Archive for September, 2010

28 September, 2010 | No comments

Come see our new winter yarns, because winter will come (we promise!)

LYS owners, like farmers, have to be people of faith. For surely it is as much an act of faith to put wool on store shelves when the thermometer reads 95 (as it does as I write this) as it does to plant seeds in cold, gray weather. In anticipation that the temperature will eventually drop, we’ve brought in tons of lovely winter yarns.

We’ve brought in a taste of  some lovely new yarns from Skacel, the distributor not only of our much-loved Addi needles but also of lines such as Zitron, Schulana, and Austermann. Among them:

• Opus 1, a single-ply, multicolored wool infused with aloe vera and jojoba oils to make it ultrasoft (208 yards per 100 gram hank, knits up at about 4 stitches per inch on a size 8 or 9 needle)

•  Pinturas, a 100 percent new wool in long-striping colorways; a bit of a rustic look with a not-at-all rustic feel (87 yards per 50 gram ball, about 3 stitches per inch on a size 10 or 10.5 needle)

• Pur, a single-play, lightly felted merino yarn, soft enough to be worn next to the skin. Skacel says, “The eco-friendly dyes leave practically no trace of any chemicals, making this a great natural choice for children and an approved yarn of the Waldorf Schools in Germany” (164 yards per 100 gram hank; approximately 3 stitches to the inch on a size10 or 10.5 needle)

• Unisono, a 100 percent extra-fine merino yarn, infused with aloe vera and jojoba oil, is said to soften hands while you knit. The elasticity of the yarn, due to its twist, evens out stitches so that even beginners’ stitches look more uniform. Lovely variegated colorways add to this yarn’s special qualities. You know those astonishingly soft, silky $70-a-yard wool fabrics at G Street? This is the yarn equivalent (328 yards per 100 gram hank, 6 ti 6.5 stitches per inch on a size2 to 4 needle)

All of these variegated yarns would look terrific in entrelac or mitered squares—or in most anything. And in the nonvariegated category we have:

• Mistral, a 95 percent merino–5 percent nylon yarn is enhanced with unscented lavender oil—no sheep smell here! This ultrasoft, squishy yarn has small, tweedlike slubs in various colors (109 yards per 50 gram ball, knits at about 4.5 stitches per inch on a size 8 or 9 needle)

• Mosco,  a soft yarn with high shine, great drape, and dual tones, makes luxurious garments and accessories on its own or combined with other yarns (67 percent rayon, 20 percent mohair, 13 percent nylon; 137 yards per 25 gram ball, knits at approximately 7 stitches per inch on a size 7 needle) come together in this yarn to create luxurious garments.

• Kid-Seta Lux. Think KidSilk Haze with a bit of Lurex glitz. This luscious yarn is light and airy, soft enough to wear next to the skin, and surprisingly warm (71 percent kid mohair, 20 percent silk; 230 yards per 25 gram ball; knits at about 6 stitches per inch on size 4 to 7 needles)

11 September, 2010 | No comments

Claudia Hand Painted Yarns sponsors intriguing shawl contest

We hear about a lot of contests sponsored by yarn companies and others, and frankly, most of them don’t impress us. This one is the exception, and we wanted to make sure you knew about it. Claudia Hand Painted Yarns, one of our favorite suppliers, is sponsoring a contest called Shawl the Love, with $15,000 in prizes and cash for contest winners and $3,500 in yarn for the top winners’ shops. Entries must be submitted by July 1, 2011, with winners to be announced and prizes awarded at Stitches East 2011.

The contest calls for you to make a shawl, defined as “a covering for the shoulders.” It must must be hand knit, crocheted, woven, etc., by the entrant, and must be made from Claudia Hand Painted Yarns.

There will be a first-place prize and two honorable mentions awarded in each of four categories: Wow Me with Yarn, Fresh Eyes (for artisans aged 14 and younger), Original Design and Professional. The grand prize winner, selected from the four first-place winners, receives prizes worth $5,000, and his or her yarn shop receives $1,000 in Claudia yarns. The remaining three first-place winners get $2,000 in prizes, and their shops win $500 in Claudia yarns. Eight honorable-mention winners receive prizes worth $500 each.

The entry fee is $10 for each entry within the United States and $15 for each non-U.S. entry. Complete rules and entry forms can be downloaded at www.claudiaco.com/index.htm. Let the shawl-making begin!