Yarns 2 Ewe, Inc.

It's been a great couple of weeks to be a knitter.

Aside from the crisp change of weather that has blown through, making wool in Houston seem appealing, we've also had some great instructors come through town, and they've left us INSPIRED!

First up was Cookie A, of Monkey fame, as part of a Knit At Night Guild sponsored workshop.  Cookie had fabulous information on getting started designing your own socks, and as soon as I had picked out a stitch pattern (because for the most part, it is that simple), I got going. 

I had picked out one of our newer sock yarns to work with, and I couldn't have been happier.  O-Wool Classic 2-Ply is a soft yet sturdy organic yarn with excellent stitch definition.  At first I had been afraid that the plies would interfere with the stitch pattern, but all you see is a gorgeous piece of fabric once it's knitted up.

But then I got distracted. 

I had a skein of the Ella Rae Lace Merino that I blogged about last time set aside to make a pair of socks as a Christmas gift that was begging to be made into Pomatomus, and let me say this - if these socks were for anyone other than my mother, I'd have a hard time parting with them.  This is the Rainbows colorway, and each stitch is like a joyous burst of color.  If you're a sock knitter, I highly, highly, highly encourage you to try out this yarn for socks.  And to dispell any lingering doubts, let me add that I am halfway through the first sock of the pair and I feel very confident that I'm going to have yarn left over from this skein.

If you're interested in some of Cookie's other patterns, come by the shop.  Our stock is a little low now, but we're expecting more in any day.

And yesterday we had Brandon Mably at the store for a color workshop.  Before I talk about the workshop, I want to say how hard it its to describe Brandon.  Wendy and I were tossing around words like:  "irrepressable," "exuberant," "incorrigible" (but in a good way!), "zany," and just a little bit "naughty" (he nicknamed one student Temptress, and I was dubbed Trouble), but that still doesn't quite describe Brandon.  But on to the workshop.

 

First I need to say - WOW.

Everyone was instructed to bring about twenty partial skeins of yarn for the workshop, and Y2E also provided a big pile of yarn for community use.  We were then told to select a yarn, cut off a length of about a yard or so, and then find another color that just demanded to sit next to it.  After we had paired two colors, we had to find a third color that wanted to sit next to color two, regardless of its relation to color one, and so on.  We made two balls of yarn, one in "light" colors and one in "dark" colors (and I say "light" and "dark," but it's relative to the knitter), and then he got us started knitting one of Kaffe Fassett's most popular patterns, Persian Poppies, designating one skein as the background color and one as the pattern color.

It is truly amazing to see how the colors combine as you knit up the pattern.  Sometimes you encounter a happy surprise, like the way a color that you thought was truly horrible not only blends in perfectly with the colors around it but actually enhances the rest of the piece.  And sometimes you see something that you might call atrocious but Brandon calls a design element, and you either learn to deal with it, or learn to never make that mistake again. 

As I write this, I realize that it all sounds very simple.  But for a good portion of the class, I floundered.  Brandon doesn't believe in traditional color theory, and, as an art student, I found myself struggling to let go of notions of hue and value, complementary colors, and the color wheel.  But at some point during the last two hours of class, I forced myself to let go, and honestly, that's when the magic happened. 

At the end of class, everyone tacks up their swatches, and Brandon does a little critique.  And while everyone was given the same directive, and everyone used yarns from the same pile, not one of the swatches ever looks the same.  You can see personalities emerge from the fabric, and Brandon can make you see wonderful things (even within your own swatch) that you didn't even realize were there.  But just look at the photos if you have any doubts.  Aside from the fact that the results will surprise even yourself, it's truly amazing to see what the other students in the class do when given the same directive.  Again, it sounds like a simple premise for a class, but the knowledge you take away is staggering.

Between our cameras and the cameras of other students, we have an abundance of photos, and it would be impossible for me to post them all here.  I've created a flickr account, and I'll be posting the excess photos there, soon.

But any way you look at it, right now is a great time to be knitting!  Come by the shop and let us inspire you.

More photos are on their way soon!

Recovery

First and foremost, we at Y2E would like to say thanks for all of the well wishers, volunteers, and faithful customers who have made weathering through Hurricane Ike a little bit easier.

As many of you know by now, we were not spared from Ike's wrath. Our part of town floods at the drop of a hat, and we had a lot of water damage, including some ruined yarn and carpet.  It was truly heartbreaking to come into the shop after the storm and see all of the waterlogged yarn. 

But, with some hard work and some hard working volunteers, we're on our way to becoming operational again.  We've cleaned out the ruined merchandise, and right now, about half of the carpet in the store has been ripped out to be replaced.  If all goes as planned, we'll have new carpet early next week, and will be open for regular business soon after.

