MILLICENT’S NEWS

JUNE 2005

 

 

I can hardly believe that we are already thinking about June, can you?

 

JUNE CLOSINGS

Millicent’s will be closed twice in June – so beware!

 

Thursday, June 9 through Saturday, June 11:  Mel travels to TNNA (The National Needlework Association) conference.  Imagine acres of yarn and you’ll get the idea.  This is the chance that local yarn shops have to see what the big companies have in mind for the coming season.  I’ll be spending a lot of my time in classes with some of the best known names in the knitting world:  Melissa Leapman, Lily Chin, Chris Bylsma.   And YOU can look forward to a lot of fun classes this fall and winter as a result!

 

Thursday, June 16 through Saturday, June 18:  Actually we won’t be closed, we’ll just be elsewhere – at the Schoolhouse Quilters’ Annual Quilt Show at the Allegany County Fairgrounds Multipurpose Building.  The show runs Friday, June 17 through Sunday, June 19; entry fee $5.00, children under 12 free.  Last year there were over 300 entries of quilts of every color and design.  There is a glorious amount of creativity that goes into these quilts and every fiber artist (that means you!) would love seeing this show.  This will be my fourth year as a vendor at the Schoolhouse Quilters Annual Quilt Show – and I always love the experience.  Stop by to see my booth when you visit – we’re just beyond to the right of the entry!  You’ll also be able to get one of the best apple dumplings ever at this show – so enjoy!

 

GET YOUR ADDI TURBOS NOW!

The priced of Addi Turbo needles is skyrocketing!  Needles that were $8.95 a few years ago are now $13.95; larger size needles that were $13.95 and then $16.95 are now over $20.  Needles that I have had in stock before the price increase, and before the price increase before that, are still priced at their original lower prices, and many remain in several size ranges.  This is the time for you to purchase those Addis that you have always wanted!  I will happy to check in my stock if you don’t see the size you want at a lower price – you never know, one might be lurking.  Just ask!

 

A NEW BOOK

A wonderful new book came into the shop.  It’s silly name – Loop d’Loop – is a little off-putting, but the designs are fascinating and accessible to advanced beginner and intermediate level knitters.  Geared toward knitters in their twenties and thirties, the book has fashionista sweater designs, a classic Elizabethan style cable sweater, scarves that surprise, and more.  In a word:  chic.  There is one shop copy to pour over (and are we ever!), and four are on order – two already taken.  Come check this one out!

 

BOOKS ON ORDER

New fall books are beginning to be available and will be coming soon to Millicent’s.  Felting continues to be big in the knitting/crochet world:  From the little book series Vogue-on-the-Go comes an introductory book Felting, and a new title Fabulous Felted Handknits will arrive shortly.  Also the poncho craze is alive and well as a new book VIVA Ponchos attests.  That, plus the Knitters’ book Ponchos and the many patterns that have been printed recently will satisfy any potential poncho knitter or crocheter.

 

NEW PATTERNS

New patterns from Chris Bylsma have arrived – a request from a Somerset PA knitter, and am I glad she asked for them.  Chris Bylsma is known encouraging knitters to combine fibers:  imagine eyelash with Lamb’s Pride or a metallic with Manos del Uruguay.  She pushes the definition of fiber combination with unique design – so imagine a poncho of fanciful mitered squares, or a shawl that, when you finish, you unravel the first and last six stitches to create a loopy fringe.  That’s the one I want to make!  But this is not the only side of Chris Bylsma – her oversized, button-down, man’s shirt-style Saturday Morning Sweater makes you want to just draw it around you and snuggle up with a good book (or your most recent knitting project!)

 

We also have many new patterns from Heartstrings Designs especially for those of you knitting with beads:  scarves, hats, wrist warmers, and more.

 

BEADS

And while we’re talking about beads:  many thanks to Carolyn Groves who gave a fun and interesting presentation on what beads are all about.  Carolyn has been incorporation beads into her tatting for years now and has collected a treasure trove of sizes and shapes.  What a help to those of us who want to explore this area.  You can look forward to seeing beads for sale at Millicent’s by late summer.

 

TRUNK SHOW

The Cotton Stria Trunk Show from Manos del Uruguay and Design Source will be with us for another ten days.  You don’t want to miss this one.  The adult sweaters are of simple but elegant design, soft and comfortable.  You just want to climb in!  And the children’s sweaters, hats and blankets are adorable.  We have the patterns (for advanced beginners and beyond) from Design Source and Minnowknits that can help you create your own comfort-sweaters. 

