Have a Ball Fall Crawl + Kim Dyes Yarn Brioche DK 😍😍

September 12, 2023

Have you joined us for the Have a Ball Fall Crawl before? This is the FOURTH year of the crawl--the organizers created it in Fall of 2020 when so many Local Yarn Shops were reeling from trying to figure out how to function in a completely upended retail landscape. I was honestly too overwhelmed that first year to participate. (I had *just* revamped my website to support e-commerce.) But it was immediately clear that this was a supportive, loving, collaborative group of shop owners, and even when you're not aware of it that spirit of mutual aid helps me be a better shop owner, and serve you as my customers better.

This will be the third time Yarn Folk has participated in the crawl, and I'm very excited about what we'll be featuring during our time slot on September 24th at 9:45am PDT. Please join us; you can register here!

(PS--Kay Gardiner from Modern Daily Knitting will be the crawl's special guest, and will be on hand for a chat with the organizing team at the beginning of the crawl, Friday, September 22, at 9am PDT!)

…mark your calendars

Social Stitching

Every Saturday, 2-4pm

Have a Ball Fall Crawl (Virtual)

September 22-24, and September 30-October 1

Yarn Folk will be presenting Sunday, September 24, at 9:45am PDT. Register today for your virtual visit to 25 yarn shops throughout the country, plus the opportunity to win lots of great prizes contributed by our sponsors! Find the signup link at haveaballfallcrawl.com!

Temporary Schedule Changes

September 19

Open 8:00a - 5:00. Open during Bite of the Burg.

September 20

Extended hours during the last Ellensburg Night Market of the season. Open 8:00a - 8:00p.

…new in the shop

We had a few previews of Kim Dyes Yarn Brioche DK on social media last week, mostly because waiting almost an entire week to share was just too, too much to ask.

Dyer Kim Russo is based in Northern Virginia, and has been dyeing yarn full time since 2010. We've previously stocked her Tartlet Sport, and it's a wonderful yarn. This time, we needed an infusion of hand-dyed DK, and we are so happy to have Brioche DK to fill that spot. One of the things I love about Kim's dyeing is the balance she brings to variegated and speckled yarns. Those complex and subtle combinations are a joy to knit with! Also worth mentioning is that these are generous 4 ounce skeins, so there is 280 yards of squishy merino wool in each one!

…to inspire

Our shop sample for the Brioche DK is the 1x1 rib version of Tin Can Knits' Basic Beanie, which is honestly the holy grail of basic hat patterns. Six bucks gets you a pattern you can knit in three different ribbing options, using fingering, sport, DK, or worsted/aran weight yarn, in one of seven sizes. That's basically 84 hat patterns in one! The sample was knit to 10" before starting the crown decreases, and it has a nice wide fold up brim.

Another fun aspect of this project was that the second half of the knitting was done almost entirely on the go--I took the time to re-wind my ball of yarn so that I could knit from the outside (I'd started by pulling from the center, as I usually do), but I wanted to use a Mini Minder while I was walking around the Fair. As much as I love the look of a dense 1x1 rib, it's maybe not my very favorite thing to knit, so it was *great* to have an easy way to knit it on the go.

...currently stitching

I'm really loving the look of the Killer Queen Cowl in Junction Fiber Co.'s Making Tracks combined with Lanas. The contrast is strong, even though both colors are pretty deep.

I started with the sleeves of the Wullpullover in Lore. This sweater is knit from the bottom up. Normal people would start with the body, probably, but I started with the sleeves. Once the sleeves and body are knit up to the underarm, they are all joined together and the yoke decreases begin!