We'll be ready with some new products, and we're thinking about modifying the store layout to better help you.

So what's new that we're excited about?

First, there's the Lace Merino by Ella Rae.  This 100% extra fine merino yarn is actually a little bit heavier than normal laceweight, coming in at 29 stitches over four inches, so you could even use it for socks.  There's enough in one generous, 460 yard hank to make a pair.  And the colors are to die for!  We've got some gorgeous colorways in stock, like a wine/pink/beige combo, a watercolor-y blue colorway, and, my personal favorite, a colorway that segues from aqua to brown to a yellowy rust.  I've actually got a project on my crochet hook right now, and I can't wait to do more with this fabulous new yarn.

We also got in Tocano, another beautiful hand-painted merino from Araucania.  This yarn comes in both multi-colors, and what they call "solids," although none of the colors are truly solid, they just shift in intensity within a chosen color.  Tocano knits up at 18 stitches over four inches, and comes in 139 yard hanks. 

The Mason-Dixon girls have done it again!  Their new book, Mason-Dixon Knitting:  Outside the Lines has arrived.  This book is full of sumptious, not intimidating fair isle blankets and rugs, clothing for children, practical notions for the home, and some great knits for the upcoming holiday season.  In other words, a little bit of everything.  Accompanying these great patterns are Ann and Kay's witty and wry words of wisdom.  A must have for your library!

Also new is Robin Chacula's Blueprint Crochet.  The designs in this book are charming, cute, and completely wearable.  If you think that crochet means bulky and unflattering, this book will change your mind in an instant.  The pieces have classic shapes made with classic techniques, but the end results are modern and fun, especially the Courtney Corset Top, which I think will jump onto most crocheter's Ravlery queue.

So, if you need to come by the shop before we're back up and running like normal, please give us a call.  We're not really open for browsing (there's ripped up carpet, and lots of running machinery to dry the place out), but if you 1, know what you need, 2, it's not packed away or damaged, 3, you have cash or check, and 4, can come by when we're here, we can help you out.  We also can't really give any knitting help at this time, so if that's what you need, you might want to wait just a couple more days.  Since we're here such limited hours, please call first to make sure that someone will be here when you'd like to stop by.  Otherwise, we'd love to see you next week!

Overlooked

So it's been a craaazy couple of weeks here at Y2E.  Many of our orders from TNNA have begun to trickle in, meaning that we've got some great new yarns in the shop, some of which I'll talk about later, and that we've been busy, busy, busy!

But before I talk about the new stuff, I wanted to draw some attention to some old stuff.  This is our Value Section, which has a tendency to get overlooked sometimes.  When we did the shop re-model, we created this section to showcase yarns that we felt were a good price for the yardage/quality.  This is where we keep the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, Plymouth Jeannee, and Kathmandu Aran and DK, among other things.  New to the section are two new weights of Plymouth Jeannee -- Chunky and DK.  Jeannee is an acrylic blend that doesn't feel "acrylic-y," and it's great for baby garments and blankets since it can go in the washing machine and the dryer.

And new to the Value Section is My Family, from Muench Yarns.  Again, it's all acrylic, 75% microfiber and 25% nylon, but it doesn't feel like an acrylic. The yarn is super soft and has a pretty, almost luminous sheen to it.  It knits up at 17 stitches over four inches, and it too can go in the washing machine and in the dryer.

This yarn is so soft, I can't stop touching it!  I have lots of baby gifts that I need to make for Christmas, and I know that I'll be using My Family for some of them.

We've got lots of great colors for babies, children, and adults, so make sure that you check it out next time your in the shop. 

And for all of the people who love Habu but wanted some brighter colors, we now have Cotton Gima.  This thin tape yarn is 100% cotton, and could be used on its own, doubled, held with another yarn -- as with most Habu, the possibilities are endless.  This yarn has a great color palette, and we've just received even more colors that you don't see here. 

I can't wait to see what people do with it!

Happy Knitting, everyone!

Big Sale August 1st through the 3rd

Hi Guys,

We'll be having a sale to celebrate Abby turning One Year Old!  It will run from August 1st (a Friday) through August 3rd (Sunday), with the following items on sale:

All Clearance yarn is 3 dollars a skein!

The Offhand Designs bags that are already on clearance will be an additional 25% off!

All Koigu, Alchemy, and Honeypot yarns are 30% off!

And all knitting bags (excluding Namaste) are 25% off!

As always, we cannot hold items to be purchased during the sale, and the sale price does not count for specially ordered items.  If you have any other questions, please call!

