Honey

We now carry Honey Worsted from Shalimar! Zoe Sock and Breathless have been so popular, we couldn't wait to get in this squishy beautifully hand dyed superwash worsted merino!

Pictured above in my favorite color, Slag.

Honey has a generous 250 yards per 100 gram skein and has a gauge of 4.5-5sts/inch on a US 7-9 knitting needle. It's 100% superwash merino wool and $17.95. Each hand dyed color has subtle tonal changes that would make a simple garter stitch scarf look wonderful and because it is machine washable, it could be used for babies and children too!

Clockwise from top left: Bark, Curry, Sapote and Tequila Sunrise

Clockwise from top left: American Beauty, Byzantium, Concord Grape and Passionfruit

Clockwise from top left: Bluecrop, Black Truffle, Slag and Thistle

Clockwise from top left: Loden, Scarab, Juniper Berry and Sequoia

Clockwise from top: Waterchestnut, Oyster and Porcini

Try out one skein of Honey Worsted in your favorite color making these Jo March Mitts! A very cute pair of fingerless gloves with little cables running all the way down. Shown here in color curry. This is a free pattern from Shalimar and can be downloaded here!

Come in and check it out!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Fall Favorites

With fall almost here, (tomorrow!) we are all starting to plot and cast on for holiday gifts. We thought we'd share some of our favorite patterns, each knit using a yarn by Cascade Yarns. All of their yarns are favorites around here because of their wide color ranges which are always so consistent from dye lot to dye lot, yardage and price. It's always a pleasure to knit with their yarns and it was fun to highlight a few!

The Burberry Inspired Cowl is a great gift idea. We had a lot of fun with this pattern last winter using different yarns and decided to revisit it this season because I love the classic pattern. This one is so soft, it's hard to take off! Knit using 1 skein of Cascade Eco Duo, a blend of 70% undyed alpaca/ 30% undyed merino wool and $12.45 a skein. It's a quick gift knit on US# 10 needles and just lovely!

Shown here in color #1705, vanilla.

It was hard to capture the color in a picture, but here you can kind of see the very subtle color changes. Long stripes from creme to a warm toasted vanilla.

You might remember Mary's Eco Duo scarf from last February. Another great gift idea using only 1 skein. You can read more about this scarf here.

Jared Flood's Noro Striped Scarf has been a popular and easy free pattern for every knitter. It's also the perfect gift for the holidays. You can have fun with colors or go simple with shades of grey. This one is made using one skein of Cascade 220 in color # 8011, aspen heather and 2 balls of Tonalita in color #2397, smoke & ash.

Cascade 220, one of our all time favorite worsted weight yarns is a 100% wool and doesn't break the bank at $6.55 a skein. It's great for sweaters, felting, hats and everything else you can think of with a whole wall of colors to choose from.

Tonalita, also a worsted weight yarn is a blend of wool and acrylic. Each self striping colorway makes any projects exciting.

Lavalette shawl designed by Kristen Kapur is a wonderful lace project that looks so airy with alternating sections of openwork and stockinette. This was knit using 1 skein of Cascade Alpaca Lace, a 100% alpaca with 437 yards/ 50 grams and $7.15 a skein.

Shown here in color #1434, mystic purple.

It knits up very quickly from the top down on a US #7 needle. The alpaca really blooms on the big needle making a fluffy, lightweight shawl.

The perfect little shawl for fall.

The Cable Lovers Pullover is a classic pattern available free from Cascade Yarns here. Knit using four skeins of Ecological wool, an aran to bulky weight 100% undyed wool, $14.95 a skein. The range of natural colors are beautiful with tons of gorgeous solid and heathered colors in the Eco+ (the same wool, but dyed).

Shown in color #8010, ecru. What a cozy sweater!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

The colors of Kauni

New colors of Kauni Effektgarn arrived today! Each one is so beautiful and looks so different from ball to ball. To capture how much the colors can change inside the ball, I took a photo of two balls of the same color next to each other.

Color EN; white, beige and tan.

EB; grey, brown, black and rust

EE; hot pink and white.

