Archive for September, 2013

Emily is Coming!!!

Sunday, September 29th, 2013

Far Away and Back Again ::: Emily Wessel of Tin Can Knits visits Urban Yarns this October

Emily and I (the designers behind Tin Can Knits) met and got their start designing while working at Urban Yarns back in 2009!   Just four years later, we have published 4 collections of popular knitting patterns, and Emily now lives across the pond in Edinburgh, Scotland… the land of haggis, men in kilts (they really do wear them), and year-round sweater weather!

trunk show and book signing … the last stop on her west coast tour

Emily seldom has the chance to visit, but this October she is going on tour – catching some sun in LA, then traveling up the west coast in time to attend Knit City and to visit her old haunts in Vancouver!  Urban Yarns is excited to be hosting a trunk show and book signing featuring her latest book, Handmade in the UK on Friday, October 25th, from 6-8pm, at the Point Grey location (4437 West 10 Avenue). {map}

pop blanket classes ::: get all the tips direct from the designer <subtitle>

Emily is bringing the adorable Pop blanket with her – book now to learn all the techniques from the designer herself!  Classes will be run at the North Van and Point Grey shops on Oct 21st and 22nd.  Click here for more info and call 604-228-1122 to book now.

intensive shawl design workshop ::: bring your design ideas to life <subtitle>

After what is sure to be a hectic weekend of stash enhancement at Knit City, Emily is back at Urban yarns on Sunday November 3rd, for an all-day intensive shawl design course.  Bring some beautiful yarn, your favourite stitch patterns, and a willingness to try new things, and she reveal her own inspirations, and guide you as you bring your ideas to life in lace!  Click here for more info and call 604-228-1122 to book now.

a bit more about the latest book ::: handmade in the UK

Emily’s latest book, Handmade in the UK, was inspired by her new, romantic surroundings.  These lace designs are inspired by her newcomer’s perspective on the historic urbanity and romantic countryside of her new home.  From the irrepressibly floral motifs that bloom on the Botany shawl and the Lush cardigan, to the crisp architectural lines and geometric patterns of the Bonny top and the Winding Way socks, to the water and landscape motifs of the Windswept pullover and Estuary shawl which take their inspiration from the wild landscapes of Scotland – this collection is has a wealth of interesting lace designs!

join us ::: trunk show, designer talk, and book signing ::: Friday Oct 25th <subtitle>

Come down and say hello, meet Emily and Alexa, try on the beautiful samples, and pick out the perfect combination of hand-dyed luxury + lace pattern at the Trunk Show on October 25th, from 6 – 8 pm.  And be sure to bring your friends… (a little birdy told me that parties put on by Urban Yarns owners Anina and Jan are not to be missed!!!)

Kickin’ It Up a Notch

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

I have not always been a fan of the yarns put out by Debbie Bliss. Well, that’s not quite true. I love working with her yarns, but in general, the colours have left me feeling a bit… meh. I mean, I am a huge advocate of Bright! Colours! when knitting for babies and infants, and Debbie is know for some absolutely fantastic baby patterns, so I have always been left wishing that she would just step away from the pastels and punch up the colour.

Well, was I ever pleasantly surprised this week! In addition to a new magazine with some great patterns, I came nose to skein with some brilliant, deep, rich, engaging, colour!

DB1

In particular, there are some new colours of Rialto DK (and a snap of one of my favourite patterns in the magazine, but you’ll have to come check that out in person to see more),

DB2

Rialto DK

Rialto Aran,

RialtoAran

and, some Baby Cashmerino!

CashMerinoBaby

Now, we have obviously kept some subtle tones, but hot-diggity, we have some great punchy colours to work with! Now, go forth a swaddle a new baby in some of the royal purple, oceanic blue, jade green (the colour of the year, still!), and that stunning goldenrod.

Back To School!

Thursday, September 12th, 2013

This year I sent my wee Hunter off to preschool. It’s only 2 mornings a week but it does a mum good to see her little one go out into the world. She brought me home a black and white painting today and I put it right up on the fridge, so proud! Well enough about kids heading to school, what about us?! It’s time to go to knitting school and whether you are a new knitter, a novice knitter, or if you’ve been knitting for years, Tin Can Knits has a collection for you!

The Simple Collection is a whole collection of FREE patterns along with step by step tutorials. We have already released Wheat (scarf), Malt (baby blanket), Oats (cowl), and Barley (hat) and you can keep a look out for Rye (socks), Maize (mittens), Flax (pullover), and Harvest (cardigan) all due out this fall. If these are some of your first patterns you can check out the tutorials to go along with them, or if you prefer a little face time with the wonderful instructors at UY just give them a call and they can help you every step of the way!

What do you need for this collection? Just some aran/worsted weight yarn and UY has a ton of great yarns to choose from. A solid (and more thrifty) option is Cascade 220. It comes in so very many colors and a good yardage of 220 (get it?).

If you are looking for something oh so soft, try Malabrigo Worsted or Malabrigo Rios. Two soft, hand dyed, yarns in some bright fun colors.

Or if you’re looking for a treat, try Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes. An amazing subtle variegated yarn, perfect for any of our Simple Collection patterns!

Serendipity

Wednesday, September 4th, 2013

I was snooping around the shop today, and after moving a number of bags of yarn out of the way to make room to sit on the couch, a splash of colour caught my eye. I took a picture right then and there to capture the perfect blend of yarns that had so grabbed my attention. Turns out that picture did not turn out well. So I took the yarns out of their bags and figured that might work a bit better.

Shibui-stacatto-silkcloud

Look at that. Gold, teal, charcoal, Shibui Staccato and Silk Cloud, stunning. In case you’re wondering who made this fantastic selection, it’s pure dumb luck. We had a few items on backorder with Shibui, and these are they! Just plain luck that they all came in together. Conveniently, we also got in two new patterns from Shibui that call for these exact yarns!

shibuiAndPatterns

Well, that was all a bit of a surprise, as I had come in to shoot photos of the new colours of Misti Alpaca we got.

First up, Tonos Carnaval. 50% alpaca, 30% merino, 10% silk, 10% nylon.
TonosCarnaval2

TonosCarnaval1

Next, Handpaint Sock. Also 50% alpaca, 30% merino, 10% silk, 10% nylon.
HandpaintSock

Handpaint Chunky. 100% baby alpaca.
Chunky1

And finally, BabyMeBoo. 50% baby alpaca, 30& merino, 20% bamboo.
BabyMeBoo

Ooh, all just gorgeous, eh? Lots new stock to share soon!