really….spring is here?

 

Yep, calendar now flipped to April (gasp!)  and I’m once again woefully behind. But you know…I’m use to it actually. Quite nice back here, way behind, languishing under a pile of unfinished projects, jobs, duties. Would you believe it: my new year’s resolution was to get shorter newsletters out more frequently. . . not doing so well, huh?

But time to focus, focus, focus, …must attend to shop newsletter because we’ve got lots of fun stuff to talk about.

Socks, Socks, Socks Class

Cathy is ready to tackle teaching our Serious Sock Series. We’re talking official, honest-to-goodness socks you’ll wear on your two feet. On dpn’s or circs; one by one, or 2@a time. She can make socks in her sleep and is here to help you too join the Socks Insomniac Knitting Guild . . . .



(just kidding, you won’t get insomnia from taking this class. but you will end up with a lovely pair if basic, cuff down, no frills, warm and toasty stockinette socks).

• When: Apr 20, May 11, May 25th   1-3:30pm  $50


• Supplies: worsted weight yarn; needles to get 5st = 1” gauge, Knitting Pure & Simple Sock Pattern #9728. (all available at the shop and 15% discount when you sign up for the class)

Call or email to sign up for the Serious Socks Series. Seriously….your toes will thank you!

yarn tasting time

Yep . . . you heard me. “Yarn Tasting” as in sipping swatching with a bunch of yarns, or test-driving working up a sample, playing with them. Casting on, ripping out, trying out various stitches gathering up some free patterns to try out. Monthly we’ll have a Thurs night  devoted to playing with yarn with reckless abandon. We’ll clear the table, pile up mounds of prettily wound up yarn cakes and get cracking! 6:30-9pm

Some yarns just don’t say much until you actually knit or crochet them up. In the hank some yarns just feel rough or stiff. But liberate them from their twisted yogic knots . . . and they ripple, shimmer and drape magnificently.

We’ve a bunch of yarns from various lines we stock: Aruacania, Noro, Ella Rae, Berroco. So why not get tasting them!

 



April 11 - Araucania: This line has some lovely summer weight yarns, hence first up on the Tasting Block. It’s from Chile and is the combined effort of a Mother and Daughter duo who focus on hand painted natural fibers, dyed in traditional hand-crafted ways.  Shades are unique, brewed up in the kettle to create wonderful and one-of-a kind color blends.  I just love the names of the yarns: Andalien (ahhhh-dah-leein), Lontue (lawnnnnn-tu-eh) and Panguipulli (pan-goo-pwee-lee) to name a few. We’ve had the Ruca (sugar cane based rayon yarn) this past year and it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! A sinuous, cool yarn that is heaven on your skin. I’m dying to make a whole skirt of of this stuff for summer. (I know, probably not the most realistic project for a perpetual cast on monster like myself but a girl’s gotta have dreams!)

 



May 23 – Noro: Oh yes . . . one of my favorites. It’s also my secret weapon: all those changing colors help keep my attention span from wandering too far so I can actually finish noro projects! We’ve a bucket load of different Noro yarns to test out. This is a great chance to experience lines we don’t always stock but can special order up for customers looking for a particular yarn. Also we have several (okay…a few more than that) shop samples (because I adore knitting with Noro and can’t seem to stop casting on!). Hopefully the long awaited new issue of magazine will be here by then too.

Jun 20 – Ella Rae: We adore Ella Rae. She’s an Aussie designer and her yarns are great staples. Affordable, great quality and are excellent foundation yarns. Plus she has some yummy luxurious hand-painted merinos. We’ve stocked her Lace Merino for a while (shop samples: Seashore Shawlette and Color Affection shawl both in this yarn). Now this great base is expanded into DK (landing in shop next week), Worsted and Chunky (these will come in later this year-because seriously…come hot weather no one wants to touch chunky yarns).

So mark your calendars: Thurs Yarn Tasting Nights, 6:30-9pm. We can’t serve wine but will have nibbles, coffee, tea and needles. Feel free to bring your favorite needles too to use. And come prepared to cast on!

If well received we’ll branch out and host some Sat afternoons later this summer for those unable to come out on a weeknight

on the bookshelf

This time of year is big for new books. And there’s been so many! I can’t keep up. Here’s my current favs:

Yvette does it again with this companion book to Home Made Winter and the siblings to the big mama book, Home Made. All three are fantastic.



So this pic doesn’t do the book justice. It has the most gorgeous sunflower yellow spine and back! Picture that intense yellow of the lemons…that’s it. I’m gazing at it right now and it makes me so happy.



Rifling through the book makes me feel like I’m there with her, in the summer heat of Provence or the cobblestone streets of Bruges. Biggest surprise: some of the drink recipes totally caught my attention. And jam making! She makes jam making sound totally feasible for someone of my short attention span. No special equipment, quick easy, no problem!

Second favorite cookbook:

This is the 3rd in my favorite slow cooker series by Michele Scicolone. Tried out the Portuguese Pulled Pork last night. (Well, to be honest I used her recipe as inspiration since I never totally follow the recipe exactly. . . .)  It turned out yummy! Her books are great for inspiring different flavor pairings that you might not normally think about. Last night called for a dash of red pepper flakes, paprika and cinnamon. Now the cinnamon must be a Portuguese thing since my Papa always used it in his Linguicia Beans. I could taste my childhood on the plate last night and it was really delicious. Even better today for lunch as leftovers.



If you’re in the market for some new slow cooker books…look no further. These are the bomb!

[Head over to our website to order up copy of any books]

book group

Next up is Band of Angels but Julia Gregson. Historical fiction set amid the Crimea War and the first days of Florence Nightingale's home for sick governesses and her angels of mercy, some of the first nurses. I’ve read her previous novel, Into the Sun and enjoyed. So this one piqued the group’s interest too.

Next meet up: April 22 3-5ish

[Find and purchase our book group picks on our website]

Until next time!

Kim and Megan