As promised… more Shibui! Our latest yarn is called Silk Cloud – a perfect name. This great yarn is made from a luscious blend of  60% kid mohair and 40% silk.

“The glowing core of this laceweight yarn shines through the halo of translucent mohair, giving anything you make amazing stitch definition and drape” -Shibui Knits

To make this fabulous Swirl Scarf, all you need is one skein of Silk Cloud. The ruffles are made using a simple increase technique of KFB. This scarf will make an elegant statement, with a flirty twist!

The Cabled Rib Wrap takes three skeins of Silk Cloud and 4 skeins of Baby Alpaca, and is knit on 4.5 mm needles. This is a warm, soft wrap with a beautiful drape.  Great for a Mother’s Day gift!

“The halo effect helps give this yarn some creative flexibility because you can knit it up at all sorts of gauges depending on the visual effect you want to achieve.” -Knitters Review

Silk Cloud is now available at both our locations.

Here’s Jane Ellison’s newest book, Noro Kids:

It’s full of fun garments ranging in size from one to ten years. The great thing about Noro patterns is that they are usually very simplistic, with a goal to show off the yarn as best it can. Jane has added some great tutorials on tension, sizing, joining new skeins, grafting, finishing techniques, and much more to help you along the way.

This simple dress called Eva is made in Noro Aya, with a composition of cotton, silk, and wool. Dresses like this these are  great on their own for the Summer, and in the Winter you can pair them with a long sleeved under shirt and some funky leggings!

Amy is a fast and simple cardi which can be embellished with a wooden heart button, like in the picture. The cardi takes 3-5 balls of Noro Furin, a chunky weight yarn knit on 7mm needles. The fun thing about knitting with Noro yarns, is that it keeps your interest as you’re always thinking about which colour is coming next!

If you haven’t tried knitting with Noro Taiyo yet, why not try it out on this warm stripey blanket. The Little Blanket takes 3 balls of Taiyo on a 5mm needle.

This book is currently only in the Point Grey location, but will make it’s way to Edgemont by next Thursday.

If you’re into glitz and sparkles, you’re in luck as this week we have Estelle Dazzle on special at 50% off! This is a great ladder yarn used for making scarves and shawls. We have four fun and bright colours to chose from, but quantities are limited, so get it while you can.

And remember we’re still getting lots of great new items in every day. Watch for more Shibui on next weeks blog post!

There’s still time to sign up for classes in both stores!

Point Grey Classes:

If you’re thinking of learning to knit, you’re going to want to sign up for our Beginner Knitting Class with Deanna starting on April 12th. You’ll learn everything from casting on to casting off, and everything in between!

Have you ever needed to know how to crochet a border or an edge, but not you’ve not known how? Deanna will teach you everything you need to know about getting started with crochet. Beginner Crochet is a four week class starting on May 10th. A great book for reference with this class is the Happy Hooker, by Debbie Stoller!

Making Knitting Possible is a class that Astor has put together to help you get started and feel comfortable knitting. This class will be running for four weeks starting on May 6th. Astor is also going to be doing a knitting retreat on Bowen Island in May. For more information, you can visit her website and get in contact with her!

Our next Sock Boot Camp will take place on Wednesday April 14 from 6:30-9:30. In this 3 hour intensive class, Jackie will teach you everything you need to know about knitting a sock… and you’ll even have time to knit one – a mini sock that is! I’ve taken this class, and I highly recommend it!

Alexa will be teaching a great Skirt class this Spring, starting on April 2oth! You will learn how to knit a beautiful A-line skirt with a lovely lacy hem. This is a great class to take if you want to learn how to take measurements for a skirt that fits you just right!

If you’ve taken our Beginner knitting course and want to move on to something a bit more challenging, our Beyond Beginners Class is the one for you! Sandra will guide you through the process of your project, along with great tips, pointers, and new techniques. Our next Beyond Beginners class will start on Thursday April 22 and run for 4 weeks.

Erica is going to be teaching a great class on Amigurumi crocheted creatures starting on April 18th. If you haven’t heard of amigurumi before, or don’t know what it is, take a look here. This is sure to be a fun class!

Yarn 101 is a great workshop to familiarize yourself with Urban Yarns, the yarns we carry, and how to pick out yarns, needles and patterns. It’s a great informative class which takes place on the third Sunday of every month. Our next session is on April 18th.

Tunisian Style Crochet is a hybrid between knitting and crocheting. If you haven’t heard of it before, here’s your chance to learn! You’ll be working with a 19mm Tunisian style crochet hook and a variety of yarns of your choice. Once you’ve got the technique down, you can make all sorts of things like blankets, scarves, and pillows. Kalin, who will be teaching this class, taught me this technique in the fall, and have yet to put my crochet hook down! The date is to be announced, but if you’re interested, please give Kathleen a call at the Point Grey store.

Point Grey also has two Question and Answer sessions to chose from. Astor is here from 8:30-9:30am or 10:30-11:30am on Wednesdays, and Alexa will be available on Friday evenings from 5-6pm to answer all of your knitting questions. For either of these sessions we require that you sign up two days in advance.

Stitch and Bitch will continue on Friday nights from 6-9pm with Alexa. A great time to sit, relax, and knit with other follow knitters in the community!

Edgemont Classes:

Jess will be teaching two classes in April. On Tuesday April 13th, we’ll have a Sock Boot Camp from 6-9. And on Tuesday April 20th, she will be teaching Continental Knitting. This class is designed for people who know the basics of knitting, but want to learn another way of doing it!

Beyond Beginner Knitting will also be taking place in Edgemont with Sandra starting on Wednesday April 21st. A great class to follow the Beginners Knitting.

