Summer classes are up! Click here to view them all!
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Also, join us for a WEEK-LONG MOTHER’S DAY SALE! **May 5th - 10, 2008**

You’ll be given a bag and for all the yarn you can fit in it, you’ll get:

* 15% off ALL non-sale yarn throughout the store *
* An additional 10% off clearance yarn (already 30-40% off) *

You will also get 15% off select leaflet patterns and select books!

And of course, don’t forget we have GIFT CERTIFICATES - the perfect Mother’s Day gift!

One bag per person. May not be used in conjunction with any coupons.

A very belated Happy New Year to everyone - but we’ve been busy busy busy!

The newsletters are being mailed and the email list is being notified…but you can see our newly posted Class List online!!! We start out this round with two special holiday classes:

If you’ve always wanted to try Needle Felting, take our Heart-Felt Bouquet Class on Saturday, February 2nd (9am-11am)! This new kit from Decadent Fibers contains all the tools and materials you need to make a one-of-a-kind bouquet of needle felted hearts!

Another Valentine-themed class is also an introduction to lace knitting - our Thinking Of You Scarf class on Monday, February 4th (7pm-9pm). Subtle hearts peek through elegant lace in this Heartstrings pattern.

Both of these classes are soon enough that your finished projects will be ready in time for Valentine’s Day - although they’d be great Mother’s Day gifts as well!

As for sales, we’ve got a coupon for you - bring it in-store and get 25% off Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Astrakhan, Merino DK or Merino Aran!

And, of course, we all know that Super Bowl is coming up…which means so is our annual Super Bowl Sale! Whether you need a project to work on during the game or a project to escape the game entirely, this is the sales event of the year.

More details on the sale will be posted, but save that date:

February 3rd from 1:00pm - 4:00pm!

There’s still time to sign up for this Sunday’s special workshop with Laurie Kimmelstiel, co-author of Exquisite Little Knits!

This workshop encourages knitters of all skill levels to explore and develop their innate creative abilities, how to be imaginative and ultimately learn how to become more comfortable with developing their own designs.

Workshop participants will be encouraged to expand their own repertoires by knitting the unexpected and/or adding unique enhancements in color, fiber or stitch techniques to their knitted garments and accessories. Using prepared knitted swatches, workshop participants will experiment with assorted fibers and stitch techniques to add innovative and unusual trims and styling to their knitwear. Knitters of all skill levels are encouraged to enhance their craft through fiber and color.

Laurie will also talk about her background, the process of writing a knitting book and well as present a trunk show of garments from Exquisite Little Knits.

Participants should bring the following: 4-6 knitted swatches using various types of fibers. Swatches should be approximately 4” square.

Assorted knitting needles (including 16” circulars) and a crochet hook.

Small amounts of various yarns including ribbons, novelty, silks, etc.

Cost is $60 - Call today to sign up - 203-397-5117!

You still have a few days to sign up for this amazing 6-hour workshop with Galina Khmeleva that is taking place THIS SATURDAY, October 27th starting at 10:30am!

If you saw the Skaska booth at Rhinebeck, you’ve seen how incredible this style of lace-knitting is — and you do NOT want to miss learning from THE expert on Orenburg Lace!

Click here for more details, or call The Yarn Barn right away to sign up at 203-389-5117 to reserve your spot!

Yep - Galina A. Khmeleva, owner of Skaska Designs and author of Gossamer Webs: The History and Techniques of Orenburg Lace Shawls and Gossamer Webs: The Design Collection, is coming to the Yarn Barn to teach you how to make Orenburg Lace!

Galina is principally responsible for saving the techniques of Orenburg lace from extinction and will be teaching a 6-hour class on the basic elements and pattern designs on Saturday, October 27th starting at 10:30am.

The class costs just $75 - sign up TODAY to reserve your spot for this rare opportunity! Just call us at 203-389-5117 or come on in to the store!

Have we got a class for you — just in time for all your Spring celebrations!

Using the Decadent Fibers kit (which is amusingly shaped like a carrot), you’ll learn just how much fun needle felting really is. The kit includes strands of green chenille to make your stalks and plenty of wool in various shades of orange to make several little carrots - it all depends on how big or small you decide to make them. We’ve scheduled it just in time for Easter, but these little carrots are fun to hang up for any reason!

And we have the bunnies for sale, too.

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In other news…we’ve scheduled a Yarn Tasting! Join us on Saturday, May 12th at 11:30am to get a sneak peak at the Fall yarn collections from Rowan, RYC, Jaeger and Gedifra. A $5 fee saves your reservation for this special event- this $5 will become Store Credit to use whenever you wish! Call us today at 203.389.5117 to make your reservation!

