Today’s featured yarns are Berroco Jewel FX and Suede Deluxe, on sale at 40% off.

Jewel FX is a glittery yarn that can be knit on it’s own or held together with another yarn for decorative effect.

Suede Deluxe is a sparkly version of Berroco’s popular Suede yarn. Knit a beautiful necklace or braid some keychains for stocking stuffers with Suede Deluxe.

Or use your imagination with either of these yarns and create a sparkly scarf accessory for holiday events. Tis the Season…

If you’re a Boa Girl, you’ll love the ruffly scarves we’ve been making. Here’s Becky modelling the Red Ruffly:

And here’s a close-up:

These scarves are knit on 3.5 – 4.5 mm dp needles. They’re super easy, only 7 stitches per row. The ruffles magically appear as you knit. We have free patterns at both stores.

We started with the Online Solo Colour yarn, knit the sample and now everyone wants red ruffles. Sadly we can’t get the red yarn right now – there’s pretty much none left anywhere in Canada. One of these days it will reappear but in the meantime, we’ve stocked some Schachenmayr Geniale and Universal Tango. Hopefully one of these colours will appeal to you:

If you’re a Boa Girl, you should give one of these a try!

We’re happy to report that the gorgeous Manos del Uruguay yarn has finally arrived at Urban Yarns. What took us so long?

This stunning 100% wool kettle dyed yarn is handcrafted by a womens’ cooperative in Uruguay. It’s an aran weight so it’s a quick knit. Manos is a perfect yarn for so many projects like hats, scarves, sweaters, blankets or whatever else your heart desires. It’s a great felting yarn. And did we mention that it’s absolutely stunning?

We have 10 drop dead gorgeous colourways. Knock yourself out!

Please say hello to Nicholas, a new addition to the Urban Yarns gang:

Nicholas is a multi-talented guy. First of all, he’s a great knitter. He’s also funny and friendly, helpful and patient – you’ll like him a lot. He also plays and teaches percussion! And his latest talent is Knitwear Designer.

One day recently Nicholas was in the store, wearing his Cool Dude Toque (see photo above) and almost everyone who walked in the door that day wanted to knit the thing. The sorry response was “I just made it up, there is no pattern, blah, blah, blah…” We joked around a bit, said he should write a pattern and before we knew it, a pattern and sample were dropped on our desk. Nicholas Jacques, Knitwear Designer, was born. The pattern was released today and many have already been sold.

The toque is knit with Mirasol Sulka, a luscious mix of 60% merino wool, 20% alpaca and 20% silk. Super soft. And you’ll feel good that part of the proceeds from the sale of this yarn go directly to the Mirasol Project.

You’ll need 2 skeins of Sulka, 6mm needles and the “Nicholas Jacques Design”. Only $21. for the yarn and pattern – there couldn’t be a better Christmas present for your own cool dude…

Please join us in Point Grey on Remembrance Day, November 11, as Astor Tsang demonstrates how to crochet and felt a poppy. Astor designed a felted poppy to make and wear on Remembrance Day, in honour of our war veterans. The pattern is here.

We have some great classes starting in the upcoming month. Learn how to knit a pair of socks at one of our Sock Boot Camps, on Thursday, November 15 or 29 in Point Grey or Tuesday, December 10 in Edgemont, all from 6-9 p.m. Or if you know someone who’d like to learn to knit, there’s a Beginners Knitting Class starting on Monday, November 19, 7-9 p.m. For more information about all of our classes, have a look at our class schedule, which is regularly updated.

We’ve also scheduled two very special events, the Handmaiden Yarn Tasting on November 20 and the Debbie Stoller book signing on December 2. There’s limited space available for these events so register soon by email or phone. We hope you can join us!

We’re offering double weekly specials for the month of November!

Today’s featured yarns are Debbie Bliss Merino Aran and Merino DK, on sale at 30% off. These are both 100% merino wool and we have lots of colours to choose from.

