Our 8th Anniversary Sale & Celebration

We are excited to be celebrating our 8th Anniversary with a fun sale on Thursday, February 9th through Saturday, February 11th. Thank you so much for all your support throughout the years. We feel truly blessed to have gotten to know each of you throughout our 8 years here. We also want to thank our staff, past and present, for everything they have done to help throughout the years. It is an amazing group of women, and it is a joy to come to work here each day with people who are so happy to share their love of knitting and crochet with others.


All regular priced yarn will be 15% off and your reward points still apply! To add some fun, with a $20 minimum purchase, you will be able to try your luck by drawing a card for an additional surprise -- maybe an additional discount, TY bag or a bit of chocolate!

We also have a couple of special items available for the big event! One of our favorite local dyers, Heather of Western Sky Knits, has created a limited edition sock yarn color especially for us -- Twisted Twilight! It is gorgeous and we know you will love it. We also have a special edition of the Twisted Yarns Chico Bags to celebrate our 8th year -- really fun!

You may have noticed we have started decorating the trees in the parking lot with a bit of "Yarn Bomb." If you add to the tree decoration, you will receive a set of 8 Twisted Yarns stitch markers (while supplies last)! It is easy--you cast on the number of stitches you would like for the height, then knit for 19" and cast off. You can do any stitch pattern or color combination and bring it in during the sale to receive your stitch markers.

We will be open from 10 to 7 on Thursday, then our normal business hours, 10 to 5, on Friday and Saturday.

And what would a Twisted Yarns party be without some chocolate?! We have convinced our dear friend to bring the food yet again - so we will have lots of yummy goodies to enjoy.

Come on in and enjoy the fun!

New Newsletter & Class Calendar

The newsletter and class calendar for the months of February through May 2012 are now available for access on our website and blog. Twisted Yarns soon will be 8 years old and we are planning a sale and celebration for the dates of Thursday, February 9 through Saturday, February 11. Be sure to join us!

The very popular Coiled Basket workshop taught by June Huber is on the class calendar for three separate dates in February, March and April. These classes fill up very quickly so call soon to reserve your spot!

If you are a crocheter as well as a knitter, look for Randi K's Kaja's Jacket class, taught by Randi herself, which uses both of these crafts to make a darling child's sweater. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kajas-jacket

Advanced beginner knitters who want to learn to read charts should take a look at the new Wayfarer Scarf class which uses a beautiful pattern by Jared Flood. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wayfarer-2

And as winter gives way to warmer weather, we have put the Sleeveless Shell and Summer Cardi classes back on the calendar. If you are nervous about making your first garment, these classes will help get you through it.

Lots of new spring and summer yarns have been arriving daily! Come on by the shop and take a look at what is new...and while you're there, why not sit for a bit, relax, and do a little knitting or crocheting!
We look forward to seeing you soon!

Annual Gumball Sale this Week

It's time for our Annual Gumball Sale! If you've never joined us for this sale, here's how it works:
You bring your selection of regular priced merchandise to the counter, put a penny in the gumball machine, and the color of your gumball determines your discount!

Red, Pink or Orange = 10% off

Blue or Purple = 20% off

Green = 30% off

Yellow = 50% off

White = $50 Gift Certificate!

Sale discount is for regular priced, in-stock merchandise only. Does not apply to merchandise already marked down, or to special orders (even if they are in stock). The discount is good on regular priced yarn, books, needles, accessories, bags, etc. You will also be earning points toward our rewards program!

The sale runs Thursday through Saturday, December 1-3. We'll be open late Thursday, 10-7, and open Friday and Saturday 10-5.

Don't forget we have Gift Certificates in any amount, and we have a gift registry. Just come in and fill out the form, or e-mail in your selections, and we'll help your family and friends find the perfect gift for you! We look forward to seeing you this weekend! We'll have a few door prizes you can sign up for as well. Don't miss out on the fun!

See you then!

Holiday Gift Registry

Wishing for some fiber related goodness under the tree this year? Need a way to suggest ideas to your non-yarnaholic loved ones? Come by and fill out a Twisted Yarns gift registry wish list! Forms are available at the front counter for you to fill out, or if you are not able to come by just email us your wish list and we will put it in the registry. Gift certificates also are available in any amount and they never expire.

