Halcyon Yarn

Harry Potter and Opal: A Magical Combination!

Have you heard? It’s out, in the store, POPPING off the shelves!!! And it’s early!…at least as far as the movie release goes. As you probably know, the release of the Harry Potter Opal Sock Yarn was supposed to coincide with the release of the newest movie. Alas, the movie release was postponed but rejoice Sock Knitters!! This means we can all turn up at our local movie theater donning the Character of Choice (character choices include: Harry Potter, Harry & Ron combined, Ron Weasley, Tonks, Lupin, Dumbledore, Hedwig and Draco Malfoy) on our toesies and half the fun will be playing I Spy for simpatico sock knitters. (Is anyone actually knitting Draco?) So Get Knitting! Finish a pair - or better yet, pick a character for each foot and cast on someone else to knit during the movie!!!! Not to mention, how many Harry Potter followers in your life need a pair of their own?

Not a Harry Potter Fan? Buy a ball of this yarn and become an Opal Fan! This sock yarn is dead soft, reliable and hard wearing. Plus, you won’t believe what this company does with color. Knit the simplest sock you can and watch it come to life with unimaginable color combos, stripes and designs. Dazzle your sock knitting friends and non-knitting friends alike with your fancy footwork.

And remember, Opal creates collections of sock yarn which are only available for a limited time. We are currently offering colors from Rainforest 4 and Hundertwasser 2 as well as the Harry Potter Collection. Do you remember what is is like to pick up a book that is so good you just had to read it cover to cover? Well that is the feeling you’ll get from these awesome yarns - you’ll be knitting a pair of socks top-to-toe non-stop! Happy Knitting!

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Quick Knits: There IS still time before the holidays!

Wanting to do something creative, but feeling like you might not get it done in time? Well it’s Quick Knits to the rescue! Here are 5 simple and quick gifts to give:

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Ravelry Group for Halcyon Yarn

We’re a small company, and we love to get to know our customers. We have an exciting new way to do just that: We have a group on Ravelry! For those of you who haven’t heard of Ravelry, it’s a place for knitters and other fiber artists to share their work and ideas, have discussions and much more. We welcome people to join our group (you must join Ravelry first)… then we can chat-it-up with thoughts and opinions, share your projects, talk about favorite yarns, give us feedback, ask questions, spout non-sequiteurs and just join in the fun with us on Ravelry!

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A Couple of New Books

We’ve had a lot of new books in lately, but here are a few that caught our eye as particularly exciting:

Collapse Weave by Anne Field

This is a wonderful weaving book that is a real eye-opener. Collapse cloth is cloth that, when removed from the loom and washed, takes on an entirely different appearance as the threads draw up and create an array of amazing three-dimensional textures. Combination of various weaving techniques are presented alongside photos and diagrams, providing clear instructions for sewing scarves, wraps, tops, and harem-style pants made from this fluid and unusual cloth. Additional chapters describe in detail how to warp the loom and add special effects such as double weave, supplementary warps, spaced cloth, overshot and deflected double weave. Tips for those who want to spin their own yarn for collapse projects are also included.

Variations Using Short Rows by Ruth Kindla

We’ve already done a bit of raving in this issue about how awesome Opal sock yarns are. Now, here are 24 designs for you to knit using Opal sock yarn in variations inspired by the paintings of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The color combinations within this unusual yarn collection are truly inspirational for use in the short row technique. The play of various colors and patterns gives astonishing results. Templates included.

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Two at a Time Socks - Live and in Person!

We wanted to give you all plenty of “heads-up” time for this class, because we think it will be fun, and will fill up quickly: Melissa Morgan-Oakes, who wrote “2-at-a-Time Socks” will be giving a class here on Saturday, May 16, 2009.

Join Melissa to learn the secret of knitting 2 socks at once on one circular needle.  Just imagine, two socks started and finished at the same time.  They’re still portable, still fun, but no “second sock syndrome”.  With Melissa’s guidance, students will create their own miniature sample socks using the technique outlined in her book. It’s a revolution in sock making!

