A Project for all our favorite movies? Are you kidding me?

 

This book has 30, yes 30 projects from some of our favorite movies such as, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, To Kill A Mockingbird, Anne of Greene Gables, Moby Dick, Little House on the Prairie, Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice and Lord of the Rings.  This is just a few of the great movies that are listed in this book.  Not only do they each have a project that resembles a fashion from the movie, they also have very detailed instructions.  There are knitted projects for men, women and children. 
This is a must for your library, I know it's found it's way into mine!

Hope to see you soon.

Perfect for Summer time

We just got Litoral by Aslan Trends in and look how beautifully it knits up!  On a size 10.5 or 11 needle, this yarn knits up quickly!  Come in and check out the great colors and pick up a skein to make each of your friends this lovely scarf!

We have another winner!

Sherri Brown is the winner of the 2nd LYS bag!  I'm all out of bags, but keep posted, you never know what kind of contest is coming up.

We have Malabrigo Worsted on Sale for 20% off until Tuesday.  Come in to see all the beautiful and bright colors. 

It's pretty quiet here today, so I'm hoping that you are all out camping, fishing or whatever fun things you want to do on Memorial Day.  Please remember our Soldiers who have so graciously served our country. 

 

By the way we have water bottles now!



The Bag Contest was so much fun...let's do it Again!!!

I have one more LYS bag to give away!  If you are the 12th person to email me at eweknit@mainstreetyarn.com you will win an LYS 2013 bag!

By the way, have you heard we are having 20% off all our Malabrigo worsted until the end of the day Tuesday?

Hope to see you soon.

We have a winner and "Classic Knits"

First to the important part.  We have a winner from our contest yesterday - Deb Jensen was the 2nd person to email me after the post.  Congratulations Deb!

As I was looking for a book to review, I opened up this one and became quickly enthralled.  There are 100 different patterns to make and only a few stinkers.  They recommend a lot of my favorite yarns.  Some of the different yarns they use are Rowan Wool Cotton 4-ply, Rowan Wool Cotton DK, Cotton Classic, Lambs Pride Bulky, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, Ultra Alpaca by Berroco, Cascade Ultra Pima, Cascade 128, Kidsilk Haze, Baby Bamboo, Zara, Noro Silk Garden Socks, Felted Tweed and Rowan Handknit Cotton.  We carry all of these yarns in our store.

Not only are there 100 patterns, there is a plethora of information.  Some of the subjects are yarn weights, learning to follow patterns, reading yarn labels, choosing the right size for you, gauge symbols, charts, abbreviations, different cast on and cast offs and correcting mistakes (I know you won't need that information, but thought I would let you know......just in case).

I could go on and on, but I think you get the gist.  I don't always have time to look through all the books we get, but I'm so glad I looked through this one.  It will may find it's way to my house...don't worry, I'll save a copy for you.

Win a LYS 2013 bag

This is the "official" LYS Bag for the 2013 tour.  We had a great tour and we enjoyed seeing all the people that came out to say Hi, pick up a pattern and get a stamp.  It was a fun 4 days for us.

If you are the 2nd person to email me at eweknit@mainstreetyarn.com you can win this bag.  Let the emailing begin!

Hope to see you soon.

The rainy day knitting aid!

What is the thing that goes best with Knitting and Crocheting?

CHOCOLATE!!!!  Especially on a rainy day like this one!  We have Organic Lavendar Chocolate by Pelindaba in White, Dark, and Milk.  Come in, pick up some yarn, needles, a cute pattern, and some of this terrific Chocolate by Pelindaba and you will be set for a day of knitting and relaxing.

Elya's Butterfly Poncho

Here is a little something I knit up for Elya.  The pattern will soon be available in sizes 2 years to 7 years. 

The Big Reveal!!!!

Pediboo and Silky Wool

OH NO! I BOUND OFF TOO TIGHT!

As I was blocking my square this morning, for the Aran Afghan, I noticed one end was too tight and would not block out to the full 12 inches.  Bummer.....

I went on line to see how I could have bound off differently so this wouldn't have happened.  I am going to share with you what I learned.  This is called the Knitted Lace Bind Off.

First you knit two stitches, with the left hand needle point capture the 2 stitches through the front of the right hand needle, then knit into the back of the stitch. 

If you need more clarification, please feel free to come in and ask me. 

 

 

Hope to see you this week-end for the LYS tour!

We're getting ready!

