Registration is now open for all of our fall classes. We have our usual great classes to get you started such as Knitting I and II, Crochet I and II, Beginning Weaving, and Spinning with a Drop Spindle.

We also have some new classes never offered before at WEBS.

Design a Pi Shawl with Annie Foley

Design Your Own Knitted Cowl with Kirsten Hipsky

Exploring Tunisian Crochet with Sara Delaney

These classes may fill up fast, so sign up early if you’re really interested.

September is right around the corner, so check out these classes first up in our fall schedule – Stitches II: Terrific Textures, Mix & Match Socks, Crochet I, Knitting I and II, Spinning with a Drop Spindle, Helix Knitting, and Bring Out Your Best in Variegated Yarns.

Stay tuned to the blog to hear more details from Tina about guest teachers coming to WEBS this fall such as Margaret Radcliffe, Laura Nelkin, Shannon Okey, Andi Smith, Courtney Kelley & Kate Gagnon Osborn.

This week the staff is buzzing about…

1. Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann – A powerful book packed with tips and tools for independent knitters. It’s got everything from winding a skein of yarn to designing seamless sweaters. If a knitter were to have just one book, it should probably be this one. > Kirsten H.

2. Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL 2011 – I’ve never done a mystery knitalong before. But I’ve been itching to knit a shawl lately, particularly a westknits pattern. So I’m super excited to join this KAL on August 1st. Now the hard decision…what yarn? Suggested yarns like Fibre Company Road to China Light, Fibre Company Canopy Fingering, Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine, Madelinetosh Pashmina, or Tosh Merino Light would all be wonderful to work with. But I do have plenty of Charlemont from the crochet scarf leftover that would make a shawl with great drape. Hmm, decisions, decisions. > Dena C.

3. Valley Cowl crochet pattern by Doris Chan – I love this cowl designed by Doris Chan. The sample is done in Valley Yarns Deerfield, but there are directions for any gauge yarn, so you can use your favorite Valley Yarns yarn. I’m thinking of making one for myself in Charlemont. It’s also our next crochet-a-long on Ready, Set, Knit, so you can crochet along with Kirsten. > Mary K.-H.

4. Blue Sky Alpacas Five Inch Double Points – I love the feel of these in my hands. They have such a smooth finish that it makes the needles glide easily through the stitches. The tin they come in makes for great storage for these little lovelies! > Karen M.

5. Both of my girls spent a week at our Fiber Camp this year and my youngest daughter fell in love with weaving. While I’m not quite ready to buy her a Baby Wolf, I do want to encourage her weaving. So, as an early present for her birthday she got a Schacht Cricket Loom this past Tuesday. She’s already woven 26 inches and has been flipping pages in my copy of the Weaver’s Idea Book to find her next project! > Sara D.

This week the staff is buzzing about…

1. Great Adirondack Hot Surprise – A great yarn for scarves, Hot Surprise is a series of different hand dyed yarns tied together including some glitz!  You all know I love the sparkly yarns. The colors are gorgeous! > Kathy E

2. Prism Delicato Layers – A great choice for knitting a drapey summer shawl or weaving a nuanced stole. Just as the name suggests it is delicately layered with color and 100% handdyed tencel. Just breathtaking. (Steve says it’s a 6/2 tencel for all those tempted weavers out there!) > Cara S.

3. Sock Knitting Master Class by Ann Budd – There’s lots of excitement for this book! I bought it the day it came in, brought it home, leafed through it and then put the DVD in! Can’t wait to cast on with my new favorite sock yarn, Smooshy with Cashmere! The DVD is such a nice surprise at the back of the book, and very informative. Should be lots of fun working my way through each pattern. And we can’t forget to mention that Melissa Morgan-Oakes has a pattern in there also. So many different techniques, so many pretty pictures:) > Karen M.

4. Never Not Knitting Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos – Have I mentioned this week how much in love I am with her patterns? She is innovative, stylish and uses great yarns! We borrowed Greta’s shawlette to show off in the store. Each one of these patterns is eye candy, I can’t choose a favorite! > Cara S.

5. New England Weavers Seminar – It’s here! New England Weavers Seminar, the biennial conference of all the weaving guilds in New England, meets at Smith College from July 14 through noon,
July 17. Many events are open to the public, including the Special Exhibit (Arts Lounge), Static Fashion Show, Vendors (Student Center), including Webs, the Faculty Exhibit and the Gallery Show (Neilson Library Periodical Room, 2nd floor). The NEWS Brochure can be downloaded at www.newenglandweaversseminar.com. Don’t miss it! > Barbara E.

6. Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker – The book that started it all for me and many other designers. It’s not a pattern book, it’s really teaching you how to design while
illuminating how all sorts of knitted shapes are related. > Kirsten H.

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Want Kathy & Steve to check something out at TNNA – leave a comment to let them know!

Louisa Harding will be here June 15th from 6:00pm-8:00pm. To sign up, please email customerservice@yarn.com.

Our weaving catalog is now available online. Flip through it today!

Yarns

• St. Denis Boreale (check out Nordique too!)
• Berroco Blackstone Tweed Chunky
• Berroco Vintage Chunky
• Berroco Campus
• Berroco Borealis
• Regia Galaxy Saturn & Jupiter Closeouts

Guest: Claudia Segal, co-founder of Weavolution.com. Weavolution is celebrating its one year anniversary. It is a social network for handweavers. It is a great site where weavers can meet and discuss successes, challenges, projects, and more. Claudia discusses the exciting changes that have occurred on Weavolution over the past year. Weavolution will be at Convergence in Albuquerque this year! If you’re headed down to Convergence, check them out at booth 329.

