Fall Color from Manos del Uruguay

September 01, 2010

NOTHING beats busy Fall days at LYS! We've been patiently (& impatiently!) waiting for Fall yarns to start making their way to the shelves. This week's star yarns are from Manos del Uruguay. Manos del Uruguay is a full member of WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) and is committed to 100% Fair Trade. Manos’s mission to eradicate poverty through sustainable economic development, pioneering social and environmental policy and practice, and continual reinvestment in marginalized artisans, farmers and producer communities makes this yarn company a darling of the knitting & craft community. Manos works hard to provide a sustainable business model, and they also work hard to produce gorgeous yarns.

We have a beautiful array of semi-solid kettle dyed colors & hand paints in the Wool Classica hand spun yarn.

We've also filled a wall with Silk Blend, one of my favorite yarns! Silk Blend is a kettle dyed 30% silk & 70% merino yarn in a dk weight. It has a remarkably soft hand & is lovely to knit. Check out the free pattern for the sweet Crumpet hat shown above in the colorway 'Citric.'

But wait! There's more! Manos has an exciting new yarn about to hit the shelves! Maxima is a super soft and squishy kettle-dyed yarn. The worsted weight one-ply construction makes it a great all purpose yarn, and the fantastic yardage makes it perfect for one skein accessory projects. Fun, bright, intense colors spun of 100% merino wool are kettle dyed and measure approximately 218 yards per 100g skein. The gauge is 18-20 sts = 4”/10cm on a US Needle #7-#8 US. We'll update you as soon as we have it here at LYS!

Whorled Peace Yarn

August 19, 2010

Kellie from Whorled Peace stopped by LYS today and brought us new yarn! She brought hand-dyed sock yarn in a new DK weight, and hand-painted roving. Kellie has designed a pattern for a chevron cowl made with the new sock yarn- free with your purchase of the yarn! We found this great pattern on Ravelry for a DK weight sock.

Summertime Socks & Knitting on the Beach

August 14, 2010

Our family was invited to spend a week in South Bethany Beach, Delaware this month. The house was right off the beach, an easy walk to & from the ocean. This meant carrying picnic lunches was easy, & so was running back to the house for the forgotten drinks. Day one I fell asleep under the umbrella, but by day two I was rested & ready to break out my beach knitting.
I saw one other knitter that morning, a 9 year old who had just learned to knit the day before. She was blazing her way through a garter stitch scarf on size 10 needles, & it looked pretty good. Her aunt, who had taught her to knit, was nearby with a giant pair of sunglasses & a magazine.
I loved seeing so many people reading on the beach. Not a laptop or 'mobile device' in sight. I guess there's no service on the beach. I did see ipods & a couple of kindles & readers. Most of them were carefully sealed into ziplock bags. I thought I'd need a plastic bag for my knitting, but I used a small project bag instead & it worked out fine.
So, what did I take along for my beach knitting? NOT the giant worsted weight, fair-isle cardigan I'm making for my August sweater-of-the-month! SOCKS, of course! I cast on a pair of socks in a limited edition color way from Whorled Peace. They're a gift, so pictures will be along in a few weeks. I didn't get a lot of knitting done while we were on the beach, but there was one good stretch when I was sitting alone under the umbrella watching the waves & knitting.
Rather than carrying along a pattern, I'm just making up the socks as I go along. Nothing fancy--I used the surprisingly stretchy cast on, a simple 2 X 2 rib for the cuff, & the leg is a K3,P1 rib.

We're home from the beach now & I've turned the heel & have the gusset under way. Sock number two will have to be worked fairly quickly as I want these to be done by the end of the month. What I'd give for another week knitting at the beach!

Sock Yarn!

August 07, 2010

Today is a celebration day at KKV--it's Yummie's birthday! LYS is celebrating with a drawing for a ball of our newest sock yarn, Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch. A great choice for summer sock knitting, this yarn is 41% Wool, 39% Cotton, 13% Nylon & 7% Polyester. Fortissima sock yarn is a perfect mix of wool and cotton and the little bit of nylon and elastic will help it hold its shape for years to come.

Comment on the blog TODAY by 4pm EST to be entered to win a ball of this beautiful sock yarn! Come into the shop & make a purchase & you get TWO chances to win!

Kitchen Kettle events include:

9am-1pm – Families can enjoy fun activities in the Village including crafts, pony rides, cookie decorating, a visit to Yummie’s Barnyard, bounce house, balloon artist & more. Village Outfitters will feature face painting, coloring sheets & snacks for the kids.
10am – New this year - sky diver Steve Lapp will "drop in" to Kitchen Kettle Village with treats for the kids.
11am-Noon – The FREE birthday party gets underway at the stage area with the introduction of all Yummie’s mascot friends from various Lancaster County attractions, as well as games, music and birthday treats.