Welcome to the third edition
As we have said over the last couple of issues, we would love to have people submit articles or pictures of recent projects for the newsletter. Below you’ll find three submissions, two from our staff and a wonderful letter we received from a customer. If you have something you would like to submit, please send it to me, Steven in a Microsoft Word document if at all possible.
Customer Feedback
Thank you, Amberlee, for your kind words. We enjoyed having you and your kids at the shop. Come by and hang out any time.Dear Natural Stitches,
I just wanted to email you and thank you for your FABULOUS shop. I love everything about it from the stunning collection of Malabrigo to the comfortable places to sit and knit.
I was there Thursday and had the pleasure of taking the Entrelac class with Carla. She was wonderful! She took the fear out of all the paper pattern and helped this visual learning get a new addiction!
I can't wait to finish my scarf, create the hat and come in and show them off! :)
Please know I will be telling everyone in our homeschool group about your store, staff and classes.
Please thank Steven as well. He made adorable balloon animals for my 2 youngest children who came with me. I am so thankful they had a place to sit and enjoy the time while I took the class.
I look forward to my next class in February. Thank you again!
Sincerely,
Amberlee Batchelor
Our Crochet teacher sent us this Haiku:
Yarn
by Charissa Howe
Why spin your own yarn?
When I demonstrate spinning, there is always at least one person who asks me this question in one form or another. And it really makes me think about why I spin, and why I want to teach others this craft. Following are my own reasons and those I’ve heard from students and friends about why we create our own yarn.
My yarn is unique. It’s the color I chose, the thickness I chose and the texture and fiber I chose. It is not the yarn that some manufacturer thinks I should use because it’s this year’s trendy yarn.
I can spin as much or as little as I want. I can spin a little bit to accent a garment, or I can spin the entire garment.
If I want, I can put pink pearls in my yarn. Or purple fuzzy things. It’s my choice.
Even if I didn’t spin my own yarn, I’d know enough about the process to be an informed consumer. I can spot a cheap yarn a mile away.
I also know enough about fibers (wool, silk, cashmere, bamboo, etc.) to make informed decisions when I’m shopping. And when I’m trying to remove that spaghetti sauce that happened to splash on my sleeve last night!
It is a peaceful and lovely hobby/addiction. When I do a demo, I tell folks that you just can’t spin if you’re tense because the yarn you produce will reflect your stress—it will be hard and knotted or lumpy. When you sit at your wheel, you will relax into the rhythm in a few minutes and the stress just melts away.
It’s a connection to one of the oldest activities known to man. Fiber has been spun since before written history. The Egyptian mummy cloths were handspun, and very finely spun. As a spinner, I feel a connection to all those people who labored to provide for the wealthy and those who labored to provide for their family.
It’s a healthier addiction than some others I could name.
It’s cheaper than my husband’s hobby. (He’s a bibliophile and buys books constantly. Anyone want to bid on 500 history books?)
What about you? If you’re a spinner, what motivates you to make yarn?
Carol McFadden has recently joined the Staff here at Natural Stitches. She is our new Spinning Teacher and teaches classes on both spinning wheels and drop spindles. As we will be getting our first shipment of wheels in stock around the 28th, the start of our wheel classes in February is well timed.
As with all our classes, the schedule is on our webpage: www.naturalstitches.com.
Dave & Dave
In addition to our spinning classes, something else we’re really excited about is an upcoming episode of Dave & Dave’s Excellent Adventures on WQED 13 where they are featuring our Men’s Knitting Night. It will air Monday, February 4th at 7:30pm. We all had a good time showing off all the yarns, patterns and pointy sticks to the two Daves and are curious to see what they thought of us! This is the blurb from their site.
Dave & Dave try their hand at a new hobby that involves sharp steel needles, and yes... yarn! Lots of yarn! It's Men's Knitting Night at Natural Stitches in East Liberty and we were there. Find out if we ended up learning how to make fancy sweaters, socks and scarves, or just a messed up ball of yarn!
