Just in case you’re checking in, our annual winter clearance sale is indeed on at present. Because we’ve had some dicey weather with lots of blowing snow for all three days of the sale, we’re extending our sale into next week. Stay warm and watch the rest of the Olympics, and come visit our “island of savings” on Tuesday or Wednesday, March 2nd and 3rd. We’re open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days.
The School of Yarn is in session every Tuesday, no matter what the weather map says. Today I’m going to talk about Avarice. (Not the deadly sin kind, though you would be forgiven for having lustful and greedy thoughts about this yarn.) Avarice is a very lovely, hand-dyed 100% alpaca yarn from Twisted Sisters. This company, run by two women who aren’t actually sisters but do profess to be twisted, specializes in monochromatic dyeing and short-run handpaints. They also design garments that make best advantage of their true, vivid colourways while looking very flattering on various body types.
Now, I know I’m just a girl who can’t say no, especially to a gorgeous yarn that batts its pretty lashes in my direction, but at $17.95 a skein, my budget can’t support a whole sweater’s worth of Avarice. But a few skeins?? Well, that’s exactly the reason someone invented the word “treat”, isn’t it.
I snagged these three luscious colours a few months back, and then began a search for just the right project to feature this soft, warm yarn. I’ve ended up choosing this yarn as my Knitting Olympics project, and am undertaking a pair of stranded mitts. Based on a pattern called “Swedish Fish”, from SpillyJane Knits (Ravelry link here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swedish-fish ), I’ve had to change the gauge and the pattern repeat, and have worked a completely different-shaped mitten with a gusset thumb and a longer, striped, ribbed cuff.
You may all point and laugh when I report next week that I tripped over my own skates and utterly failed to complete my project before the end of the Olympics on Sunday night.
We have a shop pattern for some dainty fingerless gloves that uses only one precious skein of Avarice, or a pattern for some cosy mittens that uses two. It’s cold and snowy outside … don’t you deserve a treat??
Sue’s comments on her update –
Well, I just finished row/lap 76 of Chart D whilst watching the men’s speed skating.
These laps/rows are getting longer by the minute! The lactic acid build-up in my fingers by the time I get finished a lap…brutal….what do these guys know about pain, I ask you? Sheesh!
Janet’s comments –
Out of the gate, lot of knitting happening. But has she peaked too soon? Will she finish . . .
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and as far as Tom's sweater - I'm just about to start the neck on the front - it may be touch & go to get down but we're trying.
There will be none of that talk about numbers here today – you hear! But we do want to spread the word that one of our favourite people is having a special day today. It is Cari’s birthday!!!
We love our Cari, she has the most wicked sense of humour – and fast – boy she just comes out with those one liners so fast there may be some p-ing of pants.
And memory – do not go up against her in a song memory game – she can sing you lines from some of the most obscure songs. And we have checked and she is right too!
We are so lucky to have her on our SWK team but we are blessed to be able to call her friend.
We Love you lots
A few weeks ago we introduced you to a good yarn that has wonderful yardage and knits up like a dream. Cascade Ecological wool is a wonderfull investment at an amazing price. Where the Ecological wool is a basic meatloaf type of yarn, this weeks yarn is Filet Mignon (if you’re not a meat eater – I’m sorry).
Superior by Filatura Di Crosa is a totally decadent, luscious yarn. Superior is 70% Cashmere, 30% Silk and is perfect for lace knitting like Starry Nights by Katherine Matthews.
At 330yds per skein you can get a nice size scarf out of one ball and the colour range has over 25 colours. This yarn is slippery so you might want to use your Addi Turbo Lace needles but the end product is well worth the effort. Next time you’re in the shop you HAVE to feel the couple of samples we have done in it.
I did some calculations yesterday and I had about 4 1/2 balls of the Ecological wool knit so far out of 13. So if I can knit a ball a day – I should be on track to get Toms sweater done for the Knitting Olympics. I have 2 sleeves done and are part way up the front now.
Sue & Janet came out to the shop yesterday and had both started Laura Chau’s Milkweed. Janet’s is teal and Sue’s is a lovely cream. We will post pictures as they grow. And don’t forget to send us comments or pics of what you might be working on as well.
I’ve been humming and hawing and procrastinating (which I seriously could take a gold in) about whether or not I was going to do an Olympic knitting thing. The Yarn Harlot is doing hers over here http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ and Ravelry is doing theirs over here http://www.ravelry.com/groups/ravelympics-2010. I know the Waterloo-Wellington forum has a group and I’ve decided to jump in.
Now you have to keep in mind that I did the market today so I was up before morning and still going so reading the rules is like reading those cool knitting patterns in Japanese – should be do-able but…
So, the general idea as I understand it from either site is to give yourself a project that is pushing you a little, cast on with the opening ceremonies TOMORROW! And hope to cast off with closing ceremonies.
