Tropical Yarns

Week of Aug 30

Tue, 31, Aug 2010 10:57:41 EDT

From Plymouth - all sorts of goodies!
Covington - worsted weight mercerized cotton with a great shine
New colors in Baby Alpaca Grande, BAG Tweed, BAG hand dye, BAG paint
Drifting Garden - slow variegating mohair (with free scarf pattern)
Zino - drifting color sock yarns

Week of August 23

Wed, 25, Aug 2010 10:42:47 EDT

From Skacel/Shulana/scholler - Limbo Mexico - Dk weight sock yarn - My personal favarite for around the house socks in fun colorways!
Batika yarn, Kid Seta Lux, Angora Fashion
New sock yarns for the fun at heart - Zauberball and Flying Saucer. Neat!
Plenty of new pattern magazines for knit and crochet.

Other publications - Interweave Crochet for fall,Book "around the world in knitted socks 26 designs"

Week of August 16

Fri, 20, Aug 2010 04:25:46 EDT

New magazines in this week - Vogue Knitting fall issue and Debbie Bliss magazine.

Week of August 9

Fri, 13, Aug 2010 09:17:04 EDT

From Cascade: wonderful new colors in Cascade 220 Superwash - perfect for patterned socks, sweaters for young and old, or afghans. Also new colors in Cash Vero DK, Cascade 128 superwash (a thicker wool), and the new Cascade laceweight yarn. Come in and see!

From Hiya Hiya: New colors in puppy snips, new interchangeable needle sets in larger sizes (9 - 15), and oh-so-cute "dumpling" cases with yarn ball ring markers. You MUST have one of those!

LAST WEEK FOR TROPICAL YARNS LOCATION

Fri, 27, Aug 2010 07:42:33 EDT

Our FINAL DAY for Tropical Yarns location will be Saturday, September 4. Join us for one final week of blowout sales on yarn, books, patterns, magazines. We have a HUGE area of $1 balls, and we add to that section daily.
Our larger Elegant Stitches location, and our website, will continue to operate as usual.

Special Project for our Marines in Afghanistan

Wed, 11, Aug 2010 05:49:12 EDT

We are offering special support to a very special unit of Marines staioned in Afghanistan through next winter. We are collecting and sending them books, magazines, small toiletries, powdered drink mixes, foot and baby powder, wet wipes, etc and making them special mitred square blankets for their beds.
Bring in any of the above items at anytime before October.

To participate in knitting the afghans, these will be done with number 8 needles (or number 9 if you're a tight knitter)and Encore. It takes less than one hour to make a square, so you can commit to one a night for a week and have a strip made to turn in! Join us on Wednesdays in the afternoon or evening and participate in the knitting!

How to make a square: Each square is 6" so the gauge is about 4 st/inch
Cast on 50 stitches, placing a marker after 25. REVISED, EASIER DIRECTIONS - NO COUNTING NEEDED!

Right side rows are decrease rows, wrong side rows just knit
Row 1 and all right side rows - Knit to 2 stitches before the marker, SSK, move marker, K2tog. Knit to end.
continue in this manner until you are down to 2 stitches. knit them together.
Now you are ready to start another square. Or you can end here and bring it in.
To start the next square, PICK UP 25 stitches along the left edge of your square. Cast on another 25 stitches. Knit one row. Now you can start with Row 1 of the pattern above.

If you are making one strip, it should be 8 blocks long. You can easily make one in your spare time in a week!

October Guest Teacher

Wed, 14, Jul 2010 04:14:09 EDT

We are very proud to announce that Jane Slicer-Smith is coming to teach at Elegant Stitches in later October. Here are the descriptions of the classes she will be teaching:

SIMPLE INTARSIA
4 hour class
Covers Metro, Jindabyne and Stripe Jacket from "Swing, Swagger, Drape".
Swatch commences with a three colour cast on, working from a diagram into vertical stripes of colour. Cable twists are worked into the vertical stripes. Swatch continues to introduce the students to working from graphs, joining colours and following and marking the graph.

MITRES BY DESIGN. Mitres for garment construction.
4 hour class
This class applies to all the designs in the Mitre section of "Swing, Swagger, Drape".
I just love Mitered squares � grab one by its corner and you have a diamond! The design possibilities are endless; the looks they create are simply stunning. Mitres are knitted in garter stitch with a simple decrease, resulting in a virtually seamless and colorful garment. There�s nothing new about the technique: it�s often used for throws and cushions. What is new are the styles that designers are creating with this simple technique. I�ll be showing garments from my range to demonstrate how I use mitres into garments.
Students will work a swatch which will cover from full Mitres, half horizontal and vertical Mitres, and finally quarter Mitres. Also how to increase and decrease sts per mitre to shape garments

TEXTURE

Textures add interest to the surface of the knitting from simple cables to traveling stitches, Bobbles, Bells and Leaf Lace. If I am not knitting with colours then it has to be texture, in the class we will work a purse which incorporates a combination of stitches. Cables and traveling stitches to bobbles, leaf lace and oh and some short row shaping for good measure! The increase and decreases worked in these stitch patterns demonstrate techniques that are also used in garment shaping. Simple texture is used in Swing, Swagger, Drape - Dice Sweater and Greta Coat and Vest. Leaflet patterns Patchwork Jacket and Patchwork Swagger incorporate multipile textures.

