The owls are here!

The Tiny Owl Knits patterns that is!  I was very excited to open up the box with all these lovely patterns.  My every growing queue just got a little longer after seeing all these beautiful patterns.  We have brought in quite a few of her patterns.  These are just a few that we now have in store!

Orchids & Fairylights Hat

Woodland Hoodlet

Fawn Poncho

Sweet Robin Wristees

And don't forget Whale Festival is starting next week!  Check out our upcoming classes for whale themed classes!  We have a great Whale Hat class and a needle felting whale class as well.  A great way to celebrate the return of the grey whales to Tofino!

Like Vegas!

I have found myself saying "It's like a Vegas Casino in here." several times to customers who are shocked about how much time they end up spending in the store.  We get chatting away, or they can't resist spending lots of time petting all the yarn.  But all in all I think I've narrowed it down to the top five reasons why Knits by the Sea is like Vegas!

5.  Lots of bright colours.
4.  We have entertainment in the form of Juliet.  She may not be as flexible as the acrobats in Cirque du  Soleil or be able to hit the high notes like Celine (although her whining does come close) but she has quite a costume repertoire
3. We serve wine!  Another sure way to keep you around...and bottomless mugs of tea!
2. We have no clock anywhere...so you don't realize how much time you are spending here (haha!)
1. You can win big here!

How can you win big you ask?  With our latest contest!  Local designer Faye Kennington has just completed another great pattern but it needs a name.

So here is the contest:

Submit your name choice for the pattern by March 31, 2012 to info@knitsbythesea.com and include your name, email and phone number.  On Wednesday April 4th at Stitch Night we will put the names to a vote!  The winner will receive a $35.00 gift certificate to Knits by the Sea.  Which is enough to purchase the gumboot topper kit or anything else you would like in the store!

So start brainstorming!  We are looking forward to reading your entries.

Lamb Love!

On my trip over to Vancouver I had the opportunity to stop by Sylvia Macpherson's farm to pick up more yarn and visit the wooly animals that provide it!  Sylvia's lovely farm is located just outside Courtenay.  Sylvia creates beautiful hand spun, hand dyed yarns that we love to carry. She took me into her workshop which is basically a second house on the property (a fibre lover's dream come true!) and it was filled with fleece and yarn.  It was hard to not leave with an entire car full of her yarn.

A section of the workshop.

She also took me visit the sheep and since it is spring there were little lambs too!  Of course they were absolutely adorable and I just wanted to take them all home.  It was really great to see the source for all the yarn that she creates.  It is not very often that you get to see exactly where the wool is coming from, where it is spun and dyed!  Thank you Syliva for letting me stop by!

The one on the right is called Ellie! 

What a Night!

If you follow us on Facebook then you've already had a chance to see the fun we had at Spotted Bear on Wednesday for Sex and the City Stitch Night!  Eleven of us descended on the Spotted Bear Bistro with heels and needles in hand for a fun evening.  The cosmos and honeybear martinis (the honeybear are a Spotted Bear specialty and very delicious!) were plentiful and the food was delicious!

I had a great tuna dish with couscous, kale and creme fraiche, yummy beet salad and a great chocolate pudding with rock salt to top it off.  Made me wish I had worn a less fitted dress!  And since our shoes were made for knitting and eating yummy food, we also made them for dancing/singing too!  We headed over to the Weigh West Pub where there is karaoke on Wednesdays.  Singing is always better in stilettos and the "Knitting Girls" (Kim came up with that great name!) gave a great performance of "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey.

Thank you to everyone who came out and made this such a fun evening of knitting and great friends.

More Classes and Fun!

Just updated our website with upcoming classes for March and April with some new project classes!  I am a big fan of Alana Dakos patterns and really love the Cloudy Day Beret!  This is a really fun project that includes some great techniques that will make this a fun and interesting class.  It is also the perfect spring beret that is a bit lighter for the warmer weather.  And if you have been on Ravelry in the last month you might have come across the Beekeeper's Quilt.  This very popular pattern is a great stash buster and just fun to knit.  So come and join us for a three hour class on how to make these great little honeycombs!

Don't forget our Sex and the City Stitch Night is coming up this Wednesday February 22nd at the Spotted Bear Bistro!  RSVP at the shop as we have made reservations.  It will be a fun night of great food, yummy drinks and knitting.

Sex and the City Stitch Night

We are doing it again!  Our first Sex and the City Stitch Night of 2012 has been scheduled!  So be sure to get your heels ready for an evening at the Spotted Bear Bistro on Wednesday February 22.  We are very excited to be spending an evening of knitting and eating at this lovely bistro well known for it's delicious food.  Everyone is welcome.  Please RSVP at the shop as we are making reservations.  We are really looking forward to it!

And stay tuned to our Twitter account!  We will be announcing any sales on the retreat or in store on there first!  So if you aren't following us yet then you should!  Even if it's just to hear what Juliet is up to.  I can't help it!  I tweet about what little Juliet is up too as well!

New York Part 3 - Learning to Love the Swatch

Learning about sleeve placement.

So I realize it has been a bit of a gap between blog posts with my visit to Toronto but I really wanted to blog about my last day in New York!  It was such an amazing class with Lily Chin that I just have to share!  It was a full day on learning how to adapt any sweater pattern to make it fit and adapt the sleeves and neck.  But basically I left having learned how to design a sweater.

The biggest thing I took away from this class is the importance of swatching.  I will be the first to admit that I dislike swatching immensely and when I have a new project I just want to dive right in!  But I have been converted.  I used to knit just enough so I could see if I got the right gauge.  But there is so much more it can tell you!  I'm sure this isn't news to many of you but I was impressed with how much swatching helped with getting a better idea of how the garment would fall.  Part of my homework was to do a variety of different swatches with cables, colorwork, ribbing etc. and it was very effective in illustrating how every pattern with different yarn is going to hold differently.  So doing a large swatch can help you really get a good idea of the drape, elasticity and in the end also fit.  This helps a great deal if you are substituting a different fibre than what is recommended in the pattern.  If you are substituting alpaca for wool then how the garment is going to drape will be very different!  So I am convinced now.  Bigger swatches with parts of the pattern (i.e. cables etc.) are in my future.  I think it will lead to greater knitting satisfaction in the long run.

Another great suggestion from Lily Chin - take your favourite sweater and take the measurements.  This way you have a base for what you like wearing including how much ease you actually like!  I really like my sweater to hit just below my belt.  So when she suggested doing the measurements a light bulb went on in my head!  So simple and yet I had never thought of doing that to adjust a sweater I was knitting.

A very fun and informative class.  Lily Chin was an incredibly fun and dynamic teacher.  She had us all take off our shirts to get our proper measurements.  I certainly did not expect to spend some time in just my bra while learning about knitting.  What we do to make sure our knitting fits perfectly!