The Natural Stitches Newsletter
Issue 1                                                                                                                                     December 12, 2007

Natural Stitches Where Pittsburgh Knits Together

6401 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15206 * 412-441-4410

Welcome All

It has been a great couple of weeks. We have had the chance to meet many of Pittsburgh’s Knitters and Crocheters.  So now that we have a couple of weeks under our belts, we figured it was time to send out a newsletter. So here it is. As with everything in the shop, we are open to suggestions so let us know. You can email us at shop@naturalstitches.com.

News & Happenings

Well everything is new just us being here is news. Please stop by and see what’s happening.

First off is our Cascade Rainbow. Our CarlaK sent off a couple of pictures of the wall of Cascade. Stephanie from Cascade Yarns sent us this email about it:

Dear Carla,

WE LOVE YOUR WALL OF 220! It is absolutely gorgeous! I would love for you to send us more pics and the map so I can include them in our Newsletters (retail, consumer and sale representatives). We will give you full credit (reproduced with permission of Natural Stitches, Pittsburgh, PA, etc.)

Thank YOU!
Regards,
Stephanie

Beat the Commute at Natural Stitches

Do you hate sitting in traffic? So do we. If you really want to beat the commute come over to Natural Stitches and wait it out. Down Town construction, water main breaks and Penn Dot make Pittsburgh a stressful place to drive.

We have comfy furniture, complimentary coffee, tea or hot chocolate and free and plentiful parking. We are in the plaza with the Trader Joe’s and a great Chinese Buffet. So tell the family you have stopped off to get them dinner. We won’t tell anyone your secret.

So fight road rage and knit your way to that finished object. Besides, knitting only at stop lights is no way to live.

New Stock

All of our Stock is new, so we are just going to pick out some favorites of the staff.

Our Owner, Martha, loves the Sterling from Kraemer. Martha likes it because: “It is beautiful, well priced and the skein goes on forever.” It currently comes in three colors; Natural, Tuxedo and Red Carpet. There will be a new color every month and we will keep you posted.

Our Head Teacher CarlaK is big fan of Malabrigo Worsted. “Because of its over all usefulness and how much I love it.”

Melissa, our Manager had these thoughts about her favorite things.    “I find that my favorite yarn is whatever I'm working with at the time.  Or whatever is new in the shop.  Opening up that box, I immediately want to snatch up a ball and cast on for something, like, RIGHT THEN.  One of the ones I've particularly enjoyed recently is the Alpaca with a Twist: Baby Twist.  The heft of the skein when I picked it up (549 yards!!!!), the buttery, melt in your mouth softness of the baby alpaca, the subtle muted coloration.  Ooh!  Now Kelli's gonna have to ring me up a skein before I leave work today.  Merry Christmas to me!!!”

My personal favorite thing in the store is the Wildfoote sock yarn. It comes in a great variety of colors. And it comes in black and manly colors. It is hard to get away with pink and blue variegated if you have to wear a uniform.

And we all like this knitting tool from the people at Susan Bates. This is what they have to say about it.

“The name says it all... this ‘Handy Tool’ is the combination of a knitting needle on one end and a crochet hook on the other! Ideal for picking up dropped stitches, tying on fringe, use as a cable needle in a pinch, or as a replacement tool for the French Knitter and Knitting Knobby. This nifty little tool is one of those gadgets that once you have one, you'll wonder how you lived without it! Makes a great stocking stuffer, too!”

The store’s Stuffed Panda is all about the Panda Bamboo. He thinks it is the tastiest yarn we have in the shop. Currently he is working on a scarf for his brother in law in the Chinese Highlands. He likes it so much he wrote a Haiku.

The Panda Bamboo
So luscious so very divine
The best snack we sell

We are thinking of making him stay in the wool section of the store.

 

 

Classes

We will have out a full schedule of classes in January. In December we have about half of our classes going and you can see them all at: http://www.naturalstitches.com/Classes.html.

We have classes for knitting, crocheting, men, women and children. We even have finger knitting classes if you don’t want to use needles. We have three teachers, CarlaK, Charrisa Howe and Steven Gailey.

This issue’s featured class is CarlaK’s Pinwheel Sweater.

Make the cutest Sweater ever and learn new techniques while you do it.  This is a must see sweater.  Come in and see the sample, and you’ll want to make it for someone you love.  When you take this class you will also receive a pattern for an adult version of the sweater

The experience level is intermediate. And the cost of the class is $25.00

Groups

As with most things in the store, most our groups are new as well. Just like our classes you can find a complete list of them on our Calendar at:

http://www.naturalstitches.com/Calendar/Current.html

We have three groups meeting at the shop currently.

Wednesday Group

The first is the Wednesday Group. It started off in Squirrel Hill, wandered over to Homestead and is now here. These are the people that we have to blame for Natural Stitches coming back. You may have talked about starting your own yarn shop during your knitting group. Well this group did it. It is a fun group with a good number of experience Knitters and Crocheters. They meet every Wednesday at 1:00 PM. Stop in, you never know what will happen at this group.

 

 

 

 

 

Ravelry K2tog Pittsburgh

badge2.jpgThis is the city’s first regular realworld Ravelry knit together. We meet up every Tuesday evening from 6:00 to 9:00. We have over ninety people in our Ravelry group on line and would love to see them in the real world. You can sign up for one of the name badges at our Ravelry group on line. If you have not signed up for Ravelry, it is still in testing mode. Ravelry is one of the most exciting things to happen in the online knitting world in a while. You can visit them at www.ravelry.com. There is a wait to join Ravelry, but no wait to join the knit together. So stop by.

 

 

Men’s Knit Together

In another first for Pittsburgh, we are starting the area’s first male knitting group. We know you’re out there, so stop by Friday the 14th between 5:00 and 9:00 PM. We will be having refreshments and a 10% discount just for the men.

Top Ten List

Top Ten Reasons to Knit a Scarf (unless it is cashmere)

10. It’s Winter.                   

9. It is a rectangle that you can do anything with.

8. Because you need more yarn (You know you do.).

7. A scarf is great for saving people from a submerged vehicle.

6. Because killing your Boss is illegal.

5. Big pointy sticks guarantee you a seat on the bus.

4. It is cheaper than psychotherapy.

3. It is the perfect gift to make for people you don’t like enough to make a sweater.

2. A great way to pretend you like a coworker but you are really feeding your own yarn habit.

1. If Russell Crowe and David Arquette can do it, so can you.

Wrapping Up

Just a couple final notes before we bring this issue of the Newsletter to a close. We would like your input. If you think there is anything that you need or would like to see us carry let us know. You can email us at: shop@naturalstitches.com or leave a note in the suggestion box at the shop.

We would also like to feature your finished objects in our newsletter. We are also looking for interesting knitting stories and anecdotes. If you have any please email them to me, steven@naturalstitches.com.

We here at Natural Stitches would like to wish you a safe and happy holiday season.