Trip to TNNA part 3

Yes, I know the trip to TNNA’s been over for quite a few weeks now but I wanted to share one last thing with you before I closed the subject until next year.

I am sure that you were wondering if we did have time to knit while at TNNA. We did, kind of. We didn’t actually have time to knit while at the show proper but in the evening, back a the hotel and mostly while in the car (yes, even without the AC on and in the 90°F weather). Between Donna and I, we knit a pair and a half of socks. Sadly, all these socks were different so neither of us got a finished pair out of it, but that’s ok, right!

I finished 2 socks while on the trip. I finished first my Rococo sock in O-Wool Classic 2-ply in Robin’s Egg. The pattern is really lovely, it’s easy, while still being entertaining. The yarn is really pleasant to knit with. It still has a roughness to it but it is normal for an organic yarn. You know that the sheep it came from is not too far away, and I liked that in the yarn. I liked it so much that I got more of that yarn to make more socks!

The second sock I finished was my Noro Kureyon Sock (color 185) in plain stockinette. This yarn again, is a bit rough around the edges. It can be spun unevenly and tangle if you pull the yarn from the middle of the skein but the beautifulness of the colors and the way it stripes makes up for any troubles with the yarn. Also, if you make sure to knit from outside of the ball, like I did, there’s no tangles happening.

Since then I’ve also worked on the second sock. I’m up to the leg now (I knit them toe-up) and look forward to have them done by the end of the month.

Donna also finished a sock. Hers was knit using Kertzer Bamboo in Seashell Multi, a wonderful wool-free sock yarn.

She used the fun pattern Charade (Ravelry link). It’s a easy 2 row repeat pattern with slipped stitches on one of the rows. I’ve used this pattern before, it’s really fun and makes for a nice tweedy looking sock.

So I guess we did knit quite a bit while at TNNA! Now we just need to finish the mates to these single socks!

Look at all that’s new!

Tomorrow, at the July 13 9pm update we’ll be updating, again, with tons of new stuff!

First and foremost, the arrival of the long awaited Silk Garden Sock by Noro! Yes, now you can find the fiber content of the beautiful Silk Garden plus added nylon for durability required in a sock yarn and the beautiful color changes known to Noro. We have all 8 of the new colorways and wow, they’re really pretty!

This yarn will make beautiful socks as well as scarves. I, myself,have cast on for a cowl with it (I hope to be able to show you a picture soon!). It’s a bit thicker than regular sock yarn, a sport/dk weight, with a gauge of 6.5 sts/inch on a 3.

You can also check out here for pictures of how the yarn will knit up.

We’ll also be launching a new line by Be Sweet. Bambino is 70% organic cotton and 30% bamboo dyed with low impact dyes. This ecofriendly dk weight yarn has a gauge of 5 sts/inch on a 5 and will be perfect for baby items and light summery tops.  ”This yarn was hand dyed and balled by women in South Africa under a job creation program that has offered opportunity in an economically depressed rural region with a 75% unemployement rate.  You can enjoy this beautiful product knowing that you have brought hope into a South African community and that a portion of your purchase is helping support the local school!”

We’ll also be updating the store with new colors of Noro Kureyon Sock and Mirasol Hacho (check for colorways above 200 for the Kureyon Sock and for colorways above 310 for the Mirasol Hacho). We’ll also be restocking our ShiBuiKnits Sock line and patterns.

Also all new are our Namaste Knitting bags. You’ll find the Newport, the Laguna and the Malibu as well as the Catalina pouch.

These bags come in a wide array of colors and are made of extremely durable, animal friendly, easy to clean materials. At Namaste, they believe fashion and function can exist together. Once you own one of these bags you’ll never have to carry both a purse and a knitting bag, you’ll be able to use these bags for both these purposes. The inside of these bags is roomy enough to carry both your wallet, phone and accessories and your current knitting project! I picked a Newport for myself and I love it. I’m petite so this bag is the perfect size for me. I can carry all I usually carry in my purse plus a box bag with my sock in progress with room to spare.

Last but not least, you’ll also find for the first time Eucalan products. We decided to get the Little Squirt format because we thought that it would be a perfect size if you wanted to test all the scents, if you were travelling and needed something to wash your wool socks or lingerie with or just as a little addition to a gift or a swap you’re doing. The Eucalan Wool Wash comes in Eucalyptus, Lavender, Grapefruit and Natural (Unscented).