Books
A to Z Crochet • $28.95
Country Bumpkin Publications put together an incredibly comprehensive and well-rounded source of crochet knowledge. There are a lot of crochet books out there that don’t explain every step of a pattern or procedure. There are no skipped steps in this book. Everything is explained in detail with superb full color photography. The comfort of the crocheter is also taken into account with a spiral binding and sturdy hard cover that allows the book to stay flat or stay standing up on its own while you’re following the instructions. All and all, this is a detailed, extremely informative instruction book that covers every last one of my pet peeves about crochet resources.
As you would expect this book goes through single, double and all the basic stitches. What you don’t expect are all of the advanced techniques that are dealt with in detail. They delve into entrelac, techniques you rarely see in a crochet book, and even my personal favorite, the afghan stitch (an often neglected and misunderstood stitch in most crochet books.) When I learned to crochet, I needed three books to get all of the information that I needed. In this sturdy little volume you’ll find absolutely everything you need to learn or take your crocheting to the next level all in an easy to read and well organized format.
Kitty Knits • $19.95
Kitty Knits is one of those kitschy little books that makes some people roll their eyes. Still, if you are a cat person, then… well… it’s the cat’s meow. (Yes. I went there.) Projects for both furry felines and their two-legged pets range from cat mats and toys to lace scarves and felted bags. The patterns are extremely well written for a book of this type, and the book has a sense of humor that will really appeal to cat lovers of every stripe. Good for inexperienced to expert knitters. If you’re into cats or just like knitting cat stuff, this is a good little read.
Yarns
Joy • $9.80 • Worsted • Needful Yarns
Needful Yarns has brought us a great worsted weight yarn from Italy. This single ply yarn has 85 yards to the ball and comes in a great variety of colors. Its variegation comes from a very long color repeat similar to Noro’s Kureyon, but with a hand that is silky smooth and, quite frankly, a joy to work with. If you find Kureyon a bit too rugged for your tastes, pick up a ball of this stuff. We also have several felted bag kits in the shop that feature Joy.
Sterling • $17.90 • Fingering • Kraemer Yarns
This striking new release from Kraemer looks like a laceweight, but actually qualifies as a sock yarn! As you can see in comes in a great variety of colors (with more on the way!) and has an excellent feel as you use it. It also has a certain elegance rarely seen in other yarns that stems from the actual strand of silver spun in with the fiber.
With knitting becoming very popular, all sorts of companies are weaving strange things into their yarns in an effort to find the next trend (see Top 10 List). When I first heard about “that yarn with the silver in it”, I'll admit that I was worried. Still, when it arrived I became an instant convert. Martha and Carla have both knit shawls with the Sterling, and they cannot say enough about it. Ask them the next time you’re in. We have found Kraemer to be a solid company that spins yarn right here in Pennsylvania. We have really been pleased with the quality of their other yarns, their spinning fibers, and the reasonableness of their prices.
Top Ten List
The Top Ten Failed Yarn Brands
With the recent popularity of knitting over the last few years, some very unlikely companies have gotten into making yarn. Here is a list of some brands that you may have missed because they didn’t last in the competitive yarn market very long.10. Three Mile Island Phosphorescent
9. Tarzan Vine Spun
8. Martha Stewart’s Jail Spun
7. Delilah Spun made from real Samson
6. Russell Crowe “Why yes, I do knit. Wanna make something of it?” Hand Spun
5. Oscar the Grouch Garbage Tweed made from real Grouch
4. Mr. Ed’s Personal Stash
3. Willy Wonka Licorice Whip Bulky
2. Alcoa Recycled Siding Variegated
1. Barbed Wire Baby YarnThe Top Ten Lists are produced at the Home Office in Mt Oliver, PA. This Top Ten List was by Melissa Morris and Steven Ramsey Gailey.
From the entire staff of Natural Stitches, we wish you happy knits and creative crochets. And, as always, if there’s anything we can do to help, just let us know!
Please check out what is happening at the web page.