Here’s a link to the article.  Do you agree?  What would you add?

http://www.knittersreview.com/article.asp?article=/review/profile/141120_a.asp

3.  Special Class:  Have you ever looked at a lovely skein of hand-dyed yarn and wondered what it would look like and if it would work well in a project? Have you ever used hand-dyed yarns in a project and wondered about the results you got? Saturday, January 31 from 3-6 pm Ana Clerc, from Yarn Carnival hand-dyed yarns will lead us in a class to answer these questions.  We will look at specific examples of yarns and projects and talk about all the factors that go into what we see in the final result. You will learn the do’s, maybe’s, and don’t’s of yarns and project combinations and the best and easiest tool to help you in your choices.

Registration is limited to 10 people and will start on Tuesday, December 2, 2014.  Call the shop and speak to Ruth.  Class fee of $40 is required at time of registration.

Materials: none, but if you want to do some swatches during the last part of class to try some examples, we will look at yarns ideal for that purpose. For swatching, bring or buy hand-dyed yarn and needles appropriate for that yarn. Please bring in your own projects out of hand-dyed yarn that are completed or are in progress to troubleshoot and analyze.
Prerequisite:  Just an interest in the subject matter.

We will be closed Wednesday, November 26, and Thursday, November 27, to enjoy family and food.  See you on the 28th.

Kyla describes herself as a yarn dyer, knitter, weaver, crocheter, spinner, felter and artist. She has a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University in the fine arts (fibers and painting) and art education and is currently working on a master’s degree in fine arts at University of Houston. She grew up in the greater Detroit Michigan area, in a house filled with fibers and cloth. She became addicted to fibers after taking a weaving class in college, and her mother was happy to share her vast knowledge of fibers. She moved to Houston a few years ago after meeting her husband and soon after moving here found Knitting in the Loop. “I was welcomed with open arms and have made great friends at sit and knit.”

From Kyla:  “I learned to dye while I was in college and have been dying yarn, fibers and cloth for over 9 years. I love to create yarn with rich, dynamic colors. I think of a skein of yarn like a canvas, it needs to be beautiful as skein and even more so worked up into cloth. I love dying yarn and experimenting with new techniques and I hope you will love working with my yarn as much as I do.”

We are so impressed with the yarn bases that Kyla has chosen.  We’ve made socks from the  Superwash BFL with 20% Merino and from the traditional Merino sock with 75% Superwash Merino and 25% Nylon — great stitch definition. Three of her yarns are made in the USA at Cush Mills – a 100% merino 3 ply worsted, 3 ply DK, and a 3 ply fingering.  They take the dye beautifully and we’ve made them into clothes and hats that look great and show off the vibrancy of the colors as well as the quality of the yarn.

Join us Saturday, September 27 to meet Kyla and dive into new combinations of color and yarn.

Sincerely, Judy Amonett Knitting in the Loop

]]> https://knittingintheloop.net/blog/kitl-introduces-a-new-indie-dyer-to-the-houston-area/feed 0 https://knittingintheloop.net/blog/september-newsletter https://knittingintheloop.net/blog/september-newsletter#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2014 22:15:00 +0000 https://knittingintheloop.net/?p=97387

EVENTS Saturday, September 27 – All day — New Independent Dyer We are proud to introduce a new indie dyer to Houston, Kyla’s Lab.  Kyla Crawford, an MFA student at UH is bringing us her hand-dyed yarns from fingering to worsted weight in tonals, gradients, and self-striping.  Kyla’s eye for colors attracted us to her work and the yarn bases show great stitch definition.  Kyla will be with us all day on the 27th to answer your questions and share in the joy of hand-dyed yarns. Saturday, October 11 – 1 to 3 p.m. — Cascade Yarn Tasting Bring your needles and test knit or crochet with new yarns from the Cascade line.  We are excited to show you the new yarns and colors for fall/winter and even into next spring.  A representative from Cascade will be there to answer your questions.

CLASSES Sunday, September 7 (2 hours $30) Virginia is offering the Tunisian Scarf Go Round.  This scarf is based on a variety of Tunisian crochet stitches providing interesting texture and resulting in a beautiful scarf or cowl. Tuesday, September 9 (2 hours $30) Rose is offering the New Directions Baby Blanket.  Worked in a diagonal here’s a great way to learn yarn over’s for shaping and how to add borders.  There’s a beautiful sample at the shop. Thursday, September 11 (2 hours $30) Instant Gratification Scarf with Rose.  2 balls of bulky yarn make this gorgeous scarf and add to your skill list with the stunning cables. Tuesdays, September 16 & 23 (2 sessions, 2 hours, $50) Steeking without Fear.  Let Rose guide you through the process of knitting and project then strategically cutting for the appropriate placement of holes. Knitting Help Desk ( 2hours $25) Rose will be at the shop on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-12 for your knitting questions.  Drop in with for help with patterns, picking up stitches, or starting a new project. Tatting & Technology (not together though) Angie is with us on Thursdays.  We’re so glad to be able to offer her Tatting classes and her Free Technology classes during the week. Check out the calendar to see what’s happening when.

We’re looking forward to a great fall season.  The change is already in the air (or at least we’d like to think so).  Join us, won’t you?   Sincerely, Judy Amonett Knitting in the Loop

]]> https://knittingintheloop.net/blog/september-newsletter/feed 0 https://knittingintheloop.net/blog/august-brings-the-end-of-summer https://knittingintheloop.net/blog/august-brings-the-end-of-summer#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:03:20 +0000 https://knittingintheloop.net/?p=97357 August brings the end of summer.  Unfortunately not a change in the heat just yet, but a look to the coming fall, school, and so on.

