Synchronicity and Sax Solos

Posted by Shannon in Author

Emily was talking about DIY synchronicity a few days ago, but this, my dears, blew my mind.

When women spend a lot of time together, their monthly cycles oftentimes sync up. I am completely convinced that brains can sync themselves, as well. It has already happened, quite completely, to Emily and me. We can barely form a cohesive thought alone anymore; we’re almost one very Twisted organism. But last week, the cosmos proved that Star and I are brain-syncing, too. Look out, world!

It all started on a Wednesday. I was in the back room at Twisted, plugging away on the old computer, when Star came back, and said, “I have a VERY important question for you!” She told me that she and her special someone were obsessed with this cheesy saxophone solo, but could not for the life of them remember the name of the song. She then proceeded to air-saxophone that solo like she was Charlie Parker himself, and I recognized the tune, but couldn’t quite place it. I knew I needed reinforcements, so I immediately video-chatted Stefan (my go-to person for all queries obscure), Star air-sax’ed the heck out of him, and he, too, became obsessed.

The solo hid out in the back of my mind, jumping to the surface every once-in-a-while until a few days later, when Stefan called me to let me know he was on his way home. He told me to grab my computer, go to YouTube, and type in “Gerry Rafferty, Baker Street.” That sweet sax started wailing, and I knew my man had come through yet again. I copied the link, pasted it into an email, and sent it to Star…at the very same moment she was sending the exact same link to me! I kid you not, folks, her man was on a mission, too, and had discovered this sax solo at the same moment mine did!

We giggled and I.M.’ed and giggled and I.M.’ed all the live-long evening – I mean, come ON, how often does something that bizarre happen? As I was sending the link to her, she was sending the link to me. I think our emails may have even high-five’d as they passed each other in the ether…

So, without further ado, listen, my friends, to the sweet sound of synchronicity…

Kid Seta Trunkshow

Posted by Emily in events

Friday 9/3 – Thursday 9/9

On Friday, September 3rd, we’ll be debuting a Trunk Show for Schulana’s Kid Seta, a lace-weight mohair-silk blend that we’ve been carrying for a while, but have decided to greatly expand.

It is soft, luscious and a delight to wear next to the skin. Light and airy, yet surprisingly warm.

You’ll probably be as surprised as we were to learn that this luxurious yarn is identical to Rowan’s Kid Silk Haze. Same fiber content, same mill, same specifications. Literally, one ball gets the Rowan label and the one right next to it gets the Schulana label.

We’ll be receiving our expanded shipment of the yarn then, too, and you’ll receive 10% off all Kid Seta purchased during the Trunk Show! We’ll also have some free patterns to inspire you, as well as a drawing for prizes.

Let’s get Educational, Educational… let me hear your needles talk

Posted by Alex in classes

Class Round-Up! Sept 7-14

Tink, Drop, Frog: A great favorite here at Twisted- learn to read your knitting and fix your mistakes! No longer will you despair because you dropped a stitch and the yarn store isn’t open until the next morning! No longer will you call up your buddies in tears because your knitting broke your heart! (Though we still recommend ice cream.) Michele Bernstein will teach you to stick up for yourself in the face of knitting defeat and to recognize and fix some of the most common mistakes. The next session is Sept. 8, from 6-8pm, and costs $20. You’ll need light colored, plain bulky yarn and needles to match, and a crochet hook sized G, H, or I. This class has some homework: please bring one flat swatch of stockinette stitch in your bulky yarn – 20 stitches, 16 rows, and don’t take it off the needles. You’ll learn how to pick up dropped stitches, unknit stitch by stitch (tink), tear out several rows at a time (frog) and fix other common mistakes.

Spinning for Beginners: Like yarn? Learn to make it! Spinning is a fun and incredibly addictive hobby…and nothing compares to knitting with handspun yarn! Leila Wice will teach you to make a simple spindle and use it, while also acquainting you with the types of commercial spindles available to you as well as giving you a whirl on a wheel. This class is aimed at the complete spinning newbie- no prior experience or materials required – but wheel spinners looking to learn more about spindles are welcome too! The class is on Sundays, September 12 and 19, from 1:30- 3:00 pm and costs $60. There is a $5 materials fee to get you started, and you don’t need to bring a thing! There is also an optional field trip carpooling to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, OR on Sep. 26- if you’re not addicted by the time the class is over, you will be after visiting Canby! (And you’ll probably want a pet goat.)

Knitting Studio: This is an ongoing class that happens almost every Sunday, and is absolutely great for answering any questions you have about just about anything (knitting-related, anyway, though Parna’s probably happy to give unprofessional advice on that cute guy you keep seeing at the bus stop. But no promises.) In September, this class will be happening on 9/5, 9/12 (with Vivian instead of Parna), 9/19, and 9/26. It’s $20 a session and runs from 3:30-5:30. Unlike our other classes, this one is mostly drop-in (though you can sign up ahead of time if you want to make sure there’s a space.)

