A reminder to those of you who forgot, and details for those of you who have been waiting, our Anniversary Party is this coming Friday April 1st and Saturday, 2nd. Again, we'll have extended hours on Friday, our anniversary day; we'll be open from 10am until 8pm. Saturday we'll be open our regular hours: 10am until 5pm. On both days we'll offer hors d'oeuvres and sparkling cider to sustain you while you shop these great deals:
March is a bridge month for us, finishing up our February classes and waiting until April to hit our spring classes hard. So, we just have a few new classes to tide you over until then, including beginning knitting, felted slippers, I-cord jewelry, and wire wrapped stone cage pendants.
March 2011 Class Schedule
All WEEKDAY CLASSES are held from 6-8pm
If you don't see a class you're interested in, always remember that we have our
knitting clinics ($3) on Monday evenings from 6-8pm and Wednesday
afternoon from 1-3pm, and beading clinics ($5) most
Sundays from 1-3pm, where you'll get expert help with the project
that you are interested in.
Click on the class titles to see the class sample and read the description.
| Mar 6 Socks 2 At A Time (3/3) Socks on Sunday (1/3) Beading Clinic |
Mar 7 Knitting Clinic |
Mar 8 Sweater & Shawl Pins |
Mar 9 Knitting Clinic |
Mar 10 Loop & Wrap |
Mar 11 | Mar 12 Lampworking Basics option 2 |
| Mar 13 Socks on Sunday (2/3) Beading Clinic |
Mar 14 Knitting Clinic |
Mar 15 |
Mar 16 Knitting Clinic Felted Slippers (1/3) |
Mar 17 |
Mar 18 | Mar 19 Beginning Knitting (1/2) |
| Mar 20 Beading Clinic |
Mar 21 Knitting Clinic |
Mar 22 | Mar 23 Knitting Clinic Felted Slippers (2/3) |
Mar 24 Stone Cage Pendant |
Mar 25 | Mar 26 Beginning Knitting (2/2) |
| Mar 27 Beading Clinic |
Mar 28 Knitting Clinic |
Mar 29 I-Cord Jewelry |
Mar 30 Knitting Clinic Felted Slippers (3/3) |
Mar 31 | Apr 1 | Apr 2 |
>Our Facebook & Blog Pages
For those of you who want more updates than we send with our newsletter, we wanted to let you know about our blog and Facebook page.
Our blog is where we have been posting our newsletters after we send them, but now we'll also be posting when shipments arrive, and other changes to the store that may inspire you to stop in.
Our Facebook page is where we'll try to post more frequent updates, not only our shipments, but whether clinics are busy or not, or when we make last-minute changes like cancelling clinic. We'd love to have you follow along!
We know that there are a number of you out there that have inherited someone else's yarn stash, with odd skeins and old colors that you aren't sure what you might be able to make. With just a skein or two of a certain color, or several skeins of colors that aren't quite fashionable, there are still plenty of design ideas you can use that will get lots of use and love, like hats, shawls, mittens, scarves, and cowls. You may not have a use for (all of) these items yourself, but there are a number of charities that are looking for items that fall exactly into that category.
We do not want suggest that charity knitting should be made with our ugly and uncomfortable yarn; that yarn may be better used in a braided rug project. We'd also suggest making sure that any accessories that will be worn next to the skin be made with soft fibers and that any scratchy wool be reserved for warm afghans. However, nice yarn in odd colors can be transformed by creating retro striped scarves, a fashionable accessory that will scream Made with Love.
So, once you have identified all of your usable yarn, great resources for patterns include:
One-Skein Wonders 101 Yarn Shop Favorites by Judith Durant |
101 Designer One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant |
Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks! by Judith Durant |
Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders 101 Small Indulgences by Judith Durant |
What is great about these pattern books, versus individual patterns, is that you get over one hundred beautiful patterns all designed to use limited amounts of yarn. You also get over one hundred opportunities to learn or practice different techniques and stitches, in small, fast-to-complete projects to help you build your knitting repertoire. All of this for less than $20.
So, once you begin finishing your charity projects, there are several reputable organizations that have lists of charities that accept and distribute knitted items, including the publisher of Interweave Knits magazine, Lion Brand Yarns, About.com, and the Knitting Goddess blog, just to list a few. Please browse through their extensive lists to find a charity that touches your heart. To save you some time we list a few beginning with 'A', but there are many, many more that merit your donations.
Even for Minnesota, today is unseasonably cold; but, that's no reason to put our Spring knitting on hold. Just in case you needed some visual stimulation to get motivated to knit, we wanted to show you some pretty, free, Spring-themed Ravelry patterns. Click on the picture to go to the pattern. If you aren't yet signed up for Ravelry, you can take a look at this previous blog post for help.
 Spring Time Dishrag by Pam Walker Make with Fantasy Naturale yarn |
 Spring Time Towel by Pam Walker Make with Fantasy Naturale yarn |
 Spring Tide Scarf by Sally Ferguson Make with Classic Elite Alpaca Sox yarn |
 Dreams of Spring Scarf by Denise Twum Make with Diana Collection Silk & Merino yarn |
 Anouk by Kate Gilbert Make with Berroco Weekend yarn |
 Posy and Spring by Karen Juliano Make with Berroco Weekend yarn |
 Lite Bright by Song Palmese Make with Lamb's Pride & Noro |
 Steggie by Julia Farwell-Clay Make in Plymouth Superwash Merino |
 Spring Fling Tank by Alison Hansel Make in Florafil Cotton Yarn |
 Duck by Jeny Staiman Make in TOFUtsies |
 Spring Fresh Shrug by Heather Carlson Make in Big Softie yarn |
 Cottonspring Pullover by Sharon Sorken Make in Berroco Linsey |
We hope these pattern ideas help you to Think Spring. If none of these patterns strike your fancy you can, of course, you can just do what we did and search for "Spring" on the Ravelry Pattern page and find something just right for you.
