Twisted Yarns Newsletter

May, June & July 2008

www.twistedyarnstexas.com

 

 

Welcome to the ONLINE version of our print newsletter. This is virtually the same as the print newsletter with a few formatting changes. Thank you for reading our newsletter online and helping us save paper and postage!

 

News: We can’t believe it’s May already!  We are headed to market in early June again, to find the best and most wonderful things for you to knit and crochet. We can’t wait, and will send an e-mail when we return to let you know what’s on the way!

 

We wanted to let you know we will be closing early, at 3:00, on Saturday May 10th.  A member of our Twisted Yarns family is having a wedding, and we all want to attend! We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but thank you for understanding. Congratulations to Lynn Anne’s daughter, Ashley, and her beau, Phillip! We also are sad to tell you that Lynn Anne will be moving out of the area this summer. We are planning a “see you later” party to wish her well, because we can’t bear to call it a “good-bye” party!  Watch e-mail, the website and the blog for a date and all the information. We will also be closed on Friday, July 4th, but will be open Saturday, July 5th.

 

New Yarns: We are excited to be carrying the Mirasol line of yarns. By purchasing these yarns you can help fund the building of a school in Peru. Find out more about the Mirasol Project at mirasolperu.com. The T’ika yarn is a beautiful DK weight pima cotton, and Samp’a is also a DK weight and is 100% Naturally Dyed Organic Cotton.  The pattern book by the ever-popular Jane Ellison which accompanies the yarn is lovely. From Araucania we have Ulmo Multy, which is a hand dyed cotton in a beautiful palette. These generous 202 yard hanks are perfect for making a “warm weather” tank or sweater!

 

We are happy to have added several Nashua yarns to our line up of summer beauties!  We have a great supply of June, Cilantro, Sonora and Natural Focus Ecologie Cotton. Their pattern books are amazing, and several of us are knitting items from the books already.  Again, great yarns for the Houston weather.  From Rowan we have added All Seasons Cotton, and their Purelife organic cotton, which is naturally dyed. The colors of the Purelife are named for the plant that was used to dye them. The colors are lovely natural shades, and with the DK weight Purelife and the Worsted weight All Seasons, you can come up with a lot of ideas for summer knitting. 

 

One of our most popular fall/winter yarns, Sublime, has come up with two terrific summer yarns, Organic Cotton and Soya Cotton DK.  They have the awesome patterns you have come to love from this company, and the yarns are soft and “sublime” to knit with. Both are DK weight, so patterns are inter-changeable. 

 

One of our most favorite companies is Blue Sky Alpacas.  They have hit a home run with their new Skinny Dyed Organic Cotton.  It is truly a gem to knit with, and you will love the stitch definition.  In the popular DK weight we have a lot of patterns to choose from! 

 

New Books & Other Stuff: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has another fun, humorous book with Things I Learned from Knitting: Whether I Wanted To or Not. We have some new books from Vogue – The Ultimate Sock Book, On the Go: Quick Gifts and On the Go: Cables. For sock knitters, we have The Little Book of Socks by Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott, and Knitting Circles Around Socks. A beautiful new felting book from Interweave is Shibori Knitted Felt.   New Lexie Barnes bags are going fast!  You are going to love the new colors for 2008!

 

New Classes:  Our friends at Jojoland have developed a great new Swirl Shawl Pattern, so we are offering a class in making this beautiful shawl. The Noni Patterns are one of our favorites for felted designs. The new Happy Stripes pattern has adorable felted oven mitts made in fun bright colors – a great way to use up scrap wool yarn and learn how to make mittens!

 

Since we started carrying the Zephyr Style patterns, we’ve had a hard time keeping them in stock!  We’ll be teaching the popular Juliet Sweater this summer, which is a quick knit.  We are also offering a class for those of you who want to make the Wrap Me Up Shawl, but find it a bit overwhelming!  See the Class Descriptions section for more details on these and our other classes. 

 

Special Events: Since Blue Sky Alpaca is one of our favorite suppliers, we are having their trunk show from May 5th to May 23rd. Come by and see the new yarn knit up in cute garments. We are also excited for the Knit Kimono Trunk Show from Interweave to arrive in early June!  It will be here June 9th through the 16th.  This has been a popular book, so come see the garments up close and personal! 

