Hello!
Happy New Year !
We both want to extend best wishes for the New Year and the hope
that 2005 brings you good health, happiness and lots of fun fiber
experiences.
As we start our eighth year in business we look forward to playing
a continuing role in being one of your yarn supply sources. Work
is underway for new colorways this spring, in our hand painted variegated
lines.
We plan to retain our focus on wood cellulose fiber in order to
offer the weaving and knitting communities the widest range of Rayon
and Tencel products available in North America.
We have recently noticed a trend towards hand dyeing and painting
that takes full advantage of the great color vibrancy that Procion
Dyes give to rayon, rayon chenille and Tencel. We are constantly
searching for products that will expand our undyed yarn offerings
and increase the options available to you.
We appreciate your support of Yarns Plus as well as your suggestions
and accolades.
Don and Marie
Yarns
Plus will be closed January 15th to February 14th…..
We’re going to be away so Yarns Plus will be closed from
Friday January 14th to Monday February 14th. Orders received
to January 12th will be shipped before we close. |
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From the Distillery |
A full schedule of events is planned for the Distillery District
during 2005. First up is the Distillery District Antique Show to
be staged February 13th in the Fermenting Cellar. The “ Signature
Event “, Distillery District Jazz Festival is slated for May
21—29. Many of the other favorite events that make the District
such a popular destination are returning. We’ll keep you posted
on all the planned happenings.
Marie is working with various Silk combinations on the Leclerc
Weavebird doing scarves for a start with a view to doing larger
pieces.
When you visit the Distillery District be sure to drop to Studio
105, Case Goods Building, 55 Mill Street, Toronto. Wednesday—Sunday
noon to 5 p.m.
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What's New &
Coming!
New line of 2/60 Undyed Silk …
Marie has obtained a beautiful undyed bleached 2/60 silk for her
Studio Weaving projects. We made a quantity buy and are making it
available through Yarns Plus. Ideal for that very special project
the silk is on half pound cones and is value priced at $54.00 per
cone. Yes, we’ll be glad to send you a reeling.
1450 Mill Dyed Rayon Chenille…
Samples are on the way from one of our sources of five new colors.
We expect to reserve before we go away and will announce in the
next newsletter.
2/10 Tencel Mill Dyed Inventory Status...
All colors are now in stock with the exception of Cobalt. We expect
to have this color by late February.
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may just have it?
When we buy mill end lots of rayon chenille we often end up
with smaller quantities of some colors. When the quantity
of a color on a shade card gets low we may drop it from the
card but still have stock. One of these colors may be just
what you need for a project. Just call, we’ll be glad
to send a reeling for you to check. |
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Let’s
Do The Twist
I’d like to share some of my latest
experiments with silk yarns. I have begun some work using
overtwist silk yarn combined with our 2/60 regular twist silk.
Being forewarned not to try and use the overtwisted silk in
the warp before becoming more experienced handling it-this
bit of advice coming from the supplier-I wisely heeded these
instructions. I used only the 2/60 regular silk in the warp,
set at 48 e.p.i. The warp was threaded for narrow stripes
of an 8-shaft twill block structure, alternating stripes of
warp and weft faced twill weave.
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I wove one inch stripes of our regular 2/60 silk,
alternating with one inch stripes of the overtwisted silk yarn.
The stripes with the regular silk I wove in plain weave, but
the stripes of overtwist silk I wove in the twill block structure
to further encourage the collapsing to occur. The scarf definitely
collapsed when washed. I began with a generous 12” scarf
and finished with a lovely, soft 4” silk scarf. So you
can expect, under the conditions I’ve described, to lose
2/3 of your fabric’s width. |
I did do some sampling first and so was ready for the loss in width.
If you just use a plain weave structure throughout the weft, you
lose less, closer to ½ the initial width. I just preferred
the appearance and hand of the fabric using the twill structure.
| The overtwist silk is sized to
help control its behaviour and so it cannot be dyed until
it has been woven and washed. This is not a problem at all,
except that it makes the weaving a little boring without any
colour to look at. I just painted the dye onto the scarf after
it had been washed well and presoaked in the water and sodium
carbonate solution, just as I would for warp painting.
The result is a lovely, soft spring and summer scarf. |
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There are many more possibilities and much more experimentation
is ahead, but what fun! We just received more 2/60 silk, so I’m
off to make a warp for a few more “twisted” scarves.
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Here are the shows
Shows we will be attending in 2005….
- May 13—15, 2005
OHS 2005 Seminar, “Stepping Stones ”,
Queens University, Kingston, Ontario
- September 17, 2005
Five Counties Seminar “ Fabrics for Fashions”,
Thorold, Ontario
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Extended November/December
Specials
- Valid until February 28th, 2005
Rayon Chenille 2000 yd/lb in 9 fantastic colors only $20.00
a lb.
regular $24.00/lb.
We can’t remember the times we have been asked for
dyed Rayon Chenille in the 2000 yd/lb weight. We still have a great
selection of colors to offer at a super price!
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Normally 2000 yd/lb Rayon Chenille carries
a price premium but through this special big buy ( almost
1/2 a ton ) we can pass the savings on to you. Priced lower
than our regular line it is even lower for November and December
and till the end of February — this is the time to stock
up on this fantastic yarn. Shade cards are on the web site
so you can check out the colors. Lichen, Taupe and Wine are
temporarily sold out. |
If you want a reeling, call toll free 1-877-448-4544.
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Customer Satisfaction
Guarantee
As mail order specialists we fully understand the apprehension
to purchase yarn sight unseen. If you are planning a project and
feel our yarn may be suitable we’ll be glad to send a reeling
of any yarns you may want to order so you can be sure they are right
for you. Just call toll free 1-877-448-4544.
If you buy yarn from us and discover it is not exactly what you
wanted for your project we’ll take it back. We want you to
be happy with your Yarns Plus purchase. To make it absolutely risk
free we are happy to exchange an item or give a refund. We'll even
pay the return postage. Just call!
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A Little Pearl…..
“ What we get, makes a living; what we give, however, makes
a life..”
Arthur Ashe
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