We will be open late two nights in December. We will be open Thursday, December 1st until 7 pm during our annual Gumball Sale, and we will be open Thursday, December 8th until 8 pm during the Holiday Sit & Knit. Stop on by after work for some knitting, crocheting and shopping!

Fall Newsletter and Calendar

The newsletter and class calendar for October through January are available for viewing. Click on the links to the right to access them.

To help you get that holiday knitting done, we have scheduled some Sit and Knit times for you to get away from every day stresses and focus on your holiday projects. See the calendar for times.

New classes include Magic Loop Socks, a child's top down sweater, two color Brioche scarf, and a Fair Isle tube scarf. Artist Gika Rector is offering a holiday felting class in November in addition to her Nuno felting.

New yarns continue to arrive weekly at the shop. Recent arrivals include The Fibre Company's Acadia, Rowan's Heritage Tweed and Fine Tweed, and Prism Yarn's Plume and Surf. Our Koigu order will be arriving this week!

There still are spaces available in the Lucy Neatby workshops. Call the shop to sign up!

Love Mountain Colors yarns? Come by and check out their trunk show currently on display!

Lucy Neatby workshops

Well known knitting instructor and designer Lucy Neatby will be in Houston in October and Twisted Yarns is her host for two workshops to be held on Wednesday, October 26. Lucy's Hot Sock Tips will be offered in the morning and her class on Ambidextrous Knitting will be held in the afternoon. Each class is 3 hours and each costs $50. The workshops will be held at Immanuel United Church which is just a couple of blocks away from the shop. More detailed information about the workshops and the sign up information can be found here at this link. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your knitting knowledge by learning from such an experienced instructor!

It's raining yarn!

There may be a drought outside, but inside the shop we are swimming in yarn. Each day seems to bring a new cloudburst of boxes full of the beautifully colored yarns we ordered at the beginning of summer from our reps and at Yarn Market. We are restocking some of our favorites and welcoming many new yarns to our inventory.

Two of our new yarns are Sea Sock and Double Sea Silk by Hand Maiden. Sea Sock is a silk, merino, and Seacell mix in a fingering weight. Double Sea Silk is a silk and Seacell mix in a DK weight. Both drape beautifully and we have a lovely assortment of colors. We've also received Fleece Artist's Kidazzle, a merino, kid, and nylon sock yarn blend.

Another new yarn is Mountain Color's Jeannette. This cashmere and silk sport weight yarn will make an elegant gift for someone special. It is super soft!

We are dreaming of cooler days ahead when we can wear some of the new yarns we've received that have a little sparkle! On the shelf now are Adriafil's Malizia, a wool and acrylic blend in a bulky weight, Plymouth's Juli, an alpaca and nylon blend in a chunky weight, and Berroco's Flicker, an alpaca and acrylic blend in a worsted weight. All have a little metallic twinkle to brighten up the winter days.

Stop by on Saturdays through the end of August to give some of our new yarns a test knit or crochet! Some of our recent Sample It yarns were Juniper Moon's Willa, Universal Yarn's Classic Shades, Debbie Bliss' Paloma and Riva, Asland Trend's Royal Alpaca and Cascade's Eco Alpaca. Enter our weekly Saturday drawing for a door prize and check out the overflowing sale bin!

Beat the Heat Sale this week!

Join us for our annual Beat the Heat sale this Thursday through Saturday, July 14 to 16 during our store hours of 10am to 5pm each day. As the temperature rises, the yarn prices go down! We will check the temperature at the top of every hour and will discount all regular priced yarn as follows:

up to 94 degrees = 15%
95 to 99 degrees = 20%
over 100 degrees = 25%

The sale is on all regular priced yarns only and cannot be combined with any other discount. However, you will continue to accrue customer reward points! So, come escape the heat at Twisted Yarns and start planning your fall and holiday knit and crochet projects!

New Newsletter and Class Calendar

Our newsletter and class calendar have been updated for the months of June through September 2011. Simply click on the links to the right of this page. There are several new classes on the schedule, including the fun to knit Eyelet Twigs Hat, a Granny Square blanket for beginning crocheters, and the Stitch Sampler scarf for beginning knitters. The Basic Beginner class and the Sleeveless Shell class have been revised. If you want to do more with fiber, remember that we also offer Beginning Spinning, Beginning Weaving and Nuno Felting classes. If you don't see a class that fits your schedule or if you need help with a specific technique, we are happy to help you with a private lesson. And as always, you are welcome any time to sit and knit and relax! We look forward to seeing you this summer!

