After the Vogue show in NY I stitched up more project bags. They are here at the booth. Chicago is the last show we are at until the fall. I’m looking forward to coming up with a new bag design over the summer.
Our booth (217) is right by the fashion show runway. There are plenty of seats all day long - come visit us and take a break to sit and knit.
You can also follow us on Instagram by following us chiagu.ny
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Long time no blog post! Let's remedy that.
Here are some new colors to our KPPPM family (l to r)-
Top row: P641, P201, P803, P729L, P528, P227
Bottom row P515, P300, P731, P455, P859, and P150
As always, when colors are new they are on sale - 15% off!
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Purchases of $40 or more get 25% off - use code BF25 when you checkout. Sale ends Tuesday, November 28th.
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Our newest colors (from left to right) : P113L, P876, P905, P319X and P818 are currently 15% off! This set of new colors is predominately blue. I promise that others colors are coming!
Is anyone going to Stitches United in Hartford this weekend? Sewing and quilting have been added to their classes and their marketplace. I'm headed to the Marketplace on Friday - if I like what I see I would consider taking classes in the future.
I'm taking the bus and the train so I plan on finishing up my Camomile cowl/scarf . Once its done I'll write up a blog post about Koigu's new aran weight yarn, Chelsea. (Psst, I like it so much I hope to stock some colors by the end of summer.)
Check back as we add gift items to the website. The sale ends 11.59pm Mon, November 28th.
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(FYI - I've know Rachel for a while, we were roommates for Sock Summit and Woolyn is selling my project bags.)
Rachel has a wonderful background for a yarn store owner: she has worked in a local yarn store and she has designed knitwear that has been featured in Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits. And she hand dyed yarn for her previous business venture, Studio Avenue Six. She knows her textiles!
Woolyn is stocked with industry workhorse yarns from Cascade 220 and new indie dyers - in fact both Mollygirl and Narwhal Needlework dyed special color ways for Woolyn.
In addition to wool and cotton fiber Rachel also carries the cashmere kit from Lux Adorna Knits which Clara Parkes has just blogged about for Knitter's Review.
Woolyn also stocks roving (Sweet Georgia!) for those who use drop spindles and spinning wheels. There is an area where you can sit down and have some refreshments. And don't forget to browse the highly curated books.
The store opened in mid August which may have been too late to be included in the New York City Yarn Crawl that is happening this weekend (Sept 24-25). If you are exploring the city's yarn stores Woolyn is definitely worth the visit. Near the Brooklyn Bridge Park, the area has great eating, shopping and calling all cat lovers - it's one block from the Brooklyn Cat Cafe.
105 Atlantic Ave (between Henry and Hicks Streets)
718-522-5820
By Subway: R to Court Street , 2/3/4/5 to Borough Hall, F/G to Bergen St
By Bus: B63, B61 (Atlantic Ave and Henry St stop)
www.woolyn.com
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Speaking of KPM - I'm adding the solid colors throughout the year and move the KPM yarn to their own section on the website.
See how the KPM plum picks up the plum in the multicolor skein? One of the customer I know in real life has already scoop up this pairing for her Koigu collection.
I've started to pair up single skeins of KPPPM (multicolors) with single skeins of KPM (solid colors). I call them Koigu Pairings . Let me know how you like them.
New York Sheep and Wool (Rhinebeck) is around the corner and for the second year I will be a vendor at the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show Friday evening. I've been sewing up a storm - there are new prints for the drawstring project bags and (hopefully) I can sneak in one or two new bag styles. I love meeting you guys - stop by and say hello!
Besides KPPPM fingering/sportweight we have some Koigu Bulky and Koigu Lace yarns. Take a look! Sale ends Sept 7th.
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We have three pretty blues for the dog days of summer. From left to right the colors are P446, P409, P303. They are 15% off until August 24th.
Color P446-0003 is gorgeous, I would make something that I could look at while I wore it, like gloves or a shawl.
Color P409-200 is beautiful, it's very close to a Koigu blue that I used for my Clapotis scarf.
Color P303-0002 is hard to photograph. There is more of a brown/violet cast to it, not beige or yellow. Pretty, muted and subtle would be the three words to describe the color - it would be a gorgeous sweater.
As the summer winds down, we are finalizing plans to be at the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Show (October 2016) as well as Vogue Knitting Live NY (January 2017).
And we're excited to have our projects bags find a home at a new Brooklyn yarn store (more about this tomorrow)!
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At this year's Vogue Knitting Live customers asked if Chiagu would carry Koigu Bulky Merino and/or Koigu Lace Merino. I then posed the question to the newsletter subscribers. In each instance the responses ran about 50-50, there was no clearcut winner.
After playing with sample skeins of each weight, I decided to get a small amount of yarn in both bulky merino and lace merino. I have 3 colors in each weight and they are in limited quantities. You can find them here and they are 15% off until July 31st.
I hope to order more of each, let me know what colors you would like to see.
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These are July's new colors (from left to right): P224, P330, and P950. They are 15% off until July 22nd.
