More Summer Knitting: New Dishcloth Yarns!

We have new yarns for all your dishcloth and tableware needs!

Nova Plus Four Seasons Cotton (75 m $2.50)


This is a very nice worsted weight 100% dishcloth cotton that comes in 29 beautiful colors.




Soft but strong, perfect for your dishcloths.

You don't have to limit yourself to dishcloths. Bags, pillows, table linens, and coasters can be made.

Just look at Lori's gorgeous pillow!








She made coasters from the leftovers.

Imagine a table runner or matching placemats. You don't have to worry about getting food on them, just throw them in the washer.

We also have a several booklets that would work well with this yarn. One of them is exclusively bags  which are very sturdy.

People will ask you where you got that purse and you can smile and say "I made it myself."



Red Heart Scrubby (85 m $6.30)

Clockwise from far left: Grape, Royal, Cherry, Orange,
Black, Coconut, Ocean, Lime, Duckie, Bubblegum

You've been asking for it and now we've got it! The perfect yarn to make your scrubbies! Surprisingly this yarn is not hard on your hands at all but it will help clean your pots. Use alone or pair it with dishcloth cotton to make the perfect scrubber. Worsted weight, 100% polyester.

Scrubby up close

It comes in several really bright colors. Hey if you have to wash dishes by hand then it helps to have cheery colors to look at, especially if you're like me. I don't have a dishwasher and my sink is nowhere near a window. I'm sure a man designed that.


We still carry Lily Sugar 'n' Cream dishcloth cotton in solids, stripes and twists. 100% cotton, just $3.20 for 109 m or 86 m.

Now some of you may wonder why anyone would want to knit a dishcloth. Aside from how excellent they are for washing dishes there are other reasons.

1. Try out new stitch patterns. Maybe you have a pattern you're not sure about or a design in your head. Try it out on the dishcloth cotton and make a square before you delve into your expensive yarn. Or maybe you just want to experiment with new patterns. You still end up with a usable dishcloth.
2. Learning how to knit or crochet? Or maybe you're teaching someone. Dishcloths are perfect. The weight of the yarn is easy to handle and it doesn't matter how many mistakes are made. It's just a dishcloth.
3. A stack of dishcloths make a nice gift. They don't take long to make and you can either vary the colors or pick the color of the recipients kitchen. Think housewarming, newlywed, or someone setting up an apartment for the first time or starting over. 
4. Make some dishcloths and/or other kitchen linens and stick them in a basket of kitchen supplies for a gift. Or you can put them in a basket of baby supplies.
5. And yes, you can always make some for yourself. They will become your favorite!
6. They are not too hot to knit! Dishcloths can be made all year round.
7. And they are easy to take along with you anywhere.
8. Plus, they don't take long to make. Need a break from that gorgeous but complicated lace shawl that is taking forever? Knit up a dishcloth and feel accomplished.

There are plenty of free dishcloth patterns on the internet. So have fun looking!

Posted by Anna Maria Junus (happy employee who used to think that knitting dishcloths was dumb but doesn't anymore).

Summer Knitting

"I don't knit in the summer."

"Knitting is a winter activity for when it's snowing outside."

"It's too hot to knit."

Well fellow yarnies, let me tell you, that knitting is for the summer.

Okay, you don't want to be knitting a woolen afghan on a hot day, nor would we ever suggest it. The last thing we want is people dropping from heat stroke. How would you then buy more yarn?

However, there are lots of things great for summer knitting.

Unlike other crafts, knitting is portable. You don't have to drag out the sewing machine to the garden and then find a table and electricity. You don't need special light. If something gets sandy you can easily clean it (after all you're making wearables). And there's no risk of a wet kid or dog knocking your beads and sending them flying everywhere.

Granted, you may not want to knit while water skiing, but you can still take the knitting to the lake. Although that is an interesting visual. Okay, I admit it. I went looking for people knitting while water skiing. Turns out no one does it. It might make a really challenging Olympic sport.

Aerobic Knitting

I did find this.

That's right. Knitting while doing aerobics. So if they can do it, you can knit in the summer.

Now, merino wool may not be your friend in the heat, - imagine being a sheep -  but cotton, linen, and other plant fibers are. They are cool and have great stitch definition.

And the projects you can make are endless.

Think small and or lacy. This is the time to pull out those finer yarns. Lace weight, sock and fingering, and sport yarns are great for hot weather knitting. You don't have a time crunch on your hands anyway. Or you shouldn't. Now if you've over scheduled yourself in the summer then you have bigger problems then finding time to knit.