 

Knitter’s Magazine’s Think Outside the Sox contest has begun!  You can enter your original knit or crochet sock design, and you could win $6,000!!!  The winning entries will be featured in Knitter’s Magazine and published in a new sock book from XRX Books.  We have the brochures with all the details in the shop, and are carrying Colinette’s Jitterbug for you to use for your design.  We also carry yarns from the other sponsoring companies - Mountain Colors, Skacel, Regia, Cherry Tree Hill, and South West Trading Company. You can find out more information in the shop, or by going to the website ThinkOutsideTheSOX.com. Join the fun and let your creativity soar! 

 

You can still join the Twisted Toes Sock Club in mid-stream! This time it is every other month in 2008, with the next kit available May 3rd.   The sock club kit will include enough yarn for a pair of socks for a fee of $16 per kit. New this time, we will be using patterns from the great book, Sensational Knitted Socks. If you participate in the Sock Club and don’t have the book, you can purchase it at a 25% discount. Also new this year, we will be giving you a $5 Twisted Yarns gift certificate for each pair of socks completed with the sock club kit! Please come in or call to get signed up. The third kit will be available for pick up on July 5th.  The kits will be in plastic bags so you can pick your color (first come, first served!). If you do not live in the Houston area and need to have your sock kit mailed to you, there will be an extra charge of $3.00 for shipping. We will have a sock knit along on the first Saturday of each sock club month, at 10:00.  These are usually knit alongs only, with no instruction.  However, in May the knit along will include a tutorial to get you started with your toe up sock!

 

Charity Knitting:  Our Newborn Hat Project continues, so come by and pick up some yarn and a pattern and you’ll also receive a coupon for $1 off any purchase for each hat you bring in. Please make sure the hats you make are at least 3” in diameter. We deliver hats to St. Luke’s as well as Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson. The hospitals and babies greatly appreciate your hard work. If you’d like to knit for our troops overseas, patterns are available on several websites including Operation Homefront and The Ships Project (warning – music will begin playing when you enter the site). Also learn more about knitting for newborn babies in other countries at savethechildren.org and warmupamerica.org. There is a new charity that is looking for socks for street kids. Go to their website for details: Stand Up for Kids

 

Class Descriptions

Each class includes experience level information to assist you in determining if a class is right for you. Also, remember you will receive 10% off your yarn purchased for a class.

Beginner  – you’re a novice, either you’ve never knitted before or it’s been a long time!

Advanced Beginner – you know the basics, cast on, knit and purl, and basic increases and decreases

Intermediate – you have some experience in knitting projects, knitting in the round, understanding patterns, etc.

 

Advanced Beginner  

If you know how to knit and want to move to the next step, this class is for you!  You will learn how to purl, increase, decrease and read a basic pattern.  Bring some practice yarn and needles in a size appropriate for your yarn.  The fee is $15. Level:  Beginner    Note:  If you don’t see this class on the calendar at a time that is convenient for you, please call to set up a time.

 

Basic Beginner

In this class you will be introduced to this great art and will learn how to cast on, knit, and bind off. We’ll also teach you the basics of reading the ball band facts. The class is one-session and the fee is $20. We will have classroom yarn and needles available for your use.  

 

Introduction to Spinning

What is yarn? And how do we make it?  Join us for this basic class using a drop spindle and wool roving to make your first chunky worsted yarn.   The fee is $25 and a supply kit is available for about $16. Level: Beginner

 

Juliet - NEW

This is a great pattern to make a quick cap-sleeve sweater. It is knit from the top down so you can try it on as you go for a perfect fit. The pattern includes a simple lace pattern. This is a quick project since it is knit with either bulky yarn or worsted yarn doubled. Materials: 500 to 850 yds. bulky yarn, or 1000 to 1700 yds. worsted weight yarn and 32” size 10.5 circular needles. The fee is $50 and includes the pattern. Level: Advanced Beginner

 

Lace Scarf

If you are ready to try some lace knitting, we have a beautiful new scarf pattern for you! This one-session class will teach you the basics of lace knitting and how to complete this scarf. Materials:  About 470 yards of lace weight yarn, size 4 needles, stitch markers. The fee is $25 and includes the pattern. Level: Advanced Beginner

 

