Enchanting weaves with wool and handspun fibre.....

Fun Knits Yarn Shop is happy to introduce you to two great women - the first is Vyvyan Dorsett (seated on the right). Vyvyan taught the Tuesday morning spinners how to spin, and she continues to offer invaluable advice on technique.  With meticulous accuracy, Vyvyan's dexterous, intuitive fingers spin, form, dye, blend, warp and weave fibres into exquisite articles of art.  Her work is stunning, and every piece I have ever touched, is scrumptiously soft!

Pictured below are four one-of-a-kind scarves. Each scarf is woven with Vyvyan's unique, hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn (used in both warp and weft) and each creation is a thoughtful blend and combination of tencel and superwash merino, mohair, dorset wool and pulworth wool.

Fun Knits Yarn Shop showcases Vyvyan's hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn in our spinning/weaving/felting section of the shop.  A not-to-be-missed delight!

The two scarves below are woven with a beautiful cool-red (as opposed to warm-orangey-red) fibre from Louet that Vyvyan re-carded and spun into yarn. The photos do not totally capture the lovely quality and depth of this particular red which, in scarf-form is magnificent - a regal, royal red indeed!  

We are so grateful that Vyvyan is willing to share her treasure of artful knowledge about all things fibre.  

Wait till you see her hand-dyed, hand-spun, hand-knit lace shawls........

How fortunate we here at Fun Knits are to know and introduce you to yet another extraordinary teacher - meet Sharron Hatelt of Adalia Fibre Arts Studio (check out our link to her blog). Below Sharron is photographed using her drop spindle to spin a fine line of alpaca yarn.  

She is currently organizing a new group of weavers that has a fascinating, social-justice oriented purpose.  I can hardly wait to post about it!

Below are three of her amazing, vibrantly coloured, multi-warp, multi-weft scarves.  

The weave is luscious and full, soft and warm.

A striking close-up of the plain weave pattern.

This is Sharron's hand-spun variegated mohair - it is delicate, gorgeous, transparent, and offers both weightlessness and warmth.

Here is a felted (machine washed and dried) tweed wool scarf that Sharron is planning to duplicate with a larger warp to create fabric for a kimono.  It is soft and thick and cozy!  In the sunlight, subtle dashes of pinks, purples, and light teals shine outward. 

And finally, Sharron has crafted a striped 100% wool scarf that has also been machine washed and dried.  It is a stylish scarf with a three-colour combination that blends beautifully. 

And, I would like to add.......

that I have wanted to weave since I was a young teenager and about five years ago I was given two floor looms.  Four years ago I asked Sharron if she would teach me to weave, and two weeks ago I was finally ready to learn.  Sharron has been an awesome teacher and I am now crazy deep in love with weaving!!!  

I've made three scarves and I love each one (bumps, frays, learning curves and all).

In the first scarf I used Elsbeth Lavold Hempathy for the warp and Collinette Banyan for the weft (all my yarns for weaving have been purchased at Fun Knits).

For the two scarfs below I used Freedom Cotton and Collinette.  

In actuality, the green (in the photo below) is a vibrant shade of lime which gives the scarf a whimsical feel that does not come through in this shot - I used Collinette and Freedom for both warp and weft.

The blue/purple scarf has a soft pink glow to it that does not appear in the photo.  I used Collinette Banyan for the warp and Freedom Cotton for the weft.  

How happy do you think I am working in a yarn store with a limitless supply of ....... 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend full of finished objects!

KAL prizes, and some nature

I went over on the ferry to the store yesterday to take some photos and catch up on new stock, etc. On my trip over there was a wonderful sight of orca whales swimming north through the channel. This was my first time in the seven years I've lived up here to see the whales!

 

Our Kauni KAL is all ready to start this Sunday. I picked up my EH yarn 

and have the pattern in its plastic sleeve waiting for me to begin. 

But wait! The KAL has prizes as well!