I’m pretty sure she knit those legwarmers herself

SOW #14: We Heart Chunky Cotton

Posted by Shannon in SOW, sale, the shop, yarn

Wow. This is the final Summertime Sale of the Week. First of all, we are FLOORED that summer is just about over, and second of all, we can’t believe our SOWs are almost done.

For our final Sale of the Week, we’re offering 25% off of chunky cottons, in a last-ditch effort to hold on to Summer with both hands. From Monday, August 30th through Sunday, September 5th, the following chunky cottons are priced to head on home with you, our fantastic customers…

Mirasol Hap’I
Fiber: 100% cotton
Weight: Worsted
Gauge: 4.5 sts/inch
Needles: US 8
Weight: 100 grams
Length: 132 yards
Care: Hand wash. Dry Flat.


At 25% off, Mirasol Hap’i is $7.50 a skein (originally $10.00).

Araucania Nature Cotton
Fiber: 100% cotton
Weight: Chunky
Gauge: 3.5 sts/inch
Needles: US 8-10
Weight: 100 g
Length: 105 yards
Care: Hand Wash. Dry Flat.


At 25% off, Araucania Nature Cotton is $9.00 a skein (originally $12.00).

Araucania Patagonia
Fiber: 100% cotton
Weight: Chunky
Gauge: 3.5 sts/inch
Needles: US 8-10
Weight: 100 g
Length: 105 yards
Care: Hand Wash. Dry Flat.


At 25% off, Araucania Patagonia is $9.75 a skein (originally $13.00).

Our Sale of the Week prices are valid from Monday, August 30, 2010 through Sunday, September 5, 2010 only. Limited to stock on hand – come early for best selection. No returns on sale purchases.

DIY synchronicity

Posted by Emily in crafting

Sometimes you learn the same thing from a bunch of different places all at once… this week my lesson was what it means to be crafty or Do It Yourself (DIY).

A guy from Comcast was just here to install my cable. The modem is in my spare room, which is where I keep my not insubstantial array of craft supplies. As he was leaving the technician said, “You sure are a crafty little thing!” Usually I’m a bit on the touchy side about comments that can be interpreted as sexist, but he truly didn’t mean it like that. Also, although it’s all neatly arranged and for the most part hidden, when you go mucking about with wires and plugs you end up having to move at least three under-bed containers of yarn, one tub of fabric, a sewing machine, one very bad painting, a largeish container of various kinds of paper, and my printer. I looked up from re-stringing the poles of my backpacking tent. “Yes,” I said. “Yes, I guess I am.”

I heard a radio show last weekend on OPB called Destination DIY. It is, not shockingly, about DIY in Portland, and the fact that for something to be DIY does not mean it has to involve a hot glue gun. (Though I do love me some hot glue.) For example, this show included a segment about people who represent themselves in court. This isn’t necessarily what springs to your mind first when you hear the term DIY, but goshdarnit, if you think about it it totally makes sense.

And last week we had a meeting with our accountant where I was feeling down right crafty. We were running reports right and left and trying to solve a small mystery and getting all creative with our problem solving integrating the two different software programs we use to track inventory and expenses. I felt excited in the same way as when I’m learning something new when I’m knitting, or making a lot of progress in a pattern I like. I mean, what’s more DIY than teaching yourself accounting and web design and new software programs and starting up a business? Whether your selling yarn or widgets – that’s pretty crafty.

So here’s my little new nugget of knowledge. The part of me that likes to knit and sew (and hot glue things to other things) is the same part that revels in keeping our bookkeeping super tidy and knowing that all the little columns balance out perfectly. And making the web site look pretty. And designing ads. It’s all about problem solving and creating order out of chaos and something useful out of raw materials, whether it’s data or a ball of yarn.

New Lantern Moon goodies

Posted by Emily in bags, local products

Lantern Moon has a few new adorable notions out we just had to have!

First of all, they’ve added three more crocheted tape measures to their repetoire.

Also, we just got the most adorable set of notions bags. This set of three nesting, clam-shell style bags is available in five dramatic tafeta colors. Seriously, the Twistedistas are freaking out over these.

Finally, we’ve ordered two new stitch markers to astound and amaze you. Snowflakes and Sheep (!!!) are soon to be joining strawberries and flowers in the cutest flipping stitch markers ever hall of fame. They’re not in stock yet, but they’re on order and we’ll get them soon!

Lantern Moon products are handcrafted in Vietnam with fair labor practices, good working conditions and fair wages. Your purchase contributes to the economic and social well being of the areas where they are produced, providing income and self-reliance to women and their families. More on Lantern Moon’s website.