Jaime

I mentioned last time that it's been super-busy here at the shop, and it just hasn't stopped! 

We have two trunk shows in the shop, and one of them is for Artfelt by Skacel, which you see at the right.

To define it very simply, Artfelt is an easier way to needlefelt.  What you do is tack down roving onto this special paper that Skacel makes with a barbed needlefelting needle.  You can make any sort of design or pattern that you want, using the paper as your "blank canvas."  When you're done, you spritz the roving with water, wrap the whole piece up in plastic, and throw it into the dryer to felt.  When your piece comes out of the dryer, all you have to do is pour boiling water over the paper to make it dissolve, then leave the piece out to dry. Artfelt gives you more freedom than just regular felting, and doesn't take quite as long as needlefelting.  The end result is soft but sturdy, so this a great method to make purses, scarves, pillows, wall hangings, you name it!

The second trunk show that we have in the shop is from Prism. 

If you've ever found yourself looking at the Prism yarns and wondering what you could do with them, then you should definitely come by the shop and take a look at some of these samples. 

Laura Bryant designs most of the patterns for her company herself, and because she also handpaints her different colorways, she really knows how to show of these yarns to their full capacity.  She employs short rows, miters, and knitting on the bias to make these beautiful yarns really pop.

This is a close-up of one of the most popular pieces in the show, a wrap created by using short rows.  The colors in this silk/wool/mohair/nylon blend are really lustrous and deep, and this wrap is definitely a eye-catcher.  Be sure to come by the shop before we send this trunk show back to see everything in person!

As I promised last time, here's a look at our new bags from Namaste.

We've received several of their styles, some new, some old, in a variety of colors.  I myself have already purchased two of them and couldn't be happier.

What I like about these bags is that they're really designed with functionality in mind, but they're pretty fashionable on the outside, too.  Most of these bags come with a large pocket on the inside that divides the bag into two compartments.  This is perfect for knitters - throw your purse things in one side, and your knitting in the other and you're ready to go, without worrying that your keys will get tangled up in your yarn, or that you might knock some stitches off your needles as you dig around looking for your wallet.  And there are several smaller pockets, perfect for holding all of those necessities that have a way of disappearing when you need them the most.

The bags are made from high quality vinyl, which is not only easy to clean, but it's also animal friendly.  So come get yours soon, before I buy them all!

Also new to the shop is Ultra Alpaca Fine by Berroco.  It's a variation on their Ultra Alapaca yarn, with a little bit of nylon thrown in, so it's perfect for socks, but I would definitely use it for lace, as well.

The colors are rich and textured; even the solid colors have a little bit of nuance to them.   

Happy Knitting!

New for You!

It's been a looooooong couple of weeks, trying to get all of our new merchandise out on the sales floor, but, as promised, here's a peek at some of the fabulous new yarns that we have in the store for you!

First up are two yarns by O-Wool, a company dedicated to providing a product that is not only of a high quality and practical (not to mention soft and really nice to work with!), but also to creating a better environment.  For each pound of organic wool they produce, two acres of land are sustained by organic means.  Every step of their yarn production process is environmentally friendly.

We've brought in two of their yarns, and we couldn't be happier about them.  One is O-Wool Classic 2-Ply, a 100% certified organic merino sock yarn that has 198 yards per skein and comes in nine rich and saturated colors.  This yarn will make great socks, as it knits up at a range of 26 to 30 stitches over four inches.

We also brought in their wool/cotton blend, O-Wool Balance.  Because of the different ways the wool and the cotton absorb dye, the yarn has a subtle tweedy look to it.  This worsted weight yarn comes in 130 yard hanks, and it is fabulous to knit with.  This yarn glides over needles, and has great stitch definition.  I knit up a swatch for the shop incorporating a cable, some twisted stitches, and seed stitch, and couldn't be happier with the results.  And because this wool/cotton blend is perfect for Houston, I'm sure I'll be working with it again soon.

We are also thrilled to announce that a new yarn from Classic Elite, Jil Eaton's Minnow Merino is in the shop.  This soft 100% extra fine merino wool that you see pictured to the right is machine washable.  Doesn't is look like it might felt just by looking at it?  But we've seen proof!  At TNNA, we were shown a swatch that had gone through the wash and came out soft and with excellent stitch definition.

In addition to the yarn, Jil Eaton has also created nine new Minnowknits patterns to support this new yarn.  We have a great selection of colors for children and adults in right now!

We've also received Berroco's Pure Merino Nuance.  This yarn doesn't stripe, exactly, but subtly shifts in shade and, well, nuance within one color.  Some colors show off the transitions more boldly than others, but the effect is very pretty nonetheless. 

