Thistledown musings: Nov 30, 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My new love affair

The longer I knit, the more I understand how the Yarn Harlot was named. I fall in love with Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride. Then I fall in love with Opal sock yarn. Then I fall in love with ShiBui Baby Alpaca. And then Fiona started dyeing for us and I had a new love. You get the idea.

My latest love is with Madelinetosh Vintage. I love the feel. I love the springness. I love, love the colors.

I am knitting two items out of Madelinetosh Vintage. One is the Chevron Baby Blanket and the other is the Windschief.

The yarn feels good in my hands. And the colors are wonderful. I think I read somewhere that the dyer calls it semiglazed. Whatever it is, it is lovely. It makes my heart go pitty pat. I want to stay up all night and knit and stay home all day and knit.

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Some of what we carry

Blue Heron: Cotton Rayon Seed, Egyptian Mercerized Cotton, Rayon Metalllic, and Sock Plus
Blue Ridge Yarns: Kaleidoscope
Brown Sheep: Burly Spun, Cotton Fine, Cotton Fleece, Hand Paint Originals, Lamb's Pride Bulky and Worsted, Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted, Nature Spun Sport Weight and Worsted, Serendipity Tweed, Wildfoote
Cascade: Eco +, Fixation, Sierra, Ultra Pima
Classic Elite: La Gran , Liberty Wool, Moorland, Portland Tweed
Claudia: Sock
Dale of Norway: Baby Ull and Harlequin
Dragonfly Fibers: Djinni, Sock, Squishy Lace, and Traveller
Elegant Yarns: Athena, Aurora, Daphne, Fantasy, Kaleidoscope, Stellar
Farmhouse Yarns: Allergic to Wool, Bo Peep Sock, Fannie's Fingering Weight sock yarn, Lumpy Bumpy , Silk Blend
frajous fibers: Sari Ribbon
Henry's Attic: Aloha, Aztec Boucle, Inca Cotton, Irish Lace, Peruvian Tweed, Prime Alpaca, Shahrazade
JoJoLand: Melody, Rhythm (regular and superwash), and Tonic
Kauni
Kertzer: Cool Spun Cotton, Marble, Marble Chunky, Northern Worsted, Northern Worsted Ombre, Northern Worsted Tweed, On Your Toes
Knit One, Crochet Too: Crock-O- Dye, Ty Dy Cotton, Ty Dy Dots, Ty Dy Wool, Ty Dy Socks, 2nd Time Cotton
Kollage: Delightful and Luscious
Kraemer: Sterling Silk & Silver
Lana Knits: Allhemp 6
Lantern Moon: stitch markers, tape measures, and bags
Louet: Bonnie, Euroflax Sport, Gems Fingering
Madelinetosh: Lace, Sock, and Vintage
Marion Foale
MillaMia
MilliaMia
Mission Falls: 1824 Cotton and Wool
Misti Alpaca - chunky, lace, and sock yarn
Mountain Colors: Bearfoot, Merino Ribbon, Twizzle, Wool Quarters
Muench: Touch Me
Namaste: bags and pouches
Naturally New Zealand Yarns: Bella, Buttons, Dawn, Kaleidoscope Boucle, Wool, and Mohair, Kiss, Loyal, Naturally Wool 10 Ply, Perendale, Stella, Temptation, Tussock Worsted, Vero and VeroTweed
Opal sock yarn: fingering and 6-ply
Pagewood Farm: Denali and Yukon
Polar Knit
Recycled Silk
Schaefer: Anne
Schoolhouse Press: Icelandic Lace Weight, Un-Spun Icelandic
ShiBui: Baby Alpaca DK, Highland Wool Alpaca, Merino Alpaca, Merino Kid, Silk Cloud, Sock yarn, and Staccato
Simply Shetland: Silk and Lambswool
Skacel: Austermann Step, Crazy Zauberball, Sockina, Fortissina, Kid Seta, Maxima, Trekking XXL and 6-ply, Zitron Loft Color
South West Trading Company: Bamboo, Tofutsies, Yang
Sweaterkits: CottonLicious
Swedish Yarns: Fame Trend, Raggi
Thistledown Yarn: Lake Effect, Third Coast, and Up North
Wolle's: Color Changing Cotton
Yarn Hollow: Sock Religious, Shawl Kits, Summer Love

Helmet Liners for our military

Helmet Liners

We are coordinating with other yarn shops throughout the nation in an effort to make enough helmet liners for all deployed members of our military.

Each helmet liner is made of 100% soft wool, using military regulations; right down to the correct colors. The head gear protects troops from the environment, keeps them warm in the cold nighttime desert air, wicks away sweat from 120 degree daytime heat, keeps the sand away from their faces, and forms a needed cushion between their head and the helmet they must wear.

The shoppe will have Nature Spun worsted wool and Mission Falls 1824 wool in the required colors of tan, black, gray, brown, and olive. If you chose to knit from your stash, the yarn must be 100% wool - no alpaca, lama, mohair, or acrylic. Gauge is also very important.

We will be accepting the liners and then sending them on to Yarn Heaven in Texas, where Tarie, the owner, will pass them on to the four military bases in her area. Different units deploy at different times, so she will be handing them over to the military in groups. We will be continuing to collect head liners until they are no longer needed.

If you wish, a personal message, inserted into the head liner, is appreciated by the troops.

If you are a crocheter, go here for your pattern and the knitters should go here for their pattern.

This is a video of Tarie with some of the military talking about the liners.

Community Service Projects

Knitting for our Children (November, 2009) - I am actively involved with the Leelanau County Family Coordinating Council (we catch folks who fall through the cracks) and there are families that could use some goodies for the cold weather - hats, scarves, mittens - you get the idea. Being the fiber snob I have become, I like wool, but I also realize that not everyone agrees with that. So whatever you choose to knit, label it for fiber content and care. We will continue to take donations year around and will turn the items over to Parenting Communities (they work directly with the families). And let me add that we will also happily accept items for the children's older sisters, brothers, and parents.
Leelanau County Jail Inmate Art Project - Inmates, volunteers, and staff teach inmates the arts of quilting, knitting, crocheting, sewing, and baking. Help them out with donations of materials and/or your time. They can accept everything but metal needles. Donations may be dropped off at the shoppe. Contact us if you need more information.
4-H Sale - the second weekend of every August we sell fiber related items. 100% of the proceeds go to our 4-H.
Blankets for Cherryland Humane Society. Blankets knitted and crocheted for the critters at our animal shelter. Ongoing.
Birthday Party - gifts donated to the Laundry Project, Baby Pantry, and Leelanau Christian Neighbors. October, 2007
No Idle Hands - handcrafted items knitted and crocheted for Goodwill Inn. Fall, 2008
Hats on to You - knitted hats created as a "Thank You" for our county plow drivers. March, 2009

Thistledown musings

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My new love affair

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