Crochet Tea Set

If this isn't a Labor of Love for one little girl I don't know what is!

This whole tea set is crocheted out of  thin cotton and a little metallic for the spoons. This creative mom even made sugar cubes for the pretend tea! So special! 

Charity Knitting

There is lots of Charity Knitting going on in our community and we are so fortunate to be able to see how people are participating with their varied talents.

 A very creative knitter made these children's sweaters out of leftover bits of wool yarn. She created little masterpiece sweaters for Children in Common-  an organization that provides warm sweaters for children all over the world.

Another knitter was also very busy making all these wool raglan pullovers for the same organization.

 We also get lots of Linus Blankets dropped off at yarns etc.. and Great Yarns. We are happy to get them in the right hands so they can be distributed to children in out community.

Some other charity knitting projects we have seen lately have been for Afghans for Afghanistan, The Prayer Shawl Ministry, Hats for the Homeless, Caps for newborns, Helmet Liners for the soldiers in Iraq and many more local and national organizations.

There are so many charity knitting projects to participate in. If you aren't able to do any charity knitting and want to participate by donating unneeded yarn or needles we can make sure it gets to the right people. Please let us know some of your favorite organizations by leaving a comment on this post and we will include the information in a future post.

Thank you to all of you who donate their time and talents to those in need.

Fall Felting Fun!!!

Needle felting is really taking off around here. People are creating the most amazing things out of felting needles and different colored balls of fluff. The little boy-above- and his pets were made by one very creative lady, Jean Melton! A few days later she brought in the very realistic cat. I love the expression on the 2 dogs faces. You can blend colors and shape the fleece so your dolls and animals have lots of character. 

Another customer brought in this assortment of Fall decorations. We all love the pieces she made and we finally convinced her to do a class for us.  Jan French is teaching 2 different needle felting classes just in time for making holiday gifts and decorations. They start this Wednesday(10/29) night. Call us for more details-919-929-6782

You can learn to make this cute Pumpkin Gnome! His hat is the top of the pumpkin. 

We would love to see what you can create.

Fall FO's

We love it when you show us your finished projects!

 This is a really lovely Shrug made by a talented Great Yarns  knitter. It will keep her nice and warm as we are finally having weather cold enough to wear it.

Here is a store sample made in Classic Elite's Soft Linen. It is the classic feather n' fan pattern with a twist- it is knit sideways. This is a great look for Fall.

This is the Angel Island Shell  made by another talented Great Yarns knitter. This will look great under a fall cardigan or jacket.

She is a prolific knitter with 2 Fo's this visit. This is a cute raglan pullover that was easy to make and will go with everything! Thanks for sharing!

Janis made this year round sweater from an old Classic Elite pattern out of  Provence-a great cotton with an amazing color palette. Janis has shown amazing skill with her knitting over the past year!

This is a fun scarf made out of Tango. It takes 2 skeins to make this scarf . It takes a special technique that is simple once you learn how to do it. 

Lucinda designed and made this lacy scarf out of Berroco's Seduce. Seduce makes nice a nice drapey fabric that looks great in a lace pattern like this scarf.
This is a great Fall Pullover made in Harlequin from Dale of Norway. It is a soft tweed wool with 10% cashmere that makes it feel like you never want to take it off.
This wool vest is made in Waterlily from Classic Elite. It is a very soft merino wool  that comes in several wonderful colors. Once you use it it may become one of your favorite yarns!

We know you have projects you are finishing up that we would love to see!!! 

FALL IS FOR KNITTERS!

What an exciting time to work with such wonderful fibers!

As the chill just begins to settle into the air my excitement for knitting is refreshed and renewed!

I'm knitting a dozen things right now, mostly things that require a bit of thought or planning, so what have I done...

STARTED A NEW PROJECT!

something simple, mindless, bright and beautiful!

Garter Stitch Baby Blanket, knit in seven strips of seven colors rotating one block on every strip to make a diagonal stripe pattern, made it before , will make it again, love it! Knit in Rowan Wool Cotton. We have some exciting new colors in the shop, Mary always picks the best stuff, she is such an inspiration to me!

One lovely surprise showed up at my house, my Mother wearing the vest I made for her!

Great Cascade 220, so many delicious choices!

The best way to get more Handknits? Wearing them and flattery! That's why these socks are for her, Shhhhh don't tell her, I'm not finished yet! Three Waters Farm Superwash Sock in none other than "Late October" I hope to finish by then!

Even our pumpkins are knit-themed! The original neon sign!  Thanks to my awesome Husband for helping me pull this off!

By the way, roasted pumpkin seeds make an excellent snack for knitters!

Make sure you come by and see what other trouble I'm getting myself into and please come and show off all the goodies you've been working on.

We've got great classes at both locations right now and wonderful news that 

Super Knitter, Sally Melville is coming to town! 

Check out the schedules on our website;

yarnsetc.com

I would also like to say a big THANK YOU to my students for making my first class so amazing!

See you all at the shop!

Parking Lot Blues

In case you haven't been to Yarns etc... lately - This is part of the  parking lot in front of the store. This is Phase 4 of the parking lot renovation and it is a big mess.

There is still plenty of parking on the other side of Whole Foods, behind the building  and a huge parking lot where the old movie theater used to be. They are working as hard as they can and the parking lot really is going to be very nice when it is finished.

Meanwhile, If you really can't find a parking spot, you can see Michael in the Valet parking booth right out front. I bet we are the only yarn store in the country who has valet parking!

It's finally Scarf Weather again!

Last year, I decided to knit a cotton scarf out of some Goddess Yarns Carmen, but I didn't have enough, so the scarf was WAY too short! It has been sitting in my closet, just waiting for an excuse to be ripped out and made into something else. Last week, I found many more skeins of Carmen hanging out in the sale basket in Chapel Hill and knew the time had finally come. Hannah helped me pick out 3 colors that would go beautifully with the pale blue I already had - puce, orange, and lime green.

This scarf was just begging to be knit sideways, but I didn't want to settle for a plain old garter stitch. I added some variety by using one size 13 needle and one size 10! Each color is knit for 3 rows, and whenever I joined a new color, I slipped every other stitch. This scarf was so easy, anyone can do it! And since I hate finishing projects, the best part is that the loose ends were tied in knots and incorporated into some fun colorful fringe at each end!
I'm not really sure how many yards I used, but I started with 4 skeins of 90 yds each and have plenty of each left over. The scarf is about 77" long (it was meant to be 60" and stretched - but who's complaining? I love long scarves!) and 4" wide.

What lonely old project will you rip apart this year and make into something new?