Summer In The City

As many of you may already know, we've instituted our new summer hours here at Yarnia, and I can't imagine a better way to spend the time off than to get to show off the city to two of the most special people in my life. This weekend, in celebration of Canada Day, my friends Michael and Erin drove down from B.C. and we got to spend four glorious days cavorting around the city.



We hit up every breakfast joint in the city, biked all over town, watched the Mississippi Spelling Bee, drank some fabulous duty free scotch, celebrated warm summer nights out in the backyard, and Erin even learned how to crochet! She dreamed up a great little dark brown and yellow wool blend to make her first scarf out of too, might I add.

My only regret is that they weren't able to stay one extra night, which would have let their trip down to PDX intersect with the official release party for The Penny Jam. That's right, tonight at Holocene (1001 SE Morrison Street, 9 p.m., free!), you can see all ten episodes comprising volume one of The Penny Jam, the final episode of which features Eric John Kaiser performing in our very own little yarn shop under the stairs. Come check it out!

Or, if you can't make it in person, here's the video podcast!




Oh, and yes, we will be open on the 4th of July...and we have air conditioning!

It's On!

Online, that is. Today is the launch of Yarnia's online sales, which is now live at http://www.yarniapdx.com/virtualshop!

The site has a lot more functionality than I had first envisioned, and there are fun features that let you email your favorite blends to friends, keep track of your recently viewed blends, and see any new cones that have been added.

Even if you live nearby, this is a treat for you too! These premade cones are online exclusives you won't see on the shelf in-store. However, you're welcome to purchase them online and choose "in-store pickup" as your shipping option, and swing by to take them home at your convenience.

Happy perusing!

Is This a First?

It's been awhile since I've spent a Sunday at the shop. Most weekends I indulge in the opportunity to close the doors Saturday night and take a couple days off from yarn until we re-open Tuesday mornings, and it hasn't been since January when we were preparing like crazy for the grand opening that I've even come down to the Southeast on a day off.

However, this Sunday I was happy to come open up the store on a Sunday afternoon, to welcome in the crew from The Penny Jam, who chose to film their most recent video podcast at Yarnia! I don't want to be overzealous, but I have to wonder, is Yarnia host to the first music video to be shot at a yarn store?

After undertaking some rudimentary research on the topic I uncovered this gem, which -- while not filmed on location in a yarn store -- has an impressive glorification-of-yarn theme going on, and distracted me from my task. In any case, until I stand corrected, I will answer my own question with a satisfied yes.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the episode of The Penny Jam that features Yarnia!

You Asked For It...

I've been amazed at how many out-of-towners have come into the shop these past few weeks, visiting Portland from all across the country, and specifically making a point to stop in and check out Yarnia! It's fabulous to know that there's so much enthusiasm even outside of a day-trip radius of Portland. However, I should let all the mail-order enquirers who don't make it out to this coast very often know that we haven't forgotten about you.

Beginning in June, you'll see a new section of the site dedicated to online sales of our pre-made cones, in a whole range of weights, colors, and fibers. While we won't be taking custom orders from afar (that you'll still have to make an appearance for!), we'll be changing up the online blends often, to give a good range of options...and we may even be open to requests ;)

Stocking up the pre-mades shelf...

So keep an eye out in the coming weeks -- for now I'm hunkering down with some iced tea and bluegrass, and delving into some wild MySQL and PHP coding sessions to try and get our Open Source shopping cart up and running (shout out to my bro who spent 3 hours on the phone with me Friday walking me through how to create a database).

Spring Cleaning

We've all got it -- yarn basking in the nooks and crannies of our homes, whether proudly displayed in baskets, stuffed into bookshelves, or tucked away in closets. Big or small, if you're a fiber artist, chances are you've got a stash of some size...probably of considerable size if you're the kind of knitter who, like myself, likes to buy yarn whenever possible and fantasize about all the projects that might come of it.


How about doing some stash spring cleaning? Maybe you found a great bargain on a cone of retro-colored wool four years ago and have never quite known what to do with it...or perhaps your friend brought you back some premium Peruvian alpaca from her travels, but it's way too fine for your favorite size 7 needles.

Bring in your yarn from home, and use it in your custom blend here at Yarnia. You'll only be charged for the yarn you combine it with, plus a small winding fee (1.5 cents per yard if the yarn is already on the cone; 3 cents per yard if not, and we may request a 24-hour turnaround if you've got a lot of it).

A great way to breathe some new life into your stash, and for you to become reinspired by your old yarn!

Class Reminder: Knitting Surgery on May 27
Just a reminder for those interested in signing up for the Knitting Surgery class that's coming up next Tuesday -- we have four spots left so give us a call (503.488.0022) or send an email (info@yarniapdx.com) if you'd like to register.

Visit the website to find out more details about this class, and more coming up in future weeks. Cables, circular needles, DPNs, pattern reading and socks...brush up on your technique or learn some new skills for summer knitting!

New Sign!

One of my favorite things about the shop is all the elements that have been contributed by some super talented and creative friends--from the logo and signage that was dreamed up by my friend Dory to the shelves that were custom built by Jason...and as of this week we have a new addition which I'm totally stoked about...


I know many of you have pointed out that the store is not the easiest thing to find from street level so hopefully this handmade marvel from my friend Kirsten will make things a little easier...


It's just about the coolest thing I've ever seen. You probably can't tell from the picture, but the lettering is embroidered with yarn in a cross-stitch pattern. It's intensely creative...and hung with silk boucle which I've concluded is the strongest fiber in the store!

It's More Scientific Than You Might Think...

There's a great article in the most recent issue of Interweave Knits (p. 24), all about color blending! I was fascinated to stumble upon this article, because what they term "optical mixing" is precisely what we're doing here when we combine different input yarns to achieve your custom blend.

What they recommend in the article is holding two strands of yarn together and broaden your color spectrum by mixing the two. They use six different colors, which cover the range of the color wheel, and show swatches of the 21 different permutations you can achieve with this experiment. They show how different combinations can mix to form a new intense color, muddle to form a neutral color, and even how variegated strands can play into the mix.

At Yarnia you don't have to bother with holding the strands together, as they're wound together on a single cone for you, but the concepts in this article surrounding hue, saturation, and value can help a great deal in choosing the colors that will go into your custom blend. Of course the best way to make sure your yarn will turn out the way you're imagining is to try swatching up a little bit before we wind (and you're welcome to have a seat in the big cozy chair and take your pick from the vase of needles to do this!).


This article came at just the right time for me--this week I've been mulling over what yarn I want to use for a tank top I'm starting, and while I knew I wanted it to be some sort of green, I couldn't find anything that was working. This article inspired me to throw in a yellow, which hadn't occurred to me, but seemed worth a shot, as it is adjacent to green on the color wheel. In fact I tried not just a yellow, but what, on its own, seems to be a fairly obtrusive shade of yellow.

After working up a little swatch of it I was amazed to find that the mossy green brought the intensity of the yellow down, while the same yellow made the apple green look a little grassier. I totally love the blend, and somehow the rayon/wool/nylon combo makes the yarn feel as slippery and soft as the bamboo the pattern calls for!


We'll have a copy of the article out for reference so take a look the next time you come in...