Vintage Knits Update

What a name! This is our great new sock yarn from South West Trading Company (SWTC). SWTC is know for being innovative, and TOFUtsies lives up to that reputation. This yarn is comprised of 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk, 22.5% cotton, and 2.5% chitin. Chitin is a fibre made from shrimp and crab shell, that has antibacterial properties.

TOFUtsies is variegated and comes in 15 wonderful color combinations. We just received our sampler packet, 2 skeins of each color. This yarn is so soft, we immediately thought we should order more. We will have more stock as soon as we receive our next shipment. Here are pictures of the colors, click on the pictures for a larger look.

one skein is needed for a pair of socks. It normally retails for $16.00, and we sell if for $14.00 per skein. To purchase TOFUtsies visit our online catalogue.

We restocked our WEBS bamboo interchangeable needles, and they sold out within two weeks. When we went to reorder, they only had two fabrics in stock, one of which is not particularly pleasing. So, we placed a very small order with the fabric that we like (flower kit). This shipment should arrive in about a week. They are having issues with fabrics. We were told that it will be at least a month before they get new fabrics. At this point we do not know when WEBS will actually have the new fabrics/kits ready for shipment. Also, the fabrics may be completely different. As soon as they have the sets available for sale we will order more.

For you lace knitters out there, our shipment of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine arrived. We ordered 26 shades of this yarn. If you like fine knitting, this yarn is lovely. It is 80% cotton and 20% merino wool. It has 222 yards and knits at 6.5 stitches to the inch on size two needles. Not all of the colors are on the website. We will get to this as soon as possible. Right now, we have a long list of pictures that need to go on our website.

Also, our shipment of Poetry in Stitches Kits arrived. About half sold out quickly, but there are still kits left for you to buy. It is really funny, how we can order a product from Norway, and it arrives faster than many of our U.S. orders.

Someone emailed me to ask if the yarn in the Poetry in Stitches Kits are the same as specified in the book. For anyone else who is interested, the answer is yes. These kits are imported from the manufacturer, and arrive prepackaged, with the exact yarn used in the book.

We have a few new notions, including a cute needle gauge, and ball winders. Here is a picture of the needle gauge:

It is solid brass, and sells for $15.00.

Other new arrivals:

A nice shipment of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Bulky arrived. Although I prefer knitting with fine yarn, we are beginning to stock some heavier weights. Like all of their yarns, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Bulky is very soft. We ordered seven color-ways of variegated yarns in this weight. We may later add some solid colors in this weight.

Last, but not least, for all of you sock knitters, a large order of Lana Grossa Meilenweit sock yarn arrived. All colors are on the website. There are some nice bright colors, and more subtle colors suitable for men’s socks. One skein is needed for a pair of socks.

It’s been awhile since I last posted. There’s a lot of work to do, and stocking the shelves takes priority over the blog. I recently went to the Northwest Needle Arts Market, and saw some familiar faces that I have not seen for some time. I ordered lots of goodies. Ten color ways of Noro Kureyon and five color ways of Silk Garden should be here any day, along with new pattern books for these yarns.

For felting fanatics, I ordered 17 different colors of the new Ella Rae wool yarn. It is 100% wool, 220 yards, and is perfect for felting. This yarn is soft, and less expensive than other popular felting yarns. We also have the Noni felted bag patterns in stock. They will be up on the website as soon as possible. Here are pictures of three Noni bags:

In September, expect to see Bryspun, Brittany and Hiya Hiya knitting needles. For lace knitters, there is a shipment of 27 colors of Brown Sheep cotton fine yarn scheduled for September delivery. At the very end of the market, I ran into the sales representative for Joseph Galler yarns. There was one yarn, the Peruvian Tweed, that was so soft, I kept squeezing it. It is a dk weight yarn, made of very soft wool, in natural tweed shades. As soon as this yarn comes in I will put a picture of it up on the website.

On to other news . . . we finally put our Jamieson’s Shetland yarns on the website. At least we thought all of the Jamieson yarns were on the website, until we found another box of these yarns sitting under a table (where the box had no business being). Not all of the pictures are on the website yet, but for many of the yarns we now include the full color cards. So, until all of the individual yarns are photographed, click on any yarn with a photo, and there should be a link to the full color card for that yarn.

We are still working on getting the rest of our patterns, books, and kits online, but we are making progress.

All good things have to come to an end. While we love Adrienne Vittadini yarns, we have too little room to carry everything. So, we have decided to move all Adrienne Vittadini yarns to our clearance rack. Once these yarns are sold, they are gone for good. This will give us more room to expand our hand dyed yarn selections, and add another exciting yarn line.

Adrienne Vittadini Paloma and Trina yarns are on clearance for 40% off the regular retail price. This sale ends May 31, 2006 at 11:00 p.m. central time. Paloma is a blouce yarn, with a fiber content of baby alpaca, wool and nylon. It regularly sells for $10.00, and is on clearance for $6.00. Here is a picture of Paloma, and patterns for this yarn.

Trina is a lovely cabled yarn, with a fiber content of wool, microfiber and cashmere. It regularly sells for $8.50, and is on clearance for $5.10. Here is a picture of Trina, and patterns for this yarn.

Our Adrienne Vittadini pattern books will be online this week. To purchase the yarn, and see the colors in stock, visit our online store.

We are having a sale to make room for new inventory. 20% off all yarns from Adrienne Vittadini, Jo Sharp, Classic Elite, Karabella New Magic, On Line Linie Punta, Misti Alpaca Lace, Katia Sevilla, N1C2 Pound Cake Kits, and Mountain Colors Kits. The sale ends at 11:00 p.m. pacific time on March 31, 2006. Any active coupons can be used with this sale for additional discounts.

Some of the Jo Sharp and Adrienne Vittadini colors are not on the website. You can see the colors at: www.jcacrafts.com

We have some really nice kits from Knit One Crochet Too (K1C2). The Pound Cake Kit includes one pound of color coordinated fibers. The kits are packaged in a really cute pastry box. The yarns can vary from kit to kit, and may include wool, cotton, ribbon, feather, blouce, and other yarns and fibers. The kit includes the pattern and enough yarn to make any of these designs.