a haiku about yarn

warm and fuzzy yarn
makes me happy in my soul
smiling when I knit

goodies :: yarn market gift bag from classic elite yarns

Earlier this month, some of the Hill Country Weavers staff headed out to Boston for the Yarn Market News Conference, where they learned all about small business management, marketing, social media, and general good-willed yarniness. And when they returned, they brought with them goodies and handouts from many of the vendors present at the con. We’re in the process of divvying up the goodies amongst the ladies of the shop, and today I got to come home with this lovely little goodie bag from Classic Elite Yarns.

Included were two skeins of their Firefly yarn, a pair of 24″ US6 ChiaoGoo circular knitting needles, and felted keyfob (with info cards for yarn weights, how to do a kitchener stitch, and other useful stuff), a pattern for their Firefly yarn (though not enough to make it, go figure), a pen (I love office supplies!), and a great pin:

I love my yarn shop so much I work at it.

I can’t wait to play with their Firefly yarn: 155 yards, 25% Viscose/75% Linen, dk weight yarn with a lovely shine and a tad of fuzz from the viscose. Another thing to add to my “knit soon” pile. Once I get through the million other things I need to finish.

ek

app review: yarn u

A few weeks ago I was approached by Mary Beth Klatt, the mastermind behind Yarn U, to review the app she developed. As someone that works at a yarn shop, I was very interested to see what the app had to offer, and if it could be of use to us at the shop. read more

why my mom is the best ever (like I need proof)

So today I was poking around on Knit Picks, checking out their super amazing new accessories. I mean, those blocking pads? So awesome. Immediately added to cart. I also threw in some blocking pins, yarn to make more TARDIS iPod cozies, and a few other goodies. Then I remembered that my mom was looking for an indoor/decorative scarf so I sent her an email to see what kind of scarf she wanted and what color. She seemed to like the Lace Ribbon scarf and so I linked her to some of the fingering weight yarns on KP. I said, hey, I’m throwing together an order, so just let me know what you prefer and I’ll add it. Then she says:

Thanks. Before you put in your order…..I will pay for the materials….including your order (since I cannot buy you chocolate bunnys for Easter..etc…) I will give you a credit card number to use. Don’t go over $100 for all. Let me know.

Mom

The knitting daughter’s dream come true. She is seriously so awesome. Mom <3! As my plurk buds have pointed out, “Yarn will get you much further than chocolate bunnys”! So true. Happy dance!

not a subsitute for human interaction

You know, it’s Spring Break this week at UT-Austin. I should get out and do something, especially when it’s in the 80ºs outside and sunny as all get-out. But I just learned how to spin and I want to practice while I have the chance to. So I went over to Hill Country Weavers and set up shop in Knit Buzz. There are six wheels in there free to use, so I spent six hours today with a Louët Julia (which I am in love with).

I spent the first two hours spinning up the roving I get during Spinning 101, and then decided to branch out and trying something new. I went over to the shop and picked up 4 ounces of a merino/silk blend. It was tricky at first to get it started because it was so smooth! I had to use some scrap roving to get it started, and then I joined the merino/silk blend to the wool roving.

Pomegranate

The colorway of the roving was labeled “Pomegranate” so that’s what I’ll stick with. I tried to get a thin yarn out of it, so I really focused on a fine and tight twist. I may have put in too much twist, but that’s something I’ll get better at with time I think. It gives anywhere from 15 to 20 wraps per inch, which puts it somewhere around sport weight or fingering weight. I skeined it, washed it, and hung it outside to dry. I’ll take some skein pictures once it’s dried up. The color above is a bit off; hopefully some pictures of it dry will be more color accurate.

Now I’m on a hunt for a good deal on a wheel. I’m looking mostly for a Louët, because I’ve worked on three different Louët wheels (Julia, Victoria, and an S10) and I loved them all. Particularly the Julia, but there is no way I’ll ever have $750 to drop on a wheel. I don’t even have $300 to drop on a wheel. If I sell off my video game stuff (which I’ve been contemplating anyway) I might be able to afford a wheel. We’ll see what happens.