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 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL The Ultimate Knitted Heart pattern. |
 The sale that you've been waiting for to warm your knitter's heart:
WOOL-TYME Kingston's
7th annual Midwinter Sweetheart SALE
-Monday Feb 9th to Saturday Feb. 14th
Buy 4 balls of any of our regularly priced in-stock yarns
and get a 5th ball for FREE!!!
What a great time to get the yarn for the afghan that you've been planning, the sweaters for next Christmas, the sock yarn that you just have to try. |
BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS 
The Chicks with Sticks GUIDE TO KNITTING This fabulous new book is just what the world of knitting needs to continue to feed the young knitters who want to get a good grounding while learning to create interesting and fashionable garments and accessories. Link to a complete book review at BlogCritics Magazine.
 Fine, handpainted yarn is truly a phenomenon in the fibre world as it seems to seduce everyone who comes into the store. Now this glorious book, Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn is dedicated to making the most of the beauty of the colour play that is the feature of handpainted yarns.
I WANT THIS SWEATER! Isn't it beautiful. It's on the cover of XRX's new Knit One Below, a book dedicated to the designs that can be achieved by using 2 yarns (but only one per row!) and knitting into the some of the stitches from the row below. An easy technique to learn, with about 36 fabulous pattern-reasons to try it. |
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NEW YARNS FOR WINTER AND SPRING  Looking for something fast and fun and stylish to get you through the long snowy days? WAVES from King Cole is here to the rescue. A beautifully textured, bulky thick and thin in gorgeous colours and with a good selection of patterns makes this new yarn a real winner.
And we're bridging the seasons with the early arrival of our first spring yarn, also from King Cole: BAMBOO COTTON DK, a beautiful yarn with a glorious sheen and rich colours. Bamboo is a natural fibre that is great at wicking moisture and is anti- bacterial making this a great yarn for kids garments. Added to the cotton it has a more resilient drape and will work with any DK summer knitting pattern. Sure to become a standard. |
KNITTING ON THE NET, (and in magazines too!)
This month's newstand edition of Canadian Living has 2 fabulous knitting patterns,
including this knitted cowl, which uses any of our luxurious DK yarns. And to make it even easier for you, they offer this and many other patterns on-line. It's so good to have knitting recognized as being worth the page space in magazines again.
 My other favourite place on the net for quality patterns is at the Berroco Yarns site, which is now featuring a page that highlights their top 10 patterns that customers have chosen this week.
Finally, what is a trip on the net if you can't find  something fun: a whole new meaning to cold turkey. You have to check out this blog: 1001 Arabian Knits, This girl has a wonderful sense of humour. |
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Knitting tip of the month:
Blocking... Is it necessary?
The truth is that blocking is essentially pressing your pieces flat and into shape, using a "wet and allow it to dry" method and not using the heat of an iron. Now just as there are fabric garments that shouldn't be pressed flat (you wouldn't iron the pleats out of a skirt), there are textured knits (i.e. cables) that should be left to show off their 3 dimensionality, but otherwise it is a good idea to finish off your project by blocking it.
The Blocking Sandwich:
5- wicking dry towel
4- water
3- towel
2- knitted pieces
1- towel and or blocking pads
Directions:
1& 2- On a towel (or blocking pads if the piece needs to be pinned) lay out the knitted pieces as you would like them to look when finished.
3- Drape a dry towel on top.
4- Sprinkle enough clean water (I use bottled or filtered water as our system has rust residue) over the entire surface of the knitting to make the towel wet, especially seams, collars and details.
5- Drape a dry towel over it and pat down firmly to wick up as much excess water as possible and to flatten the pieces.
-Remove the wicking towel and allow the pieces to sit overnight.
-Remove the middle towel and allow garment to dry completely.
-Admire the difference that the blocking process has made.
Tips to remember and try:
-Get a pile of foam squares from DOLLARAMA to provide a semi water-proof base into which you can put RUSTPROOF pins.
-No amount of blocking will make a piece of knitting in Stocking Stitch lie flat.
-Be gentle: blocking can help a bit to resize your garment, but NEVER stretch it too much as it may not spring back if you need it to.
-After washing, if you dry your piece on a flat surface, smoothing and shaping it, you are in fact blocking it.
-Never judge a piece of knitting that looks frumpy until you've blocked it. Always block lace pieces. |
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 The Life of a Knit Nut (an excerpt from a poem by Judith Cleland.)
I knit when I'm bored, nothing good on TV.
I knit when I'm sad, or just want to be me.
...I knit in the winter, warm hats and mittens.
I knit in the evening, it amuses my kitten.
...I knit with my left hand. I knit with my right.
I knit on vacation and late in the night.
...I sniff out a yarn store with hound-dog precision,
as a new garment appears in my vision.
...In the midst of a quarrel I've been known to knit.
It adds fuel to the fire, perhaps I should quit.
But I pick up my needles and leave once again,
for the enchanted world of kn 3 and pl 10. | |
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Why wait for spring...
KNIT IT NOW AND SAVE!
Great Cotton Sale!!!
Time to clear out some of our old favourites from previous summers to make room for the new stock coming in...
Ella Rae BABY COTTON, Katia SAMBA self-striping cotton, Grignasco SHANGAI 100% silk, Lana Grossa BASICS 31 cotton, and Lana Gatto's beautiful SUMMER aran weight cotton are all drastically reduced, (some as little as $2/ball)
Get a jump on spring and come in while the selection is good.  |
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CLASSES FOR FEBRUARY
 There are still a few spots open for the drop spindle class on Sat. Feb.21st and the  advanced sock techniques on Sat. Feb 28th.
Both classes are from 1-4pm and you can register by calling the store at 613-384-3951 |
COMING EVENTS & KNITTING NEWS
FRIDAY MARCH 13TH
Why should bikers and the superstitious have all the fun on Friday, the 13th???
Dig out your projects with ends to be sewn in, sleeves to be adjusted, collars to be finished and join us at WOOL-TYME Kingston on the 13th of March for an evening of knitting - until we can't knit any more. Ring in the approach of spring with treats, prizes, refreshments and good old fibre friendships.
Friday, March 13th, starts at 6pm.
All are welcome.
FREE!!
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Knitting groups in the city -Loose Ends Knitting Group meets at the downtown Tea Store on the corner of Princess and Sydenham St every Sunday morning from 10am-noon.
-The Kingston Knitting Circle will be meeting at Chapters in their community room on Tuesday Feb. 17th and on Tues. March 17th from 7-9pm. I'll keep you posted re a change of location after that.
-The Downtown Knitting group meets on Monday evenings at the Toucan Pub on Princess St at 8pm.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME OUT AND MEET YOUR FELLOW CRAFTERS AROUND THE CITY.
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WOOL-TYME Kingston will be closed on Monday, Feb. 16th to celebrate Family Day.
Give your kid, parent, partner, friend, pet, neighbour a hug! |
On Dress Down Friday for Breast Cancer, Oct. 2nd, WOOL-TYME Kingston sold pink cupcakes and donated a portion of day's sales to Breast Cancer Action Kingston. This group has a wonderful knitting project whereby patients awaiting their chemo treatments can knit squares which are then joined into the beautiful blankets and returned to Quinte/Thousand Islands Lodge where patients can use them to keep warm during their treatments.
We at WOOL-TYME Kingston are so glad to be able to facilitate this project by supplying yarn, needles and connecting with a wonderful crafter who is a magician at putting squares together in an artful way.
Many hands make beautiful work for each other. | |
Kingston Newsletter
