Calling all yarn stashers!

We are starting a Charity Knit on Friday, May 25 from 6:00-8:00.  This Charity Knit will meet on the fourth Friday of every month.  For now, our projects will include hats, gloves, mittens, and socks for Providence's Er, hats for Cancer Care Alliance, and newborn hats for Madigan.  You can drop off your knitted item anytime at our shop and we will make sure it gets to the proper place.  We are also going to start accepting yarn for our charity knitters to use so if you are cleaning out your stash, feel free to bring it by and we will make it available to them.  If you have other ideas for charities that need knitted items, please let us know and we will add them to our list.  Thank you!  We can make our community better together!

Classic Elite's "Sprout"

With Spring here and Summer on its way, our thoughts begin to move towards knitting with lighter fibers.  One of our favorite fibers for the current and coming season is "Sprout" by Classic Elite.  "Sprout" is 100% organic cotton (great for babies!), 3 1/2 sts/inch on a size 10 needle and there are approximately 109 yards per skein.  The great thing about this yarn is that it is one of the few that you can maching wash AND dry as long as you do both on the gentle or low settings.  This yarn would be great for a light baby blanket, decorative scarf, shell, light sweater, even a hooded towel!

Announcing!... Mommy and Me Knitting Group!

Pregnant?  Already have a baby?  Need a place to knit that is open to babies or have the desire to learn to knit for your baby?  Want a place where you can talk about the "highs" and "lows" of your new bundle of joy? We are starting a Mommy and Me knitting group that meets Mondays from 10:00am to Noon.  Mommies and babies are welcome!  There is no charge to come and knit.

We are also starting a Knitting Help Group specifically for new moms and new grandmas!  If you want to start knitting for your newest member of the family, we would love for you to join us on Tuesdays from 2-4 pm!  Elaine and Elya will be on hand for any questions.  This class is open to babies and will have an instructor so it will follow the same fee schedule as the rest of our help groups.  Please call us for any questions. 425-337-9606

220 Fingering

Look at these colors!  Yummy!
Cascade 220 Fingering Yarn

Piecework!

The new Piecewaork is here!  This issue is all about Lace!  When you come in to pick up your copy, be sure to check out the Russian Triangular Butterfly Shawl!  It is absolutely gorgeous!

Top 5 places to knit in the sun!

Thanks to the wonderful weather we had this weekend, this was a topic I actually put a lot of thought into since "who knows when the next sunny day will be around here"!  Here is what I came up with but I would love to hear some suggestions!

1.  The Seattle Art Museum's Sculpture Garden, this offered an incredible view of the Sound, "tourist" perfect grass to lay a blanket down, interesting sculptures to look out when the need arose to stretch your legs, and plenty of restaurants near by to pick up a picnic.  Plus...  close proximity to the Pike Street Market and the Waterfront! 

Elya and I at the SAM Sculpture Garden soaking up the sun!

2.   Gas Works Park, this location gives you a beautiful view of Lake Union and the Seattle City sky line. 

3.  Forest Park in Downtown Everett, a huge and beautiful location with a playground in case you need something to keep the kids busy while you knit away!

4.  St. Edwards Park.  This park has it all...  great hiking, water views, a playground, and loads of green grass to park yourself and your favorite project.

5.  Tables in between Central Market, Jamba Juice and Starbucks in the Mill Creek Towne Center, a great place for soaking up the sun.  There are a plethora of great places to find refreshments and if you run out of yarn...  Main Street Yarn is just a block away!

"The Heavenly Fiber"

What do you get when you put together a beautiful color, 665 yards of  100% Superfine Alpaca at a DK weight?  Heather Prime Alpaca! 

This wonderful yarn is a steal at $35.00 a skein.  We have 10 different colors to choose from - next time you're in, take a look, you'll see what I mean!  This could make a sweater to wear year round for under $100.00!

Saturday Book Review

This pamphlet book is a wonderful collection of squares designed by knitters from all over the country.  The instructions are both in graph and written form.  Each square has its own challenges in unique techniques.  It is a great way learn something new on a small scale.  This is a really great book made even better by the terrific product you will end up with when you have gone through the entire book!

Did you know that we offer a class to support this book?  Did you know that one of our teachers here at Main Street Yarn has a pattern published in this book?  Well, its true!  Claudia teaches this class on the third Saturday of every month, this is a continuous class that helps you work through each square and helps to stay on track towards a finished afghan.  In addition, Betts has a beautiful square in this book!  She is even teaching the class today!

Betts Series 1 is back!!

