Homespun Yarn Party

Friday, March 11, 2016

2016: Middle Brook Fiberworks!

(formerly A Little Teapot Designs)

Middle Brook Fiberworks (formerly A Little Teapot Designs) offers handcrafted yarn and fiber with vibrant colors and luxurious textures. Handspun yarn makes for a unique and delightful fiber adventure, whether knitting, crocheting, or in creative, freeform use as jewelry or home decor.

Sponsor Profile: Charm City Yarn Crawl

1. What is CCYC?

Join the Charm City Yarn Crawl and receive 20% off full-priced yarn, fiber, and patterns by purchasing the CCYC tote for $15 from participating Baltimore area shops. The discount is valid April 1–10, 2016. Each shop will be planning events during the 10 day event and each shop is offering a $100 raffle prize that participants can enter to win.

2. What stores are participating?
Each year participating stores are listed on the website. www.charmcityyarncrawl.com

3. When is it happening?
This year the Charm City Yarn Crawl will be April 1st through April 10th.

4. What inspired you to start the crawl?
Honestly, we wanted to participate in the Metro Yarn Crawl in D.C. but we were too far away to participate. Danielle from Fibre Space encouraged us to start our own crawl and even connected us with people who could help us get started. I think it benefits customers as well as LYS owners.

5. How does it benefit customers?
Customers buy a tote for $15 and during the yarn crawl they are entitled to 20% off their purchase of yarn, fiber and patterns. They have a "passport" they will get stamped as they visit the shops (no purchase necessary for a stamp). While they are at the shops they should ask what the shop has as a raffle prize because at the end of the crawl, they'll drop their stamped passport off at the shop with the prize they like the most.

This event is a great way for customers to be introduced to all of their local yarn shops. Each shop has their own specialty and a yarn crawl is the perfect opportunity for each shop to demonstrate their uniqueness to a new group of customers.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

2016: Metis Industries! (New vendor!)

Metis Industries was born out of a love for fiber and 3D printing, so what better way to combine the hobbies? We primarily produce 3D printed drop spindles along with a small selection of hand dyed roving and hand carded batts. We love designing whorls!

Metis Industries

2016: Lattes and Llamas! (New vendor!)

Lattes & Llamas specializes in everything sock. From yarn and individual patterns to full kits that come complete with a project bag and stitch markers, we can satisfy both the beginning knitter and the advanced color-work fiend. If you want to put it on your feet, we've got your back! Our ever expanding range of bases include BFL, Merino, cashmere, and Alpaca.

Lattes and Llamas

Sponsor Profile: Cloverhill Yarn Shop

Cloverhill Yarn Shop owners Wae (left) and Amanda
play around with puni mustaches after one of the
shop's spinning Fridays.

1. What is your website? Email?
www.cloverhillyarn.com our email is temptingewe@cloverhillyarn.com

2. What is your Ravelry name/group?
Cloverhill Yarn Shop

3. Where are you located and what are your hours?
We are located in Catonsville, MD at 77 Mellor Avenue

We're open Monday-Sunday from 10 am-6pm. In addition, we host the following:
Sit and Knit Thu 6-8pm
Sit and Knit Sun 1-5pm
Sit and Spin 2nd and Last Friday 6-9pm

4. What kinds of things do you carry?
We carry a variety of products including yarns from a variety of companies like Berroco, Cascade, Knitting Fever, Malabrigo, Skacel, and many others. You can also find our own line called Tempting Ewe Yarns which is sold exclusively at Cloverhill Yarn Shop. We also sell fiber and roving for spinning and felting to include products from Ashland Bay to Hobbledehoy batts and rovings. We are also Schacht, Ashford, and Spinolution Dealers and we can order in any of their products from spinning wheels to looms.

5. How long have you been in business, and what inspired you to open your business?
Amanda Ko and Wae Wang bought Cloverhill Yarn Shop and we opened our doors to a newer and brighter space on July 2nd, 2013. We have been working hard to restore Cloverhill to its former glory. Many customers had drifted away over the years and we wanted to build on the history of our shop to create a space where the fiber loving community can gather free of judgement or prejudice to celebrate our love for our crafts. We have the most loving and supportive community of men and women and it really shows and we invite everyone to come on by because Cloverhill is back!

6. What's your favorite thing about having a LYS?
Our favorite part about having a LYS would have to be the people we get to meet everyday. We really do enjoy meeting new customers and getting to know them individually and welcoming them into our community. They know we're their safe place and if they need help we're there. We also like the yarn and the fiber, a lot.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

2016: Kim Dyes Yarn! (New vendor!)

Kim Dyes Yarn creates hand dyed yarns and spinning fibers, all dyed in my home studio in Herndon, Virginia. I am all about color and my work reflects my love of bright and bold but also the subtle and gorgeous. Yarns can be tonal, variegated, gradient dyed, or speckled and come in merino, bfl, silk, bamboo, cashmere, yak. Spinning fibers can be gradient dyed, tonal, variegated, or blended together into batts and hand pulled roving. I love fibers that are easy to draft and spin and feel wonderful between the fingers and take pains to handle them so they remain that way. Spinning fibers I offer are targhee, bfl, silk, merino/tencel, merino/yak. I strive to create products that people will want to wear every day because the colors speak to them.