It's our 10th Anniversary!

I know it's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since the original 5 yarn girls opened the doors to Uncommon Threads at the tiny shop on Beaver St. Back then we were as surprised as anyone that people would want to come and learn to knit and share our love of yarn, knitting and fibers. We had a slow start, but after 3 years, we had out-grown our sweet little shop and found our current location on West Market St.

Now there are just 2 yarn girls, but we have wonderful yarnies that help us - Daun, Kim, Kim, Mary Anne, Vikki & Angela just to name the regulars. Kathy & I have the same passion for knitting that we did 10 years ago and are honored that you have continued to support us over the last 10 years so that we can continue to bring you all the amazing yarns that we've found over the years.

Join us next Friday evening from 5-8 for our anniversary kick off with trunk shows from Ally & Nettie Totes, Karen Paust and Suzen Craver. We will have yummies to eat and don't forget to bring your knitting!

Summer Wrap-up & A Taste of Peru

Wow! What a whirlwind this summer has been! We've had so much fun seeing everyone completing their February Lady Sweaters and loved watching so many new sock knitters tackle the Summer Sock Hop pattern. For those of you who joined us for the Sock Hop party last Friday night, thank you. What a great time we had! Who ever would have guessed there were so many creative places to hide a foot inside the store? And all the snacks -- yummers! And what exactly was in that "Not Egg Salad" dip? We promise to tackle Kim W. and find out the recipe. Look for it here next post.

In case you missed the sock hop, you missed the big premier of our two newest sock yarns, Mini Mochi and Melody. Both yarns are superwash and have the slow, gradual color changes that you have been requesting.

The Crystal Palace Mini Mochi is a single and comes in amazing bright varieties. The Jojoland Melody is a multi-ply heathered yarn that has beautiful depth.

If you did miss the Sock Hop, don't despair -- we have more fun coming this Friday. Join us for September's First Friday celebration on Friday, September 4, 2009. Festivities kick off at 5pm as we enjoy A Taste of Peru featuring a trunk show from The Alpaca Yarn Company. Many of you know Beth who is one of the co-owners of Uncommon Threads, but did you know she wears 2 hats - she also owns The Alpaca Yarn Company, distributor of many lines of alpaca products. We have lots of fun planned, including the premier of 2 new yarns by AYC, Astral & Halo as well as a trunk show with many, many yarns. We will have great samples to try on and show off, discounts on great Alpaca Yarn Company products & free patterns with the purchase of selected yarns. We will also have snacks, music by a real South American Gaucho, plus you will get to know the owner, dyer and designer at AYC and if we are lucky, and maybe even a visit from a live alpaca! Hope to see you Friday!

Product Update

We just got a boat-load of Malabrigo Worsted, Lace, Silky Merino & Sock yarn in. Don't delay, it won't be here long.

We've also just started stocking the Kollage Square Circular and Double Point Needles.

From Skacel, we have Bahia, a fantastic summer blend of viscose & acrylic has an amazing sheen and will show off your stitches like nobody's business.

From Crystal Palace, we now have Cotton Rich DK, which is a blend of cotton and acrylic that looks like it will hold up to kids or whatever you can put it up against.

We are expecting a shipment of Mini Mochi very soon. If you haven't seen this yarn, you don't want to miss it when it arrives. It is a slow striping sock weight yarn that is washable. Our first order was here and gone in just a few weeks.

Hope to see you soon for some summer knitting.

Finally, my first blog post (thanks, Mary-Anne). It has been so much fun making the "February Lady Sweater." Mine is finished and I have worn it at every opportunity. I have posted a photo of Beth and myself right outside our shop while wearing our lovely sweaters.
Now I am looking at "Hey Teach" which can be found on www.knitty.com How do you feel about that for a summer knit along? If you have any other suggestions, please drop us a line ... we'd love to hear them!


Some shop news... we now have the Square Circular Needles (1-10) and Square Double Points (0-3) from Kollage Yarns. Check out our recent book delivery and the fabulous Tahki Stacy Charles "Superior Crochet" with 8 designs by Doris Chan and Kristen Omdahl.
Happy Knitting,
Kathy

Finished Febuary Ladies

Sorry it's been a while since we've last posted. I decided it was time to get this sweater done and over with. I chose Malabrigo Merino for mine. It's wonderfully soft, warm and the color has so much character.

