Bad Dog

My dog Kelly loves wool almost as much as I do. The other day I awoke to find my last pair of hand-knit mittens torn to shreds. Sigh. After going through the “bad dog” routine - and taking her for a walk because she was probably bored - I surveyed my stash to see what I could use for mittens. I came across several balls of teal yarn I had bought for a sweater, and then fell out of love with the colour, wishing it was more green. Easy fix!

Dyeing yarn is easier than you think, and doesn't require much for tools or materials. I've taken a liking to dyeing yarn in my slow cooker using simple, non-toxic dyes like kool-aid (or any other brand of drink mix that doesn't have sugar in it). Cake icing dyes like Wilton's are also great and easy to use. You can dye yarn quite easily on the stove, in the oven, or in the microwave too! I like using a slow cooker because it's really low maintenance, and you don't have to worry about the water starting to boil (something you don't want, or the wool will felt). For simplicity, I'm dyeing the whole skein of yarn the same colour. You will get the best results with yarn that is white or light-coloured. Keep in mind that the original colour will likely shine through somewhat, so choose your dye colours carefully so as not to end up with muddy browns (unless that's what you want).

Here we go! Crock Pot Yarn Dyeing 101:

What you need:

-Yarn or roving of an appropriate fibre (i.e. Animal/protein fibre such as wool, alpaca, silk, etc.) Synthetic and plant-based fibres don't work. Note: nylon is the only synthetic fibre that works for these dyes.

-Slow cooker or crock pot

-Kool-aid packets – the kind without sugar (about 3 packets for 100g of yarn) or

-Wilton's icing dye – the gel kind that comes in tiny jars (about 1/4 jar or so per 100g of yarn) – plus vinegar (about 1/4 cup for 100g of yarn)

-Gloves (unless you don't mind your hands being dyed another colour for a few days)

-Wind the yarn into a loosely-tied hank (if it isn't already) - i.e. one big loop. If you don't own a swift, you can wind it around the backs of chairs, or a table top - be inventive and use whatever you have around the house.

-Pre-soak the yarn in lukewarm water – just stick it in the kitchen sink while you do the next few steps. This helps the yarn to dye more evenly. If you want a really blotchy effect, don't pre-soak your yarn.

-Empty the kool-aid packets or Wilton's dye into a measuring cup or bowl. Add water and stir to dissolve. If using Wilton's dye, add vinegar and stir (kool-aid is already acidic, so it doesn't need vinegar).

-Put water in the crock pot (enough to cover the yarn once you put it in) along with the dye mixture. Stir.

-Put the yarn in the crock pot, making sure it's covered with water. Add more water if necessary. Cover. Set it on low for 1 hour. If the dye bath hasn't exhausted (i.e. The water isn't clear or close to it), cook it a little longer. Using tongs or some other kitchen utensil, pull out the skein of yarn by one of the ties. Gently wring out excess water until it no longer drips. Hang to dry (I like to put it over a hanger, and hang it from the shower curtain rod. This way any excess water drips into the tub – no mess!). Enjoy!

The original yarn is on the right, and on the left is the finished product! So much fun!

Many tutorials are available online. A great source for information is a group on ravelry.com called What a Kool Way to Dye. This group has lots of tutorials on yarn dyeing, using a wide variety of tools, materials and methods.

Be sure to tune in next week - we'll be making felted mittens with our hand-dyed yarn!

A yarn-crafter's project bag (or basket or shelf) is always full of yarn and patterns, but what about those little things that make our crafting time extra special?

Personally, I can't do without a good audio book. I have trouble paying attention to a movie while I knit, but I can follow along with an audio book, and with a project in hand, time flies by before I know it.

Fingerless gloves or wrist warmers are a lifesaver. Cold fingers don't move very well when you're trying to knit or crochet. This can be a good aid for arthritic hands too. Make it your next project – a fun and fast one just for you! Ravelry.com has tons of free patterns for these; from plain to fair isle, cables and lace, there is a pattern there for just about every style and skill level.

Lotion is really nice to have on hand too, especially with the cold weather. Knitting and crochet aren't any fun when your hands are all dry and cracked. Summer presents the opposite problem - when it's hot out, my hands get all sweaty. Who wants sweaty knitting? Gross. One customer had a great solution: keep a travel-size container of baby powder nearby for sweaty hands.

