Joys of Choosing Fall Yarns

by Lindsey

Believe it or not, fall is nearly upon us. School will soon be back in session, the leaves will start turning colors, Twist will be open on Sunday afternoons…

But I digress.

In just a short while, it’ll be time for us to start unpacking our brand-spankin’-new fall yarns. Due to popular demand, we’re planning on having a fall yarn tasting - and, holy cow, you guys. Bring your hooks, needles, and an appetite for the pretty stuff. One of the most amazing things I’ve ever done as an employee anywhere happened today. I got to sit in on Wayne the Yarn Rep’s visit to Twist Yarn Shop.

Wayne had two sample cases and four clear plastic totes of goodies that he brought with him. I walked in perhaps an hour into his visit (let’s say it was about 2:45 when I got to Twist). He and Shelly and Diane and Susan and I petted yarn and discussed patterns and brainstormed on classes and called customers over to solicit their opinions until at least 5:30 PM. We admired cashmere scarves and felted bag kits and kits for needle felting on silk scarves. There was amazing art yarn with felted flowers and tendrils that Lara and Shelly said might be something you’d expect to see Lady Gaga knitting. There was a giant brass ring with samples of all the yarn bases and colorways from Pagewood Farm. And the bison yarn!  Did I mention the bison yarn?  Long story short, this was not my grandmother’s color card and swatch book. This was a yarn multimedia experience. My mind was reeling at the end of the visit, and I pretty much want to hoard one of everything that comes in from all of these shipments.

And this wasn’t just about choosing yarn. Once Wayne had convinced me that I would really enjoy sitting down to check out colorways and pet some bison yarn and peruse some patterns, Shelly and I talked classes and knit-alongs. The mere fact of having miles of gorgeous yarn sitting in front of us on the table spurred some excellent brainstorming, and I am so, so excited to get going on planning the schedule for the next six months. Fear not, Twisters. You will not be hurting for variety or new techniques or color or warmth this winter. That’s all I’m going to say on that topic. (Though I will add this – if you’d like to request a class, please let us know what new classes you’d like to see added or what past classes you’d like to see repeated!)  The fall schedule will start appearing in early September – as always, the most updated version of the current class offerings is on the website.

So now that your appetite has been whetted, what to do? Well, come in and check out the sales rack – we’ve just added some great things to the mix, like Bollicine’s Dolly 100% extrafine merino DK-weight (previously $7, on sale for $5/ball of 153 yds/50 g). Let’s not forget that there’s new stuff that’s already arrived! There are some amazing new worsted-weight hanks of yarn from Manos del Uruguay – they’re hanging on the pegboard on the west wall of the shop. These yarns are colorful and soft and will be pure bliss to knit – one customer’s just finished half of a pair of mittens in them, and another customer bought two hanks in a colorway that is the yarn equivalent of the musical Wicked (green and fuschsia and black). And the Kollage square needles are now available in circulars – they’re on the rotating rack with the Lantern Moon needles if you’d like to take a look for yourself.

We are in for an exciting fall and winter. More details on everything coming soon!