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Did I mention the NEW STUFF? We-heh-helll…let’s start with Artyarns new Beaded Silk!

The little tiny beads make the silk even more gorgeous. We’ve also gotten a shipment of Artyarns’ new Cashmere 2 (as opposed to their Cashmere 5, which we also carry!). Delicious stuff.

And speaking of delicious, also just in: Claudia’s Handpaint SILK LACE.

This is 100% 20/2 silk laceweight and once you feel it you will not want to put it down. 1100 yards per skein give you LOTS to work with as well!

Also in…Lacey Lamb from Jade Sapphire!

Seeing as Jade Sapphire makes a lot of cashmere yarns, after feeling the cashmere-softness of this lace-weight yarn I was amazed to find out that it is really is “just” lambswool (even though I *did* see the name of the yarn)! You’ll have to feel it to believe it.

Lastly, for the sock-knitters, Reynolds Soft Sea Wool!

100% cushy dk weighted wool that makes for crisp stitch patterning in many colors. Reynolds has also published a great little book of sock patterns for Soft Sea Wool, with 12 designs for both men and women.

Makes for a lovely January Spring day, though! The weathermen say this might be the last week of El Nino warmth, so enjoy it while you can! Soon we can actually wear our handknits on a regular basis again…which brings me to this:

If you’re into making the new Calorimetry pattern from Knitty.com - we have the yarn in MANY colors, as shown above. It only takes one skein, so you can afford to make one for a friend too. Or just have one in a different color for yourself. *wink*

Well, we’ve started posting new classes on our site, including some of these new ones:

Learn to Lizard Ridge (Learning Short Rows)! - $40 (plus materials)
Been wanting to make the hottest afghan pattern to hit the web in 2006? The pattern is free at Knitty.com, you just pick out the yarn at our store and you will learn how to do short rows while you make your first block, a pillow cover or even a scarf!

Monday, January 29th, 7:00pm-9:00pm

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Urban Adventure Bag by Noni - Cost $45 (plus materials)
A cool bag with a new shape from Noni! Learn how to put all the pieces together and finish your felted bag when you are done. We’ll be making the medium sized bag in this two-part class.

Thursday, February 1st & Tuesday, February 20th, 7:00pm-9:00pm

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Cashmere Scarflette - Cost $40 (plus materials)
Using Artyarns’ luxurious new Cashmere 5 yarn, learn more advanced knitting skills such as short rows and keeping track of stitch patterns.

Wednesday, February 7th, 7:00pm-9:00pm

And, while it wasn’t taken on a Saturday, we leave you with a beautiful evening sky we had on Wednesday for a semi-Saturday Sky photo…

Well, forget about it. All you need to get (or have others get for you) is a…

Yarn Barn Gift Certificate!

Get it in ANY amount you want and you can either pick it up in-store or call us at 203-389-5117 or toll-free 1-877-299-5245, pay by credit card and we’ll mail it out for you anywhere in the US!

See? Easy shopping.

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Oh, and if you liked the Vivian Hoxbro kits we featured in our previous blog post, they’re all available from our online store now, where you can check out all the current colorways as well…just click here to see the full list >>

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We’ve also got one more class before the end of 2006 - Needle Felted Snowmen or Gingerbread Men! The class is this Saturday, December 16th, from 11:00am-12:30pm, so call us to sign up before it’s too late. Here’s one of the little guys, worked up by the instructor:

We also have a few of the Felted Pears worked up, packaged and ready for purchase for a quickie gift for $5 each. Say you made it…we won’t tell!

So, we have this class coming up for making a felted oven mitt, and naturally we need a sample to show off. The sample is ready to be felted:

Is that not to-scale enough for you? ‘Cause it makes a great ski mask, too…except for the seeing part, that is…

The class is going on Monday, December 4th from 7:00pm-9:00pm and is great for all skill levels. This sample will be coming home with me to get properly felted, so look for it next Monday at the latest in the store. More classes are, of course, listed online if you click “Classes” in the navigation above.

We’ve started to add some items from our Clearance area to our store…whew, we have a lot of sale yarn. Barely a dent has been made, but more is certainly to come. Everything we put up in the SALE area online is 30%-40% off - and of course, in-store, single balls are 30% off and sealed bags are 40% at all times. Just ask where to look next time you stop by.

I’ll tell you, the time change is really evident when we’re working at the store…just not used to it being dark before we close up for the evening!

AND we were so pleased to recently have Annie Modesitt at the store for a special workshop and booksigning! Thank you Annie!!!