That about does it for the special extras in my knitting bag. What's in your bag?

Tune in next week for our yarn-dyeing tutorial. It's easier than you think!

We all had a blast at the Fall Fiber Retreat this year, and can hardly wait until next fall! It was a wonderful chance to meet new friends, relax, enjoy the hot tub, knit a few rows, or even enjoy the scenic walking trails:

There even were a couple of late night rounds of Settlers of Catan for the game lovers:

The staff at Wilderness Edge were great, and the food was fantastic - from a full hot breakfast to the fresh baking in the evening. The staff even cooked us a full Thanksgiving dinner one night - turkey, fresh pumpkin pie, the whole nine yards! Wilderness Edge Retreat and Conference Center was just that - a cozy place to relax with an awesome view of the great outdoors

From granny squares and thrummed mittens to rug hooking and colour theory, there were plenty of new skills to learn:

If you were with us at the retreat, thanks for coming out! We hope to see you again next year. If you missed out this time around, you won't want to miss the next one. Plans are already in the works for our second annual Fall Fiber Retreat - September 28th to 30th, 2012. Stay tuned for more details!

How do you cure a knitter with the hiccups? Sneak up behind them and yell "STEEKS"! Something about cutting up hours and hours of knitting with a pair of scissors strikes fear to the very heart of even the most hardcore knitter. Unless they have tried it, of course. This method of constructing Fair Isle garments has been practised in Scandinavia and Scotland for ages. If it didn't work amazingly well, it would have been scrapped.

The first natural question that one may ask is "Why on earth would you want to hack your knitting up?" The second question is "Are you out of your cotton pickin' mind???" The answer to the first question is: there are two major practical advantages. 1) Fair Isle knitting is so much easier if you are always looking at the right side. Knitting a tube and cutting the centre front for a jacket and the armholes and neckline allows you to have your knitting facing you from the cast on to the cast off. 2) There are no ends to sew in! That's right. NO ENDS TO SEW IN.You can plan to always change colours at the steek and then trim off the ends after you sew and cut your opening. The answer to the second question is, yes, but that is another story for another day.

Ok, so there are some very compelling reasons to make a fair isle design using steeks. How do we get rid of the lump in our throat when we think about cutting into hand knit fabric? There are some very simple solutions to make the job foolproof. First, take some scrap yarn and baste a line down either side of the centre of the steek. Baste directly into the centre of the stitch that is just on either side of the centre of the steek. Next, take some tissue paper and lay it over the feed dogs of your sewing machine. Put your knitting on the paper and zig zag over the basting. Remove the paper and get the scissors. If you are feeling sick to your stomach, give the scissors to someone else. Point out the place they are to cut and run and hide in the bathroom. You're almost done and out of the woods.

Now pick up the stitches required to make sleeves, neckband, button bands or what have you. You can bind the raw edges of the steek with grosgrain ribbon for the front openings or you can knit a little facing and lap it over to make a neat finish (best for edges that are curved like armholes and neckbands). Some people tack the seam allowances down with a tidy row of cross stitches. Now look at the result! You can also adapt the steek method to sew together a collection of tension swatches or UFO's (UnFinished Objects) into beautiful afghans or other creative projects. Snip, snip, snip!

Thanks to dccraftaholic128 for sharing this fine photo of cut steeks on flickr.com

Rug hooking has caught our eye this year, and is making its way to Ram Wools. From area rugs to wall hangings, this is one very intriguing artistic outlet that can produce a wide variety of styles and looks. There will be a rug hooking class at our fall retreat, led by Judy Trefry. Judy has been making hooked rugs for years; she has definitely made a fine art of it. Her work goes above and beyond the so-called primitive style of rug hooking, which uses basic designs and chunky material in big blocks of colour. Judy's pictorial rugs are simply stunning, with a detailed, almost painted look. One such art piece, entitled Beausejour's Sentinel (shown below), toured Canada as part of the exhibit Vanishing Prairie Landmarks. You can read more about Judy in The Beausejour Review.

If you would like to give rug hooking a try, don't miss out on Judy's class at our fall retreat - click here for more info.

