Winter Sale!

New Year's Day
10 am to 3 pm

20% off everything* in the store!

(*except Kauni yarn, already reduced items, and classes)

Christmas Hours

Hey Ho, Holiday shoppers! Just a little message to let you know that we will be open on Christmas Eve from 10 am to 3 pm. So come on in and get your last minute stocking stuffers or that special Holiday Blend tea for your late night wrapping marathon. (Plus, it makes us feel better about having to work on Christmas Eve if we have nice people stop by for a visit.)

Bragging Rights

Okay, so it isn't exactly cool to toot your own horn but when have I ever followed the rules?

We received a lovely Certificate of Appreciation today from the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs for exceptional community service! We donate yarn to all kinds of programs and several of our customers are avid charity knitters. It's a small thing but every little bit helps. With the new year quickly approaching, it would be great if we could all take a few minutes out of our busy lives to think about what we could do to help out our neighbors in need in 2008. We plan on having more Knit Night food drives, more charity knit-alongs, and the Mammogram Express will be making another stop next summer as well. All of us here at VYT hope that you will have a chance to participate in these worthwhile events.

Happy Holidays from the gang at VYT!

Two words.....

KUREYON SOCK!!!!
(deep breaths, Deb.......deep, cleansing breaths)

Last Minute Gifts

Not to sound TOO much like those obnoxious TV ads but.....we have lots of great ideas for those last minute gifts or stocking stuffers. (List to be read whilst humming Jingle Bells.)

• Some of our great tea paired with some delicious scone mix
• Kid's tea sets
• Good to be Girl hand-crafted stitch markers
• "Knitting with Gigi" beginning knitting kits
• All kinds of cookies, jams, and spreads
• Anny Blatt scarf kits
• Louet felted pillow and dying kits
• Knitting bags and baskets in all shapes and sizes
• Sterling Silver charm bracelets and knitting charms
• Soaps, lotions, sweater stones, tea towels
  
• Swifts and ball winders
• Bone china tea cups and mugs
• Exclusive hand-carved knitting needles
• Mini Soak packets, novelty tape measures, handy post-it notebooks
  

Can't decide? How about a gift card! (OK, stop humming.)

Kits for the Holidays

We have some great kits that will make great gifts for your fiber pals:

• Knitting with Gigi - a wonderful kid's beginning knitting kit complete with needles and yarn
• Louet Felted Pillow - beautiful Riverstone wool in 3 different colorways
• Louet Hand Dyeing Kit - make your own multi-color sock yarn using their wonderful merino
• Anny Blatt Angora Scarf kits - for that special someone who appreciates fine fibers
• Make Your Own! We have lots of great ideas for mixing and matching yarns to make great gifts. We'll package them up in a box just for you!
  

Oops. More Koigu and O-Wool

So, we went upstairs, moved some boxes around whilst looking for something else and POOF!! More Koigu appeared! Several different colors are now available (again) at a reduced price in our sale area. Perfect for that last minute shawl you want to whip up for your mother-in-law for Christmas. ;-)

The rest of our O-Wool order arrived today so our color palette has doubled. We have some cute hat and scarf patterns designed specifically for this wool but it is perfect for all types of garments and we have enough backstock for sweaters in all colors.

New Manos del Uruguay Wool Silk Blend

Imagine glorious kettle-dyed colors applied to a 30% silk/70% merino extrafine wool and you have the new blend from Manos del Uruguay. We have been big fans of their wool and cotton for years and are thrilled with this new blend (150 yds, 22-24 sts per 4" on #4-#6 US needle, $12 for solids, $13 for multi). We are all trying to decide what patterns to use - maybe a two-toned scarf, a luscious hat, a lovely shrug......too much yarn, too little time!! Or how about just buying a couple of skeins to give to your favorite knitting pal! (This is one item you wouldn't mind having re-gifted....to you!)

Petting strongly encouraged. ;-)

Holiday Open House

Saturday, December 8, 2007
Doors open at 10:00 AM

Schedule
11:00 - 12:30:	Free Make 'n Take, Session 1
1:00 - 3:00:	Vendor's Corner
3:30 - 5:00:	Free Make 'n Take, Session 2

Our free Make 'n Take project this year is a knitting-themed holiday card sponsored by Close To My Heart. We provide the supplies and inspiration, you supply your enthusiasm and talent!

