One of the things I love about owning a business is that I get to choose what goes on the shelves and racks. In February I met with the rep from Katia Yarns of Spain to take a look at what they have in their Spring and Summer line. It’s exciting that their entire line of yarn and fabric is now being distributed in Canada. This is exciting! The yarn I ordered just came in and as of today it is on the shelves. As much as I really wanted to order a whole lot more, I resisted temptation and limited my order to three different yarns. I’m excited to tell you about them though!
Fair Cotton Craft
This fair trade organic cotton is DIVINE! It’s put up in 200g balls and the “mileage” is superb at 620m! Katia has a number of patterns for this yarn as well; gotta love that. It creates a striped border to a lovely neutral colour. It’s available in four colourways and I have them all in stock now. With a single ball you can make a large child’s sweater. You could get a small to medium ladies’ top out of one ball if you made it with wee cap sleeves or sleeveless. They have a lovely baby blanket pattern and it takes a single ball to complete it.
The price does reflect the fact that it is fair trade and organic. And when you feel it and you see what you can make with a single ball, you won’t care about the price. It’s worth every penny. Since it arrived, I’ve been obsessing over what I want to make with it… as soon as I clear off some of my currently occupied knitting needles. If you scroll down on the link below, you will see the patterns they have for this yarn.
Scuby Cotton
I have had a lot of people ask me about macrame supplies. My sisters and I did macrame back in the late 1970’s. It’s a lot of fun and easy to get the hang of. Over a year ago I spoke to my suppliers and at that time, they told me this “flash in the pan” fad was on its way out and all they had in supplies were the colours no one wanted any more. Yet, I still had people asking me for macrame supplies. I kept hounding my suppliers and clearly other people did too. Katia’s answer to this demand is Scuby Cotton. They even have a free pattern for a plant hanger that you can download off their website! They have patterns for bags and purses, pillows, a lamp shade and an artistic wall hanging. I am working on carving out time to put together a macrame workshop. (It is likely to be toward the end of May.) This yarn is available in a large range of colours. I only brought in six, and I started with neutrals. If I get enough people interested, I will expand the selection to include other colours. Here’s a link to the yarn and again, if you scroll down, you’ll see all the patterns available. (The free plant hanger pattern is called Kayseri.)
And last but definitely not least is the Rainbow Big rug kit. Oh MY! This is just so fantastic, I’m bursting with excitement! This gradient yarn comes in a kit with one 700g ball of yarn (YES, you read right!) It seamlessly shifts from one colour to the next. A crochet hook and an easy pattern that will result in a 48″ rug are included with it. That’s a decent size. The yarn is presented in a clear zippered pouch with a grommet in the centre so you can leave the ball in the bag and pull it through the hole to minimize risk of tangling. (If you’re anything like me, you’d be hanging onto that zippered pouch when the rug is finished, to use with other projects.) Think about it. No need to change colours; no big pile of skeins or balls of yarn to manage; an easy crochet pattern; the colourway shifts without any effort and just two tails to weave in when the project is done. It will make anyone look like a genius! I only brought in four of these to begin with, each in a different colourway. If enough people get as excited as I am about these, I’ll happily bring in more. Here’s a link.
At the end of April I’ll be attending Katia’s open house to view and pre-order yarns for next fall and winter. I’ll be checking out their fabrics and sewing patterns too. We’ll see whether or not I’ll dive into that pond when the time comes.
JUDY’S DESIGNS 