If there's one thing I've realized from working at yarn and fabric stores, it's that many crafters have more than one artistic outlet. Through our summer blog series "Artistic Outlets", we will be exploring various crafty hobbies. Having a crafty, artistic outlet is a wonderful way to let your imagination run free, cope with stress, or even push yourself to try new and exciting things; the result of a person's craftiness can be evident in anything from a scrapbook to painting a house. Without further ado, Part 1 of the series is about quilting. One of our favourite local quilting shops is the Carellan Sewing Centre. If you have a moment, their website is worth a look.

Three years ago, quilting caught my eye. I really started to notice and appreciate the various quilts my Grandma had given us. One that stands out in my memory is a queen-size Dresden plate quilt. I love everything about it, from the sunny, yellow borders to the happy, appliqued and embroidered flower shapes on big 20-inch blocks. Having virtually no quilting experience, naturally I decided that I had to recreate this quilt in all it's queen-sized glory, that it had to be hand pieced and quilted just like Grandma did, and that it would be finished in 3 months so I could give it to my mom for Christmas.

I had no idea what I was getting into then. Pattern and measurements in hand, I went straight to my local fabric store and bought all the supplies I needed. Now three years of Christmases, birthdays and Mother's-Days have come and gone. I'm proud to say that the top is finally pieced together (the borders were pieced by machine, but Grandma doesn't need to know that), and I'm just starting to quilt it. It has taken a long time, but it's been a labour of love, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The seams are a little crooked in places, and the applique is by no means perfect, but I think I like it that way - it will always be my first quilt. I can hardly wait to start my next quilting project: a red- and -white log-cabin quilt - with maple leaves appliqued throughout - from the book Canadian Heritage Quilting.

If you're a quilter, I'd love to hear about your current projects - and see some pictures - if you have some to share with an aspiring quilter.

Multi-crafter signing off until Part 2

Melissa

We are very excited about the featured pattern for June: Dogwoods by Christina Harris. Christina's beautiful colourwork design has a great vintage feel to it. Her pattern won second prize in our recent footwork 1.0 design contest. These socks are knit from the toe up, but feel free to knit them from the top down instead. If you'd like to learn how to knit toe-up socks, drop by for a quick lesson. There are also plenty of tutorial videos at youtube.com.

Come join the knitalong in the store - Thursday nights from 4pm to 8pm, or in our Ravelry group!

Click here to download the pattern!

We are pleased to announce our very first Fall Fiber Retreat - October 7th to 9th, 2011!

Come out and relax with us at Wilderness Edge Retreat and Conference Center in Pinawa, MB, about 1 hour away from Winnipeg. Let someone else do the cooking, and take some classes - with both knitting and crochet options, there will be something for everyone. We're even introducing a Beginner Rug Hooking course!

October 7-9, 2011

Pinawa Wilderness Edge Retreat and Conference Centre
Pinawa, Manitoba

Call 1-800-263-8002 to reserve. Our hours are 10am-6pm Monday to Saturday. Thursday evenings we are open until 8pm

This is our first Fall Fibre Retreat and we are really excited! It will be held in Pinawa which is situated about 110 kms Northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba on the shores of the Winnipeg River and on the border of Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Activities:

Lots of fun activities are planned for the weekend, and all are included in the cost of the retreat. After checking in on Friday, we will all have a chance to get to know each other at a casual craft-along - bring anything you're working on at the time. Afterwards, we have booked some time at the hot tub, which of course is optional, but bring your swimsuit if you want to join in!

After breakfast on Saturday, we'll have our first round of workshops, break for lunch, then have another class in the afternoon. There will be the option to go on a hay ride later in the day. In the evening we'll gather for a movie.

On Sunday, there will be one more round of workshops in the morning, followed by lunch.

Schedule:

Here is what we are planning:

Saturday Morning: 10am-12pm

Crochet Flowers with Lori Franko
Learn to make some cute flowers to add to your crochet repertoire. They make great embellishments for various crocheted items and garments.

Beginner Socks with Courtney Black (Knit)
Lose the fear of turning heels! Courtney will show you how easy it is to turn heels and make seamless toes like a pro.

Cables Demystified with Melissa Schwartz
Learn how to knit cables and read charted cable patterns. Basic knitting knowledge is needed for this class; no previous cable experience required.

Beginner Rug Hooking with Judy Trefry  *All Day*
Don't miss the chance to learn this East-coast craft, where beautiful designs are made by pulling loops of yarn (or fabric) through a backing material to form a design. This is different from the more-recent latch hooking, which uses short pieces of yarn. We will be hooking a simple design using wool yarn. This class will continue after lunch.