Norah Gaughan featured this yarn in her Norah Gaughan Collection Volume One in a cowl-necked, cropped cardigan, and a slitted scarf designed to highlight the yarn's gently shifting colors.

And last but not least, we've received our shipments of Chic Knits and White Lies patterns.

Chic Knits is all about classic yet modern pieces that will never go out of style.  Everyone needs a basic cardigan, pullover, hoodie, camisole, etc., and Chic Knits is the way to go.

White Lies is at the other end of the spectrum, but still very stylish.  These patterns are all about romance and femininity, featuring lace, ruffles, and flattering shapes.  Not only does White Lies have patterns for every level of knitter, they also cover almost every size knitter, with a wide range of sizes.  So if you need a cute top for a date, or feel daring enough to knit up some lingerie, come check out White Lies.

And finally, as we speak, I'm updating our system to include our fabulous new bags from Namaste.  Come by the store to check them out, and I'll be sure to tell you all about them in our next blog post!

Busy, busy, busy!

Hi all,

I just wanted to write up a quick post to keep everyone updated.

It's been so busy here at the shop, and it doesn't show signs of stopping!  Many of our orders from TNNA have begun to arrive (O-Wool came in last week, Chic Knits patterns came in this week, Namaste should be here next week, and we just got in a bunch of Lamb's Pride), and we've spent most of the week trying to get everything out of boxes and onto the sales floor. 

So come by this weekend (we are open today, the 4th, and will be all weekend), check out all of the new stuff that's in the shop, and I'll be putting up a real post this weekend.

Happy Fourth of July!

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging

Now that all of the TNNA hubbub has finally died down, we can get back to blogging as normal.

Natually, as soon as I say that, the first thing I'm going to blog about is something that we found at TNNA. 

This yarn is Tabali, an 80% cotton, 20% viscose blend.  If Tabali looks a little familiar, that's becase it's spun to look like Patagonia and Nature Cotton, but the 20% viscose adds a subtle sheen here and there.  Tabali knits up at 14 stitches over four inches, and comes in 81 yard hanks. 

This yarn would look great alone, as a summer top, or you could find a complemetary color of Nature Cotton to knit with it.  How great would this yarn look as a cardigan with a coordinating semi-solid Nature Cotton trim?  Or the other way around!

We also saw Stephanie, our fabulous Prism sales rep, and we're getting both of Prism's new fall yarns. 

The first is Merino Mia, a new sock yarn that we're getting in their classic colorways Lipstick, Alpine, Tahoe, Blue Lagoon, and Cantina.  The colors really pop in this yarn, and if you ever wanted to make something with the bold and fun colorway Cantina, but didn't know what to do, knit up some socks!  Feet deserve beautiful colors, too, right?

Next up is Symphony, an 80% merino wool, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon blend.   When we saw Symphony, we noticed that the gauge and content were similar enough to the Yarn Daze Yucatan (photographed in the post below), that they would work really well together.  With that in mind, we selected colors that would either fill in the gaps missing from the Yarn Daze palette or would complement them well. 

You can expect both of these yarns to be in around October!

Finally, we have another photo from my mystery project, a panel of garter and slipped stitches overlooking a sea of seed stitch.  I am so pleased with how this is turning out...I can't wait until it's finished!

And don't forget, we ARE open on July 4th and through July 4th weekend; we're having classes on the 5th (New Pathways Baby Socks; Gauge, It's Not a Scary Word!; and Needle Felting) and on the 6th (Amigurumi), and spaces are still free in all of these classes.  So when your bellies are full of bar-b-que, pie, and other holiday goodies, come by the shop for some relaxing knitting.

The What

Now onto the what.  What we  saw, what we're bringing back, and what you can expect for fall.

The first day at the show, we stopped by Knitting Fever's booth.  As I have mentioned before, Knitting Fever brings us the Mirasol line, a socially conscious brand that uses money from each purchase to support local schools and communities in Peru (you can read more about their efforts here).  So pretty much you know that when you knit with a Mirasol yarn, your knitting feels good and you can feel good about your knitting.

But back to the yarn!

This fall we'll be bringing two of their new yarns into the store including Tupa, this really lucious 50/50 silk and merino wool blend.  Tupa is a two-ply yarn with a nice sheen and great depth of color.  Be on the look-out for this one!

Other yarns we're getting from Knitting Fever include Silk Garden Sock, Debbie Bliss's Rialto in Aran weight, and lots of new yarns from Araucania and Noro.