Betts Series 1 is starting again on the 12th of May.  There are 4 class sessions, skipping the Memorial Day week-end Saturday (May 26th).  The classes are from 1:30 - 3:30.
For those of you not familiar with the Betts Series, you will learn about cast ons, ribs, bind offs, gauge, seams and picking up stitches.  For more information all our classes are listed on our web site www.mainstreetyarn.com.

There is a beginning knitting class starting on Thursady evening, May 24th at 5:30 - 7:30, with Paul.

A beginning crochet class is starting June 3rd on Sundays, from 1:00 - 3:00, with Krista. 

It's not too late to sign up for the Two Color Stranded Hat with Betts and Girls Shrug with Amy.

Ewenice was out and about today. 

If you have a project you would like to knit or crochet, but you don't see it listed on our class schedule consider joining a Knitting Help Group.  We have expert teachers to help you improve your knitting and crocheting skills and we have Help classes each day of the week.

Oh for the joy of fiber!

Look at all the beautiful fiber!  You can make your own yarn out of these beautiful fibers!!  Just come in on the first Thursday of every month from 6-8pm  and we can show you how to spin up these up into glorious yarn.

Spruce up your knits!

Now is the perfect time to take out all of your woolens (sweaters, hats, scarves), wash them and put them away for the summer.  I know in the NW, we wear these items all year long, but still, spring is a great time to clean them.  I mean, at some point we have to wash them, right?

The best wash I have found to soak my woolens in or for blocking is Eucalan.  It comes in different scents or unscented. 

 Ewenice and Mr. Penguin wanted to be in the picture

So, for those who are unsure how to block or wash their woolens.  You would soak them in tepid water with 1 tsp of Eucalan wash.  Let them soak for atleast 15 minutes (for blocking I soak mine overnight).  Take them out, wrap them in a towel to squeeze most of the moisture out and then lie the item flat on a towel, ironing board, bed, floor OR you can use a Blocking Board.

I love blocking boards, because there is a grid on the board so you can see the measurements.  Such as, if you need to block a 12"x12" square, the numbers are right on the board for you to see.  You can stick needles in the board to hold the knitted piece in place (plus you can iron on it!).  It folds up so you can keep it out of the way. 

Both the blocking board and the Eucalan come in two sizes. 

Another great project brought to you by our terrific Crocheter!

Looking for a great summer cardigan that you can Crochet?  Krista made this beautiful one out of Cotton Classic.  It looks great over a long-sleeved t-shirt!  Come in and we can help you pick out your summer color!

Local Yarn Store Tour!

It is that time of year again!  The annual LYS tour is coming up on May 17, 18, 19, and 20th!  There are 21 stores taking part this year and there are some fun new changes!  This year we get to use up to TWO skeins of yarn for the free patterns!  I am so excited to unveil our pattern for this year's tour!  The yarn we picked is fabulous!  Come in anytime and pick up your passport!LYS Tour

Baby Booties

Aren't these the cutest?  Our newest employee, Krista, crocheted them.  They are made our of Cascade 220. 

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine!

Saturday Book Review

So... in honor of our newest member to the Main Street Yarn team, Tina and I are trying our hands at Crochet!  Krista worked up the cutest baby galoshes and now we are obsessed with them.  Since we are new to the Crochet world and Krista isn't here today, we are using the book How to Crochet.  This book is an inexpensive guide to Crochet.  It has wonderful, simple pictures and great discriptions.  So much so that we already have the soles of our galoshes finished!  I highly recommend this book if you are new to the world of Crochet.  Enjoy!

Are you familiar with Ravelry?

I'm sure you are all familiar with Ravelry, but there might be some things you DIDN'T know.  Did you know that we have a group on Ravelry, called Ewe Knit at Main Street? We even have a discussion "thread".  Do you have an account with Ravelry and if so are you friends with us?  When you post a picture of your finished project do you share it with us? 

 (This is our picture at the web site)

Ravelry is a grand resource for anyone who knits or crochets.   There are a lot of patterns, information about yarns, anything a knitter or crocheter might want. 
So - let's say you want to make a man's hat.  You could go to Raverly.com, sign in or if you are not a member sign up (it doesn't cost anything).  You could put in the search "men's hat" and limit it to knitting or crocheting (and there is a lot of other criteria).  You will see several projects of different kinds of men's hats. If you open up the individual projects, you will find much more information, such as kind of yarn they used, needle size, what they liked or didn't like about the pattern, where the pattern is from, etc.. 
They have a place where you can list all your yarn, books, patterns and needles.  Really, it's just a mountain of information, with different ways to keep track of your own stuff!  (Now if they'll only find a virtual place we can keep all our stash).
Anyway, check it out, let us know what you think.

