Unique and Fabulous: Vermilion Bay.

Need a unique closure for your garment? Need a one-of-a-kind accent for your handmade purse? Consider these intriguing and stunningly beautiful creations fabricated right here in Acadiana by a Lafayette potter in her studio exclusively for Vermilion Bay Yarn. These hand-formed clay accents will transform your own fiber items into amazing heirlooms. Each is masterfully sculpted and glazed and ready for you to attach to your piece. A garment made extra special by these lovely accents (created right here in the Hub City) is the only one of its kind on earth! Browse through this fabulous collection today! They're waiting for you!

Yes, We're Open!

A number of folks have asked whether The Vermilion Bay Yarn Company will be open tomorrow, Monday, January 18. Yes indeed we will be open tomorrow, Monday, January 18th according to our regular Monday schedule: noon-6pm! If you're on holiday tomorrow, do indeed stop in, sit, and work your fiber project(s)! We'll have the coffee pot on! See you then!

Dumplings Abounding; Blissful Bliss!

If you were here Tuesday night, you more than likely saw those fabulous Dumpling Pouch marker sets! A Chinese Panda just stopped in and threw me a box full of more wonderful Dumpling Pouches in even more wonderful colors! Nifty Neato, folks! In case you missed out on yours Tuesday, hurry on by and pick your favorite(s)! The color selection is completely and entirely random. Only the Chinese Panda knows what colors he selects.

Bliss fans! The spring/summer edition of Debbie Bliss Magazine is here. Many new projects, many interesting articles....including a historical bit about knitting in Elizabethan times. Fascinating!

New Pattern Books!

Come browse the selection of knitting and crochet patterns! Many new titles have arrived this week, including several wonderful anthologies for Baby knits! More Amigurumi books are here, as well as technique books for sock gurus on those trendy toe-up affairs (which, I am informed is how the ancient Egyptians made their socks. Who knew King Tut wore toe-up's?! And all this time we thought only curses came from the Valley of the Kings!). Also, you'll be intrigued by a new book of sweater patterns worked top down! Only have one skein of something? You'll be interested in Little Knits then -- each project requires only one skein! A great way to use up that stash of left overs! The Tricoter knitted skirt book is here also! What's not to love from Tricoter?! Lace? Oh Yes! New edging designs (knit edgings are not easy to find, and we have a book of new ones!). Like crochet? Like socks? Check out Crocheted Socks! Also, there's a good selection of crocheted purse patterns. At Vermilion Bay Yarn, we love our crocheters as much as our knitters! There are many groovy and good-looking crochet anthologies available to you: sweaters, wraps, hats, socks, and such, as well as the traditional afghan books, and those lovely lace patterns. In addition to the new, there are also many of your favorite scarf books, hat books, baby/toddler books and sweater books both in Knit and crochet!

Finishing Class this Saturday!

Just a quick reminder to those who have signed up as well as those who have been planning to sign up! This Saturday morning, January 16th, at 10am, we'll be learning finishing technques. On the class plan: hiding tails, sewing seams (both vertical and horizontal as well as those oddball, hybrid verti-hori-diagonal seams you get when you need to set in a sleeve), and grafting sock toes (or grafting anything that needs grafting). You should bring pieces of a project that need to be assembled, OR make up 2 stockinette swatches at least 4" square and leave the tails exposed. You will need a darning needle with an eye that fits the yarn, as well as a pair of sharp needlework scissors. And don't forget to bring yarn that matches your swatches or yarn that you've used to make your project pieces! See you Saturday morning for Finishing Techniques!

Della Q and Chiaogoo Too!

A few posts down I had given you a preview of things to come, namely things to come from Della Q. Today, shipment one rolled in: brand new groovy Theo needle cases and very nifty Priscilla bags in your favorite colors! In addition there's also our standard booster shot of Chiagoo needles. If that wasn't enough, those of you in need of a bit more Lana Grossa Ciao: the brown is in, color #5! And, and, and.....and those of you who are making the Beehive Lace scarf in a couple weeks, may like to know that there are more balls available of the purple Lana Grossa Chiara!

New Stuff!

New Addi needles, new Brittany needles, New Hiya Needles. Very groovy. But needles are items whose presence in most knit shops is somewhat de rigeur, so having more of them isn't usually headline news. By the same token, it's good to mention them, lest they become upset by being upstaged by all the other neato stuff that was packed in the box too. "So, Jason, what about notions? Any nifty stuff?" Thanks for asking. Yes.

Several of you have been seeking the swell round markers that hang from a loop off your needles. They're here. So come in today and hang your counter! Advocates of the friendly frog counter can hop on over as well. We have more of those. One can not have too many counters. Every project needs one (or two, depending), and we all have multiple projects. The hanging counter is available in a cheerful, festive black, while the frog is available in the traditional green. Corkscrew needle anchors? We have 'em! If you don't so much prefer the traditional needle tips to keep your needles in line while not working with them, you may like the corkscrew variety, which lash your needles or needle tips together to prevent stitches from taking a holiday.