Just got a huge shipment of our yarn for the tour!  So excited!  It is beautiful!  Patterns are printed and ready to go!  Are you ready?  Tour begins in less than 2 days!

Its Coming!!!

It is LYS week!  We are looking forward to seeing you on the tour!  What a great way to celebrate Local businesses!  If you don't already have your passports, we have plenty.  You can either pick your up in advance to plan your route or you can just pick it up at your first stop.  This year, the patterns use two skeins!  You won't believe the beautiful patterns that have been created for you!  Also remember, that all of the patterns are FREE and you get a discount on the yarn that supports the pattern. 

                                                              www.lystour.com

The Anatomy of a Sock

This is one of the best pictures I've seen that illustrates the anatomy of a sock.   I used to always get the anatomy mixed up.  I'd get the instep and gusset mixed up, the heel flap and heel turning mixed up.  Seeing it on this picture it's pretty embarrassing that I could mix those up, sigh...  I borrowed this picture from Melissa Morgan-Oakes from "2-at-a-time socks".

A quote from Melissa's book "Knitting socks is like a giant swatch".  I use socks often to test patterns.  You can put just about any pattern you want on your sock and guess what?  No one can see them unless you want them to, yet you can get plenty of use out of them. 

I think there are some people who think sock knitting it hard, and really it isn't.  It's basically knitting and purling.  You can use any size yarn, as long as you get the gauge you want for your pattern. 

"Knitting should not be about deadlines, obsessive detail or any form of stress.  The only limit is the one you place on yourself." A very true statement from Melissa Morgan-Oakes.

Hope to see you soon

Do you have your passport yet?

LYS Tour, May 16 - 19th

Four Days of Fiber Fun!

Welcome to the 2013 Northwest LYS Tour!
 

Thanks so much for your support all through the year, and for joining us on this Eighth Annual Tour.  Since the last tour, all of the stores have been preparing for your visit - designing our tour-specific FREE patterns, stocking up on our secret yarns and sprucing up our shops in anticipation of the long, exciting weekend, May 16 - 19th.  We hope you can drop by and see each and every one of us!

Sincerely,
Your Local Yarn Shops in the Pacific Northwest
New Grand Prize Format!
Visit 8 shops and enter to win.
Visit 16 shops and enter to win even more prizes.
Visit 24 and enter to win the biggest prizes.
The more shops you visit, the more chances you'll have to win grand prizes worth $1,500.00.
Extended Hours
Thursday & Friday,  10am to 8pm
Saturday & Sunday, 10am to 6pm
Don't Miss the Fun
See shop details, photos and updated info at, http://www.lystour.com
May 16th - 19th
24 Local Yarn Shops!
FREE patterns, yarn discounts and dailey drawings.

Mother's Day is Sunday

If you are a Mother, if you have a Mother, if you like yarn, come in and buy yourself or someone else a gift of yarn.  Maybe for Mother's Day you might like a little break so we will be open Sunday May 12th from 11 - 5.  Amy and Krista have the day off to spend with their families, but my husband Vern and I will be here, so stop in!

Happy Mothers Day and I hope to see you soon!

Ribbing & Knitting with the Color Guys

I'm sure you are all familiar with ribbing and the aspect of ribbing.  The most common is 1x1 ribbing (K1, P1) or 2x2 ribbing (K2,P2).  When you are making your next sweater, socks or any project that uses ribbing, consider doing something a little different.  Try a 2x3 (K2, P3) or 3x2 (K3,P2) or a 3x1 ribbing.  You probably don't want to make the ribbing to be more than a combination of 6 (K3,P3) or (K4,P2) and remember that the number of stitches you have must be divisible by the number of stitches in the pattern.  Such as if you choose to do a K3,P2 ribbing, the amount of stitches must be divisible by 5, or K2,P2, must be divisible by four and so on.......
Elizabeth Zimmerman says that the 2x2 rib is the rib that has the most stretch, so you might want to take that into consideration when you are planning which ribbing to use.

We just got in yesterday "Knitting With The Color Guys" by Kaffe Fassett & Brandon Mably.  For those of you who have always admired Kaffe Fassett's color sense, he really breaks it down in this book and shows you how to put the colors together.  It's a wonderful and colorful book with lots of fun patterns. 

Keeping Count?

We have oodles of ultra-cute stitch markers!  Come check them out and add them to your collection!

Spring is in the air!

It is time for outdoor knitting!  The sun is shining and the weather is great!  We have a number of terrific bags to help you transport your projects to your favorite outdoor knitting venue!