Natural Stitches: Knitting On

We have made a change to our Student’s Choice classes.  In the past, these classes have been limited to things that students wanted to learn but were not offered in our regular classes such as a student needing help starting a new pattern or needing specific help with a pattern or technique.  We realized that our teachers prepare some classes that are not put on the monthly schedule because they are subjects that not a lot of people sign up for.  So we have decided to put those classes into the pot for our Student’s Choice classes. 

What does this mean to you?  Now if you see a pattern for a gorgeous Fair Isle hat and decide it is time to learn the technique, you just sign up for Carla’s Student’s Choice class, and that is what we will work on.  Have a hankering to learn how to spin spirals and stripes, take a look at Carol’s class list-she’s got it.  Want to make a Crocheted Rasta Tam and it’s not offered on Charissa’s current calendar?  Then sign up for her Student’s Choice class and you will be turning out Rasta Tams in no time.

For a complete list of our teachers’ classes please go to our web site www.NaturalStitches.com, click on Classes, then on the teacher’s name.  Carla does knitting,  Charissa is crochet, and Carol takes care of spinning.  If the class is listed there but is not listed on the current calendar (be sure to check both months, please) then it is eligible for a Student’s Choice class.

We hope that this will give our students a larger range of techniques from which to choose and help our teachers find out what classes our students are interested in.  We will be offering more Student’s Choice classes in the future if the demand warrants it.

See you in Class!

CarlaK

I have a confession (hence the title). It’s shocking, so you might want to sit down. If you’re on your iPhone, don’t take this moment to decide to cross the street, because what I have to say will stop most of you in your tracks. I reorganized my stash on Tuesday to make room for my Maryland Sheep & Wool haul, and I discovered that I have enough sock yarn to knit 46 pairs of socks. If you count the 4 pairs currently in the knitting basket, that brings me up to an even 50. I have enough sock yarn to construct 50 pairs of socks. Of course, Martha looked at me when I told her and said, “Pfft. Amateur.” But to my banker and me, this is cause for concern. Not all of the sock yarns are recent acquisitions. Not all of the yarn is from Natural Stitches. In fact, I still have some sock yarn from my first order of sock yarn 5 years ago. (“Pfft. Amateur.”)

Of course, all of this is mere rationalization. I need to spend the summer finishing up projects and starting new socks. Only new socks. And we at Natural Stitches would like you to join me. Socks, in fact, make great beach knitting, great park knitting, great “standing in line for the Phantom’s Revenge” knitting. (Just make sure they’re stowed safely away before the ride starts. Leaving the ball at the station while the sock stays with you in your pocket…hardly priceless.)

Here’s the deal: We’ll be holding a contest from the time you read this until Labor Day (September 1^st, 2008). Who can knit the most socks this summer?

The prize is a $50 gift card from Natural Stitches (Got your attention now? Keep reading.)

We’ll be going by yardage of the final project as that seems to be the fairest way to go. When you finish a pair, bring them to the shop with the ball band and we’ll record the yardage. (The ball band is critical as it will help us to more accurately figure out how much yarn you used.) You can feel free to use any yarn from your stash, but yarn purchased at Natural Stitches will be counted as DOUBLE yardage. (Another reason the ball band is so important.)

Lace Knitters: As Martha enjoys knitting lace so much, we’re doing an entirely separate category for lace projects. Separate leader board, separate $50 gift card.

Answers to commonly asked questions:

• Crocheted lace is eligible as are crocheted socks and slippers
• If you knit lace socks, they only qualify in one category. You pick which one.
• You can participate in both categories.
• PLEASE BRING IN PROJECTS AS YOU FINISH THEM SO THAT WE DON’T HAVE A HUGE RUSH ON LABOR DAY
• One winner per category will be contacted shortly after Labor Day and will be announced in the Newsletter published after Labor Day.
• If you’ve never done socks or lace, both our Knit and Crochet teachers are overloading their class schedules with beginner and intermediate classes in socks and lace.
• Our apologies to handspinners, but we couldn’t figure out a way to accurately calculate yardage without making our heads explode.
• Need to expand your stash? We’ve got several sock and lace yarns on sale right now, with possible further discounts later in the summer. (remember…double points for Natural Stitches Yarn!)
• We will keep track of your total yardage in a ledger as well as on a publically displayed leader board. One for each category.

