Congratulations to Brooke at Sweet Threads Yarn & Fibre on opening in Squamish! Brooke carries a wide variety of locally made yarns, patterns and accessories included Everlea Yarn's Everlea Fingering, Everlea Solo, Everlea Mini Looms and more.

I'd like to extend the warmest welcome to Vancouver Island's newest yarn shop in Langford (Victoria). Learn more about The Spinnacle Yarns at Nicole's website and follow them on Instagram.

North Beach Farm has a new selection of specialty  yarns  available for purchase direct from their Salt Spring Island farm.  
The mill creates specialty yarns by blending the farm's natural Gotland/BFL fibre with mohair or silk. This blending process softens and lightens the yarn while maintaining the Gotland lustre.  

For those seeking the ultimate in warmth and durability, they also have 100% wool yarn.

To make an appointment to view the yarns or to make a purchase, contact David at David@northbeachfarm.ca

The knit-along begins in on Monday November 15th and runs for two months into mid January. You can join in at any time within that timeline.

I want you to know that if you think this shawl is slightly beyond your ability it's actually a great first colourwork project. Also, I am offering video instruction on all the different techniques employed in the shawl. There will be live Knit Nights, live check-ins and prizes. Now you know you want in, right?!

I am SO excited to knit my second Ambershore Shawl, and making it along with you is the cherry on top.
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Who is the Knit-Along for?
The Ambershore Shawl is actually a fairly simple knit and a perfect first colourwork project, which only employs two colours at a time. So, if you're at least a seasoned beginner knitter and are excited to take on a fingering-weight shawl (believe me, you won't knit a shawl in any other weight again), then this knit-along is for you - and I'm here for support!
What exactly is a Knit-Along?A knit-along is an intentional community knitting event where we all knit the same thing within a shared timeline. This Everlea Knit-Along includes video instruction from me on all the different techniques employed in the Ambershore Shawl, as well as live Knit Nights, live check-ins and prizes!

What is the Schedule?
Nov 15 '21 - Jan 17th '22

You will have the opportunity to meet with me and your fellow Ambershore Knitters at least four times over two months as well as have access to how-to videos from me along the way.

Below is the Nov/Dec schedule.
I will post the January schedule closer to the date so we can assess if Mondays are working for people. These dates all land on a Monday.

November 15th 5pm pacific // You are invited to the live online Cast-on-Party at 5pm pacific. Can't make the party? There will be a cast-on how-to video ready for you that morning on Youtube.

November 22nd  //  I will publish a corrugated knitting demonstration on Youtube. Corrugated knitting is the colourwork portion of this shawl, where two colourways alternate.

November 29th 11am pacific //  I will publish a bobble-making demonstration on youtube at 8am and you are invited to join me online for a Check-In Social online at 11am.

December 13th 5pm pacific // Knit Night. There will be a door-prize!

Stay tuned for the January dates. The Knit-Along will end somewhere on the week of January 17th.
What do you need?You need three 100g skeins of fingering weight yarn (400 yards each) in three colourways, ideally a light, medium and dark colour, respectively. I've put together some perfect sets for you HERE.
You also need the knitting pattern, two sets of circular knitting needles, one 3mm (2.5 US) and one 3.5mm (4 US), and one crochet hook, size 2mm.

​What are the rules?
The only real rule is that you must cast on an Ambershore Shawl somewhere within the Knit-Along timeline. Here are some answers to the FAQs

- To be eligible for prizes sign up for the Knit Along HERE.
- There will be a draw prize for the people who complete the shawl, but is it not important that you finish it.
- The Knit Nights (one in Dec, one in Jan) will have door prizes for anyone who shows up and is knitting an Ambershore shawl at any stage of progress.
- You do not need to show up to any of the live events to be eligible for final prizes.
- You do not need to be knitting in Everlea Yarn to take part in the Knit-Along, but those of you who do will get extra points toward final prizes.

What are the prizes?
You guessed it, Everlea Yarn! Plus some other fun knitting accessories.

How do I sign up?
To be eligible for prizes sign up for our Ambershore Knit-Along newsletter HERE. Once the Knit-Along begins you can begin submitting your prize entries using the raffle widget below.

What do you need?
You need three 100g skeins of fingering weight yarn (400 yards each) in three colourways, ideally a light, medium and dark colour, respectively. I've put together some perfect sets for you HERE.
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You also need the knitting pattern, two sets of circular knitting needles, one 3mm (2.5 US) and one 3.5mm (4 US), and one crochet hook, size 2mm.

