VBYC, YOUR Local Yarn Shop: The Fiber Arts Trendsetter in Acadiana!

21oo Verot School Road, Suite 8 Lafayette, LA 337-216-4564
To send email, write to: vermilionbayyarnco at Yahoo

M: noon-6pm; T: 10am-8pm; W: 10am-6pm; Th: 10am-8pm; F: 10am-6pm; S: 10am-4pm; Sun: Closed

Classes


Beginning Knitting and Crochet: Beginning classes for knitting and crochet are scheduled one-on-one at your convenience during business hours. You may schedule lessons just for yourself, or for yourself and a few other friends. In beginning knitting, you will learn your stitches while you create a beautiful chunky yarn scarf. At the end of your mastery period, you'll have a fabulous accent you can actually use!

Classes a la carte: If you weren't able to attend a specific class, or you missed out entirely on one, here's your chance! Simply schedule the class topic of your choice at the time that's convenient for you.

How Much Do Classes Cost? At Vermilion Bay Yarn, we're all about getting you moving on your fiber projects and getting you going with new techniques. All classes (including beginning knitting and crochet) at VBYC are $20 plus materials. You do not pay each time you come in to continue the same class.

What's Available At Vermilion Bay

The Vermilion Bay Yarn Company is your local source for the fine yarns of Rowan, Classic Elite, South West Trading, Cascade, Plymouth, Schaefer, Malabrigo, Muench, GGH, Brown Sheep, Lana Grossa, Tilli Tomas, Universal, and many others! We offer high quality needles and hooks from Addi, Chiaogoo, Hiya-Hiya, and Brittany. Vermilion Bay Yarn (YOUR local yarn shop) is YOUR one stop for all your knitting and crochet notion needs: counters, holders, markers, darning eggs, tapestry needles, etc.

Knit Cafe: The Evening Fiber Art Group meets on Tuesdays from 6pm-8pm at the shop. Bring your project(s) and sit for as long as you like. Food, coffee, and soft drinks are always provided, and everyone is encouraged to add to the buffet.

Need something repaired? Favorite sweater with moth holes? Heirloom lace with a snag? Bring it in for an estimate.

Don't have time to knit or crochet it? The Vermilion Bay Yarn Company is your only local custom fiber art source! Please visit the shop for an estimate.

Knitting Parties at VBYC: Gather together 10 of your friends or colleagues and set a date/time for a knitting party at Vermilion Bay Yarn! Beginners and seasoned knitters can participate in the same party! Folks who've never knitted before will learn how and the experienced knitters work their own fun project! Contact the shop for details!

Our Return Policy

Now and then we purchase a bit too much, or decide that a different yarn might be better for a project than the one we selected. Here's how VBYC accomodates merchandise returns. This policy is also clearly displayed in the shop by the register. Thank you for your business!

Merchandise purchased at The Vermilion Bay Yarn Company may be exchanged/returned for shop credit only. No cash refunds. No exhanges/returns on special orders. Gift Certificates may not be redeemed for cash. Yarn presented for exchange must be odor-free and in new condition with the yarn band intact. Yarns wound into skeins are not accepted for exchange.

Knitting Rescue and Project Help

We are most willing to assist YOU, our customers, with quick help or to fix minor blemishes in your fiber work at no charge. As I see it, that's all part of what YOUR local yarn shop is about, especially if your project originated from VBYC. If you find yourself in need of frequent coaching on a particularly challenging project, or if you require detailed assistance with a project obtained elsewhere, we encourage you to make that project into a class ($20 fee applies) for the duration of your work.

15 June 2011

Baby Garment Challenge: Ditch the Pastels!