LET THE STITCHING BEGIN!!

OMG! We just got in 7 colors of Cascade’s 220 Superwash Paints and they are GLORIOUS!
I’m looking at Jelly Bean and thinking baby things….and I don’t knit baby things!
220 yards of superwash wool in lovely hand painted colors for $12.80.
Come stop by and see!!!! - You’ll find them next to the other Cascade 220 SW.

Martha

Alright! We have various yarns now at 20% off scattered throughout the shop in preparation for fall reps coming in.
Come discover what is now on sale!

Well, we’ve been so busy around here we kinda forgot to blog. Sorry.

There’s a brand new newsletter out today in case you want to know what’s happening!

Thanks!

Martha

In a discussion with Charissa and one of her student’s the other night I discovered that some folks don’t know what we mean by a ‘Student’s Choice’ class. Since Charissa, Steven and I all offer them I thought it was time to let everyone know what they have access to in this class.

Very simply Student’s Choice class means that we work on whatever the student wants to work on. Do you have a garment all knitted or crocheted but needs put together? Bring it in and we’ll show you how. Do you want to try a pattern and have no idea where to start? Bring that and we’ll get you started. Have questions about all those little tips and tricks that experienced knitters and crocheters seem to know about but you can’t find in any book? This is the class for you.

We limit the number of students to 4 so everyone gets lots of personal attention. We do ask that if we offer the technique you want to learn in another class that you take that class but we can’t cover everything in our scheduled classes so we offer this class as a way for you to let us know what you want to learn.

The class is $25 for 2 hours and we can cover a lot of ground in that time. The Student’s Choice classes we offer are:

CarlaK – Knitting

Charissa – Crochet

Steven – Kids or Men

So if you have something special you want to learn surf over to our class page http://naturalstitches.com/Calendar/Current.html and check out the listings for the next Student’s Choice class.

CarlaK

Hey there, folks. If you’ve been to the shop recently, you’ve probably noticed that there’s always been at least one box on the floor. (To that woman who was looking for a size D crochet hook when the Euroyarns order came in, I apologize for the mountain climbing expedition you had to undertake.) After meeting with all the spring reps, the avalanche of yarn shouldn’t have come as a surprise…shouldn’t have, but did.

What has that meant for us? Lots of labeling, lots of reshelving, and for Steven, lots of fun with grid. (Come see the Arc de Chausette, really is a sight to behold.)

What does that mean for you? TONS of new yarns on the shelves:

- Two new color lines from OnLine SuperSocke: Savanne & Sport, 8 colors a piece in those

- JKnits Hand dyed lace & sock yarns

- Austermann Step (with Aloe Vera & Jojoba oil)

- New colors of Mini Raggi, including more of the colorway that I used for my Coriolis Socks

- Two new color lines from Opal: Fantasie & Rendezvous

- New Tofutsies colors

- Socka Bamboo, bamboo/wool blend sock yarn with Aloe Vera.

In Eco Yarns

- Micro Bamboo from Schachenmayer, which is a fingering weight Bamboo /Acrylic Blend

-Queensland Bebe Cotsoy – Honestly one of those softest yarns I’ve EVER felt. I’ve just cast on for a Miss Dashwood for my cousin’s new kid in this.

-Gjestal Fon,

-Eco Baby Bomull, an organic Cotton

- Just in Today: Classic 2-ply & Balance (a 50/50 Merino / Cotton) from Vermont Organic Fiber aka O-Wool

Cottons:

- Queensland Pima Fresca, a Chunky, textured Cotton

- Araucania Ulmo & Ulmo Multi (DK weight)

- Mirasol T’ika (We’re really happy to have this yarn. Great socially responsible company!)