I would knit this next Ambershore Shawl in any of these Everlea Fingering combos below, but I think I've set my heart of the second set, which includes one of my favourite brown colourways, Awesome Arbutus. Visit my webshop to snag your Ambershore Shawl Knit-Along yarn.


I hope you'll join me!

​Janna

My Ambershore Shawl is off my needles! This was my first fingering weight shawl and I'm so glad I picked this pattern, by local designer Inese Sang, to dive into finer-weight knitting. Alternating between stockinette, colourwork and bobbles kept it interesting, and each colour gets a turn in each repeat, so to see the variation play out while knitting is very fun.
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I knit it in Everlea Yarn's Naturally Dyed Organic Merino Fingering in the colourways Water, Burnt Madder and Twilight. They are quite a stunning combo, if I do say so myself.
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I have these very yarns available in stock and I just added a listing for the bundle of three to make it easier for you to snag them (https://www.everleayarn.ca/shop/trio). There is an option to add the called-for knitting needles, too, if it’s Ambershore you’ll be knitting them into.
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What other three-colour shawls would you knit in these colours?

88 Stitches Yarn Shop
21183 88th Ave Langley, BC
Pop Up Shop Hours

Thursday, October 3rd  - 10am-5pm & 7-9pm*
*late night shopping + knit night

Friday, October 4th - 10am-5pm

Saturday, October 5th - 10am-5pm

Sometimes when I have a knitting project in the queue but don't have the correct yarn for the job I'll resort to combining two strands of a fingering or lace weight yarn to arrive at an aran or DK weight. And I've seen other knitters knit with two strands to achieve a marled effect, too. Until recently I only ever did this out of pure necessity but the results have so many pros that I'm definitely going to take it into consideration when planning projects from now on.

Here's what I like about it:
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- The yarns lay next to each other, so your gauge remains in tact but the fabric you knit is actually thinner than if you used a yarn that is as thick as it is wide (ie round). It's like knitting with tape yarn. And because the two strands move to wherever they fit the most comfortably the twists and turns that occur during knitting don't create as much bulk and dimension as a tape yarn would. I have found that I really appreciate this thinner fabric for a spring or summer knit like the Gemini I'm wearing under my cardigan in the photo above.

The biggest pro in my experience has been the drape of the fabric (ie. how it behaves and looks when it hangs or moves). I'm particularly happy with the drape in this Gemini shirt which is a result of my first point about achieving a thinner fabric. The drape that this Sweetgeorgia Silk Merino Lace achieves in a double strand is just killer! Definitely something to consider (ie swatch) if you're humming and hawing between a double stranded fingering vs single strand of DK or light worsted - or any substitution using this technique. I have to confess I'm more of a 'start knitting and see how it goes' kinda gal - but swatching is never a bad idea. 

Lastly, if you're knitting with a hand dyed yarn you can knit with two stands of a finer yarn to arrive at a bulkier weight and avoid pooling by joining the two strands at different points in the colourway (Not to say there aren't ways to do this when knitting with a single strand.) Last month I test knit this Moonstone Cloche by Abbye Dhal in two strands of Malabrigo sock yarn. There are greens, reds and purples in this colourway and there was no pooling to be seen - although I was less on top of where the two strands joined when I picked up stitches for the crown.

Also, I suspect that there might be an economic benefit to knitting some yarns in this way in terms of gaining yardage or avoiding buying too many skeins ie. if you know you'll have half a skien left over when knitting your garment with a DK weight yarn you can eliminate the "waste" (I have so many unused half-skeins!!!) by buying one skein of fingering weight yarn to divide into two and knit in a double strand (instead of two full skeins).

Okay now for the CONS...

For me there is only one CON, but it is kind of a big one. I find that I have to really pay attention to make sure that I'm always knitting in both strands. A pointy knitting needle will help with this, but the knitting is a bit less mindless when knitting with a double strand. When I do miss a strand it appears as though there is a hole in my knitting and I end up having to 'repair' them with duplicate stitch if I don't catch them while I'm knitting. The duplicate stitch does the trick, though, so at least there's an alternative to frogging or dropping back to that stitch.

Okay, I lied! I have one more thing to add that might be considered a con. My one point against using a double strand for structural things like hats is that the thinner fabric may take away from the structure of it, which I did find with the crown of this cloche hat. The body of the hat is knit in linen stitch which is super dense due to all the slip stitches, so I did not find it made a fabric that is too floppy, but I could see that being the case for other hats in regular knit and purl stitches.
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Do you ever knit in a double strand? What do you like/dislike about it?

​Janna