Yarns 2 Ewe, Inc.

Making a Good Second Impression

A while back I mentioned that we're now carrying the addi Natura line, but I feel that I didn't give them the attention they deserve. 

The addi Turbos are a great needle, without question, and I do find myself reaching for the addi Turbo Lace needles when I'm working on socks or a lace project, but my knitting heart belongs to the addi Naturas.

The bamboo on these needles have a beautiful finish, not overly glossy, but still smooth and easy to work with.  Yarn just glides over it.

Of course, with an addi needle comes that wonderful addi join and cable.  Yarn doesn't get stuck or snag at the join as stitches move from the cable to the needle, and the cable itself is supple right out of the package.  We currently have sizes 2 through 10.75 (2 is the smallest size for the Naturas, and the line doesn't make a size 10.5), and we should be carrying the larger sizes in the near future.

(And did you happen to notice what these addi Naturas are resting on?  More of my mystery project.)

It's no secret that we're big fans of Laura Bryant and Prism here at Yarns 2 Ewe, and we have two new yarns from them just in time for summer.

The first is Tencel Tape.  Tencel itself is made from wood pulp, and is spun in an eco-friendly manner.  The minds at Prism have taken tencel and made this pretty tape yarn.  Tencel tape knits up at five stitches per inch, and comes in 120 yard skeins.  We currently have three colorways and one solid available. 

The second yarn is Manhattan.  Manhattan is a rayon, cotton, nylon yarn with a really interesting appearance.  The components are kept separate in that the yarn goes from being a cotton yarn, to a rayon yarn, to a nylon yarn, transitioning between the three quite effortlessly.

The colors take to the different fibers in different ways, giving the yarn a great depth in color, while the rayon sections add some sheen to keep things exciting.

The Manhattan comes in 130 yard skeins and it also knits up at five stitches per inch.

Both of these yarns would be great for a summer top, cardigan or shrug.  I myself can't wait to work with the Tencel Tape; it has such a soft, pretty sheen, and I think it would be perfect as a shrug.

Take a Peek

Every week I like to make up a new display for our coffee table featuring either new yarns, interesting combinations, or some kind of play on color.  I usually get several queries about how and why I pick what I do, and since I think that this could be a great exercise to spark your inspiration, I've decided to detail the process here.

Obviously, this week's basket focused on a play on color.  Typically, I'll wander around the store until something catches my eye, and this week it was the Berroco Seduce (the skein of yarn at the bottom right).  Seduce is a blend of rayon, linen, silk, and nylon consisting of a core yarn that has a shiny wrap.  This color, Passimenterie Green, is such a vibrant green, like baby leaves, and I knew I had found my starting point. 

From there, I continue my walk around the store until I find other complementary yarns.  As soon as I picked up the Seduce, though, I knew that Malabrigo's Lettuce was the next obvious choice (the yarn at the top).  I then picked up Kidsilk Haze in Jelly (bottom left), Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Tweed (the yarn in the center), Louisa Harding's Grace (color 05, between the Silky Tweed and the Seduce), and finally, Alchemy's Silken Straw in Citrine.  The greens all work together harmoniously, nothing outshining its companions, and the result is a happy little display.  Not only does this exercise make you think about colors in different ways, but the end result could be applied to various patterns or could even inspire you to create a pattern of your own!  And just in case you couldn't tell, we just got in Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's new book, Things I Learned from Knitting...Whether I Wanted to or Not.

On to other things!  Here we have a great new yarn that we just got in, Elsebeth Lavold's Bamboucle.  This yarn is perfect for our Houston climate.  It is 45% Cotton, 30% Bamboo, 17% Linen, and 8% Nylon.  The plant fibers in this yarn have great breathability, and the nylon will help it keep its shape.  The yarn comes in 12 summer-y colors (that other yarn you see is Hempathy, and if you look closely, you can see two or three new colors mixed in the bunch), and has a really interesting texture. 

We have a sample garment in the shop, and if you come by and take a look at it, you'll see that this yarn has great stitch definition, shows off lace well, and beautiful color saturation.

Finally, I thought I might show you something I've been working on in bits and pieces, and we'll see if anyone can guess what it is. 

For my mystery project (and it is a pattern that we carry in the store, if anyone is interested), I'm using Noro Silk Garden in colorway 226, which is a really pretty blend of blues, purples, grays, browns, and every now and then, a touch of pale pink.  The pattern also calls for a solid contrast color, and for that I chose Malabrigo in Paris Night, which is a rich navy color.  I have to say, both the project and the colorways are not something I normally gravitate towards, but this project has been so much fun (and addictive)!  I'll be sure to put in an update next post.