Oven Mitten - NEW

Create one of these quick and easy oven mittens to brighten up your kitchen or create a fun gift for a friend. It is a great project for using up your wool yarn scraps.  This class will teach you how to make a mitten without the second mitten syndrome!  Materials:  about 220 yds.of wool yarn, size 11 needles in 16” circular and DPNs.  The class fee is $35 and includes the pattern.  Level: Intermediate

 

Sleeveless Shell

Make a Sleeveless Summer Shell in your choice of yarns.  This class will be split into 3 sessions and you will have plenty of time in between sessions to complete the homework.  We have pre-selected a basic shell pattern.  This is a great way to venture beyond scarf knitting!   You will need to purchase yarn and make a gauge swatch before the first class.  The class fee is $50 and includes the pattern.  Level:  Advanced Beginner

 

Socks 101

You will complete a small sock and learn all the techniques needed to make socks for you and your family. You need to already know how to knit and purl in the round on double pointed needles. The Oven Mitten is a good class to teach you this skill before taking the socks class.  Materials: size 7 DPNs and 1 skein of worsted weight yarn in a light shade.  This is a one-session class & the fee is $30. Level: Advanced Beginner

 

Swirl Shawl - NEW

Learn lace and entrelac skills as you knit this very interesting shawl. Made with Jojoland Melody--or another sock yarn-- it makes a fun colorful shawl. Materials: 5 skeins of Jojoland Melody or 1100 yards sock yarn, size 6 DPNs. The class fee is $40 and includes the pattern. Level: Intermediate

 

Wrap Me Up Shawl - NEW

The Wrap Me Up Shawl has been the most popular pattern in our shop over the last two months. You can see some finished versions in the shop or on our blog. It is a fun pattern with many different stitches – a great way to learn stitch patterns. The class will be structured so you will be working at your own pace.  It will meet every other week.  Class Materials:  Wrap Me Up pattern, 1350 yds worsted weight yarn, 2 - 24” size 8 needles and DPNs, and optional beads. The class fee is $12 per session.  Level: Advanced Beginner

 

Twisted Yarns Return & Class Policies

Return Policy: Returns must be accompanied by a receipt, no exceptions!  We encourage you to buy plenty of yarn for a project so you don’t run out, which is why we are happy to take back any extra. However, you must have a receipt with you, so save those receipts! Returns on yarn will only be accepted for 1 year from date of purchase. This should give you plenty of time to complete a project, or at least have an idea if you will need the extra yarn. Additionally, we will only accept returns of needles and/or accessories in their original packaging for 2 weeks from the date of purchase with your receipt. That should give you plenty of time to do a gauge swatch and figure out if you need a different needle size.  No returns on books, patterns, or clearance merchandise.

 

Special Orders:  When you are placing a Special Order, we require a 50% deposit when placing the order, and it is non-refundable.   Special Orders are not returnable.

 

Holds & Clearance Items: We are happy to hold yarn for you, however we will only hold regular priced yarn/needles, etc. for 30 days, and then they will be returned to the shelf. Please call us as soon as you know you won’t need the yarn on hold. We will not be able to hold clearance yarn, and as always, there is no return on clearance merchandise.

 

Classes:  All class fees are non-refundable!  Please understand that we are securing an instructor’s time and holding a place just for you. You will receive a 10% discount on any yarn purchased for a class. 

 

We are happy to help you with any project at any time, but hope you will understand that if the store is busy, we may not be able to give you 100% of our attention!  If you have a project that requires a lot of help, or you will need more than 15 minutes of our time, please call the shop and book a private lesson with one of our instructors.  That way we can give you our undivided attention, and we won’t keep other customers waiting for help. The fee is $15 per hour.

 

Thank you so much for sharing our love of knitting!  We really enjoy having you as our guests.  If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions as to how we can better serve you, please feel free to call us at 281-528-8664, or send us an e-mail at twistedyarns@earthlink.net. Thanks for helping us make Twisted Yarns your favorite yarn shop!

Store Hours:  Tuesday thru Saturday 10 to 5, Closed Sunday & Monday

Phone:  281-528-8664

Website: Twisted Yarns

Blog: Twisted Yarns Blog

Sit & Knit the 3rd Thursday evening of every month from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Please join us!

We are usually open the 4th Thursday of the month until 6:15 p.m.

 before the KANG KNOT meeting.