The Knaughty Knitter

New from Frabjous Fibers

I got a big box of spinning things from Frabjous Fibers....3 feet of sheep, lambs tails, Center Pull bumps for spinning self striping yarn, hand dyed roving braids, and then some merino and silk from Ashford came too.  If you want a new thing to spin for Tour de Fleece, it's here.  I think I will reward myself for all my spinning with a center pull bump at the end of the Tour.... Any one up for a spinning day at the store?  How about Saturday August 1st from 12-4.  Bring your wheel or spindle and come spin awhile.

Don't Forget the Yarn Tasting Tomorrow

Organic Cottons, Fair Trade, no genetically modified seeds, no harmful chemicals, Biological dyes...they even buy carbon credits to lessen the impact of bringing them from Peru!.  Perfect for Baby things and for you too.  Come try 'em out, they are so soft.  9-12 Saturday June 29th.  Door Prizes, snacks, great yarns.  

Here's the Knewsletter

Just in case you missed it in your email.....

Hi Everyone

 

There’s so much going on at the store this summer!  In brief : It’s the Summer of Savings, there are Fabulous Fridays, a Yarn Tasting to introduce a new yarn and a new weaving class!

 

We’re calling it the Summer of Savings.  So here’s the story…(and I am sticking to it)...When the yarn reps have been here Lisa comes in and talks me into things.  That means there is yarn coming in the fall and I have nowhere to put it.  Starting next week on Sundays we’ll announce a weekly special.  There will be a basket or three on the table full of yarns marked 45% off.  It will change weekly. When the week is out they’ll probably move to the clearance shelf where they will only be 40% off – so the basket of savings will be the best deal that will be on them all year.  It is a great opportunity to get yarns for your stash, for presents or just because it is pretty.  I’ll be posting the specials on the website, on facebook and twitter. Look for announcements in your inbox too.    We will also have Fabulous Fridays where I will put one yarn or other thing on sale for just that day. I will announce these earlier in the week on Facebook and the blog.  For instance, today, Ella Rae Lace Merino Chunky is on sale and there’s a free pattern with the purchase of 2 skeins.   Fabulous Fridays might be anything, so check them out too.

 

From the Yarn Tasting Cascade did, a baby yarn called Pluscious was pretty popular so I ordered it (Another Lisa thing – so she’s knitting the sample).  Some of it came in yesterday and Robin is tagging it now.  It is a chenille type yarn, machine washable and dryable and SOFT.  On Ravelry folks are doing baby blankets and there should be one here soon.

 

I ordered a new yarn!  Eco Butterfly Organic Cotton.  Regular cotton growing and processing is one of the most chemically intensive processes anywhere.  Growing cotton requires massive amounts of insect killers.  Well anyway – not the thing I would want on my skin or a baby’s.  The cotton I ordered is from Peru, where they do not even allow genetically modified seed in the country.  But cotton is grown is a wide variety of greens and browns and creams that are very pretty, especially when combined. The yarns are vegan friendly except for a few dyed ones that are not.  All the dyes are biological – environmentally friendly and non toxic.  The company is fair trade – meaning the workers are paid fairly.  There will be sport and worsted weight, mostly natural colors (grown that way) and a few dyed ones too.  To introduce them we are throwing another yarn tasting!  Saturday June 29^th from 9-12 a lot of the yarns will be on display, ready to be tried out, even ones I am not currently carrying which you can order anyway.  Come try the yarns, see the quality and variety and colors available, and register for door prizes too.

 

So last thing, this is going long…I have been weaving a lot lately and want to teach it more. I added a new kind of weaving class to the schedule.  The usual weaving class is pretty intense.  This will be an easier, more for fun kind of weaving class for those who just want to try it out with out the big commitment of learning to warp and make different patterns and such that the other class entails.  I’ll prewarp the looms and you can just come and learn to weave on them.  Make a scarf/table runner or just fabric to sew later and take it with you, but without all the fuss of warping first.  I will bring some fun yarns from my stash on those days, these can be incorporated into your weaving too.  It is called Weaving for Fun!  Try it out.