Saturday Afternoon: 1pm-3pm

Crochet Granny Squares with Lori Franko
Learn to crochet various styles of Granny squares, and how to join them smoothly to make an afghan.

Toe-up Socks with Courtney Black
Toe-up socks are fully customizable for any length or width of foot, any amount of yarn, and any tension of yarn. Once you knit a toe-up sock, you'll never go back! For this class, you should already be familiar with general sock construction.

Intermediate Cables with Melissa Schwartz
We'll cover everything from two-colour cables and cabling without a cable needle to design ideas. Basic knowledge of cable knitting is required.

Beginner Rug Hooking with Judy
Continued from the morning class.

Sunday Morning: 10am-1pm

Colours and Fibers with Courtney Black
Learn the basics of colour theory, and how to choose colours that will look great together. We will also look at different kinds of fibers.

Knit and Crochet Q. & A. with Lori Franko
Bring your current works-in-progress (WIPs) to this fun knit/crochet group. If you have WIP-related questions, this is the place to get answers.

Thrummed Mittens with Melissa Schwartz
Ever wanted to try thrummed knitting? Now is your chance! We will be making thrummed mittens.

Rug Hooking Q. & A. with Judy Trefry
This hook-along group is for those who want some help with their current rugs-in-progress, or for those who want to continue from the Saturday class.

Meet the teachers:

Courtney Black is a Ram Wools member whose many, many WIPs vary wildly, but always seem to include socks. She loves double pointed needles, hand-dyed yarn, listening to audiobooks while knitting, and taking long walks on the beach.

Lori Franko is a Ram Wools lifer. She has been working and designing for Ram Wools for the past 15 years. She has also worked for Canadian born, British designer Mark Fast. Lori will knit or crochet just about anything from cargo pants to tiny sculpted houseflies.

Melissa Schwartz  is a more recent member at Ram Wools. She loves to knit, crochet and design in her spare time. Her favourite thing to knit is anything in the round - from socks to hats - especially if it has cables in it. She is looking forward to sharing her love of cable knitting at the retreat.

Judy Trefry has been hooking rugs for years. Her work has been showcased across Canada. In her spare time she runs dyeing workshops from her home. Take a look at Judy's work online in The Beausejour Review.

Accommodations:

Accommodations will be done in groups of 4. If you prefer to bunk with certain people, let us know in advance and we will do our best to accommodate your request. Otherwise, groups will be created randomly. Each room has 4 beds, so no one will be forced to share a bed. Some rooms may have bunk beds, so please let us know in advance if you need a room without bunk beds. If you have any other special requests, please us let us know.

Meals:

Meals will be provided for Saturday breakfast, lunch and supper, and Sunday breakfast and lunch. Snacks will also be provided. All meals are buffet-style. Let us know in advance if you have any particular dietary needs or allergies.

Transportation:

We plan to charter a bus that would take us directly from our store to the retreat. Because some may prefer to drive their own cars, the cost is not included in the package. The cost to ride on the bus will be $37.00/person.

Cost:

$290/person if you register on or before July 31, 2011

$320/per person if you register after July 31, 2011

This includes all accommodations, meals, snacks, classes, and activities as listed above, as well as a grab bag of knit/crochet goodies! You can reserve your spot at the retreat for just $100, with the remaining balance due in September.

This includes all accommodations, meals, snacks, classes, and activities as listed above, as well as a grab bag of knit/crochet goodies! You can reserve your spot at the retreat for just $100, with the remaining balance due in September.

Note: If you live in the area and would like to sign up for classes only (no hotel stay), the cost is $40 per class, and $5 for the craft-along on Friday night. Meals would be extra. Registration ahead of time is still required if you don't intend to stay the night.

You're Invited

To Ram Wools' first bi-annual

All Night Charity Craft-athon

What: Come out for a sleepover in the store, and knit or crochet items for charity – walk to Jonnies Sticky Buns for breakfast in the morning! Don't want to stay all night? Not to worry - you can join us for as long as you like. Call 949-6868 to register or for more info.

