Let's show our support with this 100% US grown and processed yarn!

Mary's Cardigan in USA yarn!

The US has so much to offer its citizens. Let's show our support with this 100% US grown and processed yarn! Done Roving Yarns is a family run business who believes in the U. S. manufacturers and farmers and want to support their efforts. A cute sweater for any time of the year! Cardi can be worn over a long sleeve top when the weather is a bit chilly. The detail is in the cute deep v-neck with a large button to do up. Perfect over a sun dress or with pants. Pattern includes 3 sizes.

yarn: Done Roving Frolicking Feet                      pattern: Mary's Cardigan

NEW colors in Cascade  Fixation Yarn!!!
http://www.yarn-store.com/cascade-fixation-yarn.html

Need a stretchy cotton yarn? Fixation Yarn from Cascade is a colorful cotton stretchy yarn, that comes in multicolors and solids. Angelika's stocks ALL the colors! This is the go-to Cotton Lycra yarn for bay wear and bikini designers. Cascade Yarns produces Fixation in a wide range of colors, brights and naturals. I've also seen it crocheted and knit up for baby caps, summer tops and of course, makes wonderful socks.

• Cascade Fixation Yarn is 98.3% Cotton 1.7% Elastic Yarn. 50g - 186 yds stretched, 100 yds relaxed.
• Gauge:6.5 sts per inch on US#7 (4.5mm) or 5.5 sts per inch on US#8 (5mm).
• Care: Hand wash and lay flat.
• Knitting Machine: Silver Reed SK280, SK840 or LK150

Bow Tie Cloche/ Chemo Hat/Beanie
by Debbie Fring

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bow-tie-cloche--chemo-hat-beanie-2

Cascade Heritage Sock yarn for Dr Who Socks!!

You've heard of the Dr Who Scarf, how about Dr Who Socks? Here are the colors you need in Cascade's Heritage Sock. Or . . . . just knit or crochet a Dr Who Scarf with this fingering weight yarn!

5631 - Charcoal

5632 - Dark Plum

5639 - Brown

5643 - Sunflower (tan)

5645 - Tangerine

5634 - Mossy Rock

5661 - Zinnia Red

We stock ALL the shades of Cascade's Heritage Sock
The pattern is free on Ravelry. DR WHO SOCK PATTERN

I've got 2 of these to give away, PLUS, an addi Natura interchangeables kit. Want to hear more?? go here: http://www.yarn-store.com/

Catching Up!

As the weather warms, gardeners head outside, walkers walk, runners join runs, and things "somewhat" calm down here in the store.  What that means for Henry and I is catching up on cleanup work, and playing with some of our amazing yarns!  This picture below is a crochet ric rac that I found while snooping around the internet.  My sample I did with bulky yarn and a 6mm crochet hook.  It was fast.  What a cute edging!  (the yarn is Feza Fanatic.

I'm sending you something special this week.  For the next 72 hrs, that's 3 days, I have special colors on sale for 53% off!
In Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, normally $20.50, you can order these colors for $9.63!!  Don't wait, at that price they won't last, and at that price, there's always room in your stash!!
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted is a worsted weight super wash wool....4.5sts per inch.  Once you've knit Lorna's, its hard to knit anything else!
(colors: circus, clay, confetti, country christmas, desert flower, forest, grays corner, miata, neon, newtown, parfait, springer, whitewater, wisteria and yellowstone.)

I am redoing all the Noni Bag pages and it is one of those jobs that takes months to complete.  Henry set me up a template.  The impetus for this is that Noni Bags is putting all their hardware into kits.  What that means is you don't have to be confused with all the bits and pieces, we can make our web page so much cleaner.  Noni Bags uses extremely high quality hardware.  There is no cut-rate quality here!  We can special order any kit we don't have in stock. Just let us know!!

Henry has been working too.  If you read our newsletter, you probably saw that the Lorna's Laces Sock page is new and improved!  Henry not only does the web site, he also works shipping your orders and helping you when you call or come into the store.
He just recently improved  our needle page.  Our problem is that we have sooooo many needles!  We want you to be able to see at a glance what we have, without your eyes crossing!  So we continue to try to improve those layouts.

http://www.yarn-store.com/knitting-needles-and-supplies.html

We have so many pages, we forget about some of them.  The addi click page really looks good now!  Any parts you don't see there, let me know!  We do special order.  In fact, there are a few parts I want for my clicks!  Happy Wednesday!

All on a Sunday Afternoon . . .

(before I get going on all my pics....

be sure you are signed up for my newsletter.  

It is going out in about 24hrs!!)

