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April 23, 2008 finally, it’s hereJust when I’d about given up hope, the UPS man delivered a box of Kureyon Sock to us this afternoon. Eight of the 12 shades we ordered are here, and they are lovely. Despite its name, I doubt I’d use this yarn for socks. It’s not machine washable, it’s not my idea of sock soft, it’s not plied. It is Noro, with all that implies. And it’s wonderful for things other than socks. Like lace. I’ve been working on the Flower Basket Shawl with the sample skein I received ages ago, and I’m going to be able to get a nice sized scarf out of one ball. I also think it would be spectacular for fair isle work. Or crocheted into this (keep going to make it a scarf). The possibilities are really endless. As if that’s not enough, we learned that the next kit in the series of collaborations between Lorna’s Laces and Mountain Colors will be ready in a few weeks. No pictures yet, but I understand that it’s a very colorful sock designed by Cat Bordhi, using a skein of Lorna’s Shepherd Sock and Mountain Colors’ Bearfoot. I’ve ordered what I hope will be an adequate supply, and hope to have them here some time in May. As soon as the picture is released, I’ll share it here. Filed Under: What's New? April 14, 2008 new sock yarn in the houseHoobody’s been busy dyeing, and we have a few skeins of a new kind of sock yarn to show for it.
Introducing Chausettes de Mer — 70% merino 30% seacell fiber. Second and third from the right are favorite colors What’s Cookin’ and Tastes Like Grape Jelly. The others have no names yet — want to help name them? All suggestions are welcome. They aren’t in the online shop yet, but will be soon. Filed Under: What's New? April 9, 2008 hey, Be-ethhhhI know you’ve been patiently waiting for us to get some more laceweight yarn in. Well, wait no more, my dear. We have some. I even have a picture for you, but first you have to let me tell everyone about the spinning workshop we had on Saturday.
We had a blast! Fourteen people crammed in to the east end of Yarn Expressions last Saturday, to learn all about spinning colorful yarn from Lynne Vogel. We had spindle spinners …
and wheel spinners. People who’d been spinning for a few days …
and people who’ve spun much of their lives. It was a lively, colorful group and everyone left with a better idea of what to do with that bundle of hand-dyed fiber. Just look at these samples Lynne brought to inspire us.
I know, you’re saying “enough with the spinning, already! I want laceweight!” Okay, here it is.
This is Evolution Laceweight from Chameleon Colorworks. It’s 300 yards of Optim merino that you have to feel to believe. Nancy has this description for her Evolution yarns:
We have six colors in hand now, some solid some variegated, all simply spectacular. Come feel this yarn — you’ll swear it’s silk. Filed Under: What's New?, special events February 11, 2008 Rowan at Yarn ExpressionsWe’re unpacking the Rowan order today. Not only do we have refills and new colors of Calmer and Nashua Ecologie Cotton, we have their newest organic cotton, Purelife. It’s a lovely, soft little ball of yarn, naturally dyed with interesting things like logwood, brazilwood and madder. We also have a sport weight bamboo blend from Schachenmayr called Micro Bamboo Spray. The colors are cheerful and heathery, as the dye literally has been sprayed onto the yarn. The new Rowan book, number 43, is here in limited supply, along with Nashua’s Natural Focus and Blossom Baby books (which feature their summer yarns) and The Organic Cotton Collection from Rowan, written exclusively for Purelife Organic Cotton. Liz and I spent much of the weekend getting the new shades of Koigu up on the website. The learning curve on new technology is always steep for me, but I think I have the hang of managing this system now, which means I’ll be able to get more products up on a regular basis. This week we’re anticipating our shipment of sock yarn from Pagewood Farms, and what an array that will be! Robin’s colors are unique (I think) in the hand dye world, and I’m pleased to be able to offer them to you. She said she was shipping today, so they should arrive by the end of the week, I would think. Also due in this week is the shipment of shrug kits from Mountain Colors. If you want one of these, I’d recommend getting one as soon as they arrive. I only ordered a small number, and they’re only in production until April. Then the collaborative efforts of Mountain Colors and Lorna’s Laces will be focused on another kit, and the shrug will become a collector’s item. Filed Under: What's New? February 6, 2008 I love my job!Yesterday was sort of a … meh day. The weather was crummy, I felt crummy, no one wanted to go out in the crummy weather, so business was crummy too. Last night a line of fierce storms came through the Valley, waking us all at 3 AM. I was exhausted before I even got out of bed this morning. And then I came to work.
This box was waiting for me, from our good friends at Koigu. Good and silly friends. (The Hamburgerlur thing is in reference to a black and white striped shirt I like to wear, which my son thinks makes me look like the Hamburglar of fast food fame. I guess Rhichard thought that was pretty funny.) Then there were the e-mails from concerned suppliers, worried we’d been affected by last night’s bad weather. And the pot of blackberry jam from a customer as thanks for helping her out of a different kind of jam yesterday. And the new shop owner who commented on Ravelry that she wants to be just like me when she grows up. And the sun is shining. This is what was in the box.
