WOOL-TYME Kingstonlogo Kingston Newsletter
725 Gardiners Rd, Kingston ON
 
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February 2010
THE E-NEWSLETTER THAT KNITS US TOGETHER.
                                                      
Valentine sheep The sale that you've been waiting for to warm your knitter's heart:
WOOL-TYME Kingston's
8th annual Midwinter Sweetheart SALE 
 -Monday Feb 15th to Saturday Feb. 20th
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 yarn for the afghan that you've been planning, the sweaters for next Christmas, the sock yarn that you just have to try.
knit night cupcakesAn alternative to the Valentine's box of chocolates.
Aren't these just the greatest? Lauren Ulm is Lolo of VEGAN YUM YUM, another terrifically creative foodie who has  turned her love of vegan cooking into a stunning blog and soon to be cookbook.
She created these marzipan knitted accents for some party cupcakes. Link here for more pictures and the video of her guest spot with Martha Stewart to show us all how it's done. (Surprisingly simple!)
(I'll have to try and make some for our (KNITTING) OLYMPICS 2010 Kickoff party at the store. - see below for more details.)
3 FABULOUS ARRIVALS FROM SIRDAR
Click DKSirdar Yarns is one of the most popular companies that we carry. Extraordinary quality in patterns, materials and a good blend of what's  trendy and what is valuable for its classic appeal.
This month we've brought in 3 wonderful yarns that demonstrate that perfectly: CLICK DK, FAMILY WORSTED WITH WOOL, and the oddly named but beautiful nonetheless ONE HOUR SCARF.
CLICK DK boasts a lovely shade range in a perfect wool and acrylic blend that is cozy yet light to wear.
 
one hour scarfFAMILY WORSTED WITH WOOL is just what we've been waiting for to compliment the colour range in our ever popular worsted weight yarns. Bright colours and a good blend for washability at a great price will make this a standard yarn for our store.
 
THE ONE HOUR SCARF is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration in that it took me a whole DVD movie to finish it, but it is still a beautiful scarf of very secure and high quality chenille that is as soft as can be imagined. Super easy and quick, you can whip up a couple as Valentines presents for the cuties in your circle who whined that you didn't knit them anything for Christmas.  
OTHER BIG AND BEAUTIFUL SCARVES. 
Wooly Bully Scarf and hat set
It's been the month for big, fast scarves around here with 3 new features. FREE patterns are available for each of them. Come and check 'em out and relax in the warmth and fun of making one of each.
The first was the ONE HOUR SCARF as described and pictured above.
 
The second is the free featured pattern this month (see bottom of this newsletter for more information and link), pictured here made by alternating rows of contrasting colours of Estelle's gorgeous WOOL-BULLY fashion yarn. This particular scarf pattern comes with this cute sideways knit garter stitch hat pattern too. Cascade MAGNUMA real beginners treat.
The last is a glorious quick scarf made of a single skein (250g of 100% Peruvian Highland Wool - as soft as you can imagine) of Cascade Yarn's MAGNUM incorporating this season's very popular stockinette/eyelet pattern. Just the thing for all your young trendsetters.
BOOKS FOR HEADS AND FEET
KNITKID This is Trond Anfinnsen, aka KNITKID holding up a copy of his book: HAT HEADS, which is described as the "greatest, funniest, most personal, unique, rare and peculiar book on knitting." KNITKID began knitting beautiful beanie style hats for friends and family, and had his buddy take portraits of the recipients wearing their hats. Link through the picture to a slide show of the hats and look at all the different faces. The book introduces you to all these people, AND gives great directions for all of the patterns to boot. I love the concept. It's really fun.
 Sensational Slippers
SENSATIONAL SLIPPERS by Benedikte Rathmann Hansen is an example of what happens when an prolific fibre artist puts her mind to a chosen theme: she comes up with 30 incredibly different designs using 4 complimentary craft modes: felting, fulling (Knitting and felting), knitting and crochet. This book is for anyone who is interested in perfecting their skills in any or all of these crafts without the worry of detail -slippers are always wearer friendly: if they're a bit big, you add a pair of socks. If they're a bit small, you find a "Cinderella" who will fit them. Excellent technique directions and all kinds of inspiration.
 