Where: Ram Wools Yarn Co-op, 989 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

When: 9pm Friday, June 3^rd, 2011 to 9am Saturday, June 4^th, 2011

To Bring: Needles or hooks, yarn, any patterns you would like to use (some will also be provided), sleeping bag, pillow, and $5 for Siloam Mission

This is the perfect chance to give your stash a spring-cleaning - even if you don't have time to come out to the event itself - as we are accepting donations of yarn for the craft-athon.

We had a wonderful response from the knitting community for our first annual sock design contest - footwork 1.0. We would like to thank everyone who participated - we hope to see you again in next year's contest. It was incredibly difficult to choose the winning patterns, but we finally did it.

Now the knit-along fun begins! The winning patterns will be presented once a month through the summer. Come and knit with us on Thursday nights from 4pm to 8pm. You can also participate in the knit-along online through our ravelry group.

Without further ado, we present to you the sock for May - the first-prize winner: Tutu Cute by Nicole Rogers. This sock was chosen for its simple elegance and knit-ability:

Click here for the free pattern!

Congratulations also goes out to our second and third prize winners! More pictures and info will be posted to the pattern page as we add new patterns to the knit-along each month.

2nd Place:

Dogwoods by Christina Harris

Tied for 3rd Place:

Crocus Socks by Barbara Giguere

Hooter Haven by Siana Attwell

I always look forward to Mother's Day. I have so much fun shopping for fun and interesting gift ideas. I spend a lot of time running around greenhouses, bakeries, clothing stores – you name it, I've been there – trying to find the perfect gift for mom. Sometimes I forget that I have a crafty mom, and she enjoys things like knitting and quilting just as much as I do. If you have a crafty mom too, why not give her a Ram Wools gift certificate? It's simple, easy, and thoughtful, and would be welcomed by any knitting or crochet enthusiast.

Beyond the regular Mother's Day gift-giving, what many mothers value is time with their children. My mom always seems to appreciate the family gatherings and activities, like our big family sleigh ride this past Christmas. Keeping that in mind, Ram Wools is having a Mother-Daughter project night on Friday, May 6^th.

Sign up with mom and make some cute ballet or Mary-Jane style slippers. There is no charge for the class itself; with a variety of free patterns to choose from, all you'll need is your materials. Materials cost for the class is $4.49 (+ tax) per person and up, depending on the yarn chosen. If you would like to bring your own tools, you will need a 4mm, 40cm circular needle for the knitted slippers, or a 4mm crochet hook for the crocheted slippers. Call us at 949-6868 for more info.

The Ram Wools blog team is proud to present

RAM WOOLS MYTHBUSTERS

Episode 1

Myth: Ram Wools Yarn Co-op is run by a large team consisting of dozens of staff members and lots of robots.

Status: BUSTED.

Here's the Ram Wools team:

We're five yarn-lovin' people on a mission to spread the yarny love. Courtney, Jason, Lori and Melissa are co-op members, and Lorna (who is, apparently, unphotographable) is our sole and extremely valuable staff member. That's it. Between the five of us, we do everything, whether it's helping a customer, publishing a catalogue, filling a mail order, mopping the floor, writing a pattern, or editing code in our website or software. When you call the store, you'll always be speaking to one of us, not a call centre on the other side of the globe. Promise.

Myth: Ram Wools Yarn Co-op LOVES open source.

Status: CONFIRMED.

Did you know that all Ram Wools computers run on Linux (specifically, Ubuntu and Red Hat), a free, open-source operating system? Open source means that the code (the letters and numbers in seemingly random order that make computer programs work) of a computer program is freely available at no cost for anyone to view, edit, improve, and distribute. This is in contrast to proprietary forms of software that you often pay big bucks to use (e.g., Microsoft Office), the codes of which are not viewable or editable by the public.

Ram Wools is a strong supporter of open source software! Our website, telephone system, internet server, point of sale system, and just about every other technological part of our business is all run on open source software. We also apply the open source philosophy to all of our patterns, which is why we're able to have so many awesome free patterns available on our website and in our store. All of our patterns are licensed under a Creative Commons license, which means everyone is free to adapt, distribute, edit, or generally go crazy with our patterns. We believe in the free sharing of knowledge of all kinds!

Myth: Ram Wools maintains a warehouse of yarn.

Status: BUSTED.

