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725 Gardiners Rd, Kingston ON 613-384-3951 |
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August 2010 | The newsletter that knits us together. | |
 Meet Laura Chau
Laura is one of a growing number of very talented Canadian knitwear designer. Her company, CosmicPluto offers a tremendous selection of absolutely wearable projects with a touch of class.
We will be featuring her patterns during the month of August as a way of introducing Laura to a wider audience and hope that you get a chance to come in and see our own version of the Milkweed Shawl that she is wearing here.
And see below for Anne's modest beginnings of Laura's super easy Simple yet Effective shawl in our newest yarn: ZAUBERBALL. |
Remember the old song: " In the summertime, you have knitting, you have knitting on your mind..." Oops, maybe that's not quite how it went.
Summer certainly is here in full swing and I wish that I could say that this is a picture of my new bike, but it's actually a very creative production from the fine folks at Naughty by Nature, a knitting store in Victoria, B.C. that I visited back in May. I just thought that it would be fun to remind us all that of the relationship that can be made between knitting and other summer activities.
August is an odd month in the LYS (local yarn store) world. We're waiting for new products, juggling family and holidays, planning for fall activities and generally taking a good look back at the year that was before the "new year" begins in September.
August offers you a great opportunity to take some down time to browse at WOOL-TYME Kingston, as we are getting new yarns, books and products almost daily, and you'll be one of the first to see the fashion trends that are just around the corner. |
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NEW IN BOOKS
Afghans are great, 
especially when they come from the design team at Berroco yarns. More than 50 patterns in every knitting style. I fell in love with this book from the first ad that I saw for it and it's just as good as they say it is.
 Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan
How fun! A step by step, recipe style guide to customizing your yarn colours for every project. Plus well explained instructions for designing self-striping and multicoloured yarns with dip-dyeing, tie-dyeing hand-painting, and other creative techniques.
Elsebeth Lavold's "The Just Kidding" Collection
In the 20th book of her Designer's Choice series, Elsebeth Lavold has turned her great talents to sweaters, dresses, toys and accessories for kids of all ages.
Her lovely DK Silky Wool is a classic for many of these patterns but the common gauges that she uses make this a very versatile book, with sizes ranging from infants to 10 year-olds. |
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ZAUBERBALL 4ply fingering Our latest arrival.
This unique single-ply yarn is a blend of 75% Merino Wool and 25% Nylon.
I almost forgot to mention that it's fantastic for socks too. |
SPECIAL PRODUCTS BECAUSE YOU ARE SPECIAL...
Diamond LUXURY Collection's PURE SILK LACE This glorious laceweight silk will have you drooling before you get it out of the skein. 730 meters of pure silk in beautiful colours just waiting to be turned in to your dream lace project.
Chia Goo's newest Amish-design Yarn Swift is something you've just got to have!
For those who aren't familiar with it, a "swift" is what is used to hold a skein of yarn as it is being wound into a ball. It sits on the table top (no clamping needed!) and has non-skid pads on the bottom to keep it from moving. Easy, portable and excellently priced. |
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COMING THIS FALL
Keep your calendars handy to book one or more of next season's classes. 
New: Alana will be conducting evening finishing workshops...yes, come and learn the best way to finish your garments. And Anne will be giving you all the scoop on "Blocking your knitting...how and why."
The return of last season's super successful SWEATER BOOTCAMP
And our perennial favourties: sock in a day, rug hooking, drop spindle, and a few other surprises.
Look for the email mid August to announce the schedule then visit the blog to check dates and other details.
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KNITSCENE Fall 2010
Special Issue
 For their 5th anniversary issue, KNITSCENE magazine has pulled out all the stops. Features on how to make socks that actual fit your "special" feet, everything you wanted to know about ribbing, beyond the bands and cuffs of a cardigan - plus 6 great patterns designed around the benefits of ribbing. My favourite is the pattern on page 26 of this season's newest trend: the shawlette - a lovely, easy, lacy shallow shawl that can be draped as a scarf or worn around the shoulders as a regular shawl. A great issue of a magazine that has made a real name for itself over the last 5 years. |
KNITTING ON THE NET
Fun things that Anne wastes her time finding just for you.
The KNIT PRINCESS has been present on the internet for 18 months and I can't believe that I haven't met her until now. Link here to follow her knitterly adventures from the beginning and check out their on line store to order Volumes 1 and 2 to get all the fun.
 Knitting has worked it's way into so many aspects of society, but none as cleverly displayed as in a wonderful site where Kristen from the south of England shares pictures and found internet pieces about her obsessions: Thoughts From The Bus Stop . One of these obsessions, to our delight is knitting. Check out this link to see the most amazing commercial from Belgium for the benefits of heating with Natural Gas, then check out the video just below it which explains how they made the original commercial. It's amazing! |
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WHAT'S ON ANNE'S NEEDLES?
 I was a bit embarassed when I realized that I was still finishing up the same 3 projects that I've been working on since February and had nothing much to contribute to this "show and tell" portion of the newsletter.
I started looking around for a project that would be easy to carry on our trip to the Maritimes, and would be simple enough not to drive me crazy, I wanted to work with one of the new fingerweight yarns and it had to be a project that was achievable, that is to say, done before the snow flies.
When we received our lovely patterns from this month's featured designer, Laura Chau, her Simple Yet Effective shawl was just the ticket. I love it. I'm hoping that I'll have it finished when it's my turn next to show you what I've been working on.
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 For those of you who have not yet been introduced to Mason-Dixon Knitting, it's one of North America's most popular knitting blogs, matching Ann from Nashville and Kay in Manhattan, as they correspond about life, love and knitting. These ladies have also worked their literary magic into a great knitting book and have now turned their sights to a career in country music on the "Nashville Bandwagon."
Link here to their video "Pardon Me (I didn't make that for you.)" and be prepared to giggle your way through the rest of the day |
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 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELIZABETH!August 9th will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Elizabeth Zimmermann, one of North America's key figures in the development of the modern knitting movement. For those of you who don't know of Elizabeth, when I searched on Ravelry, there were over 21,000 projects knitted from her patterns on the very first of a 6 page list of projects! She was truly ahead of her time, and would have been so delighted to see how knitters, young and old, are rejoicing in the discoveries that knitting has brought to bring to our lives. HELP US SUPPORT THE ALZHEIMER'S SOCIETY IN ELIZABETH'S HONOURWe will be running a fundraiser throughout the month of August: Customers will be asked to make a contribution for our bags, which are normally provided free of charge, to support the Alzheimer's Society in Kingston.
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DON'T MISS OUR AUGUST SPECIAL
We are so proud to be able to offer you one of North America's leading yarns at this special price.
For the month of AUGUST get
15% OFF all of our in stock Cascade yarns including:
 Softspun chunky, Ecological wool and Eco Wool Heathers, Cascade 220, Lana Grande, Magnum, Venezia and Fixation cotton/spandex sock yarn. Shop early for best selection. |
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