The Joy of SoxNEWS FROM THE SECRET SOCIETY OF SOCK KNITTERS: the arrival of 2 GREAT BOOKS:
48% of sock knitters prefer playing footsy with socks on - according to Linda Kopp's  "sexy" sock book: THE JOY OF SOX.
 
And Kathleen Taylor's "The BIG BOOK OF SOCKS" even offers tips that your knitting teacher won't tell you.  
The Big Book of Socks 
Both of these books are terrific and offer a wealth of knowledge for beginners and advanced sock knitters alike. (I'll be borrowing a few tips from the BIG BOOK for the Sock-In-A-Day class coming up in March.)
WELCOME BACK JEAN!
Jean Greenhowe Toy Books Finally, a new supplier has been found for all of the Jean Greenhowe books. Jean is one of the world's best designers of knitted toys and animals, and is a favourite of knitters everywhere.
 Check out the selection on our Toy Knits table, just to the left of the front door as you come in the store.
KNITTING ON THE NET
knitting on the netFor those of us who are big fans of tea, and can't imagine how the rest of the world operates without the aid of tea cozies, here's a new pattern that came to my attention.This felted knitting bagElephant Tea Cozy reminds me of a  Disney movie that I believe featured some purple elephant-like animal. Better than pink ones anyway - but who would see pink elephants while drinking tea anyway?
 
 
Knitted Poem 
It all started with Gwyneth Lewis's poem: HOW TO KNIT A POEM. Just 2 years later, the British Poetry Society and over 1000 knitters around the world had done just that. Letter by letter, word by word, they gathered 12" blocks for each letter building the lines of Dylan Thomas's poem "In My Craft Or Sullen Art". You can even link here to see what your own poem, or any poem of your choosing would look like when written out in knitted block letters. ( Try it - a very COOL feature of this site.)
knitting buddha
  Knitting Tip of the Month :  
 Increases and Decreases
 When you have to increase or decrease repeatedly in a pattern this is usually referred to as "shaping".
There are a few things that will help you do it evenly and without losing your mind:
WRITE OUT the sequence ahead of time on a line by line basis, especially if you have to decrease at neck and sleeve edges simultaneously. It's not difficult to shape your knitting if you do your thinking ahead of time then just follow each line as you've plotted it out.
DON'T SWEAT IF YOU FORGET: You get to the end of your row and realize that you forgot to increase on the other end of the sleeve?Just put the increase in when you get back to the same side on the next row. The little difference that one row makes will not be noticeable.
BE CONSISTENT: You will have probably noticed that there are several different ways to increase a stitch. Don't worry if you have a favourite and they ask for a different way in the pattern. So long as you are consistent in always using the same method, and the stitch count stays the same and you like the effect...it's your own design style.
With decreases it's a little trickier. There is a decrease that makes a "Ski slope" off to the left (SSK or SL1, K1, PSSO)  and one that slopes to the right (K2tog). Generally to keep this ski slope effect you work the left slant at the beginning of your needle (SSK-slipping around at the beginning of your ski holiday) and the right one at the end of the needle (with 2 feet together - K2tog - at the end of the day.)
BUT so long as you are consistent and use the 2 methods, one on each end of the needle, it will look like a lovely design that you wanted to incorporate in your garment.
DO YOU HAVE A BLOG YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
The Dog Blog Do you have a blog that you'd like to share with some of the other knitters and interested people who receive our newsletter and visit my blog? Please send me an e-mail and we'll see what we can do about linking up.
What's on Anne's Needles?
 
a mess of wool 

Doesn't this look like just the thing to drive you crazy when your knitting?
 