Shelley has donated a shawl's worth of Kauni EZ:

Anne M., the wonderful designer of our knit along shawl, is also donating yarn! She will be sending some lucky recipient some Aade yarn, which was the yarn originally used for the shawl.

The prizes will be drawn from all participants who complete their shawls by March 8th, and submit photos by March 9th. If you are knitting along and aren't on the Ravelry group, let us know and you can email us your pictures. Otherwise they should be shared in the group forum, where a thread will be started for the finished shawls.

Get ready to knit! 

Opal 6 ply

I needed some sock yarn to knit up some quick, pink socks for my sister-in-law's birthday, so Shelley helped me pick some out. We came up with this wonderful Opal 6ply sock yarn. This colourway is Flamingo.

6 ply sock yarn knits up so quickly! I'm using 3.25 mm needles (3 U.S.). A straight forward 3x1 rib with 48 stitches and I had the leg knit in one evening! Watching the colours emerge is quite addictive. I'll certainly be using this yarn again.

spinners and handspun....

Another great gathering of wonderful spinners at Fun Knits on Tuesday - attentive and focused on their craft.

One spinner prepares her roving by drafting and rolling it into small rounds -- a quiet, peaceful process to observe.  Another spinner deftly sets in motion her drop spindle to create a delicate strand of natural alpaca yarn.

Below is a photo of one spinner's meticulously calculated, spun and plied colour gradations of the Fun Socks roving (in the bag, top left).  I think there are 12 or 13 long thin skeins.  Beautiful work for one of her weavings.

Here are a few samples of the spinner's woven scarves.

Exchanging techniques and ideas.

Below are a couple of photos of my spinning.  The first is Northern Lights "cactus flower" - the spun yarn is actually much brighter and has more depth than is reflected in this photo.  I'm hoping to weave it into fabric which I'll use to make a vest.  The second photo is Northern Lights "forest glade" which I blogged about a few days ago -- I am especially thrilled with the rich, luscious intensity of this yarn, and am not sure if I'll weave or knit with it.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend full of (take your pick) extra knitting/spinning/weaving time.

Kauni Shawl KAL

It's time for a knit-along!!

We are hosting a Kauni Shawl knit-along, both here on the blog and on Ravelry. For those on Ravelry, you can find the group here: Kauni Shawl KAL. The shawl we have chosen, with the kind permission of the designer, is called Revontuli, or Northern Lights. It is a fabulous free pattern, perfect for the long repeats of Kauni multi (it would also look fabulous in Kauni solid if you prefer).

The start date for the KAL will be February 8th, to allow people time to get the yarn if needed. There will be a prize or two, and help available along the way.

I know Shelley and I are looking forward to knitting this lovely shawl. There are so many great colourways to choose from, and we have updated the website with some new ones just in time! 

So leave a comment on this post to join in the fun!

Leftovers

I found something to make with some of my leftover ball of Malabrigo worsted. I made an earwarmer. And now I want to make one in every colour!

This yarn is so soft, it is perfect for an earwarmer to wear in the cold. (I am someone who rarely wears 100% wool because my skin is so sensitive. I wore this out and about yesterday and it didn't itch at all - so you know it is really soft!) I get earaches in wind and cold, so often I wear an earwarmer instead of a hat. It used maybe .25 of a skein, if that. One skein could make at least four gifts!

The pattern is my own, a simple twisted rib, knit in the round on 4.5mm (7 U.S.) needles.

more great colours at Fun Knits...

"Sweatermaker" braided beauties are hand-dyed by Judy McLean in Courtney.  This is only a sprinking of the many fabulous colours we have in stock.

Vivian Dorsett's handspun, hand-dyed, and hand knit articles -- a 'must see' area.

This is a delightful section of the shop with dozens of colourful bags of soft, fluffy roving, fibre and silk hankies. We also carry smaller bags full of small amounts of fibre in various colours for embellishment or other art/felt/spinning projects.