Caps for Soldiers deadline TONIGHT!

Posted by Shannon in charity, knitting, the shop

We are so fortunate to live in an uber-crafty place with ultra-generous crafters. We’ve had such a great response to Barbara and Carla’s call for Caps for Soldiers, and it sounds like the other shops in town that have been collecting them have been having the same wonderful response. Barbara tells me that over 100 caps have been collected from Portland knitters already, and that the deadline has been pushed up to tonight, so they can be presented to the soldiers next week.

Here is a message, sent to us by Barbara, from the mother of this project, Janet from Boise. She and her mother, Bea, started this project.

Dear Knitting Angels:

When Bea made the promise to the Adjutant General in April that we would commit to 2,700 helmet liner caps by the first of September, it was indeed an act of faith. We got off to a slow start but always knew that if we could get the information out to the knitting community, it could be done. Finally, in the middle of June we started to get some media help and things really took off. Your calls came in like a flood and we scrambled to get the patterns distributed by mail, e-mail, through our drop-off sites and by passing them out everywhere we went.

We had some trials and misunderstandings with the patterns, etc. and of course the yarn shops had a hard time keeping enough yarn in the appropriate colors to meet the demand at first. Thank you for your patience during that time and we appreciate the wonderful efforts of our yarn shops for working so hard to meet our yarn needs as well as help with the knitting of the caps and collection process. With the help of the yarn shops, we made several changes in the patterns to try and make them more clear and knitter friendly. Then we started waiting for the completed caps to start coming in. We were like a couple of children waiting for Christmas.

Bea kept her knitting needles busy (too bad no one has invented high speed electric needles yet, huh) making caps along with answering calls for patterns, questions on the patterns and helping many knitters learn how to stitch the caps together without a visible seam. Janet spent most of her time making and delivering copies of the patterns to drop-off sites and via e-mail as requested, answering calls similar to those Bea received and collecting caps as they were turned in at our sites. She knitted caps as well as time allowed but did not get nearly as many knitted as she would have liked. At first just a few came in at a time, then gradually more and more came in each week and now we get a fairly large number each day. It is very exciting to see the response from you wonderful knitters.

We are now on the verge of reaching and exceeding our goal thanks to you all. We have over 2,400 caps sorted into small, medium and large size and boxed at this time. We still need all of the caps you have knitted, however, so we can be certain there are enough in each size to meet the needs of all the soldiers. . As we have said before, each and every cap is important. We are asking that you finish up the caps you are working on and get them either mailed to us or dropped off to a collection site by September 1. Bea and Janet have been asked to attend a BBQ with the entire 116th to turn the helmet liner caps over to them on September 9. This will be an unbelievable honor for us and we are looking forward to it.

The caps will be distributed to the soldiers as they are deployed and will take all of the remaining caps with them to Iraq and pass them on to other units for their soldiers. Having them by September 1 will give us time to sort them by size and get them boxed up for delivery on the 9th. If some don’t come in until after that date, we will forward them on until September 30, but it is really important to try and have them here by September 1 so they can be part of those being handed out to the soldiers at that time.

We have been told by the commanders of the 116th that they are very excited about the outpouring of support that our troops have received by our knitters in this project. It is hard to see our soldiers leave their families to go off to a war zone for an unknown time period, but we want you to know that they will be more comfortable while serving there thanks to your efforts. We hope you feel as proud of your accomplishment as we do and that you will accept our gratitude as well.

As a side note….Janet decided to wear one of these caps , soaked in water, golfing in the hot sun one day a week ago to verify that it would indeed cool her head when wet. She was very pleased to find that it worked even better than she had been told.

We look forward to receiving the remaining caps that you have worked so hard to create. The addresses are listed below. Please share this information with anyone you know that is working on this project with us as we don’t have the e-mail addresses for all our knitters.

In closing, we want to thank you again from the bottom of our hearts and on behalf of the members of the 116th for you help in the successful outcome of this project.

Eat your leafy greens

Posted by Emily in local products, patterns

Or, better yet, knit them. Behold – Shannon’s newest lovely pattern! Leafy Greens has long arms so it will stay securely round your shoulders. We cannot, however, guarantee that you will absorb any vitamins by osmosis…

From the pattern:

Inspired by a simple leaf motif and the loveliest green yarn in my stash, I played with shawl-shaping and pattern-mixing, and after a few fits and starts, came up with this pattern. In either fingering or sport, the long arms allow for many different wrapping styles, and construction gives the piece a soft curve in back.

You can get a hard copy of the pattern in our shop or on our web store, or you can download it electronically from Ravelry.

