October 2011 - River City Yarns

River City Yarns… your place to unwind!
We have two locations!
River City Yarns Downtown
#107, 10106-111 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5G 0B4
Phone: (780) 477-9276
Email: rivercityyarns@shaw.ca
October 2011
River City Yarns Southside
3438-99 Street
Edmonton, AB T6E 5X5
Phone: (780) 450-9276
Email: south@rivercityyarns.com
Frills and Fur make for Fun and Fashion
You wanted more novelty scarf
yarns… and we found them
for you!
Inside this issue:
New Yarns, New Colours 2
Yarn Features at RCY
South
2
Yarn Features at RCY
Downtown
2
October Workshops &
Events
3
Nicky Epstein
3
Local Yarn Events
3
Accessorize!
4
Gallery Updates
4
Ready to Wear:
Lothlorian Gloves
We have Lothlorian
gloves in stock!
Lothlorian gloves are
made in New Zealand,
from a blend of merino
wool and possum fur.
These super soft items
are perfect for gifts.
Available in black, grey,
navy, and olive green in
ladies sizes medium and
large $28.00
We have restocked both RCY
locations with the popular
“tape” yarns: Estelle Frill
Seeker and (new) Frill Seeker
Precious Metal Lace. And
from Katia, we have Ondas
Lux. Also from Katia is
Ronda – a beautiful ruffled
tape. Ronda comes with two
free patterns – you can make
either a boa scarf or a snood.
We also have some beautiful
“net” yarns. From Filatura di
Crosa, we have Moda and
Moda Lame.
And then there is Rozetti
Flora – similar to Frill Seeker
and Moda – this tape is 72%
cotton and 28% polyamide and
it unfurls into a wide ribbon
ruffle, making it easy to work
up dramatic accessories and
add extra flair to everything
you make
Not just scarves, these yarns
work as trim for collars, waistbands and sleeves of garments.
Have you noticed how much
“fur” is in fashion this fall? Fur
is showing up on jackets, vests
and coats, on boots and shoes,
as trim on gloves and handbags
and on scarves. We have a
brand new yarn from Katia
called Sabrina. It has faux fur
balls dangling from a cord of
chenille-like yarn. Patterns are
available and we’ve got a sample in store. Check out this
chic winter accessory!
Visit our website for links to patterns for these yarns: www.rivercityyarns.com/patterns.html
Frill Seeker
Ondas
Ronda
Flora
Sabrina
RCY hosts Nicky Epstein in Edmonton!
Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and
learn from one of the most
imaginative designers in North
America. River City Yarns is
bringing Nicky Epstein to Edmonton in early November
and while here, Nicky will
teach five of her most popular
workshops: Edging Magic
and Flower Power; Happy
Hat class; Knitting Block
Party; Designing A-Cording
to Nicky; and Embroidery
on Knitting.
These are half-day (3 hour)
workshops and they take place
at different times of the day.
We hope you’ll sign up for
more than one! Nicky is a wonderful designer and an inspirational instructor.
For all the details on Nicky’s workshops at River City Yarns, please visit
our website at: www.rivercityyarns.com/cal_nov2011.html
October 2011
Page 2
Cold weather yarns are colourful and warm
We’ve stocked up this fall on
our store staples. You may
have noticed that we have an
amazing selection of Cascade
220 at both RCY locations.
And check out the new colours
in Fritidsgarn. This popular,
hard wearing, 100% wool is
available in over 30 colours.
It’s great for outdoor sweaters,
mitts, hats and any felting project you can imagine! Gauged
at 15 sts/10 cm on 5.5 mm
needles, with 70m/50 g ball
Cascade 220
and value priced at $3.99/ball.
Stock up now while selection is
best.
New this fall from Sirdar, we
have Big Bamboo. This
“chainette” yarn works up to a
chunky gauge without the bulk.
Made from 50% bamboo
sourced viscose, 30% acrylic,
20% wool. Use a 10mm needle to get 9sts/10cm. Each
50g ball has 40m of soft loft
and the ball band comes with a
free scarf pattern.
Fritidsgarn
Big Bamboo
And for the adorable babies,
there is new patterning from
Sirdar in Snuggly DK and
Baby Bamboo. Machine
washable, soft and luxurious,
these yarns are wonderful to
work with and the patterns are
so cute!
We have new stock in Sirdar
Indie, another chunky and
variegated yarn that knits up
quick with great pattern support.
Indie
New patterns for Baby Bamboo
For a very special treat, pick up 1
or 2 skeins of Twinkle Yarns
Soft Chunky. This beautiful,
100% virgin wool is available in
4 colors. It works up at
7sts/10cm on 10mm needles.