So I’ve been pondering, and thinking and pondering some more. I REALLY want to start something new but one of the categories is a WIP (Work In Progress) that has been on hiatus for a while. And thats the piece that is nagging me. I started a lovely sweater for Tom last year – both sleeves are done and it’s been on hold for a while. I think this is the one that I need to do. Charlotte is calling me but I will not listen to her siren call…maybe…just a little Koigu…that wouldn’t be bad would it?
So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to post pics over the next little while of Toms sweater and I would love it if anyone who is participating would send comments or email us pictures and I will post them on the blog. Whatcha think?
Beth here,
Over the past year, I have seen a lot of schools. I recently got a degree in elementary education and am now a supply teacher who roams the region daily, navigating strange classrooms, negotiating unfamiliar routines, and sometimes – gasp! – even wrangling with obstreperous students. It is a treat, then, to visit the more familiar landscape of the School of Yarn today to write about one of my favorite sock yarns, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock.
One of the things I love about my job at Shall We Knit? is being paid to play with different yarns like Shepherd Sock. Recently I knit a pair of socks out of it and was amazed by the number of compliments I got while I worked on them. I was reminded of something Stephanie Pearl-McPhee wrote on her blog about the pleasures of working with self-patterning sock yarns: “they make me feel clever, and I love the way that they make the muggles think that I must be a genius to manage such a complex colour pattern.”
There’s something about the play of colour in this yarn that enchants. According to its Web site at www.lornaslaces.net, Shepherd Sock is available in 93 multi colors and 49 solid colors, so there’s sure to be something that will appeal to you, too. The yarn is a tightly twisted 4-ply of 80% superwash wool and 20% nylon, with a suggested gauge of 7 stitches to the inch on 2.25 mm needles. I suggest, however, knitting at a tighter gauge for longer-lasting socks. (For my Waffle Rib Socks, I achieved a gauge of 8 ½ inches on 2.25 mm dpns.)
Waffle Rib Socks. Pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Tuscany colorway.
This yarn is soft yet strong, and is a delight to work with. It has generous yardage to boot: each 50 gram skein is 215 yards. Even with my …. uh … well proportioned feet (they’re size 10, if you really must know) I was able to get a pair of socks out of two skeins and have plenty left over for my sock scrap blanket.
Granny Square Sock Scrap Blanket in yarns of many colors, including leftovers of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Tuscany colorway.
This yarn makes me feel brilliant, all right. Here, a single skein of Shepherd Sock produced a baby hat for a teaching mentor, with enough remaining that I could have knit some baby socks, too, had I been so inclined:
Named for the father of Ontario’s public school system, Egerton Ryerson turns heads in a roll-brimmed hat and bunny slippers. Pattern from Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Baby Stripe colorway.
The next time you visit the shop, study our display of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. If there’s a colorway you’d like that we don’t carry, we’d be happy to order it in. I’m telling you, when you knit with Shepherd Sock, you’ll feel like a genius. Trust me: I’m a teacher.
Class dismissed.
Beth signing out
Last Saturday Lynne did her first Charlotte’s Web class. This is a pattern by Maie Landra of Koigu that generally uses 5 different colours of Koigu. Now anyone who has done this pattern knows that the hardest part of the whole thing is picking your colours and this is also the most fun. This picture shows the first 3 before shots and we will be posting the pics in a few weeks of how these colours that are all in the same colour family will create something that is so totally different from each other.
Have you ever thought about where our yarns come from? All the different breeds of sheep? Well, we are all familiar with merino, but what about the other sheep in the meadow?
Rowan Yarn Company offers British Sheep Breeds yarn, one of their Purelife yarns series. Four classic British sheep breeds offer the fleece for this undyed bulky weight yarn, which comes in five natural colours. Spun from the fleece of Bluefaced Leicester, Suffolk, Jacob and Black Welsh sheep, the colours range from soft cream to deep, almost-black brown. Each breed has its own characteristics, and the wool produced by each has a slightly different hand.
By producing yarns from the fleece of these sheep, Rowan is helping to conserve the variety of sheep breeds in the UK. An eco-friendly yarn, the wool is an annually renewable natural resource.
British Sheep Breeds is like a steaming bowl of oatmeal on a cold winter morning. At a gauge of 13 stitches and 18 rows over 10cms on 7mm needles, this yarn will knit up quickly and keep you warm all winter.
Next time you are in the store, stop in the bulky yarns section and give each of these yarns a bit of a squeeze. Then feel the shop sample and check out the luscious drape of the fabric. You’ll want to knit yourself something cozy to get you through the winter!