In Our Vendor's Corner:

Amy Allen, Good to be Girl Stitch Markers and Gifts
Emma Kidd, Dragonfibers Hand-dyed Roving
Anne Turner, Handmade Beads
Terri Shea, Sellbuvoter demonstration and book signing

Live music and a food sampling from Christopher Brooks - holiday puddings and chutneys - round out the day. We hope to see you there!

What If Everyone Knit the Same Sweater??

Well, I suppose it has been awhile since our last post. I know that we've posted about the all the new yarns coming in, but we haven't yet talked about our big adventure as a group. We are doing a shop knit along, using Peace Fleece Worsted weight yarn to make the Everyday Cardigan.

What's the plan you ask? Well, you have until this Wednesday, November 21st at noon to place your yarn order. You can either pick your color off the Peace Fleece website (see above) or come into the shop and check our our color card. We will order your yarn and pattern Wednesday afternoon. We are asking each participant to pre-pay their yarn, and we are giving you 10% off your purchase at that time.

Peter at Peace Fleece has assured me that the yarn will arrive by the middle of December, just in time to get a swatch done. We will all meet at 1 pm at VYT on New Year's Day to do a group cast on. If you are out of town, then just do your cast on vacation but try and start it at 1 pm PST.

This is not a race though - work at your own pace! I also thought it would be fun for the more adventurous or experienced knitters out there to add in their own touches. Check out the Nicky Epstein books for interesting edges, Barbara Walker for cool stitch patterns or maybe a motif book for a colorful band. Make it your own - that's alot of the fun!

I will also be setting up help times on Thursday nights in case you get stuck, and there will be a yahoo group to chat amongst yourselves and give each other encouragement.

Stay tuned - I'll be planning a fashion show and display at the end!

Ellen

Mirasol Project

I want to take a moment to let you all know about one of the new yarn lines we are carrying in the shop. Not only are the yarns beautiful but the story behind the yarn is also pretty wonderful.

Vision of the Mirasol Project:

• Improving the well being of rural children in the highlands of Peru
  

Executive Summary:

• Quality of education in Peru is poor. The country was rated last of 41 in the IEPS (International Evaluation Program for Students) back in 2002. As a result of this poor showing, education was prioritized within a National Agenda. Special emphasis was given to the rural areas of the highlands, where educational programs and levels of literacy are the worst.
• Recent studies have found that the people of Puno have one of the lowest levels of education and health in Peru. The lack of economic resources and poor nutrition have resulted in high and increasing levels of anemia.
  

Objectives:

• To provide accommodation, meals and health care for the support of the infants and children of the community
• To develop personal and occupational skills, study techniques and language communication through specialized workshops.

By purchasing a Mirasol yarn it means that a percentage of the price goes towards providing an education to the children of the farmers. Jane Ellison - a world renowned knitwear designer - has taken this project to heart and has designed many beautiful patterns for this great yarn. (We sold out of her book the first week but more are on their way!) The yarns are:

• Miski - 100% Baby Llama
• Hacho - 100% Merino
• Cotanani - Pima Cotton and Merino blend
• Sulka - Merino, Alpaca and Silk blend

We hope you will get a chance to see and purchase these lovely yarns very soon!

Fall Sale

From now until this Friday, a number of our favorite yarns are marked down by 35%. After this Friday, they will still be marked down but only by 25%. The yarns include Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky, Noro Transitions, Kochoran, Daria, and Iro, Donegal Tweed, Rowan Big Wool, and even Koigu! These yarns are going fast. How fast you ask? Ya know, when you watch the Road Runner cartoons and he zips off and that little puff of dust is left behind? THAT fast!

O~Wool

No, it is not the title of an ode by the Bard, it is the name of the new organic wool from the Vermont Organic Fiber Company. This wonderful company promotes and supports sustainable agricultural and business practices that minimize the negative ecological impact to the earth.

"By using O~Wool hand knitting yarns, knitters and crocheters are directly increasing the acreage under organic management and offsetting the negative effects of conventional cotton production, effectively contributing to a truly sustainable environment. On average, for every pound of organic wool produced, two acres of land are sustained under organic management. Each pattern developed using O~Wool has the skein equivalent to acreage so the knitter or crocheter can see how much land is being supported by each garment."