 

See you soon

Meredith

We are open now

It is very good to finally be back open. We are working on enhancing the class schedule for the summer and more of that will be on the classes page in the next few days.  And did you know we are now open 7 days a week?  Yup that's right, no more pulling up on Wednesday just to remember as you get to the door that we are closed.  See you all soon.

TNNA was this weekend

The National Needlework Association does retailer shows, this one was in Nashville.  So even though it is mostly crossstitch, who could pass it up since it was so close?....I scored some ruffle yarn that should be here in the next ten days or so.  It is not quite the same as the other, but is the stuff with the bigger holes every one is craving.  But the other part was that several really cool accesories are here,  Little silk yarn boxes, very cool stitch markers and beautiful brocade cases to hold them, more tape measures, and many, many baskets.  The baskets are some of my favorites - from Ghana, colorful and fair trade too.  There are adorable little ones for your sock project and bigger ones too.  I like the weird shapes they come in when shipped, but if you want symmetrical just get it wet and shape it how you like!

Oh and Hiya Hiya needle sets (that blue thing sitting in the little basket)...I got one to try out and you can too.  There is one here at the store with knitting to try out.  They come in sort of mini sets - mine is size 2 to 8 shorts, sharp tips.  They have short or long  needles so there are also 16" cords for the short needles.  No one else does the short cords so you could do hats on them and no one else has sets with the smaller size needles.  You can get them in larger sizes too.  I'm a convert.  They seem to be a better design than either the addi clicks or the knit picks interchangebles.  There are more fabulous surprises on the way too.  It was a great show, I think Karen had fun too.  Come see the new stuff!

Things

I've been feeling horrid for about 10 days now  and just figured out this morning that it was a meat substitute product I had been eating.  Quorn products are not safe to eat for some folks - and though there should be, there is not adequate warning on the label.  Okay, I still have allergies working on me but this stuff is awful (tastes pretty good, just not safe to eat).  If you are eating it and wondering why you are nauseated and more - this could be why.  Seriously, yesterday I just wanted to die, it hurt a lot.   Just want to put the warning out there.

I have ordered more ruffly yarn - This time some Flora from Rozetti and Berroco's Lacey.  It should be here by next week.

The next Knitting 101 class starts March 1st.....Socks class starts on Feb 6th.  This time we'll be doing a cuff down sock with the whole heel flap thing. 

Okay, I had more but I am still a little fuzzy and recovering from that Quorn stuff.

So here's the sparkley stuff

The star is blocking...I think it will need some starch though.  The other thing is to go over a glass ball as an ornament.....it's gonna be pretty and it'll sparkle.

THERE ARE TWO MORE COLORS OF TRIANA IN!  just thought you might want to know...

Around the store I have a couple of photos I've taken recently....You can use the colors and textures to inspire your knitting.  Here are a couple more....  the first one is off the back porch at the store last week

Wouldn't a grey, brown and green shawl or scarf with fluffy bits of mohair be nice?

No learning group this week.  we'll resume at the beginning of the year if folks indicate an interest.

And there is new sparkley yarn - Gold Rush - that is completely good for ornaments.  I will be making some this evening for samples and it comes in Red, Green, Silver & Gold.   Oh boy, I get to play with beads too.

This is the coral reef scene that was done by the Shelbyville Fiber Guild .  They brought the whole thing to the Fiber in the Boro!  It is awesome and amazing.  They also did the fleece to shawl demonstration.  Thank you!

I didn't take any pictures, Doyle took a couple though

This was the spinning group.

 

Red Bear has a new friend

She's crocheted but he doesn't mind.  He's always gone for critters that are a bit different.  She's soft (alpaca & wool) and warm and that is all he can ask for.....

Here was the picture he saw of her before they met....She's pretty cute he thought...

And here is a picture of the beginnings of my scrap shawl.  The class for this is Saturday Nov 5th.

I am busy working on getting ready for Saturday, so if I seem like a crazy person when you come in....I am.  There will not be group on Friday night.  See you all at Fiber in the Boro.