EY; magenta and purple

EH; tan, brown and light blue. I love this one!

EZ; shades of turquoise and teal green

Here you can see how the yarn slowly fades into another color when knit.

We also got in a few more of their wonderful patterns:

Farwell Jacket is a Portland staple. This is knit sideways, making the width of the body easily adjustable.

Prospect Cardigan looks like a fun pattern. Knit in pieces and seamed, so the color fades turn out mismatched and very cute!

Humboldt Scarf is knit using two different colors.

Newton Scarf is a free pattern that can be downloaded here. It's a simple lengthwise knit scarf with dropped stitches that uses one ball of the Kauni Effektgarn. A simple way to show off a beautiful yarn.

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Upcoming Class: My First Lace Shawl

This shawl is an easy first lace project and I definitely recommend it. Knit using a worsted weight yarn and bigger needles, it goes by very quickly and makes a warm shawl. You'll learn to follow a pattern, yarn overs, short rows, double decreases and Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off!

Michelle's shawl is knit using 2 skeins of Malabrigo Rios in color Solis. I love the mix of the lace with squishy garter stitch.

This pattern really shows off a hand dyed yarn well.

The class begins Monday, September 19th from 6:30-8:30 pm and is $45.00. Sign up online , over the phone at 503-239-7950 or stop by and check out the class samples hanging in the shop for inspiration!

Class Dates and Times:
Mon. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 9/19/2011
Mon. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 9/26/2011
Mon. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 10/3/2011

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Upcoming Class: Cozy Portland Vest

Conquer your fears of knitting a sweater with Emily's Cozy Portland Vest class!
Quickly knit using only a few skeins of Debbie Bliss's Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky on a US # 10 1/2 needle.


Learn short row shaping on these cute cap sleeves.


Emily's vest shown here is knit in color #04, purple.





I was so excited when I saw Emily designing her sweater for the class, I had to make one too! I've been on a sock kick this summer, so casting on a bulky weight vest was quite a change. I quickly knit this over a weekend and had so much fun.
This is a longer version without a button to be worn open. Her pattern is easily adjustable to add or take away length.


Even with the extra length, I only used 3.5 skeins of Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky in color #03, navy. I love the way it turned out and can already see that I will be getting a lot of wear out of this.



Sign up for her class which starts next Monday, September 19th at 6:30-8:30 online at yarngarden.net or by calling us, 503-239-7950.
The class fee is $45.00 and meets three times. You will learn how to follow a pattern, measure gauge, short rows, seaming, picking up stitches and will have a lovely vest to wear this fall and winter!

Here is a list of all the times the class will meet:

Class Dates and Times:
Mon. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 9/19/2011
Mon. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 9/26/2011
Mon. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 10/3/2011

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Labor Day Weekend

Summer is getting to and end and so is our 12th year anniversary sale. We have lots of beautiful yarns on sale up to 75% off that would make fabulous scarves, hats or sweaters for Christmas gifts! We've put out a few more yarns in our sale room and most are discontinued, so make sure you get enough for your projects.

Here are a few of my favorites on sale right now:

Above, clockwise from left: Eros, Novum and Gypsy.

Eros is a great railroad yarn with lots of yardage and colors. It looks great by itself or paired with another yarn for a little extra color.

Two beautiful Prism hand dyed yarns, Quadro at 75% off (top) and Collage, 60% off.

Clockwise from top left: R2 Rag 75% off, Victoria 60% off, Celeste 60% off and Cotton Braid 75% off.

Here's a cute little crocheted basket we made using the R2 Rag and a big hook. A very quick project!

Here's a cute scarf using 1 ball of the Cotton Braid and size 17 needles. We cast on 8 stitches, knit every row and got a nice long (80") skinny scarf with lots of texture.

Colinette Silky Chic, a hand dyed furry yarn is 75% off.

Playful Weekend, a 100% silk ribbon yarn is 60% off.

Firenze and R2 Paper, both 75% off.

We've been keeping busy with our new fall yarns coming in daily and getting our fall class schedule ready to go. We will be open our regular hours (11am-6pm) Labor Day, September 5th so come on in and see what's new!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff