|
June 10, 2010 Happiness = YarnWe’re in those lazy, hazy, crazy, humid, days of summer. The summer movie onslaught has begun. And so naturally your mind turns to… …wool socks! Right? Ok I could be wrong. But that may change if you see the new colors of sock yarn we’ve gotten from Happiest Girl! Dyeworks.
We’ve got great colors in Happiest Girl! Dye Works Gloss as well as Sock. Gloss is a 65% superwash wool, 30% silk and 5% nylon sock yarn. I really like it. My favorite colorway is “Ichabod” because it looks very Halloweeny and is, of course, named after that brave person who encountered the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane. Sock is 75% superwash wool and 35% nylon. Gloss comes out a bit softer because of the silk, but both are great. Of course, you’ll have to squish them yourself to find out! We hope you are having a good week. When you are out on the beach or by the pool, do a little knitting and think of us. See ya soon! Filed Under: What's New? June 4, 2010 Bountiful Boxes Brimming with BeautyGreetings Yarn Fans, Sometimes when the UPS man (calm down Peppie!) comes into the store it seems a little bit like getting presents, especially when it is boxes of beautiful yarn from Malabrigo.
We’ve just gotten in our shipment of two great yarns from Malabrigo that I think you’ll love: Malabrigo Sock and Malabrigo Silky Merino. We’ve had Malabrigo Sock before, but some of the colors we’ve gotten are new to the store. Malabrigo Sock comes in 440 yard skeins, and is 100 % superwash merino wool. The Malabrigo Silky Merino is a DK weight 50% Silk, 50% Baby Merino blend which comes in 150 yard skeins. If you are familiar with Malabrigo’s beautiful colors you probably have an idea of what to expect. All the colors are beautiful, and I’m sure you’ll start imagining which colors are just right for your next project. Of course, if you love the yarn but aren’t quite sure what you want to make, we can help with that as well. Along with the yarn we got some copies of a new Malabrigo booklet with designs by Melissa Leapman.
I think you’ll enjoy Melissa’s designs. Something I also found quite interesting about this booklet is that each design is named after a neighborhood in Montevideo, Uruguay, home of Malabrigo. There is a short paragraph about each neighborhood and its significance or importance to the history or culture of Montevideo. I enjoy learning about history so I really enjoyed reading these descriptions of the neighborhoods where one of my favorite yarns is produced. We also still have copies of Melissa Leapman’s book Color Knitting: The Easy Way. If you haven’t had a chance to look at this book yet I’d recommend that you do. Fans of the Misti Alpaca cotton/silk blend we have will be glad to know that we have just gotten in a few new colors.
It is going to be warm for quite a while still, so this beautiful yarn is great for warm weather projects that you may have been contemplating. Have a good week and weekend! Come in soon and squish the yarn. Filed Under: What's New?, Books May 13, 2010 Yarn, Color, and Power CablesOur sale last week was great. Saturday, the big sale day, was a lot of fun. Lots of people, lots of yarn, and laughter. Not once did I see a fight break out over that last ball of yarn in a certain colorway. You may be wondering: After the sale, what’s left? Well quite a bit. The cupboard isn’t completely bare, we’ve still got a great selection to choose from. Including three new books that I think you should give a look. One Ball Knits: Gifts Do you have a little time, a present to make, and only one ball of the right color? Then this book is for you. There are 20 patterns for quick gifts that are sure to make the recipient happy. Patterns include warm accessories, baby items, and handmade home decor.
In Color Knitting the Easy Way, renowned knitwear designer, teacher, and author Melissa Leapman explores the simplest and most popular ways of knitting with two or more yarn colors—using just one color in each knitted row. No more juggling multiple yarns in your hands as you knit! The book covers color theory, color combination, and mastering color techniques. The book also includes ten original projects and 70 unique stitch patterns. Power Cables by Lily Chin This book just came in and immediately there were “ooohs” and “ahhhhs”. I haven’t seen a Lily Chin book before, but I was almost instantly interested in getting this one. In this book Ms. Chin discusses the basic structure of cables, charting cables, designing your own cables, and of course her innovative technique for creating reversible cables. The book of course includes 15 original patterns for everything from socks to pullovers. I think you’ll find this book difficult to resist. Have a great week everyone! Filed Under: What's New?, Books 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 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 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 March 25, 2010 Knit Two, Read ThreeOver the past week we’ve gotten in a great selection of both yarn and books. We’ve been able to restock some favorites as well as add some new yarn and books to our shelves. Think of it as some of the new Spring flora and fauna of Yarn Expressions.