This is the time to make that lace shawl you've been drooling over. Or how about those funky socks?

It's also a great time to get a head start on Christmas knitting. Toques and mitts are small and you can handle the wool for short amounts of time.

And you can easily do pieced afghans when it's only a square at a time. No big blanket heating you up.

Dishcloths and place mats are great summer knits too especially when you're working in cotton and linen.

So settle down in your garden with a glass of ice tea or lemonade and your ears plugged into your favorite music, knitting podcast, or audio book and enjoy. Hey you can tell yourself that it's time you read War and Peace.

Just one other thing. Road trips are a great time for knitting - as long as you're not the driver. Yeah, don't do that, even if you are driving through Saskatchewan.

Posted by Anna Maria Junus (happy employee that doesn't let the seasons dictate when she knits).

New Sirdar Yarns!

We have two new yarns. One thinks it's an animal, and the other one can't decide what it is.

Husky (65 m $7.00)

Top Row: Misty, Bluff
Bottom Row: Flecky, Waffle, Eskie

Waffle up close.

This is a super chunky (6) made up of 87% acrylic and 13% nylon. It's nice and soft. All the colours are spotted naturals. Three in the brown/tan range and two in the black/grey.

Although it's called Husky it reminds me more of kittens. Either way, a really nice yarn for cowls, scarves and hats or a big cuddly sweater. Let this be the yarn to bring out the animal in you. Or start you purring. It has purrsonality. Some might say it's purrfect. It certainly has purrsibilities. Okay, I'll stop.

Top: Paradiso, Fortuna
Middle: Florentine, Frencesca
Bottom: Lucia, Esther

Divine (150 m  $9.00)

Fortuna up close.

This is the yarn that is embracing its multiple personality disorder. It's 72% polyester and 28% acrylic. Ravelry says it's a DK (3). Sirdar says it's an Aran (4). It's thick and thin so I guess it's both. There's metallic running through its fluffy fibers and its colours are variegated.

This yarn looks like so much fun to knit up because each stitch is going to be different. It calls for a simple pattern - fancy stitches will get lost. Just let the yarn do all the work while you knit it watching TV, making dinner, learning a language or doing an aerobics class.

Esther up close.

Posted by Anna Maria Junus happy employee who can easily find projects for these yarns. Like I need more projects.

The Manos Hat

Is it just me or do her eyes look uneven? Like maybe she had a little too much fun on the town the previous night.

Okay, let's get past the eyes. Here's the Manos hat I made. It didn't take very long. It's made from Manos Wool Classica Naturals color number 704 Red.

The pictures make it look like there are shades of brown in it, but it's just a deeper burgundy.

Manos del Uruguay is a pure wool kettle dyed yarn. I would say it's a chunky yarn. One skein at 126 meters did the hat.

We have the yarn in several colors at $19.00.

I used a free pattern from the Manos site. It's the Affinity Hat.

Lori showed me a ribbed cast on that involved doing figure eights and which I probably can't replicate without some help and some chocolate.  The cables in the hat were done without a cable needle. That I can do again on my own although it can be a little tricky to not drop stitches.

But the most important thing, is that it was fun.

The hat looks better in person than in these pictures. Does that sound like bragging?

I guess the fact that I'm posting this is bragging.

Posted by Anna Maria Junus happy employee who knits hats for the store as part of her job.

We're Having a Sale! We're Having a Sale!

Thursday July 23-25 we are having a 50 percent off sale.

That's right. 50% off on select yarns and needlework fabrics throughout the store.

Happy Dance!

So come on in. Friday and Saturday we will also be hanging out on the sidewalk. Well, unless there's another crazy hail storm.

Great time to stock up!

Check your patterns and bring them in. We love it when you bring in your patterns. It makes it so much easier to find the right yarns for you.

I would tell you what yarns are on sale, but Lori likes to keep it a secret. I can tell you, that there is a LOT on sale.

And many of them will forever disappear into the great yarn heaven.

Oh, and we even have discounts at the till for non-sale items. So you win no matter what you choose!

Adventures with The Noro Scarf Part 1

We have some gorgeous Noro lace weight yarn that's been sitting on our shelves feeling neglected. It's been (drop my voice to a whisper so it doesn't hear) discontinued.

Noro Knittng Magazine Premier Issue

Kirameki is a rayon, nylon, wool and cashmere blend that comes in beautiful colors. Noro is famous for its long colorations and unusual pairings.

