Oh happy day!

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…)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

Galway Beanie

Flavor Placemat

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!!!)

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!

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),

Rialto Aran,

and, some Baby Cashmerino!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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

Handpaint Chunky. 100% baby alpaca.

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

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

Amongst the slew of incoming new yarns for the Fall and Winter seasons, I found these three gems. Each of these yarns is from a different, but very well known company. We have Luxurious Aran Tweed from Sublime, Obi from Noro, and finally Milano from Debbie Bliss. As you may have gathered by now, I’m a bit of a texture geek. Colour is great and all, but I knit because it’s so tactile! Anyway, I felt that these yarns make for a bit on balance and contrast as a group.

First up, Luxurious Aran Tweed. This is a 40% cotton, 40% wool, 20% llama aran weight yarn. It is surprisingly light and lofty given it’s fibre content, and does boast some truly fantastic tweediness, which is always a good thing. I would like to see it done up in a big Ships and Seaside style cowl.

Next, Noro Obi. At 14st/4″, this is the heaviest out of the group. With 55% wool, 35% silk and 10% mohair, it carries on the unique tradition of Noro with an entirely unpredictable range of colours, and a decidedly rustic hand. Now I often have trouble getting on the Noro bandwagon, but I do think that Obi would be brilliant as a bulky, autumnal vest.

Finally, we come to Milano, from Debbie Bliss. I would say that this is the least expected of the bunch, as I tend to picture most Debbie Bliss offerings as quite sedate, and comfortable (and maybe a little boring). Well, I really like the Milano! It’s got a very quirky texture, with a multi-coloured unspun core wrapped in a a secondary strand. I’m not sure which parts of the construction are composed of the 40% wool, 28% polyamide, 18% silk, 8% polyester, 6% acrylic, but it has an almost recycled feel to it. As an aran weight yarn, there are boundless possibilities, but it will be a delicate balance to keep the colour and texture in check, whatever the project…

And partly because side by side comparisons are handy, and partly because I really just felt like stacking some yarn… here’s a group shot. See you in September, folks!

As a child of the 90’s I am stoked that neon is back! I picked out neon back-to-school (or to-school as the case may be) clothes and accessories for Hunter and now she needs some knits to match!

Schachenmayr Bravo Big fits the bill. At a whopping 2 stitches per inch it’s a chunky yarn with zingy colours to choose from. Neon Lime anyone? Perhaps a dash of Day Glo Yellow? A pom pom of Electric Pink? Perfect!

This yarn is a great match for the ever popular border hat. Often whipped up on the chairlift, these hats have become iconic on the slopes. They are bright and fun, with simple ribbing or quick single or double crochet. Earflaps and pompoms, stripes big and small, they are a simple canvas for whatever fun you want to add. Whip up one for the slopes in a night!

Promise not to run me out of town, but I think we’re into the slow slide out of summer in Vancouver now. There are still plenty of lovely days to be had, but there are some telltale signs: the odd cool day, earlier sunsets, chilly evenings, and the steady piling up of boxes in the store. So while we may choose to lament the loss of the sun, new yarn season approacheth!

First up is a slew of colours of Lett-Lopi, classic Icelandic woollyness.

The first of two offerings from Rowan is Alpaca Colour, a DK weight baby alpaca option, soft and subtle.

And also from Rowan is Angora Haze. Fingering weight angora/nylon/wool blend, which should be very pleasant, if you like angora!

On the super bulky side of things, we have Catena, by Sandnes Garn. Alpaca/merino blend should knit up like a house on fire on the suggested 12mm needles.

Finally, Alpakka Strompegarn, also from Sandnes. Dk weight alpaca/nylon blend, which actually feels quite nice, I think it should be a hit!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

So as many of you have probably realized by now, I like Fall. And Autumn. I like them both quite a lot. I also like books (and magazines) a great deal. As such, it should be no small surprise that the annual end of summer pattern launch gets me all kinds of excited.

Bam. You’re welcome. We have Interweave and Vogue Early Fall 2013, Knitbot Essentials, Knitbot Linen, Hill Country Weavers Prairie Bliss, Rowan Autumn Knits, Gudrun Johnston Knit With Me, Interweave Knitting Traditions Lace (Finally!!!), and more copies of last years WestKnits Book 4: Made for Movement.

Interweave is classy as always, my faves are the Concord Jacket, and surprisingly, the Bryn Mawr Dress.

Vogue Early Fall actually has some nice patterns in it this time around. Sideways Cowl and Wolf Boatneck are the standouts.

You may recall from earlier posts that I am a fan of designer Hannah Fettig. I also have an incredibly soft and mushy spot for Quince and Co. yarns (which… we cannot get in Canada so far). So, seeing these two come together, really made my day. Rather than pick favourites, I would just like to say that I want to knit them all. All of them. Every Single One.

Rowan rewards us yet again with sumptuous cables and tactile, tweedy designs. I will take Monyash, Ilam and Hope. Hell, I’ll take two.

From Hill Country Weavers, Prairie Bliss Book 1 has some enchantingly elegant designs. Check out Enchanted Rock, Limestone Landscape, and Rockabilly Soft.

Gudrun Johnston hasn’t hit all my buttons in Knit With Me, but I do love the looks of Empire.

Obviously my most anticipated publication is the continuation of Interweave’s Knitting Traditions series. Only 8 patterns in this lace collection, but absolute stunners, half of them! An Elegant Beaded Stole, Lacy Afternoon Tea Blouse, Osprey Stole, and The Lacy Triangular Stole have my vote. Oh, and Knitting Traditions continues to be one of the few magazines that I do actually buy for the articles!

Now, go forth and knit!