Is that cool or what?! We currently have 8 colors with 9 more on the way. The Classic is 100% certified organic merino and is sold in 198 yard skeins, 16-18 sts = 4" on a size 8-9 US, for $14.25/skein.

If you are anything like me, and I sincerely hope you aren't, you might be asking yourself "what the heck is organic wool?" Well, here is how they qualify certified organic wool production:

• Livestock must be fed 100% organically grown feed and forage
• Synthetic hormones and vaccinations are prohibited
• Synthetic pesticides on livestock and pastures are prohibited
• Genetic engineering is prohibited
• Healthy livestock is promoted through good management

And organic fiber processing is as follows:

• Organic fiber must be handled separately from non-organic
• Detergents for wool scouring shall be readily biodegradable
• Must practice appropriate treatment of waste water
• Oils used in spinning shall be of vegetable or animal origin
• All dyes must be free of heavy metals and aromatic amines
• Recyclable or readily biodegradable finishing materials are used
• Carbonizing fibers using acid baths is prohibited
• Organic facilities must practice structural pest management
  

Too much sharing?

New books

We just received two new lace books along with several other cool publications:

• Knit with Beads: Stunning Shawls & Wraps by Scarlet Taylor
• Wrapped in Comfort: Knit Lace Shawls by Alison Jeppson Hyde
• Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding
• Complete Feltmaking by Gillian Harris
• Bag Style by Pam Allen & Ann Budd
• Felt Forward by Maggie Pace
• Crochet Jewelry by Waejong Kim and Anna Pulvermakher
• Crochet Me by Kim Werker (love it!)
• Knits Three Ways by Melissa Matthay
• Knitting for Him (A Rowan Book) by Martin Storey & Wendy Baker
• Inspired Fair Isle Knits by Fiona Ellis

I'm sure there are more that I haven't mentioned. We've been doing more moving and removing of things so you'll just have to come in to see all the new stuff. (My back hurts from all the moving!)

Kauni Fever

It has arrived! The much anticipated, fabulously colorful, all-the-way-from-Estonia Kauni yarn has made it's journey to our shop. (Kauni translates to "beautiful" and is pronounced "cow-nee".) Ellen is busy putting up the yarn into packages to make Ruth's Kauni Cardigan pattern (which we will include with your purchase). We have enough for 26 sweaters! There are 12 kits in the rainbow colorway as well as some in the magenta/purples, brown/gold/blue, and black/grey combos. These kits are going to go fast so get yourself in here to pick out your favorite!

What HAVEN'T we gotten in....

I know I've said this before but - hokey smokes! We have SO much new stuff that we had to go out and buy more shelves! That's right ladies and germs - MORE SHELVES. I honestly think it would take less time to list what we don't have in the shop at the moment. I wanted to upload photos but there seems to be a problem with the blog site at the moment. I'll try to upload photos tomorrow! We have new Debbie Bliss, ShiBui, Marisol yarns, Lana Grossa merinos, Louisa Harding and Berroco yarns, and on, and on... You'll just have to come by to see it all.

Thanks to everyone who attended our fantastic Fleece Artist Knit Nite! We had a wonderful time and there were some fantastic new yarn and kits to be seen. We kept as much as we could and can order whatever you need.

We hope to see many of you at the Louet show this Friday. Who could pass up beautiful yarn patterns, door prizes, and MORE free wine and cheese! Be sure to let us know if you plan to attend. (You must be present to be eligible for the door prizes.)

Louet Fashion Show reminder!

An Evening with LOUET

Join us for an evening of wine, cheese, fun and fashion featuring beautiful garments from Louet.

October 19, 2007
6:00 to 9:00 PM

This is a special event and we need your RSVP by Tuesday, October 16. All those who RSVP will be entered into a FREE drawing for a lovely Louet Felted Pillow Kit! (Must be present to win.)

We've been buried!

Hi there - Ellen here! I had every intention of being able to do a regular post while Deb and Victoria were gone, but alas and alack the UPS guy (Santa, or Steve) had other ideas in mind. In the last week and a half, we've received at least 35 boxes of new fall yarns!

Most of the new Debbie Bliss is in - lovely new shades of Cashmerino Aran, and Astrakhan and we now also have the new Rialto aran. Also in stock are the Cashmerino DK and Baby Cashmerino.

