Yarn Garden Key Chains

Show your love for Yarn Garden with our new limited edition key chains! We only had 20 made in a variety of colors, so pick one up for yourself and get happy finding our sheep in the bottom of your purse wrapped around your keys.

Handmade right here in Oregon by One of a Kind Buttons, maker of our favorite buttons. Each key chain and button is made from ceramic and glazed to perfection with an assortment wonderful colors. The ceramic makes even the largest button lightweight, perfect for a one-button closure cardigan, a felted bag or hat!

Some of the many great buttons!

Here are two of my favorite buttons, a cloudy city scene (very Portland) and a big chrysanthemum-like flower!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Join our KAL and Win!

Chicory & Clover cowl version in colors Cyprus and Brittania.

Calling all knitters! Join us for our Classic Elite Knit-a-long and win a $100 valued gift basket!
The rules are simple, each person chooses any project from the 2011 Spring Collection requiring 2 or more balls of any CEY brand yarn and finish by July 31st.

We went ahead and picked a project we thought everyone would love but also something small and portable for easy summer knitting. The pattern is the Chicory & Clover cowl or scarf, pictured above, featured in the booklet Meadow. It's knit using Firefly, a viscose/linen blend.
Join us at Knit Night, every Tuesday evening from 6-8pm to work on the KAL. If you can't make Knit Night, just shoot us and email, sales@yarngarden.net or call us at 503-239-7950 to give us your name and the project and yarn you're going to use.

Remember, you don't have to knit the Chicory & Clover cowl or scarf to join the group, just as long as you're making something from the 2011 spring booklets with a Classic Elite yarn!


Here is the Chicory & Clover scarf version in colors Linum and Capri. So summery and cute!


Pattern Booklets from the 2011 Spring Collection:

Wee Ones is filled with adorable baby projects that only use around 3-4 balls of yarn & High Seas has some wonderful shawl and scarf patterns in lots of different Classic Elite yarns.


Seaside is the new booklet featuring Sprout, an organic cotton yarn & the Cricket booklet has four beautiful patterns using Cricket, a linen/cotton yarn.

Rocky Coast features the yarn Solstice, a wool/organic cotton blend perfect for the northwest. Shoreline is also a great summer booklet using Allegoro, an organic cotton/linen blend.


Meadow has four sweet patterns using Firefly.



Here's a pic of the basket you could win! It's filled with sweet swag from Classic Elite's gracious friends at companies like ChiaoGoo, Soak, Della Q, Namaste, Eucalan, Lantern Moon, Designs by Romi, Paradise Buttons, and Buttons Etc. All of the baskets are a little different, the picture is an example of the great stuff you could receive.


-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Upcoming Class: Pick Your Own Project

"Have a project you'd love to start but think you'll need help? Afraid to tackle a new pattern on your own? Then this class is for you! You'll get help in reading your pattern, as well as instruction with technique." - Michelle

One of my favorite classes is starting this week and there's still room to sign up!
It's Michelle's Pick Your Own Project, a 3 class series that's all about making that project you've wanted to make but need some help with.

This class starts this Thursday, so hurry and sign up online at yarngarden.net or give us a call at 503-239-7950.

Class Dates and Times:
Thu. 6:30pm - 8:30pm 5/26/2011
Thu. 6:30pm - 8:30pm 6/2/2011
Thu. 6:30pm - 8:30pm 6/9/2011

Skills needed to take this class: CO, k, p, BO


This cropped cardigan with leaf ties from Knitty Spring 2007 would be my pick if I took this class. Lots of shaping, folded pico hems, seaming and knitted on i-cord ties. Quite a few things I still need to learn!


-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Lacey Days

With the sun finally making an appearance, it's all about summery lace projects.
I'm a big fan of Classic Elite patterns, they're timeless and contemporary. We have a fabulous selection of their Silky Alpaca Lace and just introduced the new handpaint colors. A free pattern from Classic Elite's web letter, the Silky Alpaca Lace Scarf, by Tonia Barry is a simple openwork lace scarf knit with just one skein of Silky Alpaca Lace, shown here in color Tropical Fruit.


The finished measurements are 10.5" wide and 52" long.



