Gift Certificate Special, Yarn Clubs, Ruffle Scarves and More!

It has been a busy couple of months! Thanks to all who came out to the DIY Trunk Show and Art vs Craft! They were both amazing and it was so wonderful to see so many people out and supporting hand made!

I am beginning to catch up a bit but still am rebuilding inventory in my yarn shop. I've got new yarns coming soon, though - new art yarns, new bamboo, and more. I'll also have some new blended fiber batts come January.

If you are still looking for that perfect gift for the knitter, crocheter or fiber artist in your life, I've got a couple of great solutions for you!

First, I am running a gift card special. Purchase a gift card from my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns shop and get an extra $10 added on to the value! Buy a $60 gift card and get an extra $20 added on! Redeemable in either my yarn shop, or my knits shop.

Second, I have got a few Yarn Clubs available which is a great way to give a gift that will keep giving into the new year. My art yarn club is already sold out, but I've got a Bamboo Yarn of the Month Club, a "Surprise" Yarn of the Month Club 3 month or 2 month option, and a Single Ply Yarn of the Month Club. You can find them all in Yarn of the Month Club section in my etsy shop.

Finally, I am also slowly trying to add new hand knits to my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop on etsy. I will be adding more Endless Ruffle Infinity Scarves and also more items knit with hand spun yarn. I already have a couple of hand knit art yarn cowls listed that are knit with my handspun FunctionArt Art Yarn and a couple of soft scarves knit with gorgeous hand spun Sqoosh Monster thicknthins spun by Naomi of Knotty Handspuns. Look for more new items throughout December and into the new year.

Here are the Ruffle Scarves -



And the Cowls -



And the scarves and also a shawl knit with my hand spun yarn

Etsy Seller Spotlight on - iWunder - gorgeous moebius cowls and more!

Yesterday in my Plum Divine post, I made mention of my topic for today - and that is featuring the crocheted moebius cowls of iWunder on etsy!

Jennifer does many things, actually. She has hand dyed yarn, hand knit purses, and scarves for men and women. But, what has really caught my eye in her shop are the unique crocheted cowls she makes with my art yarns and also other hand spun yarns.

I always love to see how my art yarns are used, and when I saw these pictures, I knew I had to make sure to highlight them in a blog post! They show off the colors and textures of the yarn, but are also fashionable and very fun! (not to mention, versatile!)

You can find all of Jennifer's cowls here, but below are just a few of my favorites!

Here is the one made with the "Plum Divine" color! You can see more pictures of it here.

Another of my favorite yarn colors has been "Turquoise Parrot". Here is a cowl crocheted with one of those skeins - (listing on etsy here)

Another color that is one of my favorites to spin is this one - Mahogany Midnight Moon - here is a gorgeous cowl made with this color -


In addition to the art yarns, she also uses gorgeous single ply hand spuns from other sources, but also has used my "Squish-tastic!" yarns. Here is one that really shows off this style of yarn - (you can find more great pictures in the listing here.)


And, even though she has many more in her shop and they are all fantastic, I'm going to end with this one - Surf's Up!

So, if you are looking for a unique and versatile hand made accessory - check out iWunder on etsy!

New Hand Knits ready for the DIY Trunk Show

Well, I am all done for the night. Last minute yarns have been spun, labels have been made and attached, everything (except for the last minute yarns which are still drying) is packed away and ready to go tomorrow morning.

Here is a quick look at some of the new hand knits items I'll have tomorrow at the DIY Trunk Show in Chicago!

Knitting with Hand Spun Art Yarn

For the past week, I have been wanting to post something about knitting with hand spun art yarns. I know for some they are a little intimidating, but if you can break through that fear or uncertainty of "what do i do with it?", knitting with art yarns can be amazing! This post is a collection of some of the tips and suggestions I give when people ask me questions about knitting with my art yarns, and some examples.

My first advice is always to NOT BE AFRAID of the yarn! Don't let it intimidate you! I do know this feeling - when I first started knitting with hand spun yarns from The Yarn Wench, I was always afraid of "not doing the yarn justice", or not knowing what to do with smaller skeins. This fear would paralyze me and all that pretty yarn just sat there . . . waiting.

But finally I just started knitting with it! For some, it may seem "boring" to "just knit a scarf", but with an art yarn - even a plain scarf becomes an adventure. And, a unique adventure since each yarn is different! Here are some examples of skeins to scarves -

This is an art yarn Called "From RocketMan to Red Hat", a 98-yard, 3.4 oz skein
I took this skein and knit it into this scarf -
I used size 15 needles and cast on maybe 10-12 stitches (I know I should keep better track but each yarn is slightly different). I use a "drop stitch" pattern to help show off the yarn AND get a little more length from the yardage. For the drop stitch pattern this is what I do -
1. Knit 2 rows
2. On the third row, when knitting the stitch, I wrap the yarn around the needle TWICE. This means that you actually have twice as many loops on your needle at the end of the row, but they are coupled together.
3. On the fourth row, when knitting, put your needle only through the first loop of the two-loop stitch and as you pull the stitch off the needle, let that extra loop drop. So, in effect, you are knitting the first loop but the second loop drops. After doing that across the row, you are back to the same amount of loops/stitches on your needle as when you started.
4. Knit 2 rows.

Sometimes, if I want extra length I may wrap the yarn around 3 times! Also, I tried to find a video but wasn't able to come up with anything in a quick search, but did find these instructions, which may be better than mine.

Here is another -
I took a similar skein to this one -

And knit this scarf -

This one was a similarly sized skein at 98 yards, but I cast on fewer stitches, and in the blocking process tried to elongate it even more, so it is a longer, skinnier scarf.

Unblocked -

Blocked -

These pictures show how blocking can help even out your art yarn project. Sometimes, I actually like the look of the unblocked scarf, but have started to block them for a more "professional" look. For this one, I even *hung* it to dry so that it stretched out a little bit more.

There are other small projects you can knit with one skein of art yarn, too! Here is a hat that was knit with only a small 68-yard skein - and I didn't even use it all! I like to use size 10-1/2s or 11s when I knit hats with the art yarns.


And, these wristwarmers were knit with only about 40 yards of art yarn! I used size 11 needles for these, but maybe could have gone down to 10-1/2's
Cowls are another *great* item to knit with art yarns! You don't need that much - one skein should be enough - and you can knit them in the round fairly quickly. Here are a couple of cowls knit by Naomi of Ryono Creations - you can find her on ETSY HERE! These pictures are courtesy of her - you can see all of her pictures on flickr here!


and, one more -

These are just a few examples of the beautiful and unique items you can knit (or crochet!) with hand spun art yarns. Don't be afraid to "think outside the box" or "pattern" and you can create a wonderful, one of a kind piece of fiber art!

Update 5-5-2012 - While I plan on doing a complete update to this post, I am editing it to include some links to some other places you can get ideas of what to make with art yarn!  Here is one of my Pinterest boards that shows things made with Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun yarn , some of them the art yarns.  Here is my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop which includes cowls knit with the handspun yarn as well!