There are new Noro Silk Garden DK and Bulky yarns, and so, so much more.

And then there is the sock yarn. We know how much you all love to knit socks. We love to knit socks too. We have almost a full wall of sock yarn now. The Lana Grossa Meilenweit is in both in cotton blends and wool blends. Fleece Artist should be here by Friday.

There is new stock in Zephyr wool/silk laceweight. We've got a curry color (have you seen the Bee Fields Stole on the knitspot blog? Oh my......) vanilla, white, agean blue; with black and sage green coming in as soon as they can.

So, so many fun yarns and great pattern support right now. I guess I didn't mention books. We still have more coming, but our shelves are also brimming with all of the new fall titles. Just too many to list, but come on in and we will help you find them.

Don't forget that this Friday is Knit Night. We have Kathryn, aka Fleece Artist, and her daughter Jana, aka Hand Maiden coming in to do a trunk show, yarn testing and I've heard rumors there are some drawings of some sort. We'll have a wine and cheese tasting and just alot of fun for the evening. Mark your calendar for 6-9 this Friday, October 5th.

Be sure and take a peek online at our new fall class schedule too! Hope to see you Friday!

Stop the madness!!

OMG- there is SO much coming in and going out that I haven't had a free minute to blog! (deep cleansing breaths, deeeeep cleeeeeeeaaaansing breeeeeeaaaathsssssss) OK, that's better.



We've been working like mad fiends to get the new class list in print. The web site has most of the classes listed - there are still a few additions to be made - and I should have the paper copy to the printers today. Not sure why it has taken so long this time but, well, it has. Sorry!

First, let me say that the Sock Pals II exchange was great and everyone who participated was thrilled! What a fun group. There were calls for doing it every three months but I think we'll stick to every 6 months for now or until we figure out how to do it more often.
New stuff keeps coming in by the truckload - literally!!! We have this wonderful new display thingy for all our new Louet yarn. (I got to put it together, of course. Yipee!) We have Gems (100% Merino) in Super Fine/Fingering and Fine/Sport weights, KidLin (49% Linen, 35% Kid Mohair, 16% Nylon), and Riverstone bulky weight (100% wool)

The new Autunno yarn (100% Fine Merino) is fiberific (my new word). I think the red might have to come home with me..... And we just got 4 new colors from the Opal Rainforest 3 collection.
Last but never least, we now have Noro Silk Garden Chunky.
AND.....today is Victoria's birthday!!!!! Be sure to give her happy thoughts today!

Noni Bag Trunk Show

Ohhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh. Fun and functional Noni bags are here! Come in and see the bags, buy the patterns, and get your yarn so you can work on one (or more) of these fun bags this Fall.

Incoming!!!

As promised, some of the new yarns that are making an appearance for the first time:
Nashua Vignette - 100% superwash wool


Nashua Grand Opera - 86% Wool, 9% Viscose, 5% Polyamid


Trendsetter Boboli - 40% Mohair, 40% Polyamid, 20% Acrylic


Bouton d'Or - Songe 20% Kid mohair, 70% Viscose, 10% Polyamid


Anny Blatt - Trianon 32% Mohair, 32% Laine, 36% Polyamid


and Anny Blatt scarf kits

More New Stuff!

It is that time of year when big boxes get delivered and we start wondering where to put everything! Between now and mid October, we should have all of our "new" yarns and teaware in the shop. What I thought I would do blog-wise during this time period is try to post as often as I can about the new stuff - not a lot of detail, just "look at this!" type of entries. So, along those lines, here is what came in today:

New TOFUtisie colors

And here is the Simple Cardigan from Peace Fleece that Ellen just finished. We also received a new shipment of buttons from Durango - mostly metal, some wood, and some shell.

Peace Fleece

We just received a nice big box of Peace Fleece. This wonderful "natural" yarn come from Porter, Maine and is 70% Merino, 30% Mohair (Russian/Romanian/American), worsted weight, and about 200 yards per skein. The little blurb on the label says: "We began our company in 1986 in response to the cold war, believing that historic enemies could co-exist through trade." Ellen has already made a sweater for us to display - she's just waiting to put the buttons on.

What's Your Pursenality?

