This time of year some of our lucky customers head down south to escape the Wet Coast weather. One of the most FAQ’s in our stores is: “Can I take my knitting needles on the plane?” Yes Virginia, you can take your needles.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has deemed that knitting needles and crochet hooks are not a security threat. They’re on the list of permitted items for air travel, in both carry-on and checked baggage, under the heading “Penetrating objects”.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also declared that… “knitting needles are permitted in your carry-on baggage or checked baggage.” Oddly, the U.S. notice goes on to say that… “Our Security Officers have the authority to determine if an item could be used as a weapon and may not allow said item to pass through security.” So don’t take those mace-emitting needles with you, okay?

If you’re still concerned about losing your favourite pair of rosewood needles, we suggest you take a self-addressed stamped envelope with you. Then if you happen to encounter a grumpy clerk who doesn’t like knitting, you’ll be able to save those needles.

Have a great trip and send us a postcard!

We’re proud to carry the Mirasol yarn collection. A portion of every purchase of Mirasol yarn goes directly to the funding of a childrens’ centre in the village of Munani, in the Peruvian highlands.

The Mirasol Project is named after a young Peruvian girl who, with her brother, tends 350 alpacas. Meet Mirasol here. The project will assist in the education of and care for the children of the alpaca shepherds’ families in Munani village.

We have three new yarns from the Mirasol collection, Sulka, Hacho and Miski. They’re all gorgeous. And there are some fantastic patterns in the Mirasol Collection Book One.

There are Mirasol sample garments displayed in both Point Grey and Edgemont.

We published our October newsletter today. Have a look and send us an email if you’d like to subscribe.

Be sure to check out Angela Murrill’s amusing review of our Sock Boot Camps in today’s Georgia Straight. We have three Sock Boot Camps scheduled for November. Phone us to register!

We recently received a big shipment of the Zephyr Laceweight Wool-Silk yarn. It’s a beautifully soft blend of 50% merino wool and 50% Tussah silk. There are some great new colours.

Alison knit this gorgeous Peacock Feathers Shawl with the Zephyr Laceweight:

Here’s a close-up:

This was Alison’s first laceweight pattern – what a stunning accomplishment! Alison told us “… it was very straight forward to make and to block. I simply adhered to all D. Siemens’ instructions, right down to the needle size et voila, a lovely shawl!” I’ll say. More from Alison on the shawl’s esthetic appeal, “…it has a sheen and is gossamer-like transparent…” And did we mention, simply exquisite?

We have some other beautiful Fiddlesticks patterns, including the Lotus Blossom Shawl:

And the Paisley Long Shawl:

Inspired yet?

Today’s featured yarn is Rowan Kid Soft, on sale at 40% off. Kid Soft is 70% lambswool, 26% kid mohair, 4% nylon. Knitters Review called this yarn “truly exquisite…it’s a luxuriously soft but ‘wooly’yarn with the perfect combination of depth and sheen.”

We also have the Rowan Kid Soft pattern magazine with 4 great patterns for only $6.95.

We recently re-stocked some of our popular Gedifra specials. We have some new colours of Beauty Cotton, Living, Ombretta and Wellness.

Check out the specials page on our website for all of our current and upcoming specials.

I loved this blanket pattern the moment I saw it. I bought the yarn right away and started knitting. It was challenging at first but once I got going, I adored knitting it and couldn’t stop. It’s an excellent pattern, with links to useful technique pages like this one on blocking techniques. I used Kureyon no. 185.

“Ta da”, here’s the finished blanket:

And here’s a close-up…

I was lazy and didn’t do the edging. Maybe one day… If you’d like a closer look, the blanket is on display in Point Grey.

We love all the Noro yarns and we recently ordered a new one, Silk Garden Light. This is a DK version of the current aran-weight Silk Garden. It’s 45% silk, 45% kid mohair, 10% lambswool, 125 metres per ball and knits to a 20-22 stitch gauge on 4.0 – 4.5mm needles. We’ll start with 5 colours, 2013, 2028, 2030, 2031 and 2033:

A terrible photo, I know, but it’s the best we have. Come into the store for a better look, it should arrive any day.

Bunches of sock kits! This big box full of gorgeous Fleece Artist Bordello sock kits and Tilting Block sock kits arrived this week.

We also received more of the beautiful Colinette Jitterbug sock kits.