I’ve been using Eucalan for over a year now to wash my socks and I just love the fact that you don’t have to rinse. Up to a couple months ago I was still rinsing the socks after soaking them but I was tired of wasting time and water and just decided to trust the bottle and not rinse. And it worked just as well! There really is no need to rinse, just like it says : )

Wow, that was a long one! I hope that you will enjoy this update coming up with all the new yarns, patterns and accessories. Make sure to check for new categories so you don’t miss anything!

Coming soon!

Here’s a quick peak at what you’ll be able to find at our next update!

More details to come later…

Next update: July 13 at 9pm est

Trip to TNNA, part 2

I hope it’s not too late to tell you more about our last two days at TNNA!

Since Donna and I were staying at a hotel across the street from the Convention Center we didn’t have far to go to go the show. The night before, we had studied the floor map with all the vendors and written down which we wanted to make sure to stop at. We started in row 1 and made our way through the rows stopping here and there.

We met with Cookie and saw her beautiful socks including her latest patterns, we also met with the lovely ladies of ShiBuiKnits and Dream in Color. We made sure to order their latest patterns, including the most beautiful fingerless gloves by ShiBuiKnits. I don’t have a picture to show you yet but as soon as I do, you’ll be sure to see them!

We placed an order for beautiful Namaste knitting bags. They’ve come in already and will be available at our next update! We also ordered the sock kits by Bully Woolies.

We also place an order with Be Sweet for their Bambino, an ecofriendly yarn made of 70% organically grown cotton and 30% bamboo. We’ve also ordered a pattern for the prettiest baby blanket to go with this yarn. All of these are shipping so they might be up on our next update!

Amongst others, we also placed an order with Hand Jive Knits for their Nature’s Palette sock yarn. We’ll be getting it in later this summer, we can’t wait! Here’s a pair of socks I knit out of Nature’s Palette fingering weight in Mallard Green.

We placed many more orders and you’ll see them as they come into the store. We loved seeing all the new things that are available and wanted to make sure that we’d pick what you would like. We hope that you love it all!

Saturday night we went out in downtown Columbus. The weather was beautiful, the city was full because of graduation weekend, TNNA and because of a special art event. All the art galleries were open late and all the other stores around stayed open late too. The streets were packed with people, it was a lot of fun. Donna and I ate at a tapas bar, the food was extremely delicious, we’ll definitely be going back next year!

On Sunday we went back to the show for a few hours to see that last few booths we wanted to see and place the last few orders. We had lunch at the market down the street. We both had great maroccan food.

We decided to head back home a little while later so that we could be home earlier than planned. Everything went well until an hour out of Columbus we drove over a truck tire that was in the middle of the road. Shortly after that, the AC stopped working and we figured that the tire had hit something under the car. After a stop and multiple calls to father/husband we came to the conclusion that only the AC had been affected and that we’d be safe to drive home. What do you think of an 11 hour trip, in 90°F + temperature, driving with the windows down at 70mph? Lets just say that we drove late into the night and left early the next morning to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. We were really happy to get home.

TNNA was a fun adventure. Donna and I had a blast and are looking forward to going next year. We’ll probably be driving again and hopefully won’t have any AC problems!

July Artist of the Month: Yarn Lust

Please welcome Yarn Lust as our July Artist of the Month!

Here are her answers to our interview:

1. What is your name, company name and which city and state are you from?
My name is Rosalynn and my company’s name is Yarn Lust. I currently am living in Castro Valley, CA, although I’m originally from Queens, NY.

2. How long have you been dying yarn?
I’ve played around with dying yarn on and off for the last 2-3 years, but my shop officially opened in July 2007 - so this month marks my one year anniversary! Congratulations Rosalynn!

Heaven

3. How did you get started?
After learning how to knit, multi-colored yarns began to catch my eye. After a while, I got tired of searching for the right combination of colors, and just decided to take the dive and try it for myself. I
immediately got hooked, especially while trying to quit smoking! It kept my hands busy, and kept my stash full of pretty yarn.

Crush

4. What motivates you?
Dying yarn and fibers is my current artistic outlet, as well as a great stress-reliever for me. There’s nothing more satisfying than combining colors and just “painting” the yarn as a way to express myself. My inspiration comes from what I’m feeling, beautiful things that I see, pretty much anything and everything… which explains my shop name. I can definitely say I give into sin pretty regularly - especially when it comes to Yarn Lust. This shop is my own form of therapy… it keeps me sane

Envy

5. What is the favorite product you’ve ever made?
I love all my colorways - there’s such a huge range since I love playing with new color combinations. I still think that one of my favorites is still one of the first ones I’ve sold - Twilight. Purples, blues and black
- they’re totally my colors.