I hope your progress has been good. I am not the first to finish the Feb Lady, but I am the first to have a picture. I've heard about a few of them and would LOVE to post your pictures here.

After the yoke, the sweater pretty much just moves along. And finishing is a breeze - not a single seam! The directions don't tell you how long to make the sweater or the sleeves for that matter, but it is so easy to try on and see what looks best on you. I love the 3/4 sleeve and it was just perfect for this March day that can't decide if it will be soon be spring, or stay winter.

Please send us pictures, or post them here yourselves.

So you're done with the Buttonholes

I see there are several post regarding the February Lady from folks who have gotten done with their buttonholes. If you are like me, you probably thought that the yoke looks pretty small. Well, I've measured mine. I'm doing the second size and normally wear a sweater with a finished size of 36"-38". If you measure from the front neck edge down to the end of the garter stitch, you will probably get something around 6" before you start the lace. Another way to measure is on the diagonal "seam". That measured 7 1/2" for me. It's hard to measure the actual armhole opening at this point because it's still on the needles.

Remember, it may look better to complete the 3 more rows of garter stitch without the increases before you do the eyelet row. Just a matter of opinion. . .

You'll probably really enjoy the lace after all that garter stitch. It's an easy pattern to get into your head and the knitting goes really fast.

I'd love to see pics of your works in progress.

February Lady Progress

So, how are you doing on your February Lady? I've gotten down to the lace portion, but I did have a relaxing weekend away, so don't feel bad. In case you haven't gotten too far, I'd like to give you the instructions for the one row buttonholes. I love this buttonhole and use it all the time. It's a little confusing the first time you try it, but it may help to have someone read it to you so you can keep concentrating on your knitting and not looking back and forth to the instructions.

Work to where you want the buttonhole placed.
Sl 1, and bring the yarn to the front of the work and leave it hang. Sl1, pull first slipped stitch over the second in bind off fashion. Continue the slip, pull over, until the buttonhole is the desired width.
Put the last sl st back onto the left needle. Turn work to WS.
Bring yarn to the front as if to purl. Cast on sts purlwise, leaving the new sts on the left hand needle. CO one more st than you bound off.
Turn the work around to the front side and sl 1 st to the right needle. Pull the extra cast on st over the sl st. Put the sl st back on the left needle.

It was also pointed out to me that the paragraph that starts with Eyelet Increases might be in the wrong place. I'm sure it's how the designer intended, but when you do the increases and then do another 3 rows of garter stitch, you kind of have holes in the yoke that just don't look like they belong. They are hard to see in the picture, but if you double click on it, you will be able to see them easier. If I was going to do it again, I would put that eyelet increase row just before the row where you begin the lace pattern, so essentially, switch the paragraph about the eyelet increase and the 3 more rows of garter stitch.

Happy Knitting!
Beth

February Lady Sweater Knit-along

We've been thrilled with the response to the February Lady Sweater Knit Along. Already we've heard from at least a dozen people who want to join us - even as far away as in Puerto Rico! Yesterday alone, 5 people got the yarn to get started, and I know that I'm going to begin mine this weekend. Our new shipment of Malabrigo Merino Worsted arrived Tuesday and that's what everyone has selected so far. If you come in for the yarn, we'll give you 10% off too!

If you aren't familiar with the pattern, here is the link to it. This will take you to the designer's website and you can click on "GET THE NEW ONE" at the top of the page to get your own copy.

We'd love to have you post your progress here and even send us some pictures as you go. Since it is a knit along, you are always welcome to come into the shop to work on your project or get some help.

Happy Knitting!

A new month, a new blog

Well, it's been a long time coming, but here were are in 2009 and The Yarn Girls at Uncommon Threads thought it was time to jump on the band wagon.

We are Beth & Kathy, the owners of Uncommon Threads and we'd like to share the day-to-day happenings at the store with you and celebrate the successes of our customers and friends. We'll keep you posted on gatherings, events and new yarns as they arrive.

We hope you will enjoy the blog - please feel free to add you project pictures and comments!