YARN HEAVEN
NEWSLETTER
March 2011
Would someone please tell me where all of the time is going? I can't believe I have not sent out an update since Christmas and it is now almost St. Patrick's Day. The Super Bowl has come and gone, we are none the worse for wear. I hear traffic in North Arlington was horrendous and the crazy weather did not help the situation, could the weather get any crazier? Shorts one day, and back to nylons under my jeans the next. As I tell my husband, it keeps life exciting!
Usually when I go a long period of time without an update, it is because there is not much to say, that is not the case now, in fact, I had so much to say, that I forgot most of it. Uhmmmm, that might be an age thing. Let's just see what I can remember.
I want to start with get well wishes to a very good friend of the shop. Jan Rios got an infection in her feet, she has been in the hospital for almost a month. The good news is she is walking again, slowly, but walking. We miss you Jan and look forward to sharing lunch the day you come back. Mary Curl, congratulations on that gorgeous grandson Sawyer. Thank you for the birth announcement, the most fun birth announcement I have ever seen. He is a real cutie pie. Condolences go out to our friend Sandie Vanauken, on the loss of her sister last week. Sandie, remember your memories will bring you much comfort.
Special thanks go out to several people here. We are trying to freshen up the shop, new patterns, new yarns, new shop models. No matter how hard I try I just cannot do everything myself, so when people offer to help I am learning to take them up on it. My biggest challenges seem to be getting the new shop models out in a timely fashion and of course, updating the website. I would like to take a few minutes here to thank Judy Williams, Loreen Smith, Claudia Miller, Brenda Bailey and Bea Conn for helping get the new shop models done. It is nice to see all the gorgeous summer tops in the window, just waiting to show people what a comfortable summer they are going to have in their new hand knit tops. Lots of them are sleeveless, but little T-shirts underneath can make all the difference, or better yet, knit sleeves in!
Special thanks to Lori Torrance. For those of us that know Lori, we know she is the woman who does too much, but somehow gets it all done! She has redesigned the website into a much simpler format and boy what I have seen so far is really nice, we just need to get the shopping cart items up onto the site and before long not only will we have an awesome new website, but you will be able to order from us online! The class schedule will have pictures of the projects and you will be able to print out the calendar. I promise it is coming very soon. I will be spending the rest of my "busy" time at the shop inputting items into the shopping cart and hopefully we will be able to launch it before the end of the month.
We are doing our very first Knit-A-Long. The designer is
Norah Gaughn, the book is Knitting Nature, the pattern is
Roundabout Leaf Tank, the yarn, Kollage Yarn's Temptation,
Stitch Gauge 4.5 stitches per inch on a US size 7. Start Date:
March 10, Thursday, 7:00pm. If you would like to join us, please come pick up one skein of yarn and knit your gauge swatch. We will check gauge that evening and cast on. This top is knit in one piece to the armholes. It is not so much asymmetrical, but is not even all the way around. There are pictures on Facebook that can be see here. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=155675471157898&set=pu.101390576586388&theat er
OK, let's get to the good stuff, like WHAT'S NEW!!!!!!
Oh, goodness where oh where do I start. Where else but with my favorite new yarn from Lana Grossa which is SETANOVA. The most delicious blend of cotton and silk. 60% Silk/40% Cotton, 165 yards to a skein. Cotton is the core thread and when I knitted the swatch, I had no problems with it splitting, it felt like butter in my hands and at this point I can only imagine wearing it! Come April, I will not be imagining it anymore, I will be wearing it. It is a perfect gauge for the cute little cap sleeve cardigan that came in with other new patterns. Also new from Lana Grossa is SILK HAIR, the softer than air Mohair/Silk blend, and the most perfect
little short sleeve cardigan pattern called the; The Roman Wrap came in and now
that is on my list to make out of this yarn. We still have a few colors on back order,
but the 14 colors that are here should please just about everyone. There are new
colors in ROYAL TWEED, also from Lana Grossa and one of our customers favorite
bulky yarns. One item that is of interest to me as a shop owner and I see as a
benefit; the skeins are coming with a lot more yardage on them. For example
Setanova has 165 yards to a skein, this is like being two skeins at once, so
when you are looking at prices, be sure to check out the yardage. More yardage on a skein means less waste in the final project, which in the end does save money.
Let's talk about recycled Jeans. I don't mean wearing them, I mean knitting or crocheting with them in a different form. Talk about awesome. I just want to know where to turn in my jeans,. RIVETING is a yarn we want to stay around for a long time. There are 9 colors to choose from and there are four awesome patterns in this yarn, something for everyone, both cardigan and pullover as well as a neck warmer. The Tabitha top, which I feel in love with the second I saw the pattern, has been a real pleasure to knit even with the extra inches I put in the length, I am now at the armholes and should have a new shop model by this weekend. If you haven't knit with this yarn yet, please stop in and get a skein, great for kid's clothes, adult clothes, scarves, you name it. With 350 yards to a skein, it goes very far, even on the size 4 needle that it calls for. I have been able to knit with it on a 5 and still liked how it looked. Thanks to Brenda Bailey the small neck cowl is done and in the shop for everyone to see how nice this yarn feels. My top will be done next week and we have two knitters working on the other two models. No guessing on how they will look knitted, you will be able to see for yourselves. Thanks to Judy Williams and Loreen Smith!
