Memories on Memorial Day

A timeless keepsake. . . .

If you are one of our fans on our facebook page, you probably saw the excitement this beautiful crochet afghan created. Customer, Phyllis, has crocheted amazing after amazing beautiful afghans. When she came in with this one, it was the last we could handle. The walls of the store caved in as we gasped! Henry commented "Modern and edgy isn't what you usually think of when you consider a crochet project but this is exactly the feeling we get when we look at this afghan brought in by a customer of ours. Color can make all the difference when creating a gift for someone who might not be a big fan of your craft. This is a gift for a young man and there's no shame in a crocheted afghan thrown over your computer chair when its in such "awesome" colors."

The yarn is Cascade's 220 Superwash and with over 200 shades, it is sure thing that any multicolored project will be a success!

Universal heard our requests and gave us what we wanted. Solids to go with the Classic Shades. But even knit on their own, this beautiful yarn is loosely spun, soft to the touch, with a beautiful sheen and and unheard of low price of $6 for 197 yds (100grams).
Classic Shades (70% acrylic / 30% wool) is a soft-to-the touch acrylic/wool roving style yarn featuring a stunning selection of colors which shade easily, one to the next. With a sheen similar to silk, finished garments in Universal's Classic Shades take on a painterly quality perfect for sweaters and winter accessories --- plus, this worsted weight yarn is machine washable! Gauge: 4, 4.5 or 5 sts per inch on US#9, 8 or 7 needle. Or Crochet on a I, J or K hook.

The Portland Rose Festival opened this weekend.  Despite the ever changing weather, crowds came out to celebrate.  This photo is from the Columbian Newspaper.   This particular event is a leisure 10-15 minute walk of 1/2 mile along the Waterfront Boardwalk from the Yarn Store. A perfect ending to a Saturday work day.

Have a great holiday whether you are BBQing with family, or relaxing around the house with your stitching projects!

Events, events, sales and visits!

The Pacific NW Knitting Machine Seminar went off without a hitch in the beautiful downtown Vancouver Hilton Convention Center.  A great event with lots of education, entertainment and fun!!  Machine knitters had much to learn and share in a beautiful location.  Thank you all for joining us!  You made it successful!

Lily Chin's class on Sunday was a very intimate affair with hand knitters learning many secrets to successful knitting and then enjoyed the afternoon learning reversible cables.  I learned that Lily is responsible for the reversible cables as we know them today, where there is NO wrong side.  There were reversible cables many years ago, but they are not the truly reversible cables that Lily does.

BLOG SPECIAL
We are moving our Pastaza out to make room for some new exciting yarns!  Normally $8.50 and $12.50 for the hand dyed, we are offering a special blog purchase at $4.50 for either.  Get yours before we post the sale price on line!  You do want to yours while the selection is good.  Soon we will post it on our clearance page, and it go like wildfire in August!

Cascade Pastaza Yarn is a 50% Llama / 50% Wool, 100g - 132 yds per hank.

Gauge:4 sts per inch on US#9 (5.5mm)

Care: Hand wash and lay flat.

Order on page http://www.yarn-store.com/cascade-pastaza-yarn.html and page http://www.yarn-store.com/cascade-pastaza-paints-yarn.html, and be sure to post the code BS450 in the comment line during checkout.  I will reduce the price before I collect on your credit card authorization.
Don't FORGET!!  BS450 in the comment line, and I will change the price of the yarn (solid, heather or hand paint) to only $4.50, otherwise it is still full price! (special price limited to stock on hand.)

Thank you to the Tigard Knitting Guild . . . . . I think . . . .  seriously....yes, thank you.  But imagine my eyes when the guild pulled up in this monster bus!  55+ hand knitters stopped in for a 45-60 minute furious buying spree on Saturday morning.  The weather was beautiful for their annual Shop Hop event.  This was their first year stopping at Angelika's Yarn Store.  Thank you members!  Hope to see you all again!

Only a few days left until my Knitting Machine Seminar, at the Vancouver (WA) Hilton Convention Center.  Registration is still open for this "kick-in-the-pants" event!  Connect with other machine knitters and sharpen your  skills, and simply just laugh out loud!  

See the schedule, the classes and sign up on my Events page:  http://www.yarn-store.com/events.html 

Don't spend your Mother's Day like any other year!  Make this year special by spending it in my Lily Chin Workshop in my store,  in a way that makes it a one of a kind day!!  Registration is still open.  Check it out on my Events page:  http://www.yarn-store.com/events.html  Don't wait any longer!!

Lacy ruffly yarn is still burning up the knitting world.  Rozetti Spectra and Marina from Universal Yarns are now in stock!!  Price is great!  Shipping is even sweeter!

Cascade's Heritage Silk

Merino Wool (a good one!!) and Mulberry Silk....this is the stuff that heirlooms are make of!  Cascade's Heritage Silk is silky-soft "rub-my-cheek" yarn!  

Cascade Heritage Silk is 85% Merino Superwash Wool, 15% Mulberry Silk

Gauge: US 1-3 / 7.5-8= 1"100gr (3.5 oz) / 437yds (400 m)

Care: Machine Wash Warm Gentle /Tumble Dry Low Heat

Absolutely the richest blend. Makes beautiful texture and stunning lace. IDEAL for the standard gauge knitting machine.

(download the free lacy-cable scarf on my Heritage Silk page.)

Blocking is crucial to every knit project.  Setting the stitches, securing the final dimensions, it is what all professionals do. Blocking boards can be heavy, clumsy and expensive.

Born out of necessity, the Knitter's Block blocking board set is versatile, lightweight, and compact. Here are a few key points from the Coco Knits website about their interlocking blocking board:

• Very low, lightly barbed pile
  • fabric covering gently grips your knitting without pilling or leaving fibers
• Heat resistant
  • essential for steam blocking
• Thick backing of waterproof EVA
  • suitable for use on any surface since moisture won’t seep through
  • Because the tiles don't absorb water, blocked items will dry faster than with towels and cloths
  • holds pins firmly in place 
• Versatile
  • can be assembled in a variety of sizes from a square for sweater pieces, a long rectangle for scarves or a triangle for shawls
• Compact
• blocks are stored in a sturdy 14”x14” bag

What I like about this set is that it is small, takes very little space to store away in its own bag.  It isn't heavy, yet is thick enough for blocking pins.  Kit also includes T-pins and a lint-free pressing cloth, all stored in a reusable storage page.

RAINBOW!!

Done Roving Hand Dyed Yarns

Bread, born, raised, sheared, spun and dyed all in the good United States!!  This yarn has our Saturday group all a-buzz, with it's brilliant colors and sweet spin.  Here is a picture of the most recent shipment.  Henry will have all the new colors up on the web site, after our seminar is over, but in the mean time, feel free to do a phone order.  Or if you are an existing customer, just email us!!

(I've extracted the color list from our software . . . . here you go!  Enjoy!

Anemone Windflower

Christmas Cactus

Copper Pennies

Garnets & Rubies

Highland Haze

Irish Moss

Lady Slipper

Lavender & Sage

Magenta Mood

Mandarin Lime

Navajo Sky

Plum Pretty

Plum Tree

Pot O Gold

Robin Eggs

Southwest Gem

Starry Starry Night

Wild Blue Yonder

Wild Violets

Take care, knit to your heart's content!   Angelika & Henry