Eco Duo Scarf

We've all been fondling the soft and fluffy Eco Duo alpaca yarn from Cascade and were happy to see that Mary had made herself a scarf using it!


The Pattern
One Row Handspun Scarf by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka the Yarn Harlot. It's a free pattern on her blog and we love it! Mary used only 1 skein of Eco Duo in color Storm #1703 and the scarf turned out long enough to wrap around once.


The Yarn
Cascade Yarns Eco Duo is an aran weight, undyed blend of 70% alpaca, 30% merino.
There are 197 yds/100 gr in a skein with 4.5 sts per inch on a US 8 knitting needle for $12.25 per skein.
The natural undyed colors are beautiful and the yarn is as soft as it comes.


The undyed colors are so rich.


Here you can see how the yarn slowly fades into different shades.



-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Charity Knitting

Roseanne, a dear customer of ours is involved with Project Lighthouse and we thought we could help her get some hand knit/crochet donations from all our wonderful charity knitters and crocheters!

"Project Lighthouse is a grassroots organization whose purpose is to provide new winter apparel to elders, children and others on Native reservations, especially the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. A wonderful and welcome accompaniment to donated new coats and blankets are hand-knit or crocheted scarves, hats or mittens. All colors and sizes are welcomed.

Recipients include elders, young children and everyone in between. This is a great opportunity to try out that new pattern or technique and give your new creation a good home!

All items will be wrapped with a ribbon and have a tag with your name. When you drop off your item(s), please include a note with your name legibly written. You may include a brief note of greeting. These are more than donations – they are gifts from one person to another!

Suggested yarn would be DK/sport weight or heavier. Washable yarn, especially for children’s items is also a plus. Some brands: Cascade, Berroco, Plymouth Encore."

For more information about Project Lighthouse, please contact Rosanne Paulson @ roseladypdx@comcast.net and indicate Project Lighthouse or PLH in the subject line.

Favorite Shades of Gray

More Jarbo Garn Gastrike 1-ply yarn has arrived! This is one of my favorite lace yarns because of the traditional sheepy feel to it and the colors, or lack of colors. I grew up in overcast Seattle and this yarn fits right in with its shades of grays.
I love each one from charcoal, heathered light gray, creme and black.
This would make a beautiful Annis shawlette.

Gastrike 1-ply is 100% wool with 660 yards/ 100 gm skein for $7.95.

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Staff Pick: Noro Kirameki

Pattern: Freya, 1 ball of Kirameki in color 164

Who doesn't love Noro? They're famous for their beautiful self striping colors used in hats, sweaters, scarves, socks and now lace!

We received Kirameki, a lace weight 60% rayon, 25% nylon, 10% wool, 5% cashmere and fell in love with it. There are 495 yds/50 gm ball with a gauge of 8-10 sts/in on a US 0-2 needle.
The yardage is perfect for lace shawlettes and the color changes make the simplest stitch fun.

Lace yarn isn't just for lace anymore either. We've been using it for lightweight cardigans, baby sweaters, airy hats and many more garments. That's why this yarn is so exciting...we can't wait to see how you use it!


Spring colors. I love the mixtures of burnt oranges with pinks.


Warm neutrals


Blues!


The latest from Noro, Noro Love (book 10) features the little shawlette pattern Freya along with drapey short sleeved cardigans, sweaters, hats and cute little toddler sweaters.


Freya shawlette from the book.
They used 1 ball of Kirameki color #158.



-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Good Things

It's still chilly outside and what better way to keep warm than with a super soft baby alpaca cowl? This cowl was knit using one skein of Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky in color 562 Monterey Bay. The pattern knits up quick on a US 11 in the round with a fun 5 row pattern repeat. It's available free from Cascade Yarns here.


Baby Alpaca Chunky is 100% baby alpaca with a gauge of 3.5 sts/ inch on a US 10 and 108 yards per 100 gram skein. This yarn is so soft and squishy. The colors are beautiful, from hand painted to heathered solids.

