Portland Yarn Crawl Next Weekend -- Extended Hours

In case you haven't heard, there's a huge yarn event converging in Portland next weekend: The Portland Yarn Crawl!

Between March 5th and 7th (next Friday-Sunday), you can visit each of the 16 participating stores in the Portland area to win free raffles, scavenger hunt prizes, and a number of other specials and deals.

No pre-registration necessary, just show up at any of the participating stores that weekend and make the crawl at your own pace. Here’s a sampling of what we’ll be offering at Yarnia next weekend:

• 10% off all pre-made cones in the store
• 25% off of everything in the bargain basket
• Extended hours: Open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. all three days -- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

Even if you’re not planning on participating in the full crawl, you can still come on by to enjoy some treats and sweet deals!

Apply for the Urban Craft Uprising

Applications are currently being accepted for the Urban Craft Uprising's 2010 Summer Show!

Urban Craft Uprising is Seattle's largest indie craft show, held twice a year (summer and winter) at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Last winter's show featured over 130 unique crafters, and drew 9,000 people through the doors over the course of the 2-day show!

If you, or some other spectacular crafter in your life, have considered taking your crafts to the next level and vending at a big show, this is one not to miss! Applications are being accepted until April 5, and you can read all about what it takes to be a vendor in the FAQ.

Feather and Fan Dress

Feather and Fan Dress: Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2009

burgundy, copper, and purple
1130 yards of a rayon/wool/nylon blend

Wow, that's all I have to say. I usually try to only make samples using free patterns so you all can view them and try them out yourselves more easily, but when I saw this pattern in last summer's Vogue Knitting, I couldn't resist. 

I knew I was setting myself up for a long-term engagement...but the lace! And the repitition! I can't get enough of the beautiful, interminably long and repetitive projects. (Some of you may recall my undying love affair with Brooklyn Tweed's Girasole.)

So I embarked on this one late last summer, and honestly would probably still be working on it to this very day if I hand't brought it with me on a trip I took to New York last fall to go to Rhinebeck, where I was blessed with two cross-country plane trips, a drive upstate (where I did relatively little of the driving), and a trek from D.C. to Charlottesville, Virginia, where my friend was working on her PhD. Oh, and a bus ride back from D.C. to New York.

Anyway, this little gem came with me back and forth on all my travels, and thus was able to be completed in all her slinky-stretchy glory before next summer rolled around! (That was the unofficial goal.)

f

If you're all about the stamina knitting, I highly recommend it.

(On display here at the shop if you'd like an in-person glimpse.)

Announcing...Our Yarn of the Year!

Congratulations to, Camille Keith, our Yarn of the Year contest winner! This gorgeous bamboo/wool/alpaca blend, aptly named Wine & Chocolates, will be wound up this weekend and soon available for sale here at the shop, and online!

Secret Projects

Shhh...I've got some projects up my sleeve. This is 2 different projects, secret for now, but just to be dramatic, I'll let you know that the 1.5-pound green cone you see there on the end is only one of two. That's three pounds of yarn, people. Due date: June.

Sounds like a lot of leeway, but you know how I roll...that's not the only pair of needles I have occupied. In fact, thanks to my interchangeable needles and their screw-on caps, that's not even the only project on my size 10.5 circs.

The good news? I'm driving up to Vancouver, B.C. this weekend to witness the spectacle of a city in the midst of an Olympics tizzy, with a pretty generous driving buddy. I expect all of these cones will be slimmer upon my return!

Featured Yarn -- Mimosa

Mimosa

A perfect sock blend of steely grey bamboo, lighter grey wool/nylon, and a single strand of silver lurex to give it a little shimmer!

Also available in our online shop!

Get your swatches ready!

Entries for the Yarn of the Year Contest are due tomorrow night at our 2-Year Anniversary Party here at the store. If you don't know about our annual contest, there's still time!

Here are all the details...

Yarn-of-the-Year Contest
What's your favorite Yarnia blend that you've made over the past year? It just might be our favorite, too! During our two-year anniversary party on Saturday, February 13, we'll be accepting entries for Yarn of the Year. Got a little bit of that favorite blend left over? Knit or crochet up a little swatch and bring it in! If your yarn is chosen as our Yarn of the Year, we'll carry it here in the shop as a premade blend (or as close a match as we can, given the fibers on hand), and not only will you get to name it, but you'll also win a $30 Yarnia gift certificate!

Don't have any yarn left over that's calling to you? You can come into the shop and make up a blend anytime up until the evening of the party itself, to submit for consideration. Who knows? Your next custom blend just might be the winner!

Official Rules: All entries must be submitted in person on the evening of Saturday, February 13, and must be in swatch form, at least 10 stitches (or chains) by 10 rows in size. Knowing the fiber content is useful, but not necessary. However, there will be room on the entry form to suggest projects that would show off the best of your yarn, so come with a few ideas! The winner will be contacted by the end of the following week, and announced both on the blog, and in next month's newsletter.

Entries will be judged based on versatility, creativity, novelty, and personal taste of the judges :)

Featured Yarn -- Beloeil

Beloeil

This earthy yarn mixes a strand of variegated bamboo with rayon and cotton to create a beautiful blend of heathered browns and tans. Use it in a lightweight spring shell or tank top!

Also available in our online shop!

Golden Ticket Yarn

We hope a whole bunch of you are planning on joining us this Saturday at our Two-Year Anniversary Party! We'll be having a sale on all pre-made cones in the store as well as 25% off of everything in the bargain basket, tons of giveaways, prizes, and contests.

AND...we're happy to announce the details of our Special Anniversary Golden Ticket yarn!

Golden Ticket Yarn
In addition to the sale on all pre-made cones in the store, we're also going to be winding up 15 cones of a limited edition special anniversary blend of yarn. Inside one of these cones will be hidden a "Golden Ticket," or more specifically, a $30 gift certificate to Yarnia, which can be redeemed for anything you choose -- yarn, classes, needles, notions -- even used in the online shop.

The Golden Ticket will be hidden halfway through the cone of yarn, so you'll discover it while you're partway done with your project. There will only be 15 of these Special Anniversary cones made (and only one that contains the Golden Ticket) so come early to snag yours before they're gone!

Fair Isle

Fair Isle, also known as "stranded colorwork," is a skill that intimidates most people because, well, knitting can be tricky enough as it is -- who needs the added pressure of knitting pictures into your work?? But in fact, fair isle can be as simple as alternating colors back and forth in different sequences to create patterns in your work.

In our Intro to Fair Isle class, we'll walk you through the basic skills that will enable you to weave intricate and traditional patterns into your work, learn techniques to combat puckering of the fabric, and send you home with a quick and easy pattern that you can incorporate into whatever project you're working on.


Sign up at www.yarniapdx.com/classes.html with your availability and we'll let you know when we're scheduling a class that matches up with you.

Serafine

Serafine; wool/silk/cashmere; 150 yards

This is a fantastic free pattern (available on Ravelry) that I knitted up in a silk/wool/cashmere blend, combining light green and cream colors. The simple slip-stitch-pass pattern that happens every other row is a little tedious, but makes for a beautiful knotted fabric once a few inches comes along:

Highly recommended.

Featured Yarn -- Lorain

Lorain

A rich burgundy/brown blend in a worsted weight -- quiet enough to show a stitch pattern nicely in a sweater, but complex enough to make an attractive garment even in plain stockinette or garter stitch

Also available in our online shop!