Gift Guides – It’s not too late
Have you seen our new Gift Guide?
Every week we are sending out ideas for quick gifts that you still have time to make, like this Chrysanthemum Cowl made with a skein of Kidsilk Haze Trio and Kidsilk Haze Glamour. To receive your copy, sign up for our free newsletter.
Note: Some email accounts consider any mail sent by Constant Contact to be spam, so if you’ve signed up but don’t remember seeing anything, check your Spam folder for our newsletter sent on November 13. Mark it as “not spam” or add our address (newsletter at stringtheoryyarncompany dot com) to your list of contacts.
Next week our Gift Guide has ideas for the men in your life.
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WARM Sifa Silver Cotton
For those of you that can’t wear wool, we’ve found a cotton that will keep you warm as the temperature drops. Sifa Silver Cotton is a chain-plied Turkish cotton yarn spun with 10% PURE SILVER. When looking at this yarn don’t expect to see “bling”. You won’t see any silvery sparkles. The silver filaments are shot through one strand of the cabled yarn. No bling, but the silver makes the cotton warmer (and cooler in the summer) than regular cotton.
For centuries silver has been known to possess healing and anti-bacterial components. Sifa means “healing” in Turkish and that is what this yarn really is – a healing or therapeutic yarn. In fact, the story goes that this yarn was created for the spinner’s mother who suffered from Rheumatoid arthritis. She swore that every time she wore socks that she knit with Sifa, her feet felt better. Read more here about the healing properties of metal.
The yarn comes in Natural, Moss and Bronze. So what should you make?
Mittens: Because silver is a conductive element, you can use your touch screen device while wearing mittens knit with Sifa Silver Cotton.
Anything that has a pretty stitch pattern: I made this headband (free pattern with purchase of Sifa yarn) with just one skein. The cabled construction gives the yarn an elasticity that is missing from most cottons and a fabulous stitch definition.
Chemo Caps: Here is a pattern for a turban that would keep you warm on the chilliest day.
Slippers: Try these Pocket Book Slippers that Karen and Lisa did several months ago for a Sunday project.
Sifa Silver Cotton was recently spotlighted on Knitting Daily. Eunny Jang, editor of Interweave Knits, and Clara Parkes of Knitter’s Review, talked about the Sifa Silver Cotton’s beautiful stitch definition, as well as its other fabulous qualities.
Sifa Silver Cotton is another one 
of those yarns that is both good for you and good for the world. It is produced in the area of Turkey that was devastated in the 1999 earthquake and the income produced is used to support local artisans, craftswomen and small local spinners who are still suffering from the catastrophe.
So stop in and see. We know you are going to like it.
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New Yarn
If you haven’t been in for a few weeks, you’re missing all our new arrivals. Take a look.
I’ll be honest, I would have bought this yarn just for the color names. Pictured above are “Don’t you have an elsewhere to be?”, “What the Hay?” and “Don’t wear this on Star Trek.” But it turns out the actual colors on the Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend make it pretty much the perfect yarn. We’ve got mostly solids that would be perfect for Color Affection, Pendulum or I guess you could just make socks.
The Sea Silk by Handmaiden is flying out of here. The colors are subtle and shimmery and the yarn is heaven on the needles. I made a Montego Bay scarf out of one skein years ago and wear it all the time. And it still looks like new.
Speaking of silk, Kristen a shawl from three skeins of our new Himalaya Silk? It is gorgeous and has an interesting technique for joining the panels as you go. Himalaya Silk is a fair trade product that supports cottage industries in Nepal.
These kits that came in today from Twisted Sisters are brilliant: a onesie (sizes 9 – 24 months) that is dyed to match a skein of machine washable fingering weight yarn. They come in colors that are girlie, manly enough for a baby boy or gender neutral. One skein makes a baby hat and socks or leggings. Or get an extra skein and make a little cardigan. Wouldn’t this be a great gift for your knitting buddy that just found out she’s going to be a Grandma?
The Twisted Sister colors are so bright and happy.
This is just a sampling of the new yarns that have arrived in the last couple of weeks. Stop by and we’ll give you the complete tour.
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New Yarn: Wooly Worsted by Ewe Ewe Yarns
I found so many exciting yarns for Fall that I couldn’t wait to start bringing them in. Our latest arrival is Wooly Worsted is a machine washable merino wool that is soft and sproingy (hmmm… spell check doesn’t think “sproingy” is a word). The twist gives it “sproing”, great stitch definition and durability.
