| Shop Hours | |
Wed/Thurs 10 to 7
Saturday 10 to 4
Sunday 12 to 4
EXCEPT: Closing at 5 on Wednesdays from June 23 until after Labor Day.
Closed:
Easter
Memorial Day - 2 days
4th of July
Labor Day - 2 days
Thanksgiving
Christmas Day
Closing early:
Thanksgiving Eve - 5 pm
Christmas Eve - 4 pm
New Year's Eve - 4 pm
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| Standing Events | |
These are ongoing shop happenings.
Sit & Knit
These are social knitting times - no help is provided. Beginning 4/1/2010 we are asking for a contribution
for attending, if you can afford it. $2 to $5 is recommended.
Tues. evening 7 to 9
Wed. morning 10 to 12
Friday evening,
Open Weaving
Every Monday from 6 to 9. $20/week
Knitting Help
Tuesday from 11 to 1
Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:30 pm
Thursday from 1 to 3
Friday from 10 to Noon.
$10 per session/$6 for $50.
NOTE: No Knitting Help on Wednesday's from mid-June until after Labor Day.
Crochet Help
With reservation during Knitting Help times.
Knit with Suzanne
Thursday evening, 7 to 9. $15/wk.
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| Be a Smart Sheep: Our Customer Appreciation Program |
Here's how it works: For every $350 in fiber purchases (yarn, coned yarn, spinning fiber) you will receive a coupon good for 60 days for $25 off your next purchase. The coupon may be redeemed against ANY purchase - equipment, classes, needles, whatever. Further, each time you redeem a coupon you will be entered in an annual drawing to receive a really nice prize including a $100 gift certificate and a handwoven "something" for the home. 2010's prize is a set of four dishtowels woven by Clara. The drawing will be held each year at our Annual New Year's Day Party. Each time you make a purchase your rewards status will print on your receipt. Complete details at HSW. | |
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| Greetings!
Days are getting shorter, the sky bluer, the clouds higher. It's cooling off enough at night to use a blanket. Where has summer gone?
A view of our booth at Michigan Fiber Festival held last weekend in Allegan. | We just returned from Michigan Fiber Festival where we had a booth and could tell that even though it was very hot and humid in the barns, knitters were thinking about dusting off their needles and knitting again. Ann, a customer/friend that moved out of state recently, was back in town this week picking out her winter knitting project: Jae's Peacock Shawl knit with our Bloomfield silk/wool yarn. My fingers are itching to get back to my Fair Isle Sweater. Mariah starts college next week and many of her friends have already headed off to college and begun classes.
Yes, things are definitely moving rapidly toward knitting season. Have you planned your winter knitting? If not, stop in and see us for some idea starters. Yarn for the season is coming in on a regular basis - stop and see what's new.
Labor Day Hours
Just a reminder, we'll be closed both Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend.
Wednesday Night Knitting Help
And one more reminder: Wednesday night knitting help resumes after Labor Day. Come see Jae and get the help you need to make your project the best ever!
Fiber Art Show
It's that time of year - time to get your projects ready to submit to the Heritage Annual Fiber Art Show benefiting cancer research. No project is too big! No project is too small! Submit them all!
Bring in your entries: September 25 through October 1.
Visit the show and vote: October 3 through October 9.
Attend the awards reception (you could be a winner!): October 10
Remember - 100% of all funds raised are donated for cancer research at the UM Comprehensive Cancer Center. There is a fee for entry - an entry form will be posted to the website soon. Meanwhile, here are the categories:
- The younger set (ages 10 to 17)
- Knit or crocheted: 1) Scarves and shawls, 2) Hats and handbags, 3) Socks, Gloves and Mittens, 4) Sweaters, 5) Project from a Heritage Fiber Publications pattern
- Woven: 1) For the home, 2) Wearables
- Spinning: 1) Woven or knit from handspun, 2) Spinning for a project (must include project plan/pattern and knit/woven swatches with at least 2 oz. of spun yarn)
- Other - Anything that doesn't fit into one of the above categories
Finally, remember that at least 50% of the yarns/fiber must have been purchased from Heritage.
Only two weeks left to vote for us as your favorite Fiber Arts Shop here. Once you vote, follow the instructions to post your vote to your Facebook or Twitter account and help us spread the word. As always, we thank you for your support. |
| Classes | |
Click on the class calendar on the class page on our website and see what is starting and what is already underway or ongoing.