The Yarn:
Silky Alpaca Lace is the perfect spring/summer yarn with 70% alpaca/30% silk.
Each 50 gram ball has 440 yards and gives a gauge from 17-32 stitches per inch on a US 2-9 knitting needle.
Solid colors are $9.95 each, handpaints are $11.95.



From top to bottom: Desert Flowers, Tropical Fruit, Cosmos and Turquoise Shadow.

Top to bottom: Midnight Forest, Antique Kaleidoscope, Sunlit Grotto and Wheatfield.


Shown here: Sunlight Grotto. The colors really pop with the 30% silk!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Pub Knitting

Pub Knitting is tonight! We'll be at Barley Mill, located on 17th and SE Hawthorne Blvd from 7-10pm. Give us a call at 503-239-7950 or email sales@yarngarden.net to let us know if you're coming so we know how many tables to reserve.

See ya there!

Summer Shawlette

I was really excited after we received the new Shalimar Yarns that I immediately cast on the Holden Shawlette using Zoe Sock in color Curry. It was a pleasure to knit with and the subtle stonewash color changes made even the stockinette section look stunning! The yarn is soft, squishy and blooms on a bigger needle.
It turned out so lovely, it's my new favorite shawlette!


The pattern, by Mindy Wilkes, is a free Ravelry download. It has easy to follow written and chart instructions and is knit from the top down so you can easily add or shorten the length or add more lace sections.
I used exactly one skein of the Zoe Sock yarn, 450 yards total.
The pattern called for a US 6 with a sock weight yarn which makes a wonderful lightweight spring/summer fabric, perfect for shawlette.



Zoe Sock in color Curry.




The hardest part was picking one of the fifty gorgeous colors.


I think Breathless, also from Shalimar Yarns, would make the perfect shawlette too! With 75% merino/ 15% cashmere/ 10 % silk and 420 yards, you could easily make a beautiful one skein summer shawl or top.
This yarn is the staff pick right now and located right on the wall when you first walk in so you have to pet it!



-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Nautika

New from Knit One Crochet Too is Nautika!
This yarn is soft, has a wonderful ply that gives off a gorgeous sheen and great stitch definition.
Nautika knits up at 4.25 stitches per inch on a US 8 needle, is machine wash and dry with 98 yards per 50 gram ball.
It's a blend of 85% microfiber/15% nylon and $4.75 a ball!

This yarn is perfect for babies, hats, summer tops and more.
The colors are wonderful too!


Clockwise from top left: Natural, Barely Blue, Pistachio, Olive, Pearl and Cafe Au Lait.

Clockwise from top left: Chalk, Petal, Maize, Pistachio, Hibiscus and Marine.


Here you can see the beautiful luster.
Excited to use this yarn!

Also in stock:


The new Knit & Spin arrived with a great article on washing wool.


New Interweave Knits Summer 2011 is here too! There are some beautiful lacy tops and shawls in this issue.

Also, Oregon's own Black Sheep Newsletter, issue 147, has arrived!

-Annie

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day shopping? We have gift cards!

Let your mom treat herself to that yarn she's always wanted, a class from our spring schedule or maybe a swift and ball winder so she doesn't have to hand wind those big hanks of yarn anymore.

You can purchase a gift card on our website here: yarngarden.net or give us a call at 503-239-7950. If you don't live in the area you can buy a gift card and have us hold it for your mother to pick up.

We will be open Mother's Day our regular hours, 12-5pm.

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Welcome Shalimar!

The two yarns that we mentioned in our E-news letter have arrived!
The new yarns by Shalimar are inspired from the changing seasons and subtle-colors and hues associated with their rural farm life in Maryland. They offer 50 signature stone wash colors, giving you a wonderful and diverse palette to create your work of love.


Breathless is a fingering weight, 3-ply superwash blend of merino, cashmere and silk with 420 yards per 100 gram skein. It will make the perfect light weight sweater or shawl!




Great colors! This yarn is absolutely gorgeous.


Zoe Sock is a 3-ply fingering weight, 100% superwash merino wool with 450 yards per 100 gram skein. It's so soft and squishy, it would also make a great shawl or sweater!







We have all 50 colors in of the Zoe Sock!


Here's my pick: Zoe Sock in the color Curry. I just love it. Soon it will be a shawl!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff