I had a customer come in because the sweater she had just knit was already pilling.  So how do you tell before you start a project whether it will pill or not?  The first thing you can look at in the yarn is how many plies there are.  The more plies the less likely the yarn is to pill. The looser the twist the more likely the yarn is to pill.  So a single ply with a loose twist is probably going to pill, whereas a multiplied yarn with a tight twist will be less likely to pill.

The next thing to look at is how much halo there is to the yarn. Halo is the amount of fibre or fluff you can see in the yarn ball. The more fluff there is  the more likely it is to pill, especially if you can pull the fluff off easily..  If you can see a halo in the ball, you will see the halo in the garment.

Cotton, silk and linen are less prone to pilling than is wool.  Acrylics are also prone to pilliing.  Often the cheaper the acrylic the more likely it is to pill.  There are acrylic yarns which are labelled as anti pilling and those are good ones to choose. Microfibres tend to pill easily as well.  Make sure you follow the washing instructions on the yarn label to help prevent pilling. If you use yarns that have some cotton, silk or linen in them that will help lessen the pilling problem.

The areas where pills usually show up are in the areas where there is more wear in the garment.  This means areas like the underarms will be more prone to pilling. At least this is an area where it won’t be very visible.

The best way to tell how a yarn is going react is to knit a test swatch and wash it.  Rub the fabric together and see if you get any pills forming. If you don’t want to do a swatch you could try carrying a couple balls of the yarn around in a bag where they can rub together and see if you see any signs of pills starting on the balls.

You can purchase sweater shavers and special pumice stones to remove pills from your knitted garments.  Try not to pull or remove them with a razor as you may damage the yarn in the rest of the garment. If you take good care of your knitted garments they should last for years even if they do develop a few pills over the years.

How did it get to be almost December?  As I write this, Christmas Eve is one month away.  I think our warmer fall deceived us into thinking it was still late summer/early fall not almost winter.  Well, now that we have actually had some snow, it is really time to pick up those knitting needles and crochet hooks if you want to make something for Christmas.

So how do you figure out how much you can knit in time for the big day? First you have to decide who is deserving of your handiwork.  Write a list of who you think you want to make something for.  Next, you have to decide what you want to make and how much time do you have to devote to it.  I make a calendar and write all the activities I have and what free time I have available and figure out how many hours that is.  Are you going to make multiple small items or one big item?  What are you going to be more motivated to work on?  Once you have decided what to make and have cast on, put a marker to show where you started and after an hour check your progress.  This will give you an idea of how much you can get done in an hour and therefore how long it will take to finish the project.  Block off time on your calendar so you know how long it is going to take you to finish.  In this way you can see what is reasonable to hope to get done in time for the big day.

I like to do smaller projects as I can feel more of a sense of accomplishment as I finish each item.  Knitting with a chunky yarn is also a big help. Often a yarn has enough interest in it that you don’t need to do anything fancy.  You also have to consider what you like to do.  If you are going to be bored doing seed stitch, don’t do a whole project in it, just do a border in seed stitch.  If you get bored doing garter stitch throw in a cable to make it more interesting.

Check out ravelry.com for some quick knit ideas.  You are sure to find something you want to make ( probably more than you can get done before Christmas so add them to your library so you can get back to them after Christmas).

Come in and pick some yarn and needles and get knitting.  It is a good excuse to sit down during this busy time and nicer than rushing around a shopping mall. Happy Knitting!

Well it is that time of year again.  The leaves have started to change and the evenings are getting colder (and darker sooner).  Time to take up the needles again( if you are one of those who don’t like to knit in the warmer months). The next question is what to knit? Bergere de France has a yarn called Recyclaine that is a nice thick, chunky yarn great for a knitting up a quick cowl.  A couple balls does a nice cowl. Bergere also has a sweater pattern in their Creations 15/16 pattern book using their Cyclone yarn that only takes 6 balls to knit a simple, comfy sweater for those cold winter months. It comes in nice gradient colours so there is no need for fancy stitches.  There are lots of new sock yarns in stock that can be used to make socks but also make great fingerless mitts, hats, shawls or scarves.

We are now carrying some Canadian yarns that come in some great colours.  Come in and check out Indigodragonfly, Sweet Georgia Yarns, Dyeversion and Briggs and Little.  Support our Canadian dyers!.

I hear all the time – “oh I don’t knit in the summer”.  Summer is the best time to knit.  How often do you have to move to find better light so you can see what you are knitting.  Do you turn on the light only to have someone say “turn off the light, I can’t see the TV”? In summer you can sit out in your back yard after dinner or on your front porch and listen to nature and see your knitting! There is light until almost 9:00 at night.  If you are an early riser, get up early and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and the great light for knitting before everyone else gets out of bed.

Summer is the time for travelling so why not take along a knitting project and use that travel time productively.  Whether it is by train plane or automobile, knitting will pass the time quickly. It doesn’t have to be a large project but why not get a start on some of those Christmas presents.  Maybe work on busting your stash. Go on Ravelry and search for one or two ball projects. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you have some Christmas presents taken care of early? Hats, mittens, cowls are small enough that you won’t get too hot knitting them. Maybe check for any single socks that you haven’t yet knit the second sock for and finish them off. Think of the satisfaction you get for finishing those UFOs ( unfinished objects).

Every spring and fall, I drive to the yarn suppliers warehouses to find out what new things are coming out from the different yarn companies.  In the end of April, I went to visit the warehouses and saw a lot of the new yarns that are due out in the fall. Often the yarn companies have many similiar new items but this time they all had things that were a bit different.One company was showing more of the big chunky yarn where another company didn’t have anything chunkier than a yarn that calls for an 8 mm needle.

A couple companies are going to start carrying roving in different colours. One of the companies, Noro, which is well known for its colourful yarns is carrying a roving that comes in a big coil and is multicoloured. It would look nice just sitting on a table in its package. There is a new yarn by Mirasol called Yaya that is a single ply merino that is so soft.  It is like a roving and I love the name.

Two different companies have mixed packages of little balls of yarn for making dolls or toys so you don’t have to buy 50 or 100 gm balls when you only need a couple metres of diferent colours

Of course there are lot of new sock lines coming out or the fall.  Sirdar is coming out with its own sock line which is something new for Sirdar.  We sell a lot of their Snuggly baby yarn and their Cotton DK is also a really nice yarn so you know their sock yarn will be of good quality..

We are starting to carry a new line of yarn by a German company called RIco. They carry a full line of yarn from acrylics to cottons to merino.  We already have some of their cotton in both DK and aran weights in stock as well as some of their sock yarn.  We have a bamboo sock called Superba Bamboo that knits up in a pattern and another sock called Superba Poems ( shown above) which has long colour runs that would be great for shawls or designs where the long colour runs are used for interesting effects. Rico also has something called Sock Stop which is like a rubberized paint that you apply to the bottom of socks or slippers so they don’t slide.  It comes in diferent colours but at the moment we have the black in stock.

One of the fun things that Katia ha coming out for fall, are socks and hats that come in a kit.  The kit contains a knit stuffed animal that has live stitches that you pick and knit the scarf or hat with.  With the scarf the stuffed animal is on the ends and the hat has the stuffed animal as a pompom.