Ram Wools, all of it, even the website store, all fits into our one sunny shop on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba. All purchases come right off the shelves, even website purchases - we don't maintain separate stock for website and in-store purchases. We do have a small back area and basement for extra stock that can't fit on the shelves (which I lovingly refer to as Yarnia), but that's it. No magical warehouse-o-yarn. Sadly.

Myth: You need a membership to shop at Ram Wools.

Status: BUSTED.

When it comes to retail co-operatives, there are two main categories: the consumer-owned co-op, and the worker-owned co-op. In a consumer-owned co-op, consumers, i.e., customers, purchase a membership share that enables them to shop at the store. In most cases, purchasing a membership also confers voting rights and other benefits. A good example of this, for our Canadian readers anyway, is Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). You pay a $5 lifetime membership fee which allows you to shop at the store, rent gear, and gives you a vote in how the co-op is run.

The other category of co-op is a worker-owned co-op. In this model, the people who work at the co-op are the members and owners of the business. Only workers pay a membership share and only they have a vote in how the co-op is run. To the public, shopping at a worker-owned co-op is no different than shopping at any other retail store. Ram Wools falls under this category. The long story short: No, you don't need a membership to shop here, and any time you're here, you'll be served by a co-op member/store owner.

Myth: Melissa loves Tanis Hand-dyed Yarn.

Status: PLAUSIBLE.

Last time we saw her, she was standing by a box of Tanis yarn wielding a pair of scissors, scaring customers and co-op members alike and looking rather dangerous. We're assuming she really likes it, but we can't get close enough to ask.

As a knitter and a snowboarder, I never ever complain about winter unless it's 40 below. Now that the weather is warming up and the ground is thawing, I also look forward to getting outside and playing in the mud. I think my love of gardening is shared by a lot of other knitters out there. Last year, we volunteered to take some catalogues from one of our favourite greenhouses to the store for our customers to pick up. We were amazed by how many hundreds were taken! This got us to thinking about doing some gardening at the store location. There was a small unpaved patch at the front of the store that had decent exposure so we started there last year with some wild flowers. Perhaps not the best choice for such a small area. The taller ones took over and shaded the little ones, making it pretty scraggly looking. I think something a little more organized will work out better this year.

Our other plan is to plant a vegetable container garden along the parking lot fence behind the building. The side street that runs alongside the parking lot is very pretty, lined with beautiful turn of the century homes and Winnipeg's famous elm trees. Our parking lot is a bit of an eyesore in comparison. A big part of this plan is to make our own compost. We started looking at plans for the bin last year and have been collecting the bits and pieces right up until yesterday when we began building. We now have a fantastic compost tumbler made from an olive barrel, salvaged lumber and a dumpstered pipe! I haven't built anything for a very long time and it was so much fun to work outside and talk to the curious neighbours passing in the lane. Jason and I were busting our buttons with pride when we finally put the barrel on it's axle and gave it a spin!

For anyone interested in making their own compost bin, here are the plans that we used. The designer not only tells you what you need, but also tells you how to adjust the plan to fit any size of barrel that you find! He made a rather elaborate venting system that we didn't do. We just drilled holes that were large enough to vent the compost and small enough to keep the material inside.

http://dixiegrilling.com/tumbler.htm

or watch the youtube video

As the gardening season heats up, I will post more about how it's growing!

We had a great time at the opening event by the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library! Follows are some pics of the opening kick off and a brief description of the exhibit. I really liked the bicycle made entirely of knitted wire.

Sponsored by Ram Wools Yarn Co-op

Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library

Exhibit:
Casting On: Knitting in Manitoba

This exhibit features hand-knitted pieces made primarily by Manitoba craftspeople. Traditional techniques are showcased in historical pieces, and contemporary pieces expose new stitches and designs, unique fibres, and hand-dyed yarns. Some Manitoba industries that have centred around knitting, including the Mary Maxim Company, the Spin-Well Woolen Mills in Sifton, and the White Buffalo Mills in Brandon, will also be featured.

I don't know about anybody else, but I think hand-painted yarns look good enough to eat. The colours are just so delicious! Well, I have wonderful news for those of you who love hand-paints as much as I do: we now have Tanis Fiber Arts Hand Dyed yarn in a DK weight! When this stuff arrived at the store I went crazy, defending the tasty yarn box with a pair of scissors. I've calmed down a little since then, but still, I have to have it! I mean, just look at it:

The mere thought of this yarn in some delicious colourwork mittens is making me hungry! I see some nordic mittens in my knitting future very soon...;)

And lets face it, I can't resist this yarn in a fingering weight either. We've recently received some equally delicious colours of Tanis Hand Dyed Fingering at the store as well.

