Archive for October, 2013

Fall Classes And Vivid Workshop

Wednesday, October 30th, 2013

Ooh, brr. The weather has taken a turn towards the distinctly chilly today, and while I’m slightly hesitant to call it Fall… I just can’t admit that winter is here yet, so Fall Classes it is!

Last Call: Vivid Blanket Workshop

Coming up this Sunday is your last opportunity to take a lesson with our visiting knitter Emily Wessel of Tin Can Knits fame. Emily is teaching her fantastic Vivid Blanket Workshop This Sunday, November 3rd in Point Grey from 1-4pm, and if you want a brilliant, portable, colourful, fun project to play around with, you should sign up!

HUK-vivid-01

You will make one square, and learn all the techniques required, including the pinhole cast-on, knitting lace from charts, and working in the round using either double-pointed needles, or the magic loop technique, depending on your preference.

More information can be found on our classes page.

Don’t miss out, sign up today!

HUK-vivid-03

Beginner Classes

And I would very much like to take this opportunity to flog our bevy of beginner classes! Thinking about knitting gifts for Christmas? Well, it’s not too late, especially not with our incredibly talented instructors guiding you along.

Cast on, cast off, knit purl, learn them all! Great for fresh-faces beginners and also excellent as a refresher if you haven’t knit in a long time. We’ve got classes most days of the week, and you can see the whole schedule online here!
Some sessions will be starting up very soon, so you’d best take a look, and talk your non-knitting friends into giving it a shot!

POP or Vivid?

Friday, October 18th, 2013

Who can resist such a graphic and beautiful blanket? Emily is the creator of both the POP and Vivid blankets and will be in town to teach workshops on both! Each blanket is created with squares knit from the center out. Sound crazy? Sign up for Emily’s work shop and she will walk you through it step by step!

The real question to ask is which yarn and which weight? Both blankets can really be knit in any weight of yarn, just choose needles to match. The POP blanket is done in a self striping yarn (Noro Kureyon) to give it a lot of different colors. For Vivid you can choose your palette, cool blues? Fall inspired reds, oranges, and browns? Perhaps something bright and wild? The possibilities are endless!

POP Blanket Workshop

Bright, bubbly and modern, the POP blanket is a unique knitted patchwork quilt.  It is a great project for using up bright leftovers from other projects, and a perfect heirloom knit for the very special baby, or your freshly renovated room.  Knit from the centre out, these addictive squares use several special techniques that you may not have tried!

You will make one square, and learn all the techniques, including the pinhole cast-on, short-row shaping, stretchy bind-off, blocking and the crochet-chain seam.  The class is suitable for advanced beginners.

What to bring:

- POP blanket pattern (available in store or online http://www.tincanknits.com/pattern-TCK-POPblanket.html
– 5.5 mm double pointed needles (or a long circular for the magic loop technique)
– 20 yds each of 2 colours of worsted/aran weight yarn (this is for one square – see the pattern for complete blanket requirements) – sample shown in Noro Kureyon and Cascade Eco
– locking stitch marker, darning needle, crochet hook

When:

Point Grey
Monday, October 21st
6:30 – 9:30
Cost: $35.00

North Vancouver
Tuesday, October 22nd
6:00 – 9:00
Cost: $35.00

Vivid Blanket Worshop

Join designer Emily Wessel (of Tin Can Knits) and learn how to make the exquisite Vivid Blanket.

A delicate, lacy but modern patchwork, Vivid is knit one square at a time, in a rainbow of your own choosing!  It is a great portable knitting project, and makes a very special baby gift, or a house-warming present to yourself!

You will make one square, and learn all the techniques required, including the pinhold cast-on, knitting lace from charts, and working in the round using either double-pointed needles, or the magic loop technique, depending on your preference!

