Articles

Dec 21 2022

Last minute Christmas gift ideas

Author: Darya Reznik

Posting Date: 21 December 2022

Oh no! It’s this time of the year again. Christmas is in a couple of days and if you still didn’t prepare gifts for some of your loved ones (or probably yourself), we are here to help you to find out some ideas of last minute Christmas gifts for crafters.

Let’s start with the easiest one – Gift Certificate. You can purchase one at Creative Yarns and put any amount of money. You will definitely be safe with a gift certificate, and your loved ones will get whatever they want.

You can’t be wrong with giving yarn to your craft friends. We have a beautiful selection of the finest quality yarns. Check out our online store to explore all options.

The next idea is a knitting needles set. Look how cute is it! We have several options from different brands. They all go with a case that is so convenient for keeping them on place.

Hope these last minute Christmas gifts ideas will help you to find out the best present for your loved ones.

Our working hours this Holiday:

December 24 – 27 : closed

December 28 – 30: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

December 31: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

January 1 – 2: closed

Happy Holidays!

Oct 04 2022

Pattern suggestion: Bibbe pullover

Author: Darya Reznik

Posting date: 4 October 2022

Fall is officially here. The start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere was couple weeks ago and what is the best way to celebrate than to knit up an oversized pullover? Creative Yarns is here with a weekly pattern suggestion.

Step one is to pick a nice pattern. Creative Yarns suggests Bibbe pullover by Meghan Kelly. It is an oversized dolman pullover worked in pieces from the bottom up. Increases are worked at the underarms to shape the sleeves. Short rows shape the shoulders. When working the front, the neck shaping is worked simultaneously with the short row shaping.

Step two is to pick a nice yarn. We decided to knit this beautiful pullover with Arranmore Light by The Fibre Company. It is woollen spun DK weight yarn. It is 80% merino wool, 10% cashmere and 10% sillk. Garments made with this yarn are light and warm at the same time.

Apr 22 2022

Heather’s Stripey Socks

Author: Mairi McKissock

Heather made these fun stripey socks using the Urth Yarns Uneek Socks kit, together with a bit of orange scrap yarn for contrasting heels.

She chose a simple, top-down pattern using an easy heel-flap turn. In order to keep the stripe pattern consistent, Heather used a contrasting yarn for the heel. We think this makes the socks look even more fun!

Urth Yarns also publishes some interesting patterns for this kit, including some freebies. But, pretty much anything is going to look good with this l-o-n-g repeat self-striping yarn.

Nov 30 2021

December Mini-Socks

Author: Mairi McKissock

Posting Date: 30 November 2021

It’s time for our annual mini-sock give-away! The mini-sock Advent calendar is back this year – one-chocolate-stuffed mini-sock for every day of Advent is hanging on display, and will be given in turn to the first customer of each day befoe Christmas.

These decorative mini-socks are made from scraps of sock yarn, and no two are alike. They might have one colour of yarn, or a dozen, but every one is locally handmade with love – love of our craft, and love of our shared community at Creative Yarns.

Each sock has a loop for hanging – on your Christmas tree, if you have one, or perhaps on your key chain or zipper pull to add a note of whimsy to everyday life.

A limited number of additional mini-socks are available on a first-come first-served basis. Like last year, we are also making these available through the online shopping portal and, yes, you can buy them if you want more than one. But we would much rather give them away for free! So, put one in your cart and enter the code MINISOCK at checkout to get one free mini-sock with any order, big or small, while stocks last. Coupon is valid one time per customer.

Note that every mini-sock is different, and socks will be picked at random.

Nov 30 2021

Oliver’s Hat

Author: Mairi McKissock

Janice made this striking version of ‘Oliver’s Hat’ for our BC Garn Bio Shetland promotion. The pattern is Oliver’s Hat, by Sandra Manson, and the yarn, of course, is Bio Shetland. It’s a lovely pattern that suits the yarn very well. Janice’s colourwork is beautiful, and the finished hat is delightful.