Socks, lace, colour work - the possibilities are endless. Of course, there is no need to put either of these yarns in colour work - the colours are fabulous enough on their own if you want to make something entirely out of one colourway. Ok, all of this delicious yarn is making me hungry - I'm off to have lunch!

Sometimes it's just as hard to find inspiration to knit as it is to write. I was having a bad case of "knitter's block" the other day until Courtney came along with the first mitten of a pair that she was working on. They were based on the Newfie Mitts pattern by Traditional Design on Ravelry. The pattern stitch is so brilliantly simple and effective. I loved the way the little windows showed the hand dyed colour of the contrast yarn through and that made me grab my needles and go. I picked two very different colours of Noro Silk Garden and decided on a simple hat. It's finished now and photos will be posted soon! I love the result, but I am still feeling some dissatisfaction that I didn't come up with something on my own. Creativity always builds upon the past.

Now I am struggling with what to do for my next project. I think I will open up some of my favourite old cross stitch books and adapt some motifs into a fair-isle. Or I might leaf through a book of Morrocan silk textiles that I keep nearby to see if that sets any sparks flying.

Angry about the bad weather?

So are we.

This has always seemed the perfect time of year to hunker down with a good movie, a mug of hot chocolate and some knitting and just relax. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays over and done with and the heart of winter ahead, my fingers invariably reach for projects that will bring some woolly warmth into my life.

Just last week, we received in a shipment of the wonderful On Your Toes 4-ply from S. R. Kertzer, a wool/nylon blend fingering weight sock yarn that comes in a variety of colours, including semi-solids and jacquards.

I love making socks in the winter... I find that no matter what I do, my feet are always chilly this time of year!

Speaking of socks, have you all checked out our Footwork 1.0 sock design contest? If you've ever designed a pair of socks before – or even if you haven't – you should enter. You could win up to $75 in Ram gift certificates and have your name in virtual lights. We'll advertise your pattern here, in our store, on Ravelry, on Facebook, on Twitter, in our emails, and wherever else we can come up with. Click below to check out the details.

And finally, what's hot in the shop? Lately, it's been Litoral by Aslan Trends.

This yarn is very hard to describe. It has this incredibly silky texture with some ribbony nubs thrown in, and the colours are absolutely wonderful. We whipped up a pattern for this yarn that is quick, easy, takes only one skein, and shows off this yarn to its true potential. It's been so popular in the last few days that we're completely sold out of three of the seven colours, but never fear. More is on the way. We're expecting it early next week. Check out the pattern by clicking here!

Some "hey, how about that!" factoids about knitting....

The earliest knitted artifact is a sock found in Egypt dating back to somewhere between the 3rd and 5th centuries. It is believed that they were made with one needle.

The earliest knitted items found in Europe are from the 13th century and were made by Moorish servants of the Spanish court. They were all knitted in the round and cut because at the time, no one had figured out the purl stitch!

Stockings with purl stitches and lacework started appearing in the 16th century.

Men were the first to knit as an occupation since women weren't allowed to make money.

Fair Isle was developed in Scotland in the 17th century.

Aran cabled designs weren't invented until the early 20th century.

Knitting came to China with Russian refugees after the Russian Civil War. Chinese camel drivers would pluck hair off their camels and spin it on the move using a drop spindle and then knit on their travels. When they ran out of yarn, they would pluck more hair off their camels and carry on.

Qiviut is yarn made from the shedded winter coats of muskox. In the spring, it is hand gathered from the tundra where it fell. Because of it's labour intense collection it is the most expensive yarn in the world but also one of the softest and warmest.

European shepherds walked on long stilts so they could watch their flocks and see distant predators lurking. They also carried a tall stool so they could sit with their stilts on and knit a few rows while they were at it.

Kitchener Stitch or Grafting is named after Lord Kitchener of Khartoum who, during WWII promoted knitting socks with grafted toes for the Red Cross.

George Washington Carver, known for being an accomplished botanist, revolutionizing peanut farming and for being a former slave, was also a knitter. Taught by his slave owner, Susan, Carver recycled string and burlap for his knitting, and even dyed much of his own thread.