We are doing a contest with Weavolution in honor of their anniversary! We will have two gift baskets. One will go to new sign-ups of Weavolution. Head over to weavolution.com and sign up and leave a comment that you signed up. If you’re already a member of Weavolution, leave a comment here. For each group, new members, and existing members, we’ll have a drawing for a gift basket filled with WEBS weaving and Weavolution goodies.

Guest: Kirsten Hipsky, our Valley Yarns designer extraordinaire! Kirsten chats with Kathy about how she became the designer at WEBS. She also talks about some of the new designs debuting in our Valley Yarns catalog, out in a few weeks.

• Wind Harp Pullover in Goshen
• Forward Pullover in Northampton Bulky

EDIT – WE HAVE OUR WINNERS:

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We’re live at the Tent Sale this week.  Steve & Kathy highlight what’s under the tent this year.

New Yarns

• Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Color Commentary Ysolda Red
• Plymouth Taria Tweed
• Rowan Belle Organic by Amy Butler Aran & DK (plus a dedicated pattern book, Midwest Modern Knits)

New Closeouts

• Rowan Scottish Tweed DK
• Rowan Purelife Organic Wool Naturally Dyed
• Rowan Cashsoft DK

And we’re thrilled to introduce our new Education Manager, Tina McElmoyl.  Tina highlights some of our upcoming summer classes.

• Two great classes from Gwen Bortner, Designing Sleeves That Fit and Two Right Sides: Double Knitting Basics
• Fiber Camp for Kids
• Crochet I Intensive
• Beginning Weaving

All of our Knitting & Crochet Drop-In sessions continue over the summer.

We’re also looking for some new ideas for the second segment of the show.  Leave a comment and let us know what you would like to hear on the show.

Stay tuned…the new WEBS Beads website will be up and running the first part of June.

The Anniversary Sale continues through May 31st.  Don’t miss these great yarns.

• Cascade 220
• Plymouth Encore
• Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky

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Yarns

• Spud & Chloë Fine
• Spud & Chloë Sweater
• Spud & Chloë Outer
• Spud & Chloë Patterns

Check out spudandchloe.com/blog for information and free patterns using Spud & Chloë (especially Ribbit, the super-cute frog with a tennis ball tummy knit in Sweater!)

• Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight
• Fiesta Ballerina
• Misti Alpaca Tonos
• Malabrigo Silky Merino

Guest: Claudia Segal of the new website weavolution.com. An online community/resource for handweavers. If you’re a weaver, or interested in weaving, be sure to check out this new resource!

Knitalong with Pixie: Botanica Medallion Cardigan

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Yarns

• Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 Ply
• Louet Euroflax Worsted
• Louet MerLin Worsted
• Filtaura di Crosa Elen Cashmere
• Filatura di Crosa Nobile
• Grandpa’s Garage Sale – New Additions!

Guest: Fonnie from Sheep Shop Yarn Co.
Fonnie talks to us about Sheep Feet, the new hand dyed sock yarn from Sheep Shop. This machine washable yarn is super soft in the skein and even softer when washed!
Fonnie also shares with us her process for deciding what is next in the Sheep Shop line.

Leslie Ann Chats with Kathy about Rigid Heddle Weaving
We’re very excited about the Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle loom, and have encouraged people to try it out! It’s a great way to try your hand at weaving.
A rigid heddle loom is the simplest loom, other than weaving in and out every warp. The heddle holds the warp threads up, so you can pass the shuttle through many threads at once instead of one. It’s a very affordable investment in terms of weaving. The Flip loom does fold, so it’s easy to transport and store.
You can create many projects with the rigid heddle loom, and projects that use the stash that many of us already have.
Leslie Ann has used many, many knitting yarns. In fact, she has used, almost exclusively, knitting yarns, specifically hand painted yarns. The hand painted yarns provide interest without a lot of work. Weaving does not use a lot of yarn. Many scarves can be made with just one skein. Misti Alpaca Sock Yarn, Sheep Shop Sheep 3, and many Valley Yarns have made fantastic projects!
Weaving is also incredibly fast. You can set up and complete a scarf is less than 5 hours!

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• New Yarn
  Frog Tree Alpaca Sport Melange
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/4709/
• Jojoland Rhythm
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/4704/
• Regia Canyon Color
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/4688/
• Regia Sierra Color
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/4689/
• Noro Kureyon Sock – New Colors
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/4432/
• Plymouth Encore Sock DK
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/4708/
• Highlighter Tape
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1064-1088-1446/0/0/4707/
• Zephyr Style Stitch Markers
  http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1300-1311-1320/0/0/4690/

Guest: Carol Sulcoski, co-author of Knits So Fine.
http://www.goknitinyourhat.blogspot.com/
She and her co-authors created a book of garments with skinny yarns. She addresses some of the fears that people have when it comes to skinny yarn and how your garments benefit from skinny yarn.

Pixie Discusses Weaving
Check out the Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle Loom
http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1106-1111-1114/0/0/1435/
Our staff member Leslie Ann wove a beautiful scarf out of Misti Alpaca Hand Dyed Sock in just three hours.
The loom can be propped up against a table, held on your lap, or put on a stand. It also folds for easy storage.

Recently added: Weaving for Kids
Also, Weaving I Intensive, Saori Weaving, Huck Lace, 4-End Block Weave
http://yarn.com/s/weaving.html

Weaving for Knitters