Isn't it amazing how a bag of neon bright fibre (bag on left) can translate into a more subtle multi-coloured skein of spun yarn (long thin twisted skein on right).

And finally, a bouquet of dahlias for all!

northern lights and more.....

Here are some of the glorious colours to be found in the store right now.  The new Northern Lights roving in "forest glade" spins up into a deep dark emerald flow with lighter strands of teal and olive  -  it is absolutely beautiful!

Then there is the "mulled wine" that Shelley was spinning on Tuesday - from a distance the yarn looked like rich burgandy reds with fire shades throughout. Very yummy!!!

"Meadow trail" looks lovely and will no doubt spin up into vibrant tones that will remind us of spring and summer.

We now stock recycled sari silk - it is crazy soft and the colours are iridescent.  These photos don't do justice to the luminous quality of each shade.  Just imagine intense radiance - you have to see it and feel it to believe it.

We have an open bag of this exquisite shredded silk thread on the table by the couch for anyone who wants to experience it's allure.

On Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. several spinners gather at Fun Knits to spin, knit, tell stories, and share beautiful handspun, handknit articles.  I am always struck by the unique loveliness of each piece and the obvious commitment and devotion to the craft whether its creator slants toward meticulous perfectionism, free-form rustic, or one of the endless variations between the two - the item and its maker are amazing!!! 

Free Patterns Now in PDF

I just wanted to let everyone know that Shelley's wonderful free patterns are now available in pdf format on the website, on this page. I'm hoping to get some more of Shelley's patterns up over time as well (she has so many patterns in that clever head).

I'm heading over to Fun Knits tomorrow to hang out with Deb and Shelley for a couple of hours. We should come up with some great ideas and projects (and I may come away with some yarn....) for the next few months!

A few hours between spinners...

What a wonderful time we newer spinners had with the island's original group of spinners who invited us to join them for Distaff Day.  Thank you to Marg for sharing her gorgeous home in the woods. Everyone brought their wheels and fleece, and went to it, happily spinning, laughing, plying, talking, eating, and knitting up the handspun.  (Shelley, you were missed by all - and next time, I'll woman the fort and you can go play.)  I'm inspired all over again and can hardly wait to get to work tomorrow to wiggle my fingers through a new bag of Northern Lights - I think I'll go for the stunning "forest glade." 

Creative sock

Here is a picture George put on my desktop at the store. George is the computer guy that is keeping the store computer functioning. He isn't knitter but I think he gets knitting.

Great picture

Spring cleaning in January

Fun Knits was wonderful today, as was yesterday and Tuesday.  I've been busily and contentedly cleaning shelves, organizing drawers and reorganizing yarn, furniture and fleece.  There's more room now for our spinner's gathering on Tuesdays - I'm looking forward to seeing a visible space between our spinning wheels.  

For all of you felt/fleece/spinning artists out there, we have three new colours of Northern Lights roving in - "mulled wine" and "forest glade" and "meadow trail" -  each bag is full of exquisite shades of absolute loveliness!  (Note - I am new to blogging and don't have a clue how to link you to the photos of our stock but I promise I'll ask Shelley or Kate to teach me soon so that you can see what I'm referring to.) 

Several people have asked for smaller amounts of fleece in a variety of colours - we now offer just that, a small bag containing various colours of wool or a wool/silk blend.

I'm grateful to Shelley for inviting me to add my thoughts to the blog -- I think we have a great team of skilled, inspired women working together to keep a great yarn shop moving forward.  Kudos to Shelley for her dream and the gutsy leap of faith it took to open this knitting sanctuary. 

Wishing all of you an imaginative new year with a ton of finished projects,

Deb  

Mmmmmm, Malabrigo

First, a thank you to Shelley for the invitation to be part of this blog. I am so enjoying working with Fun Knits and I look forward to sharing some of the website news here as well. Just to let people know, the website is updated Sunday nights, so a new front page is up on Mondays. One of the things I am working on is getting all of Shelley's great free patterns (in the links at the side here) into pdf format and onto the website, this should be done soon.

