January 2006 Newsletter

Happy New Year! What a great year 2005 has been. It was right around this time last year that the newspapers and TV stations did a story on us and on knitting and crochet as ways to unwind and de-stress. Those stories helped create more awareness for knitting as well as for River City Yarns. As Edmonton’s newest yarn store, lots of people came in to check us out and see what we were all about. Throughout 2005 we continued to promote our business thru participation in trade shows, trunk shows, and by supporting knitting programs for kids in a number of Edmonton Schools. We held over 80 workshops last year and taught more than 150 people how to cast on and knit and purl. We donated hundreds of balls of yarn and knitted garments to local charities, knitting groups and inner city schools. In September we held our first ever fashion show, dinner and charity auction, raising over $2000.00 for Alzheimer’s and the Breast Cancer Foundation. And then to relax a bit after show, we organized our 2nd annual knitting retreat – Wool, Wine and Wheels – a three day getaway train trip to Jasper, with Cat Bordhi as our special guest. In looking back it was a busy year! I am very excited and hopeful about 2006 and look forward to sharing many more great yarn adventures with you. Here’s what we have to look forward to in January. New Products – New to Edmonton from Lantern Moon - Lantern Moon works directly with their producers to provide income, education and self-reliance to Vietnamese women and their families. With your purchases you help to provide a market for these wonderful products and contribute to the economic and social well being of the areas where they are produced. Silk Needle Cases - Holds 9 pairs straight needles and 8 pair of circulars, has a zippered pouch, nylon reinforced and come in 6 colors (orange/silver, jade/chocolate, red/teal, blue/light blue, gold/lavender, and black/gold). View cases here: http://www.lanternmoon.com/SNC.asp Diamond Tote - Beautiful palm leaf tote with raw silk lining and pocket inside. Dimensions - 13"h x 17"w x 4.5"d. Colors: green, mahogany or blue. View totes here: http://www.lanternmoon.com/DT.asp Handmade Knitting Needles – made from the following hardwoods – ebony, rosewood, blonde wood and coconut palm wood. Each needle has an alternate top – i.e. ebony with light wood top, rosewood with palm wood top, blonde wood with ebony top, etc. View needles here: http://www.lanternmoon.com/KN.asp Just Arrived - Manos del Uruguay wool is single ply, worsted weight 100% wool, hand spun and hand dyed in Uruguay. The variations in the colors come from the hand dyeing process. When you knit, the color variation creates highlights in your fabric, giving it a depth and energy not found with commercially dyed yarns. There is a story about this yarn which follows: It is said that this famous yarn, now identified with the Cooperative Manos del Uruguay, had its beginning about 1850. In the northeast area of Paysandu province where the Uruguay River flows, the sheep graze in meadows strewn with the round geodes of agate stone. These stones, when split open, reveal intricate layers of soft colors which blend into each other. These stone formations so influenced the wife of a sheep herder when she was dyeing the family yarn that she set out to duplicate the effect. The Manos del Uruguay Cooperative now uses this method when they kettle dye their own handspun wool yarns to give an effect of several tones of a color on a single strand of yarn. Here are just a few of the beautiful colors of Manos that we carry at RCYarns. Kit of the Month – These are now available for mail order or to pick up at the store. The Fleece Artist in Nova Scotia brings you Thrummed Mitten and Sock Kits. Make a pair of cozy and colorful thrummed mittens and socks for someone special! Thrummed Mitten Kit includes pattern and 140g of Bluefaced Leicester and 60g hand dyed Merino roving. Thrummed Sock Kit includes pattern and 140g of Kid Aran and 60g hand dyed Kid Sliver Roving. Both use 3.5mm set of 5 double pointed needles. Price: $27.00 plus S&H for mail orders. Colors – Assorted hand-dyed colors with matching roving. Workshops – There has been a lot of buzz lately about guys and knitting. I think Russell Crowe had something to do with it. Knitting mags have guys on the front covers now and there are all sorts of websites and blogs just for guys http://www.menknit.net/menwhoknit.html . Seems there is interest in Edmonton too. We’ve been asked to do a class just for guys, where they can come and learn how to knit or brush up their skills in the company of other guys. We need a few more names to schedule one - Anyone interested? We are putting final details in place for the new location for our hand-dying workshop – one with the equipment and space to be able to dye yarns effectively. Birgit Rasmussen will lead us thru a one day workshop where you will learn how to dye yarn with natural colors on Saturday January 28th. If you are interested in attending, email us or call the store now to save your spot. Workshop fee - $75.00 for the full day – includes dyes and one skein of yarn. Additional yarn available for purchase at the workshop. Two spaces left – Designer Felted Handbag Workshop – Sunday, January 15th. - Noon to 4 PM. Learn how to make one of a kind designer felted handbag. Cost $45 plus materials ($25 – $50) Want to brush up your knitting techniques? Join us for Knitting 101 every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 AM. New class starts January 7th. Cost - $75.00 for 6 weeks of lessons. We have room for two more people starting Jan 7th. Call or email now. Beaded Knitting Workshop – At this half day workshop we will make Sivia Harding’s Egyptian beaded wristlet. Date - Wednesday – January 18th 9 AM to Noon. Cost $35 plus materials – approx $30. Free Pattern - I have been having a great time knitting up multidirectional scarves with self-patterning sock yarn. Almost all of you who have seen these scarves in our store have asked for the pattern, so here it is. Thanks to Karen for sharing. http://douma.net/Karen/knitting/Accessory-Scarves/Multidirectional_Diagonal_Scarf.htm Happy New Year to everyone from all of us at River City Yarns. Barb, Sheila, Marcene and Vivian River City Yarns www.rivercityyarns.com 780-477-YARN (9276)