TEMPTATION is one of my all time favorite yarns for wearing here in Texas. This is a bamboo/cotton/nylon mix. The nylon helps keep the shape. Bamboo and cotton by themselves tend to grown, with a little nylon thrown into the mix it prevents the garment from "growing". The pattern support is awesome, all of the patterns have been knitted up into shop models except for one and I will get to that one cause I want to wear it! There have been 12 new colors added to the line and we have all of them. Well, we are sold out of Lagoon Blue again, but it is already being reshipped. At least Lori got some for her stash this time!
MILKEY WHEY another of my absolute favorites, milk and soy, never knew that these food products could make a body feel so good. I am highly lactose intolerant so for me it is fun using the milk yarn, and when I wear my tank top out this yarn, sometimes I have to look down just to be sure that I am dressed because it feels like you are not wearing anything at all! Six vibrant jewel tone colors have come in to be added to the fabulous pastels already in the line. We are using this yarn to make our Simply De-Vine cardigan, (an upcoming class)
VITA, we have talked about before. This is a combination of recycled cashmere/recycled cotton. Knits really nice on anywhere from a US 6-8 needle. Feels fabulous to touch and we are hoping Loreen will let us display here sweater after she gets back from Germany where it will get worn. This line only has 6 colors available, but I do believe they will be adding colors to the line soon. The gorgeous sideways cable pullover pattern and the cropped vest pattern will eventually be shop models.
TY DY is a fabulous cotton that is now out in 17 colors, what we do not have is on it's way. This yarn is what the gorgeous Yin Yang tops are out of. The front cover of the next issue of Knit N Style magazine if f you haven't gotten it yet features this yarn and a pattern that is on it's way. We were called today and told our order is being shipped, five new colors in the Ty Dy Sock yarn, camouflage being one of the color is also on its way with several new fun patterns for Ty Dy. Ty Dy is fabulous cotton and does self stripe, 195 yards to a skein and knits beautifully on a size 7 needle.
KUDO the lovely Entrelac Jacket yarn has come out in two more colors, we got them a few minutes ago and I am in trouble. They are fabulous!!! The pattern support for this yarn is also fabulous! Another great yarn for Texas summers!
Tons of new patterns and fun stuff have also come in. We are now carrying
Rainbow Elastic in about 5 colors. Our order of extra tips and cords for your
Addi interchangeable kits have come in. Sizes 4-8 as well as 24" cords. Those
fabulous blocking kits are back in stock. If you would like a demonstration on
how to use them, come by this Saturday, around 2:30pm, I will be blocking a
sweater on blocking puzzle!
I want to take a few minutes to invite y'all to join our crazy Therapy Thursdays. The last few weeks I have had to kick them out at 11:30pm!!!! We have so much fun, we laugh, we knit, we eat, we laugh some more, we solve all the problems on the news (darn why don't they listen to us), we knit and we laugh all of the way at the door. Congratulations go out to Leslie Balboa who just completed her first half marathon. All I will say is; she is over 50! The women that shop at this store, are totally awesome to say the very least. Thank you all for giving me my passion back for my shop. Times are tough, the economy is tough, but we are making it together! Thank you all for keeping Yarn Heaven! Now I do know that with all of that bad weather that several of you have knit through your stashes, well, we have been adding to the sale section in the store, our loss is your gain! I cannot stash anymore of my favorite yarns at home, I have run out of room, so on sale they go!
We are winding down our helmet liner drive. To date Yarn Heaven's Donors have made and donated over 15,000 helmet liners, beanie caps, scarves and gloves to our military. We will continue to distribute all that we receive. We are working on our next charity project and will let you know soon what that will be.
The class schedule is posted until July. Please check it out and sign up for some great classes http://yarnheaven.com/YHclasscalendar.html
Thank you and look forward to seeing all of you!
I try to look for the bright side of mistakes. The newsletter was sent out in the wrong format yesterday and many of you could not open it, as stated at the beginning of the update I deeply apologize. I am not known for my computer skills, that is for sure. But the bright side of this mistake is that I get to add this wonderful story. As stated earlier, we have been collecting helmet liners for the soldiers. We were the drop off point for many knitters and crocheter's. I need to take a second here to tell you about Margie Valentine. Margie, is 85 years young on Monday, lives in Mississippi, is the mother of two daughters, one who has passed away and one who lives here in Arlington named Patsy. Patsy, saw our story on one of the local news channels and thought this is a project that she could get her mother interested in and keep her hands and mind busy. Little did Patsy know that her mother would make to date; 205 helmet liners!! Margie's husband served in WWII for thirty three months. Margie knew the exact number of days as she waited for her husband to come home. This project reminded her of that time. I am so honored to know a woman like this and every time Patsy's comes to get her yarn I am inspired all over again to continue my commitment to volunteer work of some kind. Margie, from all of the soldiers, from all of us here at Yarn Heaven and from your community, thank you for your dedication and hard work. We know it was not the prettiest colors of yarn to work on and you stuck with it. Thank you for being one of my heros! Below is a picture of Mrs. Valentine with some of the 205 helmet liners she knitted!
Tarie Dillard Williams
Yarn Heaven
817-226-9276
877-280=-9276
work4yarn@yarnheaven.com
www.Yarnheaven.com
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