Off to Victoria

We are going to the Sewing and Craft show in Victoria. We are going a day early so we can set up tomorrow and then go shopping. Should be fun. I love Victoria in the spring but this year spring forgot to come here so far - so I hope it remembered to come there. We even had snow here yesterday.
Today the store will be closing at 2pm so we can get going to Victoria. For anyone who reads the blog and lives near Victoria see you there.
I have a small booth and I am taking my usuual amount of yarn so it should be an interesting set up. I will try and get a picture this time.

Fun Spun Socks

The first day I was in Madrona I met Ruth from Dizzy Ewe - Stephanie aka Yarn Harlot took me around the merchant mall and pointed out a few highlights of the shopping pleasures. She had been to Madrona before and I was just standing in the middle of the Merchant mall not knowing where to begin when she spied me.

I think she sensed the Yarn seller from very small town BC was star struck. She introduced me to Ruth of Dizzy Ewe and pointed out her kits with combination fibres she told me that she had spun yarn to make socks. I loved the idea. Here are Stephanies blog post (scroll down to Feb 24th) about the fibre. I just spent 15 minutes looking for her post to link to and when I found it she did the same colour as me. I was hoping for something to show a different colour hmmm!!!

Anyways back to the Fun Spun socks.

These were really fun to do. The fibre is just amazing and they are a great project for a spinner who gets bored easily like me.

The pictures show you how to do this.

First I divided the fibre in 1/2 - enugh for 2 socks

Then I divided each 1/2 into 3rds as I also found out at Madrona that a tightly spun 3 ply will hold up well for socks

I then spun each small section of fibre in colour order onto 3 bobbins and then plied them

That was interesting. I am a quite new spinner so I thought 2 ply - 3ply what's the difference. Judith MacKenzie McCuin was showing us 2- 3 -4 and 5 ply at Madrona without missing a beat. Must be easy. Anyways it is a little more difficult than 2 ply but do-able by a new spinner as you can see and worth the effort.

I knit my sock from a Toe Up pattern here and got a nice sock. My sock is 48 stitches for foot and leg.

I am still spinning the yarn for the second sock.

I have the kits on sale at here. So if you are a spinner/knitter these are fun to make.

Pattern Subscriptions from Louet

This just opened - a new pattern subscription service from Louet. I love Louet yarns and their patterns so I subscribed this morning. So far I have downloaded 4 patterns I just love. There are 2 free patterns to give an idea of what their patterns are like. I love the Eurobag and I have ordered some kits for the store. I plan to make one as soon as the yarn comes in. Wouldn't make a very good knitting bag unless it was lined but it would certainly be a good grocery bag or beach bag.
If you do subscribe make sure you mentioned Fun Knits referred you. They have an incentive bonus for retailers.
In news from the store. Things are quite busy as usual getting last minute things ready for the retreat. We still have lots of room at the retreat if you have been thinking about coming but were worried it's too late. Give us a call at the store Tues - Sat 10am - 5pm Pacific time
1-250-285-2751

Spring Knitting Retreat

It is that time again. I can't believe how fast this retreat came. In 31/2 weeks we are having our Spring Knitting Retreat. I will be sending out information packets and Ferry tickets to everyone registered this week.
Anyone interested in coming please sign up soon. So far there is still space available in all of the 5 classes. We have only 1 triple room left, but lots of double and single rooms. As part of this years retreat we will be giving out a goody bag with some fun things to make. We will be having an amazing sale on Friday night at the store. I have been in business for a while now and there is some great yarns that need to get cleared out. I am saving those for this sale night. You will get a list of the sale yarns whe you arrive.
Classes all day Saturday -
Saturday night Holli Yeoh of Bees Knees Knits will be our guest speaker. We are going to have a mini fashion show - mini only because the models are going to be little. This will be fun. Holli will be talking about how she became a knitwear designer, designing children’s clothes and what inspires her.
By the way I put in my order for great weather for that weekend so we can dry our hand dyed yarn in the sun.
So if you haven't signed up yet it's time to do it. See you real soon!!

Fiberfest was amazing

We are back from Fibrefest and I will need a few days to recover from it. I sold tons of yarn and fleece. It was a lot of fun. It was great to see old friends and make new friends. I love to meet people I only know from internet sales. It is nice to put a face on a name and get to know the person a bit. I must say I was so busy at this event that the first picture I got of the booth was while we were tearing it down. It was a nice booth and I loved the set up this year so I am sorry I didn't get pictures.

I sold loads of Kauni (I sold out of EQ again) and sock yarn and lots of fleece. The sock kits were a real hit and will be available on the internet this week. I will blog when they are available.

Megan and family came out to see the festival and go to the midway that was in town and then help us tear down the booth. Meika was very cute and seriously helped with packing.

I'm off again

I am going to be at Fibrefest International in Abbotsford at the Ag-Rec Centre, Abbotsford Exhibition Park32470 Haida Drive, Friday, March 7th from 10 am to 8 pm andSaturday, March 8th from 9 am to 5 pm. I am bringing lots af great yarn and fibre to sell.









I will have all the new sock yarn and lots of fibre for spinning. We have a new sock kit called Licorice Allsorts Socks by Mary Tanti. They are so much fun to knit. They are knit with 4 yarns and stripe easily if you follow her formula. The heel is amazing, it actually looks like the little candy covered allsorts. These kits will be available on the internet store once I get back from Fibrefest.

I also have new kits for the Warm and Fuzzy socks. Another new kit is the Fun Spun Socks. This is 5 different fibres in shades from light to dark and once the fibre is spun and plyed the knit sock shade from one colour to the next. They are really fun to make. More infor to follow about the Fun Spun Sock kits.
If you can make it to Abottsford - Stop by and say Hi.
The store will be open the usual hours. Mom and Dad are working tomorrow and Sat. and Deb will be there Thursday and Friday