Knitnews #3: Clever Knits updates for November 2009

Clever Knitters,

Did I forget to email you in October? For shame! It's been a crazy month, full of excitement here at the shop. As usual, there is info at the very bottom of this message for other ways to keep in touch, or how to join the list or direct your friends to join the list if they are interested in hearing more (this message is sent out via email once monthly, and we are re-posting it here on our website).

Contents of this message:

1. Karen's 50th Birthday SALE - Tuesday, November 17th, 6-10pm. Don't miss it!
2. Crazy Quilt CAKAL and Drawing - world's craziest barn-raising sock-yarn quilt
3. New Class Schedule - Knit & Crochet 101, 102, 103 every month, Toe-up Socks in January
4. New inventory - magazines, books, needles, yarns, accessories
5. As always -  knitnight Tues 6-10pm, Open Knit Sunday 2-6pm, free wireless, yarnstorm NOW 15% OFF



1. Karen's 50th Birthday SALE

Karen is celebrating her half-century on November 17th -- which HAPPENS to be a Tuesday! It should be no surprise that we like to celebrate our birthdays with incredible deals for YOU, so don't miss knitnight on November 17th (a little bird told me there will be an awesome deal involving the number 50).



2. Crazy Quilt CAKAL and Drawing

We're working on a wild crochet-and-knit-a-long (cakal?) -- the world's craziest barn-raising sock-yarn quilt. Everyone who contributes a square, rectangle, triangle, rhombus (whatever shape floats your boat) gets an entry in the drawing to win the final product! Pieces can be knit or crochet in any stitch pattern or needle size that tickles your fancy. We ask only that all contributions are made from Superwash Sock Yarn in at least 75% wool. We hope to give the quilt away in mid-December, just before the holidays, so get to work on squares from your sock scraps!



3. New Class Schedule

Knit/Crochet 101, 102, 103 and 201:
We've changed our class schedule so that we offer beginning and intermediate courses in both knit and crochet every month, on a regular schedule. All class info can be found on our website -- just click the 'classes' link at the top of the page.

More Classes:
Loads of people are working on lace shawls, so we'll be doing a blocking workshop in a couple of weeks. Details are forthcoming, so keep an eye on the website (or facebook, or twitter).

Coming in January 2010, we will be offering a class on 'Socks from the Toe-up', as well as other classes TBA, so keep an eye on our website or on Facebook for details as each class is announced!



4. New inventory

Accessories: Darling silk gift- or small-project-bags, as well as rosewood and ebony cable needle sets and ADORABLE tiny repair hooks, all from Lantern Moon (and quite reasonably priced). Super fun, functional, and funky needle cases from local fiber artist Shameless Knits. Pom-pom makers in 4 sizes (they make PERFECT pom-poms).

Books: Books! More books! I think we've tripled our library (we've certainly tripled our shelf space for books!)

Yarns: Many new yarns have come in during the last couple of months:

• CASHMERE! Lovely cashmere scarf kits and cashmere-merino sock yarns from Jade Sapphire
• Ella Rae Lace Merino in AMAZING hand-dyed colors
• Organic cotton laceweight, sport weight, and a chunky thick-and-thin from Ecobutterfly
• Superwash merino lace from Jade Sapphire
• Ornaghi Filati italian merino ombre (multicolored)
  
• Steinbach Capri Ombre (multicolored)
• Schaefer Nancy and Ann (to complement our Heather and Nichole)
• DK weight Berroco Pure Merino and several more colors in the aran-weight
• LOADS more colors in Cascade 220

We're expecting more cashmere in November (tell your knitcomplices to get you cashmere yarn for Christmas!), and also Debbie Bliss Merino. Ella Rae Classic Wool will be coming in December. Any-minute-now we should have the Sterling & Silk sock yarn from Kraemer yarns, made with REAL sterling silver (63% superwash merino, 20% silk, 15% nylon, and 2% real silver). I've just ordered more of the new Jitterbug from Colinette, which will arrive in mid-November -- they've changed the packaging, so it now comes in a 150g skein with 400 yds of yarn, which is perfect to do a pair of socks for even the biggest man-foot (their 'old' skeins were 110g and 300 yds, which was fine for lady socks, but not quite enough for manly socks).



5. As Always

knitnight:
Our knitnight Tuesdays from 6-10pm continue to be an exciting and popular opportunity to come hang out and make new knitterly friends. All fiber artists are welcome (crochet, needlepoint, spinning, cat’s cradle, etc)! Feel free to come by even if you just need a stash-fix or a needle, or want to see what all the fuss is about – you don’t HAVE to stay, but you are more than welcome to.

