Chiagu Blog

We’re at Vogue Knitting Live Chicago

Posted on March 09, 2018 | 0 Comments

You will find us at Vogue Knitting Live Chicago this weekend (March 9-11, 2018). Koigu sent us beautiful colors in KPPPM/KPM as well as their newest yarns, Chelsea and Othello.  And we have the latest Koigu magazine and the VILL pattern book for aran and chunky weight yarns, VI

After the Vogue show in NY I stitched up more project bags.  They are here at the booth.  Chicago is the last show we are at until the fall.  I’m looking forward to coming up with a new bag design over the summer. 

Our booth (217) is right by the fashion show runway. There are plenty of seats all day long  - come visit us and take a break to sit and knit.

You can also follow us on Instagram by following us chiagu.ny

 

 

 

 

Posted in Chelsea, Chicago, knitting, Koigu, KPM, KPPPM, Othello, project bags, Vogue Knitting Live

Woolyn - a new yarn store in Brooklyn

Posted on September 21, 2016 | 0 Comments

My friend Rachel has opened a yarn store in Brooklyn called Woolyn (Get it? Wool + Brooklyn = Woolyn).  It's a great name for a pretty nice place.  

Woolyn - a new yarn store in Brooklyn Heights

 

(FYI - I've know Rachel for a while, we were roommates for Sock Summit and Woolyn is selling my project bags.)

Chiagu Project Bags at Woolyn Yarn Shop

 

Rachel has a wonderful background for a yarn store owner: she has worked in a local yarn store and she has designed knitwear that has been featured in Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits. And she hand dyed yarn for her previous business venture, Studio Avenue Six.  She knows her textiles!

 

Yarns at Woolyn Yarn Shop

Woolyn is stocked with industry workhorse yarns from Cascade 220 and new indie dyers -  in fact both Mollygirl and Narwhal Needlework dyed special color ways for Woolyn.

Lux Adorna Sport Kit

In addition to wool and cotton fiber Rachel also carries the cashmere kit from Lux Adorna Knits which Clara Parkes has just blogged about for Knitter's Review.  

 

Roving and braids at Woolyn

Woolyn also stocks roving (Sweet Georgia!) for those who use drop spindles and spinning wheels.  There is an area where you can sit down and have some refreshments.  And don't forget to browse the highly curated books.

The store opened in mid August which may have been too late to be included in the New York City Yarn Crawl that is happening this weekend (Sept 24-25).  If you are exploring the city's yarn stores Woolyn is definitely worth the visit.  Near the Brooklyn Bridge Park, the area has great eating, shopping and calling all cat lovers - it's one block from the Brooklyn Cat Cafe.

 

Woolyn

105 Atlantic Ave (between Henry and Hicks Streets)

718-522-5820

By Subway: R to Court Street , 2/3/4/5 to Borough Hall, F/G to Bergen St

By Bus: B63, B61 (Atlantic Ave and Henry St stop)

www.woolyn.com

Posted in Atlantic ave, brooklyn cat cafe, cascade, chiagu, crochet, knitting, mollygirl, narwhal needlework, needlefelting, project bags, spinning, sweet georgia fiber, woolyn, yarn store

Recap: Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair 2016

Posted on May 19, 2016 | 0 Comments

This past Saturday my friends and I attended the Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair (LIFFF) which is sponsored by the Hallockville Museum.  We took a bus out to Riverhead and were pleasantly surprised by sunny weather. 

Size is the difference between this event and the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (Rhinebeck).  Most people I know go to Rhinebeck to buy yarn and fleece. Every so often they take a quick detour through the animal barns. At LIFFF you see and learn the history behind the fiber crafts and your shopping can be done in less than an hour.

 

LIFF animals

We did a quick round of shopping and went to visit the animals. I used Periscope to live stream the sheep, llamas, places, and cows. If you have the app I believe to can see it since Periscope recent started to save the streams (username: soozenyc).  

We just missed Tabbethia from Long Island Livestock Company shear a llama but we did have the chance to talk about natural dyeing with museum volunteer, Colette.  She encouraged us to save our avocado skins and pits if were want to dye some pink yarn.

 

Knit n Wine

In our goody bag there was a coupon for a free wine tasting at the Martha Clara Winery which was on the other side of a busy road.  We managed to cross safely and grabbed some lunch before having some wine.  We enjoyed our "knit n wine" so much that we each purchased a specialized flight of wine sampling ("Aromatic", "Estate", "Library").

The day got cooler and cloudier as late afternoon approached.  Driving back into Manhattan on a Saturday evening was a traffic nightmare but the delay helped us narrow our restaurant choices for dinner (yay internet!).

 

Momosan Ramen Sake Chiagu Blog

We ended our day at Momosan by enjoying delicious bowls of ramen noodles.  We passed on the sake selection since we already had wine with our lunch.  But will are definitely going back to try the sake!

Posted in Fair, Fiber, Fleece, Hallockville Museum, knitting, Llamas, Long Island, Martha Clara Winery, Momosan, Periscope, Ramen, Wine

It's Inventory Time...

Posted on January 28, 2016 | 0 Comments

When Vogue Knitting Live officially ends at 4pm on Sunday there is a mad rush by all the vendors to pack up their booth.  Those who traveled to the show have to deal with the package delivery services once their boxes and pallets are ready.  We locals dealt with getting all our stuff into a rental car on a snowy evening.

I took a couple of days off to recoup and then started an extended inventory.  This means counting and reviewing yarn colors, knitting kits, project bags, and yes, even patterns.  I'm running a bit behind with photos, but once they are done updates will happen in both shops, probably this weekend.  Believe me, I am making sure that next year the photos are done before Vogue Knitting Live takes place.

I also review the comments and requests that customers gave me.  Color-wise there will be new kits and new samples.  There are many new ideas for bags that hold your knitting, crochet, and drop spinning. There will (finally) be new patterns.  And of course I need to put an order in for more Koigu. A big thanks to Koigu for making sure I got more beautiful colors in time for the Vogue show.

Posted in bags, crochet, knitting, knitting kits, koigu, new york, ny, patterns, project bags, updates, vk live, vogue knitting live, yarn

It's been a weird summer.

Posted on August 24, 2013 | 0 Comments

20130811_112505

I think I'm going to go back to using this blog to talk a bit more about just anything, while still focusing on the knitting, my original knitting patterns, and Koigu, of course.

Tonight, I actually AM thinking about knitting, and wanting to write about it.

Like I said on Facebook a few minutes ago, the cool fall breeze blowing through the apartment is making me think SWEATERS.

All my sweaters are in storage, as is almost everything I own (long story, will tell you all about it if the thing that's supposed to happen on Monday goes through as planned. Don't want to jinx it), but I do have one sweaters-worth of Cascade 220 in a lovely oatmeal color with me. I have a sweater design all sketched out, the swatch made/washed/measured, and most of the math finished. If this one comes out the way I picture it in my mind's eye, it'll become my new favorite pullover for sure.

So tonight, I'm enjoying the breeze while catching up on my blog reading (you all write way more than I do!) and knitting on this new sweater. The dog is curled up next to me, the city sounds are coming in through the window, and things feel like they're settling down.

--

PS - The picture above has nothing to do with this post, other than a lot of this summer has involved Brooklyn. And that's a picture I took last month, from the Brooklyn Promenade.

Posted in knitting, My life

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