And one of the lines that we simply fell in love with was O-Wool.  All of the yarns in the O-Wool line are certified organic, and we're bringing in two of their yarns.  The first is the blue yarn, O-Wool Balance.  It's a blend of organic cotton and organic wool, 50/50, and because of the different ways the fibers absorb dye, the end product has this really nice tweedy look to it.  This worsted weight yarn will be perfect for our climate; the cotton in it balances out the wool nicely making a light fabric just right for year-round knits.  The second yarn that we're bringing in is their Classic 2-Ply, the yellow swatch that you see in the corner.  This yarn is 100% organic wool, and would make great socks or baby garments.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I may have used the word "love" just a little bit too soon, because LOVE is certainly what Wendy and I felt when we found this yarn on our last, harried day at TNNA.  Situated in one tiny little booth was the owner of Yarn Daze, and believe me, once you've felt this yarn you'll be in a daze yourself.  The yarn pictured is her 80% wool, 20% cashmere blend, and it is so nice to touch that it's hard to keep your hands off of it.  The colors in this yarn have a crisp yet deep saturation, and we're hoping to have it in the store ASAP.  We'll also be bringing in her other yarns, and they are not to be missed.

Other things that we found for you that I don't have pictures for are some great new bags by Namaste, which are so nice that I'm getting two for myself!  Happy Choices by Plymouth, which is their Happy Feet knit up, then dyed, and you knit off of the scarf to make your socks.  This is also a guilt-free yarn, because if you never get around to knitting up your socks, you could always just wear the scarf!  We're also getting the ultra-feminine, seriously romantic, and detail-orientated patterns from White Lies, and the sophisticated and modern patterns from Chic Knits. 

And this isn't even everything!  So all I can say is to be sure to check in with us often, as we're going to have a great fall! 

The Who

I decided to dedicate this post not to the band, obviously, but to all of the great people we saw and met at TNNA this year.

Our first day walking the trade show floor, we stopped at Knitting Fever's booth and met Debbie Bliss, who designs really cute, thoughtful clothing for babies and women.  Debbie is really sweet and funny, and while we were talking she gave us the scoop on her new magazine that will be coming out this fall.  We were able to see a few photos, and there are some great looking patterns in there. 

We also stopped by Habu's booth, and saw all of the exciting new kits and yarns that Takako had put together.  We are getting some fabulous new kits from them, including a empire waisted cardigan that I myself am dying to knit up.  We're getting some new yarns, including that gorgeous cotton that Takako is holding in the picture.  The yarn is very fine (sorry, I can't remember the gauge right now), but she showed us various samples of the yarn knit up with two, three, and even four strands held together.  The end product was soft and drapey no matter how many strands you used, and it comes in some soft, pretty colors for fall.  We're also getting some of their other yarns that are used in the book Exquisite Little Knits, which features that cute little wrap we have up at the front of the store that everyone wants to knit.  Now we'll have even more yarns for you to knit with and dip your toes into the Habu waters.

On our last day at TNNA, I took my second class with Cat Bordhi (as a funny aside, notice her ID badge - everyone else's has their full name, the company they're representing, and where they're from, but Cat's just has her name because she need no further introduction!).  Cat is such a good teacher, and on Monday we whipped through her Swirling Coriolis sock from New Pathways for Sock Knitters in just two hours!  This is such a great book, and Cat was bursting with information and ideas as she taught.  I would love to have a mind like hers.  At one point as she was teaching, she stopped, thought for a second, and realized that she had come up with a new sock construction right there on the spot.  I'm sure we'll see it in her second volume of New Pathways.  If you're unfamiliar with her new sock constructions, I highly recommend taking a look at her book; she has completely turned sock knitting on its head.  I'll also be teaching a class on one of the more basic structures here at the shop starting on June 28th.  We'll be making a baby sock over the course of three classes, and by the end, you should be prepared to take on her other sock structures. 

In this photo, Cat is showing us how to make your SSKs look as straight and even as your K2TOGs.  If anyone would like to know how she does it, come by and I'll be glad to show you.  It's all about "The Hungry Stitch!"   

Cat is such a great teacher and we'd love to have her in the shop some day...we'll be sure to keep you posted on that, as her classes are so informative and well taught that they are not to be missed.

There were many other people that we met (or at least got a peek at) over the five days we were gone, including Franklin Habit of the blog Panopticon and the book It Itches; Cookie A; Gina Wilde of Alchemy Yarns; Louisa Harding; Stefanie Japel; and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  This must be what walking through a movie set feels like to non-knitters.  But for today, I'll leave you with my favorite souvenir from our trip - the inscription Cat put in my copy of New Pathways.

Next time I'll be posting on The Whats....