3 hour class Students will learn
Texture created by adding stitches and rows, as bobbles and bell stitches.
Decrease stitches create a surface pattern, which can be used in raglan body shaping.
Working texture, combining both written instructions with graphs.
Traveling stitches to create Zig Zags and Diamonds.
Materials. 50g ball of DK weight or slightly heavier to show the texture, this should be a solid coloured smooth yarn � not cotton, suitable ndle size. Cable needle, note pad and pencil.

All purses commence with garter stitch with a buttonhole, short row shaping in basket stitch, side panels are worked in cable, established before the body of the purse. Then each purse uses different stitches, increased and decreasing to create raised surface details onto the knitting.This starts with the easiest to the more challenging purse.

MAKING BUTTONS Creating buttons with colour and texture
2 hour class
Matching colours, creating shapes and adding decorative features. Since the mid eighties when I started my own Signatur Handknits label I have been designing and making buttons from modeling clay. The class will start with forming and shaping buttons, blending colours and applying surface pattern.

Materials: Small flat container to store buttons until baked, with foil or waxed paper to place between the unbaked buttons. Sealable plastic bags to keep remaining modeling clay air tight. A knife - small paring knife with a straight slightly flexible smooth blade. Work surface smooth and flat 6� square ample. Cable or knitting needle � to make buttonholes. Modeling clay in two colours, you can swop for extra colours with other students. Fimo is good but there are cheaper products too.

COLOUR CLASS � Colour relationships
The colours you wear say a lot about you, as do the colours within your home. Movies use colour and costumes to create atmosphere, mood and characters, as we do with tailored Jackets for the office and bright scarfs on cold winter days. A coloured scarf can bring a costume to life, as a piece of jewelry sets off an evening dress, creating flair from a simple red cravat to an intricately embellished fabric. As knitters we know the scarf would take no time to knit, whilst putting the colours together for the embellished jacket would be a project in itself. So, let�s explore colour.

Class description: 2 hour class
Create your own colour story, learn about dominant and highlights. Start your own colour inspiration and guide book. Consult your wardrobe. Let your favorite pieces guide you towards your own colour tree. Then, pick up your needles and explore.

Materials: Scissors, sticky tape, interior magazine, destination regional art gallery � yarns, favorite coloured garments. Sheets of letter size white paper, you can add these into a folder or book.

Jane Slicer-Smith is Coming!

Fri, 20, Aug 2010 04:33:49 EDT

We are very proud to announce that Jane Slicer-Smith will be coming to teach classes at Elegant Stitches in October. Here is the schedule - please call the store directly at (305) 232-4005 to sign up. We still have many openings in all classes and hope to fill them by mid-September.

Sunday, October 24: 10am-noon Color Relationships; 1pm to 5pm Mitres by Design (as in her book "Swing, Swagger and Drape"
Monday, October 25: 10am to noon Button making; 1pm to 5pm Simple Intarsia
Tuesday, October 26: 10am to 1pm Textures

Class fee is $25 PER HOUR, therefore a 2 hour class is $50, etc. If you take BOTH classes on any day, a lunch will be included with your class fee. Class size is LIMITED so sign up now. To see full class descriptions, click "Knitting Classes - Specialty classes at Elegant Stitches"

New Needles Just In

Wed, 23, Jun 2010 07:14:46 EDT

We have FINALLY received our shipment of Lana Grossa needles (formerly only available through Knit Piks). We have circular wooden in 24" and 31", metal in 31" (a great substitute for Addi Lace), and gorgeous crochet hooks and double points. Come in and see how lovely they are to knit with!

What's HOT for fall

Tue, 06, Jul 2010 03:01:17 EDT

Here's a cute knitting idea - the vest done in Vintage Chunky. The smallest size (30" seen here) uses only 3 balls of this great new yarn. Make one for yourself or for your college student - keep away the winter chill!

The most prevalent trend that we are seeing for fall and winter is SLOUCH HATS. There are SO many patterns available for both women and men (think pictures of Brad Pitt going through the airport) that you can start you knitting NOW for college kids going away or for holiday knitting or your own northern travel.

A HAT makes a perfect travel project because you just need one circular needle with matching double points for the top (or you can use magic loop method).

To start you off right, come in for a copy of a FREE easy slouch hat pattern with purchase of worsted weight yarn to knit it. Later you can expand to lots of other patterns - we are seeing them in many of the books for fall yarns. Enjoy!