First we want to say “thank you” so much for your donations to our Stash Amnesty program.  We collected over 2300 skeins of yarn and the groups have already started to come make their selections.  We hope to make this a yearly program to benefit your cleaning needs, as well as various Houston knitting and crochet charities.

Next time you look at our class calendar you may notice a change.  We are showing only “specialty” classes on the calendar.  Rose has Introduction to Fair Isle, Woopsie, Total Immersion Continental Knitting, and the Sagaponack Tee this month.  Sharon will be teaching Intro to Cables & Bobbles as well.  A big difference is that you will no longer see Beginning Knitting or Beginning Crochet on the calendar.  The reason for that?  If you or someone you know wants to learn to knit or crochet, just give us a call and we will schedule at your convenience.  No more specified times — we want to work within your schedule, so gather several friends and learn a new craft to keep your brain nimble.

You know there’s always a party going on at KITL and this month it’s Tuesday, August 5 – Skirt Day.  Last year when Gwen Bortner came to teach she introduced us to the joy of knitted skirts.  And a few of us may have gone overboard.  Drop by the shop and show us your knitted skirt – or top, sweater, whatever – and join us in the joy of knitted garments.  And don’t forget we’re open til 8 on Tuesday evenings.

Once again, we truly enjoy knitting and crocheting with you.  Thank you for your continued support.

Oh – and that school thing.  Angie and Michael have pulled together the school colors for several local colleges so you can knit or crochet to show your team spirit.  UH, Rice, LSU, UT, and TAMU just to name a few.  Go team!

STASH AMNESTY

Monday July 14 to Saturday July 26

Bring your unwanted yarn to Knitting in the Loop. For every 50 grams of unused yarn you bring in you will earn 1 KITL point. The yarn must be in full, unused skeins with ball bands.
After totaling the weight of the yarn you bring in, we will immediately add your new points to your KITL account, helping you reach your 250 point goal sooner to get $25 off your next purchase.

At the end of the 2 weeks, the yarn will be donated to various charities in the Houston area, including several prayer shawl ministries and community service efforts.

So thin out your stash, earn points toward new yarn and help various community efforts in Houston and surrounding areas. Three more ways to feel good about yarn!

PS – a big thank you to Wednesday knitter Beverly Olmstead for bringing us this idea.

June 10-21 we are so proud to have a trunk show of the most adorable sweaters for babies and toddlers from TotLots.  On a recent trip, I saw these items and just knew we had to bring them in to show you.  Come take a look at these precious designs — you will want to go find a baby to knit for!

We also have a selection of knitted items from Vice Yarns.  You know that Vice colors just rock!  We’ve got shawls, socks, and scarves that show off the creativity of what must be a colorful mind.    We have the Blurred Lines yarn in two forms – already split to knit a pair of socks, or not.  And we have Paradigm in solids and variegated.  One Paradigm and one Blurred Lines can be used to make the Xena cowl.

On June 25 & 28, Jennifier is offering a new class — Starting Circular Projects.  From Jared Flood’s Girasole to Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Pi Shawl, the circular project is a classic.  But starting can be daunting.  Join Jenn as she guides you through starting your specific project.  Also, if you didn’t catch it the first time around, her Double Knitting class will be offered again on June 28.

Did you join us in knitting a skirt over the past year?  I can’t believe we started the Knit-Along last August.  So mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 5 and join us to show off your creations.  Wear your skirt, we’ll have refreshments in the afternoon, and fun showing off how knitting skirts do work for any body!

Don’t forget that the KnitSwirl Knit-Along starts Sunday, June 1.  Come cast on or continue knitting if you’ve already started.

Thank you for your continued support. We’re working on more new classes for July.  If you have ideas for classes or seminars please let us know.  We’d love to hear about it.

First — Sit ‘n Knit will move to Tuesday evenings.  On Tuesday evenings, Michael Miller and Sharon Patterson are here to teach whatever you are interested in – from Beginning Knitting to assistance with individual projects.  Don’t forget that we’re also open on Monday evenings from 5:30 – 8 as well.

Next — On Thursdays and Fridays we will be closing at 4:30 in the afternoon.

We will continue our regular Saturday hours from 9:30 to 3 and 1st and 3rd Sundays from 12 to 4.

Also, we will be closed Monday, May 26 for Memorial Day – enjoy your celebrations!

We’re looking forward to a great summer of knitting.  The KnitSwirl KAL starts June 1.  Virginia’s planning another CrochetALong, and Jennifier will be leading a Summer Sweater KnitAlong that truly will be a perfect Houston summer weight.  We’re always looking for projects and products that might be of interest to you — please send us an email with your thoughts and comments.  Send them to:    kitlstoreinfo@gmail.com

Reading Lace Charts – May 14 or 17.  Do you see the perfect project then shy away when you find out it’s based on charts?  Here’s the class to show you the ease of reading a chart.

Lacy Baby Blanket – May 18. Using a pattern from Debbie Bliss, make a beautiful blanket or car seat cover for baby.

Bobbles & Cables – May 21. Do you love the look of cables but don’t understand CF4 or CB4?  Like bobbles and texture but you’re just not sure how to create it?  This class will guide you through reading and interpreting the patterns to make these classic designs.

Knit-TINK — May 28.  Are you working on a lace project and need to undo those k2tog’s?  the ssk’s?  the skp’s?  Have you tried to undo them and end up with more – or fewer – stitches than you should?
Well this class will take you through the mechanics of “tinking” or undoing increase and decrease stitches common to lace so that you can tink back to the problem point and make your correction.

Check out the class calendar on the website and if the date/time doesn’t work for you we’ll be glad to schedule at your convenience.

Don’t forget the Knit Swirl KnitAlong starts on Sunday, June 1.  Bring your pattern and yarn and let’s cast on!