Each $29.99 skein has 75m/200g
(1 skein is enough for a hat/
cowl). Quantities are limited!
Twinkle Soft Chunky
Cashmere, Cotton and Cozy!
Sandesgarn Kashmir Alpakka
is a super soft (85% baby alpaca, 16% cashmere) aran
weight yarn, perfect for accessories. It's machine washable
on gentle cycle and comes in
eight great colours. Works up
at 17sts/10cm on 5.5mm needles, you get 68m/50g ball.
For winter warmth & comfort,
we’ve brought in Classic Elite
Ariosa, an extrafine merino
and cashmere blend. Use this
yarn for any project where
softness next to the skin is
required.
We’ve also stocked up on Classic Elite Sprout, a 100% organic cotton in chunky weight.
The new colors are gorgeous!
Classic Elite Sprout
Kashmir Alpakka (above)
Ariosa (Below)
per ball, even very large projects take
only 6-10 balls, an affordable luxury!
We also have two new pattern books
from Lang – Family 183 and 184.
See these yarns at our Southside store.
And check out Lang Astrakan.
When knitted, this light fashionable yarn has the look of
the Astrakhan fur that's all the
trend now. It knits up in a flash
on US 15 needles! With 77 yds
Lang Astrakan
Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
Check out our line of Elsebeth
Lavold yarns and patterns at
RCY Downtown. We have
new colours in the classic favourite Silky Wool by
Elsebeth Lavold (45% wool,
35% silk, 20% nylon). This
DK yarn knits up at
22sts/10cm on 4.5mm needles.
Each 50g skein has a whopping
176m and the blend of silk
with the wool and nylon gives
a tweed effect. Soft, easy to
knit and lightweight, this is a
beautiful yarn to work with,
especially for fair isle or
colourwork patterns.
Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
October 2011
Page 3
October Workshops & Events
We have a lot of exciting
events happening at River
City Yarns this month.
Join us (at either store) for
Drop in Knitting Circle
on Sunday, Oct 2 from
1:00 - 3:00 PM.
If you want to learn to knit
or need a really good refresher program, check out
our Knitting 101 workshop, starting Oct.
8.
larly scheduled Project Tutorials every week with excellent
instructors on hand to help
you learn on the go.
Come out to Sock Boot
Camp, starting Oct. 7 or get
funky with a Felted Tea Cozy
workshop beginning Oct. 8.
Our very
popular
Need some help
with your project?
We have four reguFelted Tea Cozy
Thrummed Mittens
Don’t miss Nicky Epstein
Nicky Epstein is a world renowned knit wear designer,
teacher and author of over 20
bestselling books. Her knitting
and crochet books range from
highly original resource books,
to historical books, to travel
books, to Barbie Doll books,
to amazingly creative design
fashion/pattern books. Her
books are “must haves” in the
libraries of designers and knitters alike, and she has won the
National Independent book
Publisher’s Award for Best
Craft Book of the Year… three
times!
Her innovative, fashionable,
whimsical and award winning
designs have appeared in every
Check out the online October calendar:
www.rivercityyarns.com/cal_oct2011.html
Thrummed Mitten workshop
is starting on Oct. 12, to help
you face the winter chill!
Jane-Anne will show you how
to make precious and practical
Stay-On Baby Booties beginning Oct. 17.
And, throughout the month,
we’ve got oodles and oodles of
our new BlockBuster workshops. These short, two-hour
workshops focus on individual
knitting techniques and will
help you improve your skills.
This month’s BlockBusters
include: Knitting flat on
DPNs, I-cord, Increases &
Decreases, Modular Knit-
ting, Smocking, Embossing, Intarsia, Fair Isle,
Entrelac, Steeking, Flowers, Beginner Lace, Cables and Double Knitting. Whew! All you need
is a copy of Nicky Epstein’s book, Knitting Block
by Block (available at River
City Yarns).
Join our Mitten of the
Month club! This month,
we’ll be working on
“Alesund” from Robin
Melanson’s book, Knitting
New Mittens and Gloves.
major knitwear magazine, in museums
and on television, and she has taught
classes to knitters around the world and
hosted many Vogue Knitting Tours
overseas.
We travelled all the way to New York
city this winter to take a workshop with
Nicky. Save the airfare and make sure
you get in on at least one of Nicky’s
workshops while we have her here in
Edmonton. This is your best opportuNicky Epstein will be teaching nity to learn from one of the most
five workshops at River City imaginative and creative designers.