Now, one of the great things about this job is that I have to write about yarn. And to write about yarn, I have to see the yarn, touch the yarn, fondle the yarn and, hopefully, knit with the yarn. When Shelley got the last shipment of Malabrigo in at the store, I knew this was my time to knit with this luscious yarn! I already had got some lace weight from her in the summer, and this time I picked up some worsted weight in the same colour way: Emerald.

I am not immune to the trends of the knitting world, and right now it seems one of the big trends is cowls. I love cowls:

 they keep your neck warm without slipping off or needing to be wound about (although I am quite a fan of scarves as well, they are one of my favourite things to knit); they can cover your face or your ears; they are a pretty little burst of colour at your neck. So I used both my worsted and my lace weight Malabrigo to make two different cowls. And I love them! (The colours are the same in reality, unfortunately winter is not the best time for taking photos.)

I'd love to hear what other people have made with these weights of Malabrigo, as I still have some left (and I'm pretty sure there will be more skeins in my future....).

New Year and New changes

Well if anyone still reads this blog you may notice I have been absent from blogging for most of December. I have been incredibly busy with life and have had no time extra for blogging. I love to keep in touch with the blog and feel bad when I just get busy and can't blog. Because of this I am introducing some changes. New year always prompts change for me.
I have added a few new authors to the blog
Deb - has been working at the store for quite a while now - she is my organizer - she is the reason you can find anything in the store and she is a good balance for me because I am not organized. Deb will be blogging about her ventures in the store
Kate - has been working for Fun Knits for a few months now. She is more behind the scenes so many of you may not have met her. She is updating the web site weekly and keep things alive on Ravelry etc. ... Kate will also be blogging
Mom (aka Donna) - she has been on this journey of Fun Knits since the beginning. She is my knitting teacher and mentor and has a lot to share. I hope she will blog also.
I will probably be more prompted to blog with all of this action going on.
I will certainly be checking it daily to see what everyone is saying.
So stay tuned. This blog should get very busy again.
Happy New year to everyone
Shelley

The Malabrigo is here

I got 5 boxes of Malabrigo today. I got every colour of Malabrigo sock yarn except the colour 801 it is back ordered. I need to control myself not to cast on a pair of socks until I have all of this yarn inventoried. I want to knit my husband a pair of #800 for Christmas. I will have this yarn available on the web site by Sunday. If you want -need a particular colour you can email me shelmack@telus.net or phone the store 1-250-285-2751 to purchase before it gets on the web site.
The last order of Malabrigo sock yarn lasted only a few days when I was at Gibson's fibrefest.
Aside from the sock yarn I got in 10 colours of Malabrigo worsted weight 44, 80, 88, 137, 203, 204, 194, 148, 173, 83 and 10 colours of Malabrigo lace weight. 247, 204, 137, 229, 203, 181, 5, 21, 30, 44 .
What amazing yarn.

Christmas in the Cove - Dec 6

Christmas in the Cove will be a great event happening on Quadra Dec 6 10 -5. All of the stores are participating and will have good sales and happenings all day. Fun Knits will have 10% off everything in the store and a few sale bins with great savings. We will also have a visit by William a small Shetland sheep for the day. I met William last week and what a sweetheart he is. He loves to be pet under the chin. He is just sweet.
So come and have a fun day on Quadra and meet William.

Our Spinning group

A little over a year ago a bunch of women on Quadra were all interested in learning spinning including me. We have a few very talented spinners on the island so with their help we started to learn. Now we have lots of spinners on Quadra. If you come into the store any Tuesday morning this is what you will see. We meet every Tuesday from 10 - Noon and spin, show our finished skeins of yarn and projects knit or wove with the yarn. It is a fun group and we all enjoy spinning a lot. I am usually busy with the store but sometimes I get to sit and spin with the group. Last Tuesday I did and it was nice.