Upcoming Classes:
Knitting Boot Camp: four sessions to choose from starting on 9/21, 9/23 or 9/25
JUST ADDED: Intro to Fair Isle 9/26 (all day)
Carding - Fiber Preparation and blending 9/26
Combing Wool - Fiber preparation and blending 9/26
Understanding Yarn and Fibers 10/1
Fiber Explorers 10/2
Focus on Fair Isle 10/2
Fish Sweater 10/9
Our Next Learn to . . . classes start on:
Learn to Crochet: Private lessons, please call.
Learn to Knit: 10/11
Learn to Tat: 9/23
Learn to Spin: 9/18
Learn to Weave on the Rigid Heddle (one day class): September
Learn to Weave: Open Weaving on Monday evenings
Details on all of these classes and more on our website. |
| There's an app for that ... | |
If you are a slave to your high tech phone like I am, you've probably already discovered that they can help your knitting and spinning life, too. Unfortunately, there are no weaving apps ... yet! In case you haven't discovered them, here's a sampling - there is a small charge for most of these:
- Vogue Knitting. I like this one because it includes a small stitch dictionary. This will be especially helpful when I'm swatching a new yarn on the road and I don't have my knitting books with me.
- iSpin Toolkit. This has calculators for wraps per inch (good for knitters, too!), twist angle, amount of fiber needed for a project and lots more. A great assistant for gathering technical data about your spinning.
- KnitGauge: with the assistance of an on-screen ruler and a couple sliding scales, you can calculate your gauge from your swatch.
- Knitting Yarn Calculator: Based on your gauge, this will get you in the ball park if you haven't decided exactly which sweater pattern you are going to knit from that "to-die-for" yarn. It calculates yarndage for knit and crochet for six different types of projects: Socks, Hats, Mittens, Blankets and Scarfs.
- iKnit Needle Sizer: Lay your needle on top of the screen image to determine the size of your needle.
- Another App I use all the time is my iToolKit because it has an easy to use metric/English converter (among other helpful tools).
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| A chuckle | |
 Pat Kreiling taught members from her knitting guild how to spin on a drop spindle a few weeks ago. Here is an email she got shortly thereafter that she thought I'd enjoy reading. I got her (and the author's) permission to share it with you:
I just wanted to let you know my spindle has a defect. Specifically, the warning label is missing. Either it fell off or it was missing entirely in the manufacturing process. What warning label? The one that states use of this device may be HIGHLY ADDICTIVE. Side effects include; 1. Loss of interest in daily activities, work, etc. 2. Sudden fascination in objects that twirl. 3. Impulsive desires to drive long distances in search of such objects. 4. Entertaining fantasies of rooms full of fluffy colored roving and shelves lined with antique bobbins....5. Sly questions to bankers about second mortgage rates.
I was certain that you and your able spindle production assistant, Frank, would want to know IMMEDIATELY about this situation!
Sincerely,
Shirley |
| Heritage Gallery | |
In the interest of shortening the newsletter a bit, I'm going to start posting our finished project photos to the Heritage Facebook page and to the website. If you aren't already signed up as a FB fan, please do so! I find FB a great way to keep in touch with the young people in my life, former classmates and my family. Thank goodness there's a Facebook app - it makes it easy for me to check in a couple times a day right from my phone and see what's up. Not being tied to a computer to use it is helpful. |
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On the webI'm very excited! Our patterns are now available for download on-line exclusively through Patternfish. Many other publishers and designers are using the service - Lucy Neatby, Classic Elite, Cat Bordhi, to name a few - and it makes it so much easier for folks who don't have an LYS to get patterns. Not all of our patterns are posted yet, but there is a nice selection. The Coloring Book Shawl, our signature pattern, is also available on Patternfish.
Still hooking
My fixation with crochet continues. I tried filet crochet and absolutely don't get along with it! Too much following a chart and counting for it to be enjoyable for me. I just finished a mesh hat for one of Mariah's friends and am getting ready to begin a cloche for Mariah. I'm using the Wach'i silk/cotton yarn and am really enjoying the look and the feel. Last newsletter I showed you a doiley I made and we got questions about its source. I found the pattern at freepatterns.com and it is called Dazzling Doilies.
On the home front
I received a really wonderful phone call from my son yesterday. He and his wife just had it confirmed by the doctor that she is indeed pregnant and I will be a grandma for the second time in the spring. 'Think if I start knitting pink we'll get a girl this time? Happy Fibering!
Joan Sheridan
Heritage Spinning & Weaving
Sign up for Facebook and become a fan of Heritage Spinning & Weaving.
(To follow Heritage happenings, enter: "Heritage Spinning & Weaving" in the search box and follow the instructions to become a fan.) |
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