red is the word

You may love valentine's day. You may hate valentine's day. It really doesn't matter. In either case, our montly sale for February recognizes this most smoopy of holidays with a sale on items in the store that are RED! Just think of all the amazing RED stuff you can make for cheap, like this RED iPod cozy:
Source: http://mishami.image.pbase.com/u27/caveteen/large/16473334.DSCN2003.jpg

Or these fantastic RED knit shorts:
Source: http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140009987?$240x305$

You have to look out, though. The items on sale are those with the heart-shaped stickers. See how many you can find. So come by, buy RED, and cheer up your winter with a little color, for V-day, or just for you.

Arctic Breeze

Source: http://www.rachelbeth.net/portfolio/images/sweater2.jpg

Winter finally hit the Mid-Atlantic. It is chilly. Wrist-warmers and lacy scarves no longer cut it. So what do you do?

You knit for warmth.

So what does this mean? Most commonly-conceived of knitting projects are made to keep us warm. While those of us in the know realize that your needles can produce a cool, airy summer tank top, most of the world immediately turns to hats, scarves, mittens and bulky sweaters. And for a moment, so shall we.

There are many ways to warm up your knitting. Lets look at a few of them now, shall we?

1. Choice of fiber. With some exceptions, animal fibers will be warmer than plant or synthetic. Take a look at the source animal for your fiber. Where does it come from? What is the climate. Sheep come from cool, damp climates. Alpaca, however, come from high in the mountains. Their fiber is warmer by weight. Qiviut, an increadibly warm fiber by weight comes from the arctic, definitely a good bet for thermal retention as long as you can swing the tab!

2. Gauge. Yes, it comes up again. This seems kind of obvious, but the tigher your gauge, the denser your fabric. This does not always mean the warmer, though. Sometimes loser gauges can mean there is more space for air to trap, creating an insulating layer. But it won't block the wind as well as bulky yarn on size 4s!

3. Stitch patterns. Stockinette is one layer of knit. Stick in a cable, and it wraps the stockinette around itself, creating pockets for air to become trapped, and just more general layers between you and the world. Ribbing is the same to a lesser degree. But think of some of the color knitting techniques. Fair isle (or any stranded knitting) has whole extra strands of yarn behind each stitch! Double knitting creates a whole second layer of fabric! These techniques do more than just keep your warm, ladies and germs. Those northern knitters knew what they were doing. If you want to know how to stay warm, ask a Norwegian.

4. Last, but certainly not least, think about what you are covering. The head is the most important part to insulate, as it is where we lose most of our body heat. Secondly, the neck, as it is near our cores. The items we use on these areas are essential to our overall comfort, and we should not skimp on warm, dense material. Gloves and socks, while nice, come in second, as long as our toes and figers won't freeze off!

So now you know. Everyone go out right now, buy some alpaca and create some nice, dense hats and scarves. You know you want it.

-Cryptoknit

Foodball Yarn!

This Sunday is a national celebration of competition known as the Superbowl. It is the biggest day in professional football, and the biggest day in yarn shopping, at least at Springwater.

The store will open at 7 AM on February 4 when sale items will be 60% off. At 8 they go to 50%, and at 9 they become 40% and stay there. What items, you ask? Why, anything any fiber artist could ever want! There will be a wide variety of yarns for knitting and weaving, rovings, and even equipment like a knitting machine! Certain of our regular stock will also be on sale. Here are some pictures for teasers:

review: Cascade Ecowool

Cascade ecowool is a unique product. Simple in form and style, it offers an alternative to the variety of designer options available to the modern knitter. Made from100% Peruvian wool, this yarn is not dyed, nor is it processed. It is simply a cleaned, spun, two-ply. For what it is, though, this yarn comes in an astounding array of natural colors— everything from a deep chocolate to off-white— and knits with a drape and evenness that is to be envied by much of its fancier competition. For a no-frills unprocessed wool, it is also surprisingly soft and comfortable on the skin.

Source: http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-eco.asp

Probably the best part about ecowool, though, is the value. Each skein of this product holds over 400 yards of yarn, bulky weight. This makes it ideal for large projects, such as loose sweaters and blankets. And if you don’t like the colors? Well, just pull out your kool-aid packets.
Source: http://www.helloyarn.com/ecowool.jpg

A different approach to fiber

A stormy Sunday afternoon. A fairly quiet afternoon at the yarn shop. A heated competition. Two artists go head to head with one goal: make bags out of a single square of fiber. One felts, the other chooses fabric. One goes for simple shapes: squares, diamonds. The other makes an item ever-popular in women’s wear from evening wear to a business engagement: a pig purse.

The two artists are Randy Scheessele and Sylvia Saborio, both of whom use their own styles and techniques to create variations on this single item. Each purse must be made out of a single square of fabric.

These two artists show us infinite possibilities from a single source, and incorporation of various art forms, including origami, felting, and sewing into manipulation of fibers. So when thinking of your next project, don’t just look at a pattern, but think about it, and figure out how you can modify that hat, sweater, bag, sock or purse to be a unique piece of art.

Vote for your favorite purse by responding to this post!

color

At Springwater, it is an inevitable question that comes up with each customer: what to do about color. It is an essential element to every piece of fiber design, and a beast that must be tackled by even the most beginner knitter, crocheter, weaver, felter or spinner.

At times, I dread the color question. When someone wants help with their baby blanket, I struggle to be of help, for not only am I unfamiliar with the baby situation having never had one and no friends so far who have, but I am also not a fan of blue-for-boys pink-for-girls, or pastels in general for that matter.

I have learned a great deal about color from my time working with fiber. And one thing that I have noticed, which I would like to pass on to you my dear readers, is that the best way to figure out what matches and what doesn’t is to look outside of yourself, and also outside of your craft. As a knitter, the best color lessons I have ever received were from learning to weave and spin. This is because these crafts force you to think of color differently.

In Spinning you work with pure color. Whether your initial product is an undyed fleece or a colorful piece of roving, all that you have in front of you, as Sylvia DeMar has repeated to me on several occasions, is potential. While spinning you focus on the color, and meditate on it, watching how it moves into its spun form, and how it pairs with what is around it. Spinners must understand if only intuitively how certain colors interact with each other to lighten or darken the overall affect of their yarns.

Weaving, on the other hand, moves the color to another level. Unlike knitting, shape is less of an issue on a loom, since (with some exceptions) your product is going to be a rectangle. So you think about color. You think about not only color changes, though, but how colors will mix, as you combine your warp and weft, you have to be cognizant of contrast or else your design will get lost. Plaid is an excellent way to work on this. As the various strips overlap, you see how the colors play with each other, and compliment or contrast their tones and values.

Knitters: for you color is something that more likely than not is going to be worn. Sure, you are concerned with contrast and value, but your primary interest in how it will look on you or whomever you are knitting for. I know, not all knit products are worn, but this is the primary use of the craft. You get, though, what works with your body, or on a body, walking down the street, or on your feet.

Each craft has something to learn from the others here. Knitters: pick up a spindle (you should do this anyway—every knitter should at least know how to spin!) Weavers: learn to purl, and Spinners: warp yourself a scarf. You never know what might you might learn from it!

January is a Card

For the month of January, that middle-month, that inter-holiday no-fun winter take-down-the-Christmas-tree but its still cold out month, we though we’d get ready for the next holiday coming up, and provide an evening for the design and construction of valentine’s day cards. We invite our members and their families to come by the shop on January 17 from 7-9, to get crafty and learn new techniques to brighten those depths of the winter with bits of joy for those around you. For the kids we will be demonstrating many techniques including band weaving, spinning and felting, so remember to bring the family!