April 19, 2010

First and Second

Sam 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!

~Bill

announcing a special spinning class

I was pleasantly surprised by a phone call from Lynne Vogel this afternoon. She had such a good time when she was here on Sunday that she wants to come back. There was so much interest shown in spinning that day that she wondered if I’d like to have her teach a beginning spinning class at Yarn Expressions. Would I! We talked for a while and decided that a spindling class would be the just the thing to offer. Not only would students learn to spin, it would prepare the people who were interested in working with energized singles, a class we’ll have early next year. So, here’s the scoop:

What: Beginning Handspinning on a Spindle with Lynne Vogel
When: Sunday, November 18, 2007 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Cost: $40 plus materials
Materials Needed: 1 drop spindle, 8 oz. pencil roving
Maximum Class Size: 5

I’m working on sourcing spindles right now. We’ll have both spindles and fiber available for purchase on class day.

Show and Tell

Susanna has finished her Mystery Stole, made from Fino by Alpaca with a Twist. Sorry for the wonky color in the second photo. Isn’t it stunning? Great work, Susanna!

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Filed Under: special events, Customer Show and Tell

June 23, 2007

Spin ‘n’ Knit Sunday, New Yarn, New Shawls

Spin ‘n’ Knit Sunday is tomorrow, from 1:00 to 4:00. Bring your latest project, bring your wheel/spindle; plan to have fun. This is a social hour, and we’ve been known to get a little rowdy. It’s too darn hot to be outside — come join us!

New Yarn

If you guessed that the new yarn pictured last week was Colinette Jitterbug, you were right. We had our first shipment of this colorful sock yarn, and it’s been going like hotcakes! I had been reluctant to buy this yarn because of its short yardage, but my sales rep swears that you can get a decent sized pair of socks from one skein, so I decided to give it a try. There’s a pattern on the ball band, and I made the largest size, following the pattern exactly. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had used well less than half of the skein on sock number one.

This week we received our first shipment of yarn from Kollage, a yarn company based here in Alabama! The first yarn pictured is Cornucopia, a tape yarn made of, yes indeed, corn. It’s very lightweight and easy to knit. It will work well for summer tops. We also received a supply of Luscious, a fingering weight blend of cotton and lycra that’s perfect for warm weather socks.

New Shawls and Other Show and Tell

Just look at these beauties! This is Robin, who came to Knit Night last week with her Spinner’s Shawl made from, of course, her own handspun Shetland wool. Isn’t she lovely?

This week we had a visit from Beth early in the morning, because she just completed her Angel Lace Shawl. She plans to give it to a woman who has lost a child. What a touching, compassionate gift.

Bev Galeskas, owner of Fiber Trends, describes this shawl as “a wonderful reminder of all the angels in our lives — winged or otherwise.” I think so.

I’d like to leave you with these pictures of Evelyn, an extraordinarily creative soul. Not wanting to waste a single bit of fiber, she takes all the little bits and pieces of yarn she has, chops them up in her blender and cards them in with her wool to spin. Look at the hat she wore to Knit Night this week! Isn’t it great?

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Filed Under: What's New?, Spin 'n' Knit Sunday, Customer Show and Tell

June 10, 2007

cleaning out the camera

I thought you might like to see the photos I’ve been collecting in my camera…

the staff at Yarn Expressions, present and future (we hope!)

Jill and her Koigu/Kid Merino mitten — look at those colors!

Deanna’s Brea bag, a free Berroco pattern using Ultra Alpaca

Susanna’s Tuscany Shawl from No Sheep for You, in Fibre Co. Savannah

Knit Night begins –Thursday is becoming my favorite day of the week!

This is Valerie. Valerie is getting married in October, and making shawls for her attendants

and yarmulkes for her sweetie and his groomsmen.

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed the show and tell! Tomorrow we’ll resume the market report.

new arrivals and coming attractions

Look what showed up on our doorstep today…

a brand new box of Koigu! This is half of our Spring order, the other half should show up tomorrow. There are some old favorites in here, and a couple of colors we’ve never had too! What does one do with all that Koigu? This…

This is from Joy. She and her sister Sara love Koigu and love knitting together, even though they are separated by several thousand miles. They decide on a project, Sara comes and picks out the yarn and they have their own private knitalong. They’ve done the Oriental Jacket together, as well as the log cabin blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. When Sara saw my mitered square blanket done in sock yarn left overs, inspiration hit and they decided to do one out of Koigu leftovers.

If you have a picture of something you’ve made from Yarn Expressions yarn, send me a picture. I’d love to share it here.

Coming Attractions

Next month we’re expecting 30 one-pound bags of Mountain Colors Bearfoot mill ends. While they’re fun for making mix ‘n’ match socks, they’re also great for mitered blankets. Two pounds of Bearfoot (or Koigu) will make a good sized blanket. We’re setting up a two session class for Monday nights in June. If you’re interested, let me know.

Addi Lace Needles

We don’t have enough call for these needles to keep them in stock, but I’ve had several people inquire about them. I’ve decided to put together a special order on May 21. If you’d like to have some of these, please give us a call at the store. We’ll need a 50% deposit to place the order, with the balance due when the needles come in. They’re available in sizes 1 through 6 (metric sizes 2.5, 3, 3.25, 3.5, 3.75 and 4 mm), and lengths of 24″, 32″ and 47″. The 1’s and 2’s are $13.50 each, the other sizes are $15.95.

I’m off to Arizona in the morning, to visit my mother. Thursday is Knit Night and Jill will be standing in for me. I’ll see you when I get back.