 

WORKSHOPS WITH MAUREEN PRITCHARD

What a friend we have in Maureen, the Barefoot Spinner.  Maureen lives outside of Romney with her sheep, her dogs, her husband, and a studio for spinning, dying, and knitting her own yarns.  Her yarns and roving for spinning sold out quickly at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show – and no wonder – Maureen is a bundle of creative energy with a good eye for color and design.  Her all day dyeing workshop got rave reviews from all takers last year and I encourage all to attend if you are able (okay, okay, it is on a Monday – so take a day off from work – call it a mental health day!)

Maureen will also be coming to Millicent’s for once per month Friday afternoon spinning workshops and a special workshop on spinning designer yarns (Prism yarns look out!)  Specifics are on our Special Events page.

 

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL YARN EDUCATION SECTION:

 

WOOL YARNS AND PILLS (YUCK!)

You’ve finished your sweater and are wearing it proudly, only to find ugly pilling under the arms and on the sides of your garment.  How annoying!  Pills can form on any kind of knitted fabric.  They occur when the ends of individual fibers are rubbed together from movement or contact with other fabric surfaces.  The little pesky fibers are pulled from the strand and onto the surface of the garment and entangle with their neighbors to create little balls of wool – pills, yuck!  If you pull a pill off you’ll see that it is always anchored to the fabric by a couple of fibers, which is why the pills don’t fall off on their own.

 

When do pills form?  Every time you swing your arms!  Every time to sit on upholstered furniture like a sofa or car seat!  Every time the lining of your coat rubs against your knitted garment!  It’s called fabric-to-fabric friction and it’s unavoidable.  But there is something you can do when you choose the yarns for your garment that can help lessen the likelihood that your masterpiece will have too many ugly pills.

 

How to avoid pilling in your knitting?  A lot of pill formation depends upon the construction of the yarn.  The key factor in forming pills if “fiber migration” – that is, fibers are able to migrate out of the yarn structure and up onto the knitted surface.  Anything that can keep the fibers from migrating, or, embedded inside the yarn strands will have a positive effect on keeping pills to a minimum.

 

Gauge:  Knitting at a loose gauge, particularly one lower than recommended on the yarn label, is likely to increase pilling.  Loose stitches allow a lot of yarn movement and pills form.  The opposite is obvious:  knitting at a firm gauge keeps the fibers secure in the yarn strand and pills are less likely to form (think of those little stitches sitting snuggly against one another, holding each other in!)

 

Yarn Construction:  The rule of thumb is that the more plies or strands there are in a yarn, and the thinner those plies are, the better the fibers will remain within the strands.   Thinner plies have to be twisted more so the yarn has sufficient strength.  The more the twists, the more the fibers are firmly embedded – fewer pills!

 

Yarn Color/ Smoothness/ Luster:  If you like a loosely twisted yarn, think hard about choosing a heathered or tweeded color.  The multicolor effect is more likely to hide pills against the background of knitting since the eye can’t make out the fine details so well with so many colors to perceive all at once.  In contrast, if you choose a yarn with high luster (it reflects light well), then it will look worn if it forms a fuzz and eventually pills.

 

Yarn Weight:  This one is easy – the thinner the yarn, the tighter it is knit, the fewer the pills.  But heavier yarns can be plied firmly or twisted firmly – if they are not knitted too loosely, then they can have a good durability and have fewer pills.  Lamb’s Pride Bulky is an example of such a yarn.

 

Pill Removal:  There are three ways to remove pills – 1) a motor driven fabric shaver,

2) a D-Fuzz-It, and 3) a Sweater Stone.  The shaver cuts the pills off while the other two pull the pills.  This one isn’t too hard to think through – if you pull off the pills by rubbing the knitted fabric with a harsh device, you will also raise up more little fibers which will then form new pills quickly.    The fabric shaver can remove pills and fuzz and leave the fabric looking like new.  Except – those batteries don’t last very long!  Of course you can always remove the pills manually, gently, by hand.  Especially if you have a garment with  cables or raised stitch patterns, this might be the only way to get rid of any pills.

 

Many thanks to InKnitters Magazine, Spring 2005 for this valuable information.

 

 

 

HAPPY KNITTING

FROM

DICK AND MEL

AT

        MILLICENT’S KNITS & YARNS

 

 

 

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