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close knit: the neighborhood yarn shop
I love it when sweet treasures show up in the shop. These lovely, loosely-woven handkerchiefs are so unusual. The ones above are the perfect size for wrapping up your hair or a gift. These brightly colored double-sided ones are smaller, but so adorable.
These locally-made project bags are also pretty fabulous. They are double thickness with a nice substantial draw string, so they are going to last. We are expecting more soon for the Rose City Yarn Crawl. Stop in and see the pretty things!
Look at the cuties from local friends, Nerd Bird Makery. These enamel pins are perfect for your yarn bag, jean jacket, knitted hat, whatever. Pink sparkly sheep, knitting mermaids, yarn sushi, and gorgeous yarn hair!
We have some adorable locally-made project bags in the shop right now. Pears and textures and florals and foxes, oh my! These are all lined and so very well made, and I think you deserve one.
I have wanted to tell you all about these lovely products from Kiriko, but they keep disappearing. The folks at this Portland-based company are thinking about textiles as part of a larger story and working to show respect to that story through processes and products. And making some beautiful items in the process.
We have a collection of very well-made totes, zipper bags, and a few pillows made from really gorgeous fabrics in the shop for you to see. We are trying to keep these products in stock, but they are finding homes very quickly.
These would make really sweet gifts for yourself or anyone in your life who needs to carry things. If this sort of thing appeals to you, come by this weekend and see what we have!
Cute and super soft tees in the shop from our local friends at Nerd Bird Makery!
Look at this super cool cowl from Portland designer Renate Yerkes!
She uses a double-knitting technique to create a fabric with two sides for her Arvingen cowl. So on this side, the background is blue and the deer is mottled, but the colors are reversed on the inside. Double-knitting is a fun technique and it works really well for fun colorwork designs like this one.
Renate used the Plymouth Yarns Worsted Superwash Merino in solids and hand-dyes to create this look. Can you see how the speckled hand-dyed yarn works with the colorwork? I never would have thought to try that, but I love how it turned out. This pattern is available through Ravelry and we have the yarns in stock!
Have you all seen our collection of adorable enamel pins? This assortment comes to us from Nerd Bird Makery, a fabulous creative business located right here in NE Portland. She is also responsible for these cool bags!
We will be closing up at 5PM today and closed all day tomorrow to celebrate New Year's Day. See you all on Wednesday when we resume our regular schedule. Happy New Year!
Love the Quill DK from Bumblebirch. Look at all those beautiful Portland-dyed shades!
We are so excited to welcome Imperial Yarn back into the shop! We have a few stunning samples for you to try on and oggle. The Arrowhead Cardigan above is a serious project, and the results are certainly impressive. Colorwork, steeks...all the fancy techniques in this one. The Essential Sweater Dress below is a much simpler knit, but the look is gorgeous, too. This one can be knit as a dress or tunic with either a cowl neck or a hood.
The Raindrop Bag is very cool, with its elaborate cables and ample size. The bag is lined with fabric, so it's nice and stable. All of these beauties are designed and knit with Columbia, a soft and squishy 100% wool yarn, grown in Eastern Oregon.
We have a small range of colors for now, but I'm hoping that we will see more Imperial Yarn soon. If you love local yarns, stop in and take a look!
We have a little bit of this super special PCC Yarn in the shop, and it's making me so happy. These skeins of wooly goodness come from the Vet Tech program at Portland Community College. Students in the program learn to care for a variety of animals, from cats to cows.
The wool from the sheep used to be thrown away, but now it is processed into this rustic sheepy fingering weight wool. I doubt we will get too much more of this, so pop in soon if you're interested. It doesn't get much more local than this!
Today we are so excited to see our table COVERED in gorgeous yarn from Ami of Lakes Yarn and Fiber. She has been working hard to bring us all of this incredible yarn.
Yesterday we saw Brooke of Sincere Sheep and her beautiful colors, and she restocked our dwindling supply of her fabulous wares. Thank you Brooke!
Kate from Ruby Peak Farms will be here this afternoon. Keep an eye on our Instagram page to see pictures!
The RCYC is in full swing starting today, Thursday March 3 at 10AM. Shops all over Portland will be participating with free patterns, door prizes, raffles, and all kinds of special events.
We are thrilled to host local designer Lisa Carney-Fenton who is showcasing many of her beautiful designs today. Stop in and say hello!
We are hoping to see Brooke Sinnes, founder and master dyer at Sincere Sheep, at any moment. She will be visiting from Napa with an inspiring spread of her naturally-dyed yarn.
And come back Friday to see Ami Volz of Lakes Yarn and Fiber. Holy cow, her stuff is stunning. Sally used her gorgeous Lochsa DK to design our shop knitting pattern, the Doug Fir Cowl, free with the purchase of the yarn during the crawl.