Worsted:

- New colors of Raggi Print & Berroco Peruvia

- Mirasol Miski, 100% Baby Llama (not Alpaca, but Llama. Llama Llama Duck…sorry.)

- Himalaya Yarns Shokay, 100% Yak Down (Yak Yak Duck…ok, I need to be stopped)

- Himalaya Yarns Recycled Sari Silk

DK and lighter weights:

- Berroco Comfort DK (Same Comfort, lighter weight.)

- Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift (Great for Fair Isle)

- Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in 24 whopping colors!!

PHEW That’s it…til the UPS man cometh again.

Hello everyone. Fun stuff has been happening at the shop. Even though it is frigid outside we have started to get in some of spring stock. We have been working out beefing up our lace and fingering weight yarns.

Purled Llama is a lovely wool fingering that we just go in today. I am not much for lace knitting. Still this stuff is soft and come in a great variety of colors.

Kertzer’s Coolspun is great cotton yarn. Much in the same vein as Sugar and Crème it is great for wash rags and summer tops. We have 11 different color as the moment.

Also up on the selves today Redez-vous from Opal. As you have come expect this once come in a great run of colors. They were nice enough to send up sample socks so her is all of the new colors knit up already.

Onto other subjects we have the first meeting of out Knitting for the Soul Group that met this Sunday. We had three people for this first meeting. We had a lively little group. If you have time on Sundays stop by and visit us.

Be safe out there everyone.

This evening I just found an empty label for Lorna’s Lace’s Helen’s Lace on our shelf. According to our inventory we haven’t sold it so I have to presume it was stolen.

I feel sorry for whoever feels they have to steal from my small shop.

I am also very angry at whoever stole from us so don’t even bother asking for help with this yarn. We know what color it is and the fact that you don’t have a label means we’ll know who you are if you do ask for help.

Martha

                It has been a hectic couple of weeks at the shop. Besides the festival there has been a ton of new stuff that has come in. We had the Noro Taiyo show up as well as some new Opal Sock yarn. We also got half a dozen new colors of Creamy, which is the yarn made from milk.

                If you are into Noro, (And you know who you are) this yarn is going to be a bit different. I am not a Noro fan mainly because of the feel of it. For some reason the people that make Noro feel that your sweater needs to be able to exfoliate you at all times. That is not so with this new stuff. The Taiyo is soft and of course comes in the colors that Noro is legendary for. It is 40% cotton, 30% silk and 15% Wool and Nylon. It is listed as a bulky weight.

                The Opal Sock yarn (which I am a fan of) is tasty as usual. We brought in a bunch of colors from their Fantasy line.

                On personal knitting news I have been very busy working on knitted items for my Clown Brigade. Usually the staple for clown knitting is Red Heart Yarns. This is mainly for it’s durability and ability to stand up to repeated washings. About a month ago we got a new yarn into the shop from Dark Horse. The colors from Dark Horse Fantasy (which we ordered all of them) are tempting enough that I had to give them a try.

                We have a 9 year old in the Brigade who wanted a special scarf for her costume. She liked the idea of the Potato Chip scarf but it is no were near strong enough to stand up to clown work. Before going to the old standby, Red Heart, I decided to give the Dark Horse a try. Dark Horse Fantasy is much softer than Red Heart but still come in a great variety of colors.

                To make a long story short I designed my own ruffle scarf that turned out to be nothing like the Potato Chip Scarf in it’s construction. The scarf stood up to our first line of tests and has proven pretty enough for the very discerning Jasmine, who goes by the clown name Lucy Dolittle. We had the pattern in our special newsletter for the festival if anyone is interested in making one of their own.

                Be safe out there everyone, and I hope to see you at the shop.