Tuesday, June 29, 2010

HPKY Scarf In a Scarf Kit

I got an email this morning from Rex and Bjorn from Hand Painted Knitting Yarns, or HPKY. In addition to their very popular Giant Skeins, we offer this Scarf In a Scarf Kit, which retails for around $60. It is 4 hanks of 60/40 merino wool/silk 2 ply which has been hand painted with a 100% silk scarf. The pattern (included) could not be easier, so these are perfect for the beginning knitter or for anyone to whip up some quick gifts.
Here is my sample earlier this spring with my lilacs. Well, technically, they are my neighbors' lilacs, but they are hanging over the fence, so these few branches are "mine." Funny how my sense of ownership works. You can thread the scarf through the eyelet holes down the middle of the scarf, or wrap around the sides. People who are great with scarves can probably come up with many ways to wear this piece.

Here is one of my favorite "stylings." I love the jewel tones of this colorway.


And now there are "light-to-dark," in one color, versions. So pretty! Or go with wild multicolored handpaints. Either way, the silk scarf will be dyed to match. LYSO's, the best way to introduce these in your shop is to order a case of 20, tell your customers that they will be unveiled on a certain day and time, and then keep them under a sheet until then. Have a drumroll or some sparkling wine and "Voila!" pull the sheet off and watch your customers dive in. These are selling like crack.



Monday, June 21, 2010

What's new with Abstract Fiber?

The Abstract Fiber booth at TNNA was rockin! And many designers and shops have already posted about Susan's yarns and fibers. I have a ridiculous amount of cash and carry right now, since it made more sense for me to put the yarn samples from the show in my car, than it did for Susan to ship them back to Oregon. So, if you own a LYS in my area, and want some of this for your customers, let me know soon!

Top picture is Soprano. 4.5 oz, 284 yds, DK 50% Merino, 50% silk. Shown here in Sweet Pea, Glenn Jackson Bridge, and Mousse.

Middle picture is Temptation Sock. Shown here in Burnside Bridge (L) and Mt Hood Rose.
3.5 oz, 440 yards. For socks, use a US 1 or 2 needle. 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Nylon, 10% Cashmere. YUM! I am doing a Concentric Shawl with Valentine (way bright mostly pink) and Mousse (tonal browns.)

The last picture shows Alto, in Opal and Marionberry. It is 100% Superwash Blue Faced Leicester, 4.5 oz, 392 yds, so a sport weight.
Susan also introduced 2 new spinnable fibers, but they are out in the car in my Abstract Fiber sample case. More on those later.

where are my pictures?




I am a pretty bad blogger. Here are the pics that were supposed to show in yesterday's Schaefer post. I could not see them on my computer. Lame.


Sunday, June 20, 2010

What's new with Schaefer Yarn for Fall 2010?


I spent most of my TNNA time at the Schaefer Yarn booth. It was hard work setting up the booth and it really was stunning once it was done. Nothing like seeing all those colors live, and seeing all of the great knitted samples. The best part about the experience for me was getting to absorb so much from Cheryl Schaefer and from Laura Nelkin. My confidence in my knowledge of the yarns and colors rose about 100%. I felt like I had attended Schaefer University! They are very, very good at what they do, and the whole thing, thought sometimes a little crazy, was fun.

One reason for the excitement was the new yarn, Chris. A worsted weight 80% Superwash Extrafine Merino with 20% Nylon, it is the big sister to last year's favorite sock yarn, Nichole. Super squishy and bouncy. What fun to put it in people's hands and tell them to give it a squeeze. First day home, I cast on for the Chris Linen Stitch Jacket, inspired by the sample we had at the show. It makes such a wonderful fabric and really shows off the handpainted colorway, breaking up any possible pooling. With a nice tight twist, 215 yards worth of pretty color will be good for kids' stuff (because don't forget WASHABLE) and sweaters.



Also, the Audrey is still super-hot. There are a few new patterns, from both Schaefer and Nelkin Designs. I am knitting the Audrey Royale Shawl in Renata Tebaldi and it is rediculous how nice the yarn is. Surprisingly tough for a single-ply fingering 50/50 wool silk--I did have to rip back a few times, and I was nervous that the yarn would start to look tired, but no problems. I kept missing little mistakes, because I was so tired by the time we got back to our room, and partly due to how engrossed I became in the Cupcake Wars show. Laura and I were roomies, and she was cracking me up. I am looking forward to knitting up either Brick House, or Circulate soon. I think both of these would make good classes or knitalongs. One of Laura's TIPS sessions at TNNA was regarding great patterns for classes. She must have done a terrific job, because 60 people attended that session, and many of those folks came to the booth and told us all what an excellent job Laura did!





This Audrey Royale will be very pretty when blocked. 700 yards = a nice sized shawlette.








Below is a skein of Chris in a new color, Dorothea Lange. Oh, man! I almost forgot about the colors. There are 9 new multi-handpainted colorways, all winners, and 3 new Subtly Solid Botanicals added to the palette. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to wrangle 7 skeins of the new Apple Green, Spruce, or Saffron to knit a sample Basketweave Cardigan. Everything is so new, it is not even up on the website yet.



