of yarn could be likened to an abstract painting; there are swathes of color, some solid and some variegated. Like a painting you have to look at the yarn and try to see what it looks like to you. You could see a pair of socks, a shawl, a sweater, or any number of things. It is as different as every individual’s perception.
We just got in quite a bit of new lace weight and sock yarn from Abstract Fiber. If you take a look at this beautiful yarn up close, or even stand back a little, you’ll see the colors of deep lakes, dark opals, berries, and even ivy. Two of the new yarns are named after artists…although artists of different sorts; a painter and an actor. The first is Matisse, 100% superwash Blue Faced Leicester, advertised as a sock yarn at 420 yards per 100g skein, although we think it’s on the thin side. It could easily be used for socks or any lace work.
The other artist inspired yarn from Abstract Fiber is Hepburn. Hepburn is an 80% merino / 20% silk blend. Like Ms. Hepburn this lace is fine, soft, yet resilient and a little brash. The silk makes it shiny with a texture that will help keep a shawl on your shoulders. Last but not least the two new Super Sock colorways we got in are beautiful and will probably not stay in the store for long. Super Sock is 100% Pure superwash merino wool. 100g / 380 yards per skein. One skein will make a pair of average to large women’s socks.The new Super Sock colors are seen on the left in the above photo. There are more shades of Super Sock on their way later this spring. Wallpaper I have a nice close-up photo of some of the Matisse yarn that I thought you might like to have as your desktop wallpaper. If you want to use it as your desktop wallpaper, click on the link for the resolution appropriate for your computer. Once the image is displayed, right click on the photo and select “Set as Desktop Background”. You can also select “Save Image As” and save the image to your computer.
Filed Under: What's New?, Wallpaper April 7, 2010 Fall Leaves and CardigansWe often see projects at their beginning and as they progress. We enjoy helping others with their projects whenever we can. It is our great delight when we see these projects completed.
Robin recently completed her Fall Leaves Shawl. Isn’t it beautiful? I love the color and the design. The Fall Leaves Shawl design was created by Sara Lamb and originally published in the Fall 2009 Spinoff magazine. Robin used two different yarns to complete her shawl: Petite Silk Noir from Great Adirondack, and Alpaca Lace by Cascade. If you are interested in getting the pattern, we currently have one more copy of the Fall 2009 Spinoff magazine.
We also recently got to see the cardigan Marilyn created. It was a project Marilyn had worked on for some time. As you can see her results are great.
Her cardigan was created using a mixture of the Artesanal yarn by Aslan trends. I quite like the color and texture.
I hope everyone is having a great week. Filed Under: Show and Tell, Peppie April 1, 2010 don’t forgetNormally our monthly Spin and Knit In is the first Sunday of the month. This month the first Sunday is Easter, so we’ll all be out hunting Easter Eggs. Come join us on the following Sunday, April 11th, at 1:00 for our usual afternoon of fun and fiber. Filed Under: Spin 'n' Knit Sunday April 1, 2010 Wrapper’s Delight“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” I’m very glad to see that warm Spring weather is going to stay with us. I love Spring weather because you get the sunshine and reasonably warm temperatures during the day (70’s), but have cool evenings. The cool evenings seem especially relaxing in the Spring. If you have a front porch (or stoop) it’s a great place to enjoy the evening.
If you spend time outside in those cool Spring evenings, you may get a bit chilly. The solution to that is to create a shawl or wrap that will keep you cozy. There are two great books I’d like to highlight that may present a pattern to you that you’ll find hard to resist. Vogue Knitting always comes out with great publications, and their Shawls & Wraps is no exception. The book contains 40+ wrap and shawl projects that will help chase away the chill. Another book I was looking at today that I found captivating was Nature’s Wrapture by Sheryl Thies. The projects in the book were created with the idea that they are based on the colors and textures of nature. So you get designs like Flame, Dragonfly, Snowdrift, and Supernova. There are 20 projects in the book including shawls, wraps, and scarves. Of course, once you decide upon a project you’ll need something to create it with. In the photo I’ve included you’ll see several yarns with which you could create a project from the elegant to the bold. Pictured above are Classic Elite’s Silky Alpaca Lace (great for Vogue’s Trellis Lace Shawl), Cascade’s Ultra Pima 100% cotton (try with Vogue’s Zigzag Stole), Misti Alpaca’s cotton and silk blend for the “Flames” wrap in Nature’s Wrapture, or perhaps you’d like to get some Mooi fingering weight yarn and make the Sandy Beach project from Nature’s Wrapture. The best way to determine which project would be best for you, and which yarn(s) would be best to create it with, is to come down and take a look for yourself. We are happy to help you find what you need to create something from these books. If you aren’t sure about your skill level or would like some help along the way, we’re also glad to assist you. Join us for our first Knit Night of April (no foolin’!) tonight and you can take a look at these great books while sharing some yarn and conversation. See you soon! |
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