Let's Crochet! and other things....

Tonight (and every Thursday night) Krista will be teaching a help class in knitting and crocheting.  We mentioned a few posts ago that Krista had come to work for us, but she is officially on the schedule and will be teaching help classes Thursday evenings (6-8) and starting June 3rd she'll have a Beginning Crochet class starting up.
Krista has been knitting and crocheting for about 21 years.  Her 4th grade teacher taught her how to knit and her Mom taught her how to crochet. 
Her favorite thing to knit is socks and she loves to crochet baby blankets.  She is skilled at both knitting and crocheting. 

Also coming up, Paul will be teaching a Beginning Knitting class on Thursday nights from 5:30-7:30  beginning May 24.  He will also be hosting a Charity Knit on the last Friday of every month beginning in May.  If you would like to join the Charity Knit, please call us and RSVP for the group, we will be serving some refreshments.  We would also like to hear some ideas for Charities that you like.  We will provide the yarn or you will recieve a 10% discount on any yarn you purchase that evening for the charity knit.

On Friday, June 1st, we will have a Knit All Night or at least knitting from 6:00pm-10:00pm.  We will be serving refreshments and will have some lovely door prizes. 

LYS passports are available!! Come in anytime and pick yours up to preview the stores that comprise this years tour!

Look at those socks!

Ali recently finished taking the class "Socks on DPN's" and here is the sock she finished.  It looks fantastic, doesn't it? 

Knitting News!

Here is a great article one of our customers brought in!  We love to see knitting happening everywhere!  For the article, you can go to www. shoreline.edu/ebbtide.

Stitch of the week!

This week, we will look at the Brioche Rib.  We have a beautiful scarf in our shop using this rib in combination with a series of alternating cables.  The Brioche Rib is comprised of two rows.
Row 1:  Knit
Row 2:  *K1, K1 in the st. below*  Repeat to last two sts.  K2
Repeat Row 2 for the remainder of the pattern.  Row one is a set up row.
Enjoy!

Saturday Book Review

We Love Men's Knits by Erica Knight at Main Street Yarn.  We have a couple of samples in the store.  Paul made the 1950s-style Cardigan (found on page 32) using Cascade's Magnum in Charcoal Grey and I made the beanie (page 126) using Cascade's CashVero Aran.  The next project we are going to work on is the Collegiate Cardigan on page 80.  This book is full of great patterns that every man would love to either knit for themselves or recieve as a gift.  Come in and pick one up for yourself! 

Felted Bag

This is one of our most popular classes.  Amy teaches the felted bag class and it's always a hit.  You can make it small or big - here's a picture of one of our student's finished project.

We will be offereing this class again soon! 

Mystery Knit

It's not too late!!!
This mystery knit is a fun, cute and fast knit.  I used 1 skein of Malabrigo worsted (you can use any yarn giving you a gauge of 4-5 stitches per inch, using a 7 - 9 US needle).  You will need size 10 & 11 US 16" circular needles, size 10 DPN's, cable needle (or if you prefer you can use one of your double pointed needles- I prefer Lantern Moon cable needles). If you wish to join us please email me at eweknit@mainstreetyarn.com.  The clues will start Friday, April 6th.  The mystery knit is only 3 weeks long and there is no cost to sign up.
Join us, it will be fun!!!!!

Any Newborns in your life?

We are excited to announce that we now carry a line of custom dyed and stenciled onesies made by a local artist, Kirstin Ramsay!  She has a collection of cute onesies with animals or bugs and can even add names or initials to any onesie to even further customize them. 

Stitch of the Day

Claudia has been designing a Pouf for the shop using a stitch she calls the "Fleck" stitch.  It is a lovely stitch that resembles stockinette but adds a bit of texture.  Here is how you do it...

Row 1:  Knit
Row 2:  Purl
Row 3:  K1 *P1, K1*
Row 4:  Purl

This stitch would also be great for blankets, scarves, sweaters, and hats.  Enjoy!

The pouf is poofed!

Finally - we found the right thing to stuff the pouf with (a queen size duvet, which I found at Value Village).  I almost think we could have used an even bigger size duvet.  The pouf turned out to be 12" high and 63" around.  Ofcourse the pattern can be modified to make taller or wider.  The pattern will be available for sale next week. 

I took pictures of a large  doll sitting on the pouf and an elephant sitting on the pouf.  I couldn't get Amy to sit on it and take her picture!