Heartstrings Yarn Studio

On my way out of Chico on Friday I stopped by this little yarn shop that I had walked to one of my first weeks at Chico State.  It is called Heartstrings Yarn Studio.  Honestly, I have to say I wasn’t overly impressed during my first visit.  Although the selection of yarn is INCREDIBLE, there is a lack of local yarns.  I know I went in with expectations of tons of local yarns because this is an “Ag” county and therefore there has to be more local spinners and fiber suppliers.

Even though I wasn’t completely awed my first visit, Heartstrings is one of the (if not the) only yarn shop in Chico.  And I wanted some “good” yarn.  After 10 years I have grown tired of Red Heart Super Saver acrylic yarn.  I was in the mood for some sock yarn, I want to learn to knit socks two at a time on circular needles.  

I think I chose a good day, there was no one in the store (okay one other person) and the sales lady was so kind to help me.  It was awesome.  I told her I was looking for some sock yarn, she showed me the selection.  I picked out a nice merino wool and an alpaca/merino blend.  Both are delicious!  

Then I told the sales lady I was looking to make some crocheted potholders.  She showed me her selection of 100% cottons as well as the sales bins that I could dig through to find some cotton yarns.  It was great fun!  

I came away with my two sock yarns, a new set of circular needles, and some great information about the local spinning group.  I even applied for a job there!  Boy it would be great if I could work there!

On my second visit my mind was changed regarding this quaint little yarn shop.  I quite like it. The selection of yarn and needles is quite extensive and the staff is very knowledgable.  I will someday be a supplier for high quality fiber rovings and yarn to shops such as Heartstrings Yarn Studio.'

Check out there website at http://heartstringsyarn.com/ 

KnitPicks Podcast

I have recently become addicted to the Knit Picks Podcasts.  I’m not exactly sure what the appeal is, since I don’t knit very much.  It must be all the chatting about yarn, dying, spinning, and interviews with authors.  I checked out the website and they have so much amazing yarn.  The only downfall is that I can’t snuggle with it before I commit to buying.  Their prices aren’t bad either.  I really love that (at least for now) there is FREE shipping for order over $50!  And that is not a hard number to hit!  

I was listening to an old podcast from July 3, 2008, it was an interview with Gale Zucker the photographer for Shear Spirit.  I have yet to check out the book but I loved the interview!  Kelley, the podcast hostess, asked Gale if she could have any livestock in on a little farm what would she have.  Her answer to my great delight...alpacas and goats!  I was pulling some bread out of the oven and when I heard that I started laughing out loud!  I thought I was the only one on this planet that was that crazy to pick that combination of livestock.  I was happy to hear I’m not the only crazy person on the planet.  

I will eventually buy some Knit Picks’ yarn, but until I have some disposable income, I will be content with what I have and enjoy listening to the podcast.  www.knitpicks.com

Spin, Spin, Spin!!! Yarn, Yarn, Yarn!

I'm off for an entire week from school!  I'm home and watching Sunday night football with my dad and my dogs next to a really lovely fire.  I could stay this way forever!  Today I decided to finally teach my self to learn to spin using a drop spindle.  I'm so excited!  My yarn is so ugly and beautiful at the same time!

I bought a drop spindle before I went away to school and about 5 oz. of roving to play with while at school.  Needless to say that didn't really happen.  I could never get relaxed enough to justify spending time playing with wool.  But I'm home for a week and the only other things that have my attention is some scholarship applications, my dogs, bunnies, and chickies, my family and quite a bit of time will be spent in the kitchen.



After watching a few videos on youtube.com this morning, I finally got out my roving and spindle and seriously started to learn.  I'm still in the "park and draft" level of skill but I will improve this week!  I'm really enjoying it and can't wait to be making my own yarn start to finish!

Let There Be Yarn!

Despite the fact that I have been actively using yarn for nearly a decade, I still use the cheapest yarn I can find in the local chain craft store.  A few years ago I decided I would raise alpacas for fiber and offspring sales.  But that is still in the future.  So I have taken on the mission to find out everything I can about turning that fiber I will be shearing off my future alpacas (and since then I have added fiber goats and sheep to my dreams). 

I went to the library and checked out three books on handspinning and dying fiber.  I just finished the first book this morning.  It is called  by Judith MacKenzie McCuin.  Now, I haven't much experience actually using this book so at the moment this in purely a "reader's review". 

I found Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning a very excellent and informative book.  There were great pictures detailing each section.  It not only covered spinning on a wheel or drop spindle, but also covered a little on dying and spinning exotic fibers.  There was also a section on how to cable, ply and create different artistic effects while spinning yarn.  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning to handspin. I plan to use this book when I actually attempt to teach myself to spin my own yarn. 

Now I know what questions to ask the people who are in the handspinning competition at County Fair!   Until next time!  God Bless!

Animal Invasion!

I have recently made three crocheted stuffed animals; a bunny rabbit, a manta ray and a whale. And I must say I love how they all turned out. I used the patterns out of "Super-Super Cute Crochet" by Brigitte Read.  There are 35 different animals to crochet, including:

Pomeranian, Bunny Rabbit, Kitten, Percy Pig, Siberian Hamster, Puppy, Cat, Cow, Polar Bear, Penguin, Turtle, Crocodile, Frogs and Toads, Walrus, Manta Ray, Squid, Whale, Shrimp, Platypus, Snail, Flamingo, Tortoise, Hippo, Guinea Pig, Anteater, Butterfly, Bluebird, Toucan, Owl, Panda, Koala, Silkworm, Mole, Arctic Fox, and Dragon


I plan to make many more of these little guys and market them via craigslist and local craft fairs.  The best part about these creatures is that they are much larger than I expected.  I expected little tiny animals and I got nice stuffed animals that kids can play with. 

There is one problem that I have found so far with this book.  There are some mistakes in it.  The stitch count for many of the rows is off.  In the manta ray I just did the stitch count for the body is 52 single crochet stitches, not 62 stitches.  I have no problem correcting them, crossing out the wrong number and filling in the correct.  I have learned not to worry about "ruining" books that I use. 

Personally, I do not mind going through and fixing the mistakes as I make each animal.  But I know some people don't want to take the time to do that.  I may over a period of time post the corrections, not the entire pattern, but the row counts on this blog.  But not today. 

Tomorrow, I may visit Michael's in my way home from work, use the gift card my sister got me for my birthday and buy some more yarn to make some more little animal friends.