When I saw P224, dye lot 134, for the first time my mind immediately thought "Cherry blossoms!". There are beautiful ranges of pinks with touches of red. It is gorgeous on its own (shawls anyone?) or paired with navy or with cream for a striped scarf.
Initially P330, dye lot 86, reminded me of fall colors but as I walked around my neighborhood I saw very tall sunflowers in the exact yellow, gold, and brown/black of this color. Perhaps a ribbed top that takes you from late summer into and throughout the fall season?
And P950, dye lot 87, reminds me of the beach. It's not a white sand beach but a tan beach with bits of color all over. I can see this as a lightweight, loose top - maybe a v-neck with sleeves that go past the wrist.
Don't forget to read the next post - we are introducing some other Koigu products!
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These are June's new colors (from left to right): P142, P150B, P412 and P815. They are 15% off until June 27th.
P142 reminds me of wine, red wine. The streaks of gold contrast well with the pink, maroon and dark violet colors. I would love to see this as a cardigan.
P150B is all about speckles. This combination of colors would look great for a large project, such as a sweater or a light blanket.
P412 has a lovely combination of medium to dark blues with a hint of green. This would make a great hat or a pair of socks for the men in your life.
P815 is such a happy color. Possible my favorite one this month. I can see making a cowl or hat for the winter. You'll smile every time you wear it.
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Last week one of my local yarn stores, La Casita, hosted the Vogue Knitting Summer 2016 trunk show. Trisha Malcolm brought the projects featured in the magazine.
I love going to these events. The garments are there for you to look at and try on. Usually the item is knit in the smallest size - that means I get to try on accessories more than garments. All the pieces featured in the magazine went to Vogue Knitting Live in Pasadena last weekend and some of them didn't make it back in time for this event. Out of the items I saw these three were my favorites:
Drop Stitch column design by Wei Wilkins (page 37). We all though that if you made this tank top longer it would be a great pool or beach coverup.
Graphic patterns pullover by Katharine Hunt (page 59). It's knit in a mercerized cotton and looked terrific.
Deconstructed cable tunic by Pat Olski (page 54 ). The construction of this piece looks intriguing.
During the event I posted a couple of videos of the trunk show on Instagram and Periscope. I highly recommend going to a Vogue Knitting trunk show or runway show. Not only do you see how the garments drapes, flow, and "act", Trisha discusses how designs and garments are developed.
Do you have a favorite design from this issue?
]]>Size is the difference between this event and the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (Rhinebeck). Most people I know go to Rhinebeck to buy yarn and fleece. Every so often they take a quick detour through the animal barns. At LIFFF you see and learn the history behind the fiber crafts and your shopping can be done in less than an hour.
We did a quick round of shopping and went to visit the animals. I used Periscope to live stream the sheep, llamas, places, and cows. If you have the app I believe to can see it since Periscope recent started to save the streams (username: soozenyc).
We just missed Tabbethia from Long Island Livestock Company shear a llama but we did have the chance to talk about natural dyeing with museum volunteer, Colette. She encouraged us to save our avocado skins and pits if were want to dye some pink yarn.
In our goody bag there was a coupon for a free wine tasting at the Martha Clara Winery which was on the other side of a busy road. We managed to cross safely and grabbed some lunch before having some wine. We enjoyed our "knit n wine" so much that we each purchased a specialized flight of wine sampling ("Aromatic", "Estate", "Library").
The day got cooler and cloudier as late afternoon approached. Driving back into Manhattan on a Saturday evening was a traffic nightmare but the delay helped us narrow our restaurant choices for dinner (yay internet!).
We ended our day at Momosan by enjoying delicious bowls of ramen noodles. We passed on the sake selection since we already had wine with our lunch. But will are definitely going back to try the sake!
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These are May's new colors (from left to right): P127, P140, P204 and P360. They are 15% off until May 12th.
When you see the color yellow don't you think of summer? While the brighter shades of yellow tends to look awful on me I find that warmer yellows like gold can serve as beautiful accents to the brighter primary colors I wear. I would certainly make a tank top with P360.
Color P204 is right up my alley - purples, pinks and streaks of yellow for contrast. I wouldn't hesitant to wear this color near my face - it would be a great hat or scarf.
Do you like neon? P140 is very bright and is just a step away from being a full blow neon color way. Whether it's a small or big project (a pair of socks, a child's sweater, an adult tunic) the colors would add an extra spark to your hand knit project.
And the pastels of color P127. The color is lighter that pictured in the photo and it does have a speck of navy here and there. I rarely see KPPPM in light colorways and this one is pretty and subtle.
Although this week has been wet and dreary we're only a few weeks away from the holiday that kicks off summer, Memorial Day weekend Make sure to sign up for our newsletter - I'm sending out some sale information in the next newsletter. To sign up go to the Chiagu homepage and then scroll to the bottom of the page.
But first I'm attending the Long Island Fleece and Fiber Festival (May 14 & 15). For me, it's the last fiber-related event until October's New York Sheep and Wool. LIFF is less crowded and vendors don't run out of stock. You have time to see all the events and demonstrations. I love that Tabbethia Haubold-Magee (from Long Island Livestock) explains the sheep shearing process as she is removing their winter coat. She loves her work and she loves the animals. When we need a break we go to the nearby wineries (nearby as in crossing the busy road!). The festival organizes a private round trip bus out of Manhattan so we don't worry about have a drink doing our visit. Come join us!