What to bring:

- Vivid blanket pattern (available in store or online) http://tincanknits.com/pattern-HUK-vivid-html
- 70 (100, 130) yds of sock (DK, worsted) weight yarn – your choice! and needles to match yarn weight (we suggest US 5 for sock weight, US 7 for DK weight, US 8 or 9 for worsted weight)
– stitch markers, darning needle, crochet hook

When:

Point Grey
Sunday, October 27th
1 – 4 pm
Cost: $35.00

Pretty Things

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

Sparkly and silky, it’s time for a new shipment of Great Adirondack Yarn Co. yarn and batts!

We’ve got sequins,

GA-Sequins

GA-Sequins2

We’ve got silk,

GA-SilkBatt

GA-SilkBatt2

And we’ve got merino.

GA-Wool

So if you’re looking for something just a bit different to spin, felt, or plain old fondle, you can’t NOT stop in…

GA-All

Product Focus: Zealana

Monday, October 7th, 2013

Oh happy day!

Zealana-all

Would you just look at that lovely, lovely pile of yarn. Zealana really makes some brilliant products, and we’ve got nearly the entire lineup. From lightest to heaviest, Air, Kiwi, Rimu Fingering, Rimu DK, Kauri and Heron.

Air: 40% cashmere, 40% brusthtail possum down, 20% mulberry silk
Beyond decadent. Light, airy, fuzzy but not sheddy, pilly, or scratchy (unlike mohair, alpaca, angora…)

Zealana-Air

Kiwi: 40% NZ merino, 30% organic cotton, 30% possum
Smooth, clean, drapey. Would make for excellent transitional season wear.

Zealana-Kiwi

Rimu Fingering: 60% NZ merino, 40% possum
A bit rustic feeling, warmer than you would expect.

Zealana-Rimu-Fingering

Rimu DK: 60% NZ merino, 40% possum
A much softer hand than the Fingering version. Perfect for a layering garment, ideal for Fall!

Zealana-RImu-DK

Kauri: 60% NZ Merino, 30% Possum, 10% silk
Indulgent with the silk, and surprisingly much lighter feeling than it’s worsted weight would suggest.

Zealana-Kauri

Heron: 80% NZ Merino, 20% Possum
The beefiest of the bunch. Still knits up with a gorgeously soft hand, and yet wears like iron.

Zealana-Heron

And all in a row. From left to right, Heron, Kauri, Rimu DK, Rimu Fingering, Kiwi, Air.

Zealana-allneutral2

We have been continually impressed with the quality of Zealanas yarns. The possum fibre is just astonishingly warm due to the nature of the hollow fibres, and it really does wear brilliantly with minimal shedding, and no pilling. Most of their products are machine washable, even if not stated explicitly on the label, you’ve got pretty good odds. I have seen some years-old garments that have been heavily used and abused and machine washed, and they still look like new. Defintiely do yourself a favour and be surprised!

Zealana-allneutral

Great Little Gifts

Thursday, October 3rd, 2013

I recently had the opportunity to review Great Little Gifts to Knit by Jean Moss. It strikes me as the perfect time of year for such a book because I was just putting together a little list for the holidays. It may seem early but we all know how quick these things creep up!

While the book contains a whopping 30 patterns I thought I would tell you about my 3 personal faves:

First up, something for baby. As you may have guessed I LOVE knitting baby gifts. They are quick and small and use very little yarn. Perfect! I am adoring the Whoopla Beanbags. While Hunter isn’t quite coordinated enough for juggling, she and Jones do love to throw things at each other. Beanbags are perfect, very little damage done! These beanbags are knit up in a cotton and Blue Sky Skinny Cotton fits the bill, lots of colors to choose from.

Next up is something for her, the Jive Leg Warmers. Simple cabled leg warmers in Rowan Big Wool, they are a snap to knit and stylish too. The perfect stocking stuffer!

Hugs socks. Need I say more? Worsted weight socks (I am a big fan of a heavy weight sock), with fair isle too! A wintery delight for anyone on your list.

There you have it, my faves! There are, of course, 27 more beautiful patterns to choose from so pick up a copy today!

Frou Frou

Frou Frou

Galway Beanie

Galway Beanie

Flavor Placemat

Flavor Placemat