Oohs and aahs

We have a few things in the store that continuously get attention, even though some of them have been on display for almost a year, so I thought this might be a good forum to talk about them.

The first is a swatch of Wendy's that we have up at the front counter.  She took three colorways of Prism Bolero and knitted them up in a half linen stitch using one color per row. 

Half linen stitch is much easier than it looks.  First, cast on an odd number of stitches.  On the first row, you knit one stitch, *bring the yarn to the front, slip a stitch, bring the yarn to the back and knit one, repeating from the * to the end of the row.  Purl the second row.  On the third row, you knit two, *bring the yarn to the front, slip a stitch, bring the yarn to the back and knit one, repeating from * to the end of the row.  Purl row four.  These four rows make up the half linen stitch.  And when slipping the stitches, do so purlwise, so they'll be situated on the needle correctly when you purl them on the next row.

The other element that makes this swatch so eye-catching is the use of three different varigated colorways.  The slipped stitches and floats blend the colors together much more gracefully than regular stripes.  Also, working with an odd number of strands allows you to work one row in one color.  For example, when working with three colors, you first knit across with color A.  Then pick up color B and purl back.  Finally, you pick up color C and knit across again, and then color A is ready for you to purl with.  It's pretty interesting how combining two simple ideas can result in such a fabulous end product.

One of the other attention-grabbers is this baby blanket made by Wendy's MIL, Trena.  By using a simple crochet pattern and self-striping Noro Silk Garden, a ho-hum pattern comes to life. 

This shell stitch pattern is in the book Under Cover, but done in a solid colored yarn.  And honestly, when you take a look through the book, you might pass this one up.  But again, by combining two simple ideas, you can create something beautiful.  The shell pattern stacks up on itself, with the second row nestling itself in the nooks of the first row.  When you use a yarn that stripes, colors that would normally sit next to or on top of each other become separate little pods, maximizing their impact.  This is definitely a great pattern to have in your arsenal the next time you need a quick baby gift.

And finally, there's this little guy.  Needlefelting is a great way to embellish anything of your projects.  Roving is inexpensive, and comes in small amounts that go a loooong way. 

I felted this little bird onto a felted clutch out of the book One Skein.  You can really use your imagination and put just about anything on anything.  Just let your creativity run loose:  you can do monograms, geometric patterns, yellow stars, red hearts, green clovers, and, well, you get the picture.

We have lots of tools to get you started, along with roving in lots of different colors.  And, if you don't quite feel confident enough to get started on your own, we offer a needlefelting class.

Speaking of classes, Wendy and I are working on the class schedule not just for May, not just June, but all the way through July!  Hopefully we'll have everything squared away by the end of the week, so be on the lookout.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Yarns 2 Ewe blog!  This is Jaime, and I'll be writing to keep you all posted on new things going on in the store, such as new yarns, classes and whatnot.

So tonight was our party kicking off the start of Sock Wars, and, really, just celebrating all that sock-y goodness.  We got some new colors of Lorna's Laces for the occasion, including Huron, Pilsen and Edgewater.  These new colors are so lush and rich; I can't wait to get some of this on the needles.

Also new to Y2E for the occasion are Cookie A's line of sock patterns.  These patterns are really amazing, I don't know how she comes up with them.  They're all so intricate and thoughtful - I mean, you should see some of the heels on these!  These socks really demand a solid or semi-solid color yarn, like Alpaca Sox or Colinette Jitterbug.  We have her entire line in stock now, with the exception of Moselle, which was put on back order.

We had a great turnout for our party, and the winner of our sock contest was Heather!  Her Annetrelac socks from the Holiday issue of Interweave Knits won by a landslide.  All week long, customers were getting up close to take a look at it, and marveling not only at the beautiful Noro Kureyon yarn, but at Heather's precise stitchwork.  Nice job, Heather!  Heather also took second place, with her Twisted Flower socks, and Fay won third, with her Trekking socks done in a pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.  Thanks to all of our entrants, and, along with their entry fees, Yarns 2 Ewe will be donating $200 to the Depelchin Center to buy socks and shoes for children.  Thanks to everyone who came and made this a great event!

In non-sock related news, we've expanded our line of Cascade 220.  We now have almost every color that Noni uses in her line of patterns (and speaking of Noni, we've got her spring line in stock now, too!). 

Look at all of these fabulous colors!  Cascade has a great color palette, and now we've got a really good range.  We've added more blues, more greens, and more purples.  Come by and take a look at this wall of color!

Also new to the store is Skacel's addi Natura line of bamboo needles.  You get that fabulous addi join and cord with smooth bamboo needles.  I love this needle, and can't wait to expand my collection!

So come by the store, see what's new, and get inspired!

Jaime