We also have open knit/crochet on Sundays from 2-6pm, and the Oceanside Knitters (ravelry link) meet here on Fridays from 5-8pm (though you needn't be an Oceanside resident to attend -- they're a very open and friendly bunch, and most of them come Tuesdays and/or Sundays, too).

Free wireless:
Don't forget that we offer free wireless to our customers and their knitcomplices, so bring that laptop to browse ravelry or check a pattern on knitty, or whip out your iPhone and make use of our speedy fast connection to learn a new technique on youtube.

Yarnstorm 09:
There's still a chance to bring some yarn graffiti to decorate our ducts and NOW GET 15% OFF your entire purchase! Swatches need to be 26 inches in length and anywhere from 4-10" wide, made of ANY yarn in your stash (they just need to look pretty). This offer is valid until the ducts are fully covered in yarn graffiti -- and they're nearly full!




Warm (& sweatery) regards,
Helena, Karen, & Lexi

Clever Knits
214 S. Indiana Ave
Vista CA 92084

open 12-8pm daily
FREE knitnights Tuesdays 6-10pm

http://cleverknits.com
cleverknits@gmail.com
phone: 760.806.6744

--

if this message is reaching you second or third hand, there are many ways to keep up with Clever Knits activities:

Mailing list: http://groups.google.com/group/cleverknits/subscribe
Web: http://cleverknits.com
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/cleverknits
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cleverknits
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CleverKnits
Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/cleverknits
Email: cleverknits@gmail.com

Friday Insider #5: Waiting for the UPS guy

Our regular UPS delivery guy was on vacation this week, which means that our packages were delivered by someone else. Someone who shows up hours later in the day, which means a lot more waiting for our most precious packages to arrive. This week they were especially precious.

Tuesday we got in beautiful organic cotton rovings and laceweight cotton from Ecobutterfly. This yarn is heaven in your hands -- I recently knit up a little sweater for the shop out of the sport weight cotton, and it's truly a dream. Completely undyed, the cotton grows naturally in shades from white to cocoa brown and deep avocado green. It's remarkably soft, and surprisingly easy to work with. The cotton roving is extra special, and would be a super holiday gift for any advanced spinners.



Also on Tuesday, an assortment of decadent little things from Lantern Moon, including the most DARLING little cable needles and repair hooks carved from ebony and rosewood, and beautiful silk taffeta project bags (perfect for working on a pair of socks!).

And! And! On Wednesday the Cashmere arrived! Scarf kits from Jade Sapphire that include enough Cashmere for a great big, warm, scarf, and a book of seven patterns to choose from. The price on these is truly incredible, and they are disappearing FAST. Jade Sapphire also sent their variegated sock yarns, 10 colors of a gorgeous cashmere-merino blend. AND the laceweight merino, which is amazingly soft AND SUPERWASH. I can't wait to make a shetland triangle out of THAT!

Of course, we're still waiting. I've ordered six beautiful colourways in the Ella Rae lace merino which is due to arrive any-minute-now, and a remarkable sock yarn from Kraemer which has real, actual, STERLING SILVER in it. It's a beautiful, glimmery sheen from real precious metal that will make the most beautiful shawls and scarves.

I feel half bad for our regular UPS guy, since the 'oohs' and 'aahs' are being directed at his substitute. I suppose when one goes on vacation, there is always the risk of missing out on the cashmere and precious metals. So decadent!

I'll throw my hand-knit scarf into the audience

Late last night we reached an exciting milestone: our 400th Facebook fan! Clever Knits has been hovering at 398-399 Facebook fans for the last two months, so this is quite a moment for us. 400 fans! 400 amazing people who support our dream, our little local yarn shop! I'm getting weepy just thinking about it.

For those of you who haven't found us there yet, becoming a fan on Facebook is one of the best ways to keep abreast of what's going on in the shop. We also twitter many of the same updates, so you can follow us there if you prefer that medium (tweets can even be delivered to your cell phone via text message).

We've said all along that building a community of knitters and crocheters is the most special and important part of having our little yarn shop, and our online community certainly reflects that ideal. Word of mouth (or keyboard, as the case may be) is one of the most powerful ways to share this community with friends and family, so please pass on this fabulous news to yours. It would be amazing if we could reach 500 fans before 2009 is over.

Friday Insider #4: On Monday, I ordered cashmere...

Need I say more? It should be here in a few weeks. And I CAN'T WAIT.

Who is working at Clever Knits??