Jennifer took Sivia’s recent Coriolus Sock Class and knit this wonderful pair of socks:

Check out the lovely subtle pattern and the ridges that hug her calf. No slouching socks here. Jennifer used Cascade 220 yarn, just one skein for the pair. The pattern is from Cat Bordhi’s popular new book, “New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One”:

Thanks for sharing, Jennifer.

Sivia was one of our first visitors when we opened our Point Grey store over 3 years ago. She’s been teaching lessons for us ever since.

Sivia is both a talented designer and instructor. She designs beautiful lace and beaded knitting patterns. We received a big shipment of her patterns this week, including the Gothic Leaf Stole, the Angel Pearls Beaded Scarf, the Hanging Garden Stole, the Follow the Leader Faroese Shawl, the Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl and the gorgeous new Waves in the Square Shawl. If you’re a lace knitter, you will adore these patterns.

If you’d like to learn how to knit lace, you should register for Sivia’s new class, “Lace Knitting for the Adventurous Beginner” on Wednesday evenings, Oct. 17, 24 and Nov. 7, 7-9 p.m. You’ll learn how to knit her popular Diamond Fantasy Shawl. Check out the Yarn Harlot’s review of this shawl. She gave the pattern a “10 out of 10″. Cara called it the most gorgeous thing she’s ever knit. You’d better make time for this class…

I recently found some photos I’d intended to put on our website. They never made it to the website so I thought I’d post them here.

Back in June, we attended the TNNA convention in Columbus, Ohio. One evening we were at a cocktail party with lots of store owners, suppliers, designers and other industry folk. Debbie Bliss came over to say hello. (As some of you know, we hosted Debbie for two days last November while she was here on a promotional tour. We had a fabulous time and have stayed in touch.) Anyways, Debbie introduced us to her friend: “I’d like you to meet Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton”. Okay. “Hi Cornelia, very nice to meet you.” We chatted for awhile, then two other women joined us. “And this is Jane Ellison and Louisa Harding”. Seriously. “Hi Jane, Hi Louisa, lovely to meet you, may we have a photo?”

There we are with the Designer Royalty, from left to right: Debbie, Jane, Cornelia, Anina, Leslie and Louisa. Sadly, we look like we just came from the beach. Due to a teensy scheduling error, our party clothes were left at the hotel.

The next day we saw Debbie at the convention. There’s Debbie trying to help with Jenny’s problematic sweater project. Jane Ellison is assisting:

It’s a Debbie Bliss pattern and Debbie Bliss yarn, why not ask Debbie for help? Unfortunately they didn’t solve the problem. Oh well, we tried.

Now for some late breaking news about our “Crochet Me” event on October 23, Point Grey store, 6-9 p.m. Julie Holetz, crochet designer extraordinaire, will be up from Seattle for the event. Julie designed the beautiful plaid scarves and felted messenger bag in Kim’s book. She also designed the Fat Bottom Bag pattern in Stitch ‘n Bitch Crochet, The Happy Hooker. We almost have a full house registered for this event so if you’d like to attend, please sign up right away.

Our customers are a constant source of inspiration. We see countless amazing projects in our stores every day. We’re looking forward to sharing with you some of these knit and crochet masterpieces. Please send us your photos by email, we’d love to post them.

Linda T. is a regular. She’s a beautiful knitter who often arrives with a bag of lovely knitted items to show us. It’s so much fun to see all of her beautiful creations.

Linda loves her Blue Sky Alpacas. This cardigan was knit with the luscious BSA Royal. It’s a pattern from the Debbie Bliss book, Pure Silk.

Isn’t it stunning? All together now, ooooh, aaaah…

This beautiful shrug was knit with the popular BSA Alpaca Silk yarn. It’s a pattern from the same Debbie Bliss book.

Thanks for sharing, Linda. We can’t wait to see your latest treasures. Please drop by again sometime soon…

Today’s featured yarn is Rowan Big Wool, a pure merino, super chunky wool. We have eight colours of this beautiful yarn on sale, at 30% off. It knits up quickly on 12 – 15mm needles.

We have some great books with Big Wool patterns. New for Fall, 2007, is Newshapes:

This is a fantastic book with 15 designs featuring Big Wool and Little Big Wool, by Sarah Hatton. We love the “pea coat inspired jacket” on the cover.

We have many other books with Big Wool patterns, including Big It Up, Big Just Got Bigger, Bigger Picture and The Next Big Thing, with lots of great patterns for cozy scarves, hats, bags, vests and sweaters. You’re sure to be inspired to pick up your needles and knit some lovely things…