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New Catalog, New Colors for Signature Wool Yarns

We are excited to announce the release of our latest Yarn Catalog, Vol. XI. They should be arriving in the mail within the next week and we can’t wait to get feedback on all of the new yarns, new colors, new patterns, new books and more. We always have fun making the catalogs, and this year’s Volume XI was no exception - we hope that you enjoy it too and find plenty to fuel your creative cravings!

Of course, if you don’t get a catalog in a few weeks, and you want one, you can fill out a request here. And you can download a pdf version of the latest catalogs here.

We’re particularly excited about one area of the catalog, our Signature Line of Wool Yarns. We take pride in our entire Signature Line, but this time around the wools have some awesome additions.  The wools are spun and dyed in the US, and have a long history (36 years!) of quality. Check out the new colors in the following lines - any of the colors in the “three hundred” range are new! Here are the links:

Halcyon Yarn Rug Wool 001
Halcyon Yarn Deco Rug Wool 002
Halcyon Yarn Geo Rug Wool 003
Victorian 2-ply Wool 162
Victorian Boucle 163
Victorian Brushed Mohair 164

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Fulfill your Winding Needs and Save!

We all know it is important to have quality winding tools. But, it can be hard to justify the expense. Now we make the choice a bit easier to justify by offering a discount if you purchase two of our favorite winding tools together. Buy both the Maine Cherry Swift and the Heavy Duty Wooden Ball Winder together, and you’ll get 10% off on each. The Maine Cherry Swift is beautifuly hand crafted, and is the type of tool that is a joy to handle - and we love supporting the folks who make ‘em! The Heavy Duty Wooden Ball Winder is also a joy to work with: You really can feel the difference that precision swiss gears make! And of course, the wonderful part about these two tools is how well they compliment each other. Try them both and save!

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Staff Feature: Grand Master Gwynn

For many of us, knitting has many mysteries, and when we encounter them we run for a pattern, phone a friend, or put the project in the “finish it later” pile…. Not so for Gwynn, for her that is where the adventure begins. She is one of those rare folks who’ll have a great idea leaving work in the afternoon, and come in the next day with a designed-from-scratch must-have-marvel.

Does that type of designing sound spontaneous? Well that’s Gwynn. After moving here from Albany, NY  “just because!”, she has been working for Halcyon Yarn since ‘06. Gwynn’s responsibilities for us include sales, scouting new yarns, patterns, and colors, lending a hand where needed (hey, small company, we all work outside our job description), and designing.

Gwynn also occasionally delights the staff with a visit from her 4.5 year old daughter, Meredith, who is showing signs of an inclination toward design: Case in point, we’ve heard rumors of paparazzi photos circulating showing Gwynn wearing a Meredith designed “Spaghetti & Pipe Cleaner” bracelet. Trés, trés chic.

While Meredith, knitting, and designing keep Gwynn busy, she also finds time to read fiction (Harry Potter, oh yeah!), and, you guessed it, reading knitting books.

Gwynn confesses to an obsession with sock knitting, perhaps to cleanse her palate after her latest design project. Unfortunately for most of you who don’t work at Halcyon Yarn, you’ll miss out on many of Gwynn’s prolific works. Fortunately, a bunch have made it through the extensive writing/testing process and onto our website (check out her patterns that are available online here) and into our catalog. You may notice that the most recent catalog cover shot features the Graceful Ribbed Cardigan, a sweater that was knit and designed by Gwynn. This, her most recent work, almost caused a riot in the store as folks lined up to try it on — it’s one of those designs that really just looks good on everyone, and makes everyone look good.

When asked about her plans for the future, Gwynn had no hesitation about priorities: “Raise a happy healthy daughter, and knit socks” she quipped. Thanks Gwynn and Keep up the good work!

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