Back from BC Creative Expo

We are back from the show and had a nice time down in Vancouver. It was nice to see all our kids. Time in the hectic city really makes me appreciate the nice quiet place I live. When we arrived in Campbell River last night there was no traffic and it was peaceful and wonderful. Then we got on the ferry to Quadra and it was even more peaceful on Quadra. I am not a city person at all. We stayed at a hotel near BC place Stadium and there were 3 hockey games in town so it was very busy and noisy.
The BC Creative Expo was disappointing. I didn't like it at Canada Place as much as in Abbotsford. Last year when they announced that the show would be at Canada Place I imagined it would be posh and nice not like a cold warehouse but it was a big noisy cold warehouse.
In spite of that we had fun and sold lots of yarn. This was my least busy show and the show where I had the most help.
Vyvyan from Quadra Island was there the first day and she spun all day at the booth and helped sell yarn, Kathy from Campbell River came and did the Make and take table with people. They made little end to end bookmarks like her end to end scarves she sells. This was quite popular. She actually taught several people to knit also. Megan came fro most of the time and helped out. She sold lots of her Toe Kozies and shopped lots also. She loves making cards so there was a lot of fun make and takes fr her to do. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to have company at the booth when it was quiet. Here are some pictures from the show.
This scarf was knit in freeform and it is fabulous. I am sorry I don't have the persons name but I know she is from Salt Spring Island. What a beautiful scarf. She wore other amazing knitting all weekend. Some people are so talented. I met lots of great people and had fun over all.
Here are a few pictures of my booth and the last pictures are to show you how amazing my husband is at organizing a load.
Here is our van already 1/2 full of stuff and then a picture of what needed to go in next. It all fit plus we had room for our luggage, the Ashford joy wheel and us.
Now I have to get busy and get the store loaded again.

Koigu yarn - BC Creative Expo

When I first opened my shop in 2005 I applied to Koigu to order yarn. The reply was that they had too many customers and I couldn't order from them. I was disappointed but managed without getting their yarn. This year I got an email and now they could provide Koigu yarn to the store.
Well it was worth the wait. What beautiful yarn. I am so inspired by this yarn I actually have 3 projects underway 2 scarves and 1 hat, haven't even started socks yet. I guess they will be next. I got in many colours of KPPPM, KPM and KFM. The KPPPM is the hand dyed multi colours merino yarn, KP is the hand dyed semi solid merino and KFM is the hand dyed multi coloured heavier weight felting merino. It is amazing yarn so soft and cushy. Wonderful to knit with.
I will be taking this yarn to BC creative Expo this week as well as - Noro Silk Garden and Kureyon sock yarn, new sock yarn from Diamond yarn - Foot Loose ( 90% merino superwash wool 10% nylon) and Fancy Free (10% Nylon, 20% Alpaca, 70% Merino Superwash Wool), Arucania Ranco, Lorna's Laces, Cherry Tree Hill, a new sock yarn from Ancient Thread Farms that is dyed with natural products and many more sock yarns. Lots of undyed yarn and of course Kauni in multi colours and solids. I will also have a great selection of fibre. I will be doing a spinning demo on the stage Friday at 6pm. There was rumour that Breakfast Television will be at the show and they want me to do knitting and or spinning demo on TV. That isn't a sure thing yet but who knows I may get my 5 minutes of fame.

Kathy from Mad Katerpillar Scarves will also be at the booth with me. She is going to be working on the make and take table helping people make end - to end bookmarks using novelty yarns. She sells the wonderful Mad Katerpillar scarf kits that are so popular.
I have a few new free hat and scarf patterns.
So if you are in the Vancouver area Nov 7-8 drop by and say hi.
I also have Ravelry buttons to give out to Ravelry members (while quantities last) and that best for the last
I will have a huge bucket of sale sock yarn - $10 - 100 gr ball. Come early for the best selection as this won't last long.
See you there!!