Happy Birthday Lion Brand!!!

Happy Birthday Lion Brand!

To celebrate, Michaels will be hosting birthday parties on Sunday September 22 between 2 and 4 pm.  Come on out and see me in the Lebanon store.  Yes, I do have a Warm Up America Joining Party scheduled for 2 - 5 pm this day but I will be in the same area to do both.  Come on out to help with this also.

Lion Brand will be giving away bonbons!  Unlike my husband, I'm sure you know and understand that these bonbons are mini skeins of yarn and not food.  The first 25 people will get a free bonbon.  I will have hooks available for anyone who wants to sit and stitch with me with this new yarn.  These minis are just right when you only need a little bit of a color and don't have it.

Check these out!

Brights

    

Pastels

Beach

Nature

Party

Celebrate

  

Crayons

 Some of the featured patterns on the Lion Brand website for the bonbons.

Christmas in July day 16

Christmas is more fun with little ones around.  I think most will agree.  I know how much they love toys too and someone to play silly games with them.  Today is about making some timeless toys and some just for fun.

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/leon-lion-ornament

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/colorful-elephant

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0582.html?noImages=0

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L10018.html?noImages=0

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/purr-fect-mini-kitty

These ideas should spark some ideas.  Share what you create for the young ones in your life.

Yarn and How Much Do I Need?

As an ongoing part of the series of questions I get frequently asked, How much yarn do I need for X? tops the list right at the same number of times as What kind of needles should I use?

Yarn choices are amazing.  There are so many new things out there on the market to try.  But this post is to deal with How much not fiber content.  Although fiber content can make a difference, weight does make a difference in how much to purchase.

There are generalities I can point to for a quick answer but that doesn't begin to get an accurate number for how much do I need?  yarn yardage requirements is a quick link to Lion Brand Company's chart for very basic information for both knit and crochet.

You need to know your gauge with a specific yarn.  You need to know how big your project needs to be.  You need to know what kind of drape you want your project to have.  An example is you don't want a floppy drape-y fiber like alpaca would give you if you are doing a tailored jacket that needs to hold its shape.  You also don't want a crisp yarn when your project should be molding to your curves or cuddling baby.  All of these have to be taken into account.  You should also wash your swatch.  Your fiber choice could relax into an ocean sized puddle when gotten wet or shrivel like a prune.  Wouldn't it be better to have that happen to a swatch than an afghan or sweater?

But, you say, I'm using acrylic/polyester/super wash wool!  Even those fibers can react to water or even just knitting or crocheting in unexpected ways.  Please don't ever wash synthetic fibers in hot, hot water and then dry in a hot dryer.  You can kill the spring in the fiber.  

More will be posted on this topic in the future.  This is just to get you thinking.  If you have questions, post a comment.  It will be addressed.