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Happy New Year image courtesy of Pexels |
Happy 2020!
Happy 2020! Wow, it is a new decade! We wish everyone peace and health in the new year. We would also like to thank you for your continued support.
During the winter months, if you want a cup of hot tea or coffee as you contemplate your next project while at the shop, please feel free to make yourself a cup! You can find it by our back table. Our back table is also a place to find knitting support, and where crocheters meet on Monday afternoons from 2-4 pm.
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Kate Davies' new Ard-Thir yarn (click to zoom) |
New Yarns
At the end of November through the first part of December, yarn sales reps visited our shop. They showed us what is available for spring/summer yarns and took orders for delivery in the spring. Once in a while some new wool yarns show up and are available immediately. Such is the case with two new yarns we would like to bring to your attention because they seem fabulous for knitting or crocheting an accessory or an heirloom sweater.
Kate Davies' Ard-Thir is a very round and dense aran weight wool/alpaca blend yarn. (This is the only yarn of hers that she wholesales.) Although it is tightly plied, it is soft and springy. The colors are rich and subtle at the same time. We are retailing the 71-yard, 50-gram skein for $10.95.
Kelbourne Woolens' Lucky Tweed is a beautiful aran weight merino tweed. Although we love Peace Fleece, and it softens with wear, we hear from some customers that they want a softer tweed. This soft yarn is right from Ireland! We will retail this 210-yard, 100-gram skein for $18.95.
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Lang Yarns' Jawoll Twins is a 50-gram gradient, fingering weight sock yarn
(click to zoom) |
New Sock Yarns
The recent trend from yarn companies that carry sock yarn seems to be 50-gram skeins that are gradient and that make matching socks. This is a lovely option for those who knit two-at-a-time socks. We have two new (both fingering weight) and very different colorways from two different companies to offer you at this time:
The softer colorways of Jawoll Twins are made for Lang Yarns in Italy. Made of 75% wool and 25% nylon, we will retail this 50- gram pull skein for $8.95.
The bolder colors of Painted Socks are made for KFI in Turkey. Made of 75% wool and 25% nylon, this yarn features two 50- gram pull skeins packaged together. We will retail this 100-gram package for $14.95.
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Gambit hat (click to zoom) |
The Gambit Hat
The quiet days of January give us the perfect opportunity to learn new knitting skills. If you have always been intrigued by stranded colorwork but intimidated by all the strands of color you have to manage, consider a simpler project like the
Gambit hat. The pattern is designed for any gauge from fingering to aran, and combines a solid yarn with one that self-stripes. Liz's version used a skein of Noro Kureyon with one of Quince and Co. Owl, and a second hat is in the works with Noro Silk Garden and Lambs Pride Worsted. The most important thing is to choose a background color that will contrast well with your multicolored yarn. For a simple introduction to stranded colorwork, check out
this post from Brooklyn Tweed.
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
Martin Luther King Day Donation
In recognition of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 10% of our sales on Monday, January 20, will be given to Waldo County Community Action Partners -- or any other local non-profit of your choice whose work helps improve the lives of people.
(The photo shown,
Statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Ala.
, is from The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in
Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, and is courtesy of
Public Domain Images Online
.)
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Braided cast on with corrugated rib, I-cord bind off and Norwegian long-tail cast on (click to zoom) |
Workshop: Cast Ons/Bind Offs, Increases/Decreases
Add these essential skills to your knitting toolkit. There are over 200 ways to begin and end a knitting project, and most have a particular purpose. In this two-hour workshop, Reah Janise Kauffman will cover some of the most useful of these techniques as well as why some increases and decreases are called for in certain instances and which ones are the least visible.
When: Saturday, January 25, 10:30 am-12:30 pm. Snow date: Tuesday, January 28. Cost: $25 per person. Space is limited; please contact the shop to register.
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Learn to spin with a Navajo spindle
(click to zoom) |
Belfast Fiberarts News
Belfast Fiberarts is offering the following Winter Workshops:
Hand Mending with Japanese Techniques Instructor: Kathleen Goddu. Saturday, January 25: 10 am-noon. $48.00 includes materials.
In this two-hour workshop you will learn four basic stitches used in traditional Japanese mending. Other techniques may also be discussed, based on your questions. By the end of the day you will have the skills to patch holes and mend tears of different sorts. Please bring: small pieces of scrap fabric.