We got a couple of new colors of the ShiBui sock yarn in, as well as a book new to us, ShiBui Baby. The book contains 9 patterns, designed by Celeste Warner, for babies up to 18 months. The garments are cute and the photos are cuter. And of course, there is a baby blanket pattern. You can make all the patterns with either ShiBui’s sock yarn or their Staccato sock yarn.
We’ve gotten in two cotton yarns from Knit One, Crochet Too that I think you’ll like: Ty-Dy (pictured above) and Ty-Dy Dots (pictured below). If you enjoyed Knit One, Crochet Too’s multi-colored wool yarn, you’ll enjoy these soft cotton versions.
We’ve also gotten in new patterns for both Ty-Dy yarns, including a collection of twelve scarves put together in a calendar form. The collection is entitled, as you may suspect, A Year in Scarves. If you aren’t quite done with your Winter knitting, or you are pro-actively knitting for next Winter, you should check out the latest book we’ve gotten in from Interweave Press, Northern Knitting. This beautiful book is a collection of designs inspired by traditional designs from Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Shetland Isles. Wallpapers If you enjoy the photos of the Ty-Dy yarns, you can make the following versions your desktop wallpaper.
Filed Under: What's New?, Books, Wallpaper March 17, 2010 Rain, Rain, Go AwayI was quite happy last week when the gray skies had cleared and the sun brightly shone down upon us. Alas, that was a bit short lived. Temperatures certainly haven’t been freezing…much…but is has been rather gray. If you have a love of yarn and fiber, however, there is always something you can do indoors. I recently completed a scarf from Archangel Malabrigo Rasta, and am now knitting up a few birthday presents. Everyone else in the store has been working on multiple projects. So we’re at least productive during the inclement weather! Of course we’ve also been working hard to keep things going at the store. One project we recently completed was re-arranging our cotton yarns so that you will see them as you come in on the wall opposite the store entrance.
Something you’ll notice right away is the selection of 100% cotton yarn we’ve gotten from Universal Yarn. Pictured above is a selection of the Cotton Supreme Batik colorways we have on hand. This is a brand new yarn from Universal Yarn. We also have a wide selection of colors of their Cotton Supreme yarn. It comes in quite a gorgeous array of colors. And last but not least we’ve gotten in a selection of their Soleil Dot yarn. Soleil Dot is a fun yarn that has dots of color throughout a base off-white color. All the Universal Yarns are 100% cotton and 4-5 knit stitches to the inch. Of course we get all sorts of yarn, fiber, needles, books, etc in all the time. Come to knit night tomorrow evening to see everything we’ve got on hand. I hope you’ve had a good week! Be sure to enjoy the warm(er) weather this weekend. Filed Under: What's New? March 15, 2010 Knitwear Design Workshop by Shirley Paden-Bernstein
I hope you all enjoyed this review. Have a great week! ~Meg P.S. from Bill - Have something you’d like to say about anything you purchased at Yarn Expressions? Please let us know! We will try to include your review in a future post or newsletter. Filed Under: What's New?, Books, Reviews March 12, 2010 Comfortable Afghans and Misti AlpacaI’ve spoken several times about new yarn…and more yarn…and even more! Along with all the wonderful yarns we carry, we also have a lot of great books and patterns from which to choose. I really enjoy poring over the new books to see what other people are creating, get ideas for what I want to make, and learn new techniques.
We recently got a book that both customers and Yarn Expressions employees have found hard to resist: Comfort Knitting and Crochet: Afghans. The book features patterns for 50 of the most beautiful afghans I’ve seen. A balance of knitting and crochet patterns are included with designs ranging from the traditional to the modern. All patterns are created with Berroco’s Comfort yarn in mind. Comfort is a very soft, acrylic/nylon blend that is reasonably priced. Due to the popularity of this book we have just finished restocking all of the Comfort yarn we carry. We now have all of the worsted weight colors on hand (as of this writing) mentioned in the book.* You’ll see all the Comfort yarn on the center display when you come into the store.
I don’t think I could go for long without talking about new yarn. Spring is just around the metaphorical corner. As our cold weather changes to warm, so do many knitters/crocheters thoughts change from wool to cotton and lighter yarns. We are getting a lot of new cottons in, one of the most beautiful being the Misti Alpaca Cotton Pima. The Misti Alpaca Cotton Pima is a hand-painted, DK weight, cotton and silk blend yarn from Peru. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I hope to see you in the store soon. Come back here Monday for more information about books and yarn, including customer reviews! * PS from Meg — At this writing we only stock Comfort in worsted weight. The book has a few selections made in other weights of yarn and we can suggest substitutions for those items. Filed Under: What's New? keep looking » |
For Email Marketing you can trust
|
Blog RSS Feed
|
||