Month: January 2014

join our own mad hatter!

~ 3kittensl ~ 1 Comment

We have a mad hatter on our hands! Faithful employee Cecilia is knitting 52 hats this year. That’s one a week (on average – though Cecilia is quick to say that some may take longer and some may take less time)! She says:

I love to knit hats. It is my go to project when I don’t know what else to do. So last year I decided to knit 52 hats. I have lined up a number of hats already and I am sure there are some which will come up as the year goes by. I am very excited about this challenge. I cast on my first hat on 1/1 and it is using a new yarn we have coming into the shop the middle of January. Some of the hats are going to be for charity, some will be for friends and family and some will be for me. Maybe you would like to join me and knit some hats too. Maybe not 52, but perhaps you would like to knit 12… I plan on having a good time.

Follow along with Cecilia on her journey at her personal blog One Knitter’s Chaos

day 4 at tnna

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Today started out with a really fun class with Cat Bordhi (designer and author) called Creative Abundant Designs. It was all about a unique way of getting outside of your own head to come up with design ideas for knitting patterns – although I’m sure it could work for any creative process.

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It’s rather hard to explain, but let’s just say that it involves a random number generator, paper cutouts, and letting go of saying “no, that can’t be done.”

Then it was off to the show floor again. Lots of orders were placed today, including ones for several new yarns, such as Rylie from Hikoo, a lovely alpaca, silk and linen blend that looks wonderful in shawls and sweaters.

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 And a wonderful new hand-dyed fingering weight yarn called Cashy Wool from Knitted Wit.

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Finally, a lovely linen blend yarn, Nina, from Tahki Stacy Charles – specifically to make this easy to wear Eileen Fisher-esque top.

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And, I added new colors of Peppino from The Yarns of Rhichard Devrieze and La Jolla from Baah Yarns.

The most exciting purchase of the day on the yarn side though was CustomFit by Amy Herzog, the author of Knit to Flatter. This fabulous program will allow you to purchase custom sweater patterns that will fit your individual measurements. Imagine making a sweater that actually fits you – not some “standard” shape. You will get to choose your neckline, sleeve style, length, cardigan or pullover, yarn, and many more options – and make it as complicated or as simple as you like. While you can sign up on your own on the CustomFit website, there are many ways we as a LYS (Local Yarn Store) can help you – possibly a KAL or class or a measuring party. Who knows? Once we get our staff trained in on the mechanics of the program, we’ll launch it with you. Keep your eyes on our newsletter, Facebook page and Ravelry page for more information.

Julie purchased a lot of things on the needlepoint side, and has posted a number of photos on our Facebook page. Check there to see what’s been exciting her and Sara as they’ve walked the show floor.

 

 

to market, to market sale

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We’re at market having fun, so we thought that all of you should have fun, too! So we’re having a sale!!!

In-Stock Canvases – 25% off

Plymouth Encore Yarn (all weights and types) – 25% off

Sock & Fingering Weight Yarns – 25% off

 

Some exclusions apply:

  • May not be combined with other discounts
  • In-Stock items only (special orders will be at regular price)
  • Canvas sale does not include class and club canvases or 3 Kittens exclusives such as Primitive Pumpkin, Small Bites, St Paul/Minneapolis Ornaments and Jolly Nutcracker.

day 2 at tnna

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I was on my own for most of the day today at market. I attended an all day class on ‘Content Marketing.’ It was probably the best business class I’ve ever taken at TNNA, but I don’t want to bore you with the details – I can’t imagine that you’re all that interested in it 🙂 However, I wanted to mention briefly that the instructor was Johnny Vasquez of New Stitch a Day, a website devoted to knitting and crochet education. Be on the lookout for our involvement with their 30-Day Sweater Challenge this fall.

The evening was a busy one. First, there was the feeding frenzy of Sample It, the only cash and carry component of this market. Over 60 vendors had kits, canvases, yarns and more for sale so we could take stuff home right away. We picked up some new needle magnets from Elizabeth Turner and Accoutrements. Yarn kits from Anzula, Hikoo, the Fibre Company, and Knitted Wits. Canvases from Sundance Designs, Painted Pony, Alice Peterson, Cheryl Schaeffer and more. What fun!

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Later, the Yarn Group’s fashion show commenced. There were fabulous garments from indie designers, yarn companies and magazines. I tried to take photos with my iPhone, but the lighting was bright enough. Luckily, the Yarn Group is great about posting the whole fashion show to their webpage, so look for that in the next week or so.

Tomorrow, the actual market opens. We’ll try to post as many photos as possible to our Facebook page.

See you soon!

 

hello, san diego!

~ 3kittensl ~ 2 Comments

It’s time for one of several “markets” that we attend every year – this time in sunny, warm San Diego.

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The grass is green! It’s so nice to see some green other than my Christmas tree 🙂

Our hotel is right next to the convention center where the winter trade show for The National Needlearts Association (aka, “market”) is being held. Plus we’re right next to the Gas Lamp district – an historic area of San Diego filled with fabulous restaurants – and the stadium for the San Diego Padres.

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I spent some time walking around this charming area during the early afternoon (in 63 degree weather – I know, I should really stop rubbing it in, but I feel so lucky!). I found at least 10 restaurants I’d like to eat at…

Later in the day, I headed to my first class of the weekend: Moving Miters with Barry Klein, the owner of Trendsetter Yarns. Barry has been in the biz for his whole life, following his mother around to stores and market. He and his mother started Trendsetter 25 years ago. To celebrate their anniversary, Trendsetter is having a special promotion, which you can read about here. We just received our order of the 100% mink (!) yarn, Lotus ‘Mimi,’ from Trendsetter. Buying just one skein of this yarn will qualify you for the promotion.

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Anyway, the class was fantastic. We learned how to make rectangular miters, instead of the more traditional diamond or triangle shaped miters. Here are some photos, concluding with the beginning of the a scarf that I will be making out of the two skeins of Ascot that Trendsetter gave each of us. (Sorry, we don’t carry this yarn; although I can think of lots of other yarns we do carry that would look great using this mitering technique.)

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It’s been a fun day! More tomorrow…