Janice describes Bio Shetland as ‘a light toothy yarn which makes it perfect for colour work. It is lovely to knit with and the longer yardage comes in handy. Once blocked the yarn felts beautifully showing off the knitted design.’ She particularly loves the way the crown worked up.

She also warns that the pattern is on the small side and recommends that knitters check for gauge etc to get their size.

Nov 14 2021

Pat’s Illusion Bat Shawl

Author: Mairi McKissock

Now you see it, now you don’t! Pat’s Illusion Bat Shawl is her first foray into the world of shadow knitting. This is a technique where you knit 2-row stripes in contrasting colours, and make a pattern from the placement of knits and purls. Purl sections in one colour contrast against knit stitches in the other colour, and vice versa. The whole design only shows up when you view it at an angle. Straight on, all you see are stripes.

The pattern is the Illusion Shawl Bat, available on Ravelry. Pat used four skeins of Artfil Belle, two each of charcoal gray and hot pink.

Like all shadow knitting patterns, it’s very easy to work. But, you do have to keep track of knits and purls, so there’s a lot of counting involved. As long as you don’t mind that, it’s a really fun technique!

Nov 01 2021

Sandra’s ‘Veronica’ Cowl

Author: Mairi McKissock

Sandra made this lovely version of the ‘Veronica’ cowl for our BC Garn Bio Shetland promotion. The pattern is Veronica, by Marie Wallin, and the yarn, of course, is Bio Shetland. Sandra’s stranded colourwork is beautiful, and it’s a great pattern choice for the yarn.

Sandra says that she used 16 different colours in this project! We are hoping to see more of her lovely work as she uses the rest of it in other projects.

Oct 08 2021

Edna’s ‘Wake’ Sweater

Author: Mairi McKissock

Edna knitted this beautiful sweater recently using BC Garn Bio Shetland. The pattern is Wake, by Veronik Avery. Bio Shetland has similar characteristics to the yarn used for the original design. So, it can be substituted without modification.

Edna used just 6 skeins (300g) of Bio Shetland.

We love the bias-knit cables in this design, and the extra length in the back. It’s a nice, easy-wearing casual style that’s great for layering.

Oct 03 2021

Mairi’s Ruffled Wrap

Author: Mairi McKissock

This ruffled wrap has been at the store as a sample for a while, but we’re featuring it now as a pattern suggestion for the BC Garn Bio Shetland promotion. It’s a great free pattern by an unnamed designer for Patons UK.

Mairi used just four skeins of BC Garn Bio Shetland, in the colourway ‘Washed Jeans’. You won’t be surprised that the colourway goes beautifully with denim jeans for a great casual look. The wrap is worked side-to-side with increases up to a middle point. So, it was easy to judge how much yarn to use. Increase for two skeins, then decrease for two skeins.

The pattern was great fun to work. Most of the knitting is garter stitch, with tiny little cables to add interest, and short row turns to give extra volume for the ruffles. The long crescent shape is very flexible, allowing the wrap to be styled many different ways by adjusting the drape.

Also, it’s super-warm, thanks to the lofty, woolen-spun characteristics of the Shetland yarn.

Aug 26 2021

Lisa’s Bubbles and Brioche

Author: Mairi McKissock

Bubbles and Brioche is another of the popular Stephen West shawl designs. Lisa knit this with a mix of sock yarns from Canadian independent dyers. Nina carries a fine selection of hand-dyed sock yarns to choose from, and we love the strong contrasts that Lisa has chosen. That neon yellow-green colour really pops!

Lisa says that what she liked most about this pattern was:

learning the brioche stitch.
the interesting stitch pattern changes incorporated in the design
the very cool “peacock effect” by the end of the project
how much fun it is to do the bubbles
using high contrast colours that really make them pop!

We agree that it’s a great pattern for learning new skills – nothing too difficult, but tremendous fun from start to finish.

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