Need help from someone in particular, or on something in particular? Here is our schedule, as well as our areas of expertise:

Karen - expert crochet (but does not knit)
Lexi - intermediate knitting (including socks, sweaters, cables), beginning crochet, beginning spinning, advanced dyeing
Helena - expert knitting (including error-fixing, finishing), beginning crochet

Please note that the schedule is subject to change at any time, so it'd be best not to plan your wedding around it, but generally speaking it will be a fairly accurate way to find out who will be at the shop.

Knit 101, 102, 103 - November

Knit 101, 102, and 103 will be on THURSDAYS in November from 6-8pm. Contact cleverknits@gmail.com or call 760.806.6744 to register for any course.

*For all classes, lower price applies if you purchase materials at Clever Knits / higher price applies if you purchase materials elsewhere

Knit 101 - Thursday, November 5th: $12/$18* plus materials
This class will go over how to do the basic stitches. This is the first class you should take if interested in learning to knit -- and even if it's the ONLY class you ever take, you should be adept at making washcloths and scarves (and other square or rectangular objects).

Stitches learned: knitted cast-on, knit stitch, purl stitch, binding off.
Materials: 50g medium-weight yarn, size 7 or 8 needles

Knit 102 - Thursday, November 12: $14/$19* plus materials
You must have already mastered the techniques covered in Knit 101 before you take this course.

Shaping: In this class you will learn how to do increases, decreases, and knitting in-the-round. We will begin a simple hat pattern to demonstrate circular knitting.
Materials: 100g worsted-weight yarn, 16" size 7 or 8 circular needle

Knit 103 - Thursday, November 19: $14/$19* plus materials
You must have already mastered the techniques covered in Knit 101 and 102 before you take this course.

Reading: Reading your knitting and reading knitting patterns. The project to be used for this course is TBA.
Materials: 100g medium-weight yarn, size 7 or 8 needles

NEW Class Schedule at Clever Knits

Starting in November 2009, we'll be re-thinking the way we schedule and handle classes at Clever Knits. We will be offering four different classes in both knit and crochet every single month! During November, the Crochet series will be on Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm and the Knit series will be on Thursdays from 6-8pm. Each class is just one session so that you can select the class that best meets your level or interest.

*For all classes, lower price applies if you purchase materials at Clever Knits / higher price applies if you purchase materials elsewhere

Knit/Crochet 101: one session, 2 hours, $12/$18* plus materials
Both Knit 101 and Crochet 101 will be taught the first week of every month. This class will go over how to do the basic stitches. This is the first class you should take if interested in learning either craft -- and even if it's the ONLY class you ever take, you should be adept at making washcloths and scarves (and other square or rectangular objects). Stitches learned:

Knit 101: knitted cast-on, knit stitch, purl stitch, binding off.
Materials: 50g medium-weight yarn, size 7 or 8 needles

Crochet 101: chain stitch, single crochet, half-double crochet, double crochet, triple crochet.
Materials: 50g medium-weight yarn, size H hook

Knit/Crochet 102: one session, 2 hours, $14/$19* plus materials
Both Knit and Crochet 102 will be taught the second week of every month. You must have already mastered the techniques covered in Knit/Crochet 101 before you take the corresponding 102 course.

Knit 102 - Shaping: In this class you will learn how to do increases, decreases, and knitting in-the-round -- please see the course schedule for specifics regarding whether you will need circulars or double-pointed needles to complete the demonstration project.
Materials: 100g worsted-weight yarn, size 7 or 8 circular or DPNs

Crochet 102 - Projects: This class will focus on a particular project -- please see the course schedule for specifics regarding the project that will be taught and the materials required to complete the project.

Knit/Crochet 103: one session, 2 hours, $14/$19* plus materials
Both Knit and Crochet 103 will be taught in the third week of every month. You must have already mastered the techniques covered in Knit/Crochet 101 and 102 before you take the corresponding 103 course.

Knit 103 - Reading: Reading your knitting and reading knitting patterns

Crochet 103 - Stitches: This class will focus on mastering a single stitch, such as the shell stitch -- please see the course schedule for specifics regarding the project that will be taught.

Knit/Crochet 201: one session, 2 hours, $16/$21* plus materials
Knit 201 will be taught twice per month; Crochet 201 will be taught once per month. These are advanced courses, and it is recommended that you are very comfortable with the craft before taking a class at this level. The Knit 201 course is designed for an experienced knitter to learn a new technique or skill. Crochet pattern reading is a complex task that many experienced knitters and crocheters find extremely difficult, which is why it is classified as a 201 course.

Knit 201 - Advanced Techniques: This class will focus on a single advanced technique. Examples of possible topics include magic-loop, long-tail cast-on, error-correcting, gauge, etc. Please see the course schedule for specifics regarding the technique that will be taught.

Crochet 201 - Pattern Reading: How to read and understand instructions in crochet patterns and charts.