Yesterday I took all of my new cash and carry Schaefer up to The Cultured Purl in Erie, PA. Shirani has a tremendous shop and I was impressed by the talent and adventurousness of her customers. It is always a treat when I meet people who are not afraid to try new things. We sold a bunch of yarn, and it turned out to be a nice little moneymaking hot summer day. Schaefer is always good for a yarn party. Shirani said it brought in people she had not seen in her shop in a while, and some brand new visitors. End of June, I am doing another Schaefer event at Dyed in the Wool, right here in Pittsburgh.
I've been reading a fair number of TNNA recap posts. At first I thought I would do a big newsletter for my LYS customers to share what is new with all of my creative partners, and what yarns, fibers and colors I am most excited about as a rep and as a knitter/beginning spinner. But that seems really hard. And I tend to put off really hard tasks, until it is way too late. So my new plan is to do a maneageable blog post for each of the vendors. First I will need a nap. So, for now I will just say that this is the only picture I took at TNNA. It is blurry, but is actually a good representation of what the world looked like to me that Friday night. My joke is that next year I will do a TIPS session on "How to Drink Red Wine For Free All Night." I am excellent at that. Hey, look...isn't that Stacey W. from Knit One? Oh, and unlike most of the great bloggers who were at the show, I have still never tasted Jeni's Ice Cream.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

My first Noni Bag!

It had never even occurred to me to knit and felt a bag, although of course I have seen thousands of them on my travels. Then I saw the Noni Nomad Bag with the ridiculously cool Jul Explorer Collection handles, and my destiny was set before me. Here's my recipe: 7 skeins Stonehenge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool in Baby Blue, a little bit of random handspun to "grey it up" a bit, the Jul Amazon Rubber Explorer Handle, a matching zipper, and turquoise silk Noni Pockets. The knitting was easy and fairly fast, although this is a big mama of a bag. Two strands of worsted weight plus a little laceweight handspun on US size 11 needles makes for some satisfying TV knitting. I actually felted test swatches, and realized that there was little danger of overfelting, so that was all pretty straightforward also. Then I had to dust off some sewing skills. It had really been a while (15 years? since the wedding dress?) and I was not graceful with the needle and thread until the end of the zipper and sewing down the handle tabs. Then I got a little crazy and went to the bead/button/sequin stash and started adding the bling, as you can see. I hope it doesn't look too "bedazzled." Now I have a use for all of my wool stash. And bead stash. And my button stash is not as great as I thought. Will have to do something about that.
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Saturday, June 5, 2010

Sad about Unicorn Fibre Wash and TNNA


I am sad to say, I spoke with Anna from Unicorn Fibre Wash earlier today and they will be unable to attend TNNA, since Pino seriously injured his knee during their recent move of their farm and business to Virginia. It is too bad that all of the TNNA attendees will miss out on the presence of Unicorn. I am not able to cover the booth, since I am already committed to Schaefer (104) and will be running to help Jul Silver (246) whenever I can. Please, if anyone has any questions, or needs info about Unicorn Fibre wash products, please come see me at the show, or Ravmail me (user name Greedy). I will help you in any way that I can.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

My Creative Partners at TNNA

Here is the list of all my creative partners who will be exhibiting at TNNA. Please come see me at the Schaefer Booth or at Jul. I will be running back and forth the whole show!


Abstract Fiber 154
The Alpaca Yarn Company 641, 643
Bijou Basin Ranch 241, 243
Durango Button Company, Inc. 1239
The Fibre Company 952, 954, 956
Fibre Isle International, Inc. 1355
Handpainted Knitting Yarns 648, 650, 652, 654
Hiya Hiya North America 143, 242
Ja Ja Ja NeedleArt Bags 1152
JUL 246
Mountain Meadow Wool 948, 950
Schaefer Yarn Company 104, 106, 108
Unicorn Fibre Wash 742

more HPKY

Here are some more of the semisolid HPKY colors.

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Handpainted Knitting Yarns Semisolids

I attended TNNA this January in Long Beach, CA (not too shabby! It was incredible to sit outside and enjoy a beer with my husband and watch the sunset--IN JANUARY!) It was my second trade show, and mostly I volunteered to work the booths of many of my vendors. Since I already had a lot of small companies, I really wasn't looking to take on any new products.
Until Val and Karen from Mountain Meadow Wool talked up the guys at Handpainted Knitting Yarns, who had done a little dyeing for MMwool.

Handpainted Knitting Yarns (HPKY for short) is kind of a generic sounding name for a very interesting yarn. Their Giant Skeins are 12 different fibers that have all been handpainted together in the same colorway. The result is fancy yarns, rich in texture and color, that only need simple stitching to turn into a striking piece. I couldn't resist the color, the uniqueness, or the charm of Rex Tannahill and Bjorn Coordt, who run the company from Wentzville, MO. It was unlike any of my other lines, and so we decided to work together.

I am cooking up some ideas for shops and their customers to participate in knitalongs with the Giant Skeins, and step one was to try to get some pictures of the colors. Here are *some* of the semisolids!

My aim is to continue to post info and pictures of highlights of my yarn and accessory lines. This way, if my LYS customers will check my blog regularly, they can see what is new and exciting right away, instead of having to wait a couple weeks or months, for me to get to them on my sales "route." And the casual blog visitor/knitter can see what is out there, even if it has not made it onto local shelves yet.

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