Tuesday 16 April 2013

What's with the Slackers?

Yarn Girl-slash-Knit Wit, Irene is busy making the rest of her team look bad.  She's been knitting up a storm of samples!

First, let's talk about the brand new yarn that came in:  Casablanca, from Cascade.  It's a riot of great colours in a single ply yarn comprised of 59% wool, 24% silk and 17% mohair.  There's a free pattern for a scarf we mentioned in our last newsletter, and Irene's shown you how quick and easy it is.


As you can see, there are several colourways to choose from - you simply can't go wrong!  If you need knitting tips when working through the pattern, you know you can call on Irene for her experience.

Next, we'll look at the pretty spring cardi Irene has completed.  (Julia, our Cardigan Queen had better watch her crown!)

She used the Featherweight Cardigan pattern by Hannah Fettig, available on Ravelry (and we can help you with that in The Yarn Store).

Irene got her hands on two skeins of Americo Abrazos yarn in colour J080, a soft pale blue that isn't a baby pastel, but decidedly more grown-up.  Abrazos is a lace weight bamboo/cotton yarn that is just perfect for Spring knitting.


She knit from both skeins at once on size 4.5mm needles, using two strands at a time to give her the desired body. The yarn itself provides the wonderful stripey texture.  


Irene's much-desired, fit body comes from running marathons - which we delayed somewhat as we took pictures of her modelling the cardigan.

C'mon in and see why the rest of the Yarn Girls are beginning to look like slackers. (Our royal tongue is firmly planted in cheek!)


Tuesday 2 April 2013

What's on Our Hooks...Irene?

Just a quickie this week.  Believe us, we've got lots going on!  It's that sort of "too busy to talk" kind of time, what with the Creativ Festival and the Toronto Knitter's Frolic, both on the same weekend!! Thankfully, it's totally possible to get the best of all worlds and visit both shows (say, the Creativ on Friday, April 26 - we're at Booth #115, and then Knitter's Frolic on Saturday, April 27).  See our Upcoming Events page for the whole scoop.

That being said, let us share a little bit.  The question on everybody's lips lately has been, "what's on your needles?" or, in this case, "hooks?".  And hey, if you haven't been wondering, maybe you should...? :)

Irene, our Yarn Girl newbie, the self-professed Knit Wit, is totally outgrowing her newbie status and reaching for all that is meant to be good about the Knit Wit moniker.  She's a continental knitter and, apparently, an accomplished crocheter, as evidenced here:


Irene said she made this giant granny square to see if the guys in her family would like a manly afghan or a car blanket.  She used just one ball of our brand new Noro Taiyo, a lovely blend of cotton, silk, wool and nylon, and just look at the gorgeous colour variations it provides!  The Yarn Store currently has 16 colours available in Taiyo, so there's lots to choose from.

However, this yarn-for-guys movement is building amongst the staff, so you'd better get a move on and get yarn for your man before the staff pinches it all!

We think we might have to come up with a new name for the block... maybe Grampy Square.  What do you think?