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Periscope is basically a streaming video service with text commenting and feedback. The videos can be as short as 1 minute or as long as 90 minutes. When you follow a user you get a notification that a live stream is about to start and you decide whether to watch or not. You can ask questions or make comments during a live stream. Video replay is available for 24 hours although this seems to be changing.
I've visited Hong Kong three times in my life and I found two Periscopers who stream everyday: Penguin6 and John Ho. Penguin6 (first name is Andrew) is an American living the expatriate life with his family in Hong Kong (his wife works in the financial industry) and he provides the non-Asian perspective. John Ho is a Hong Kong native who provides insights into daily life and the Chinese culture. John hosts video chat sessions to answers your questions. One reason I enjoy their video streams is that they don't focus the camera on themselves, 95% of the time the focus is where they are and what they are doing.
I am not a You Tube person but Periscope really has intrigued me. Have any of you tried Periscope?
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(from left to right) Koigu KPPPM P147, P210, P457, P642 and P744.
These are the new additions to our Koigu KPPPM family. These 6 colors are 15% off until April 30th.
I love these colors and I'm not normally drawn to pink. I envision so many projects that will show off these colors. Each color way has light pink or dark pink... so perfect for "little girl" projects. My grandniece is expecting a baby girl late summer and any of these 5 colors can be used for a baby sweater or a baby blanket.
I can see the lighter colors (P210, P744) for shawls and skinny scarves which are perfect items for combat air conditioning. The bolder colors (P147, P457, P642) work well with spring pastels and bold summer colors.
And speaking of summer, what happens with your knitting when the weather gets warmer? Do you work on smaller projects? Or work with thinner yarn? Or do you take a break?
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(from left to right) Koigu KPPPM P155, P463, P541, P564, and P859B.
These are the new additions to our Koigu KPPPM family. These 6 colors are 15% off until March 28.
P163
P609
P738
P811
P872
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"Would you like a yarn winder? I have no need for it and I thought you could use it."
"Sure, I broke mine a while back and I haven't replaced it".
As we all start arriving for the retreat, we happen to pull in behind Anne's car. She brings over not one but two boxes. I saw a long box and thought "I didn't know she was giving me a swift - I have two already". But we were both so excited about the quilting retreat that we said no more as we put the boxes away in the car that was my ride home.
As we packed up to leave I'm reminded I have these two new items to bring home. We unload the car and bring everything into the house. After dinner I pick up the long box and I find it's remarkably light. I opted to open the small box first and yep, it's the yarn winder.
I go back to the long box. Opening it I see that it is indeed a swift - a table top swift.
Only one other person knew I wanted a table top swift and it wasn't the person that gave it to me. I had been debating long and hard about getting table top swift and poof, here it was. Did I mention that both items were new and never used? I was speechless.
I am the recipient of a wonderful random act of kindness. But the more I thought about it I wondered if it was karma. I have collected yarn for "projects" for 20 years. Last year, after reading Marie Kondo's book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up", I finally began to destash. I gave loads to friends and donated bags yarn to various charities. My friends have already made beautiful projects with the yarn.
Have you been the giver or recipient of an random act of kindness? I know there are some great stories out there.
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From left to right: P118D, P220, P311A, P366, P921.
These new colors are 15% off until March 8th.
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I am partial to jewel tones, mainly because they are the colors that look best on me. It's not a surprise that I love these three kits:
I think the Purple Rain Loreley Scarf Kit came out pretty well given that there's a lot of other colors complementing the purple.
I thought the pink/blue and the pink/black ends of the Pretty in Pink Loreley Scarf Kit would make the scarf pretty interesting once it was wrapped are your neck. But you don't have to follow this color order, you can mix them up any way you want.
And Cool Water is my favorite new Freemans Alley Mitt Kit color. My friend Nancy is already knitting up this and I can't wait to see them.
Also, for both kits, I created a color combination that is close to the sample item you see in the pattern. Knitters always asked me if those color combinations were available and I hated saying no. Due to the unique nature of handprinted yarn, the kits are never exact matches. But they are close - I hope you like them!
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(from left to right) Koigu KPPPM P902, P370, P106, P662, P868, and P873
These are the new additions to our Koigu KPPPM family. These 6 colors are 15% off until Feb 15.
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I took a couple of days off to recoup and then started an extended inventory. This means counting and reviewing yarn colors, knitting kits, project bags, and yes, even patterns. I'm running a bit behind with photos, but once they are done updates will happen in both shops, probably this weekend. Believe me, I am making sure that next year the photos are done before Vogue Knitting Live takes place.
I also review the comments and requests that customers gave me. Color-wise there will be new kits and new samples. There are many new ideas for bags that hold your knitting, crochet, and drop spinning. There will (finally) be new patterns. And of course I need to put an order in for more Koigu. A big thanks to Koigu for making sure I got more beautiful colors in time for the Vogue show.
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