Thirty new shades of Koigu. Some old favorites, some we’ve never seen before. All of them gorgeous. I’m going to go take pictures now. Hope your day is as good as mine has been. Filed Under: What's New?, General January 23, 2008 and the procession beginsMy suppliers recover from market much more quickly than I do, it seems. Already boxes have started rolling in. Here’s what we have today:
Donna and Jill are unpacking a box of books from Unicorn as I type. I have no idea what’s in there, but I’ll let you know tomorrow. Filed Under: What's New? November 1, 2007 all things laceLace has taken center stage in knitting circles around the country, and here at Yarn Expressions as well. In the past few weeks we’ve seen the arrival of several new yarns designed for lace knitting, and more varieties are on their way.
Gastricke 1 ply is a lovely soft single ply wool from Sweden. We’re sampling it in both natural grey and cream; the generous 100 gram hanks hold enough yarn for a small shawl.
It’s companion, Bobin is an unspun Icelandic wool. It’s not the softest lace yarn around, but it’s a delight to work with. And the colors! In addition to a wide range of natural shades, we have several heathered shades, including purple and the red shown above, which Jill is using to knit the Fiber Trends Angel Shawl. There also are several patterns in Cheryl Oberle’s Folk Shawls book that call for this yarn. Coming in the next month or so are nice shipments from Malabrigo of their amazing laceweight merino, more Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace, and the laceweight from Dream in Color that I talked about yesterday. If knitting lace with fingering weight yarn is more to your liking, then check out Anne Hanson’s newest pattern, Cluaranach. The pattern (along with several others) is on its way to us. I cast on for it last night using Dream in Color Smooshy and am thoroughly enjoying the project. Directions for a long stole, a petite stole or a scarf are all in the pattern. The scarf takes just 350 yards of fingering weight yarn. An easily do-able project for holiday gift giving. Filed Under: What's New? October 31, 2007 what’s new?How did two months just slip away like that? So much has happened since the end of August. We had a wonderful retreat a few weeks ago — I promise to get pictures up some day soon. We are deluged with new yarn; so much that it’ll take two days to show it all to you.
If you haven’t been by the store in a while, you don’t know that we have a complete restock of Dream In Color yarns. Both sock weight Smooshy and worsted weight Classy are here, in all 24 hand dyed colors. This means we can offer custom kits for the Tulip and Rocketry sweaters. Just pick the colors you want, give us 24 hours and we’ll have a kit for you. Full kit is $40, refills (sans pattern and bag) are $35. Early next year, Dream in Color is bringing us a big surprise — laceweight! I’ve already ordered a substantial amount, which they hope to ship to us in January. Won’t that be marvelous? Continuing with what’s new on the shelf, we’ve received a shipment of new superwash Melody from Jojoland Yarns. We had some last spring, which sold out fast. The yarn has been reformulated as a superwash wool and the colors we chose this season are amazing. The soft, drifting color changes make this product unique in the world of variegated yarn. Interest in team color yarn has returned, and so we’re expecting a shipment of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in our exclusive Auburn University colorway. Good things come to those who wait — it’ll be here in about six weeks. We have a waiting list, so if you want to be sure and have some, give us a call now. I’ll leave you today with a photo of the latest book to arrive. Kaffe Fassett (he says it rhymes with safe asset) has been designing knitwear for more than 20 years and his exuberant style and use of color never goes out of fashion. In recent years he’s focused on mosaics and quilting; he’s returned to his love of knitting and to celebrate has produced Kaffe Knits Again. This book does not contain new designs. It’s populated by revisions of his most popular works, updated for today’s yarns and today’s sizes. My all time favorite, Jack’s Back is in here, and has found its way onto my must knit list.
Tomorrow — all things lace. Filed Under: What's New? August 30, 2007 three more reasons to shop now
This may look like ordinary sock yarn, but I promise you, it is not. This is Merino Sock from Rio de la Plata Yarns. We’ve been waiting for this yarn for some time, so it was only natural that Jill and I tore the box apart the moment it left the UPS man’s hands yesterday. It’s soft, it’s dyed in yummy colors (most are solids, there are two variegated shades in there) and it’s affordable. See that lovely yellow? I’m thinking it would make a lovely scarf using the Honeybee Stole pattern.
This is The Best of Interweave Knits, hot off the presses. I’m pretty sure I have every issue of IK at home, but this really is the best from this great magazine. As I paged through the book last night, post-it notes in hand, I found myself stickering almost ever page! Reason #3 to shop now? We’ll be closed on Monday to celebrate Labor Day. Filed Under: Store Hours, What's New? August 29, 2007 if you love making socksThen you’ll love our newest acquisitions.
Smooshy sock yarn from Dream in Color (I’ve already re-ordered this!) and handmade double points from Grafton Fibers. What a perfect combination! Filed Under: What's New? keep looking » |
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