Monday, June 30, 2008

The Hanks Question of the Week

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned being excited about the Summer 2008 Knitting Olympics (please don't feel left out, crocheters/spinners/weavers; we'd love to see you do something too!). The Olympics, I was reminded of while watching TV last night, is about a mere six weeks away.

So here's our question... do you have anything planned? Anything you want to challenge yourself with?

Kollage on sale

This week we have marked down all our remaining Kollage yarns to $10 or $5. Get 'em while they're hot!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Class: Introduction to Dyeing Techniques

We have one spot open in this class. Please call us (352.338.7222) if you're interested in signing up!

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July 12 and 19, 2008 (Saturdays)
10:30 AM – 1:30 PM | $50 | Materials Included

Can't find a holiday colorway that you'd like to crochet or knit something with? Learn to dye your own using a couple different techniques, and almost as many color options as you can think of.

Due to the small area in which this class will be held, class size is limited to three people.


Classes do fill up early; so please reserve your space in the class by paying in advance as it is unlikely we will be able to accommodate walk-ins. All classes limited to five people unless otherwise stated. A minimum of 2 students is required for most classes to take place – some classes may require a higher minimum, please call or email us for more information. If the minimum for a class is not reached, we will cancel or reschedule the class and a full refund will be given.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Class: Knitted Chanukah and Christmas Ornaments

Saturday July 5, 2008
2-5 PM | $25 | Materials Included*

Be prepared for the Holiday season by learning a few very quick techniques by knitting up some tiny and fun Christmas and Hanukah ornaments. General knowledge of knitting required. These ornaments are knit in stockinette stitch with double pointed needles.

* Required for this class is the book Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick and Susan Pittard; copies, which are not included in the price of the class, may be purchased during class for a discounted price

Classes do fill up early; so please reserve your space in the class by paying in advance as it is unlikely we will be able to accommodate walk-ins. All classes limited to five people unless otherwise stated. A minimum of 2 students is required for most classes to take place – some classes may require a higher minimum, please call or email us for more information. If the minimum for a class is not reached, we will cancel or reschedule the class and a full refund will be given.

Class: Needle-felted Holiday Ornaments

We have one spot open in this class. Please call us (352.338.7222) if you're interested in signing up!

Saturday July 5, 2008
10:30 AM – 1:30 PM | $25 | Materials Included

Get ready an early start on your holiday preparations by learning a new technique that will create adorable little plush creatures made entirely of wool. We’ll be making Christmas or Hanukkah ornaments together, and students can choose from different designs or bring in an idea of their own – anything is possible! Be prepared to stab at wool with tiny little needles in order to “sculpt” your creations… Don’t worry, it’s lots of fun!

Classes do fill up early; so please reserve your space in the class by paying in advance as it is unlikely we will be able to accommodate walk-ins. All classes limited to five people unless otherwise stated. A minimum of 2 students is required for most classes to take place – some classes may require a higher minimum, please call or email us for more information. If the minimum for a class is not reached, we will cancel or reschedule the class and a full refund will be given.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Friday Five: Five locally owned places we like to go

Are you about to move to Gainesville (students, we're looking at you!), relatively new here, or just curious about our little town? As local business owners, we are always looking for ways to keep our money in the hands of our neighbors who also own local businesses. Here are five places where we feel great about spending our money -

The Gainesville Community Playhouse
Lorena can't go to a production here without seeing someone she knows, either in the cast or in the orchestra pit. Which makes it even more fun! The next show they have coming up is the musical "The Secret Garden"... and if you go, you can spot something hand-knit by Sharon!

Book Gallery West
This is a lovely little bookstore directly across the parking lot from Hanks. They have mostly used, some new, and they also carry a great selection of cards and gift-like items. There's a rumor going around that they're putting in a coffee bar, which will certainly up the traffic between our two shops!

Wards Supermarket
This may be the last locally owned grocery store for ... well, miles. We can't go on enough about their fantastic cheese selection (we loves us some cheese around these parts), and they also carry bulk items from rice to granola to nuts, locally produced jams and honeys, Sweetwater coffee, locally made breads, locally grown vegetables... should we go on?