On Friday April 23rd, Erica will be starting the Beginner Crochet course. She will show you everything you need to know to get started on your first project. Again, a great book for reference with this class is the Happy Hooker, by Debbie Stoller!

And last but not least, Donna will be starting the Sahara class on Tuesday April 27th. If you haven’t seen Sahara, take a look here. This is going to be a really popular class!

If you don’t see what you’re looking for, let us know and we can customize a private lesson just for you! For more information, or to sign up, you can come in or call either store (Point Grey: 604-228-1122, Edgemont: 604-984-2214). Happy Learning!

Our Weekly Special this week at 40% off is Debbie Bliss Fez, a super soft camel/merino mix. Fez has great stitch definition which is perfect for the cabled Shoulder Cape below.

There are many charming hats in the world of knitting. I mean many. Like thousands. Hats are a great knitted staple with a few simple techniques for your basic hat and as many complicated techniques as you might like. These two hats are from the same pattern, the only difference is in the brim. The white one has a lovely lacy brim while the red has a slightly heartier looking garter brim.

Both hats are from the pattern Ripley by Ysolda Teague. Ysolda is a prolific designer with many beautiful patterns that have been knit thousands of times over. If you check her out on Ravelry you will see how popular her designs really are! All of her patterns are available as individual patterns and some are availble in her Whimsicle Little Knits books. I like that I have the choice to buy just one, or the set.

With these two hats it’s all in the details. The lacy hat has the obvious appeal of the lacy edging. Edging is knit first and flat and the rest of the hat is picked up from it. The same goes for the garter edged hat except that the hat part is picked up from a garter piece instead of lace. To get the nice slouchy fit (which is what I was going for) there are pleats in the back. This might sound scary but it’s actually really easy and there are clear instructions included in the pattern. These 3 pleats make sure that the hat fits snuggish in the front with that nice slouch in the back. The last bit of detailing is the swirly decreasing at the crown. This isn’t a particularly unique feature but I like it none the less.

I made these hats out of one of my favorite yarns. Blue Sky Alpacas worsted hand dyes are quite the special yarn. I’ve knit with it before but it is always a treat. It’s a 16 stitch gauge with a hearty spin to it and soft like butter! It’s also a hand dye so it’s got a subtle variegation that adds that little something special to any knit.

To make a Ripley hat of your very own you will need:

The pattern: Ripley

Yarn: 1 skein of BSA Worsted Hand Dyes (the pattern calls for 109ish yards for the 2nd and 3rd sizes which is more than one skein of the hand dyes but I eked it out with one skein)

Needles: 6mm needles, both a 16″ circular and double pointed needles

1 stitch marker

Enjoy!

–Alexa–

We’ve been receiving some lovely new items for Spring these past few weeks. The first one I thought I would show you is the lovely new yarn from Rowan. Purelife Revive is made from used garments. They select the used garments based on the silk, cotton, and viscose content, which is then regenerated into a beautiful yarn. If you’re in to cotton, linen, hemp, etc… this is a great yarn for you to try! Revive knits up to a 22 stitch gauge on a 4mm needle.

This new yarn from Katia is a really fun, and summery yarn. Paper is, well… made from 100% paper! It feels like a paper ribbon, or raffia. This would look great knit up into a Market Bag. Take a look here to see Kalin’s. She did her’s in Louet Euroflax, but Paper would be a good substitute!

The last yarn that I want to show you is one of the many Louisa Harding yarns that we recently received. Grace Wool and Silk is a silky soft yarn with a wonderful texture. Being 50% silk, it brings a sheen to this yarn which makes it seem more vibrant in colour.

Both Paper and Grace are only featured in Point Grey, but we can easily transfer them between the stores. We also received lots of new and exciting Rowan Books at both locations, so drop by for a visit! Our Weekly Special this week is K. Fassett Regia Sock yarn at 40 % off. Regular price is $9.95, our sale price is $5.97!

We will be open tomorrow (Good Friday) from 12 to 5, and back to regular hours after that. Happy Easter!

“So many people are affected by cancer, if not directly, then through our friends and family. It touches us no matter who we are, our age, gender, race or faith. I wanted to do something for the ones I love (and that’s a pretty inclusive everyone!). I hope others will help me with this goal.”

That was written by our very own Erica McLean who works in the Edgemont village location. It’s with her kind and caring personality that she wants to make a difference. How? By shaving her head with “Balding for Dollars” in support of children with cancer and blood disorders at the BC Children’s Hospital. The event will be taking place on May 8th.

Here’s Erica’s “before” photo with her lovely locks, and once the event is done, we’ll show you the “after” photo!

For more information and updates, you can visit Erica’s blog. And if you’d like to donate, you can just go to her donation site. Erica also let me know she’s willing to knit a beanie for anyone willing to join her in Balding for Dollars!

Great job Erica – we’re behind you all the way!

We promised you that more Shibui was on the way… well here it is! This time we received Baby Alpaca Dk, a super soft 100% Alpaca. This yarn knits up to a 22 stitch gauge on a 4mm needle.  Take a look at some of the colours we brought in…

We have tons of great patterns for both our Shibui yarns including the Boxy Pullover. This is a nice and warm sweater, with a cozy, loose fit.

The Baby Alpaca Dk is currently only at the Point Grey location, but will be delivered to Edgemont on Thursday.

This week’s special is Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton at 25% off. This is a fabulous cotton at a great price! I’ve personally knit with this yarn in the past, and absolutely love it! Pure cotton is an aran weight yarn knit on 5mm needles, and we have 14 great spring colours to choose from.