October Ewesletter

In this issue:

 

‡ New Books and stuff

‡ New yarns and fibers

‡ Spinning and weaving equipment

‡ Classes

‡ Spin-in and Knit Knite

‡ Community knitting

 


Howdy Fiber Fans!

 

Oh, we are all "a-twitter" with the fact that we are now on Twitter! yes folks, The Recycled Lamb is now connected to the world and we can tweet to any of you who wish to "follow"! Just head to our website, www.recycledlamb.com, click on the link in the upper right, and you'll never be out of touch with the fiber activities at the shop. We'll send out updates and activities and new classes and special Twitter sales, just for fun.

 

Well, gosh, it's November again, it just doesn't seem like a whole year has gone by since last Thanksgiving! But with the big snow we had last week, it's clear that old man Winter is on his way (ok, he's already been here) and it's time to start thinking seriously about wool. Warm, dry, soft, wool. And sweaters, scarves, mittens, socks, bags, purses…knitting with it and weaving with it and crocheting with it and spinning it! And we have a great selection of wools, washables and feltables, solids and variegateds, thicks, reeaally thicks, laceweight and worsteds, all awaiting your talented needles and shuttles, hooks and bobbins.

 

And, yes, since December is next month, it's fair to start talking about .... you guessed it, Holiday Gifts. We've got great ideas and supplies for all your hand-crafted fiber gifts, as well as equipment and books for you as well as your giftees! As mentioned above, wool makes great wearables which make great gifts--but we can expand our knitting/crocheting/spinning/weaving gift giving ideas to include useful and beautiful items for the home! William Morris, an extraordinarily talented and influential 19th-century textile designer, weaver, dyer, interior designer, and supporter of handcrafted decorative arts (look him up, he's fascinating!) once said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

 

What would be better than to create beautiful, useful, handcrafted items for your loved one's homes? Gifts for the kitchen, living room, patio, boudoir, bath, and studio could include: handknit, handwoven, crocheted, and felted rugs, towels, tablecloths, placemats, tea cozies, coasters, cup-huggers, hot mitts, blankets, curtains, napkins, chair cushions, pillows, dolls and toys, holiday decorations, oh, the list just goes on....and on...and on. Use your own ideas to expand the use of wool, cottons, and linens to make these gifts which will be used and treasured for years to come!

 

To help you out, we've got some great books on our shelf with home decor ideas: All New Homespun Handknit by Amy Clark Moore; Knitters At Home; Knitted Afghans and Pillows by Claire Crompton; Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson; Ann Budd's Knitted Gifts; One-Skein Wonders series; Best of Weavers' Overshot is Hot and Twill Thrills by Madelyn van der Hoogt; Liz Gipson's Weaving Made Easy; Jane Patrick's Time to Weave and many more. We'll be happy to help you find the right pattern and fiber for your project!

 

New Books, Patterns and other Stuff

 

We've added a few things this last month that will just tickle your fancy! First, in books, we've got Cat Bordhi's new book Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters. A great new book for making custom-fitted, custom-designed socks in Cat's easy-to-follow instructions. Next, ColorWorks by Deb Menz will help knitters, weavers, and all fiber artists with color theory. We've got 365 Crochet Stitches a Year, by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss, a perpetual calendar with daily crochet stitches. Fun to Knit Doll Clothes by Andra Knight-Bowman is for all of you that have been asking for patterns for 18-inch doll clothes, and Debbie Bliss's Toy Knits has more than 30 “irresistable soft toys” including sheep, pigs, teddy bears, dolls, and even kangaroos! Some of us like to knit AND crochet, and on the same garment— so the new book Freeform Style by Jonelle Raffino and Prudence Mapstone is just the book. Each pattern is given in three skill levels, from simple stitches to 100% freeform! Great instructions for embellishments, motifs, and trims will help you create your own unique garments. Knit Green, by Joanne Seiff, is self-explanatory (and has some fun home decor projects, too!) and the new Noro, by Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton not only has great Noro projects but a history of the "man behind the yarn". New books from Queensland Collection and Ella Rae have also come in, and they are great.

 

On the weaving and spinning front, Woven Treasures by Sara Lamb is Interweave Press's newest weaving book for weaving and assembling one-of-a-kind bags, teaching folk weaving techniques such as twining, soumac, cut pile, and cardweaving. Lastly we've got a fun new wall calendar from Spin-off, a great gift for yourself or your favorite spinner!

 

We received a new shipment of our favorite African baskets last week, lots of new colors in the large round shape but also some baskets with a new shape called the “shopper” — flexible and colorful, it'd make a great knitting bag. Baskets also came in from Lantern Moon, and we'll be seeing cloth knitting bags in this month as well.

 

Up North Fiber Arts is a new supplier of knitting patterns we've just discovered! If you like Lucy Neatby's Sea Lettuce Scarf, you'll find lots more knitting adventures under their label.

 

We've got a couple of sets of the famous and wonderful Addi Clicks, the interchangeable turbo sets from Skacel, available finally. We're not sure if any more will be arriving before December so if you're thinking about these then come in quick and pick up your set!

 

Spinning and Weaving News

 

Handwoven and Interweave Press are sponsoring a new contest for weavers--a sock yarn contest! Here's the scoop: Handwoven is challenging all handweavers to use sock yarn in new ways, with any weave structure, any size, and any color. Check out the website: http://www.interweave.com/ to enter and to see the great prizes!

 

If you're thinking about ordering a loom, a spinning wheel, or any major accessories in time for the holiday, NOW'S THE TIME TO ORDER. Many of these items are made-to-order, so we've got to allow enough time to have them created and finished and delivered. Please let us know THIS WEEK if you'd like to place an order of an item not currently in stock. We'll do our very best to have it to you in time for those holiday surprises!