Rozetti Marina yarn is here

Just arrived! A new scarf yarn from Universal Yarn Company, Marina by Rozetti. This honeycomb yarn ruffles as you knit it. We have a nice selection of colors for fun summer knitting. There also is a nice YouTube video which demonstrates cast on to bind off. Come in soon for the best selection!

Filling the shelves!

We have been busy the last few weeks meeting with all of our yarn reps and looking at the new yarns and yarn colors for fall. And now, some of those new yarns are arriving at the shop! Here is our Manos wall with a new supply of the super soft Maxima yarn! These bright colors will make an awesome snowboarder hat for that young person in your life.

Our Plymouth Encore wall has been replenished with a large assortment of colors! If you need to make an afghan for a new grad, new baby or newlywed couple, now is the time to come in for the best color selection!

One of our favorite customers was singing the praises of Cascade Yarn's Pacific and when the yarn rep showed it to us, we had to agree! This merino wool and acrylic yarn is so soft and pretty! It is a worsted weight yarn that knits up to 4.5 to 5 sts per inch on a US 7 to 8 needle and has 213 yards per skein.

Also new in the baby yarn section is Cascade's Cherub DK and Cherub Baby. Both are nylon and acrylic blends for easy care and they are oh, so soft! The Cherub DK has 180 yards and knits to 5.5 to 6 sts per inch on a US 4 to 5 needle. The Cherub Baby has 229 yards per skein and knits to 6 to 7 sts per inch on a US 3 to 4 needle.

Oh, my! What's this in the box we just opened? A new supply of Madelinetosh's Tosh Sock yarn! Last year's Sock Club members used this yarn in one of their kits and we sold out very quickly. Each of the different colorways is so beautiful that it is hard to choose for a project! Come by a take a look. We'll be getting these onto the shelves today!

Get a head start on your Christmas knitting! Come see what is new at Twisted Yarns!

More Staff Projects

Here are a couple more projects on the needles of the TY staff. Johanna is nearing the finish of the Salvador sweater featured in Berroco's Origami book #305 and she is using Berroco's Origami yarn to knit the sweater. It is an acrylic/linen/nylon/cotton blend that is multicolored and wrapped in a cord-like manner. This should be a nice sweater for a Houston summer wardrobe.









The finished sweater will look like this!


















Alisa is working on the Vesper sweater by Heidi Kirrmaier. It is a light weight short sleeve top that can be downloaded from the Ravelry website. The yarn she chose is Hempathy by Elsebeth Lavold, a hemp/cotton/nylon blend that can be machine-washed and has a nice drape.

Some of our current projects

Frequently customers ask us what we are knitting or crocheting. Here are a few projects some of the TY staff have in progress!

Eve and Debbie were inspired by our recent crocheted afghan project and worked together to make another one for a mutual friend. They used Shibui sock yarn to crochet basic granny squares and single crocheted them together. It is now finished and ready to gift.

Cindy is working on a Fair Isle project using Jamieson's Spindrift yarn. The colors are lovely together!

Ann is knitting sweater Six from the Noro Flowers 2 book by Jenny Watson. She is using Noro's new Taiyo sock yarn which is 50% cotton blended with wool, nylon and silk. It should make a nice lightweight top great for wearing during our hot, humid Houston summers!

We'll have some more project pictures soon. Come by and show us what summer projects you are working on!

Cute hat, cute book!

Look at this adorable baby hat that Cindy knit! The pattern is named Sheep Hat, of course, and is designed by Renee Lorion in the book 60 Quick Baby Knits: Blankets, Booties, Sweaters & More in Cascade 220 Superwash.

If you have a new baby to knit for, you will find lots of great patterns and gift ideas in this book from Cascade Yarns.

Crochet!

So, what has the Twisted Yarns gang been up to recently? Crocheting! One of our staff was due to become a first time grandmother in March and since she and the expectant mom both were crocheters, it seemed only right that the new baby boy should have a crocheted blanket. The skills of the staff ranged from experienced to newbie, but all learned to crochet a simple granny square pattern and made squares for the blanket.

Later, everyone got together to help sew the squares together! Getting together for a knitting or crocheting "bee" is fun and a great way to make a gift for a special occasion.