Tiffany

6. Do you have any advice for other fiber artists
Continue to play with all the colors you have - there is no such thing as an ugly colorway. Dye, overdye, try different techniques - just follow your every whim! It’s amazing what you can do with colors… so if you
lose faith, keep trying. Show it off. Send me a picture! I assure you, there will be someone out there who loves it even if you may not.

Marbled

7. Are there any designers, fiber artists or any other artist you consider your role model?
No real role models, but I do admire the work of other Etsy sellers as well as the big-name operations. I do what I do to have fun, and if people like it then I’m just happy to know that my work can bring joy and a smile to others!

Tiffany knitted up (9.5 sts to the inch on 2.5mm needle over 72sts)

June 29 9pm EST update

On June 29, at 9pm EST, we will be updating the shop with our biggest update yet! We’re restocking a lot of your favorites and some of the new stuff we ordered at TNNA is starting to come in and we’re finally able to share them with you. Get ready for it!

We will be restocking the following lines:

• Lots of new colorways of Schaefer Anne and Schaefer Heather
• Restock on colorways of O-Wool Classic 2-ply and 4 new colorways for summer and fall

Sumac, the perfect tomato red that I’ve always been looking for

• Lots of new colorways of Farmhouse Fannie’s Fingering including the latest creations by Farmhouse

Aruba

• Fleece Artist SeaWool back for the summer
• Lots of new stitch markers by Pancake and Lulu

Butterflies stitch markers

• Restock on Knitspot patterns including her latest sock and scarf patterns

Fancy shiny new stuff!:

• Spirit Trail Fiberworks Alexandra, a beautiful superwash merino wool that comes in mostly solids subtle variegated colorways.

Emerald Isle

• Fun and colorful fair-isle sock kits for babies, kids, women and men by Bully Woolies

Painted Desert for Women

• 3 new sock yarns by Kertzer:

The first one, On Your Toes Bamboo, is a bamboo, nylon blend perfect for those that love to knit socks but are allergic or cannot wear/knit wool socks.

The second one, On Your Toes 4ply, is superwash wool, nylon blend that comes in solid and heathered colorways. This yarn comes at a great price and will make hard-working socks.

The third, On Your Toes DK, is a superwash wool, nylon blend in a dk weight. It comes in ragg colorways which will make fun and hard-wearing socks perfect for boots and hiking shoes.

• Sock patterns to go with 4 of our sock yarns:

o Kollage sock patterns, to go with our new Luscious, our other wool-free sock yarn
o O-Wool Classic 2-ply patterns, including 2 cute patterns for baby
o Schaefer patterns written for Anne, Heather and Lola
o Pattern booklets of 12 different patterns written especially for Flat Feet

Also coming soon, starting July 1st:
Yarn Lust as our July Artist of the Month with a 100% superwash BFL sock yarn (make sure to check back here for an interview!) and a new charm to add to your collection!

Trip to TNNA, part 1

Donna and I got ready to leave bright and early on the Thursday morning before the show. We decided to drive there, a “short” car trip of about 12 hours.

 

The drive didn’t scare either of us as we both enjoy to drive and are not afraid of long distance trips. We had planned to take our time and had 1 day and a half to make it to Columbus OH. We wanted to make sure to leave us time to visit a few yarn shops along the way too!

Our first stop was in Lenox at Colorful Stitches, which, sadly, was closed for vacation.

Instead of indulging in our first passion, yarn, Donna and I visited the town and indulged in 2 of our other passions, coffee and chocolate.

After leaving Massachusetts we made our way into Albany where we tried finding another yarn store or two. Again, no luck. The two we drove to were non-existent. After some more driving, we decided to see if our GPS had a ”yarn” function and typed in yarn in the search area. Guess what, it works! It started giving us yarn stores here and there along our drive. We decided to try our luck one last time and drove to Indigo Yarn (somewhere in New York State), which, finally, existed and was open. After some browsing we made our way onto Erie and into Ohio where we spent the night. The next day we drove to Columbus and to our hotel right across from the Convention Center where TNNA was located.

That first evening there were 2 events, the first one, the Sample sale, was quite crazy. The Sample Sale was the only time during the show where you could actually buy yarn and other things and take them away with you. All the vendors there were mostly selling kits made especially for the show. We purchased a few kits which will make their way sooner or later into the store.