 

November's Spin-In will be THIS Friday, 5-8pm, at the shop! Bring your wheel, spindle, and a snack to share if you'd like and we'll have soft drinks and spinning fun.

 

New Yarns and Fibers

 

Linen on cones! Yes finally, we've got 3000 ypp natural and bleached linen from Henry's Attic for your handwoven items, and more colors from Valley Yarns in Tencel. We've got so much perle cotton on the walls -- great for crocheting, too! -- that it's overflowing to the bench and floor and beyond, so we'll have plenty for your holiday craft items.

 

In our quest to carry as much locally-produced yarn and fiber as possible, we're stocking up on colors from Brown Sheep in Mitchell, Nebraska. This mill uses only domestically-produced wool and they are just the nicest people! So, we've got their Lamb's Pride in bulky, worsted weight, and Superwash, and NatureSpun in worsted weight; Burley Spun for those quick-knit projects and at the opposite end, Wildfoote sock yarn. Special orders are easy and quick, too, so if there's something from Brown Sheep you need but we don't have, just let us know and we'll get it ordered!

 

Berroco "sparkle socks" in lots of colors is a great yarn for holiday socks, and we just got a HUGE shipment of Encore and Encore Tweed, backordered colors and new ones, too.

 

Classes

 

We're winding down on our fall session but we've still got some great classes with spaces available starting this month — and a couple of new fun ones for you, too! If you'd like to sign up, please call the shop at 303-234-9337 to reserve your spot!

 

Sweater Sizing and Fit — One session Wednesday 11/4 6-8pm

 

The Joy of Handspindling II — one session, Saturday 11/7 10-12noon (must have spindle spinning experience)

Handspindling — one session, Wednesday December 9th, 6-8pm

 

Knit Finishing — One session, Wednesday 11/11, 6-8pm

 

Needlefelted Santa or Holiday Elf — NEW! Two Sessions, Tuesdays beginning 11/17, 6-8pm $50.00 includes all materials. Learn sculptural needlefelting and create this very cute holiday Santa or Elf--a great gift or holiday decoration for you.

 

Knit Fix-Its — one session Thursday, 11/19, 6-8pm. Got a problem you don't know how to fix? Rip it out, tink, or frog? Join us for this informative 1-session class on how to fix those darn mistakes.

 

Community Knitting and Other Items of Interest

 

Community Knitting is going strong, we've delivered another batch of your beautiful afghans to Family Tree (www.thefamilytree.org) Gemini House last week. The girls were so appreciative, and we expect to make another delivery sometime before the holidays. We meet each Thursday from 12-1pm, just drop in and bring your lunch if you like! If you'd like to contribute but can't make the day and time, we are accepting knitted or crocheted rectangles 7"x9", at any time.

 

Don't forget we have our on-going sidewalk sale, still some great cotton and discontinued yarns at 10-25% off, and as always our coupon for November is now on our web site. (Particularly appropriate for our sidewalk sale this time!) Just click on the lin "Store Coupon" on the left menu bar, print it out and bring it in for a great deal this month!

 

Remember The Recycled Lamb has a group on Ravelry — just log on at www.ravelry.com and search for The Recycled Lamb Yarn and Fiber Arts group. It's a great place to share your projects, meet (virtually) new friends and stay up to date on happenings at the shop.

 

Holiday Schedule

 

As a reminder, we'll be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 26th. We'll close early on Thursday, December 24th Christmas Eve at 2pm and be closed on December 25th. Stay tuned for information on Inventory Day (remember what fun we had last year?)--remember we love help and yes you get the employee discount on all yarn you purchase that day!

 

Last but not least, it IS November, and Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday because we can be gushingly grateful! The Recycled Lamb is such a fun, exciting and creative place to be but that's because we have so many people who bless us with their joy, creativity, enthusiasm, generosity, talent, and time. Firstly, the staff members here at the shop are unparalleled in their dedication and talent! Thank you so much to Constance, Effie, Gloria, JoAnne, Karen, Laraine, Monica, Pamela, Pat, Susan, and Susie for being here, joyfully and enthusiastically, and caring so well for each and every one of our customers. Secondly, to our instructors, you are the bunch that makes The Recycled Lamb the fabulous place it is to learn about fiber arts by so generously sharing your talents, enthusiasm, and time with our students — thank you so much Anita, Ann, Bette, Brynne, Corryn, Dee, Donna, Edie, Fran, Genevieve, Gloria, Heather, Ingrid, Jan, Judy, Julia, Juliana, Karen, Laraine, Leslie, LindaMarie, Lucille, Lucy, Pamela, Peggy, Rick, Sherry, Sue, Sue, Susan, Susie, Tabetha,Theresa, Uli and all the other past, present and future instructors here at the Recycled Lamb.

 

BUT most of all, and with more gratitude than can be contained in these words, all of YOU — the incredible, wonderful, fabulous, magnificent customers of The Recycled Lamb. Know that we at The Recycled Lamb are grateful to each one of you, individually, and all of you, collectively; those who've only been in once and those who are here every week; those who've been customers for all 26 years and those whom we've just met-- for without you there would be no shop, no classes, no Knit Knite or Spin In; no Fleece Market Day or Anniversary Sale. It's you, each of you, that make it all possible, and I sincerely hope that we convey our gratitude to you each time you walk through our doors. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

Well, that's it for now! All of us look forward to seeing you soon. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking, shuttles flying, hooks a-crooking and wheels a-spinning and visit us often at The Recycled Lamb!