Sometimes I really wish babies could talk -- just for a few minutes -- in order to share what they really think about what folks usually refer to as "baby yarn". "Little, guy," I'd ask, "what do you think about that sky blue and mint green pastel jacket and soft yellow hat you're wearing?" Now, I grew up in the 1980's, and Miami Vice was the look. We sported our V-neck t-shirts with cream mega shoulder-padded blazers, chinos, argyle socks and penny loafers -- everything but the loafers were done up right in soft, beachy pastels (and sometimes even the shoes weren't immune: I also owned a pair of boat shoes of which each leather panel was dyed a different pastel color). I'll tell you, I was proud of my light grey, mint green, pink, and yellow diamond socks. Trendy. In the 80's we wore pastels because pastels were cool beans. Just like ultra narrow knit ties and parachute pants. For generations babies have worn pastels (or forced into it) because the adults in charge of dressing them thought pastels somehow defined "babiness". And they do in a way, as long as the baby is going trick-or-treating for the first time, and his costume is a roll of sweet tarts.
Back in the day, when the best we could ever hope for was big box store acrylics in worsted weight "adult colors" and sport weight "baby colors", the pastels were actually the best bet for miniature humans, since those shades seemed to be the only choices that didn't have that trademark Brillo pad softness against the skin. That old fashioned baby yarn was smooth as an emery board. Heavenly. Nowadays, there are options beyond the cliche boy-blue, girl-pink, don't-know-yet-mint, and can-I-dress-a-little-boy-in-yellow-yellow. American babies have for generations been doomed to dress up like Valentine's Day candies because someone somewhere had equated the sweetness of a sugar treat to the sweetness of an infant and someone else believed her. Mass hysteria followed. Cute outfits start with innovative, vibrant color palates. Select yarns for infants in the same way you'd select yarns for your own clothing. If the baby is already here, consider colors that go well with baby's skin tone, hair, and eye color (by the way, the "blue for boys, pink for girls" thing isn't color matching. It's gender profiling). If he's still under construction, consider his parents and consider which colors look good on them. Little Oscar after all will be a happy blend of both. After you've thought of color options (and thrown that pastel color wheel into the dumpster), think about fibers. There is no rule somewhere in a some book of baby laws that requires baby articles to be made from acrylics. In fact, natural fibers make more sense coming into contact with baby skin (and adult skin too), as they tend to be more comfortable to wear and breath, well, naturally. For us here in South Louisiana the most logical choice is cotton: year round comfort and washability. And add to that that yarn dyes love cotton and create bold colors in cotton. Think about what garments you own that you love to wear. Look in your closet and see what they're made of. Find any acrylic pastels you just can't live without? Planning to wear that fabu mint green shell to the company party next Friday? How about that pink cardi? Nothing makes a girl sweat more in the Louisiana heat than a pastel yellow jumper in scratchy acrylic! Sheer comfort. And we wonder by little Hypolite is so fussy. But hey, at least we can wash that sopping mess at the end of the day, right? More on the washer myth in a bit. Other fiber options: linen and linen blends, silk (yes) and silk blends. Bamboo (amazingly soft!), and of course the old stand-by: wool. Let go of your pearls, June. Yes, I said wool. Of all the fibers we use, wool has earned a bad reputation. Wool is neither hot nor "picky" as they say. It's just not. It's not scratchy. Wool is available in all weights, and has the ability to wick moisture from the skin. In the warmer months, lighter weight wool is good. Heavier gauges are better in cooler temperatures. Wool is a great year round fiber. Have you considered using sock yarn for baby garments? Great weight for little people clothes, great colors too. Ask folks who wear their handmade socks all year (including me). Just as comfy in August as they are in January. Now, sit down, catch your breath and think about this: yarns and fibers that make our adult clothing interesting, unique, trendy, and luxurious are just as interesting, unique, trendy, and luxurious in miniature. Here's one example: mohair. It's always nice. Mohair is one of the softest, coziest fibers on the planet. Use a beefier mohair or mohair blend for winter things, or use a single strand of lace weight mohair (like Kid Silk Haze) along with another yarn to blend colors and to enhance softness of the base yarn. Many of you have heard the story how the author of this article was brought to his first doctor's visit shortly after birth in a layette of lemon yellow mohair. Amidst a sweet sea of newly born pastel candy sours, the mohair model was by far the best dressed in his cozy matching outfit of breathable natural fiber. The acrylic babies, as the story goes, couldn't wait to get out of their plastic-spun onesies. But weren't they cute....in their mint?
"I want something washable", is usually the next concern when making things for babies. Perhaps this reasoning is what has made the pastel acrylics so popular. Easy care. But don't think of non-machine washable fibers or fibers that don't stay happy in the dryer as non-easy care. Instead, think of them as "different care". Refusing to make a silk garment because you can't pitch it in the machine with the jeans is like saying "I don't want carpet in my bedroom, because I can't mop it." In the time it takes to load the washer, let it do its thing, unload it and pitch the clean and fresh smelling fabrics into the dryer along with a Snuggle sheet, the hand washables could already be lying out flat and drying. It's not an issue of convenience, really, but rather an issue of time perception. It's really not any more time consuming to wash a few items by hand than it is to operate a washing machine. We've just convinced ourselves that the 5 minutes it takes to manipulate the machine is shorter than the 300 seconds it takes to wash a non-machinable woolly. The same logic is employed by the people who call church offices each Christmas Eve to ask when Midnight Mass starts: "Madame, Midnight Mass begins punctually at 11:60pm." Time perception.
So here's the baby garment challenge: when preparing to dress your own infant, an infant relative, the infant of a friend, or really any infant, think outside the typical cliche options of 4-shade pastels. Consider a little human for what she is: a little person who wears clothes just like bigger persons wear clothes. Keep your options open to the full host of fibers, fiber blends, colors and color combinations. Step back and think about what's practical and what's really just hype. Machine washability and hand washability both mean "washable". One uses a machine the other uses the bathroom sink. Dress your miniature human to be fashionable. A downscaled vest in a silk/cotton blend is adorable! How about a bright fire engine red? And blue? No, not that washed out sky-meadow-angelwhisper-cloudy blue. Vibrant, electric blue. Use color. Don't fear it. Baby Harold looks striking in that mauve cover-all. Colors expand options. They should never define limits.

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