     This is rather typical of some of my days, unless I am buried in paperwork, which is the majority of the time.  Ah the wonderful life of a small business owner!!
    This is my favorite blocking board,  and sometimes it is on my kitchen table for weeks to a month or two.  In a dedicated work room, I would never put it up.
    Any-hoo......what you see is a project and many swatches.  The dark chocolate is a vest I am working on using my standard gauge knitting machine (SK280 or SK840).  This is the back.  I like to layer and vests keep my shoulders warm, while allowing my arms movement.  The yarn is Cascade's Heritage Silk, which is a fingering weight yarn.  Ideal for the standard gauge knitting machine.  Also very very popular with hand knitters for lace shawls and crochet projects.

The green swatch is a yarn we are looking into stocking.  We are looking for a nice yarn that isn't too expensive, but isn't poor quality either, that gets 4 sts per inch.  My test is successful so far.

The blue swatch is our Marble Chunky.  A low cost acrylic yarn that even the natural fiber lovers pause and handle.  The samples on display are really nice, and it has been a great seller.  With PSU in our back yard, the students are on a yarn budget and Marble Chunky is perfect.   It normally gets 3.5sts per inch.  but it is so soft, I wondered how it would do at 4 sts per inch.  I would say it was a successful test.  As you can see it knits to 4 sts on a US#9 needle.  The resulting fabric was very stable.  After steam blocking (its acrylic, do so carefully), it softened really nice.  This is PERFECT for long cardigans, hoodies, jackets, and such like that.

The final swatches on my blocking board is Universal's Bamboo Pop.  half cotton, half bamboo.  Laura did us a crochet swatch sampler, and I did a knitting swatch.  I was curious, because it is so soft, how it would do in a pattern.  Would it retain the stitch, or would it just melt.  I was very happy to see that it did very good!!

Which swatch is your favorite?

My Oh. My. Gosh. Moment

My OMG Moment!!!

We get a lot of yarn to sample up every month.  Yarn that is given to us to see if we like and if it will fit well into our selection. Or yarn we did get in that needs a sample swatch for the shelf. Needless to say, most of my knitting is sampling yarn.  A few weeks ago, as I was heading a few hours north to spend the weekend with a friend, I grabbed one of these yarns.  Then poked around my stash of needles trying to find a needle, and wondering how many needles I should take just in case that size didn't work.

Now I have never been a fan of interchangeables.  Never liked their join.  And to point out my stubbornness, never tried the addi clicks for just that reason.  "this is ridiculous" went through my mind.  I grabbed the "creme de la creme" of interchangeables, the addi clicks.  and just not any set, I went for the Lace set.
Long needle, extreeeeemely smooth needle, with a nice point.

Oh. My. Goshhhh!

I do have some turbos in my stash, and I have some lace needles in my stash, but this particular set is a nickel plated lace needle.  The best of both worlds.  and the join?  what join?  Simply does not exist.  and what a beautifully soft cable! My stash contains at least a couple needles of every needle we sell, as well as needles given to me that we don't sell.  But my heart has been given away to the addi nickel plated lace needle.

....and ....Mother's Day is coming....sshhhh....don't tell my Mom, but I know exactly what to get her this year!!

So if you have someone who has been good to you.  This is an amazing gift!!  Or if your children are asking . . . (hint, hint) ... tell them to go in together and get you this gift!
http://www.yarn-store.com/interchangeable-knitting-needles.html


and onto to technology!
Facebook, Ravelry, Pinterest, Twitter, blogs, enewsletters, forums and more.  I run around in circles trying to decide which is the best method to to keep you informed, and to shy away from methods that just irritate. The one thing about all these methods is that unlike junk mail, you can unsubscribe or simply just not subscribe at all!

Angelika's Yarn Store is on all of the above.  Some I'm more active on than others, but I'm trying!

I'm probably the most active on Facebook.  I can post really simple and fast each morning.  It's an easy read for you as you relax at night, or drink coffee in the morning.  You can find me at http://www.facebook.com/a.Yarn.Store

Pinterest ( http://pinterest.com/yarnstore/ ) is newer for us.  I'm still getting a  routine to post there.  But I do enjoy all the cool projects (knitting, crochet, gardening, food) that I can browse.

Ravelry is a great resource if I am looking for something specific.  You can find me there at
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/angelikas-yarn-store

Our bi-monthly newsletter is also soon to go out.  You don't want to miss out on the tips & tricks, techniques & pattern inspirations, as well as all the new product we get each month.  Be sure to sign up for it at
http://www.yarn-store.com/yarn-store-newsletter-blog.html