We will also get to meet Kate from Ruby Peak Farms in Lostine, Oregon. Her wool has never left Oregon! The ranch is located in eastern Oregon near Joseph, and the wool is processed in Salem before it makes its way to our little shop in Portland.
Come in Thursday. Come in Friday. Just come and say hi and join in the festivities!
This unassuming little swatch is the first step in some pretty exciting news.
After a family backpacking trip in eastern Oregon this summer, Sally stumbled upon Ruby Peak Farms. She quickly realized what a treasure this place was and struck up a relationship with Kate, who has been raising Jacob sheep in the Wallowas for almost fifteen years. Take a peek at her gorgeous flock.
Jacob sheep are quite the animals. As Kate writes on her website, they are "well-suited for sustainable, grass-based, and organic systems." Her sheep are only fed fresh grass and hay that grow on the property, which has been chemical-free since 1999. These amazing animals are a primitive breed, "keepers of the ancient genes that made sheep strong and healthy." They are prolific reproducers, and the ewes take good care of their (adorable) lambs. And the horns on those guys!
In addition to being really cool animals, they produce wonderful wool. Kate worked diligently to find a mill in Oregon that could process her skirted fiber into yarn. She connected with Skyline Fiber Mill, and they are currently in the process of scouring, picking, carding, and pindrafting the fleece. Learn more about the whole process here. You can see it here drying on the racks.
We are very eagerly awaiting three natural shades and one marled/multi. Kate calls this a sport weight, but Sally's swatch knit up close to five stitches per inch on a US7. I guess we will see how it looks when it arrives. Regardless, I am very excited to get my hands on this yarn from Ruby Peak Farms and start planning a project with my own little swatch. I will let you know as we hear more from Kate and the mill!
Yup. Unicorn Farts, PDX Carpet, Autumn Rainbow, Fairy Garden, Witches Brew...so many great names.
We have a fresh batch of Knitted Wit Victory Sock yarn in the shop. I resisted the PDX Carpet last time, but I don't think I'll have the strength this round.
We also have a nice range of Gumballs, which work up so nicely when you need just a little pop of sock yarn color.
Lisa used one skein of Victory Sock and three colors of Gumballs to make her lovely Hitchhiker shawl. This well-loved pattern is available on Ravelry.
The addition of the solid stripes was sort of a happy accident, but I love the way it highlights certain colors from the main body of the shawl. I wonder how choosing different Gumballs would affect the look.
Now it's time to see which Gumballs go with my new PDX carpet yarn.
There is a basket full of fresh Bumblebirch Heartwood sock yarn on the big table. Actually, there are two baskets full!
Sally has been working to stock the shop with locally-dyed yarns that reflect the personality of our little corner of Portland. All of the lovely products we have offered from Bumblebirch have been very popular with our loyal customers.
We have been eagerly anticipating this batch of yarn, and the colors do not disappoint! I am partial to the Dandelion (above). I have a hat knit up in the worsted weight Forage in Dandelion. It may or may not be awaiting a puffy white pom pom. This latest round of Celestial (below) is really quite something, too. That's a lot of depth of color there!
I know several of you have fallen hard for this stuff, and it's no secret why. Sarah's colorways are rich and beautiful, and the yarn works up like a dream. If you have visions of that sock weight sweater for the fall, now is the time to stock up on these gorgeous colors. Our baskets are full!
We have some of the most beautiful new yarn in the shop, my friends. Sally has been putting a lot of effort into fostering relationships with small-batch hand-dyers in the Northwest. She has found an extremely talented dyer in Ami of Lakes Yarn and Fiber.
Based in the mountains of Northern Idaho, Ami raises sheep, dyes yarn, plays outdoors, and works as a nurse. This very busy woman has an eye for subtle, beautiful color, and I am so excited to show you her Loschsa DK (above) and her Silk Single Fingering (below).
The colors are so interesting and rich. The Electric Feel in the silk/merino is incredible (front left in the photo above). It almost changes color from blue to purple as you move it around in the light. And Grasshooper Lochsa DK is stunning. Sally is working on a cowl with it now. The colors are subtle and varied, and the stitches pop like nobody's business.
Ami sent us the sample knit up in the Lochsa DK, It's Brr Time by Suvi Simola. Just one skein makes this awesome hat. See what I mean about the popping stitches? (And I always appreciate a nice ribbing-to-cable transition.)
I am on a mission to stash away a skein of yarn from each of these amazing hand-dyers that Sally has brought in. I suppose I would do well to have some patterns or a plan in mind, but maybe I'll just arrange a few on my desk for inspiration. I can't wait to see what Sally finds for us next!