Northwest Seafood
This is *the* place to get fresh seafood. Tired of all that frozen and thawed mess you get at large chain grocery stores? Go. Run. Now. If you're looking for it, they probably have it (and have it fresh).

The Hippodrome State Theatre
This is a three-for-one; you can go for the plays, or the independent films that don't make it to the big theater chains, or the art gallery. The Hipp is the hub of the downtown area and a lot of great little shops have grown up around it in the Sun Center (coffee at Maude's, anyone?).

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Sock it to me!

We just got in four new-to-us colors of Cherry Tree Hill's Sockittome--

Sockittome!

Caribou Creek, Country Garden, Spring Frost, and Foxy Lady

80% Superwash Merino/20% Nylon
450 yards per 4 oz skein
7 stitches per inch on US #2 needles

Got plans this Saturday? Want to learn cables and twisted stitches?

We have one spot open in this class this coming Saturday. Please call us (352.338.7222) if you're interested in signing up!

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Saturday June 28, 2008
10:30 AM – 1:30 PM
$25 | Materials Included

Have you been knitting for a while, but just haven’t ventured into the world of cables yet? If you can already cast on, knit, purl, and bind off, you can take this class and have a great time in it!
Join us to learn about cables and slipped/twisted stitches, the difference between them, and start knitting up a dishcloth that will show off your new skills. You may have to finish on your own, but in this three-hour class we promise that you will learn enough to get you going!

Class towel (no flash)

Classes do fill up early; so please reserve your space in the class by paying in advance as it is unlikely we will be able to accommodate walk-ins. All classes limited to five people unless otherwise stated. A minimum of 2 students is required for most classes to take place – some classes may require a higher minimum, please call or email us for more information. If the minimum for a class is not reached, we will cancel or reschedule the class and a full refund will be given.

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Hanks Question of the Week

A few months ago, we mentioned the Knitting Scouts; this week we'd like to talk about math skills. Or as the kids say these days, "skillz".


The “I Will Impress You With My Math Prowess” Badge - The recipient is a whiz at substituting yarns and calculating gauge, can space increases and decreases evenly and is fully comfortable with the basic math encountered in all knitting projects.




The “I Will Crush You With My Math Prowess” Badge - The recipient has applied the principles of higher mathematics to knitting including, but not limited to hyperbolic planes, Fibonacci sequences, Klein bottles, Moebius strips, fractals and Flying Spaghetti Monster hats.


Are you more like me, in that you sort of... whimper about math, rocking back and forth in the corner, while chewing on your hand? Or are you more like Sharon, in that at a moments notice you are ready to break out the Calculus and Trigonometry textbooks, yelling, "let's Mathatize this sucka!"...?

Sunday, June 22, 2008

On sale this week

We have quite a number of things going on sale this week!

- To make it easier, we have divided up our sale page so that it is now has subcategories of $1.00, $4.00, $5.00, and $10.00.

- The last of our Fiesta Yarns which are not in the sale bins are now 20% off (marked down price is shown on website).

- Lastly, we are permanently marking down Cherry Tree Hill's Orenburg Lace from $40 to $28.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Introducting... Prism Andee!

Everyone say hello, Andee... "hello Andee!"



Prism Andee is a new-to-us yarn that we're happy to introduce (here are our introductory colors). Andee is a 50% Wool/50% Alpaca that has a put-up of 114 yards (2 ounces) and the suggested gauge is 4 1/2 sts/inch on a US #7. It retails for $15/skein. It is available in all of Prism's hand-dyed colors, as well as the sandwashed solids (pictured above) so please let us know if there is a colorway that you're in love with.

From the Prism website:
Andee is a lovely, classic plied twist of intimately blended alpaca and wool. The wool provides memory and bounce, and the alpaca lends a beautiful sheen. The knitted fabric combines the best of both worlds: a firm hand that shows color work and stitch definition well, but has a silky softness from the alpaca.

