Sock Hop

Tomorrow is the Fresno Sock Hop. All three of our shops have come together it bring us really wonder sock yarn & events. Lots of local talent will be at each shop. Anzula sock yarn will be available at Ancient Pathways & Janna's. You will be able to check out our traditional wool, silk & superwash merino, silk & camel, superwash merino & nylon, bamboo, and superwash merino cashmere & nylon sock yarns.

Here are the deets:

Summer Sock Hop 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009

Because the projects you make with sock yarns tend to be small enough to stay clear of your lap, they are comfortable to knit with during these warm summer days.

Ancient Pathways, Janna’s Needle Art and Swatches are all participating in Sock Hop, another three-shop tour of Fresno. Each will feature different classes and or demonstrations
featuring sock yarn.

Plan to make the rounds; addresses, hours and other details provided below.

Janna’s Needle Art – 5091 N. Fresno St. (NW corner of Fresno and Shaw)
559-227-6333
Open Tuesday through Friday 9:30-5:30, Saturday 9:30-3:00
We feature sock yarns from Noro, Opal, Berocco, Crystal Palace, and locally dyed skeins from French 75 and Barking Dog Yarns.
Janna is not a dedicated sock knitter, so she will be demonstrating the short row technique used in the Mini Mochi Multi Directional Scarf. This great looking scarf works in any yarn, but looks and feels extra nice in lightweight sock yarns, especially self-stripers. You will also find sock needles, sock needle holders, and a fine selection of sock patterns. 10% discount on sock yarns all day Sock Hop day, demonstrations from 12:00 – 3:00. We look forward to seeing you!

Ancient Pathways – 1294 N. Wishon Ave – 559-264-1874
Open Tuesday 11:00am to 8:00pm and Wednesday through Saturday 11:00am to 5:30pm
ancientpathways@sbcglobal.net
www.ancientpathwaysyarnandfiber.blogspot.com
I stock sock yarns from two local dyers, French 75 and Anzula as well as yarns from Crystal Palace, Knit One Crochet Too, Cascade and Universal Yarns.
Meg and her volunteers will be demonstrating how to add beads to your socks and anything else using sock weight yarn. There are some lovely sock patterns already written to include beads and we will be discussing how to add them to any other project. Beads from Bead Artistry will be available for purchase. Pre-stringing and using a crochet hook will be covered.
Demonstrations will be ongoing between 11:00am to 3:00pm
10% off all sock yarns all day on Sock Hop Day

SWATCHES – 3204 N Van Ness Blvd @ Shields 559-230-2813
Hours: Wednesday thru Saturday 11- 5:30; Sunday 11 – 4
Sock Hop at Swatches includes:
Sock knitting classes and demos thru out the day.
Dr Sox will be here to help those stuck on their sock projects.
A Trunk Show featuring
TRUE LOVE FIBER hand dyed locally by Angela Johnson
LAVA Designs sock patterns by Lisa Van de Water
& baby items knit from sock yarns.
You will find us fully stocked with sock needles, patterns, and the following yarns:
Cascade, Berroco, Malabrigo, Noro, OPAL,
K1-C2 Tye Dye, and Rio de la Plata sock yarns at SWATCHES.
A 10% discount is offered on sock yarns in stock.
And of course, refreshments will be served.

THANKS TO MEG OF ANCIENT PATHWAYS FOR SUGGESTING THIS FUN EVENT!

See ya there!

As Easy As 1 2 3

Well, not exactly. I am going to be doing a spinning demo at the Sock Summit. Demonstrating how to spin striping socks.

First we will discuss the kind of fiber that would be best for socks.

Then I will show you how to spin & ply to create the perfect sock yarn.

After that we will discuss knitting the sock up.


This is an Anzula original pattern. I am in the process of writing it up. It will be available on Ravelry and at the Sock Summit. Happy Knitting!

Waiting Game

I am currently playing the waiting game, and not loving it. I have dyed up everything I have, and am waiting for the next shipment of yarn to get here. I placed the order 2 weeks ago, and hope it gets here soon. I can here my dye pot calling me. I am really looking forward to working on the Sock Summit Challenge.

While I have been waiting I have been working on my yet to be named sweater. It is an Anzula original in worsted weight superwash merino, cashmere, nylon. Here it is with the flash:


And here it is with out. Which I feel better depicts the actual color.


The stitch pattern was inspired by one of the stitches in Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. Again shown with, and with out the flash.


I am making an extra large, and it is using 7 skeins.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about the spinning demo I will be doing at the Sock Summit.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

A month ago today I posted about the fab lace yarn I dyed. In the mean time I ordered swifts for reskeining and they showed up yesterday. Guess what I spent today doing.


Yup, that is reskeining three skeins at once. Look, no hands! That's cause we have an electric skein winder. It saves so much time & energy.



They look so pretty reskeined. Like candy. I just want to eat them up. Want more fiber candy?


Baby Llama & Merino/Yak. Merino/Yak is one of my favorite fiber blends to spin. So soft & lofty, it is like spinning clouds.

Last week we had an open house over here, so you could see what Anzula is all about. The yarn looked so good displayed in the house. It was really great seeing so many of you!


My wonderful guy picked some flowers to help decorate the place. Isn't he sweet?

What Used To Be

I was going to spend today showing you all the fiber pretties I have been dyeing this week. But I don't have them anymore. Carole from Dulitz Tree Farm, which is also a yarn shop, came buy this morning and bought up all of our fiber. So if you want to see what I have been dyeing you are going to have to go to Springville and check it out. It is totally worth the drive, Springville is beautiful and Carole's shop is just amazing. That is where I got the yarn for my February Lady Sweater. Which I would totally show you right now, but I'm not sure where my camera is. So, in all reality, I have nothing to show you 8~). Happy Knitting!

Getting My Dye On

One of my favorite things in the world to do is to dye yarn. I am so lucky that I get to do it as a job. Today I dyed 20 skeins of merino lace in shades of green, orange, red, blue & purple
These were all dyed as semi solids. I can't wait to see what they look like when they are dry and reskeined. I have found that reskeining the yarn gives you a better idea of what the yarn will look like when worked up. It also better demonstrates the depth of the color.


The four skeins of blue look very similar now, but I have a feeling they will look quite different from each other when reskeined. Red can be a really hard color to get, but today I was really lucky. I was able to get one true red, and another that is a close second.

If you are looking closely, you might notice a pair of socks. I also over-dyed a pair of socks for a friend of mine. I hope she loves the color.

Never Not Knitting

I knit. Everywhere I go, I knit. I thought this was normal. Then I went to dinner with a knitting friend and pulled out my knitting. She gave me a strange look, and I said: What? You're not going to knit? She thought it was quite odd that I was going to knit at a restaurant. I thought it was odd that she wasn't. But that is just how I am. I knit at concerts, baseball games, weddings, meetings, anywhere I go: I knit. People sometimes say they don't think they could have the patience to knit. I don't think I could have the patience to not knit. How else do you get through long lines, waiting at the doctor's office, watching a movie, or waiting for your food to come at a restaurant?