Other Classes?
Each month we will be offering a different project- or skill-focused course. Like the magic-loop socks, drop-spindle, and owls sweater classes that we recently offered, these may span multiple weeks, or we may consolidate instruction into a single day. In early December, we will be doing a one-day class on making teeny tiny sweaters -- good for Christmas ornaments, or holiday package-toppers. After the new year, we will have a beginner sweater course, a toe-up socks course, and many other such courses TBA.

More Details?
All of our classes can be found on our website under the 'classes' link. This will show a list of links to any additional information on specific classes, as well as the calendar. We hope to have the schedule posted about two months ahead.

Our new (CA)KAL project

Karen and Kirsten have been working on their own wild project -- gypsy throws, inspired by this amazing blanket at Anthropologie. Of course, our biggest problem here at Clever Knits seems to be that we are all terrible lemmings, and want to do the same thing that everyone else is doing. And so, I'm putting on my copy-cat-hat.

This Crochet-and-Knit-a-Long (CAKAL) will be a barn-raiser of a special sort. I'm asking knitters and crocheters to make swatches for what will be a BEAUTIFUL quilt of our own. I'm hoping we get enough to make TWO -- one to raffle away at Christmastime, and another to hang in the shop.

The only requirement I have for the swatches is that they MUST be made from machine-washable, sock-weight yarn that is at least 75% wool. They can be any shape or size that tickles your fancy.

I'll be keeping a jar on the coffee table of leftover bits of sock yarn -- you are welcome to use these to make swatches, or contribute to the jar with your own leftover bits of sock yarn. Please make sure any contributions are in the sock-weight range (light fingering to sport weight), machine-washable, and at least 75% wool.

Everyone who contributes a swatch (or who donates some of their time to sew the swatches together) will be entered in the raffle to win the quilt, which will be raffled in mid-December, assuming the quilt is done by then!

If you need some inspiration, here are two fairly simple places to start:

Barn-Raising Quilt from Knitalong

Classic Granny Squares described at Purl Bee

...and we have SHELVES full of books here with brilliant patterns that can be browsed at length for ideas.

No, you are mistaken. There was never a KAL.

Four of us showed up to the first KAL Sunday with our pretty new yarns, patterns printed out, ready to go. And then we spent three hours frogging. None of us made it through even a single repeat OF THE BORDER without having to frog back. This was the first clue that perhaps this pattern might be a bit too complex for social knitting.

Needless to say, it's lovely. It's just that it requires A LOT of attention. And it's impossible to memorize. And it's difficult to even tell where you are in the pattern based on the row below.

Two more of us started the pattern in the next week, and gave up.

I'm using lace weight (not fingering weight), on smaller needles, and cast on 99 sts instead of the 49 called for, and I am very proud of the TWO WHOLE REPEATS that I finished of the main pattern. This may be one of those patterns that takes two years to complete. Or it may just become a very, very lovely swatch.

The KAL that has stuck is the Shetland Triangle (Ravelry link) from Wrap Style -- everyone who has started this pattern has made at least three of it. It's simple, easy to memorize, beautiful in almost any yarn, and addicting.

But if that's not your cup of tea, we've got another delicious project coming up. This one is a group project, and it involves sock yarn (my favourite type of yarn). I think you'll like it.

A new series of Knit 101 classes starting Oct 19th

More Knit 101, now with two sessions (since a single session is not quite enough time to finish a project). There is a possibility that Kathey will be moving to Hawaii at the end of September, so we're not entirely sure who will be teaching these -- if not Kathey, then Rhonda (who is teaching our sock class).

Registration: email cleverknits@gmail.com, call us, or come in to reserve your space

Series A: Saturdays Oct 10th & 17th from 12:30-2:30pm CANCELLED

Series B: Mondays Oct 19th & 26th from 6-8pm

Schedule:
Class 1: cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, bind off, pattern reading, and start your project
Homework: work on your project!
Class 2: project finishing, additional questions, problems, debugging, advanced techniques

Cost: $25 if you buy materials here / $35 if you bring your own

Limit: 7 students, advance registration is required (class will be canceled & all fees refunded if we do not have at least 4 students signed up).

Materials:

• size 8 set of knitting needles (either circulars or straight needles will work fine)
• 1 ball (50-100g) worsted weight yarn
• tapestry needle
• measuring tape
• scissors

The expert is IN

Starting today, resident expert on all things knit and crochet and frequent teacher at Clever Knits, Rhonda, will hold "office hours" every Thursday from 12-2pm. Bring just $5 to come get help on any project, large or small, knit or crochet. This is a great opportunity to get assistance that might otherwise require a private lesson!