Coffee Tunic

At long last! This project and I have been in a relationship for over a year now, and it's finally off the needles and ready to wear. I'm pretty psyched about it because when I started it last spring, I actually didn't think it was my style at all (I just loved the simplicity of the pattern and the way the yarn knit up!) but for some reason this fall I've really been into the belted tunics and fitted t-shirt dresses, and I'm always game for a cowl neck!

Coffee Tunic, knitted in a sportweight bamboo/wool/nylon blend; burgundy with subtle rust-colored highlights. 1200 yards requires approximately 14 ounces in this yarn, making the cost of materials a mere $40!

This project takes stamina, but is super simple with easy every-12-row cabling and basic waist/bust shaping, then picked-up stitches around the neck for the cowl.

Featured Yarn -- Delson

Delson

This gorgeous burgundy yarn will have enough stretch to hold its shape in a fun fall sweater, or with its single strand of tan woven throughout, would make a beautiful cable-knit scarf. Or, if you're more the mitten-and-hat type, a single cone will yield multiple projects for you!

Also available in our online shop!

Our Online Shop has a new look!

The next time you swing by our online shop you'll see that we have revamped our online site so it has a newer, cleaner look! This should make it easier for you to navigate and search, as well as to keep track of all our new and featured items each time you visit.

Be sure to sign up for our online shop newsletter so you can stay in the loop about new yarns we're adding to the mix, and special deals for newsletter customers -- send a blank email to onlineshop-subscribe@yarniapdx.com to sign up!

We've got lots of great pre-made blends on sale right now on the Bargain Shelf online, so check it out and help us make some room on our shelves for some new yarns in the New Year.

Please let us know how you like the new site, or if you have any feedback about your online shopping experience!

www.yarniapdx.com/virtualshop

Holiday Hours

Our Holiday Hours for the coming few weeks are as follows:

We will be CLOSED on Friday, December 25th and Friday, January 1st

but will remain OPEN regular hours on all other days!

That is:
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: CLOSED
Wednesday-Saturday: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday: 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Oh, the choices...

Still looking for a holiday gift for that special knitter in your life? A gift certificate to Yarnia serves the dual purpose of augmenting their stash with some beautiful, one-of-a-kind yarn, as well as giving them the experience of creating their very own custom blend, so it will be exactly what they're looking for!

Our gift certificates can be ordered in any amount, and are redeemable for any of the custom yarn, premade yarn, needles, notions, or classes that we offer here at the store.

There are lots of options for both ordering and receiving our gift certificates -- you may order them in-person here at the store, or through our online shop (http://www.yarniapdx.com/virtualshop/product.php?id_product=20); we can print it out and send it to you in the mail, or turn it into a PDF and email it to you, so you can print it out yourself if you're under a time crunch! You may also request that the certificate be redeemable in the online shop if you're ordering it for someone who's not here in Portland.

I know, I know, the options are overwhelming (we get that a lot!).

Bits & Pieces

I find it immensely satisfying to be able to use up all the parts of the supplies I'm using for a project, whether it's taking the leftover broccoli stalks from a stir-fry and using them in soup, or taking the whey from a batch of cheese and using it to water my plants...or adding it to soup. I guess soup is kind of a catch-all. But one thing I don't put in my soup is the little bits and pieces of scrap yarn that is generated from all the winding we do here.

You know, when we're setting up the machine to wind your yarn and snip off the ends of the strands so they're all even? Or when we're using the yarn balance to figure out how many yards per pound your custom blend is and trim it down to the balance point? Yep, we save all those little scraps and over time we accumulate enough to fill dozens of little 4-ounce baggies for you to use in other creative ways -- as stuffing for pillows or toy animals, as hair on a homemade doll, in collages, added to your spinning...

These are grab bags and full of surprises -- they may contain any fiber from acrylic to bamboo to wool to silk, some in long segments and some in short snippets. We just put out a new batch today at the store, and they're also available in the online shop.

Tell us what YOU like to use them for!

25% off the Bargain Basket, through Christmas!

Whew! Winter shows are finally over, and now we've got lots of leftover single cones of yarn, whose partners sold at Urban Craft Uprising and Crafty Wonderland these past couple weekends. Many of these are worsted and bulky weight yarn, perfect for whipping up some quick and simple projects over the holidays.

We'll be adding these to the Bargain Basket starting on Wednesday, which will be 25% off from now until Christmas. Same goes for our Bargain Shelf in the online shop. Come get them before they're gone!

Caught Mid-Air

I recently found myself on a cross-country flight, at a crucial step in the Coffee Tunic I was knitting (and have been knitting on-and-off for approximately 13 months), needing to sew together the shoulders before I could pick up stitches for the cowl turtleneck, without a darning needle.

This is panic-worthy for me, to have packed for a trip so conscientiously (bringing only one project with me in the name of packing light and not having to pay checked baggage fees, and admittedly to impress my travel companion who packs so freakishly light that he once flew to the east coast for 9 days with nothing but a half-empty Jansport backpack), only to realize that, 35,000 feet in the air and only 2 hours into a 6-hour flight, I am at an impasse in my knitting and might be forced to entertain myself by other means.

Fortunately for me, my travel buddy had the level-headed perspective of an unpanicky non-knitter, and asked, "Couldn't you just use a bobby pin or something?" knowing that there are at least three or four of these in my pocket, purse, or hair at all times.

Lo and behold, here is yet another everyday object that can be substituted for an essential knitting tool when push comes to shove. I'm not going to say it was fun to seam two sportweight stockinette edges together with a hairclip, but hey, it got the job done.

25 Degrees (a.k.a. Minus 4 )

Damn, Portland -- it's cold! I know this for a fact because I just got off my bike and my fingers are so cold I'm hunt-and-peck typing for the first time since third grade.

Because I grew up in mild-mannered Seattle, most of my context for brutally cold temperatures comes from the four winters that I survived in Montreal. I don't really have a context for what 25 degrees feels like, but minus 4 celsius...yep, that sounds about right.

I may have to whip up some warm and bulky mittens in preparation for my post-work bike ride up to North Portland to meet a much-missed friend for some Ethiopian food and beer tonight since I won't have the sun on my side.

But not to worry -- I just cranked the heat and we'll have hot tea for you here at the shop all day long!

Winter Holiday Shows

Thanks so much to everyone who came out for the Urban Craft Uprising this weekend -- it was a huge success with nearly 9,000 attendees, and Yarnia's booth was hopping the whole time!! For those of you who missed out, not to worry! We'll be at the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale this coming Sunday, December 13, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Oregon Convention Center.

There will be over 200 local artists and crafters selling fantastic handmade wares so be sure to check it out!

(Of course, Yarnia will also be open regular hours on Sunday, from 12-5 p.m.)
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Visit us at Urban Craft Uprising!

If you're from Seattle, or are planning on being in the city this weekend, you can come visit us at the most extraordinary indie craft show around! The Urban Craft Uprising is celebrating its Fifth Anniversary Holiday Show this coming weekend, December 5th and 6th, at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

This anniversary show will be the best and biggest yet, with tons of fun prizes and events to commemorate its fifth year running! Swag bags, hourly giveaways, special $5 items offered by most vendors...and we'll be there with a whole host of our newest yarns that we've been spending the past few weeks winding up to showcase for you at this special event -- don't miss out!

(Although, if Seattle is too far of a trek for Portlanders, you can catch us the following weekend at Crafty Wonderland's holiday show!)