New Cascade Superwash Paint

Cascade introduced the 220 Paints last year but they weren't superwash. Now they are! The colors are nice and bright and in the standard 220 yd skeins, worsted weight. I made a great pair of "house socks" out of a skein of the fall colors and I think the colors we have now would be perfect for kid's wear. There are a couple more colors on the way. (I might have to have a blue/green skein or two....)

Spinning

So, you want to know what this interesting pile of wood and fiber is? Well, this is but a small amount of new VYT staffer Joni's spindle and handspun stash! If there's a spinning gadget in the world, she'll find it and learn to use it. Beneath the Balkan, Lollipop, takhli, handmade bead, Navajo, Akha, Tibetan and Russian lace spindles is an attache charkha. It's a really fun machine invented originally by Gandhi so that the Indian people could always be productive, spinning their own yarn in their moments of downtime. Also living at Joni's house are four spinning wheels (okay, one doesn't work, let's be fair), three more charkhas, many more spindles and a partridge in a pear tree. Oops, wait - that's two fiber-producing cats (yes, she spins kitty!).

Anyway, that's the long way to say that Joni's excited about introducing you all to many new ways of spinning at VYT, using all the yummy fibers we have in the shop. Watch for some fresh, fun classes starting this summer!

It's a cupcake kind of day~

Yes, you read that right, cupcakes have arrived at Village Yarn and Tea! This is something we've been wanting to offer for quite a while now and today is the day.

I will be baking these each Monday morning, rotating between Lemon-Ginger and Chocolate-Coconut. Once, they're gone for the week they're gone until the following week (at least to start). They will be $1.75 each and are so very delicious! AND - we sell the mix so you can make them at home!

Earth Day Sale!

In honor of Mother Earth, we are marking down all of our organic fibers AND teas for the week of April 21st through 27th by 15%! We love our organic fibers and think you will too.

Our organic yarns:
Blue Sky Dyed Cotton
Blue Sky Organic Cotton
Lion Brand Organic Cotton
Nashua Natural Focus Eco Cotton
O-Wool %100 Merino

Our organic teas:
Keemun Golden Buds
Golden Yunnan
Darjeeling
Citron Oolong
Jasmine Pearls
Moroccan Mint
Plain Rooibos
Ginger Lime Rooibos

Evilla has arrived

After a long journey across the ocean, and many weeks of waiting, Evilla has finally crossed our door and lept on to our shelves.

Oh my. I've latched on to colorway A-66. Grey, lime-green, brown, purple. So, so pretty.

What is Evilla? It's another yarn that comes from Estonia. We heard about it when Ruth Sorensen was here in February. There are two types that we are carrying: the 8/2 or shetland weight, and the preyarn, which is an unspun "yarn" that you can either spin finer or knit at a worsted gauge. It's also supposed be great for fulled items - bags, mittens and the like.

Right now, we are apparently the only shop in the US carrying this line - come in and get yours!

Meet Joni!

Hey everyone - we have a new kid on the block - it's Joni Olmstead! Joni will be doing some of our teaching and working in the shop a few days each week. I thought I'd sit and knit with Joni and get the scoop.

E: Joni, how long have you been knitting?
J: Since I was about 12, oh.... you guess.

E: What other fiber pursuits interest you?
J: All of them - next on the list would be spinning, crochet, beading, weaving and dabbling in whatever comes along my way. I always like to try something new, that's for sure!

E: What's your favorite fiber?
J: Merino.

E: Favorite color(s)?
J: The brights - the hot pink, the orange, the yellows.

E: Favorite thing to knit?
J: Lace and socks - I always have a pair of socks going. I'm afraid to count my sock stash!

E: What have you liked about Village Yarn and Tea so far?
J: Ohh.... everything. The calm atmosphere, this is how it would be if I owned my own yarn store. Comfortable to hang out, the yarn and the tea, and the people are great.

E: How many tattoos do you have?
J: Five. If you're really nice to me, I'll let you see my sheep :)

Come in, and get to know Joni - she's a lot of fun!

She's back!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is coming to town:

April 21 - 7pm
Third Place Books
Lake Forest Park Towne Centre
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

Let's show her what a fun crowd we are. :-)�

Skirts 'R Us

Knit skirts are the big trend these days. We currently have a great display of knit skirts by Carol Lansinger. (Sorry, my photo doesn't do this beautiful skirt justice.) Carol will be teaching a on-day skirt workshop on Saturday, June 7, from 10 - 5 pm. She will provide tips and tricks for making your own skirt patterns and you'll come away from class with a custom pattern made just for you based on your measurements. This should be a very popular class so sign up early!

New Class Added

ONE-DAY TOP-DOWN RAGLAN WORKSHOP
May 10, 10:00 - 5:00 pm

Level: Rooibos
Instructor: Rebecca Bienn
Cost: $85

In this 7-hour Unpattern workshop we will learn the basics of top-down construction and how to design your own garments. Using Karen Alfke's Unpattern #6, the process is easily followed and quite addictive! We will be completing a small, doll-size sample sweater using all the steps of the Unpattern. (details and homework)

Sliver in me Fingers!

One of the biggest hits at Madrona was the Fleece Artist Sea Wool Slivers for spinning - 70% Merino, 30% Seacell, and machine washable! We promptly sold out of all we had with us and just got a new shipment in for your pleasure. We also have the luscious Silk Merino Slivers (50% Silk, 50% Wool) and Kid Slivers (100% Kid Mohair). I wanted to include a picture of the new Sea Wool Slivers but they don't have them on the Fleece Artist site yet and my camera battery died. The picture here is of the Silk Merino. Yum.