All the colors in the palette go together, so it is great for fair isle, stripes and colorblocking. It will be perfect for any project that needs a gauge of about 5 stitches to the inch.
So last week, Handmaiden Sea Silk and Casbah arrived. This week: Wooly Worsted. And next week…. well, you will just have to come by and see!
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Classic Elite’s Liberty Colors of the Month
Pullover in Rosy Autumn
Since January, Classic Elite has been sending us two brand new colors of Liberty and free patterns to go with them. Every month, I think they’ve finally created my favorite, until the next month when I like the new ones even better. We just received our last shipment and well, don’t you think this color is fabulous?
And I love the pattern. When I make mine, though, I will use two different skeins and alternate every two rows, so I end up with skinny stripes. I tend to shy away from wide horizontal stripes, unless they are broken up as in the cardigan below.
Cardigan in Cumberland Blues
This cardigan shows off the other color of June. Notice how they’ve played up the direction of the stripes for a flattering look. Also, I think out of all the Liberty colors this is the best one for a boy baby sweater.
If you haven’t worked with Liberty yet, you are in for a treat. It knits up at 5 – 6 stitches per inch. It’s soft and machine washable. And there are so many fun colors to play with.
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Sunday Knits Fever
We were so lucky to have Carol Sunday join us on March 11 to help launch her trunk show. She sat and knit, consulted with customers on how to adapt her patterns (and when not to) and taught a few people a clever way to make bobbles. Looks like she’s wearing her new design Old Town.
Jody finished her Sunday Knits Tapestry just for the occasion. Stunning!
The Cambridge Shawl was the hit of the show. It takes a fingering or sportweight yarn like Fresco, Road to China Light, or Pediboo. If you’re interested in making this shawl, sign up for Karen’s Jumpstart Class which covers all the tricky bits to get you going.
We had to pack up the trunk show, but we still have Sunday Knits patterns and some Nightbird Kits and lots of inspired project ideas.
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Color my World
It is time for some color. I’m ready for leaves and flowers and green grass. So when my son needed an item for his Youth Group auction, I seized the opportunity to work with color. I picked the Baktus pattern because it is easy meditative knitting which fit my schedule these past couple of weeks. Then I chose the yarn: Misti Pimasilk. This soft combination of cotton and silk is perfect for spring and it comes in luscious handpainted colors. And since I couldn’t decide, I chose two different ones and alternated them, using two rows of one and two rows of the other.
I only used half of each skein and the scarf is perfectly long. With the rest of the yarn, I could make Churchmouse’s Linen Stitch Scarf or the Ruffle Scarf. I’ve seen both work beautifully in this yarn.
Want to try one? After a long wait we just received 41 pounds of Pimasilk in new colors and old favorites. Spring must be just around the corner.
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Pur Pleasure
I wanted to let you know that we just got new colors of Schoppel Wolle Pur, but it seems that I never told you about the old colors. Pur is a special yarn created with a patented technology. This single-ply, lightly felted yarn knits up easily and smoothly on large needles. It is made with the finest Merino Wool, thus creating a soft natural garment that can be worn directly on the skin. The eco-friendly dyes leave practically no trace of any chemicals, making this yarn a great natural choice for children and an approved yarn of the Waldorf Schools in Germany. And the colors are gorgeous!
As you can see the yarn stripes.
Mochi Chunky Hat By Aina Tonjes
Take a look here for the headband and cowl that Lisa designed with one skein.
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Where’s Dahlia? Chapter 7
Here is Lisa’s latest chapter in the Dahlia story. Note there is still only one sleeve, since Lisa is waiting for her class to demonstrate the “after thought” sleeve.
Here’s Janet (great smile) modeling Dahlia (great drape) in the store. And …
Here’s the back view. To quote visitors to Dahlia at the store: ”Wow. That’s beautiful.”
I (Lisa) think that’s a great reason to knit Dahlia, besides the fact that it’s fun to make and wear: how many times do you hear “Wow, that’s beautiful” about your back view? (Eat your heart out, J-Lo.)
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Where’s Dahlia? Chapter 5
In the previous chapter, you saw the finished right back, right front, right sleeve. Guess what’s next? If by free association you came up with a phrase including the word “left,” yep, that’s it. All those non-periwinkle colors of yarn in the photo = live stitches to pick up and away we go.
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