WHAT IS IT? you might ask. I've been working on a new headband pattern for the THRUM Knitting class that I'll be teaching on Sat. Feb. 6th (Still time and a few spots to sign up for- see details below.) Thrum knitting is not difficult, just a bit more time consuming than regular knitting but the cozy results are well worth it. What I like about this headband is that the lovely padding of fleece will be enclosed in a knitted tube, so it will keep you warm without losing any of it's fluff on your clothes.
This is what the good side will look like. Thrummed headband (in progress) 
FAIR ISLE KNITTING
 The list of classes being offered in March and April is now up on the Blog site. Check it out, there are some old favourites (Fair Isle knitting, Sock-In-A-Day, Rug hooking) and some fun new ones to try too like Illusion knitting (See feature later on in this newsletter)
 
And for those who want to improve their knitting confidence to include sweaters we're offering a 3 class- 2 week SWEATER BOOT CAMP where you will go through all the basics of knitting this great little baby cardigan and learn a whole stack of tricks and tips that you can use when knitting any sweater. Bulky Baby Jacket
You can register in person or by calling the store at 613-384-3951 
Dates to remember FEBRUARY'S COMING EVENTS 
 
 For such a little month, February sure is a busy one this year.
CLASSES
 Feb. 6th is the Knitting with Thrums class at the store which still has some room.
Feb 20th is the Rug hooking class for beginners. (1 spot left if anyone is interested).
Feb 27th is the Fairisle Knitting class. Link here to the blog for more information.
 
 ANNUAL SWEETHEART SALE AT WOOL-TYME Kingston.
Feb. 15th-20th BUY 4 get one FREE
GET-TOGETHERS
Feb. 10th and 24th will have the rug hookers meeting at the WOOL-TYME Kingston store from 6:30-8:30pm. All are welcome.
Feb. 12th is the (Knitting) Olympic 2010 Kick Off at the store,  and the following 2 Tuesdays will have knitters meeting at JAKK TUESDAYS' sports bar to cheer on our Canadians and to advance our knitting projects. (see details of how WOOL-TYME Kingston is embracing the 2010 Knitting Olympics below).
 
And don't forget - we get a holiday this month:
WOOL-TYME Kingston will be closed on Monday, Feb. 15th to celebrate Family Day.
Give your kid, parent, partner, friend, pet, neighbour a hug!
VANCOUVER 2010 
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
On my last blog posting, I was explaining a bit about  the merging of Olympics and Knitting as it began 4 years ago when S. P.-M./the  Yarn Harlot almost single handedly had to acknowledge thousands of participants to the first Winter Knitting Olympics. Now, the internet and social networking systems have come so far, and thank heavens as there are already  6838 members on a single Ravelry group dedicated to the Vancouver Games.
Although I haven't signed  a "team" or even registered my project, I am taking this very seriously nonetheless, as I fear I won't get my brother's sweater under way until July (due in Sept) if I don't give myself this excuse.
WOOL-TYME Kingston is happy to invite you all to our place for an Opening Ceremonies - Kick Off Party, on Friday, Feb. 12th beginning at 6:30pm, perhaps making our way next door to JAKK TUESDAYS Sports Bar later in the evening to watch the ceremonies on their 120" screen T.V.
Then each Tuesday during the Games, (Feb. 16th and 23rd) will see me and anyone who would like to join me over at JAKKS for a dedicated evening of sharing the experience with other knitters.
All are welcome, please feel free to join in any or all of these events, with or without a dedicated Knitting Olympic project.
DO YOU HAVE ANY KNITTING OLYMPIC ACTIVITIES?
Please let me know and I'd be glad to post them on my Blog.
ILLUSION KNITTING
Illusion knitting #1
 
illusion knitting #2
 
Illusion knitting #3c
 
Isn't this cool? Learn how to incorporate this sneeky little secret in your knitted hats, scarves, vests. 
Rachel Bearse will be teaching the Illusion Knitting Class on Sat. April 24th. 
WOOLY BULLY Hat and ScarfFebruary's FREE PATTERNS
 WOOLY BULLY is a great thick and thin yarn from Estelle Designs that has been consistently popular since it was introduced about 4 years ago. It seemed like it was time for a new pattern to entice knitters who had perhaps not discovered its quick and easy colour blending ways.
 By the way, the next time you're in the store, check out Jan's beautiful knitted coat, blending WOOLY BULLY and Manos Del Uruguay's Wool Classica. It's gorgeous!
 

Click here for WOOL-TYME Kingston's ever popular website of free patterns