We haven't had time to work any of it up yet, but that's mostly because all we want to do is curl up with it and have a nice snuggle on the couch, it is just that soft!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Friday Five: Five online tutorials we find quite helpful

Of course the first shout-out has to go to KnittingHelp.com; it's like that best friend who you call at 2 in the morning when you can't work something out. We recommend this not only to all the new knitters who come in the shop, but also to people who have been knitting for a while. There's always something to learn! My question for the crocheters: if there is a site out there that does the same thing, for crochet...? Please, please let us know!

Socks 101 is extremely helpful to the new sock knitter in all stages of sock construction. I just about lived with this page up on my computer for the first pair of socks I knit, and I just can't recommend it enough.

Techniques with Theresa has help for anything from casting on to binding off, including in-between things like seaming, cables, and buttonholes. Grab a cuppa and sit for a while and read through the articles!

The Yarn Harlot is always full of tidbits of help, but her tutorial on how to fix a cable needs to be bookmarked by every knitter facing a cable project. Trust us. At one point, you'll need this information.

Last - but certainly not least - is TECHknitting (TM). Full of information that you might never think to ask until the very moment you need it (do you know how to line your hats with polar fleece?), she is absolutely full of knowledge that other sites just don't go into. And her illustrations are fantastic!

Monday, June 9, 2008

The Hanks Question of the Week

In light of Tessa and I going to Knitter's Connection this week and taking oodles of classes (I'm really hoping there's wine served at that steeking class)... if you could go to any fiber-related class, and anyone could teach it, what would you take and who would you be learning from?

Cherry Tree Hill on sale!

This week, all of our wonderful Cherry Tree Hilll yarns are 20% off. This includes the good stuff like sock yarn and Orenburg Lace!

Don't forget to check out the rest of our sale yarns while you're at it! Also, all of our remaining Blue Heron stock has been moved into the $10 bin; I believe that Confetti is the only thing we have left.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Friday Five: Five things we're looking forward to

World Wide Knit in Public Day - It's world-wide, but locally you can join others on Saturday, June 14, 2008 at the Oaks Mall in the seating area in front of Macy's, from 1 - 3 PM.

Holidays in July - during the month of July, our classes will be focused on Holiday crafting. Join us to get a head start on your holiday projects!

Convergence 2008 - while primarily for weavers (so you know Ginger is going) there is no lack of fun things for crocheters, knitters, and spinners!

The Summer 2008 Knitting Olympics - okay, so we haven't heard anything official about this one, but surely since the Winter 2006 games were such a hit, surely there will be something this summer?

Rhinebeck 2008 - last year we had almost more fun than the law should allow. We can only hope to have half as much fun this year!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Class: Design an Intarsia Dishcloth

June 21st and 28th, 2008 (Saturdays)
2-5 PM
$50 | Materials Included

Are you interested in entering the world of knitted color work but aren’t sure where to begin? Or maybe you’re comfortable with intarsia but interested in learning how to design your own intarsia patterns? Then this class is just for you! We will be designing and knitting our very own patterns for inclusion in a simple dishcloth. Think you can’t draw? We’ll show you easy ways to cheat! Watch your knitting light up with color after learning these techniques. Guaranteed to take the fear out of colorwork! General knowledge of the knit stitch and purl stitch required.

Intarsia Labradoodle

Classes do fill up early; so please reserve your space in the class by paying in advance as it is unlikely we will be able to accommodate walk-ins. All classes limited to five people unless otherwise stated. A minimum of 2 students is required for most classes to take place – some classes may require a higher minimum, please call or email us for more information. If the minimum for a class is not reached, we will cancel or reschedule the class and a full refund will be given.

The Hanks Question of the Week

Let's talk modifications! When you follow a pattern, do you follow the pattern exactly (excluding changing hook or needle sizes to adjust gauge) word for word? Or do you change things as you go, substituting your favorite heel, changing a turtleneck to a boatneck, etc.? I'm not saying that one way is better than the other way, just curious as to whether more people are into following a pattern exactly, or more into making one's own modifications.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

On sale this week

We have a lot on sale this coming week -

- Blue Heron is still 20% off (discounted price is shown on the website)

- Judi yarns are 20% off (discounted price is shown on the website)

- The last of our Bertagna has been marked down to $5

And we still have some good stuff in our $5 and $10 sale bins!