"But Jason, any fabulicious doo dah zingaling wizbang fweedle fwops? You know how we love them!" Of course I couldn't forget my doo dah zingaling wizbang fweedle fwop devotees! Check out these play-pretties: Dumpling pouches done up mighty fine in chinoise print fabrics with tremendously cute and useable stitch markers inside. Looks like a pot sticker sort of Chinese dumpling mystery puzzle geometric box. Squeeze the ends and the dumpling reveals its secrets: a set of stitch markers to make your cool knitting project way cool!

Larry the Llama loves Llama Luxe!

New today from South West Trading: Llama Luxury. 100% Baby Llama. Soft and cushy for your January knits! Not fuzzy like Mohair (not that we don't like mohair), and without a big halo like alpaca (not that we're knocking alpaca, mind you). If you're not a fan of wool or you're allegeric to it, try this luxurious Llama! And Larry the Llama reminds me also to announce the arrival of a few new colors of SWTC 100% Bamboo in the 250 yard balls. While other balls of bamboo muster only a puny 100 or so yards, the SWTC boasts a whopping 250yards! Plan on using Llama Luxury or SWTC Bamboo for your next projects!

Socks!

As you know, we schedule sock classes whenever a person or a group of persons wants to learn how to make socks. They're just that popular. A class has formed for TOMORROW morning, Saturday January 9th at 10:30am. If you'd like to get in on the action, swing by around 10:15, settle in and have a cup of java! We'll be classing until 12:30, but feel free to stay the day, if you like! We'll be double pointing it, so if you have them already, bring your set of 5 DPN's size 2 or 3 and your sock-weight yarn. If you need these bits, you can pick them up here for the class. We'll see you then!

Jason, What's "Burda" What does that mean?

In Germany, Burda means one thing: fashion. Sewing and knitting. Click on the Verena Deutschland link in the list of fiber fan links to the lower left and read more. Aenne Burda was a real person in post-war Germany who realized the importance of making patterns available for folks to create their own fashionable garments. The write up there may come up in German, but don't worry. Scroll down to the bottom and click the word "Englisch", and voila! Rosetta Stone! There's even a book out about Aenne Burda: Wunder sind Machbar ("Miracles can be made"). We enjoy Frau Burda's fashion legacy even today at Vermilion Bay Yarn, where the English-language edition of Verena Stricken is available every season -- by the way, have you picked up your winter copy of Burda Verena?

Beehive Buzz: Class Time Change!

When the Vermilion Bay Light was opened over at the Carnival Cruise Line office, the rep from from Carnival picked up the red hotline telephone to Jane, our friend and travel agent, and asked "Why is he teaching a class on the day we're scheduled to go tour the Triumph?!" That was a good question. As a result, we will be knitting the Beehive Scarf on FRIDAY, JANUARY 22 at 1:00pm! Please note the date and time change if you have not yet signed up for the class! I've already contacted all the early-bird sign up's, and the class is definately a go for that Friday afternoon. On the 23, I will be touring the ship in New Orleans with Jane and some other instructors in preparation for October's extraordinary knitting cruise! It will give us a chance to scope out the rooms for classes, carve our initials on...ugh, I mean "pre-reserve"...deck chairs and barstools for those times when we're neither knitting, purling, slipping or SSK'ing. See you on Friday, the 22nd for Beehive Lace!

Knit Cafe Time Change

You've read about it in the December edition of The Vermilion Bay Light, and as I announced in January's edition, we're trying it out for real this month. Instead of the two-night Knit Cafe, we are consolidating our evening Cafe times onto one night: Tuesdays, 6pm-8pm. We'll close on Thursdays at 6pm. Of course all are welcomed to drop in at any time during opening hours to sit, have a snack, drink some coffee or a soda, work your project, and visit. Stay as long as you like -- and help yourself to the snack bar. If it's there, it's for everyone, and always at no charge.

Theo, Priscilla, Agnes, Rosemary, Lena.

Theo. Short for Theodore, Greek for "Gift of the gods". And that's exactly what this is for those of you whose needles have no home and are randomly cast in a nest of bamboo, nickle and cables at the bottoms of your knitting bags. The Della Q Theo organizer is the perfect "soft side" folder for your needles, complete with swing-out pockets with groovy labels. Theos will begin to arrive in the next few days, having shipped out his morning from sunny California! Also, Priscilla fans will be happy to know that accompanying Theo, there will be more colors of their favorite lunch bag project pouches (including brown!). Later this month, look for the sassy Rosemary, perky Lena, as well as stout, matronly Agnes, the mama of all knitting bags.

The Vermilion Bay Light

It's been mailed out, folks! The January edition the VBYC newsletter! If you are not yet on the mailing list but would like to be, please contact me ASAP, and I will be happy to include you in my monthly mailing! A Blessed and Prosperous New Year to all of you! See you soon! Oh, and be sure to pick up your new Winter Vogue, Burda Verena, and Knitter's. There's some gawdeous stuff in those this season, just gawdeous! (Anyone who would like to knit up that stupendous cabled shawl collar cardigan in Vogue for me is more than welcome to -- I've been looking for such a cardigan for a while. I have an old pattern for one in a German knitting book from the 1950's, to be worked on size 2's, so you see why I haven't made one for myself yet).