We have the Pursenality felted bags trunk show at the shop this week. If you haven't looked through theses books by Eva Wiechmann (published by Martingale Press) you should. There are many knit AND crochet bag ideas. Bags are great projects for beginners and you can have a lot of fun with color and texture. We carry lots of feltable wools and bag handles. Stop by for a peek!

Health Fair update

Our friend Jackie

The Health Fair is off to a great start! We've met lots of lovely people and the weather has been very cooperative! I had a great chat with Kathryn about diet (or lack their of). And everyone has been thrilled with their goody bags!

I also thought I would mention that we just got in the beautiful Malabrigo Lace yarn (100% baby Merino, 470 yrds) Way cool colors!

Baby love

Our shop baby came in for his first real visit today. Of course, I had to force him to wear the bunny hat I made - which was too small to even fit his tiny little head. Isn't he a cutie!!


On another note, here is a picture of my first fully finished, plied and washed, hand-spun yarn. I'm busy making more of the same color so I can actually have enough to make something out of it. Isn't it beautimus!! I'm such a proud momma.




And here is a picture of the cute stitch markers that Amy brought in:

I'm Back!

OMG, like, I just spent, like, a whole week in a camper with, like, five teen-aged girls, and, like, by brain is TOAST! I have to admit to only getting about 20 minutes of knitting done; but my UNO skills are wicked!

Lot's of things have arrived at the shop during my sabbatical on the coast:

New books:
Knitting Circles Around Socks by Antje Gillingham - knit two at a time on circular needles
Simply Shetland books 2, 3, and 4
We HAD the new Cat Bordhi book but sold out right away - more are coming ASAP

New yarns:
Jamison's Shetland Spindrift - 100% Pure Shetland Wool in fingering weight
Baby Alpaca Grande - 100% Baby Alpaca in bulky weight. This was a huge seller last year and there are many new beautiful colorways.
Kaffe Fassett's new Design Line sock yarns from Regia. This new line comes in two types of styles - melange and stripes. There is even a free pattern with purchase of yarn!
And our pal Emma dyed some more Bamboo/Merino and BFL for us (I had to take some home) and Amy brought in some cute stitch markers.

Here are some photos:

Summer Blogging

I have discovered that I get too distracted with summer activities and sometimes forget to update the blog! Sorry about that.

Today is Saturday and we have a gaggle of spinners in today. Members of this gaggle have been my inspiration to learn to spin so I can appreciate their enthusiasm and spirit. I don't work as many Saturdays as I use to and I miss them when I'm not here.

I should also mention that the new Trekking XXL sock yarn order has arrived and some beautiful Annie Blatt scarf kits, proceeds from purchases going toward breast cancer awareness groups.

I will be gone on vacation all of next week - Yahoo! - so there may not be anyone to blog until I get back. (Maybe someone will surprise me and learn how to use the computer while I'm gone.)

:)

Happy Summer!

Deb

New Stuff!

I went to the NW Needlemarket show (put on by Skacel) this past weekend and picked up some new sock yarn (see photo), ordered some Tofutsies and Amazing (corn yarn) from SWTC, ordered some yummy Karabella yarns, brought back some great bags from DellaQ and Ashland Sky, AND the Fall orders are starting to arrive!! We just got two big boxes from Nashua and the Noro just keeps on comin'. I spoke to Skacel yesterday and our Trekking XXL order is being shipped today. The new Trekking ProNatura Bamboo and Fortissima Socak Mit Bambou are luscious - I brought back two mixed bags from the show. I also picked up a bag of Sockina Cotton and it is incredibly soft - softer than any of the other cotton sock yarns, I think.

Speaking of sock yarn, we still have some of the beautiful green and blue colorway that was dyed for us by Pagewood Farm for Stitch 'n Pitch. It comes in both superwash wool/nylon and wool/tencel blends.

We'll be putting a lot of yarn on sale in the next few weeks to make room for all the new stuff so be sure to keep an eye on the blog or the Website for details. Better yet, just come in!

Stitch 'n Pitch

Wow! What a great time we had. Words can't do it justice so, I'll just show you the pictures.



Our spot




Our great crowd





Oh yeah, there was a game goin' on, I think




Brad and his Mommy


What a great hubby!


I can't believe I ate the whole thing....


The end of a wonderful evening.