Kids Sewing Class (age 9-12)
Instructor: Alice Seeger. Four Tuesdays, January 7, 14, 21, 28: 3:30-5 pm. $80.00 plus materials.
This class teaches how to make pajama bottoms, and a sleep-over bag to carry them in. You will learn how to use a pattern, safely operate a sewing machine, and do hand stitching for finishing hems and sewing on buttons.
Spinning on a Navajo Spindle
Instructor: Alicia Bell. Saturday, January 18, 10 am-noon. $48.00 plus supplies. Students will learn how to use a Navajo spindle to spin yarn from sheep's wool. Alicia will share her authentic experience having been taught to spin by her grandmother while growing up on the Navajo reservation.
Make Your Own Drop Spindle and Learn To Use It to Spin Wool
Instructor: Betsy Alspach. Saturday, February 1, 10 am-noon. $58.00.
Would you like to learn to spin yarn but aren't ready to invest in a wheel? Have you been intrigued by the ancient spinning tool called a drop spindle? If either answer is yes, this class will show you how to create drop spindles and then learn to spin yarn with them. You will take home your drop spindle, your spun fiber, some extra wool and the ability to spin on your own! All materials will be provided.
Four-Harness Weaving
Instructor: Alice Seeger. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, February 15-17, 9 am-4 pm each day. $350 includes class notes and project materials.
In this intensive beginning-level class, you will learn and experience the basics of weaving on a 4-harness loom, and weave several different weave structures. You will start with understanding weaving vocabulary and equipment, how to read a draft, and how to plan a warp. You will then warp and weave on a floor loom. You will also experience weaving on different looms with different weave structures in a "round robin" of class looms. And finally, you will weave your own library of samples that may include plain weave, basket weave, various twill weave structures, overshot, and weft-faced weaves.
Introduction to Decorative Sashiko Stitching
Instructor: Kathleen Goddu. February 22, 10 am-2 pm. $98.00 includes materials.
Sashiko embroidery originated in rural northern Japan during the 18th century. Also known as boro, it was used to strengthen and reinforce clothing and household items to maximize their longevity. Later, recognizable white stitching on indigo-dyed cloth was developed as a decorative embroidery technique. In this workshop you will learn how to achieve a uniform running stitch, transfer a pattern onto indigo fabric, and stitch the pattern using sashiko thread in the traditional Japanese manner. Also covered: how to create your own patterns and how you might incorporate this stitching into garments or other functional items. Materials include: set of sashiko needles, sashiko thread, indigo fabric and stitch samples.
Belfast Fiberarts is located at 171 High St., Belfast, just past the Colonial Theatre. Store hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am-6 pm; Sunday, noon-5 pm; closed Mondays.
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The New Year's by the Bay logo |
New Year's by the Bay
This is a yearly town-wide grass roots celebration that takes place on New Year's Eve. New Year's by the Bay is a chem-free, family-oriented, affordable, cultural celebration of the New Year that takes place this year from 3 pm till 1 am, at mostly indoor venues within walking distance, showcasing a wide variety of live performances, as well as several dance bands. Admission is by purchasing a NYBB 2020 Adult or Youth/Student Button to wear. Under 5 years are free.
For more information, visit
NYBB.
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High school student Riley Stevenson |
Library Events
On Thursday, January 2, 6-
8 pm, there will be a slideshow presentation at the library's Abbott Room given by Riley Stevenson, a junior at Lincoln Academy, who traveled to Washington along with nine other Maine students for Citizen Climate Lobby's November Lobby Day, which centered around advocating for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R.763). The talk is sponsored by the Belfast Area Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL).
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Fixing tools at Belfast Community Works' Repair Cafe |
More Belfast Events
For more events happening in Belfast in January, please see Our Town Belfast's
events page and the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce's
January calendar.
On Saturday, January 4, 9 am-1 pm, Belfast Community Works' Repair Cafe will be in session at Belfast Fiberarts, 171 High St. Don't throw it away -- fix it! Do you have a lamp that won't light, a broken blender, frayed electrical cords or a hole in your clothes? A team of tinkerers and repair wizards will be available to help. If you have replacement parts, bring them along.
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Shop hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 am-6 pm; Friday and Saturday, 10 am-5 pm; Sunday and holidays, 11 am-4 pm.
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