Yarns on Nov 3, 8 & 9.
I Yarn Day: Oct. 14
Whether you knit, crochet,
craft or just adore fiber, October 14, 2011 is the national day
to declare your LOVE for
yarn; it is I Love Yarn Day!
Knit it, crochet it, weave it,
spin it, felt it, carry it, stitch it,
give it or bomb it!
We’ll be celebrating I Love
Yarn Day at River City Yarns
too. Susan will show you her
take on the “Sassy” (crocheted)
shawl starting at 3:30 PM at the
southside store and Barb will
be holding a Portuguese Knitting Demo starting at 5:00 PM
at our downtown store.
I Love Yarn Day is the inspiration of the Craft Yarn Council
of America. You can get more
details and updates, if you visit:
www.ILoveYarnDay.org
More than 650 Special Olympics athletes will “go for gold” in St.
Albert and Jasper at the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter
Games, running February 28 to March 3. Joining the athletes will
be hundreds of coaches, volunteers, families and fans.
The Scarf Project is an initiative to gift 2500 scarves to these exceptional athletes, their families and supporters, coaches and volunteers!
Find out how you can participate in the Scarf Project by visiting
www.rivercityyarns.com/specialevents.html#Scarf_Project.
River City Yarns… your place to unwind!
New Knitting Bags, Wheeled Totes and Accessory Cases from LUG – We think LUG
products perform nicely for our knitting and crochet “on the go” projects. We are impressed with their design and attention to detail. LUG is known for travel bags and accessories, so we’ve brought in roomy bags with multiple compartments, pockets and
magnetic/zip closures rather than noisy, sticky Velcro.
TAXICAB
This twist on the classic tote brings organization to a whole new level. The zip pockets will hold your straight
needles, interior pouches will keep your accessories bundled, and you can check your look (or the guy sitting
behind you) with the removable mirror. Thinking of (almost) everything, this bag includes: a water-repellent
bottle holder, detachable coin (or stitch marker) purse and has a special strap that slides over a standard rolling
luggage handle for getting around while on the go.
PUDDLE JUMPER
Taxicab
We’re all in love with this one! It’s the size of an overnight bag (you can fit an afghan/
sweater project in it) along with your laptop (snugly secured in the internal laptop compartment). Tilt this baby back on it’s wheels and pull out the lightweight, high-quality aluminum handle and away you go!
Pockets and compartments hold your tools and a secret pop out water bottle holder keeps a refreshment close at
hand. Imagine how many projects you can wheel around in this baby! Because of it’s size, we’re taking orders on this
one and we’re bringing it in at a special price for RCY customers - $159.99 (Lug price is $165.00). Call (780) 477-9276
or email rivercityyarns@shaw.ca before October 15th to place your order.
ACCESSORY CASES: CANOE & CLEARVIEW ENVELOPES
Canoe was originally designed as a cosmetic brush holder but we’ve repurposed it as a small project case. It stands upright and it’s clear plastic upper Puddle Jumper comes in
nine colours
portion lets you see what you’re working on at a glance. Your hooks, dpns
and tools all fit perfectly in the interior side pockets. With several colours to
pick from you can even organize your projects… one for socks, one for mitts, one for hats...
Accessory Cases: Canoe and Clearview Envelopes
Organize your tools with these versatile Clearview Envelope pouches (one large and one small
is included in each set). Perfect for storing double points, cable needles, measuring tape, stitch
markers, scissors, wool needles… no more rooting around in pockets looking for those little
necessities.
Gallery Update
Sandi’s Vintage Crocheted Blankets
Sandi P. has been using up stash
yarn (and buying a wee bit more)
making these beautiful blankets
in crocheted V-stitch. Pattern
available at RCY if you want to
make one/two too.
Mary A. recently finished her
toddler sized Cowichan style sweater. You
get a little peek here… check out the photos on our gallery page!
Stella R. sent us a picture of the little dress
she made for her 2 year old granddaughter,
Sophie. Made with Sirdar White Whisper
(100% bamboo), Stella tells us, “It feels so
Mary’s “hockey inspired” Cowichan great and looks good on Sophie.” So
pretty!
Anne R. is going on our Wool,
Wine and Wheels 2011 trip and
has knit up Nicky Epstein’s
Oak Leaf inspired luggage tags.
Anne also put them on a
quilted luggage tag background. Very smart and stylish!
Stella’s dress for Sophie
Visit our website at
www.rivercityyarns.com and
click on the Gallery button to
read more about these projects
(and others).
Anne’s Oak Leaf Luggage Tags