Fingering-weight version:
Gauge: 24 sts and 32 rows in stockinette (gauge isn’t super important, because this is a shawl).
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) circular needle (24” or longer) OR size needed to get YOU the gauge YOU want for this shawl.
Yarn: about 580 yards. Sample shown in Dream in Color Smooshy, colorway Goodluck Jade.
Finished measurements: 72” wide, 16” deep at middle.

Sport-weight version:
Gauge: 20 sts and 28 rows in stockinette (gauge isn’t super important, because this is a shawl).
Needles: US 5 (4mm) circular needle (24” or longer) OR size needed to get YOU the gauge YOU want for this shawl.
Yarn: about 600 yards. Sample shown in Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport, colorway Mossay.
Finished measurements: 84” wide, 18” deep at middle.

For both versions:
Notions: stitch markers, darning needle.
Skill level: advanced beginner.

Class Round-Up

Posted by Alex in classes, the shop

We just put out our fall class schedule and dang, do we have some exciting, never-before-taught-at-Twisted stuff for you! You can check out the complete schedule HERE, but we’ve got a few things coming up fast:

Learn to Knit: If you’re still brand new to this whole “knitting” thing, we’ve got another Learn to Knit class with Vivian starting on Saturday, September 4th, and continuing for the next few weeks- you can now choose if you want a three or four session class! Class is from 10:30 to 12:30pm, and costs $60 for three sessions or $80 for four. Students need size 8 straight needles and a worsted weight wool in a plain, not-too-dark color. If taking part in the bonus session, you will probably want 3 buttons to finish off your project. Class will cover knitting, purling, casting on, binding off, increasing, decreasing, and reading a pattern.

Socks: Cuff-down with a Gusset Heel on Two Circs: We’ve heard a lot about how awesome toe-up socks are, lately, but really, that’s only half the story. Some of us like to make our socks the old fashioned, cuff-first way (me, for instance. Ahem.) Parna will be teaching the traditional method of making socks, starting with the cuff and doing a traditional gusset heel (which are really sort of magical to watch take shape.) Using two circular needles insures that you’ll never lose a DPN, decreases laddering, and opens up the possibility of *gasp* doing two socks at once! (But for now, we’ll start with one.) Class is on Mondays, Sept 6, 13, and 20, from 6-8pm and costs $60. Includes pattern- you’ll need US2s and fingering or sport-weight yarn, and will learn to knit in the round on 2 circs, create a flap and gusset heel, and do kitchener stitch.

Double Knitting Workshop: Want to expand your knitting repetoire and learn to create extra-warm things with TWO right sides? Dawn Seymour will lead you through two different double knitting techniques (and you’ll go home with some neato potholders to go with your brand new mad skillz!) Class is on Sundays, September 5 and 12 from 10:30-12:30 pm, and costs $40. Students will need two colors of smooth worsted weight yarn (cotton or wool), medium-to-small length circular needles in size 6 and 8 (or a size matched to your yarn), a tapestry needle and a crochet hook.

Show the World! A photography workshop for crafters and designers: Are your Ravelry project pages looking a little sad? The patterns you design getting ignored? Etsy sales not so swift? Never underestimate the importance of awesome photography! Learn to navigate this brand new world and avoid the common pitfalls of amateur photography, and show the world how truly gorgeous your projects are! Yarny-photo-goddess Vivian will cover basic lighting techniques (ie, things you can totally pull off at home without fancy equipment), camera use, creative display, and an intro to lightbox construction. The first session of this class is Sunday, September 5th, from 1-3 pm and costs $20. You will need your camera (preferably digital, but if it’s not, that’s ok), your camera manual if you can find it (pro tip: If you’ve lost yours, try google!), USB cord or card reader for hooking your camera up to a computer, and an item or several to photograph (yarn, a project, or whatever you want!)

As usual, to sign up for a class or to get more information, drop by the shop, call us at 503.922.1150 or email us at class@twistedpdx.com.

Emilyshmemily

Posted by Emily in local products, patterns

Meet the Emily Shmemily – a fingering-weight shawlette pattern designed by Shannon just for me! But I’ll share.

In the pattern, Shannon says:

I made a simple scarf a few years ago, just because it was a pattern I wanted to knit. I never wore the scarf, and offered it to Emily when I discovered that she didn’t have a handknit scarf or shawl (yeah, I’ll wait a minute and allow you to calm down after reading that horrifying revelation). Well, she had it all of 2 minutes when her boyfriend STOLE it. Her 30th was coming up, and I was racking my brain – what to get for my wonderful partner? Bing-bing-bing! I decided to design a shawlette for her, and I made it girly enough that the boy wouldn’t even be tempted to take it from her. Thus the Emily Shmemily was born.

Now you, too, can have an Emily Shmemily (but not the Emilyshmemily) of your very own. Purchase a hard copy from our web store or download the electronic version from Ravelry.

2310 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232     *     503-922-1150     *     info@twistedpdx.com