Later that evening was the fashion show. During 1 hour and half about 120 designs by companies like Louet, ShiBuiKnits, Buffalo Gold and Westminster Fibers were shown to the public. I had a few favorites like the Audrey Coat by Blue Sky Alpacas (not available for linkage anywhere yet, sorry), the Baby Doll Tunic by Cherry Tree Hill (2nd pattern down the page), the Karabella Yarns crocheted Chloe Shawl and more, but I can’t find links or pictures to any of them! : (

That’s what happened the first 2 days of the trip, more on the other days later!

 

Review of Kollage Luscious

A friend of ours (she’s awesome… she knits so fast it’s incredible!) knitted up a sock out of the Kollage Luscious, our new wool-less sock yarn.

She wrote up a little text about the yarn and what she thought about it. Here are her words:

” These socks are knit with Kollage Yarns Luscious. It is a 63% Cotton and 37% nylon elastic.

I used a #1 needle and Charlene Schurch’s pattern Elongated Corded Rib in her first sock book, “Sensational Knitted socks”. I knit them fromt he toe up with 9sts/inch. Their gauge was 6-8sts/inch. I loved working with this cotton. The ends unravel but the yarn doesn’t split. The yarn doesn’t show much elasticity but the knitted piece does. I like the way the yarn looks knitted up better than on the skein. The socks are a little thick but so soft!”

Don’t miss out on this one!

Tonight, June 15, at 9pm, we’re going to have a really big update. We will be launching 5 totally new yarns and you don’t want to miss any!

Dyepot Bamboo-Baa: This is a 60% superwash merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon sock yarn that is super lustrous and has a silky sheen. With its bamboo content it will make perfect socks for summer. It comes in semi-solid and variegated colorways.

Flowering Plum

Kollage Luscious: This is a totally wool-free sock yarn perfect for those who are allergic to wool or for those who like cotton socks for the summer. It is a 63% cotton, 37% nylon elastic blend that has just the right amount of elastic for perfect socks. It comes in a wonderful color range of solid and variegated colorways.

Aqua Green

Here’s a photo of another colorway, Island Birds, knitted up into a sock:

The pattern is Elongated Corded Rib from “Sensational Knitted Socks” by Charlene Schurch.

Sleeping Dragon Sport Weight: This is a 100% superwash merino sport weight sock that comes in huge skeins of 400yds. There’s so much yardage you’ll be able to make knee socks out of them! This yarn also comes in an assortment of semi-solid and variegated colorways.

Orange Cream

Here’s a photo of another colorway, Mossy Frog, as it is being knitted up in the pattern “Tipsy” by Gina House.

Flat Feet: A new concept in sock knitting? Yes! There are no skeins, no balls, no tangles–and it’s portable. You just unravel as you go!You simply unravel as you knit. DO NOT WIND THE FLAT INTO A BALL, knit as it is presented into the sock of your choice. It’s creative, it’s fun and it’s easy.

Neutrals

Because each flat is hand-painted, no other pair will match the flats; these are “art socks”, one-of-a-kind. The unique color pattern develops as the flat is knit. It is literally a color transformation at the needle tip. Depending the pattern selected, the colors may yield diagonal colors, slight striping, or even bold color.

Cools

Uniquely, the colors in the blank will not disclose the final result of the sock; it only indicates the colors that will be found within the sock. Your needles drip color as you, the artist, create socks that are solely (no pun intended) your own.

Warms

There are 3 colorways available; cools (blues, greens, purples), warms (reds, yellows, oranges) and neutrals (browns and blacks); and each of these colorways comes in three intensities: bright, subdued or pale.n Due to the infinite variety of flats, you’ll get to pick the colorway and the intensity available but not the actual flat that you will get. The yarn is 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon.

Last but not least,

Restock on our Lotus Yarns Aura, including one brand new colorway: Rumpelstiltskin! A beautiful gold with shiny silver running through it.

Going to TNNA!

Donna and I are leaving tomorrow to TNNA. We’re taking a road trip to Columbus, Ohio. We’ve planned to stop at a few yarn shops along the way and take fun pictures for you. We won’t be able to take pictures at the actual show but before and after we will. We’re also hoping to find some internet cafés here and there so that we can post in real time what we’re doing.

We will be accepting orders while we are away but won’t ship anything out until we get back. We’ll have fun new stuff at our next update of June 14.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the sock that I’ll be working on while we’re driving (Donna and I will be sharing the drive there, alternating every couple hours, which should give us plenty of knitting time each!).

The yarn is Noro Kureyon Sock in 185, which is available at 20% off right here!