My scarf and the Kirameki that's giving
birth to it. Color # 164.

 I decided to make a scarf so everyone can see what this yarn looks like. By everyone, I mean the millions who come into the store and read this blog.

 You can't tell by looking at the skeins. The skeins in the same color all look different. If you look at this picture with the scarf and ball of yarn they don't look like they match at all. It's like fraternal twins who have different hair, eye and skin colors and different body builds. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito. That's right. Darny Schwarzenvito.

Scarf at turning point where we stop knitting drunk and
start knitting straight.

At one point after working this gorgeous purple the rust started taking over. Now I'm not a huge fan of rust and I'm thinking rust and purple? That just doesn't work! That's so wrong! As I knit this rust color I kept arguing with my scarf. "You can't turn rust, you're a gorgeous purple. It's wrong! Wrong! Wrong...oh wait." Hot Pink came along and suddenly Purple and Rusty were best buddies.

Diagonal Eyelet Scarf from
Noro Knitting Magazine Issue #

  It's like 1 and 1 equal 67. It doesn't make
  sense.



 This is the diagonal scarf. I picked a Noro  pattern from  the premier magazine of Noro.  Because I was using  Noro yarn. See,  we've got a theme going on  here.


 We have several copies of this particular magazine and several copies of the one that followed.

 The original pattern calls for Shiraito, a cashmere, angora and wool blend. The magazine says it's a fingering weight yarn, but it seems heavier than that. Like a generously sized woman who claims she weighs only 110 and wears a size 2. Shiraito, it's okay to be who you are. We like heavier yarns too. Embrace your ampleness. Artists love fuller bodies.

We do have Shiraito in stock. She's just hanging around waiting for someone to pick her up.

However I chose the lace weight. It's a scarf. You can use any yarn you want with a scarf pattern.

You can use any yarn you want with a
scarf pattern. Well almost. 

I also discovered that I wasn't crazy about the increase on the ends in this pattern, so I ripped it out - it takes me about three false starts to actually get going anyway - like a ten month pregnant woman getting off the couch.  Instead I used a slipped stitch and then an increase. Much nicer ends now!

I plan on keeping you all updated on this scarf. I know you will all be waiting breathlessly for the next installment.

Posted by Anna Maria Junus (happy employee who makes lace weight scarves for the store because somebody has to). 

New Red Heart Yarn

It's been awhile. It's called tortuary, or otherwise known as inventory, which is when you have to count 239,609,204 things, register them correctly in the computer, and then watch as everything ends up being wrong anyway.

But we survived it.

In the meantime, while we were counting things, more things came in. And yes, we had to count those too.

We have two new Red Heart yarns. We don't carry a lot of Red Heart so when we do bring it in we think it's exceptional and those other places like Mikey and Ceiling Mart are not carrying them.

Red Heart Stellar 

For you boucle lovers! It's super bulky (6), 99% acrylic and 1% metallic fiber. Machine wash cold on the gentle cycle and dry flat. 8 mm needles, 73 meters.

We have three colors and each ball comes with a free pattern that calls for two balls.

At $7.10 a ball you can make a scarf for under $15.00!


 The picture doesn't do the colors justice. You really have to come in and take a look.

Clockwise - Deep Space (that's the deep purple one), Universe (grey), and Celestial (pink). They all have just a hint of metallic running through them.

Red Heart Infinity

This is a chain yarn. Chunky weight (5), 69% acrylic, 11% wool, 10% polyester, 6% nylon, 4% metallic. Machine wash on gentle cycle, lay flat to dry. 8 mm needles, 118 m.

The balls come with a free pattern which uses 15 mm needles and only one ball. You can make a scarf for only $7.10 plus tax!

The colors are very pretty too. Back to front, left to right, Poppy (peach), Almond (beige), Oasis (blue), Thunder (grey), Denim (dark blue), Seafoam (aqua), Blossom (pink), Enchanted (purple). Of course again the pictures don't do them justice and these too have a hint of metallic in them.

Now we know that it's the height of summer and we've been having some record breaking temperatures and the last thing on your mind is winter scarves, but as crafters we know it's never too early to get ready for Christmas. So come on in and get your yarn and you'll be all ready for when cooler temperatures hit and your home from vacation and the garden is harvested. We would love to see you (plus we have fans going to keep you cool).

Posted by Anna Maria Junus (happy employee who is being tempted by some really pretty colors).