I think everyone needs one of these cowls.

New Colors of Liberty Wool for February!

We received the two new colors of Classic Elite Liberty Wool this month and they're gorgeous!
This is Ultra Violet Autumn #7890.

Pictured here is North Sea Whitecaps, #7891.

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Class Spotlight: Quincy Hat

There are still a few spots open in the Quincy Hat class that starts tomorrow evening. Quincy, designed by Jared Flood is a unique addition to every knitter's hat collection. It looks good on everyone, is knit in chunky yarn so it's quick, and has clever construction that will teach you to knit built in i-cord, pick up stitches, and graft.

The class will be taught by our very own Emily Devlin.
Class Dates and Times:
Thu. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 2/10/2011
Thu. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 2/17/2011
Thu. • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm • 2/24/2011

Sign up online here or over the phone: 503-239-7950.

Also, students in this class will be able to purchase the Made In Brooklyn booklet for a discounted price of $10. (normally $16.95) The booklet is filled with wonderful patterns including the Grove Mittens which we taught in January.

Here you can see the unique design with the i-cord edge.


Stop by the shop to see the bubble gum pink sample for this new class. (Don't you love Emily's matching pink mittens and her lovely cabled coat?!)

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Portland Tweed Trunk Show

Today we received a Classic Elite trunk show featuring booklet, Prairie #9127. All four garments are made with Portland Tweed, an aran weight 50% Wool/ 25% Rayon /25% Alpaca with 120 yards per 50 gram ball. The little flecks of tweed make each color interesting. I love the way this yarn has a traditional woolly feel and look but also has a soft halo of alpaca hairs.
Each pattern is simple and classic with little details like smocking and cables.

We will have these garments in the shop until Feb. 21st.


Portland Tweed, color Tidal Foam (#5004)

Tumbleweed, a fair isle yoke pullover worked in the round from the bottom up.


My favorite, Thistle. A cable and ribbed slouchy hat. This hat uses two balls of Portland Tweed. I already have a color picked out! I'm going to use Sulfur #5075. (pictured below in the Barley cardigan)

So pretty.


Sarsparilla, shown here in color Rosewater #5052.
A simple garter stitch shawl with a cabled edge and fringe.

The fringe is created by dropping stitches.


This wonderful cardigan is called Barley. A simple shawl collar with smocking shaping the waist and cuffs and a simple tie closure. This is one of those patterns that you don't need to change. Everything is perfect, even the color, Sulfur #5075.


Come in and check them all out!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Vandalism Update

Good news! A local company called Glass Magnum saw the graffiti all over our windows and stopped by the store to tell us about their services. They do glass repair and can actually get rid of acid etched vandalism without replacing the windows and save us a lot of money.

They came by yesterday and did one of our windows and it was truly magic! They worked on the glass very carefully until the acid was gone and even some really old graffiti scratches. They also offer window guard installation on the glass to protect it from any future vandalism.
They did an excellent job, they're really friendly and there is hardly any waste involved in their services.
Replacing old windows can be a very difficult job and makes for a cold, loud and unpleasant shopping experience for our customers as well. So, we highly recommend Glass Magnum for any glass repairs.

Here are the before and after pics:

Before. This is our main entrance window, acid was right in the middle and
there were also some old graffiti scratches in the glass.


After! No traces of the acid or scratches! I warned them that they
would be dreaming of red socks that night after working on the Valentines window.

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff

Red Scarf Project

We counted 52 red scarves yesterday! Powerhouse picked them up and soon they'll be keeping college-bound foster youth warm and feeling extra loved!
Thank you to everyone that took the time to hand knit/crochet a scarf for a kid who will really appreciate it.
We will be taking donations for the Red Scarf Project again next winter with the deadline of Jan. 31st.


If you are interested in charity knitting/crocheting for other causes, we are currently taking donations for preemie hats, chemo caps and warm garments or accessories for the transitions project. More info and patterns on our web here.

Thanks again!

-Annie, Yarn Garden Staff