Every hardcore knitter would agree with Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury 1945-1961 who said "Knitting is a distinct virtue. It's reflective and repetitive. Whenever you are engaged in doing a purely repetitive thing, your mind can reflect upon life."

Madame Defarge in a Tale of Two Cities represents one aspect of the Fates. She knits, and her knitting secretly encodes the names of those people she will have killed. The Fates used yarn to measure out the life of a man, and cut it to end it.

Many thanks to Wikipedia contributors and lots of other bloggers for these tid bits!

Everyone is either knitting socks or wanting to learn to knit socks. No longer brown, black and grey, the new yarns are incredible - bright colours, interesting stripe effects, hand dyed types and so on. Techniques are abounding, too - but if you are dipping your toe in for the first time (boo!) let's stick to the classic toe down version then you can play all you want

1. The cuff: About 2 inches of a stretchy rib or some other stitch that has some sproing to it.

2. The leg: For your basic mid-calf sock, it is a straight tube that is the same length as the foot. Throw in a nifty pattern stitch if you like.

3. The heel flap: An extension that is worked back and forth that covers the back of the heel and gives the extra room that you need to get your foot into an almost 45 degree turn.

4. Heel turn and gussets: The heel turn is where you bend the sock tube into its recognizable shape. The gussets take care of the extra stitches that you need to do this and reduces the number back to the original number of stitches that you cast on.

5. The Instep and Sole: The top part of the foot is the instep and the bottom is the sole. These two sections are part of the foot tube. If your getting all fancy, then work the instep stitches in the pattern stitch of your choice.

6. The Toe: A small section at the end of the foot of the sock that houses our piggies. Stitches are decreased to a blunt end and then grafted together for a seamless finish.

Now that we have the anatomy down, here is the math lesson. An adult sock should be about 7 1/2 inches to 8 inches around so you should do a swatch with the yarn and needle size to get an estimate of how many stitches your are going to need. Don't go by the ball band or label, go tighter. Once you have done that, round the number up or down so that it can be divisible by 4. Divide these onto three needles as follows: 1/4 on one needle, 1/2 on one needle and 1/4 on the remaining needle. If you like using 4 needles then put 1/4 on each needle.

For plain old socks (my personal favourite because they are so fast to make), cast on and work in 2x2 rib for 2 inches. Then change to stocking stitch until the leg measures the same as your foot.

Use half the stitches to make the heel flap. To make a sturdy flap that won't wear out quickly, work back and forth like this: Right side rows: *Slip 1 K1* repeat to end. On wrong side rows, Slip 1 Purl to the end. The number of rows worked should equal the number of stitches used for the flap.

Turn the heel. On the right side, work across 1/2 the heel flap stitches (1/4 of the total number of stitches) plus 2. Then K2tog and turn. On the wrong side, slip 1, p4, p2tog then turn. On right side rows, slip 1, work past the K2tog of the previous right side row then K2tog and turn. On wrong side rows, slip 1, work past the p2tog of the previous wrong side row then p2tog and turn. Keep going until all the stitches are worked. The total remaining heel stitches will be 1/2 the original number of heel stitches plus 2 (unless something went wrong.)

Gussets: Divide the heel sts onto 2 needles and put the instep sts (the ones that weren't worked during the whole heel turning process) onto 1 needle. Work across the first then second needle of the heel then pick up and knit 1 st for every slipped stitch along the edge of the heel flap. Work across the instep then with the spare needle pick up and knit along the other side of the heel flap. With the same needle, work across the first set of heel stitches. There we are back in the round again.

Carry on by decreasing immediately before and after the instep needle stitches until you have reduced the number to the original number of cast on stitches. Keep going until it woul be about an inch and a half short of fitting your foot.

Toe: Decrease at each end of your sole stitches and each end of your instep stitches on every other round until you half the number of original sts. Now decrease them until you have 1/4 the original (round up or down by two if you need to). Graft them together and you're done!

Now go, make socks! No pattern required!

Chris McCarville came down and made this video about us for the Manitoba Co-op Promotion Branch. Yeaaah!

Ram Wools will be at the University of Winnipeg CBC kids tent demonstrating knitting, teaching knitting and having fun! The event will be from 10-4 on Saturday, September 25.