View a collection of designs for Merino DK here and for Merino Aran here. The possibilities are endless…

We received a couple of boxes of 1824 wool today. It’s an aran weight merino superwash wool with a gorgeous colour palette. We have tons of colours in stock. This yarn is called 1824 wool because the gauge is 18 stitches, 24 rows. It’s perfect for many different types of projects.

We also stock the 1824 cotton. This is a machine washable cotton with a fantastic colour range. The Mission Falls wool and cotton are interchangeable as they both have the same gauge.

There are some fantastic Mission Falls pattern books to inspire you. We have most of these books. Just Kidding is one of our favourites:

There are designs for ages 4 to 12. There’s a basic easy-to-knit pullover pattern with some different neck and motif options. Also some cute designs for hats, scarves, mittens and backpacks.

Anina knit this sweater from Just Kidding, with 1824 wool, for her handsome dude, Luc:

Love the style, love the colours, love the sweater.

It’s always fun when a big bunch of boxes arrive.

Two of these boxes were stuffed full of Noro, one of our favourites. We received tons of Silk Garden, plus some Cash Iroha, Cashmere Island, Iro, Kochoron, Kureyon and Silk Garden Lite.

We’re knitting some Silk Garden hats for Christmas. Last year I knit a few of these:

One ball of Silk Garden is all you’ll need. We have a free store pattern.

Or try Christa Giles’ popular design:

You’ll need part of a second ball to knit this one.

Kathleen recently knit a gorgeous Booga Bag out of Noro Kureyon. It’s an easy, quick knit. Another perfect Christmas present.

And one of our customers walked away yesterday with 20 balls of Silk Garden for the Lizard Ridge Blanket. It will be stunning. Please send us a photo!

I pulled a few balls from the boxes and started a Silk Garden scarf:

It’s Jared’s pattern. I’m using 2 balls of each of colours 252 and 268 on 4.5mm needles. Cast on 39 stitches, 1×1 ribbing throughout, working two-row stripes. Slip (purlwise) the first and last stitch on the second row of every stripe for nice, straight edges. Thanks Jared!

There’s never a dull moment when knitting with Noro. The intriguing colour combinations are absolutely captivating. At least they are to me. My handsome groom doesn’t seem to be quite so intrigued, no matter how hard I try to get a spark of interest from him.

We also received loads of Garnstudio Eskimo, a popular felting yarn. Check out the beautiful patterns for hats, bags, scarves, mitts, slippers, sweaters and many more. We have over 20 colours in stock.

Happy Knitting on this rainy November weekend!

We’re excited to announce yet another very special event! We’re hosting the Canadian launch for Debbie Stoller’s new book, “Son of Stitch and Bitch” in Point Grey on Sunday, December 2, from 6-9 p.m. This is Debbie’s new book:

Debbie will be talking about her experiences as a designer and writer, showing samples and signing books. Apparently she’s a very lively speaker so it should be a fun evening. There will also be snacks, beverages and door prizes.

You know Debbie as the bestselling author of the Stitch and Bitch series of knitting and crochet books. You may not know that she has a Ph.D from Yale in the psychology of women and that she’s the editor-in-chief of Bust magazine. She also has a closet full of yarn at her home in Brooklyn, New York.

Son of Stitch and Bitch has 45 edgy projects to knit and crochet for men. It offers fresh takes on the usual staples like hats, scarves, socks, vests, sweaters and cardigans. There’s the Night and Day double-sided Brooklyn Bridge scarf. And the Biker Boy sweater, Skull Isle cap and mitts and Hackie Sack hoodie. You get the idea, these are cool, edgy, hipster designs. The book also provides some great knitting tips, like how to get the right sweater measurement and other such important tidbits.

To register for this event, please send us an email, phone us at 604-228-1122 or drop by one of the stores. Space is limited so sign up early to avoid disappointment! There’s no charge for this event if you purchase the book. If you don’t buy the book, admission is $5.

We hope you can join us!